BHP, Rio cave in to China; WA government aims to ease investment approval; Verve bosses get big pay rises despite loss; Aussie dollar heads for parity; Union wants to cross the collar bar
BHP, Rio cave in to China
Plans by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to create a jointly owned $US116 billion ($A127.2 billion) iron ore colossus in Western Australia's Pilbara are being recast to deal with competition concerns in Europe and fears in China - the world's biggest iron ore consumer - that the combination would have too much pricing power. The Age
WA government aims to ease investment approval
The West Australian government last night unveiled a long-awaited plan to streamline the state's onerous approvals system for investment projects, in a move it promised would help set up the resource-rich state for 20 years of strong economic growth. The Fin Review
Verve bosses get big pay rises despite loss
The managing director of WA's power generator Verve Energy was given a $94,000 pay rise last financial year despite overseeing a $171 million loss at the state-owned utility and approving rocketing prices for households. The West
Aussie dollar heads for parity
The Australian dollar appears headed towards parity with the US dollar after Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens agreed the economy's strength could drive it "way up" to $US1.10. The Australian
Union wants to cross the collar bar
Unions have launched legal action to test their ability to rope white-collar professional and managerial staff into a single collective workplace agreement, in a case that employers say could have significant implications. The Australian
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The managing director of WA's power generator Verve Energy was given a $94,000 pay rise last financial year despite overseeing a $171 million loss at the state-owned utility and approving rocketing prices for households.
Page 3: Just three houses are under construction in remote Aboriginal communities under a $500 million agreement between the WA and federal governments to tackle to chronic shortage and appalling living conditions.
Page 4: The Reserve Bank has warned the government to start winding back its guarantee of banks' wholesale funding practices in a sign of its concern over the policy.
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens used a speech to West Australians yesterday to warn the nation that interest rates will continue to climb even faster than many believe.
Page 6: Nationals and Labor MPs have been accused of rank hypocrisy over their deregulated trading stance after it emerged that most of the country areas granted exemptions to the state's retail trading rules sit squarely in their electorates.
Colin Barnett yesterday warned Labor and his Cabinet colleagues in the Nationals that attempts to block his new plan for shopping deregulation in inner city areas would backfire on the electorally.
Page 10: Headers rolled out in Mullewa yesterday when WA's wheat harvest began but many farmers will consider storing grain on their farms, hoping to get higher wheat prices later in the year.
Page 14: WA's public hospitals are the most expensive to run in the country, with a new report finding the cost of care for an average procedure almost $1,000 higher than in the private sector.
Page 17: The company behind the Timor Sea oil spill has agreed to pay for environmental monitoring of the leak's impact for at least two years.
Business: Plans by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to create a joint $126 billion iron ore colossus in the Pilbara are being recast to deal with competition concerns in Europe and fears China, the world's biggest iron ore consumer, that the combination would have too much pricing power.
Carnegie Wave Energy is on its way to becoming the first Australian company to commercialise renewable energy technology after singing off on a 5MW wave power project to be built off Garden Island.
Downer EDI's board has been dealt one of the most humiliating blows this year after almost three-fifths of shareholders voted against generous bonuses for senior executives.
Leslie Janusz Hooker, the grandson of the founder of LJ Hooker, has paid $82 million to buy back the family business from Suncorp Metway.
Australia Post is looking to hit customers with another rise in postal charges this year, after the government-owned corporation suffered its first fall in overall mail volumes in six years in 2008-09.
Bank of Queensland has declared the worst of the global financial crisis behind it after the regional lender's annual profit jumped 21 per cent on a surge in lending but slashed its dividend.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Federal Treasury and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission are considering measures that could lead to a dramatic expansion in the fledgling corporate bond market for retail investors.
Investors have sharply increased their expectations of a large interest rate rise next month after Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens warned against being "too timid" in tightening monetary policy from its emergency levels.
Treasury secretary Ken Henry has downplayed hopes of rapid reform from the federal government's tax review, citing budgetary constraints, but he outlined a stronger case for increasing charges on road users.
Page 3: The International Monetary Fund has warned that Australian banks could lose more than $33 billion from loan defaults as corporations and households struggle with the effects of the deep world downturn.
A $20 million campaign to sell Australia on the world stage should be guided by a new organisation, outside of trade and tourism agencies, according to a proposal backed by prominent business men and women.
Page 5: Australia Post has suffered a 40 per cent drop in net profit as it argues the case with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to increase the price of basic postage stamps from 55 cents to 60 cents.
The West Australian government last night unveiled a long-awaited plan to streamline the state's onerous approvals system for investment projects, in a move it promised would help set up the resource-rich state for 20 years of strong economic growth.
