NBN to miss 2014 target for rollout
Labor's centrepiece infrastructure project, the national broadband network, will miss its June 2014 rollout target by more than a quarter of a million homes, as construction delays and problems with subcontractors continue. The Fin
Labor's harsh line delaying boats
Authorities believe there are about 10,000 asylum-seekers in Indonesia seeking to come to Australia by boat and who still pose a major challenge to Kevin Rudd’s Papua New Guinea Solution. The Aus
Budget debt binge
The Barnett government will borrow billions of dollars to build big-ticket road and rail transport projects in a tax-and-spend state budget to be delivered by Treasurer Troy Buswell today. The West
WA to cut Royalties for Regions program
The West Australian Nationals' Royalties for Regions program is facing cuts as the Barnett government trims its cloth to suit constrained economic conditions. The Fin
Turkey set to steal a march on Woodside's LNG line
Woodside Petroleum’s ‘‘ once in a decade’’ chance to enter the giant Leviathan gas field off Israel is under pressure, with potential local partners saying they are in talks to export the gas through pipelines to a host of neighbouring countries and that liquefied natural gas exports are only a possibility. The Aus
Mackenzie undeterred on potash, shale
BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie has called for urgent reforms in regulatory, fiscal and industrial relations policies to ensure Australia can match up with tough competition from overseas rivals in coal, gas and copper. The Fin
Workers claims 'contrived' firm says
Resource service company Programmed Maintenance Services claims it is increasingly paying “go away money” to settle industrial disputes because of the broad range of spurious claims that can now end up in court. The West
Saracen edgy on KalNorth talk
Saracen Mineral Holdings is preparing a takeover defence strategy in response to whispers moves are afoot to marry the company to Lawrence Freedman-chaired KalNorth Gold Mines. The West
The West Australian
Page 1: The Barnett government will borrow billions of dollars to build big-ticket road and rail transport projects in a tax-and-spend state budget to be delivered by Treasurer Troy Buswell today.
Page 4: WA's main real estate body believes the Barnett government is poised to axe the $7,000 first-homeowner grant on established properties, making its only available to new home buyers.
Green groups have accused the Barnett government of junking its environmental credential amid claims it has axed a long-running grants scheme that funded hundreds of conservation projects.
Page 5: Pastoralists have warned that the industry faces ruin under the terms of a new state government lease agreement covering 90 million hectares of agricultural land.
Page 6: Business groups have offered only a muted welcome to Tony Abbott's promised 1.5-percentage point cut to the company tax rate, still alarmed by an identically-sized levy on big companies to pay for his “excessive” paid parental leave scheme.
Page 7: Immigration Minister Tony Burke says asylum-seekers waiting in Indonesia are demanding refunds from people smugglers in a sign the Rudd government's hardline PNG Solution is starting to work.
A defiant Andrew Forrest has no regrets over a failed and costly constitutional challenge to the mining tax, saying his Fortescue Metals Group had given it “a great shot”
Business: Resource service company Programmed Maintenance Services claims it is increasingly paying “go away money” to settle industrial disputes because of the broad range of spurious claims that can now end up in court.
Global demand for resources will soar by up to 75 per cent over the next 15 years, but Australia faces fierce competition from rival nations, the BHP Billiton boss says.
Multi-millionaire land developer Allen Caratti yesterday admitted giving a false name but denied punching a pollution investigator proving a potentially hazardous vegetation and rubbish fire at one of his land developments.
Queensland-based UIL Energy plans to test investor appetite for WA gas with a $20 million float near the end of the year.
Saracen Mineral Holdings is preparing a takeover defence strategy in response to whispers moves are afoot to marry the company to Lawrence Freedman-chaired KalNorth Gold Mines.
Sundance Resources chairman George Jones says there has been almost complete overhaul of the iron ore hopeful's share register, following the collapse of Hanlong Mining's $1.4 billion takeover bid.
Galaxy Resources has scraped over the threshold for its heavily dilutive do-or-die capital raising, announcing yesterday it had secured $14.68 million from shareholders.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Labor's centrepiece infrastructure project, the national broadband network, will miss its June 2014 rollout target by more than a quarter of a million homes, as construction delays and problems with subcontractors continue.
The business community has stepped up calls for Tony Abbott to abandon his paid parental leave scheme, saying the company tax rise required to fund it sullies his election promise to cut the corporate tax rate by 1.5 percentage points.
The West Australian Nationals' Royalties for Regions program is facing cuts as the Barnett government trims its cloth to suit constrained economic conditions.
