Morning Headlines

WA flags defiance over GST rejection

Faceless Canberra bureaucrats are urging Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey to do nothing about WA’s

record low share of the GST, leaving the Barnett Government threatening a campaign of disobedience. The West

Shell’s big bet on Qld liquid gas

Oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell will take control of a $26 billion LNG processing plant in Queensland after negotiating a £47 billion ($91 billion) takeover of BG Group. The Fin

Three-strikes policy for pirates

Telcos including Telstra, Optus, iiNet and Vodafone have agreed to implement the new scheme which will see the personal details of online copyright infringers handed to big movie and television companies. The Aus

Gina Rinehart mothballs Mulga Downs iron ore mine

Gina Rinehart has mothballed development of a new iron ore mine on her family cattle station in the Pilbara, as legal battles with her estranged children drag on and the iron ore price crashes. The West

Smaller miners in danger zone

Small and mid-cap Australian miners will struggle to escape the fate of Atlas Iron as the iron ore price staggers far below their costs of production, fund managers warn, with Gindalbie Metals potentially the next domino to fall. The Fin

‘No way’ to a Glencore-Rio merger: Hockey

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has emerged as the biggest obstacle to Glencore’s hopes of making a second attempt to merge with unwilling target Rio Tinto. The Fin

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell will take control of a $26 billion LNG processing plant in Queensland after negotiating a £47 billion ($91 billion) takeover of BG Group.

After a year of insisting it has excellent relations with the Tax Office, Apple Australia, with Google and Microsoft, were forced to admit to a Senate committee on corporate tax avoidance it is among 12 technology companies facing major audits.

Page 4: Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey faces the wrath of every state and territory except for Western Australia should he push ahead with plans to grant the west extra GST revenue.

Page 5: John Fraser has said it is time for a ‘‘fundamental rethink’’ about the unintended consequences of superannuation and housing tax breaks interacting to produce ‘‘middle-class welfare’’.

Page 6: Companies appearing before a senate inquiry into tax avoidance are on notice that any false evidence they give will be corrected by the Tax Office.

Page 11: A $100 million election commitment to remove 50 dangerous railway level crossings in Victoria and replace them with under or overpasses, using 100 per cent Australian-made steel, breaches trade agreements recently signed with South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Page 17: A full bench of the Federal Court has vindicated ANZ for charging bank fees to errant customers, in a spectacular dismissal of a multi-million dollar class action that raises questions as to how the case reached such judicial heights.

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has emerged as the biggest obstacle to Glencore’s hopes of making a second attempt to merge with unwilling target Rio Tinto.

Page 19: Small and mid-cap Australian miners will struggle to escape the fate of Atlas Iron as the iron ore price staggers far below their costs of production, fund managers warn, with Gindalbie Metals potentially the next domino to fall.

Page 20: The Foreign Investment Review Board has approved China Communications Construction Company’s $1 billion acquisition of John Holland from Leighton Holdings after a slight delay.

Page 22: The two largest shareholders of mining equipment rental business Emeco Holdings have urged their company’s board to pursue a merger with private competitor Orionstone.

Page 34: Department store Myer is likely to cancel two of three new stores, a sign it is giving up on growth through conventional expansion.

The Australian

Page 1: Technology giants Google and Microsoft have revealed they are routing the bulk of their Australian sales through low-tax Singapore and, along with fellow multinational Apple, are being audited by the Australian Taxation Office.

Agreement on pension reform is within reach as the federal government negotiates an $8 billion saving that is gaining qualified support from the Greens as long as it is part of a thorough review of retirement incomes.

Page 2: An analysis of the ebb and flow of Australian cities and towns over a 100-year period has predicted that Perth, the nation’s fourth largest city behind Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, will overtake the Queensland capital by 2050 and become the third most populated Australian city with an estimated growth of 129 per cent over the next 35 years.

Page 3: It was the prospect of a “massive campaign” run by multinational publishers and featuring high profile writers that scared Labor off removing parallel import restrictions on books, former minister Craig Emerson concedes.

Page 4: News Corp Australia boss Julian Clarke has thrown down the gauntlet to parliament, calling for new rules to close a welter of loopholes used by Google and Netflix to minimise corporation tax bills.

Page 6: State treasurers are set for a clash with Joe Hockey over cuts to their share of the GST amid concerns that Western Australia and Queensland will be given more of the proceeds from the $57 billion consumption tax.

Page 19: The oil industry has long been deal-crazy. Last year, more than 1800 deals were cut globally with a value of more than $US450 billion.

Embattled miner Atlas Iron has little prospect of securing an asset sale, bankers and analysts have warned.

Page 21: Telcos including Telstra, Optus, iiNet and Vodafone have agreed to implement the new scheme which will see the personal details of online copyright infringers handed to big movie and television companies.

Page 22: Unnecessary policy barriers in some states are adding to the issue of tightened gas supply, the government’s energy white paper warns, as it also outlines that foreign investment is key to developing Australia’s resources.

The West Australian

Page 1: Faceless Canberra bureaucrats are urging Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey to do nothing about WA’s record low share of the GST, leaving the Barnett Government threatening a campaign of disobedience.

Page 3: One of WA’s biggest egg producers misled by claiming its eggs were free range when some if its barns held up to 14 chickens a square metre, it was alleged in the Federal Court yesterday.

Page 6: Theatre nurses at Fiona Stanley Hospital want the number of operations halved at the hospital while officials sort out recent sterilisation failures.

Page 7: The lawyer representing Dallas Buyers Club in its landmark piracy case says it is chasing 28,000 Australians identified to have pirated the movie and that it was “very likely” they will all receive a notice in the mail.

Page 9: Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG project has made it harder for workers to travel to Onslow after allegations of drunken behaviour in the Pilbara town that resulted in four employees being kicked out of the camp.

Page 11: Coral Bay, one of WA’s premier tourist spots and home to internationally recognised Ningaloo reef, will be allowed to accommodate an extra 800 visitors despite concerns for fish stocks and the strain on water, waste disposal and electricity services.

Business: Two of Emeco Holdings’ biggest shareholders have thrown their weight behind a merger bid from rival heavy equipment renter Orionstone.

Gina Rinehart has mothballed development of a new iron ore mine on her family cattle station in the Pilbara, as legal battles with her estranged children drag on and the iron ore price crashes.

Atlas Iron’s decision to review its business prospects has opened up a new threat to the State Government’s debt-reduction strategy, throwing new doubts over the sale of Utah Point terminal in Port Hedland.