Treasury sounds budget alarm
Treasury has sounded a dire warning that the budget could be in far worse shape than the government’s economic statement suggests, with revenue possibly falling much lower and spending rising higher. The Aus
Hockey rejects surplus date
The federal Coalition will go to the September 7 election refusing to say when it will return the budget to surplus, claiming the key numbers in Treasury's final pre-election budget update are too volatile to trust. The Fin
Asbestos will delay rollout, says NBN
Voters will be deprived of the latest forecasts for the cost and timing of the National Broadband Network before the election, as delays caused by potential asbestos contamination force the government company rolling out Labor’s flagship project to modify its business plan. The Aus
Nahan kept in dark over solar rate cuts
Energy Minister Mike Nahan never received a formal ministerial briefing note about the implications of slashing the solar panel subsidy scheme before he agreed to Treasurer Troy Buswell's plan to axe the payment. The West
Iron ore price may lift mining profits
The rising spot price of iron ore, combined with a lower Australian dollar, could lead to widespread upgrades of the profit forecasts for local producers including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group. The Fin
FMG mulls machinery sale
Fortescue Metals Group is considering the sale of tens of millions of dollars worth of mining equipment which has become surplus to requirements because of the company's ability to slash the strip ratios at its Pilbara mines. The West
Antal takes top job at Alacer
Alacer Gold chief executive David Quinlivan has parted ways with the mid-tier miner, only a week after putting on a brave face on the company's sharemarket woes at Kalgoorlie's Diggers & Dealers conference. The West
Worst is over for housing: Stockland
Listed property group Stockland believes the worst is over for the nation’s housing market, but despite talk of a housing price bubble, chief executive Mark Steinert says a recovery will be modest and uneven f or some time. The Aus
The West Australian
Page 1: Revered Essendon figures James Hird and Mark Thompson are fighting for their reputations and careers after last night being charged by the AFL over their role in the club's controversial supplements program.
Page 3: An investigation has been launched into why money earmarked for cycling projects across the state has not been invested.
Page 5: The so-called “health by postcode” chasm is widening between Perth's wealthy and battler suburbs with people living in eastern suburbs facing alarming doctor and nurse shortages while the western suburbs enjoy plenty of both, a new report warns.
Page 6: The coalition must find at least $16 billion in new spending cuts or back tax increases to stop the budget going further into the red.
Page 7: Tony Abbott has chastised WA Liberal MP Don Randall for saying the coalition might dump some election promises if the budget position worsens.
Page 11: Energy Minister Mike Nahan never received a formal ministerial briefing note about the implications of slashing the solar panel subsidy scheme before he agreed to Treasurer Troy Buswell's plan to axe the payment.
Page 16: Perth property heavyweight Nigel Satterley is trading one part of the expensive suburb he calls “a nice part of the world” for another after being revealed as the buyer of a $17.5 million riverfront Peppermint Grove home.
Kimberley pastoralists face five years of vigilance against a killer cattle disease after the latest round of tests that have resulted in 177 bulls slaughtered.
Page 17: Union bosses have urged Labor and the coalition to support the beleaguered car industry after Holden workers in Adelaide accepted a new pay deal to help save the company's Australian manufacturing operations.
Page 18: Already reeling from the Barnett government's decision to not honour its pre-election funding commitment, Tourism WA is now being asked to find another $2.4 million in savings.
Business: Fortescue Metals Group is considering the sale of tens of millions of dollars worth of mining equipment which has become surplus to requirements because of the company's ability to slash the strip ratios at its Pilbara mines.
A former Australian Farmer of the Year has vowed to stay in the industry, despite putting his three dairies near Scott River in the South West on the market for about $20 million.
Alacer Gold chief executive David Quinlivan has parted ways with the mid-tier miner, only a week after putting on a brave face on the company's sharemarket woes at Kalgoorlie's Diggers & Dealers conference.
Ezeatm has fired back a shot in its battle with Todd Zani by launching legal action against the co-founder and axed chief executive on the eve of a crucial shareholder meeting.
Manufacturing giant Hitachi Construction Machinery has unveiled plans to build a $100 million service facility in Armadale.
Caves House Hotel in Yallingup has been sold to hospitality operator Peter Cribb after a long campaign by receivers to find a buyer for the historic hotel.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The federal Coalition will go to the September 7 election refusing to say when it will return the budget to surplus, claiming the key numbers in Treasury's final pre-election budget update are too volatile to trust.
Treasury has delivered a stark warning to Australia's politicians and voters; a failure to keep a leash on spending and raise taxes could lead to another lost decade of budget deficits and rising debt.
Tony Abbott has tried to shut down the GST debate that has dogged his campaign but key Coalition figures continue to suggest that increasing the tax would be part of a post-election tax review and could be taken to voters at a 2016 poll.
China, long a minor buyer of Australian agricultural commodities, may be about the emerge as the biggest customer of Australian wheat farmers.
