Morning Headlines

Reality hits Labor with 12 seats lost

Labor has redirected its campaign resources to save embattled MPs in NSW and Queensland amid expectations the party will lose at least 12 seats to leave Tony Abbott with a comfortable parliamentary majority of 20. The Aus

Abbott under fire over surplus

One of former treasurer Wayne Swan's toughest critics has turned on the Coaliton saying Australians should be alarmed by the possibility an Abbott government would take a decade to return the budget to surplus. The Fin

$6500 to get a job

Long-term unemployed people will be offered bonuses up to $6,500 if they find a job and keep it, under a coalition policy aimed at young voters to be unveiled today. The West

Rudd backs Geraldton to Busselton fast train

Building a high-speed rail link between Geraldton and Busselton via Perth is an “exciting prospect”, Kevin Rudd says, despite the east coast's fast train being stuck at the station since it was mooted in the 1990s. The West

Dividend dining in a growth famine

Australian companies will pay more than $54 billion worth of dividends in the 2013 financial year, but payout levels are nearing their historical peak, reflecting tepid economic conditions and a subdued earnings outlook. The Fin

Japan push to alter LNG prices

Japan has ratcheted up its attack on high Australian LNG prices, saying US shale gas exports could slash prices by up to 30 per cent and inviting industry players in a bid to break the traditional LNG pricing model and encourage new supply. The Aus

Founder steps in with $3m lifeline for Reed

Reed Resources chairman David Reed has thrown the struggling company a $3 million lifeline, but the loan could be called back in if shareholders move to dump him or other Reed board members. The West

Cliffs joins senators in Roy Hill protest

Gina Rinehart's $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project faces a new challenge to its attempt to secure debt funding from US export credit agencies after politicians wrote to the US Export-Import Bank to oppose a $US650 million loan to buy American-made machinery. The West

Silver Lake gets lucky as gold lifts

Silver Lake Resources has described a $64 million capital raising as a prudent measure as speculation rises that other gold miners will take advantage of a rally in the gold price to shore up their balance sheets. The Fin

Forrest digs in on council heritage row

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has overcome formidable obstacles in his bid to transform Western Australia’s vast north into a mining powerhouse, but his battles to renovate his house, Pine Lodge, in Perth’s Cottesloe are proving just as challenging, after the local council stalled his plans to renovate his heritage home. The Aus

The West Australian

Page 1: Long-term unemployed people will be offered bonuses up to $6,500 if they find a job and keep it, under a coalition policy aimed at young voters to be unveiled today.

Page 4: The Barnett government is poised to water down another unpopular budget measure and soften the $4,000 fee for 457 temporary work visa holders to sent their children to state schools.

A call by Chief Justice Wayne Martin to fund more “justice re-investment” programs has been endorsed by the WA Stolen Generations Alliance.

Page 9: One of WA's most senior corporate women, Sue Murphy, says parents are inadvertently contributing to a lack of students studying high school maths and science by emphasising how “difficult” the subjects are.

Page 10: Building a high-speed rail link between Geraldton and Busselton via Perth is an “exciting prospect”, Kevin Rudd says, despite the east coast's fast train being stuck at the station since it was mooted in the 1990s.

Page 11: The major parties are hiding some of their biggest policies from voters even as some start to cast their ballots.

Tony Abbott has pledged to reveal some of the coalition's costings in coming days but will leave the final budget bottom line until as late as possible before next week's election.

Page 13: Theft and loss of taxpayer-funded electronic equipment is rife in the public sector with almost 700 laptop computers and mobile phones worth more than $440,000 going missing last financial year.

Business: Reed Resources chairman David Reed has thrown the struggling company a $3 million lifeline, but the loan could be called back in if shareholders move to dump him or other Reed board members.

Gina Rinehart's $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project faces a new challenge to its attempt to secure debt funding from US export credit agencies after politicians wrote to the US Export-Import Bank to oppose a $US650 million loan to buy American-made machinery.

A glimmer of light has emerged in the much maligned gold exploration sector, with three Perth juniors yesterday banking much-needed share gains.

Global driller Boart Longyear has capped a horror first half of the year amid the mining downturn by taking a $US315 million hi in charges.

Just weeks after taking over at Aspen Group, chief executive Clem Salwin has revealed the embattled company plans to quit its $311 million commercial property portfolio to become a pure accommodation sector player.

Mining contractor MACA has shrugged off industry uncertainty by tipping a 15 per cent boost in revenue in 2013-14.

