Carbon delay 'to cost billions'
Business and state governments have warned that the economy faces a multi-billion-dollar drag if Labor and the Greens block Tony Abbott’s plans to repeal the carbon and mining taxes, amid fears an obstructionist Senate could keep the carbon price in place until 2015. The Aus
Abbott told to cut soon and deep
The chairman of John Howard and Jeff Kennett's audit commissions, Bob Officer, has urged the incoming Abbott government to follow Queensland's example and cut thousands of inefficient jobs from education and health bureaucracies in its first term. The Fin
Business to be tapped for expertise
Dozens of business leaders will be asked to serve the new Coalition government as advisers on everything from coal seam gas to the management of the Australian Taxation Office. The Fin
Count pushes Palmer closer to Canberra
Mining magnate Clive Palmer's grip on a House of Representatives seat has tightened after fresh counting of ballots yesterday. The West
Rates fuel investor rush for housing
Low interest rates are causing a stampede of investors in the housing market, pricing out firsthome buyers and doing little to help the beleaguered construction industry thanks to a preference for established houses and apartments. The Aus
Qantas lifts WA FIFO target to 40pc
Qantas Airways has increased its market share in the chartered fly in, fly out market in Western Australia to 40 per cent following the success of its relationship with Fortescue Metals Group and its new contract at Hancock Prospecting's Roy Hill project. The Fin
Windfall for shareholders
The $1.3 billion takeover of Sinclair Knight Merz by global player Jacobs, announced yesterday to end weeks of industry speculation, will produce multimillionaires from among the hundreds of employees who own the consulting and engineering firm. The West
Court clash looms on BHP seabed plan
The Northern Territory government has effectively revoked exploration tenements granted to BHP Billiton and two other companies, exposing it to huge compensation claims and threatening the NT’s reputation as being ‘‘ open for business’’. The Aus
The West Australian
Page 4: Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott says he will not recall federal Parliament for at least another seven weeks so as to allow legislation to be drafted for the axing of the carbon tax and the mining tax.
Mining magnate Clive Palmer's grip on a House of Representatives seat has tightened after fresh counting of ballots yesterday.
Page 5: Chris Bowen has offered to serve as shadow treasurer in opposition, amid calls for Labor to avoid selecting a “messiah” as its next parliamentary leader.
Page 12: Senior health professionals are calling on the state government to switch to a no-fault motor vehicle insurance scheme to ensure road trauma casualties are not left without rehabilitative care.
Business: The $1.3 billion takeover of Sinclair Knight Merz by global player Jacobs, announced yesterday to end weeks of industry speculation, will produce multimillionaires from among the hundreds of employees who own the consulting and engineering firm.
Directors of failed construction, labour hire and security firms face increased scrutiny under the next phase of a tightening clampdown on one of the most odious of business practices.
Newcrest Mining has frozen executive pay and slashed short-term bonuses by more than 85 per cent in response to a horror year that saw savage falls in its share price as Australia's biggest gold producer slashed the value of its assets and posted a $5.8 billion full-year loss.
Respected industry consultancy Wood Mackenzie says LNG supply constraints in the Asia-Pacific region could stretch beyond 2020, in what would be a major boon for proponents of more than $200 billion of projects being built around Australia.
A live export ship that hit mechanical problems on a voyage to Israel is expected to return to Fremantle today amid assurances from industry and government officials that the cattle on board remain in good condition.
Although the true scope of the Coalition's internet policy will not be known until next year, the broader concept coming from the Abbott government will not hurt iiNet, its managing director Michael Malone says.
The company behind a billion-dollar prawn farming venture has splashed out on aquaculture facilities at Exmouth in a move that will allow it to move into production up to 12 months earlier than expected.
Beach Petroleum has begun the search for a successor to long-serving chief executive Reg Nelson, who is credited with turning the Adelaide company into one of Australia's oil and gas leaders.
Beadell Resources managing director Peter Bowler says the company is comfortable with its current valuation, knowing there is “low hanging fruit” that will push its price upwards.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The chairman of John Howard and Jeff Kennett's audit commissions, Bob Officer, has urged the incoming Abbott government to follow Queensland's example and cut thousands of inefficient jobs from education and health bureaucracies in its first term.
Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott has demanded the new Senate respect his mandate and has joined calls for a review into the way the upper house is elected following a rash of micro-parties securing seats despite receiving just a handful of votes.
Page 3: The competition regulator is investigating the $445 million egg industry after it obtained a letter from the head of the industry body that suggested big producers might be manipulating prices.
Page 6: Anger over Kevin Rudd has erupted inside the Labor Party as Bill Shorten was chosen by his Right faction to be anointed next Labor leader at a special caucus meeting scheduled for Friday.
