Buswell calls for income tax powers
WA Treasurer Troy Buswell has called for a radical rethink of Australia’s taxation arrangements, including returning income tax power to the States for the first time since World War II. The West
Turnbull’s NBN purge
The Coalition government will appoint a temporary three-person board, headed by former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski, to take immediate control of Australia’s biggest project, the national broadband network. The Fin
Barnett faces torrid period
The West Australian Liberal Party is politically vulnerable after a painful six months despite a landslide election victory in March, analysts believe. The Fin
Shorten rejected by deputy pick
Labor leadership hopeful Bill Shorten will be relying on the popularity of frontbencher Tanya Pilbersek to lift his vote in the all-important ballot of the ALP membership by telling the party faithful he wants the former health minister as his deputy leader. The Fin
Yancoal plea for price relief
The Chinese owners of one of Collie’s two coal mines are trying to negotiate higher prices with State-controlled generator Verve as part of a desperate bid to keep their heads above water. The West
OzForex seeking $440m in the year’s biggest float
Online currency and payments group OzForex believes there is plenty of growth left in the business and says management is committed for the longer term after laying out plans for the biggest float of the year. The Aus
Doubts over US as TWE dumps chief
Treasury Wine Estates chairman Rayner Paul last night downplayed suggestions the company may look to offload its US business after chief executive David Dearie was shown the door over a $160 million inventory wipe out at the division. The Aus
Court rejects Rinehart bid to block files
The NSW Supreme Court has dealt a severe blow to Gina Rinehart in her battle with two of her children, rejecting the mining magnate’s claims of privilege over documents from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers that have become central to the bitter case. The West
Labor fury at rail plan delays
Colin Barnett’s admission that the one time line for delivering the government’s big two public transport projects will slip up another two years is more evidence his “fully funded, fully costed” election pledge was a “lie”, the Opposition says. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The Coalition government will appoint a temporary three-person board, headed by former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski, to take immediate control of Australia’s biggest project, the national broadband network.
An ambitious plan to link the Northern Territory’s natural gas pipeline system to South Australia’s to supply gas from the north to energy-short NSW is being pushed by territory Chief Minister Adam Giles.
Page 4: Labor leadership hopeful Bill Shorten will be relying on the popularity of frontbencher Tanya Pilbersek to lift his vote in the all-important ballot of the ALP membership by telling the party faithful he wants the former health minister as his deputy leader.
The Abbott government will rush laws to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission into Parliament in the first sitting week and is considering a raft of other measures to crack down on union militancy in the construction sector.
Page 5: The goods and services tax will fall short of official Treasury estimates by more than $4 billion over the next three years as household spend an increasing amount of their incomes on items exempt from the tax and as consumer sending weakens, a credit-rating agency report said.
Page 6: A leading candidate to take the reins at Treasury when Secretary Martin Parkinson leaves next June has a different slant on trade talks from that outlined by the Abbott government.
Page 8: Some major shareholders and their advisers have put top-listed companies on notice that forgoing bonuses or announcing faux pay freezes without any convincing restructure of remuneration will not be enough to avoid the ire of investors this year.
Page 11: The West Australian Liberal Party is politically vulnerable after a painful six months despite a landslide election victory in March, analysts believe.
Page 17: Nine Entertainment Co has struck a “first look” agreement with WIN Corporation that could make it easier to buy WIN’s regional television stations if the Abbott government scraps reach rules preventing free-to-air TV consolidation.
Page 19: Online foreign exchange group OzForex is hunting for new business partnerships with payment services companies, as it prepares to raise $439 million from new shareholders.
Page 28: Upbeat Chinese data buoyed the Australian dollar on Monday amid mixed messages from the US Federal Reserve over its plans to cut monetary stimulus.
The Australian
Page 1: Ballooning costs and further serious delays in the National Broadband Network rollout prompted Malcolm Turnbull’s decision to demand the resignation of the entire NBN board and seek the installation of Ziggy Switkowski as executive chairman.
Asylum-seekers will be transferred to Nauru or Manus Island within 48 hours of being stopped at sea, and more than 3000 additional places will be created on the two islands as the Abbott government moves to shift the bulk of refugee processing overseas.
Page 3: Two major welfare organisations have withdrawn their financial membership of the Australian Council of Social Service, as divisions grow within the sector about the peak body’s handling of major policy issues.
Page 4: More than 4000 aged-care workers have had proposed pay rises cut or withdrawn in the wake of the Abbott government moving to thwart union-linked wage increases promised by Labor.
Page 5: Energy giant Woodside Petroleum’s decision to walk away from its historic $1.5 billion native title deal with Kimberley indigenous groups could lead to the collapse of a ground breaking literacy program that has helped hundreds of Aboriginal children in the region.
Page 17: Treasury Wine Estates chairman Rayner Paul last night downplayed suggestions the company may look to offload its US business after chief executive David Dearie was shown the door over a $160 million inventory wipe out at the division.
Page 18: THE incoming chief executive of TVN is undaunted by accusations the board of the horse-racing network is riven by ‘‘mistrust’’, and will turn his immediate attention to negotiating a new broadcast deal with Tabcorp.
Page 19: Online currency and payments group OzForex believes there is plenty of growth left in the business and says management is committed for the longer term after laying out plans for the biggest float of the year.
Page 25: The Australian stock market closed lower yesterday as investors faced more confusion about the US Federal Reserve’s tapering timeline and concerns about the US October debt ceiling debate, despite strong manufacturing figures from China.
Page 27: Revenue from the National Broadband Network faces being eroded by competing private fibre networks that are snapping up customers in highly profitable inner urban areas. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull would not comment on the proposition yesterday, but it is understood the Coalition would use direct subsidies to ensure remote and rural NBN users do not pay more for fast internet if there was a shortfall due to profits going to private fibre wholesalers in cities.
Health Minister Peter Dutton has moved swiftly to initiate a review of the troubled $1 billion personally controlled e-health record system at the behest of Tony Abbott.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann are preparing for high level talks at the Australian Government Information Management Office on the Coalition’s e-government and digital economy policy.
The West Australian
Page 10: WA Treasurer Troy Buswell has called for a radical rethink of Australia’s taxation arrangements, including returning income tax power to the States for the first time since World War II.
Page 11: The NSW Supreme Court has dealt a severe blow to Gina Rinehart in her battle with two of her children, rejecting the mining magnate’s claims of privilege over documents from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers that have become central to the bitter case.
Page 13: Colin Barnett’s admission that the one time line for delivering the government’s big two public transport projects will slip up another two years is more evidence his “fully funded, fully costed” election pledge was a “lie”, the Opposition says.
Page 14: The Abbott Government will hide behind “operational security” to avoid being tested on its key pledge to turn back asylum seeker boats.
Business: The Chinese owners of one of Collie’s two coal mines are trying to negotiate higher prices with State-controlled generator Verve as part of a desperate bid to keep their heads above water.
Shire councils and pastoralists in the southern rangelands are banding together to support a radical plan to trap wild dogs in a net covering almost 90,000sqkm.
The first cracks have emerged in Sirius Resources’ drive towards production, with its newly appointed chief operating officer leaving the company after just six months.
A derailment on a 116-year-old grain freight line has raised the stakes for CBH and Brookfield Rail as they try to thrash out a deal to keep trains running for what shapes as a better than expected harvest.
Alacer Gold has sold its WA gold mines to Metals X, bringing to an end the company’s bid to exit its Australian assets to focus on its low-cost Turkish gold mine.