G20 backs new growth push; Windfall will go to WA and Victoria; BHP faces ore export plunge; Collapse of ABC to fuel legal overhaul; Ban all native forest logging - Conservation Council
G20 backs new growth push
World leaders have committed to strengthened efforts to bolster their economies and overhaul the international regulatory system to guard against further financial disasters, amid mounting fears of a deeper global showdown. The Fin Review
Windfall will go to WA and Victoria
Western Australia and Victoria are likely to be the greatest beneficiaries of an expected $23 billion in clean energy investment spurred by the federal government's 20 per cent renewable energy target. The Fin Review
BHP faces ore export plunge
BHP Billiton has admitted its iron ore shipments could fall by up to 28 per cent by the end of next month because difficulty in getting credit has forced some steel mills to postpone deliveries. The Age
Collapse of ABC to fuel legal overhaul
The collapse of childcare giant ABC Learning has fast-tracked Rudd Government plans to overhaul corporate law to block creeping acquisitions, by which large companies progressively buy up smaller competitors. The Australian
Ban all native forest logging - Conservation Council
The Conservation Council has called on the state government to ban logging in all native forests after the Forest Product Commission's latest annual report revealed the timber industry has been tearing down forests at the fastest rate in six years. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Australia will join the other G20 countries in a new round of stimulatory spending after the world's 20 biggest economies vowed to work together to tackle the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Pressure continued to mount on beleaguered Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore from within his own party at the weekend to either ask his wife to sell her shares in BHP Billiton and Woodside or quit the Cabinet.
Page 4: WA's peak union body claims it has been betrayed by the Rudd government's draft laws which would allow workers to stay on existing Australian Workplace Agreements indefinitely.
Page 5: The Conservation Council has called on the state government to ban logging in all native forests after the Forest Product Commission's latest annual report revealed the timber industry has been tearing down forests at the fastest rate in six years.
The state government says it will decide next year on the merits of a container deposit scheme designed to reduce waste, as new figures reveal a dramatic rise in the amount of garbage buried in Perth.
Page 6: The Australian stockmarket is expected to open lower today after a fall on Wall Street on Friday and economists predict further volatility ahead.
Page 10: Accountability concerns after the Esperance lead scare had not been resolved and Magellan Metals could not expect community support to transport lead carbonate through suburban Perth, Fremantle federal MP Melissa Parke said yesterday.
Business: Shares in BHP Billiton are expected to come under pressure today after the miner admitted its iron ore shipments could fall as much as 28 pert cent during the final tow months of the year as steel mills struggling to obtain credit postpone deliveries.
Michael Kiernan is facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit over his claimed promotion of collapsed gold play Monarch Gold, with one of his former charges seeking damages over allegations of s series of investments and inter-company loans made to the miner ahead of its failure earlier this year.
Mount Gibson Iron's board, led by chairman Neil Hamilton and managing director Luke Tonkin, will face the music in West Perth tomorrow at the troubled Mid West miner's annual meeting.
There has not been a worse time for Bob Every to take on the chairmanship of Wesfarmers - a global financial crisis is biting, the group is absorbing a big and risky acquisition and its shares are at a seven-year low.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: World leaders have committed to strengthened efforts to bolster their economies and overhaul the international regulatory system to guard against further financial disasters, amid mounting fears of a deeper global showdown.
When a triumphant Kevin Rudd declared he would be reserving for himself the right to choose the ministry in his government, he claimed he would put the front bench together based on merit alone, rather than factional allegiances.
Coca-Cola Amatil and Lion Nathan have held merger discussions to create an $11 billion beer and soft drinks giant that would own brands including Coca-Cola, Mount Franklin bottled water and beer brands Tooheys, XXXX and James Boag.
Page 3: The Rudd government will allow unions to inspect employment records of non-members as part of a suite of pro-union measures in its workplace reforms.
Page 5: Western Australia and Victoria are likely to be the greatest beneficiaries of an expected $23 billion in clean energy investment spurred by the federal government's 20 per cent renewable energy target.
Page 6: The federal government may spend much of what remains of the budget surplus in order to stimulate economic activity, but Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has batted away suggestions that the government's accounts could fall into deficit.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: World leaders have resolved to tear down barriers to international trade and unleash trillions of dollars in government spending to reinvigorate economic activity paralysed by the global financial crisis.
A second major financial stimulus package could be unveiled before June next year, with the Rudd Government prepared if necessary to spend the remaining budget surplus in a push to save the economy.
Page 3: The collapse of childcare giant ABC Learning has fast-tracked Rudd Government plans to overhaul corporate law to block creeping acquisitions, by which large companies progressively buy up smaller competitors.
Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop has refused to criticise John Howard for saying al-Qaida would pray for Barack Obama to become US president.
Page 4: World financial markets will open today grappling with the prospect of a stiffer system of regulatory rules governing them in the years ahead.
Not since the end of World War II have the world's financial and geopolitical systems gone through such an extreme makeover. Yesterday's declaration from the G20 summit recognises the rise and rise of Asia.
Kevin Rudd says his relations with US President George W. Bush remain unaffected by the controversy over the publication of details of a private conversation between the two.
Key among the biggest overhaul of the world's financial system in more than 50 years is bringing the arcane world of credit default swaps under regulatory control.
Page 5: Kevin Rudd has been urged to treat NSW as a local council and appoint an administrator to fix its economic mess, after incompetent management by Labor Premier Nathan Rees and his ministers.
Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent by the Rudd Government to deliver ''quality of life'' infrastructure projects that ''revitalise town centres'', including building community halls, libraries and sporting grounds to create short-term jobs.
A combination of falling house prices and cuts in interest rates contributed to a spike in weekend auction clearances in most capital city markets.
Business: The fragile Australian share market is expected to draw little comfort from the weekend's G20 Summit, which merely offered promises of future co-operation to restore global growth.
National Australia Bank has cut its British workforce, with about 350 jobs affected by Friday's announcement of an alliance between insurance group Axa and NAB's Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks.
After each thumping day of share market falls, a few hopeful investors open their wallets and, following Warren Buffett's dictum to '' be greedy when others are fearful'', buy a few stocks.
Investment in Australia's renewable energy sector has failed to take off, totalling just $3 billion in the eight years since the scheme was introduced.
China's slowing demand for iron ore is even being felt by Rio Tinto's South African copper subsidiary, Palabora Mining Company.
Australia must free up its approach to foreign investment or risk falling behind as a favoured destination, according to a new study.
With the majority of miners suffering in the global downturn, Fat Prophets has tipped coal producers as offering the lowest risk exposure compared with other commodities but has stopped short of recommending any buys in that space.
