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Abbott agrees to pay $499 million extra for WA road projects
Nine Perth road projects will share $499 million in extra funding under an Abbott Government bailout that will effectively keep WA’s GST share at existing levels. The West
Roy Hill contractors dispute deepens
NRW Holdings is digging in its heels in its payment dispute with Samsung C&T, issuing the South Korean construction giant with notices of dispute under its $620 million contract at the Roy Hill mine. The Fin
No agency safe from Nahan’s razor gang
Treasurer Mike Nahan claims he will deliver the lowest spending growth since the mid-1990s in next week’s State Budget as he vows to extend his expenditure razor gang to every Government department. The West
BHP says Forrest dug own hole
BHP Billiton iron ore chief Jimmy Wilson has hit back at Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest as the Fortescue Metals chairman steps up his campaign to get BHP and Rio Tinto to stop expanding their iron ore production. The Aus
RBA cuts to 2pc but $A rallies
The Reserve Bank of Australia has shunned the growing agony of savers and the risks of an asset crash by pushing official interest rates even lower in an effort to suppress the strong dollar and support next week’s budget. The Fin
No gain in excess capital says ANZ
ANZ Banking Group may sell its stakes in banks in Indonesia, Malaysia and China to satisfy Australian regulators who want all banks to hold more capital, but delivered a sharp rebuke to investment banks which have been pushing it to raise extra money through a share sale. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The Reserve Bank of Australia has shunned the growing agony of savers and the risks of an asset crash by pushing official interest rates even lower in an effort to suppress the strong dollar and support next week’s budget.
Page 5: Corporate women want tax breaks for childcare to combat the black market of nannies and help boards hit 30 per cent female representation targets.
Page 9: Australian companies that invest in overseas technology should be able to claim tax credits in Australia to lower their tax liabilities owed to foreign governments, according to ANZ and Coca-Cola Amatil chair David Gonski.
Page 15: ANZ Banking Group may sell its stakes in banks in Indonesia, Malaysia and China to satisfy Australian regulators who want all banks to hold more capital, but delivered a sharp rebuke to investment banks which have been pushing it to raise extra money through a share sale.
Page 17: One of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto’s biggest investors, Aberdeen Asset Management, wants both companies to make big acquisitions of mining projects while prices and debt are cheap.
Former Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese says his new business, Indian mining giant Vedanta Resources, is gunning to restart iron ore production as soon as October, after India last week cut its duties on lower-grade exports of the commodity.
Page 18: Qantas Airways has begun hiring flight attendants and has offered cash incentives to international crews to work on their rostered days off because of a shortage of staff for international flights.
Page 20: NRW Holdings is digging in its heels in its payment dispute with Samsung C&T, issuing the South Korean construction giant with notices of dispute under its $620 million contract at the Roy Hill mine.
The Australian
Page 1: Tony Abbott will announce as early as today that the federal government has agreed to hand Western Australia a one-off revenue bonanza of at least $600 million to compensate for the state’s plummeting GST share.
Page 2: The Coalition is considering a deal with Labor to settle the new Renewable Energy Target after crossbench senators demanded that at least a quarter of future subsidies be set aside for solar, geothermal and new hydroelectricity.
Page 3: Clive Palmer has defended his direct role in what a Queensland judge described as the “unexplained creation of an apparently false contract’’ as a common and legal practice among Australia’s private companies.
Page 5: International students contributed a record $17.5 billion to the Australian economy for the 12 months to the end of March, according to government figures released just days after the Productivity Commission warned the rapid growth and increasing dependence on international students was creating governance problems and issues with visa integrity.
Page 19: Financial markets snubbed the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest attempt to weaken the dollar after the central bank signalled it could be near the end of its rate-cutting cycle.
National Australia Bank has quietly pulled out of the investor property market for self-managed superannuation funds, in the latest move by a major bank that will ease regulatory concerns about a residential property bubble in Sydney and Melbourne.
BHP Billiton shareholders are set to vote overwhelmingly in favour today for the demerger of South32, which will house a bunch of assets BHP does not want, yet is one expected to be big enough to vie to be counted as an ASX top 20 listed company.
Page 20: BHP Billiton iron ore chief Jimmy Wilson has hit back at Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest as the Fortescue Metals chairman steps up his campaign to get BHP and Rio Tinto to stop expanding their iron ore production.
Page 21: The local boss of US retail giant Costco is more than ready for a price war if Woolworths launches a new battle for shoppers by slashing food and grocery prices.
Page 30: The government’s plan to seek HECS repayments from overseas graduates is long overdue but will do little to address the growing problem of ballooning bad debt as enrolment numbers rise, experts say.
The West Australian
Page 1: Nine Perth road projects will share $499 million in extra funding under an Abbott Government bailout that will effectively keep WA’s GST share at existing levels.
Page 6: WA councils have delivered a $5 million bill to the State Government for its failed local government reform plan.
Page 7: Treasurer Mike Nahan claims he will deliver the lowest spending growth since the mid-1990s in next week’s State Budget as he vows to extend his expenditure razor gang to every Government department.
Page 21: The City of Fremantle has defended its decision to partner with a private developer in the $270 million overhaul of its city centre but acknowledged the deal was at risk if the State Government failed to move the Department of Housing to the port city.
Business: ANZ revealed a better-than-expected $3.7 billion half-year profit yesterday but chief executive Mike Smith warned the subdued economic outlook could hamper the bank’s ability to grow.
The Japanese owners of one of WA’s biggest private power producers have been given an 11th-hour reprieve over plans to build two more coal-fired plants in the South West.
A recapitalisation and a change of city offices has better positioned DJ Carmichael to tackle what remains one of the toughest markets for Perth stockbrokers in a generation.
The Federal Government is looking into a $130 million AusGroup port redevelopment project in the Northern Territory amid claims its environmental impact has not been assessed.