Gillard faces first test on unions – The Fin; WA hits back in battle over carve-up of GST – The Aus; Verve gets lifeline on Synergy deal – The West; $3b rescue spares Alinta but cements heavy losses – The West; Late-night trading approved – The West
Gillard faces first test on unions
The Gillard government's "no change" promise on workplace relations faces its first test as employers demand guarantees over the future of the construction industry regulator, and unions push to scrap tax breaks for thousands of independent contractors. The Fin
WA hits back in battle over carve-up of GST
A row has broken out over proposals to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars in GST grants away from Western Australia because it will collect higher iron ore royalties from BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. The Aus
Verve gets lifeline on Synergy deal
The Barnett Government has thrown Verve a major lifeline which will see the state power utility keep its current supply contracts to electricity retailer Synergy for the next 10 years. The West
$3b rescue spares Alinta but cements heavy losses
A $3 billion deal to save debt-laden Alinta Energy from collapse will crystallise heavy capital losses for thousands of small WA investors who bought into the group during the 2007 takeover and breakup of Alinta Ltd. The West
Late-night trading approved
Shops across Perth will be able to open until 9pm on weeknights after parts of the Government's trading laws passed the Upper House yesterday. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Cottesloe beachgoers are about to be hit with a raft of new rules banning everything from kites and oversized umbrellas to digging big holes and holding public meetings.
Page 3: Shops across Perth will be able to open until 9pm on weeknights after parts of the Government's trading laws passed the Upper House yesterday.
Page 6: Tony Abbott says the coalition will embark on a mission to "fine tune" its policies but the Opposition Leader appears to have quarantined his rival paid parental leave scheme from review despite internal disquiet among his MPs.
Page 7: Industrial action by thousands of hospital support workers such as cleaners and orderlies will continue indefinitely after their union yesterday rejected a new pay offer by the state government.
Page 9: The viability of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi has again been thrown into question after a footbridge near the main stadium collapsed, injuring more than 20 people and Australia's world champion discus thrower Dani Samuels withdrew over security and health concerns.
Page 10: Homeowners could be paying 9 per cent mortgages by next year, adding $80 a week to their average repayments, as a direct result of the resources boom after the Reserve Bank signalled an aggressive effort to stop an inflation breakout.
Page 16: Conservationists have criticised the state government's long-awaited south coast marine plan, saying it offers no meaningful protection for the environment.
It was physically impossible to have a doctor on site at all times at small country hospitals and to do so would destroy the health system, Health Minister Kim Hames said yesterday.
Page 17: A state prosecutor blasted by WA's top judge for a "serious breach" of his obligations to disclose evidence to the defence in a criminal trial will not face any interdisciplinary action.
Page 19: The Wembley Downs retiree whose investment property was sold without his permission is likely to get compensation from the state government or Landgate for the value of the property.
Page 26: The Australian love affair with lamb looks set to continue as WA producers turn to the popular meat to keep their business running.
Page 30: The Barnett Government has thrown Verve a major lifeline which will see the state power utility keep its current supply contracts to electricity retailer Synergy for the next 10 years.
Business: A $3 billion deal to save debt-laden Alinta Energy from collapse will crystallise heavy capital losses for thousands of small WA investors who bought into the group during the 2007 takeover and breakup of Alinta Ltd.
Norwegian fertiliser giant Yarra International has taken business partner Pankaj Oswal to court because of a disagreement over the Indian tycoon's plan to change the company's status of their flagship venture.
Influential investment bank UBS has added weight to increased industry expectation that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto will fail to secure a controversial Pilbara iron ore operating joint venture the miners claim could generate $US10 billion in savings.
Fortescue Metals chief Andrew Forrest has grudgingly declared his support for a carbon tax, becoming the latest business leader to concede a price on polluting is inevitable.
Paladin Energy, Oil Search, Aquila Resources and Woodside Petroleum will be targeted at their annual meetings for failing to have adequate carbon disclosure policies and not telling shareholders of the risks associated with their carbon footprints.
A new four-star resort is being planned for Jurien Bay, which will be just over a two-hour drive from Perth following the opening last weekend of the final section of the long awaited Indian Ocean Drive.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Gillard government's "no change" promise on workplace relations faces its first test as employers demand guarantees over the future of the construction industry regulator, and unions push to scrap tax breaks for thousands of independent contractors
Farmers have joined the mining-dominated commodities bonanza, which will reap a record $215 billion in export earnings this year but is putting pressure on interest rates.
& Brown empire.
Global fund manager Colonial Fist State's property arm is set to bail out some of Melbourne's highest-profile businessmen as it prepares to buy half of troubled discount retail chain Direct Factory Outlet in a $600 million deal.
Page 3: Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson says he will preside over a major expansion of the uranium industry during this term of Parliament, dismissing any suggestion that Labor's alliance with the Greens could hamper its development.
Page 4: The Labor government set up a process for unions to discuss a potential crackdown on sham contracting after the ALP conference last year.
Page 5: Salaries are set to increase this year as better business conditions and a dwindling supply of labour boosts pay packets, recruiters said.
Page 6: Pressure is mounting on Labor as more business leaders join the call for a full cost-benefit analysis of its national broadband network project.
