Rudd escalates budget brawl
Labor has opened a new attack on Tony Abbott over cuts to government services before a budget update today that will reveal the risks to the nation’s finances and sharpen the election dispute over federal spending. The Aus
Abbott's slow tease on costings
The Coalition will try to defuse Labor attacks over its refusal so far to disclose detailed policy costings by releasing this week a fully costed paid parental leave policy and statement explaining the “comprehensive” processes it has used to cost other policies. The Fin
More pain, no gain for business
Economists have poured cold water on Tony Abbott’s promise of a boost to national growth from a company tax cut, as he prepares to confirm a new levy on big business that would erode the gains. The Aus
State's rating at risk after boom peak
Ratings agencies have warned the West Australian government that its AAA credit rating is still at risk of a downgrade, despite a move to implement money-saving budget measures. The Fin
Barnett buckles to backlash in solar panel backflip
The Barnett government has reversed its decision to slash the rooftop solar panel subsidy scheme, buckling to a furious public backlash, a backbench revolt and Liberal Party ructions that the federal election campaign was being undermined. The West
Not much Browse for WA
Fresh doubts have emerged over how much power Premier Colin Barnett wields over the non-conforming Woodside Browse LNG consortium amid suggestions the WA government controls as little as 4 per cent of the massive gas fields off the Kimberley coast. The West
Fears of bust as property runs hot
Record low interest rates are overheating key inner-city property markets, prompting experts to warn of dangerous boom- time conditions as lenders fight for a greater slice of the mortgage market. The Aus
Forecasts turn cost of water into liquid gold
Household consumers face average increases of more than 20 per cent in their water bills over the next three years, with annual revenue to the Water Corporation forecast to almost double to about $1 billion. The West
The West Australian
Page 1: The Barnett government has reversed its decision to slash the rooftop solar panel subsidy scheme, buckling to a furious public backlash, a backbench revolt and Liberal Party ructions that the federal election campaign was being undermined.
Page 3: Residents in Perth's leafiest suburbs are less likely to be obese than those in areas with limited green space, according to research examining the link between neighbourhood environments and weight.
Page 5: WA's renewable energy industry has greeted the Barnett government's solar subsidy backflip as a victory for common sense but denounced as ham-fisted the way it was handled.
Page 6: A WA federal Liberal MP has signalled a Tony Abbott-led government may have to consider “reversing” election promises, with figures expected to show the poor state of the federal budget.
Page 10: Household consumers face average increases of more than 20 per cent in their water bills over the next three years, with annual revenue to the Water Corporation forecast to almost double to about $1 billion.
Business: Fresh doubts have emerged over how much power Premier Colin Barnett wields over the non-conforming Woodside Browse LNG consortium amid suggestions the WA government controls as little as 4 per cent of the massive gas fields off the Kimberley coast.
Toro Energy has laid bare its plan to become WA's first uranium producer, yesterday acquiring Mega Uranium's Lake Maitland project in a $36.9 million scrip deal to create a new uranium precinct.
Newcrest Mining says it expects to cut costs at the Telfer mine in the Pilbara by about a third this year, as the company confirmed massive impairments to its operations and plunged to its first loss in more than a decade.
UGL will go back to its WA origins as an engineering specialist under a demerger which would spin off its global property services business.
NRW Holdings' chief financial officer quit after learning he was to be replaced as part of efforts to beef up management at the mining services company.
The board of the WA Cricket Association will consider calls for an independent review of its $500 million redevelopment in the wake of the shock resignation of George Jones.
JB Hi-Fi has defied a difficult trading environment to lift sales and profit, and expects the trend to continue for the next year.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The Coalition will try to defuse Labor attacks over its refusal so far to disclose detailed policy costings by releasing this week a fully costed paid parental leave policy and statement explaining the “comprehensive” processes it has used to cost other policies.
Newcrest Mining says it will have no qualms shutting higher-cost mines if the gold price falls further, as it seeks to preserve its balance sheet after reporting one of the biggest losses by a gold major.
