Business blasts budget torpor
Australia's failure to prepare for the end of the mining boom is damaging the nation, business leaders warned as they expressed “zero’’ confidence the election campaign would deal with the structural budget deficit. The Aus
Election hits weak economy
Retail spending has fallen to its lowest growth rate since July 2000, new car sales for July were lower than the automotive industry expected, and activity in the services sector reached its lowest level since the global financial crisis. The Fin
$450m for out-of-school care
Kevin Rudd has made the first big-ticket promise of the election campaign, pledging to ease parents' cost of living by ploughing $450 million into out-of-school care. The West
Hold off on cuts, McKibbin advises RBA
Former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin has slammed the pressure for more official interest rate cuts and says the job of boosting the economy should fall to the government. The Fin
China rollercoaster nerves feel like pre-GFC
US President Barack Obama's former top economic adviser, Professor Austan Goolsbee, has likened the nervousness about the true state of the Chinese economy to sentiment in America before the sub-prime mortgage collapse sparked the global financial crisis. The West
Blow to NBN as builder pulls out
The construction of the National Broadband Network has been thrown into disarray after its construction partner in two states said it was walking away from Labor’s flagship infrastructure project. The Aus
Virgin in shock earnings nosedive
Virgin Australia has shocked the market with a significant profit downgrade and, on the first day of the election campaign, sheeted home at least some of the blame to the uncertain political environment that has been dogging consumer and investor confidence. The Aus
Crunch time for Wheatbelt
Warnings about hundreds of farmers losing their livelihoods and communities breaking down are becoming a reality, with crops in parts of the Wheatbelt already lost because of a lack of rain. The West
Cargill outbids CBH to snare malting assets
Global agribusiness giant Cargill has trumped CBH in a high-stakes bidding war for Australia's biggest malting company and its strategic WA assets. The West
Asia giant a long-term customer: Power
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has delivered a stern message to the China bears: the Asian superpower’s economy is experiencing record volume growth and it will continue to need Australia’s commodities for decades. The Aus
The West Australian
Page 1: School leaders have demanded a meeting with Education Minister Peter Collier to discuss their concerns about physical intimidation of principals as figures revealed security guards spend 40 per cent more time dealing with threats against staff and students in WA public schools last year.
Page 3: International fashion giant Topshop plans to open a two-storey, 2200sqm store in the city, potentially alongside its biggest rival Zara.
Page 5: Kevin Rudd has made the first big-ticket promise of the election campaign, pledging to ease parents' cost of living by ploughing $450 million into out-of-school care.
The Rudd government will throw $200 million at the struggling Australian car industry but has yet to strike a deal on where the money will go.
Page 6: The Reserve Bank is set to deliver its first interest rate cut during an election campaign today as signs grow the economy is getting weaker.
About 120 workers lost their jobs yesterday when the troubled Syntheo joint venture was excluded from contracts with the National Broadband Network.
Page 7: State government chauffeurs get paid to stay at home during gaps of up to four hours between shifts and often spend less than half their contracted hours behind the wheel, leaked documents show.
Page 9: State government officials have begun work on a 50-year strategy for Perth that will almost certainly include another river crossing and probably another tunnel.
Car-sharing – an international concept that provides access to a car without having to own it – could soon be a reality in Perth.
As Perth's population growth puts more pressure on the city's road network, traffic planners believe a congestion charge – where motorists pay to enter the CBD – will have to be considered.
Page 10: Warnings about hundreds of farmers losing their livelihoods and communities breaking down are becoming a reality, with crops in parts of the Wheatbelt already lost because of a lack of rain.
Gina Rinehart tried to end her family's long-running feud yesterday with a surprise peace offer to cede some control of the multi-billion-dollar family trust at the centre of the bitter battle.
Business: US President Barack Obama's former top economic adviser, Professor Austan Goolsbee, has likened the nervousness about the true state of the Chinese economy to sentiment in America before the sub-prime mortgage collapse sparked the global financial crisis.
Maritime bosses are bracing for possible industrial action as more than 20 union agreements expire, giving workers the legal right to strike.
The failure of a South West business has underlined the widening fallout from the resources slowdown, which is thinning the ranks of services contractors.
Global agribusiness giant Cargill has trumped CBH in a high-stakes bidding war for Australia's biggest malting company and its strategic WA assets.
Virgin Australia expects to book an annual loss of $95 million to $110 million, blaming the difficult economy, competition, restructuring costs and the carbon tax.
The mining industry has rejoiced that Kevin Rudd has finally called the election, hoping that years of uncertainty hovering over an already embattled resources sector will draw to a close on September 7.
Fortescue Metals Group could keep shareholders hanging on for news of a sale of its infrastructure arm beyond a revised September target, with chief executive Nev Power saying there was “no real deadline” to agree to a sale.
Norton Goldfields boss Dianmin Chen says he's aware there's a lot riding on the success of the Chinese-owned mid-tier gold miner's ambitious expansion strategy, as losses from China's forays into the Australian resources sector pile up.
