Morning Headlines

Abbott bid to lure back investment

Tony Abbott has put investment and free trade at the centre of the Coalition’s agenda to reignite economic growth by warning that other countries would ‘‘build walls against us’’ if the nation cracked down on foreign capital. The Aus

School Strike: United unions say parents support fight for quality

Parents have been urged to keep their children at home on Thursday as thousands of teachers and public school support staff walk off the job for half a day to protest against job losses and changes to school funding. The West

Labor slams budget stall tactic

Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott has not ruled out releasing a mid-year budget update in January to avoid depressing consumer sentiment by publishing the state of federal finances close to Christmas. The Fin

Libs’ ‘despair’ at jobs for boys

The Liberal Party is being urged to scrap the barriers that prevent women rising to positions of power, amid an outcry at Tony Abbott’s ‘‘embarrassing’’ decision to appoint only one woman to federal cabinet. The Aus

Employers seek reversal of ‘flawed’ 457 clampdown

The incoming Abbott government faces pressure to unwind Labor’s 457 visa crackdown from employers, who say the rules could reduce jobs for Australians by impeding business growth. The Aus

Dollar’s rally a challenge to Abbott, RBA

A resurgent Australian dollar will put pressure on the Reserve Bank and the new Abbott government as they confront a challenging economic turnaround. The dollar yesterday rose to a three-month high of US93.97c after Larry Summers, the widely touted replacement for US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, withdrew from the race. The Aus

Virgin investigates in-flight internet

Virgin Australia is examining whether to introduce in-flight Wi-Fi that would allow passengers to check their email and browse the web after it finishes rolling out a wireless entertainment system across most of its domestic fleet. The Fin

Alinta risks discounts backlash over switch-back plea

Alinta Energy has finally gone on the counterattack, selectively cutting gas bills to meet new competition from Kleenheat Gas but potentially triggering a backlash from its customers. The West

Demand up, dairies down

The WA dairy industry is set for another squeeze with Brownes branching out into production of a specialty product, up to a dozen farmers close to retirement and at least 9 dairies in the South West are already on the market. The West

Holland wins bid for Roy Hill rail

John Holland will build the railway track for Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore project in a $257 million contract. The West

The West Australian

Page 1: Parents have been urged to keep their children at home on Thursday as thousands of teachers and public school support staff walk off the job for half a day to protest against job losses and changes to school funding.

Page 3: Colin Barnett faces an uphill battle to get his local government agenda through Parliament, with Liberal MLC’s openly threatening to cross the floor to torpedo the signature second-term reforms.

Page 4: Anthony Albanese’s chances of becoming Labor leader have received a boost after party powerbrokers agreed to let thousands more rank-and-file members vote in the ballot.

Page 15: The Water Corporation has fired a salvo at WA’s economic watchdog, arguing that forced budget cuts every year are undermining its viability and are not sustainable amid falling demand.

Business: The Royal Australian Navy forced a key supply vessel for Chevron’s Gorgon liquefied natural gas project to be impounded because of wrangling over the bill for damage to a Collins Class submarine.

Alinta Energy has finally gone on the counterattack, selectively cutting gas bills to meet new competition from Kleenheat Gas but potentially triggering a backlash from its customers.

The WA dairy industry is set for another squeeze with Brownes branching out into production of a specialty product, up to a dozen farmers close to retirement and at least 9 dairies in the South West are already on the market.

Eric Baker has revolutionised the way tickets to live sport and music events are bought and sold around the world. And now he has turned his eyes to Australia.

John Holland will build the railway track for Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore project in a $257 million contract.

Empire Oil & Gas says it has finally commissioned its Red Gully gas and condensate project near Gingin, though it has been given two months’ grace by foundation off take customer Alcoa in the event of “post commissioning” production problems.

The Australian

Page 1: Tony Abbott has put investment and free trade at the centre of the Coalition’s agenda to reignite economic growth by warning that other countries would ‘‘build walls against us’’ if the nation cracked down on foreign capital.

The Liberal Party is being urged to scrap the barriers that prevent women rising to positions of power, amid an outcry at Tony Abbott’s ‘‘embarrassing’’ decision to appoint only one woman to federal cabinet.

