Morning Headlines

Woodside faces costs battle on WA gas projects

Woodside Petroleum faces a battle to rein in costs on the Browse and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas projects in Western Australia, piling pressure on the energy producer as it attempts to resurrect a $11.6 billion takeover of Oil Search amid low oil prices. The Fin

Sober outlook for economy

The federal Treasury officially downgraded Australia’s potential economic growth rate just as Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens told Baby Boomer shareholders to curb their expectations of ever-rising dividends. The Fin

Calibre to target infrastructure

Calibre Group’s plan to remove its stock from the Australian Securities Exchange is the ‘‘best option’’ for the engineering group because it buys time to diversify away from the resources industry into infrastructure projects, chairman Ray Horsburgh said. The Fin

Empire anticipates trouble

Empire Oil & Gas is expecting a fiery reception from minority shareholders at today’s annual meeting, two years since a new broom swept through the fledgling energy producer and promised an era of returns for investors. The West

Welborn Resolute on Mali despite hotel terror

Resolute Mining managing director John Welborn says he is no more worried about operating in Mali now than he was a week ago, despite a weekend terrorist attack at the Radisson Blu hotel in the nation’s capital Bamako that killed 20 people. The West

Qantas fires opening barrage at Canberra

Qantas is stepping up its lobbying efforts in a bid to fend off looming threats from overseas carriers, bombarding state and federal politicians with a barrage of figures, including its $21 billion annual contribution to the Australian economy. The Aus

Palmer faces up to ‘drop-dead date’ amid legal push for fast cash

Clive Palmer’s lawyer has told a court his businesses are facing a “drop-dead date” within days as the MP intensifies legal pressure to win a quick cash injection from his Chinese adversaries. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The federal Treasury officially downgraded Australia’s potential economic growth rate just as Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens told Baby Boomer shareholders to curb their expectations of ever-rising dividends.

Page 3: The cost of freight in Australia is so high that retailers are struggling to make money from online sales, says the owner of the country’s fastest-growing pet store chain.

Page 4: Small business, unions, book sellers and taxis are among the losers from the federal government’s response to the Harper competition review after the Coalition accepted 44 of the report’s 56 recommendations, including deregulating retail hours and reforms to planning, human services and road pricing.

Page 10: Telstra Super stuck by the head of its $1.5 billion property portfolio, Greg Lee, after an internal investigation in mid-2014 revealed he was then an undischarged bankrupt.

Page 15: Brookfield Infrastructure’s minority stake in Asciano is no barrier to a successful takeover by rival suitor Qube, waterfront warrior Chris Corrigan has said in his first public comments since a Qube-led consortium made a provisional $9 billion takeover proposal for the ports and rail group.

Page 17: Woodside Petroleum faces a battle to rein in costs on the Browse and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas projects in Western Australia, piling pressure on the energy producer as it attempts to resurrect a $11.6 billion takeover of Oil Search amid low oil prices.

Page 29: Standard & Poor’s has reaffirmed BHP Billiton’s credit rating but warned its risk profile was likely to worsen next year.

Oversupply might have helped push the iron ore price down to near decade lows but Australian miners can breathe easy on former Rio Tinto boss Tom Albanese’s call that former industry heavyweight India is unlikely to emerge as a major exporter any time soon.

Page 30: Calibre Group’s plan to remove its stock from the Australian Securities Exchange is the ‘‘best option’’ for the engineering group because it buys time to diversify away from the resources industry into infrastructure projects, chairman Ray Horsburgh said.

The Australian

Page 1: Clive Palmer’s lawyer has told a court his businesses are facing a “drop-dead date” within days as the MP intensifies legal pressure to win a quick cash injection from his Chinese adversaries.

Page 2: Australian teachers are among the world’s best paid, but work longer hours with bigger classes, new OECD data reveals. Wages rose an average 6.1 per cent from 2010 to 2013, in contrast to the 1.8 per cent pay cut across 36 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as other countries cut or froze salaries in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Page 4: Bill Shorten may have dropped below his immediate Labor predecessors in the preferred prime minister stakes but it’s not for want of staff.

Page 6: The Turnbull government has stalled on a decision to introduce a highly contentious “effects test” to reform misuse of market power laws, drawing criticism from Labor and some small business groups.

Page 8: Income management in urban Australia has improved financial management, housing stability and child well-being, but has failed to make a “substantial or sustained” difference to alcohol and tobacco consumption.

Page 19: Qantas is stepping up its lobbying efforts in a bid to fend off looming threats from overseas carriers, bombarding state and federal politicians with a barrage of figures, including its $21 billion annual contribution to the Australian economy.

Page 22: New cartel conduct laws will provide greater flexibility to companies embarking on joint ventures and provide business and individuals with more certainty before the law if Harper review recommendations are implemented.

Page

The West Australian

Page 1: Doctors are angry after being told the $2 billion Fiona Stanley Hospital will provide a “silver” level of service rather than “gold”.

Page 3: Incompetent teachers will be weeded out of public schools more quickly by an expert flying squad that will start working with principals next year.

Page 9: The City of Fremantle could end local alcohol-branded music festivals amid concerns about the effect on young people.

Page 17: UberX drivers averaged almost 4400 fares a day and 7.2km a trip during the company’s first year of its no-frills car-sharing service.

Page 29: An Australian university degree is not a fast-pass to higher wages, an international study has found.

Business: Key aspects of the former Gillard government’s financial planning industry reforms will stay in place after new Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer struck a deal with Labor.

Resolute Mining managing director John Welborn says he is no more worried about operating in Mali now than he was a week ago, despite a weekend terrorist attack at the Radisson Blu hotel in the nation’s capital Bamako that killed 20 people.

The financial struggles of Collie coal miner Griffin have resurfaced after the Indian-owned operation booked another set of ugly numbers in its latest reporting period.

Empire Oil & Gas is expecting a fiery reception from minority shareholders at today’s annual meeting, two years since a new broom swept through the fledgling energy producer and promised an era of returns for investors.

Mine power station operator Pacific Energy is counting on an acquisition to liberate its tightly held share register.