Rattled markets look to rate cuts as circuit breaker; Barnett faces revolt over $1.5b in cuts; Banks urged to support frozen funds; Big banks staring at $1b payout over Bell; Gold the bright spot in grim mine sector
Rattled markets look to rate cuts as circuit breaker
Governments around the world have warned of further economic weakness and financial turmoil from the credit crisis, fuelling hopes that a cut to US interest rates by the Federal Reserve tomorrow morning will lead another round of aggressive monetary policy easings among leading central banks. The Fin Review
Barnett faces revolt over $1.5b in cuts
The State Government is facing a widespread revolt over its demand for 3 per cent spending cuts across the public service, with interest groups and unions calling for key departments to be exempt. The West
Banks urged to support frozen funds
The federal government will pressure Australian banks to provide liquidity to the embattled mortgage funds and to keep interest rates on government guaranteed deposits low in a two-pronged approach to stabilising the financial system. The Fin Review
Big banks staring at $1b payout over Bell
A group of banks that snatched valuable assets out of Alan Bond's Bell Group as the once-feared company teetered on the edge of collapse face having to pay back more than $1 billion to its liquidators after a landmark WA Supreme Court ruling yesterday. The West
Gold the bright spot in grim mine sector
Gold miners have tried to distance themselves from their troubled WA base metals peers, insisting yesterday that key expansion projects remained on track despite the global financial turmoil. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
The State Government is facing a widespread revolt over its demand for 3 per cent spending cuts across the public service, with interest groups and unions calling for key departments to be exempt.
A group of banks that snatched valuable assets out of Alan Bond's Bell Group as the once-feared company teetered on the edge of collapse face having to pay back more than $1 billion to its liquidators after a landmark WA Supreme Court ruling yesterday.
Business: Gold miners have tried to distance themselves from their troubled WA base metals peers, insisting yesterday that key expansion projects remained on track despite the global financial turmoil.
British gas giant BG Group has brushed aside turmoil in financial markets and launched a $5.6 billion takeover bid for Queensland Gas Company.
Fortescue Metals Group has been forced to water down its much-hyped expansion plans for the second time in two months amid falling Chinese demand and predictions that benchmark iron ore prices could fall as much as 20 per cent next year.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Page 1: Governments around the world have warned of further economic weakness and financial turmoil from the credit crisis, fuelling hopes that a cut to US interest rates by the Federal Reserve tomorrow morning will lead another round of aggressive monetary policy easings among leading central banks; The federal government will pressure Australian banks to provide liquidity to the embattled mortgage funds and to keep interest rates on government guaranteed deposits low in a two-pronged approach to stabilising the financial system.
Page 3: Treasury's long-awaited modelling of emissions trading shows the federal government is looking to dramatically reduce the cost to the economy of cutting greenhouse pollution by buying as much as a quarter of its carbon permits overseas by the end of the next decade; Paul Hogan demanded an apology for his treatment by the Australian Crime Commission during inquiries into his tax affairs as the commission told a court it was still investigating the film star.
Page 4: The prudential regulation authority is to receive an extra $83 million over four years to deal with the global financial crisis in a government move to improve regulation amid industry and political wrangling over its deposit guarantee.
World: Economists are sceptical that signs of life in America's dormant housing sector might mean the market has finally bottomed.
Markets: Falls in financial stocks led the share market lower for a fifth straight session and to a new four-year low. But a rebound in regional markets and a solid performance from resource stocks kept the losses to a minimum.
THE AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: The federal government has thrown mortgage and investment funds a lifeline with a scheme that allows them to apply for a banking licence to qualify for a government guarantee on deposits; Farmers want the Exceptional Circumstances drought relief system scrapped and replaced with new grants and HECS-style loans to farmers to help them adjust to climate change; Australian iron ore production will soar and domestic steel production will remain internationally competitive under an emissions trading regime, the Rudd government's long-awaited treasury modelling has found.
Page 2: There's no rest for the ghost of WA Inc. As the stock market reels, Australian courts are still trying to deal with the fallout from the 1987 stock market crash and Alan Bond's business activities during that infamous era; Kerry Stokes planned to use his 4.8 per cent stake in James Packer's Consolidated Media Holdings to vote against the re-election of company chairman and Packer lieutenant John Alexander.
Finance: Qantas has agreed to the second-biggest price-fixing fine in Australian history for its part in an international freight cartel that overcharged local and overseas businesses.
