Labor facing storm clouds – The Aus; VIP powwow adds weight to gas boom – The West; Deadline issued for Montara damages – The Aus; Cost blow-outs worry Burrup backer – The Fin; The ball's in WA's court – The Fin
Labor facing storm clouds
Labor should expand its resources tax to other minerals and consider increasing the GST as part of a strategy to manage the mining boom and protect the economy from future commodities downturns. The Aus
VIP powwow adds weight to gas boom
Confidence in WA's emerging oil and gas boom has been given a boost amid revelations some of the world's most powerful business executives have flown into Perth for a Chevron Corporation board meeting. The West
Deadline issued for Montara damages
The Indonesian government will give the operator of the Montara offshore well a December deadline to start seriously negotiating a multi-billiondollar damages claim for the worst oil spill in Australian waters. The Aus
Cost blow-outs worry Burrup backer
Alleged cost overruns at Pankaj Oswal's fertiliser empire are behind an increasingly nasty dispute between the West Australian tycoon and his Norwegian backer. The Fin
The ball's in WA's court
The troubled, $500 million Arena development in Perth has come under another cloud, after the West Australian Treasury warned that work on the landmark venue had slowed. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday warned Australians in New Delhi for the Commonwealth Games to exercise a high degree of caution as the Department of Foreign Affairs said the risk of a terrorist attack was high and could happen without warning.
Page 3: WA's list of young rich may have dwindled but those still in the exclusive club saw their fortunes grow over the past six months.
Page 4: A surge in imported vegetables could force WA family operations out of business by undercutting wages and input costs.
Page 5: WA households are applying for emergency assistance to pay their soaring electricity and water bills at nearly three times the rate they were in the 2008-09 financial year, new figures reveal.
Page 6: Confidence in WA's emerging oil and gas boom has been given a boost amid revelations some of the world's most powerful business executives have flown into Perth for a Chevron Corporation board meeting.
Page 9: A third major bridge over the Canning River could be built in the next decade as part of a broad vision for a new mixed-use hub around Canning Bridge.
Page 10: The official review of Regional Development Minister Brendon Gryll's handling of a contentious Freedom of Information request involving Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer will be fast-tracked after a decision by Information Commissioner Sven Bluemmel.
Property developers are warning more land needs to be released to prevent a housing shortage in the wake of new official figures that show WA remains the nation's fastest growing state.
Page 12: The world's richest man, Mexican communications tycoon Carlos Slim, has upped the pressure on the federal government over the National Broadband Network, claiming it is too expensive.
Page 13: The Gillard Government has chalked up an inglorious record by becoming the first Australian government in almost 50 years to be defeated in a vote in the Lower House.
Page 14: Premier Colin Barnett has conceded that thousands of hospital support workers could do with more money but says their work bans hark back to outdated industrial action of the 1970s.
Business: Telstra is working to finalise its $11 billion deal with the government company developing the National Broadband Network by the end of the year.
The price tag for Brockman Resources' Pilbara project has blown out by $500 million to as much as $1.9 billion but the iron ore hopeful has answered its critics by proving a plan to beneficiate ore to overcome the problem of low grades can be profitable.
Japan has moved to secure a slice of production for WA's first rare-earths mine against a background on tension with China over supply of the commodity, which is used in hybrid cars, computers, and missile-guidance systems.
Steve de Mol didn't have a crystal ball to predict the global financial crisis, but his decision to sell Action Mining Services three years ago and then return to the mining services sector when conditions improved was timed almost to perfection.
Good news punters: retail stocks are heading for a repeat of their sharemarket glory days during the 2006-07 boom, despite signs pointing to an upward march of interest rates and lingering concerns about the global economy.
French oil and gas giant Total has thrown its support behind beleaguered Icthys LNG project operator Inpex, declaring the controversial and technically challenging $25 billion venture "will be delivered".
While WA's mining companies focus on the large-scale export of minerals, a small Perth drug discovery company has stumbled on an export market for a product worth 80 times more than gold - pharmaceutical standards.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Telstra will slash at least 6,000 jobs, or 15 per cent of its workforce, over three years as it seeks to return earnings to last year's levels and revive its share price despite uncertainty about its $11 billion deal with Labor's National Broadband Network.
Arch rivals Qantas and Virgin Blue will be among the biggest corporate beneficiaries of the surging Australian dollar, as US dollar-dominated costs including jet fuel, aircraft leases and offshore engineering plummet.
The International Monetary Fund has urged the Gillard government to extend its controversial mining tax and increase consumption taxes so Australia can take full advantage of the mining boom.
Page 5: Alleged cost overruns at Pankaj Oswal's fertiliser empire are behind an increasingly nasty dispute between the West Australian tycoon and his Norwegian backer.
Page 7: The Gillard government faced its first parliamentary assault over broken election promises yesterday as the Coalition declared that Labor was seeking to "lower expectations" in the hope voters would excuse it for dodging its commitments.
