Mission over but it’s no victory: PM
Tony Abbott came to Afghanistan on Monday to signal the end of the 12-year military mission and declare Australia’s longest war had failed to secure victory. The Aus
Mackenzie puts dampener on WA expansion
BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie says the company will be slower and more efficient with development plans and has warned that the miner may walk from joint ventures if partners are too eager to push ahead. The Aus
NBN ban on Huawei stays says Brandis
Attorney General George Brandis has overruled a push by other senior ministers to relax a ban on Chinese telecommunications group Huawei helping build the national broadband network. The Fin
Palmer slams AEC as cracks appear in power base
Clive Palmer’s voting bloc in the Senate could be cut in half after one of his senators-elect announced there was no deal with the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party and the mining entrepreneur declared his party had no chance of winning a West Australian seat. The Aus
Partners add $224m to Roy Hill cash pile
The consortium of Asian investors backing Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore project has tipped another $224 million into the company ahead of next month’s deadline for debt offers from commercial bankers. The West
Caratti lands top farm as Elders axes forests
Elders is set to walk away from its disastrous foray into forestry through a deal that will cement the Caratti family as the State’s biggest holders of prime agricultural land. The West
Big four burst through $400bn barrier
Bank shares are trading at record highs ahead of the profit reporting season, in a sign investors think the big four banks, with a combined value of $400 billion, will not disappoint on dividends and the economy will support a low level of problem loans. The Fin
Details kept from public on crucial Bill
Crucial negotiations that will govern the operation of the merged Verve and Synergy will not be made public before a Bill to authorise the tie-up is debated in Parliament this week – and may not be published, even in draft form, before the legislation is voted on. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Tony Abbott came to Afghanistan on Monday to signal the end of the 12-year military mission and declare Australia’s longest war had failed to secure victory.
Attorney General George Brandis has overruled a push by other senior ministers to relax a ban on Chinese telecommunications group Huawei helping build the national broadband network.
Page 4: Chinese investment in Australian agriculture is more likely to be funded by private capital than in the resources industry and is drive by a demand for higher quality food rather than greater food security, according to a new study.
Page 5: The corporate regulator will tell the Senate that penalties for white collar crime need to be toughened in the face of lenient sentences by the judiciary.
Nationals Senator John Williams stepped up calls for the government to assist embattled food processors and manufacturers, comparing the needs of the sector to struggling car makers.
Page 6: The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union faces a big legal bill as the Abbott government prepares to recreate the building industry watchdog and as the union braces for multimillion dollar fines from an illegal blockade of Grocon projects last year in Melbourne.
Page 7: Australia faces at least another three years of below-average economic growth as a business investment strike gathers momentum, according to a leading forecaster.
Page 11: Ian Martin, a panel member of the Cooper review into Australia’s superannuation system and a former chief executive of BT Financial Group, has called for a review of real estate purchases within self-managed super funds, saying he has concerns about potential excessive house price rises.
Page 15: The world’s biggest private sector real estate investor, Blackstone, is ready to invest several billion dollars in the Australian property market, according to co-founder, chairman and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman.
Australia’s $92 billion Future Fund is considering an internal candidate to replace outgoing chief executive Mark Burgess. Sources suggest its highly respected chief investment officer is the most likely successor.
Page 20: Steadfast Group is on track to hit its fiscal year 2013-14 financial targets as Australia’s largest insurance broker continues to comb the market for acquisitions.
Page 27: Bank shares are trading at record highs ahead of the profit reporting season, in a sign investors think the big four banks, with a combined value of $400 billion, will not disappoint on dividends and the economy will support a low level of problem loans.
Page 36: Singaporean group Rockworth Capital Partners is considering the purchase of more than $120 million worth of shopping centres across Australia from retail giant Woolworths.
The Australian
Page 1: Tony Abbott is riding a post-election honeymoon high, with nearly half of voters preferring him as prime minister and support for Labor retreating to levels last seen during the party’s June leadership crisis.