Page 3: Business conditions are as bad as they have been in four years and business confidence is worsening, according to a regular National Australia Bank survey that has raised fears of deteriorating unemployment.
Page 7: Kevin Rudd has challenged Tony Abbott to participate in four more election debates on the free-to-air TV networks, rather than a pair of “people's forums” on pay-TV channel Sky News.
Page 8: Manufacturing unions tried to play down the precedent set by GM Holden workers accepting a three-year pay freeze and shift changes in a bid to ensure that the car maker continues local production beyond 2016.
Page 9: One of the country's top private property developers, Perth-based Nigel Satterley, is getting ready to offload one of his Peppermint Grove mansions, immediately after paying $17.5 million for another.
Page 10: Australia is the world's most expensive place for international students, according to research by HSBC Bank, which compared the combined cost of university fees and living expenses in major countries.
Page 13: The rising spot price of iron ore, combined with a lower Australian dollar, could lead to widespread upgrades of the profit forecasts for local producers including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group.
Page 15: Investors are bracing for a $3 billion rush of floats before Christmas, with Australia's equity capital markets set for their best year in three.
Page 16: David Jones will reduce its exposure to low-margin categories such as white-goods, travel goods and stationery by refurbishing and shrinking new stores rather than outsourcing departments.
The Australian
Page 1: Treasury has sounded a dire warning that the budget could be in far worse shape than the government’s economic statement suggests, with revenue possibly falling much lower and spending rising higher.
Voters will be deprived of the latest forecasts for the cost and timing of the National Broadband Network before the election, as delays caused by potential asbestos contamination force the government company rolling out Labor’s flagship project to modify its business plan.
Labor has come under fire over “misleading” and “defamatory” advertising in several battleground electorates, after issuing leaflets warning that the Liberal Party would privatise council-owned suburban parks, childcare centres and pools in western Sydney.
The militant construction union is pumping tens of thousands of dollars into Labor’s election campaign, warning voters in the nation’s most marginal seat they will be “flooded’” with foreign workers if Tony Abbott wins the election.
Page 2: Business has put manufacturing workers and unions on notice to expect more robust wage negotiations after Holden workers voted to accept reduced entitlements and a three-year wage freeze to help the carmaker stay in Australia beyond 2016.
Business profitability remains mired at 4½-year lows, confounding hopes that lower interest rates and a falling Australian dollar would help revive the non- mining sector and raising doubts about the government’s latest economic forecasts.
Page 3: Up to 1300 jobs will be slashed at Rio Tinto’s Mount Thorley Warkworth mine in the NSW Hunter Valley because of a Land and Environment Court decision to block an expansion to operations.
Page 5: Plans by a raft of minor parties to seize the balance of power in the Senate from the Greens appear to be unravelling but the threat to Christine Milne’s party in the lower house is intensifying amid reports Tony Abbott will today direct the Liberal Party to put the Greens last on how-to-vote cards.
Swinging voters’ attitudes to gay marriage have shifted over the past two years, with the proportion ‘‘more likely’’ to support a pro gay marriage party or candidate up from 4 per cent to 20 per cent.
Page 6: Thousands of Australians could be kept out of work for years longer than previously forecast, according to a budget update that reshapes the election campaign by highlighting risks to the economy.
Treasury officials have revealed a $3.5 billion risk to the federal budget if Canberra does not cut t he number of asylum-seekers coming by boat, leading to a new fight over whether Labor’s policies can curb arrivals.
Treasury has stuck to its controversial projection that European carbon prices will soar to $38 a tonne by 2019-20 — but admitted that this figure could be wildly wrong.
Page 8: Feminists have chided Tony Abbott, accusing him of old-fashioned sexism after he referred to the ‘‘sex appeal’’ of a female candidate in western Sydney.
Leading business figures have backed the Coalition’s position to include the GST in a review of taxation, despite Labor demands that the impost be exempted and frozen in its current form.
Business: Listed property group Stockland believes the worst is over for the nation’s housing market, but despite talk of a housing price bubble, chief executive Mark Steinert says a recovery will be modest and uneven for some time.
Santos chief David Knox appears to be on the home stretch of a five-year building phase that has the potential to add more than $ 1.2 billion to annual cashflows and set the stage for future growth and bigger returns to shareholders.
Australia needs to rationalise and refocus its food and agriculture assistance programs and create new financial structures to motivate superannuation fund investment in those industries, according to the Asia-Pacific head of Vegemite and Cadbury chocolate manufacturer Mondelez International.
The culling of more than 1000 jobs at mining consumables group Bradken has helped insulate the company’s earnings from the downturn sweeping through the resources sector.
Mirabela has continued to rack up heavy losses at its flagship Santa Rita nickel mine in Brazil, despite progress on driving cash costs of production lower.
The nation’s first commercially producing shale gas well continues to flow at much stronger rates than the US shale industry experience suggests it should, which Santos chief David Knox says should bode well for subsequent wells and development of a shale industry in the onshore Cooper Basin.