Morning Headlines

$5b rocks

Three tiny rocky outcrops discovered 300km off WA’s north-west coast have become the world’s most valuable real estate, worth at least $5 billion to State coffers in gas royalties. The West

Tugboat deal unravels

Port Hedland tugboat workers may give up some of the concessions they won just four months ago, amid fears tugboat operator Teekay may not have its contract to operate in the nation’s biggest iron ore port renewed by BHP Billiton later this year. The Fin

Project water, money, food

WA mining billionaire Andrew Forrest wants to tap into underground water reserves and Chinese capital as part of ambitious plans to open up vast tracts of northern Australia for irrigated agriculture. The West

Business fears a return to union chaos

Controversial powers used by the national building watchdog to investigate militant unions will expire in months, prompting employers to warn the construction industry will ‘‘collapse into unlawfulness’’ unless Senate crossbenchers support the Abbott government’s plans to extend them. The Fin

Holiday hangover leaves $150m payday headache

An extraordinary legal technicality and WA’s Labour Day public holiday has left the receivers and creditors of Griffin Energy facing a $150 million shortfall on the sale of its Collie coal business to Lanco Infratech four years ago. The West

Netflix reveals Australian launch date and iiNet deal

US streaming behemoth Netflix has revealed its Australian launch date, saying it will tap into the customer base of the country’s second-biggest internet service provider and screen the latest series of its hit drama House of Cards. The Fin

50 axed at Macmahon with more still to go

Macmahon Holdings has laid off another 50 workers under measures to restructure the business in the wake of losing its biggest contract. The West

Hockey: we can rein in the deficits

Budget deficits will be slashed by half over the decades ahead as a result of the Abbott government’s legislated savings, according to an official forecast that also reveals the long-term cost of the Senate’s veto of further reforms. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The Reserve Bank of Australia has been forced by Sydney’s booming property market to pause official interest rate cuts despite concerns the economy is too weak to stop unemployment rising.

Santos chairman Ken Borda will retire after little more than 18 months at the troubled oil and gas group, which has lost half its market value in the past six months.

Page 2: Controversial powers used by the national building watchdog to investigate militant unions will expire in months, prompting employers to warn the construction industry will ‘‘collapse into unlawfulness’’ unless Senate crossbenchers support the Abbott government’s plans to extend them.

Page 4: The federal government will keep more than $1 billion by temporarily freezing Medicare rebates, but Health Minister Sussan Ley stopped short of announcing more ambitious structural changes to the health system.

Page 5: Productivity growth will stay mired at the current low level over the next 40 years unless governments take a more innovative approach to reform, lure more people into the workforce and keep older people working longer.

Page 6: Australia will send 300 extra soldiers to Iraq as part of a joint force with New Zealand to train the Iraqi army, which is preparing for a new phase in its fight against Islamic State, also referred to as Daish.

Page 10: Port Hedland tugboat workers may give up some of the concessions they won just four months ago, amid fears tugboat operator Teekay may not have its contract to operate in the nation’s biggest iron ore port renewed by BHP Billiton later this year.

Page 13: Dividend growth has more than doubled that of earnings in the February reporting season as Australian companies continued slashing costs to satisfy investors’ seemingly insatiable appetite for income.

Page 15: Woolworths has dropped plans to enter the discount department store sector in New Zealand and has sold its 8.8 per cent stake in New Zealand retailer The Warehouse Group for $NZ86.9 million ($84.1 million), less than half what it paid eight years ago.

Page 16: US streaming behemoth Netflix has revealed its Australian launch date, saying it will tap into the customer base of the country’s second-biggest internet service provider and screen the latest series of its hit drama House of Cards.

Page 19: Emerging Chinese gas player Sino Gas & Energy has more than doubled its gas reserves at its key project in the Ordos Basin and assured investors the resource can be profitably developed under China’s new gas pricing regime.

The Australian

Page 1: Budget deficits will be slashed by half over the decades ahead as a result of the Abbott government’s legislated savings, according to an official forecast that also reveals the long-term cost of the Senate’s veto of further reforms.

Page 2: Further rate cuts are likely to be required as the prospect of a return to normal growth rates is pushed further into the distance by weak business investment.

Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has a vision for Australian agriculture where no farmer will ever have to watch his starving cattle die in the dust or be forced off the family farm by drought.

Farmers’ incomes are rising, and it is has happened since the Abbott government came to power, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce claimed yesterday.

Page 6: Tony Abbott has accepted “chastisement’’ and dumped the GP co-payment but maintained a freeze on Medicare payments to general practitioners, a move doctors have warned will cut the rate of bulk-billing and hurt practices in vulnerable suburbs.

Page 19: The Reserve Bank has highlighted rising stock and property prices and sharply weaker commodities in its decision to keep official interest rates steady at a record low, while leaving the door open to another rate cut next month.

The world’s largest exporter of thermal coal, Glencore, has reported a drop in annual net income, as it flagged the potential for future economic setbacks.

According to oil and gas veteran Reg Nelson, who will next week draw the curtain on a 20-year era as managing director of Beach Energy, an oil price crash should not lead a company to duck for cover.

Page 21: Myer shares continued to lose ground yesterday as analysts and investors digested Monday’s news of the departure of long-serving chief executive Bernie Brookes along with his chief financial officer.

iiNet, the nation’s No 3 internet provider, has been hit with a fine of more than $200,000 for failing to adequately advertise the fine print on a range of its broadband plans.

Page 22: Foxtel and Seven Network have thrown down the gauntlet to US internet giant Netflix by securing an exclusive agreement with Telstra to re-sell their video streaming player service Presto.

Page 31: Brain drain from Australia’s national science organisation has accelerated, with the CSIRO workforce now at historic lows.

The West Australian

Page 1: Three tiny rocky outcrops discovered 300km off WA’s north-west coast have become the world’s most valuable real estate, worth at least $5 billion to State coffers in gas royalties.

Page 5: A WA Family Court judge has blamed “very lengthy” delays of up to more than a year in the delivery of verdicts on workload issues, commenting in two decisions published in one week that he is “painfully aware” of the time between hearings and written reasons.

Page 6: The Government has had to delay planned data retention laws after Labor demanded more protection for consumers and journalists.

Page 7: Malcolm Turnbull has sought to extinguish one of conservative Liberals’ lingering doubts about his possible return to the party leadership — his support for gay marriage.

Less than a month after the Barnett Government said all 1.15am and 2.15am trains would be cancelled, Transport Minister Dean Nalder has reversed the decision.

Page 10: Australians will pay $1 to post a letter that will take longer to deliver under a plan to save Australia Post and help the Budget.

Business: Macmahon Holdings has laid off another 50 workers under measures to restructure the business in the wake of losing its biggest contract.

An extraordinary legal technicality and WA’s Labour Day public holiday has left the receivers and creditors of Griffin Energy facing a $150 million shortfall on the sale of its Collie coal business to Lanco Infratech four years ago.

WA mining billionaire Andrew Forrest wants to tap into underground water reserves and Chinese capital as part of ambitious plans to open up vast tracts of northern Australia for irrigated agriculture.