Boom to last decades - Treasury; ABC face $1bn damages lawsuit; China takes new course of growth; 'Listen to Telstra shareholders' - Don Argus says; Share too expensive says Future Fund
Boom to last decades - Treasury
Treasury chief Ken Henry believes the nation's resources boom could run for decades, as new figures reveal the Chinese economy's growing strength. The West
ABC face $1bn damages lawsuit
The administrators of ABC Learning, backed by the deep pockets of the litigation funder IMF Australia, are investigating a billion-dollar damages claim against the former directors of the collapsed child care company, including the founder Eddy Groves, the chairman Sallyanne Atkinson, and the auditor Pitcher Partners. Sydney Morning Herald
China takes new course of growth
Chinese officials shifted yesterday from emphasising the country's fast economic growth to defending its composition and sustainability, as GDP figures showed the economy surged 8.9 per cent through the year to the September quarter. The Age
'Listen to Telstra shareholders' - Don Argus says
One of Australia's most senior businessmen, BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus, has bought into the debate on splitting Telstra by warning that the views of the telco's hundreds of thousands of shareholders should be heeded. Herald Sun
Share too expensive says Future Fund
Current share valuations on the Australian equity market look slightly expensive following the bourse's 53 per cent rise since bottoming in March at the height of the global financial crisis, the Future Fund says. Daily Telegraph
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The downfall of former Labor cabinet minister Norm Marlborough was complete yesterday when a District Court found him guilty of lying to the Corruption and Crime Commission in 2006.
Page 3: Treasury chief Ken Henry believes the nation's resources boom could run for decades, as new figures reveal the Chinese economy's growing strength.
Page 5: The Barnett-Grylls government is employing 430 "spin doctors" despite the Liberal Party attacking the former Labor government's "propaganda" machine in the same jobs two years ago.
Page 10: Traditional landowners of the site for the proposed Kimberley gas hub are threatening to scuttle the project because the federal government continues to refuse their demands for a benefits package to lift Aboriginal living standards in the region.
Doubts have emerged over the reliability of tests showing no contamination of marine life from the oil leak off the North West coast.
Page 19: The Barnett government has promised to reinstate the state's infill sewerage program just months after scrapping it following a storm of protest from residents in Coogee and Spearwood.
Business: Woodside Petroleum has suffered a big blow in its attempt to secure third-party gas to underpin development of its flagship Pluto LNG project after Apache Corp last night decided to instead support arch rival Chevron.
Retiring BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus has warned that changes need to be made in four key areas in Australia is to capitalise on its unique position to benefit from the "unprecedented" growth fuelled by demand in China and India.
United Group has become the third top-100 company in a week to fall foul of shareholders over big salaries and bonuses paid to its senior executives.
OM Holdings chief executive Peter Toth says he remains hopeful activist shareholder Ukrainian billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov can be convinced to back a $294 million deal with former BHP Billiton boss Brian Gilbertson.
Ten Network swung to an $ 89.4 million loss in 2008-09 as the advertising recession and its ratings woes last year ripped into earnings.
The pain continues for investors in Great Southern's wine grape projects, with receiver McGrathNicol confirming yesterday plans to wind up another two of the group's managed investment schemes.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Corporate whistleblowers are to gain stronger protection from prosecution under federal government reforms that would greatly increase the number of people who could pass on information to the corporate regulator without retribution.
The boards of sharemarket-listed companies should be named and shamed for not promoting adequate numbers of women into board and senior executive ranks, leading directors have said.
China's recovery expanded at an annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent in the past quarter, confirming a recovery is well under way in the world's third-largest economy after massive infrastructure spending and unprecedented bank lending.
Page 3: Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has warned Telstra to expect tougher benchmarks and $10 million fines to ensure all consumers receive reliable phone services, after he came under political pressure over his commitment to rural and regional Australia.
Page 4: The value of private construction work is set to shrink by $9 billion over the next two years as tight credit conditions and the economic slowdown undermine investment, overshadowing the surge in government infrastructure spending.
Page 5: Former West Australian Labor cabinet minister Norm Marlborough was found guilty of lying to the state's Corruption and Crime Commission last night, in the first conviction arising from a major investigation into the lobbying activities of former Labor premier Brian Burke.
Page 7: Future Fund chairman David Murray is pushing for pay rises and better conditions for staff so the $64 billion fund can retain and attract the best investment managers.
Page 9: The board of ABC Learning Centres will be interrogated in open court over claims of possible insolvent trading, breaches of directors' duties, breaches by the former auditors and questionable transactions that might allow unsecured creditors to challenge the banks' position on the collapsed childcare group.
