Morning headlines

BHP shirks tradition with record output

BHP Billiton’s Australian iron ore and coking coal units are leading the charge in the miner’s cost-cutting and productivity drive, delivering a strong performance in the traditionally rain-soaked March quarter. The Aus

Fortescue vows to crank up output to meet target

Fortescue Metals Group is aiming to crank up iron ore production to well above its annual nameplate capacity of 155 million tonnes as it strives to reach its full-year targets following a disappointing March quarter. The Aus

CCI warns of WA growth slowdown

Treasurer Mike Nahan’s job to repair the State Budget is getting even tougher with new forecasts the WA economy will slow down over the next two years. The West

Forgetful Premier victim of the grape

Tony Abbott is scrambling to inoculate his Government from further fallout of a corruption probe that has claimed NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell’s scalp and has put Arthur Sinodinos’ ministerial furture in doubt. The West 

Faith in housing begins to fade

The housing market appears to have hit its peak, with expectations of growth in residential construction flatlining and the ranks of the house price bulls thinning, according to a new survey. The Aus

Livestock researchers sought

Given recurring problems with export of live cattle and sheep to mainly Middle Eastern countries, the industry body Meat & Livestock Australia is seeking researchers to devise ways of improving outcomes in three key aspects of safeguarding the welfare of Australian export livestock. The Fin 

Why CBDs are the new black

First it was a trend, then a wave. Now it’s a revolution.

Global retail brands are taking over the central business districts of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, driving up property values and rents but also re-establishing city centres as premier retailing destinations, and forcing local retailers to lift their game. The Fin

TransAlta to power Horizon, Fortescue

Canada’s TransAlta has clinched a $550 million deal to build and operate a Pilbara power station that will supply Horizon Power and Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group. The West

The Australian

Page 2: The red ink from the rollout of the National Broadband Network has continued to bleed, with accumulated losses having hit almost $3 billion.

Page 3: The Queensland government is permitting Clive Palmer’s nickel refinery to discharge a much higher level of toxicity of contaminated sludge than six months ago.

Page 18: Australia’s largest steelmaker and owner of the New Zealand Steel mill, BlueScope Steel, has gained approval to acquire the assets of Fletcher Building’s Pacific Steel in a $NZ120 million ($111m) deal.

Page 18: Thanks to some excitable types in Canada, BHP Billiton’s potash ambitions and the pace of expenditure on its Jansen project beneath Saskatchewan’s prairie got undue attention in the March quarter production report.

Page 18: A tentative sign of a recovery in demand for mineral sands was not enough to spare Iluka’s share price from investor disappointment, with another weak sales performance in the March quarter.

Page 19: NBN Co is preparing evidence to report TPG Telecom to the competition regulator in a bid to stop the budget broadband provider from building a rival network targeting half a million of the nation’s most lucrative apartments.

Page 19: Australia’s wine exports are still in decline, with sales down by more than 5 per cent in volume and value terms in the 12 months to the end of March.

Page 19: One of Woolworths Holdings’ largest shareholders has tripled its stake in the South African retailer, in a massive show of confidence for the company’s planned $2.15 billion takeover of department store David Jones.

Page 21: The US has blasted China for its recent currency moves, calling the decline in the yuan “unprecedented” and pressing Beijing to disclose its market intervention more regularly.

Page 21: Under pressure from unhappy clients and losing market share to rivals, Goldman Sachs is trying to jump-start its stocktrading business.

Page 21: Amazon, Microsoft and Google are warring over the future of corporate computing, and executives such as Michael Simonsen are reaping the benefits.

Page 23: More than 60 per cent of companies listed on the Australian sharemarket are exposed to an escalating level of risk, says research house and funds manager Lincoln Indicators.

Page 27: Mirvac Group has sealed the first deal in its strategic alliance with hulking US financial services firm TIAA-CREF, which has taken a 50 per cent stake in a Melbourne office tower development for $73 million.

Page 28: Construction company Brookfield Multiplex has won the contract to build Singaporean developer Ho Bee Land’s $120 million apartment tower at Surfers Paradise.

The Financial Review

Page 2: The Tax Office has confirmed it has the power to completely disregard company transactions that reduce tax bills.

Page 9:  The ABC’s pan-Asian television channel has been given permission to sell and give away its programs to broadcasters across China, making it potentially the first Western network to reach all of the world’s biggest television market.

Page 11: NBN Co’s new chief executive, Bill Morrow, will push the federal government to charge a levy against its rivals in densely populated urban areas to pay for building broadband in the bush.

Page 16: Himalayan and Buddhist art sales marked a buoyant start to the year at Asia Week in New York last month, and the prospects are excellent for another strong sale room season in Australia for such material. 

Page 29: BHP Billiton has slowed its pursuit of a “fifth pillar” in potash in a move welcomed by analysts who say investors are yet to be convinced by its planned Jansen project in Canada.

Page 29: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once declared email was dead, but Sydney duo Dave Greiner and Ben Richardson, both 35, beg to differ.

Email is alive, kicking and has just netted them the largest-ever investment in an Australian technology start-up.

Page 32: Downsizing is not just for baby boomers selling the family home. Consider this: by 2050, almost half the people living in our major cities will be living in apartments.

Page 39: McAleese, owner of Cootes Transport, has suffered another plunge in its share price after it issued its second profit warning in two months.

The West Australian

Page 6: Perth restaurants say they face a choice between losing money or closing this Easter weekend because of holiday pay rates that mean a casual worker washing dishes or clearing tables can earn about $45 an hour.

Page 11: State Labor leader Mark McGowan will attempt to break the stranglehold of union powerbrokers on the WA branch of the party, proposing sweeping rule changes that would give rank-and-file members a say in all preselection decisions and the election of the leaders.

Page 11: Soon-to-be deposed Labor Senator Louise Pratt says the party’s WA branch is the least democratic in the country and has urged reform of its power structures.

Page 89: BHP Billiton says the closure of the Perseverance underground nickel mine near Leinster will cut production at its Nickel West operation by about 10 per cent next financial year, as the company ramps up its efforts to sell the loss-making division.

Page 89: The man behind a $US6.5 billion ($6.9 billion) bif to fund Padbury Mining’s Oakajee port and railway proposal says the failure of a string of other financing proposals is not his fault, blaming his former business partners on each occasion.

Page 89: Fortescue Metals Group chef executive Nev Power says he’s absolutely confident the company can hit production by as much as 32 per cent over the next three months in order to make its financial year export target of 127 million tones of iron ore.

Page 90: Now the Burswood stadium contract has been decided, arguments over local content are likely to re-emerge when it comes to building it.

Page 90: Canadian ATM provider DirectCash Payments has bought a stake of nearly 20 per cent in Perth-based Ezeatm.

Page 90: Property developer Australand is preparing for a possible takeover bid from fellow developer Stockland.

Australand chairman Paul Isherwood told the company’s annual meeting yesterday an offer was expected.

Page 90: Listed transport company McAleese has bought logistics firm WA Freight Group for $15 million.

Page 91: The number of established homes in WA connected to the NBN continues to lag well behind every other state, with figures revealing only 6 per cent of WA residents passed by the NBN have actually connected to it.

Page 95: A week after getting the all-clear from an independent expert over plans to buy Mark Creasy out of the Nova-Bollinger project, Sirius Resources said yesterday if would resume drilling for more ground-breaking nickel-copper discoveries in the Fraser Range.