Morning Headlines

Barnett sure Browse will proceed

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett is adamant Woodside’s $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas project will get off the ground, despite languishing oil prices dampening demand for new investments. The Fin

Cauldron wins access to Forrest cattle run

Andrew Forrest’s long battle to keep rival miners off his Pilbara cattle station has suffered a big setback after fellow Perth mogul Tony Sage convinced the Western Australian government to give him the right to explore for uranium on the land. The Aus

WA manufacturing lobby seeks reform

Western Australia’s peak business lobby wants significant reforms to boost the international competitiveness of the state’s manufacturing sector, including slashing the company tax rate to 25 per cent, increasing research and development incentives and privatizing electricity assets. The Fin

Gas industry in shock

Australia’s battered oil and gas sector faces asset write-downs, project delays and job losses from a fall in oil prices to almost six-year lows. The Fin

Short-term visa offers skill ‘flexibility’

Businesses will jump at the chance to bring in staff from overseas without the hassle and expense associated with applying for 457 visas, the nation’s two largest migration advisory firms say. The Fin

Slimmer DAFWA to lose more

The Department of Agriculture and Food WA is set to unveil its new executive team next week as it adjusts to the loss of more than 500 staff under the Barnett Government and braces for more job cuts over the next few years. The West

Gaming cash could prove tax winner

Taking revenue from gambling taxes into account when carving up the GST would deliver WA more than $400 million a year without gutting payments going to Tasmania and South Australia. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Australia’s battered oil and gas sector faces asset write-downs, project delays and job losses from a fall in oil prices to almost six-year lows.

Including private health insurance and private education in the goods and services tax would raise more than $2 billion a year without placing a heavy burden on the poor, potentially providing a cheaper and more politically palatable option for the government than including fresh food.

Businesses will jump at the chance to bring in staff from overseas without the hassle and expense associated with applying for 457 visas, the nation’s two largest migration advisory firms say.

Page 6: This summer of sport is like no other. Beside the world’s biggest cricket nation touring, Australia is also playing host to the Australian Open tennis, the Asian Football Confederation’s Asian Cup, the ICC Cricket World Cup and later in winter, the Netball World Cup.

Page 8: Western Australia’s peak business lobby wants significant reforms to boost the international competitiveness of the state’s manufacturing sector, including slashing the company tax rate to 25 per cent, increasing research and development incentives and privatizing electricity assets.

Page 11: The oil price crash could push BHP Billiton to remove drilling rigs at its onshore petroleum business in the US and slash about $US2 billion ($2.4 billion) from the capital it had earmarked to spend on its expansion.

Page 13: Cape Lambert Resources has made 117 employees redundant and postponed a dividend payment to help buffer the company from the sustained lull in the iron ore price and uncertainty surrounding its Marampa project.

Page 17: The corporate watchdog has slapped new license conditions on Suncorp’s life insurance advisory firm, Guardian Advice, after it hired several advisers from failed firms.

Page 20: A theoretical exercise by Credit Suisse equity analysts has made the startling finding that Santos’s equity is worthless when current oil prices and foreign exchange rates are assumed to persist forever.

Page 22: Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett is adamant Woodside’s $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas project will get off the ground, despite languishing oil prices dampening demand for new investments.

Page 23: After five years of relative stability, the severity of the oil price crash has taken many in the market by surprise. Since June 2014, when it was fetching about $US117 a barrel, oil has tumbled more than 55 per cent.

Page 25: Iron ore inventories at ports in China, the largest importer of the steel-making raw material, fell to the lowest level in almost 11 months as mills replenished holdings after prices fell and local output slowed during the northern winter.

The Australian

Page 1: Anger over the federal budget threatens to tip the balance in dozens of Queensland electorates as pensioners and families feel the impact of unpopular savings, turning the state election into a significant test of national reform.

Young Australians face new barriers to learning trades that could fix the nation’s skill shortages, as the vocational education sector suffers a $16 billion funding gap that threatens the quality of its courses.

Page 2: Fears of deflation are pushing long-term interest rates lower around the world, with rates on the Australian government’s 10-year debt falling yesterday to the lowest level since financial markets were deregulated in the early 1980s.

Huge shiny satellite dishes are sprouting from the red dirt plains and grassy paddocks of rural Australia as the government’s NBN Co ramps up preparations for the delivery of high speed internet services to its most isolated corners.

The federal government has at last been handed a good-news story that relieves the hip-pockets of the aspirational class: car prices are falling thanks to the free-trade agreements with Japan and South Korea.

Page 3: School fees and health insurance would be subject to a 10 per cent consumption tax under a new call for reform that counters growing pressure within the federal Coalition to extend the GST to fresh food.

Page 15: Andrew Forrest’s long battle to keep rival miners off his Pilbara cattle station has suffered a big setback after fellow Perth mogul Tony Sage convinced the Western Australian government to give him the right to explore for uranium on the land.

Page 16: A leading rare earth metals expert has rated the survival of Australian producer Lynas as a “50/50” proposition, warning that although the company was now well managed, low prices for its output mean it was vulnerable to being taken over by a Japanese or Korean company.

Page 18: The amount of money going into exchange traded funds in Australia has jumped 50 per cent over the past year, to $15 billion from $10 billion, according to data released by ASX yesterday.

The West Australian

Page 3: Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan says too many people unwittingly invite criminals into their homes by leaving doors and windows unlocked.

Page 7: The police internal affairs unit has been stripped of responsibility for investigating major police incidents after its widely criticised decision to arrest officers involved in the fatal Carlisle shooting in November.

Page 9: Western Australians visiting their GP could be bombarded with petitions and posters critical of the Federal Government’s looming cuts to Medicare rebates.

Page 10: The cost of cleaning graffiti off Perth’s streets has topped $2.5 million, with $520,095 spent in the City of Perth alone.

Page 11: Liberal backbenchers have broken ranks with Education Minister Peter Collier, arguing that private schools should still be able to cane children if that is what their parents want.

Page 14: Fuel retailers in the bush have been put on notice over complaints rural motorists are not benefiting from the plunge in petrol prices.

Page 17: Mr Sutherland, chairman of the powerful procedure and privileges committee which thrashes out the rules of Parliament, has revealed it is planning to cut the amount of time MPs can talk for at certain stages of a Bill’s passage.

Page 19: Taking revenue from gambling taxes into account when carving up the GST would deliver WA more than $400 million a year without gutting payments going to Tasmania and South Australia.

Business: Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay a Nigerian fishing community £55 million ($103 million) for the worst oil spill ever suffered in the African nation.

Haim Saban, the US billionaire whose business interests spread from the Power Rangers children’s franchise, pay-TV in Asia, fashion label Paul Frank to a takeover interest in Ten Network Holdings, yesterday added Australia’s iconic Mambo surfwear brand to his portfolio.

The Department of Agriculture and Food WA is set to unveil its new executive team next week as it adjusts to the loss of more than 500 staff under the Barnett Government and braces for more job cuts over the next few years.

The Department of Mines and Petroleum has launched an investigation into a damaged valve at Buru Energy’s Yulleroo gas field east of Broome, amid claims by environmental groups it had caused “a dangerous gas leak”.

Borrowers are leaping at the chance that the Reserve Bank will cut its cash rate this year, with more of them looking for better home loan deals.