Page 43: The rising demand for television advertising that began last month has accelerated in recent weeks and looks set to continue into 2010.
Outgoing BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus has delivered a sweeping critique of the regulatory outlook in Australia, questioning the structure of the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, calling for the expansion of the corporate bond market and warning of the negative consequences from the federal government's workplace relations changes.
Page 44: Amcor is bracing for another year of earnings volatility as the surging Australian dollar threatens to offset gains from its global packaging operations and contributions from the $2.4 billion acquisition of Alcan Packaging.
Page 46: Newcrest Mining has kept its full-year production guidance intact despite a scare in the September quarter when operational issues affected its Hidden Valley joint venture in Papua New Guinea.
Santos has arrested a year-long slide in quarterly earnings, with improving oil prices and increased production driving a 15 per cent jump in revenue.
Ports and rail operator Asciano Group warned it still sees few signs of a sustained economic recovery after unveiling a slump in rail-traffic freight volumes.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Kevin Rudd's boatpeople strategy will cost more than $50 million to process asylum-seekers on Indonesian soil as the political row surrounding the nation's border security escalates.
Treasury chief Ken Henry has outlined a golden age for the Australian economy lasting to 2050 and beyond, as rapid population growth and Asian demand for resources bring a sustained surge of global investment.
Page 4: The federal government has ordered a crackdown on safety standards for its $4 billion energy-efficient housing scheme, after a man was electrocuted while installing foil insulation.
Concern that the state governments are undermining the Commonwealth's efforts to stimulate the economy are expected to top the agenda of talks between Wayne Swan and state treasurers in Canberra today.
Page 5: NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal has broken ranks with his federal colleagues and slammed a proposal to end union bankrolling of the Labor Party.
Page 6: A fourth attempt will be made today to plug the West Atlas oil platform leak in the Timor Sea, amid claims the amount of oil spilling into the ocean over the past nine weeks could be much higher than previously estimated.
Brian Burke acolyte and former West Australian minister Norm Marlborough has been convicted of deliberately lying to a corruption watchdog but escaped jail after receiving a $12,500 fine.
Business: BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus has dramatically escalated the foreign investment debate, saying Australia needs to form fresh policies to ensure local investors are not squeezed out of the country's natural resources as China and India prepare for a phase of growth even greater than the previous boom.
Former employees of Centro Properties Group are believed to be considering legal action against the shopping centre owner after the corporate watchdog moved this week to ban eight of its former and present executives and directors.
Two coal companies have committed themselves to the construction of the "missing link" in rail infrastructure behind the central Queensland coalfields.
The US pay tsar will cut in half the average compensation for 175 employees at firms receiving large sums of government aid, with the vast majority of salaries coming in under $US500,000 ($542,000).
Newcrest Mining yesterday reported a 5 per cent drop in first-quarter gold production from the previous three months to 377,084 troy ounces because of lower grade ore at Gosowong in Indonesia and commissioning problems at Hidden Valley in Papua New Guinea.
Oil and gas producer Santos says it is on track to meet production guidance for calendar 2009, after reporting a 5 per cent lift in third-quarter output.
Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata has accelerated its proposal to build Queensland's fourth coal port, submitting plans to state and federal authorities for a new billion-dollar harbour between Gladstone and Rockhampton.
Television broadcaster Ten Network says a sharp rebound is under way in the Australian economy. According to executive chairman Nick Falloon, "positive signs have increased" in recent weeks in advertising, and Ten was likely to return to profitability next year.
The nation's teflon-coated major banks are emerging stronger, and now bigger, from the global financial crisis, with the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Bank this month overtaking their peak valuations before the sub-prime meltdown began in mid-2007.
China's recovery is becoming broader and potentially more sustainable, which could provide better support for a still-fragile global economy.
The US dollar crossed the key $US1.50 threshold against the euro overnight yesterday before a slight pull-back, raising more concerns in Europe about the strength of the euro and the effect it might have on any nascent recovery.
Embattled hedge fund giant Galleon Group will close amid an insider trading case that had its roots in a 2005 job search by a California hedge fund manager facing a financial squeeze, according to investigators.
Research houses and ratings agencies must rely on the supervisory activities of regulators such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to determine whether there has been any fraudulent activity in a corporate entity, the head of one of the world's biggest investment research firms, Morningstar, says.
The Australian sharemarket closed half a per cent lower, with Lend Lease, OneSteel and Qantas leading the losses, as investors judged that gains over recent months now needed to be justified by earnings results.