Page 1: Julia Gillard wrote a personal cheque for $4243 to the Department of Finance because her partner, Tim Mathieson, had misused her taxpayer-funded car to drive around Victoria selling shampoo and other hair care products in breach of parliamentary rules.

Page 2: The incoming Abbott government faces pressure to unwind Labor’s 457 visa crackdown from employers, who say the rules could reduce jobs for Australians by impeding business growth.

Page 2: Labor’s acting leader Chris Bowen has accused Tony Abbott of breaching his election pledge to reveal the true state of the government’s books within 100 days of his election.

Page 3: The crucial act of planning for a workforce to prop up the national disability insurance scheme was ‘‘submerged’’ by the previous federal government and the incoming government is unlikely to address the problem, a social policy conference will hear today.

Page 5: The ACT Labor government has called on the federal wing of the party to vote as one against any attempts by Tony Abbott to override its gay marriage laws.

Page 6: Tony Abbott has opted for experience in his first cabinet, which contains only one woman, promoting West Australian senator Mathias Cormann to the key role of finance, moving Andrew Robb to trade and investment and dumping the Nationals’ John Cobb from the frontbench to make way for Barnaby Joyce as agriculture minister.

Page 7: Senior ministers in the Abbott government say they will implement the Coalition’s border protection strategy from tomorrow despite Indonesia’s concerns, and they insist the navy is ready to step up its interception operations immediately.

Page 19: A resurgent Australian dollar will put pressure on the Reserve Bank and the new Abbott government as they confront a challenging economic turnaround. The dollar yesterday rose to a three-month high of US93.97c after Larry Summers, the widely touted replacement for US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, withdrew from the race.

Page 19: Westfield Group has capitalised on the improving US market through the sale of a further seven malls to Starwood Capital Group yesterday for $US1.64 billion ($1.75bn).

Page 21: The Australian Securities & Investments Commission and the Australian Taxation Office have set their sights on the $500 billion self-managed superannuation fund sector, with both agencies preparing for a crackdown on related party dealings, low balance funds, property spruikers and investment fraud.

Page 23: Winemakers’ Federation of Australia chairman Tony D’Aloisio has raised the prospect of market share limits on retail giants Coles and Woolworths, amid industry concerns that they are using their market power to strong-arm producers on price.

Page 31: The incoming Coalition government is being urged to reduce the incidence of suicides induced by cyber-bullying by fulfilling its election promise to demand that Facebook and Twitter be part of a government-sponsored complaints program.

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The minister designated “Australia’s ambassador for jobs”, Andrew Robb, wants to boost the profits of foreign investors as a key to striking much delayed free-trade deals with countries such as China, Japan and South Korea and tapping into $150 billion of potential foreign investment.

Page 3: The securities regulator is preparing to tighten rules on advice given to self-managed superannuation funds and has released a study showing half of do-it-yourself schemes may be uncompetitive with pooled funds.

Page 4: Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott has not ruled out releasing a mid-year budget update in January to avoid depressing consumer sentiment by publishing the state of federal finances close to Christmas.

Page 6: Incoming federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt is under pressure to sign off on over 50 resource and related infrastructure projects.

Page 8: Independent candidate Cathy McGowan is edging closer to victory in the Victorian seat of Indi as the counting of postal votes comes to an end.

Page 12: Online betting company Sportingbet is likely to end its sponsorship of a Victorian soccer club embroiled in a match-fixing scandal that allegedly netted a syndicate $2 million.

Page 13: Virgin Australia is examining whether to introduce in-flight Wi-Fi that would allow passengers to check their email and browse the web after it finishes rolling out a wireless entertainment system across most of its domestic fleet.

Telstra has escaped with a slap on the wrist from the telecommunications regulator after admitting it overcharged 260,165 customers who travelled overseas by a total of $30 million, and reported the breach itself.

Page 14: The Indian owner of cash-strapped Griffin Coal, which has assets in Western Australia, says it expects to strike a deal at the end of the year that will help it dramatically increase sales overseas and generate revenue.

Page 17: The outgoing minister assisting for the digital economy, Kate Lundy, has criticised the Coalition’s technology policy as a “retrograde step” after it removed references to information technology in its first cabinet on Monday.