Morning Headlines

Lanco cries foul over coal sale

The Indian owners of Griffin Coal are suing the administrators who sold them the Collie miner, claiming they were deceived into overpaying. The West

Investors weigh BHP split

BHP Billiton’s chief executive, Andrew MacKenzie, has described the miner’s proposed $US13 billion ($17bn) demerger of its base metals and coal assets into Perth-based South32 as a “phenomenal offer”, but the move has met with mixed reviews from investors and analysts. The Aus

Libs tighten checks on 457 visas

Integrity checks on the 457 skilled visa program will be strengthened, including by sharing data with the Australian Taxation Office, to ensure overseas workers receive their nominated salary and are not undercutting Australian jobs. The Aus

Open just six weeks, ED already city’s busiest

Fiona Stanley Hospital now has Perth’s busiest emergency department, treating almost 300 patients a day on average in the past week. The West

Improved customer service the key to boosting Myer sales

Department store retailer Myer needs to lift staff numbers by at least 8 per cent or an average of six people in each of its 67 stores to improve customer service and reverse a 20-year slide in sales. The Fin

States fail to calm privatisation fears: AusPost’s Stanhope

Australia Post chairman and AGL Energy director John Stanhope has called for a wholesale review of the national energy market and claimed state governments had failed to properly sell the merits of privatising electricity assets. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: A key adviser on the Baird government’s partial privatisation of the electricity network, UBS, published a research report claiming the privatisation would hurt the state’s budget over the long term.

South32 chief executive elect Graham Kerr insists the $US13 billion spin-off’s low level of debt does not make the miner a takeover target, despite one prominent shareholder claiming a potential acquirer could use a likely sell-down by the new company’s London-based investors to build a stake.

Page 3: Fairfax Media chairman and Reserve Bank of Australia board member Roger Corbett has welcomed the prospect of a falling Australian dollar once the US Federal Reserve begins to tighten monetary policy, but warned market fallout was difficult to predict.

Page 4: Some 700 big private companies are likely to be exempted from disclosing how much tax they pay because of fears their wealthy owners could be targeted by kidnappers.

Page 7: Companies and their employees would be allowed to exclude unions and the Fair Work Commission from workplace agreements under a radical overhaul of the industrial relations system proposed by BlueScope Steel.

Page 8: Australia faces greater isolation in the United States-led battle to curtail the power of China’s new specialist infrastructure lender, with more European countries now set to join the $US50 billion ($65.36 billion) institution.

Page 11: BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie’s bold plan to drive costs out of the slimmed-down BHP Billiton by modelling it on an advanced manufacturer will allow the miner to boost its earnings by $US260 million for every 1 per cent reduction in costs.

Fortescue Metals Group has turned to the junk bond market for $US2.5 billion ($3.27 billion) after US loan investors demanded better terms, forcing the miner to pay up to extend and refinance its debt.

More than $1 billion has been wiped off the market value of Sirtex Medical after the company said its much anticipated clinical trial of its novel liver cancer therapy failed to show a significant improvement over standard chemotherapy.

Page 13: Department store retailer Myer needs to lift staff numbers by at least 8 per cent or an average of six people in each of its 67 stores to improve customer service and reverse a 20-year slide in sales.

The Australian

Page 1: The federal government has rejected last-minute pleas for stronger safeguards to protect press freedom in a new surveillance regime that is set to be legislated within days.

Page 2: Integrity checks on the 457 skilled visa program will be strengthened, including by sharing data with the Australian Taxation Office, to ensure overseas workers receive their nominated salary and are not undercutting Australian jobs.

The effectiveness of the emerging compromise over the government’s metadata retention bill can be judged against a benchmark that is already part of federal law: the shield law that protects journalists’ confidential sources.

Page 3: The debate over access to new cancer drugs has escalated with pharmaceutical companies labelling Australia’s approval process one of the slowest in the developed world, while health officials accuse the companies of trying to game the system.

Joe Hockey could be in line for a payout as high as $1 million if his defamation suit against Fairfax Media is successful.

Page 6: The government will reintroduce laws to “liberate” universities in the winter sitting of parliament, after the Senate again torpedoed its reform plans last night.

Page 19: BHP Billiton’s chief executive, Andrew MacKenzie, has described the miner’s proposed $US13 billion ($17bn) demerger of its base metals and coal assets into Perth-based South32 as a “phenomenal offer”, but the move has met with mixed reviews from investors and analysts.

Australia Post chairman and AGL Energy director John Stanhope has called for a wholesale review of the national energy market and claimed state governments had failed to properly sell the merits of privatising electricity assets.

Page 20: Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has had to tweak its planned debt refinancing to include a more costly bond issue, after it was unable to secure a suitably attractive term loan.

The West Australian

Page 1: WA football fans will pay more for game day food and drink than supporters in other States.

Page 3: The Church of Scientology plans to build a $6 million church in Rivervale with capacity for nearly 200 people to serve what it says is a growing membership.

Page 4: Fiona Stanley Hospital now has Perth’s busiest emergency department, treating almost 300 patients a day on average in the past week.

Page 6: WA looks set for a big win on GST distribution after State Treasurer Mike Nahan let slip that Federal counterpart Joe Hockey planned to sit on a crucial Commonwealth report until after the NSW election.

Page 7: Albany Highway in Cannington has retained its dubious honour of being Perth’s worst accident hotspot.

Page 14: Tony Abbott has promised nervous backbenchers that his Government will not deliver a “bad news Budget” in May amid concern that Treasurer Joe Hockey is intent on pursuing unpopular savings.

Page 18: Entrepreneur Kate Lamont believes the South West “desperately needs” direct international flights from Asia to tap its tourism potential.

Business: The Indian owners of Griffin Coal are suing the administrators who sold them the Collie miner, claiming they were deceived into overpaying.

The $53 million sale of truck rental company Rentco is under threat after two of Emeco Holdings’ biggest shareholders threatened a board spill if it is not called off.

The State Government is attempting to pull itself out of the information and communications technology dark ages, announcing this morning a $25 million commitment to a “renewal and reform fund”.

Woodside Petroleum has begun the process of restarting production at its $15 billion Pluto LNG project, satisfied a drifting drill rig would no longer endanger its subsea network of gas pipelines.

A peak business group has rejected a union demand that workers returning from parental leave have the right to their old job at reduced hours.