Morning Headlines.

iiNet is closing customer gap on Optus

iiNet chief executive David Buckingham has promised to ramp up profit growth as the company edges closer to overtaking its rival Optus despite large investments that have slowed its pace and hit its share price. The Fin

MinRes wants a cut-price skyrail

Mineral Resources chief executive Chris Ellison wants to build a 330km Pilbara skyrail to carry iron ore from its Iron Valley operation to Port Hedland. The West

Goyder urges action on fiscal reform

Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder, who heads Australia’s biggest private-sector employer, has warned that urgency for fiscal reform has intensified in recent months and has appealed for the nation to take note of the recent warnings by top Treasury officials that the budget is at risk of never getting back to surplus. The Aus

VIP scandal puts Healthway chairwoman under a cloud

Premier Colin Barnett will meet Public Sector Commissioner Mal Wauchope today to discuss the future of prominent Healthway chairwoman Rosanna Capolingua and her board after a damning investigation uncovered a VIP ticket scandal, plunging the taxpayer-funded health promotion agency into crisis. The West

Childcare cuts would hit wealthy

The federal government is attempting to pressure the opposition into supporting a more generous childcare package than one recommended by the Productivity Commission in exchange for Labor agreeing to budget savings elsewhere. The Fin

Wesfarmers vows no surrender on price war

Two months after grocery retailer Coles admitted bullying suppliers, Wesfarmers has made clear it will not back out of a price war with Woolworths and will continue to cut prices to drive longer-term growth. The Fin

Census cost could be better spent, says ABS

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is pushing Parliament to scrap next year’s census, enabling it to spend the savings on updating the bureau’s antiquated computer systems to produce more timely, accurate and useful regional data. The Fin

WA land acquisition strategy in spotlight

Western Australia’s planning arm has conceded in confidential correspondence that private landowners will not get a fair offer for land being acquired for roads, rail and parks unless they go to court. The Fin

The Financial Review

Page 1: The federal government is attempting to pressure the opposition into supporting a more generous childcare package than one recommended by the Productivity Commission in exchange for Labor agreeing to budget savings elsewhere.

Two months after grocery retailer Coles admitted bullying suppliers, Wesfarmers has made clear it will not back out of a price war with Woolworths and will continue to cut prices to drive longer-term growth.

Page 6: The federal government needs to legislate to enshrine providing for retirement as the key objective of the superannuation system, to stop savings flowing into risky investments such as property, a top APRA executive has warned.

Page 8: The Australian Bureau of Statistics is pushing Parliament to scrap next year’s census, enabling it to spend the savings on updating the bureau’s antiquated computer systems to produce more timely, accurate and useful regional data.

Page 9: Western Australia’s planning arm has conceded in confidential correspondence that private landowners will not get a fair offer for land being acquired for roads, rail and parks unless they go to court.

Page 11: Rio Tinto has lost a test case against the Australian Taxation Office over the claiming of GST credits for housing it builds for workers in remote locations.

Page 13: Crown Resorts chief executive Rowen Craigie says a deal with the Victorian government that slashed tax rates on VIP gambling will allow the company to be more aggressive in its pursuit of high rollers, as the casino company looks to offset falling earnings in Macau.

Page 15: Origin Energy managing director Grant King has assured investors the company is ‘‘getting close to the end’’ on the construction of the flagship $24.7 billion Australia Pacific LNG project in Queensland, with $2 billion of net spending to go before the venture should be self-funding.

Page 19: iiNet chief executive David Buckingham has promised to ramp up profit growth as the company edges closer to overtaking its rival Optus despite large investments that have slowed its pace and hit its share price.

Drillsearch Energy is reining in drilling work so that capital spending better matches now-reduced revenues after the oil-price slump.

Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison said the company is looking to move away from iron ore mining and reinvent itself as a pure mining services company with the construction of a monorail in the Pilbara.

The Australian

Page 1: A single means-tested subsidy to help parents meet the costs of childcare, including the use of accredited nannies, would boost workforce participation and target more taxpayer-funded assistance to low- and middle-income families.

A scare over the nation’s AAA credit rating has weakened the Australian dollar, amid new government warnings about the scale of future budget deficits and the need for urgent fiscal repair.

Flights to four Queensland airports are cancelled, a major port has shut, tourist islands are closed and the national highway is likely be cut from this morning.

The nation’s media proprietors have been urged to reconstruct the Australian Press Council because of a dispute over whether it has the authority to decide whether newspapers were making the right decisions about what appears on their front pages.

Page 3: A broad review of food safety and tougher labelling laws have been flagged by Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce in the wake of the hepatitis A outbreak linked to imported berries.

Page 4: The Coalition is taking a hardline stance against David Hicks, with the Attorney-General saying his actions would fall under the nation’s terrorism laws if he was training with militia groups today.

Page 5: Next year’s planned census would be postponed until 2021 under a proposal from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to help fund a $250 million upgrade of its antiquated computer systems.

Page 7: Welfare recipients who had their payments cancelled or debts incurred as a result of Centrelink assessment errors and poor advice have contemplated suicide, lost custody of their children and even considered “whoring” themselves out, a report has found.

Page 19: Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder, who heads Australia’s biggest private-sector employer, has warned that urgency for fiscal reform has intensified in recent months and has appealed for the nation to take note of the recent warnings by top Treasury officials that the budget is at risk of never getting back to surplus.

Page 20: Woodside Petroleum has had its rating cut to sell by two major banks as sliding cash flows in the face of lower oil prices, coupled with a declining production profile, end the stock’s recent appeal as a yield play.

The West Australian

Page 1: Premier Colin Barnett will meet Public Sector Commissioner Mal Wauchope today to discuss the future of prominent Healthway chairwoman Rosanna Capolingua and her board after a damning investigation uncovered a VIP ticket scandal, plunging the taxpayer-funded health promotion agency into crisis.

Page 3: Sixty per cent of families would get higher childcare subsidies at the expense of wealthier parents under a proposed shake-up.

Page 4: Some pressure is finally coming out of Perth’s residential land market but the city remains the most expensive capital in the nation.

Taxpayer-owned company Australian Submarine Corporation has made no effort to win a contract to build the nation’s new fleet of boats, despite fears about hundreds of Australian jobs.

Page 7: Legendary WA horseman Fred Kersley has urged the State Government to abandon thoughts of selling the TAB or risk dire consequences for local racing.

Page 9: Health authorities are unsure how many people have eaten tainted Chinese berries at the heart of a nationwide hepatitis A outbreak.

Page 13: A discount war for flu injections in pharmacies is cheapening a medical procedure into a product like shampoo, according to some doctors.

Business: Mineral Resources chief executive Chris Ellison wants to build a 330km Pilbara skyrail to carry iron ore from its Iron Valley operation to Port Hedland.