Page 8: Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday refused to outline a time frame for the introduction of a carbon price as she came under attack from the Coalition for abandoning an election promise not to bring in a carbon tax,
Page 9: Regional Development Minister Simon Crean conceded yesterday there could be some argument about which parts of Australia should benefit from the $9.9 billion promised to regional areas over the next decade.
Page 13: Australia's most senior petroleum regulator has called for a formal audit of regulators as part of a wider reform of oversight of the offshore oil and gas industry after the Montara oil spill last year.
The troubled, $500 million Arena development in Perth has come under another cloud, after the West Australian Treasury warned that work on the landmark venue had slowed.
Page 18: Embattled Nufarm managing director Doug Rathbone has defended generous retention payments given to management under provisions for a takeover that did not eventuate.
Page 20: A cost-benefit analysis of Labor's $43 billion high-speed broadband project could further delay a shareholder vote on Telstra's $11 billion deal with NBN Co and the government, David Thodey warned.
Page 21: The final cost of Brockman Resources' Marillana iron ore project in Western Australia's Pilbara region could vary by $660 million, depending on the company's ability to access a BHP Billiton-owned rail line.
French oil major Total has signalled it has both the appetite and the financial strength to pursue more acquisitions in the Australian liquefied natural gas sector should it find the right opportunity.
Page 44: Commercial property sales leapt in the third quarter to levels not seen since early 2008, research from CB Richard Ellis has found.
Page 50: The regional head of Lend Lease plans to be a "game changer" in Western Australia's Pilbara region, after criticising the resources sector for largely ignoring community development.
Page 51: Treasury has urged the federal government to take action on Australia's choking cities and expensive housing markets.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Labor should expand its resources tax to other minerals and consider increasing the GST as part of a strategy to manage the mining boom and protect the economy from future commodities downturns.
Julia Gillard has been stung by the reality of minority government, leading Labor to an embarrassing defeat in the new parliament's first policy ballot and facing opposition condemnation for breaking an election promise on carbon tax.
Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim Helu has questioned the cost of Labor's $43 billion fibre-to-the-home National Broadband Network, saying $7000 for every wired-up home is far too high.
Page 2: John Howard has rekindled old passions over multiculturalism, warning that Australia and other countries in the free world must assert their cultural identity and not appease Islamic fanatics in the battle against terrorism.
West Australian police have been told that confidential documents found in a Melbourne drug raid consist of a WA incident report from the late 1990s that does not compromise police operations.
Page 4: Julia Gillard has again declined to commit to a timetable for introducing a carbon price, saying she will allow the government's multi-party climate change committee to finish its deliberations at the end of next year before making a final decision.
Beijing is angry that Julia Gillard has snubbed China, Australia's largest trade and export partner, by making Japan, South Korea and Vietnam the first regional nations she will visit as Prime Minister.
Graham Richardson has stood by his claims that Julia Gillard has been forced to keep two cabinet ministers she wanted to dump because they threatened to force by-elections and risk Labor losing government.
Page 5: Australia's first indigenous MP in the lower house, Liberal Ken Wyatt, used his maiden speech yesterday to thank Kevin Rudd for apologising to the Stolen Generations.
Greens MP Adam Bandt says The Australian intends to do all it can to bring down the Gillard government, because it is both immensely powerful, and peeved.
Page 6: Universities are worried that negative perceptions about Australia not wanting international students have spread across student websites in key markets such as China.
Page 7: A failure of management in the Environment Department has been blamed for budget blowouts, major delays and questionable environmental outcomes under the Rudd government's $275 million Green Loans scheme.
Page 8: The Indonesian government will give the operator of the Montara offshore well a December deadline to start seriously negotiating a multi-billiondollar damages claim for the worst oil spill in Australian waters.
Page 9: Aboriginal people living in major cities are better off than their remote counterparts in nearly all social indicators, but are less likely to report feeling happy and in good health.
Business: Australia will retain its title as one of the best-performing nations in the world as rebounding business investment, a generational commodity boom and corporate profits drive stronger than expected growth in the next two years.
The mining boom is set to pump up the Australian economy to full capacity during the next year.
Consumers are spending and resources companies are investing heavily, but that is where clarity ends when it comes to understanding the complexity of our post-GFC, multi-speed economy.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that the new Basel rules on banking regulation could lead to excessive risk taking and says they have overlooked the cross-border funding risk that exposed Australia's banks during the global financial crisis.
A senior banker has warned that the major banks may be forced to raise interest rates above the Reserve Bank's official rate.
The Australian Securities Exchange will begin an international search to replace chief executive Robert Elstone, who will leave next year.
The Australian dollar rocketed through US97c last night as it heads towards the highest point since it was floated 27 years ago.
French energy giant Total has outlined plans to become a dominant player in Australia's booming liquefied natural gas sector.