Internal Labor polling suggests the return to Kevin Rudd saved as many as 17 seats on Saturday and lifted the vote by as much as 18 percentage points in some other seats.
Page 7: Dozens of business leaders will be asked to serve the new Coalition government as advisers on everything from coal seam gas to the management of the Australian Taxation Office.
Page 8: Companies in the building and aviation sectors have pleaded for rapid action to ditch the carbon tax, while energy suppliers want more clarity on the alternative, to guide investment in new plants.
Page 10: Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer says the Palmer United Party would not be cutting deals with the major parties over legislation in the Senate.
The Greens are the Coalition's best chance of passing its generous parental leave scheme after a new wave of potential senators vowed to oppose the $5.5 billion-a-year policy.
Page 13: The expected move by union leader Paul Howes to replace former foreign minister Bob Carr in the Senate has sparked speculation about his position as a director of the giant AustralianSuper fund.
Page 14: A Coalition promise to reverse Labor's planned cuts to the fringe benefits tax may not begin to fix the damage inflicted on new car sales until June next year, industry insiders warn.
Page 17: The housing industry is showing more signs of a strong recovery as interest rate markets suggest a rise in official rates will return to the board agenda for the Reserve Bank of Australia within 12 months.
Page 18: Being ousted from the board of the since-failed forestry business Great Southern after raising probity concerns was “amicable” and “rather casual”, the company's former chief forester Gavin Ellis told a court on Monday.
Page 21: Qantas Airways has increased its market share in the chartered fly in, fly out market in Western Australia to 40 per cent following the success of its relationship with Fortescue Metals Group and its new contract at Hancock Prospecting's Roy Hill project.
The Australian
Page 1: Business and state governments have warned that the economy faces a multi-billion-dollar drag if Labor and the Greens block Tony Abbott’s plans to repeal the carbon and mining taxes, amid fears an obstructionist Senate could keep the carbon price in place until 2015.
Departing Labor elders have turned on Kevin Rudd, beginning the bloodletting over Labor’s lowest election vote in 80 years.
Australia's first indigenous head of government last night demoted Tony Abbott’s closest political ally in the Northern Territory, in a swift cabinet reshuffle the day after the Country Liberal Party suffered a humiliating result in Saturday’s federal election.
Page 2: Massive investment by the US in Australian resources projects is helping both nations develop a healthy relationship with China, says departing American ambassador Jeffrey Bleich.
Page 3: Low interest rates are causing a stampede of investors in the housing market, pricing out first home buyers and doing little to help the beleaguered construction industry thanks to a preference for established houses and apartments.
Page 4: Melbourne billionaire investor Alex Waislitz has backed the Coalition’s planned shake-up of the company running the National Broadband Network after his company lost millions of dollars on its investment in specialist telecommunications.
Wool is back in fashion this winter in Europe and the US, with Australian wool-growers already reaping the benefits of the growing trend for tweed and tartan.
Page 5: Incoming Nationals MPs have threatened to cross the floor on key issues unless they get a greater say in Coalition government policy affecting rural and regional Australia.
Page 6: Tony Abbott appears likely to secure the numbers in the new Senate to repeal the carbon tax and mining tax in a significant win for his policy agenda.
Page 7: Bill Shorten has firmed as the next leader of the Labor Party, as senior figures move to avoid at all costs another destabilising leadership contest under new caucus rules that could leave the ALP in limbo for a month.
Page 8: A party that received fewer than 1 in 500 Senate votes in NSW six year ago is on the cusp of winning a seat in parliament due to preference harvesting, voter confusion and ballot quirks.
Business: The Northern Territory government has effectively revoked exploration tenements granted to BHP Billiton and two other companies, exposing it to huge compensation claims and threatening the NT’s reputation as being ‘‘ open for business’’.
Media bosses have welcomed the prospect of a Coalition-style national broadband network, proclaiming a cheaper and quicker roll-out as a boon for business that will allow them to price products more competitively.
The investment community is hoping the $1.3 billion acquisition of Australian- based consultant Sinclair Knight Merz by Californian giant Jacobs Engineering will become the first of a string of corporate takeovers under a newly elected government.
The muted market reaction to Tony Abbott’s election victory was in part due to concerns over the potential spoiling tactics in the Senate and a sensible wait-and-see attitude from investors who are no doubt looking forward to Canberra politics disappearing from the front pages of the newspapers.
Australia's junior explorers will be looking to the Tony Abbott-led government to legislate its tax incentive policy to drive investment into the struggling sector.
Newcrest Mining chief Greg Robinson has been stripped of his short-term bonus and had his salary frozen after a dismal year for the company in which it was hit by operational problems, plunging gold prices and an investigation from the corporate watchdog.