Small businesses may have to wait a year for increased research and development tax credits because a bill to change the tax laws looks likely to be stalled in Parliament.
Page 7: The Coalition is preparing to embarrass Labor by forcing it to vote against the re-appointment of its own Speaker, Harry Jenkins, when Parliament sits next Tuesday for the first time since the election.
Page 9: The Reserve Bank of Australia appears poised to announce an pre-emptive increase in interest rates as early as next month amid concern that the mining boom is pushing inflation above its target range.
Page 10: Australia's biggest solar power plant will be built in Western Australia's burgeoning mid-west resources region next year, after the state government announced yesterday that it would foot the $58 million bill.
Page 11: An environmental investor fund will target four listed companies during the coming shareholder meeting season, after claims that the companies have failed to make appropriate disclosures to investors.
Page 12: The federal government's assertion that its 1 percentage point cut in the company tax rate will help the non-resources sector cope with the mining boom that has gone largely uncontested.
Self-managed superannuation funds can borrow money from a related party as long as the terms favour the fund, the Australian Taxation Office has decided, in the first of a series of rulings on borrowings by small funds.
Page 44: Fears of a damaging broadband price war and a disappointing full-year guidance sent shares in TPG Telecom, Australia's fastest growing internet service provider, tumbling 10 per cent yesterday.
Page 45: News Ltd, West Australian Newspapers and APN News and Media will start releasing data from their newspaper readership system in late 2011, triggering a fresh battle with incumbent readership supplier Roy Morgan Research.
Avoca Resources chief executive Rohan Williams believes local shareholders are warming to the company's proposed $US2 billion ($2.1 billion) merger with Canada's Anatolia Minerals Development.
Page 51: Australia's banks are set to defy political pressure and lift home loan interest rates above moves by the Reserve Bank in a bid to claw back weaker profit margins, a new report claims.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: One of Australia's most successful dotcom entrepreneurs has branded the National Broadband Network a potential ''$43 billion hi-tech babysitter'', joining a growing chorus of industry criticism of the federal government's internet plans.
Tony Abbott has declared he will lead a ''party of ideas'' in the new parliament but warned Julia Gillard he will stick to his guns on the mining tax, climate change and broadband policy.
Building industry watchdog John Lloyd warned yesterday that federal Labor's proposed watering down of his powers risked increasing unlawful conduct that could lead to extortion and corruption in the construction sector.
Page 2: The government has ruled out using the military as a crisis response force in the event of trouble at a new immigration detention centre at Cape York Peninsula, giving police that role.
Business owners in the remote Kimberley town of Derby are urging Julia Gillard to commit long-term to the nearby Curtin detention centre, regardless of whether Labor chooses to extend the six month freeze on Afghan asylum seekers that ends next month.
Page 3: At least three teams yesterday threatened to pull out of the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games because of the ''disgraceful'' state of the athletes' village, while the collapse of a footbridge at the main stadium last night threw the event further into doubt.
Holidaymakers continue to benefit from cheap airfares, as the best discount tickets this month were 13.5 per cheaper than last year, but business travellers are paying more.
Page 4: A row has broken out over proposals to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars in GST grants away from Western Australia because it will collect higher iron ore royalties from BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
The Gillard government is confident its revised mining tax can deliver a promised $10 billion in revenue following the first meeting of the committee charged with turning the impost into legislation.
A Reserve Bank insider has tipped that the bank is gearing up for a run of five interest rate rises as the commodity boom gathers steam.
Major Australian companies such as Woodside Petroleum face a raft of shareholder resolutions at annual general meetings that will force them to reveal their carbon emissions and their plans to tackle climate change.
Page 6: Tony Abbott has predicted Labor is likely to jettison Harry Jenkins as speaker to protect its own numbers, with veteran MP Philip Ruddock emerging as the Liberals' pick for the plum post.
Page 7: Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has given a clear sign he intends to have a sound working relationship with Julia Gillard, dismissing opposition gibes that he sees himself as the prime minister in exile.
Page 8: Disenchantment with Labor in Western Australia has reached a 14-year high, with just 30 per cent of voters wanting the party back in power, a result that could sound the death knell for Opposition Leader Eric Ripper.
Victoria is set to have the country's largest solar power station following the Victorian government's decision yesterday to commit $100 million to a new large-scale solar development in the state's northwest.
The West Australian government says a new energy supply contract will help secure the future of troubled state power supplier Verve Energy and save the state $1.5 billion over the next decade.
Page 9: The tax office's handling of complaints from people who have been left thousands of dollars out of pocket because of compromised tax file numbers has come under strong criticism from the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
Business: The Reserve Bank could raise interest rates as soon as next month -- and may have to deliver up to four more hikes next year -- to lessen inflationary pressures created by a resurgent resources boom.
After being at the brink of having the value of its stake in Alinta Energy wiped out by a recapitalisation plan, Guinness Peat Group has emerged ahead on its investment by almost 20 per cent.
BHP Billiton chief Marius Kloppers' Canadian visit has run into headwinds, with regulators and politicians raising concerns about BHP's $US40 billion ($42.2bn) bid for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan.
Premier Investments, parent company of retailer The Just Group, is looking to a pick-up in the sector after reporting a4 per cent decline in annual profit to $79.6 million.
