Today's Business Headlines

WA set to lose $25b gas project to Darwin
There was intense speculation last night that WA has all but lost the right to host what will be Australia's biggest resources development project because the state government had failed to strike a deal with foreign owners, which will take the $25 billion project to the Northern Territory. The West

Coal fires but Coles a work in progress: Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers insisted yesterday it had "stabilised" Coles, even though the supermarket chain continues to trail well behind rival Woolworths after nine months under its new owner. The West

Jobs go, debt slashed as B&B fights for a future
Babcock & Brown is to cut a quarter of its staff, slash its $3.7 billion of debt in half and abandon its flamboyant style of deal-making in a deperate effort to persuade investors it has a stockmarket future. The West

Carbon plan 'a company killer'
Australian companies will move offshore unless the federal government rethinks its emissions trading scheme, the nation's peak business group says. The Australian

New scheme brings foreign workers to Kimberley
A new guest worker scheme, this one to bring East Timorese workers to the labour-starved Kimberley region of Western Australia, appears likely to be announced as soon as next week. The Age

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has suffered a major blow to introduce an emissions trading scheme, with the nation's most influential business group warning the move will force at least one-third of Australia's emissions-intensive companies to the wall and do nothing to reduce the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

There was intense speculation last night that WA has all but lost the right to host what will be Australia's biggest resources development project because the state government had failed to strike a deal with foreign owners, which will take the $25 billion project to the Northern Territory.

Business: Wesfarmers insisted yesterday it had "stabilised" Coles, even though the supermarket chain continues to trail well behind rival Woolworths after nine months under its new owner.

Babcock & Brown is to cut a quarter of its staff, slash its $3.7 billion of debt in half and abandon its flamboyant style of deal-making in a deperate effort to persuade investors it has a stockmarket future.

Brierty yesterday confirmed what its long-suffering shareholders already suspected - that its two profit downgrades had cost them any chance of receiving a $2.25 final dividend.

Qantas has brushed aside its latest safety woes and high fuel prices to report a record profit of $969.7 million, up 44 per cent, but it says the sweet spot in aviation is over.

Clough has delivered on its promise of a performance turnaround, handing down an annual net profit of $66.6 million after finishing $105 million in the red for the previous year because of contract disputes.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Page 1: Babcock and Brown will restructure by selling assets and slashing a quarter of its staff to try and regain investor confidence after a massive slump in its share price.

Competition chief Graeme Samuel has threatened to stop accepting merger undertakings if companies continue to walk away from the promises they make to the regulator to gain merger approval.

Page 5: National Australia Bank has put pressure on its competitors after it vowed to pass on an expected Reserve Bank interest rate cut due out in September.