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: One of former treasurer Wayne Swan's toughest critics has turned on the Coalition saying Australians should be alarmed by the possibility an Abbott government would take a decade to return the budget to surplus.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has criticised plans to deny his party the trade portfolio should the Coalition win government, saying the position needs to be held by somebody with an affinity for agriculture and manufacturing.

Page 3: Mirvac Group's outgoing chairman, James MacKenzie, may have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle a tax liability relating to his directorship of the listed landlord after the charge prompted a board-level debate, sources said.

Page 6: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has suggested his paid parental leave scheme could join the carbon tax as a trigger for a double dissolution election by warning that, if elected, he would have “the clearest possible mandate” for the contentious policy.

Page 8: Coalition MP Malcolm Turnbull has admitted the dominance of supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths is “extraordinary” and says their market leverage is “without precedent anywhere else in the world”.

Page 11: Federal legislation will be audited by a future Coalition government to identify provisions that force employers and individuals to show they have not acted unlawfully.

Page 13: State-level opinion polling shows Labor is in a worse electoral position than the widely publicised national polling.

The law firm Slater & Gordon has avoided having to hand eight confidential documents to the Victoria Police inquiry into the financial dealings involving former officials of the Australian Workers' Union in the early 1990s.

Page 15: Australian companies will pay more than $54 billion worth of dividends in the 2013 financial year, but payout levels are nearing their historical peak, reflecting tepid economic conditions and a subdued earnings outlook.

The biggest Australian-listed contract driller, Boart Longyear, won't predict when the market for mining services will recover, but has warned his companies earnings will remain under pressure at least until the end of the year.

Page 22: Silver Lake Resources has described a $64 million capital raising as a prudent measure as speculation rises that other gold miners will take advantage of a rally in the gold price to shore up their balance sheets.

The Australian

Page 1: Labor has redirected its campaign resources to save embattled MPs in NSW and Queensland amid expectations the party will lose at least 12 seats to leave Tony Abbott with a comfortable parliamentary majority of 20.

Kevin Rudd appears to have ditched another Julia Gillard policy, overturning the former prime minister’s decision not to move a major part of the Australian navy to the north.

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has overcome formidable obstacles in his bid to transform Western Australia’s vast north into a mining powerhouse, but his battles to renovate his house, Pine Lodge, in Perth’s Cottesloe are proving just as challenging, after the local council stalled his plans to renovate his heritage home.

Japan has ratcheted up its attack on high Australian LNG prices, saying US shale gas exports could slash prices by up to 30 per cent and inviting industry players in a bid to break the traditional LNG pricing model and encourage new supply.

Page 2: Employers have failed t o achieve productivity trade-offs in almost nine out of 10 workplace deals struck in the resources sector under Labor’s workplace laws.

Page 4: Irrigators and cotton producers have warned that development of coal- seam gas mining in NSW must not be rushed or its risks could be catastrophic to local food and farm production.

Telstra put an end to the asbestos shutdown on its pits and pipes — needed for the National Broadband Network — yesterday and the work was confined to Victoria.

Page 6: Australia will not see another federal surplus for a generation without comprehensive tax reform and spending constraint, according to a warning to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia that forecast combined government deficits of $669 billion by the middle of the century.

Page 7: Political aspirant Clive Palmer’s company Waratah Coal has been flouting environmental regulations and risks prosecution for drilling almost 300 exploration holes on private cattle properties and failing to rehabilitate them over several years.

Business: Japan has ratcheted up its attack on high Australian LNG prices — hailing US shale gas exports as a game changer that could slash prices by up to 30 per cent — and is inviting industry players to Tokyo next month as it looks to break the traditional LNG pricing model and encourage new supply.

Mirvac Group is investigating the company’s taxation treatment of fringe benefits received by chairman James MacKenzie.

The businesses owned by former Neighbours star Scott Michaelson owed about $12.1 million to Bankwest when it placed his companies into receivership in December 2009, with the former actor now claiming millions of dollars in compensation from the bank he claims wrongly destroyed a profitable business.

British and South African banking group Investec is confident it can revive profits in its Australian operations, after this month shutting several business units and laying off more than 50 staff.

Drilling contractor Boart Longyear is scrambling to secure fresh debt funding as it looks to avoid another dilutive equity raising, after cuts to its workforce failed to stem a fall in earnings.

Confidence levels among farmers, agricultural businesses and food exporters jumped in the three months to July after good early winter rain and a fall in the Australian dollar.