Page 4: Tony Abbott’s government will abolish the Prime Minister’s Council on Homelessness set up by Labor and overhaul strategy to reduce administration so providers can invest more on the needy.
The Abbott government is facing internal pressure to stop cheap imports undercutting the nation’s food producers amid fears of further job losses that could devastate regional towns.
Chinese investors may own less than 1 per cent of Australian farmland, but the true level is not known because it is hidden behind a corporate veil, according to a new report that offers support to the establishment of a formal register of foreign land ownership in Australia.
Unions have dramatically stepped up their campaign against a repeal of Labor’s 457 visa crackdown in a bid to put pressure on Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to reject the demands of the business community.
Page 6: Clive Palmer’s voting bloc in the Senate could be cut in half after one of his senators-elect announced there was no deal with the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party and the mining entrepreneur declared his party had no chance of winning a West Australian seat.
Page 17: The $250 billion Blackstone funds management group is gearing up to significantly increase its investment in Australia through real estate and private equity investments, co-founder Stephen Schwarzman says.
Australia’s business elite, grouped together to work on recommendations ahead of next year’s G20 meeting in Brisbane, yesterday held its first official meeting with Joe Hockey to highlight the broader themes it is targeting.
Page 18: BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie says the company will be slower and more efficient with development plans and has warned that the miner may walk from joint ventures if partners are too eager to push ahead.
The drift of big Japanese buyers of liquefied natural gas towards US shale gas has continued after Tokyo Electric Power Company finalised plans to increase its US gas imports by 50 per cent. The expected announcement will not alter TEPCO’s agreement to buy gas from the proposed Wheatstone LNG project in Australia but is another indication of the strength of the move from Japan to try to boost shale imports to drive prices down.
Page 22: The firming of David Gonski as the next ANZ chairman has been welcomed by the market as the share prices of the major banks jumped to record highs ahead of likely bumper annual dividends and profit.
Page 27: Telstra and Alcatel-Lucent have achieved speeds of up to 100 megabits per second over existing copper networks, which the Coalition aims to use as part of its fibre-to-the-node National Broadband Network plan.
The West Australian
Page 1: WA doctors want the Health Department’s mistake-prone supply unit to be axed after Perth hospitals were caught short of critical stock including syringes and dialysis cartridges yesterday.
Page 2: Crucial negotiations that will govern the operation of the merged Verve and Synergy will not be made public before a Bill to authorise the tie-up is debated in Parliament this week – and may not be published, even in draft form, before the legislation is voted on.
Page 4: More than 1100 public servants have applied for voluntary redundancy packages as the State Government strives to trim the Budget.
Page 10: A sweep of more than 650 million transactions, from car registrations to gold sales, has delivered the Federal Government an extra $1.3 billion in tax.
Page 11: Petrol is on track to fall to its lowest price since early June as the stronger Australian dollar and lower global oil prices brings relief for motorists.
Page 14: Question marks hover over more than 1000 ballot papers in the WA Senate re-count – a contest that hinges on just a 14 vote gap between two minor parties.
Business: Elders is set to walk away from its disastrous foray into forestry through a deal that will cement the Caratti family as the State’s biggest holders of prime agricultural land.
Navitas has reigned in overly optimistic market expectations with a rare guidance note which sent its shares tumbling to their biggest loss in more than a year.
Fisheries Minister Troy Buswell has indicated he may support Australia’s first wild abalone fishery, saying he was “hopeful” WA could eventually have a thriving abalone aquaculture industry.
The consortium of Asian investors backing Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore project has tipped another $224 million into the company ahead of next month’s deadline for debt offers from commercial bankers.
Fresh from its controlling Chinese shareholder yesterday cementing control of the board, Moly Mines has hinted it could be considering a move into copper mining through a deal with Toronto-listed Oracle Mining.
The Barnett Government has expressed concern over the troubles at embattled coal miner Griffin but denied that any failure by the company would lead to shortfalls in the State’s electricity supplies this summer.