Page 5: Former Labor Senate leader and communications minister Stephen Conroy has raised eyebrows among colleagues by slipping off to the United States for two weeks during the election campaign.
Labor has fallen badly behind after the first week of the election campaign, polling and betting markets show.
Page 6: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he wants to be known as an “infrastructure prime minister” but there are questions over whether the Coalition would continue with a range of projects announced by Labor.
Page 7: The Auditor-General Ian McPhee has been urged to launch a fresh investigation into whether the Rudd government has misused taxpayer funds and breached the caretaker convention in persisting with its anti-people-smuggling advertising blitz.
Page 8: Concern for the environment has halved among voters since the August 2010 election, while Kevin Rudd's decision to terminate the carbon tax early and move to an emissions trading scheme may not deliver Labor the political boost it needs.
Page 10: Executive pay s expected to suffer on the back of earnings seasons writedowns particularly n the resources sector, remuneration experts warn.
Page 11: Ratings agencies have warned the West Australian government that its AAA credit rating is still at risk of a downgrade, despite a move to implement money-saving budget measures.
Page 15: JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart says the retailer's days of growth are far from over, as emerging digital, commercial and home appliances ventures augment sales from new bricks and mortar stores.
UGL chief Richard Leupen has signalled the bottom may be near for the troubled contracting industry, as the savage cost-cutting cycle throughout the resources sector edges towards completion.
Page 17: Qantas Domestic has been forced to cut costs and improve customer service to attract and retain corporate travellers in a bid to match up against an aggressive Virgin Australia in a tough market.
Page 22: Mongolia's minister of mining has called on the projected $US5 billion second stage of Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi copper mine to be financed from cash flow just weeks after Rio's efforts to gain approval for the next stage of financing were suppressed by the country's government.
The Australian
Page 1: Labor has opened a new attack on Tony Abbott over cuts to government services before a budget update today that will reveal the risks to the nation’s finances and sharpen the election dispute over federal spending.
The troubled rollout of the National Broadband Network is threatening to erupt into legal action as subcontractors facing financial ruin consider suing Telstra over the asbestos shutdown.
Page 2: Holden's Victorian workforce has resolved not to vote on a new workplace agreement that will decide the future of the carmaker’s manufacturing operations in Australia.
The Barnett government has given in to overwhelming public opposition and growing resistance among Liberal MPs and reversed Thursday’s budget decision to halve the solar panel electricity feed- in tariff.
Page 3: Record low interest rates are overheating key inner-city property markets, prompting experts to warn of dangerous boom- time conditions as lenders fight for a greater slice of the mortgage market.
Page 4: One of the hand-picked authors of Labor’s GST review, Bruce Carter, has called for an urgent debate on the rate and scope of the impost, warning that failure to act will be a missed opportunity to improve the tax system and increase state revenues.
Page 6: Economists have poured cold water on Tony Abbott’s promise of a boost to national growth from a company tax cut, as he prepares to confirm a new levy on big business that would erode the gains.
Internal research from the Liberal Party shows that gay marriage is way down the priority list for voters and not identified as a “vote switcher’’, but voters see it as an important issue that they care about.
Labor has killed off a last- ditch bid to “save’’ informal votes, a risky move aimed at boosting it s chances of victory.
Business: Newcrest Mining has cited reputational repair and cost-cutting as key priorities this year after reporting the nation’s biggest ever full-year loss by a miner, after sliding gold prices forced a massive writedown of its assets.
Global financial markets are focusing too heavily on Chinese data that can be manipulated, and overlooking measures that give a true indication of the performance of the world’s second-largest economy, according to Macquarie Group.
A solid 11.2 per cent rise in annual profit from consumer electronics chain JB Hi-Fi has put pressure on fellow retailers to generate a return from a notoriously tough and low- margin product category.
James Hardie expects a strong performance from its Asia-Pacific business this year after more than doubling first-quarter net operating profit to $US142.2 million ($155m).
Engineering and services group UGL has slashed its final dividend by more than 80 per cent after a slump in annual profit, but plans to squeeze another year’s growth out of its international property arm to restore earnings to more ‘‘ normal’’ levels before the company is split in 2015.