Page 4: Leading company executives and tax experts want more detail from the Coalition on how it will fund its 1.5 percentage point drop in the 30 per cent corporate tax rate, which will cost $2.5 billion a year.
Page 5: With money haemorrhaging from the budget faster than it flooded in at the height of the Howard era, the opposition has scrapped a long-standing tradition – that of showing what their promises mean to the fiscal bottom line.
Page 7: Investors have ploughed back into the property market in the past six months, taking advantage of falling interest rates and underpinning a building surge in house prices.
Page 9: Unions rejected a last-minute offer of direct talks with the Coalition on workplace policy, made during part of a hitherto secret exchange of letters just before the federal election was called.
Page 12: Fortescue Metals Group has praised the Coalition for promising to repeal the mining tax, after the company as unsuccessful in its High Court challenge to the tax.
Page 13: The Coalition is expected to announce it will help fund a new medical school worth up to $50 million at Curtin University in Perth in a key marginal Liberal seat if elected.
Page 21: BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie has called for urgent reforms in regulatory, fiscal and industrial relations policies to ensure Australia can match up with tough competition from overseas rivals in coal, gas and copper.
Page 23: Etihad Airways is committed to Virgin Australia's strategy of moving upmarket to better compete against rival Qantas Airways despite Virgin issuing a major profit downgrade this week.
Page 24: Fortescue Metals Group chairman Andrew Forrest says a strong iron ore price and a lower Australian dollar has not changed the group's resolve to sell a minority interest in its infrastructure assets at a good price.
Mining companies have refused to let an uncertain outlook across most commodities get in the way of a good time at this year's Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie.
Page 39: Bunnings Warehouse Property Trust will embark on a $150 million capital raise on Thursday, to fund a portfolio acquisition from its controlling shareholder, Wesfarmers.
The Australian
Page 1: Authorities believe there are about 10,000 asylum-seekers in Indonesia seeking to come to Australia by boat and who still pose a major challenge to Kevin Rudd’s Papua New Guinea Solution.
Kevin Rudd’s direct knowledge of serious risks to public safety and other major policy defects in the deadly $ 2 billion home-insulation debacle will be examined in a new legal action by 65 companies that lost more than $100 million.
The Coalition is expected to deal a fatal blow to the Greens’ hopes of getting two candidates elected to parliament in marginal inner-city seats by putting them below Labor on how- to-vote cards.
Page 2: Gina Rinehart’s failed bid to obtain confidential information from a Perth journalist is expected to strengthen shield laws across the nation, according to a leading authority on media law.
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says he has no regrets about his failed legal attempt to abolish the mining tax, declaring that history will judge the impost as a ‘‘ pure political fix’’.
Page 5: Kevin Rudd has called on Tony Abbott to detail any discussions he has had with News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch on the future of the National Broadband Network in Australia.
Page 6: An Abbott government would save millions by stopping federal and state public servants from double dipping on maternity leave to offset the cost of its scheme, which would pay up to $ 75,000 for six months.
Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd is urging a ‘‘broadening and deepening’’ of the GST, warning that government revenue is excessively reliant on too many ‘‘volatile taxes’’, as big business welcomed Tony Abbott’s pledge to cut the company tax rate by 1. 5 percentage points at a cost of $5 billion.
The Parliamentary Budget Office, which is responsible for costing Coalition election policies, has been barred from finding out what is in the secret budget reserve that contains the government’s election policies.
Page 7: As many as seven subcontracting companies have walked away from the National Broadband Network rollout in South Australia, claiming NBN Co’s construction partner Syntheo has refused to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid fees.
Business: BHP Billiton’s new chief executive, Andrew Mackenzie, has stared down a request from the highest levels of China’s new leadership for lower iron ore prices.
Woodside Petroleum’s ‘‘once in a decade’’ chance to enter the giant Leviathan gas field off Israel is under pressure, with potential local partners saying they are in talks to export the gas through pipelines to a host of neighbouring countries and that liquefied natural gas exports are only a possibility.
Sundance Resources chairman George Jones says 95 per cent of t he company’s share register has turned over since its $ 1.3 billion takeover deal with China’s Hanlong Mining collapsed in April.
The nation’s No 1 telecommunications company Telstra is expected to report further earnings growth today when it reports its full- year profit result to June 30.
Etihad chief executive James Hogan has reiterated his support for Virgin Australia, saying he believes the airline ‘‘ is travelling OK’’ despite its full- year net loss of up to $110 million.