Morning headlines

Budget freeze

Treasurer Mike Nahan has ordered immediate freezes on public sector hiring and government hiring until at least July 1 as he tries to protect a slim budget surplus under stress from dwindling revenue. The West

Rio backtracks on talk of rebound

Rio Tinto has warned of increasing uncertainty in the global markets that drive its profits and play a huge part in the nation’s fortunes, indicating a bounce back in growth it predicted two months ago looks less certain. The Aus

Hockey eyes budget tax hikes

The Abbott government plans to raise taxes and charges in the May 13 budget, as well as cut spending, as it scrambles to rapidly return to surplus. The Fin

Barnett dismisses Padbury’s port plan

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has dismissed Padbury Mining’s ambitious $6.5 billion plan to revive the Oakajee port and rail network as lacking “substance”, revealing that Chinese conglomerate Citic Group could instead spearhead the long-stalled project. The Aus

Barnett aims for midyear stadium deal

The State Government has named a consortium led by Brookfield Multiplex as the preferred bidder for the new Burswood stadium but the reasons it beat two competing bid teams remain under wraps. The West 

BHP beefs up board focus with Brinded

One of the world’s most senior gas and oil executives, former Royal Dutch Shell veteran Malcolm Brinded, has joined the board of BHP Billiton and will be in the mix to become the next chairman of Australia’s biggest company. The West

Oz Minerals would sell Sandfire stake for new project

OZ Minerals chief Terry Burgess is stepping up his hunt for a copper growth project and is prepared to use the miner’s 19 per cent stake in Sandfire Resources to help fund a deal. The Fin

The Australian

Page 2: Australia will start exporting uranium to the Middle East under a landmark deal with the United Arab Emirates that could result in up to 800 tonnes a year being sold to the Gulf state by the end of the decade. 

Page 2: Former managers of Clive Palmer’s nickel refinery have accused Queensland’s environmental regulator of giving the resources tycoon “special treatment” and of failing to prevent his tailings dams from reaching maximum capacity, resulting in an avoidable spill of toxic sludge into waterways and wetlands.

Page 4: Personal income tax is the only prospective source of revenue growth for the federal government, with all other major taxes either falling or about to fall.

Page 4: Labor says the Coalition must urgently proceed with legislation to allow better mining access in the highly prospective Woomera Prohibited Area in outback South Australia.

Page 19: Share registry group Computershare will be more than just a tyre-kicker if ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft’s plan for a circa $3 billion privatisation of his registry business takes off.

Page 20: Seven Group Holdings has declared it will have a big say in the future of beleaguered Nexus Energy even if shareholders vote down a $438 million takeover bid, highlighting its rights as the major senior debt holder.

Page 20: Baytex Energy’s $1.84 billion bid for Australian-listed Aurora Oil & Gas is a step closer to completion after an independent expert deemed it “fair and reasonable” and in the best interests of shareholders.

Page 20: Oz Minerals has been rushed by companies from across the world interested in becoming involved in the $3 billion development of its Carrapateena copper/gold deposit in South Australia.

Page 20: Central Petroleum, the oil and gas explorer run by former Queensland Gas boss Richard Cottee, has recorded better than expected results at its Northern Territory joint venture with Santos.

Page 20: Chinese-backed MMG has sold its mothballed Tasmanian Avebury nickel mine to QCG Resources for $40 million.

The sale comes on the back of MMG heading up a consortium that acquired the Las Bambas copper project in Peru for $US5.85 billion ($6.223bn).

Page 21: Department store David Jones has appointed business advisers Grant Samuel to compile an independent expert’s report on a $2.15 billion takeover bid from South African retailer Woolworths Holdings.

Page 21: Mirvac Group’s transformation under chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz is stepping up a gear with private equity giant Blackstone eyeing the purchase of about $800 million worth of passive assets from the listed group.

Page 24: The Chinese appetite for gold is waning after a decade-long buying spree, suppressed by the country’s economic slowdown and constrained credit markets.

Page 27: The Australian sharemarket closed stronger yesterday after improved consumer activity in the US boosted Wall Street.

Page 27: A Consortorium led by Brookfield has been named the preferred bidder for the $1 billion contract to build and maintain the new Perth Stadium, in a deal foreshadowed by The Australian.

The Financial Review

Page 7: Bond market investors have been put on notice by the Reserve Bank of Australia to expect a “messy” shakeout once official interest rates are hiked from their current record lows.

Page 13: China’s broadest measure of new credit fell 19 per cent from a year earlier and money supply grew at the slowest pace since 2001, underscoring risks of a deeper slowdown as the government tries to curb financial dangers. 

Page 14: American consumers have emerged from their winter hibernation and ramped up spending in March, adding to signs the United States economy is grinding out a sustained recovery.

Page 15: Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis has warned that uncertainty in financial markets and volatility in China’s economy will put the miner under greater pressure to execute its strategy of cutting costs and investing in low cost operations.

Page 16:  Australia’s flurry of M&A activity in the petrol retailing sector still has some fuel left in it, with United Petroleum again engaging with buyers and keen to do a deal.

Page 17:   The Chinese company famous for quarrelling with Clive Palmer has been named by WA Premier Colin Barnett as a more likely builder of the Oakajee Port and Rail project than controversial junior Padbury Mining, as the mystery surrounding Padbury’s financial support continued.

Page 17: Baytex Energy’s $C2.6 billion ($2.5 billion) takeover offer for Texas shale-focused Aurora Oil & Gas has been deemed “fair and reasonable” by an independent expert, but some investors are still not ruling out the emergence of a higher bid.

Page 18: Woolworths’s strategy of signing longer-term supply contracts has shifted from milk into the highly competitive $2billion bread category.

Page 20: Dick Smith chief Nick Abboud says a deal to operate David Jones’s consumer electronics floor space was “watertight” and would not be affected by the proposed $2.15 billion takeover of the upmarket department store by Woolworths Holdings.

Page 29: A staggering rally in the price of nickel is showing no signs of wearing off with many analysts betting that Australian producers of the metal are set to keep riding the wave higher.

Page 29: The momentum behind the residential housing recovery has sent building materials stocks on an impressive run, but analysts say Boral shares have further to rally in the wake of a transformative joint venture with rival CSR. 

Page 29: Gold demand in China, which overtook India as the largest user last year, will rise about 25 per cent in the next four years as an increasing population gets wealthier, according to the World Gold Council.

The West Australian

Page 15: The City of Perth has backed plans to absorb part of Subiaco that would include its commercial centres, Patersons Stadium and Princess Margaret Hospital but exclude purely residential areas.

Page 37: Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis has hailed Sam Walsh’s first year as chief executive, saying he had exceeded expectations in cutting ongong costs and refocusing the company’s business in his first year in the top job.

Page 37: Gina Rinehart has told her bankers Roy Hill could have been twice as big had it not been for the financial troubles suffered by her family’s company Hancock Prospecting after the high-grade iron ore deposit was pegged back in the early 1990s.

Page 39: The extent of the building industry watchdog’s crackdown on union activity has been highlighted by an investigation into the cost of pies, chips and other snacks at a WA site.

Page 39: Neon Energy’s unsuccessful search for oil and gas off Vietnam is threatening to turn into a financial disaster after the Perth company was hit with a $US22.1 million cash call by Eni.

Page 39: Investors appear to have lost some of their sparkle for Kimberley Diamonds, forcing the owner of the Ellendale diamond mine in the Kimberley to shelve a capital raising that was to have grossed $15 million.