Paladin Energy had its worst one-day fall in 14 years yesterday after a decision not to sell part of the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia forced the uranium producer to offload shares at a 30 per cent discount to its previous closing price.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Retail spending has fallen to its lowest growth rate since July 2000, new car sales for July were lower than the automotive industry expected, and activity in the services sector reached its lowest level since the global financial crisis.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has pledged $450 million to boost before and after-school childcare hours, starting a cost of living war with the Coalition that will intensify on Tuesday with the Reserve Bank of Australia set to reduce interest rates.
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power summed up the mood in the business community when he called for certainty and stability in government.
Page 2: A bitter court battle between Gina Rinehart and her two eldest children appears unlikely to be settled soon despite an offer by the iron ore magnate to appoint a co-trustee to the $4 billion family trust.
Page 3: Former Gunns chairman John Gay has pleaded guilty to insider trading while he ran the Tasmanian timber company in one of the most successful executive prosecutions by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission since it was established in 1991.
Vessel operators serving Australia's vast offshore oil and gas industry are being throttled by burgeoning wage costs and falling profits, says a new study by Deloitte Access Economics.
Page 5: The Rudd government has committed $29 million to secure $123 million in investment by Toyota, including a “major facelift vehicle” from 2015, but the future of GM Holden will not be known until after the election.
On the first day of the election campaign Opposition Leader Tony Abbott backed up his oft-repeated claims that it will be a referendum on the carbon tax by highlighting the increased costs of a business which has been a major beneficiary of the scheme.
Page 7: Former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin has slammed the pressure for more official interest rate cuts and says the job of boosting the economy should fall to the government.
Page 9: The odds of a Coalition victory have improved, with betting markets reacting negatively to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announcing the election date.
Page 10: Lend Lease-Service Stream Syntheo will pull out of construction work on the national broadband network early next year, in the first exit by a major company involved in the $37.4 billion infrastructure project.
Page 15: Virgin Australia Holdings is considering the sale and lease-back of aircraft to shore up its balance sheet after surprising the market with its second profit downgrade in three months.
Page 16: iiNet chief executive Michael Malone believes he has snared the last independent asset on the telecommunications market, saying the sector was now all but locked in for the National Broadband Network.
Page 17: Australia's $12 billion gold sector is poised for a radical shake-up in the next 18 months, with a sudden collapse in the profitability of gold mining forcing almost every asset onto the auction block.
The Australian
Page 1: Australia's failure to prepare for the end of the mining boom is damaging the nation, business leaders warned as they expressed “zero’’ confidence the election campaign would deal with the structural budget deficit.
The weakest retail sales since the 1961 credit squeeze have strengthened the case for the Reserve Bank to cut the official interest rate to a record low at today’s board meeting.
The construction of the National Broadband Network has been thrown into disarray after its construction partner in two states said it was walking away from Labor’s flagship infrastructure project.
The Nauru government says asylum-seekers have no chance of permanent residency in the tiny Pacific nation, contradicting Labor’s claim that boat people would now be settled there.
Page 2: The building and construction industry’s workplace watchdog has been accused of refusing to investigate claims of union threats, intimidation and coercion.
High wage growth driven by the militant Maritime Union of Australia and falling profits have prompted warnings the viability of companies operating in the oil and gas sector is under threat.
Telstra will soon recommence remediation work on the pits and pipes needed to roll out Labor’s National Broadband Network, almost three months after work was halted over asbestos scares.
Stalled orders due to changes in the tax treatment of cars will take another month or two to show up in sales numbers, the industry said yesterday.
Page 3: Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, has extended an olive branch to her two oldest children in an attempt to end the two-year dispute over the family’s multi-billion-dollar trust fund.
Page 4: Labor is planning another pledge of taxpayer aid to the auto industry within weeks amid concerns that carmakers will use the election campaign to extract more cash from Canberra despite gaining $200 million yesterday.
Former Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin has lent his voice to calls for a wholesale review of federal taxation and spending, including a forensic evaluation of the net benefits of individual government agencies.
Page 7: More than 150,000 voters have deserted the Greens in the wake of the party’s turbulent alliance with Labor after the 2010 election.
Page 8: The fortnightly childcare rebate has become the payment method of choice for new families entering the system, as mothers and fathers face cost-of-living pressures and rising fees.
Business: Virgin Australia has shocked the market with a significant profit downgrade and, on the first day of the election campaign, sheeted home at least some of the blame to the uncertain political environment that has been dogging consumer and investor confidence.
Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce has used the Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie to step up his objections to a proposed $3.4 billion US takeover bid for GrainCorp, but insists his party will support a much-needed injection of foreign capital into the mining sector.
Recent history is laced with central bank actions having unintended consequences, and the Reserve Bank’s rate cuts aimed at helping the economy cope with the end of the mining investment boom are raising concern of a looming property price bubble.
A former senior adviser to US President Barack Obama says Australia faces another 12 months of pain while China’s rate of economic growth continues to cool, but he predicts the nation’s prospects will be strong after that.
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has delivered a stern message to the China bears: the Asian superpower’s economy is experiencing record volume growth and it will continue to need Australia’s commodities for decades.
An executive of Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group claimed that the iron ore giant could not afford to pay invoices totalling $8 million for work at its Pilbara mines last September after demanding numerous variations arising from its own blunders, according to a former contractor.
iiNet has acquired rival internet provider Adam Internet f \or $ 60 million, a year after the company bowed out of the bidding process because of concerns the price tag was too high.