Page 7: The boards of superannuation funds, which manage $450 billion in savings, should be required to disclose executive remuneration, avoid conflicts of interest and be subject to mandatory training requirements, a review into fund governance has been told.
Page 10: After some false starts, Tourism Australia has found a new executive to run the $130 million organisation that markets Australia overseas.
Page 13: A major Chinese investor has pulled out of a showcase Victorian brown coal power generation project amid claims of "near investment paralysis" due to lingering uncertainty about national energy policy.
Page 19: Xstrata has dropped a proposed $53.2 billion hostile bid for Anglo American after the UK Takeover Panel set an October 20 deadline for a formal offer.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The Australian dollar appears headed towards parity with the US dollar after Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens agreed the economy's strength could drive it "way up" to $US1.10.
The federal opposition looks certain to harden its policies on asylum-seekers, amid fears it will be politically outflanked by Kevin Rudd, who is toughening his government's position in the face of a rising tide of boatpeople.
The Rudd government is threatening to rethink $3.7 billion in water grants to laggard states because of unacceptable delays in state governments spending the money.
A cabal of experienced Victoria police see themselves as ''guardians'' of a counterculture that promotes self-interest ahead of ethical service and encourages rule-breaking among younger officers as a necessary part of the job.
Page 2: The jungle has been hacked from dilapidated blocks of flats on Christmas Island so that immigration workers can live there.
Page 3: Victoria's chief watchdog has slammed the state's Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to prevent the leaking of explosive gas into a housing estate, saying it showed "poor management", conflict of interest and placed residents at unnecessary risk.
The former Parliament House caterer whose friendship with Mike Rann has become a political controversy has made her first public statement since her estranged husband's alleged attack on the South Australian Premier a fortnight ago.
Page 4: Expanded industry compensation under consideration by the federal Coalition could push the emissions trading scheme into the red, costing the budget up to $1.8 billion in its first year of operation, according to an analysis commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
The Rudd government's $480 million "national solar schools'" program was quietly suspended yesterday afternoon via a notice posted on the popular scheme's website.
Page 5: Unions have launched legal action to test their ability to rope white-collar professional and managerial staff into a single collective workplace agreement, in a case that employers say could have significant implications.
Australia's high street banks are under pressure to slash fees and charges and match the NAB, which yesterday abolished fees for two of its most popular accounts and dropped disproportionately high credit card penalty charges.
The Rudd government must urgently rein in migration or tens of thousands more young Australians will miss out on their first jobs, a new report warns.
For the first time in six years, Australia Post has reported a fall in the volume of parcels and letters it handles, from 5.6 billion items in 2007-08 to 5.3 billion this year.
Business: BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have been forced into the first major backdown on the hastily arranged $US116 billion ($126m) merger of their Pilbara iron ore interests, scrapping the proposed joint marketing of up to 15 per cent of production.
After a difficult year, Qantas is starting to see signs of an upturn in demand, particularly in economy class, according to chief executive Alan Joyce.
More than 100 small investors in road-tunnel group BrisConnections will not be pursued for outstanding debts to the troubled project.
The Australian dollar continued its stellar run yesterday, hitting a new 14-month high of US92.23c after a bullish assessment of the economy by Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens left little doubt that further interest rate rises were in the pipeline.
The nation's biggest coking coal port, Queensland's Dalrymple Bay, is shipping at just 70 per cent capacity, resulting in huge queues of ships.
OZ Minerals disappointed the market yesterday with third quarter production figures from its Prominent Hill operation, but it said the new mine would increase output on schedule despite operational difficulties.
Bank of Queensland is again on the hunt for a transformational deal to fill the industry space vacated by Westpac's takeover of St George Bank.
Foster's Group has sold eight vineyards in South Australia as part of a divestment program to turn around its underperforming $4 billion wine business.
China's massive reserves of foreign exchange continued to swell in the third quarter, figures published by the central bank show, an indication that foreign money is still flowing into an economy that rebounded quickly from the global crisis.
The US's largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers), has revealed a former board member reaped fees totalling $US50 million ($54.3m) for arranging investments that could saddle taxpayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
Goldman Sachs Group said on Thursday that third-quarter earnings soared, as it cashed in on trading gains and investments with the company's own money.
Xstrata is walking away from its bid for rival Anglo American, pausing for at least six months its effort to create a new mining powerhouse.
The Australian sharemarket rallied to close at a one-year high yesterday, as strong earnings from US investment bank JPMorgan reassured investors that company profits were likely to improve.
Shares in market darling JB Hi-Fi advanced to a record high on several broker upgrades after a surprise surge in September-quarter comparable store sales.
