Wary miners dim growth outlook –The Fin; Swan defends ‘unsettling’ mining tax to Wall Street -The Aus; Barnett won't be swayed by lobbying on ports –The Fin; Verve at odds over WA's high gas price –The Aus; Holidays at home push gets $8m lift -The West
Wary miners dim growth outlook
The pick-up in economic growth may be slower than hoped amid signs the long-awaited boom in mining investment has yet to materialise and as Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia is turning into a "patchwork economy". The Fin
Swan defends 'unsettling' mining tax to Wall Street investors
Wayne Swan has been grilled by Wall Street bankers about whether the Gillard government's planned tax on mining profits will impede future investment. The Aus
Barnett won't be swayed by lobbying on ports
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says he will not be swayed by one of his party's major donors, building tycoon Len Buckeridge, who is battling the government over developing a port south of Perth. The Fin
Verve at odds over WA's high gas price
The head of one of Western Australia's biggest gas consumers, Verve Energy, has played down claims that the resource-rich state is facing a severe shortage of reasonably priced gas needed to power the next wave of the resources boom. The Aus
Holidays at home push gets $8m lift
West Australians will today be urged to holiday at home as part of a new $7.9 million marketing strategy that the Barnett government hopes will revive the state's struggling tourism sector. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Property prices in WA are predicted to rise more than 20 per cent in the next three years on the back of the emerging resources boom.
Page 3: The first of the 33 trapped Chilean miners could be raised from the deep where they have been entombed for 68 days as early as 7am today, WA time, following the successful test run of the rescue capsule.
Page 4: A $75,000 pay rise handed to Verve Energy boss Shirley In't Veld last financial year and a nearly 43 per cent increase in salaries of the power utilities top executives over the past two years are unacceptable as the state's lowest paid workers battle for "stingy" wage rises, the Opposition says.
Page 6: Julia Gillard has pledged her government to ramping up economic reforms in health and education but warned there will be no money to compensate losers from the planned changes.
Hospital support workers have vowed to continue their work bans in a push for better pay and protection for their jobs after about 1,000 staff went on strike yesterday, forcing some elective surgery to be cancelled.
Page 7: West Australians will today be urged to holiday at home as part of a new $7.9 million marketing strategy that the Barnett government hopes will revive the state's struggling tourism sector.
Page 9: The Australian Hotels Association has accused the state government of hatching a secret plan to introduce blanket lockouts at entertainment venues in time for Christmas.
Toxin tests on live mussels placed in the Swan River to test the amount of contaminants released by Fremantle Port's dredging process have again shown detectable levels of poisons.
Page 11: The days of students carting heavy and expensive textbooks could be numbered, with schools preparing to adopt the latest technology gadget, the Apple iPad.
Page 15: Farmers and scientists are appealing to investors to help buy land along the South-West's longest river, the Blackwood, to help them battle salinity, poor water quality and declining fish and marron stocks.
A Supreme Court bid for compensation by victims of the Toodyay bushfire is likely to cost property owners and state utility Western Power at least $1 million, Premier Colin Barnett said in Parliament yesterday.
Business: Veteran forester Tony Jack's Black Tree consortium has emerged as a key player in a rescue deal for the managed investment schemes of collapsed horticultural player Rewards Group, months after the failure of his bid to take on the projects of failed rival Great Southern.
The surging Australian dollar ranks as a far bigger influence on profitability than the threat of further interest rate rises, a survey of chief executives says, in a sign of the growing strain the currency is placing on many companies.
They first appeared in Abu Dhabi's ritziest hotel and by the end of this year the will be in the US as well: ATM-style kiosks that dispense gold bars for investors who think the metal's bull run has just begun.
The Port Hedland Port Authority has begun the process of applying for environmental approval for the massive dredging program required to increase shipping capacity in the harbour by 50 million tonnes.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia has recorded a second consecutive healthy annual result, increasing its combined surplus over the past two years to $11.5 million, despite fallout from the global financial crisis.
One of the country's biggest farming lobby groups has made a belated attempt to join the bidding process for Great Southern's forestry plantations, pitching a proposal that would see much of the $500 million estate returned to farmer ownership.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The pick-up in economic growth may be slower than hoped amid signs the long-awaited boom in mining investment has yet to materialise and as Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia is turning into a "patchwork economy".
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has come under attack after it was revealed the regulator has used its coercive, information-gathering powers 18,625 times over the past three years, raising questions about whether their use should be curbed or investigated.
The 18.6 billion export education industry is struggling to find new revenue as the rising dollar deters foreign students, and other countries target Australia's key markets.
Page 3: Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten has assured small business operators that the federal government will not change tax rules for independent contractors after some in the industry alleged a secret plan to implement recommendations from the Board of Taxation.
Page 5: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has vowed to deliver an ambitious economic reform program that becomes a "case study" for others, just as Canberra's top productivity adviser rebuked the government for its poor consultation on past changes.
Page 6: West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says he will not be swayed by one of his party's major donors, building tycoon Len Buckeridge, who is battling the government over developing a port south of Perth.
Page 11: The federal government's AAA credit rating is at risk of being downgraded in the long term unless "radical structural reforms" are taken to deal with budget pressures caused by the ageing population, a global credit rating agency says.
Page 12: Climate Change Minister Greg Combet called yesterday for the swift introduction of a carbon price, while accusing the Greens of blocking emissions trading last year and urging them to be realistic now.
Page 14: Treasurer Wayne Swan has rejected calls for the government to do more to stem the rise of the Australian dollar and dismissed suggestions he has been too timid on the international stage by not directly criticising China's failure to let its currency appreciate.
Page 21: Korea Gas has confirmed it is looking to buy a 15 per cent stake in the Santos-led Gladstone liquefied natural gas project in Queensland.
Foster's Group's wine business is facing a $30 million hit to earnings from the strong Australian dollar, which threatens to stymie a turnaround for Treasury Wine Estates (TWE).
Page 51: For the heavyweights of the world metals industry at the annual London Metal Exchange's LME Week conference, the mood could hardly be more upbeat.
Alinta Energy's energy board has come under pressure to explain why it believes there is no value in the Redbank power station before the receipt of an engineering review that could provide more in-depth insight into the asset.
Page 58: The head of one of Australia's largest mortgage insurers, QBE LMI, has downplayed concerns that banks will have a hard time selling their bonds to global investors because of fears the housing market is overheating.
Page 60: Mirvac and Cbus Property will redevelop Perth's historic Treasury Building in a $580 million project involving the West Australian government and the City of Perth.
Page 61: Median house prices in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide are forecast to rise by around 20 per cent in the next three years, according to new research.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Australia could open a number of refugee processing centres across the region, depending on East Timor's ability to cope with large numbers of asylum-seekers.
Julia Gillard has promised to unleash a new wave of economic reform to lift growth and broaden Australia's economy, vowing that she will provide visionary leadership despite heading a minority government.
The cost of building the National Broadband Network could blow out by $1 billion if the government adopts the principles of its Tasmanian rollout around the country.
Page 2: Parliament is to consider a private member's bill proposing a commission of inquiry into Julia Gillard's $16.2 billion Building the Education Revolution scheme.
Page 4: Julia Gillard has warned that the nation's heavy reliance on commodity exports represents a risk, vowing her government will work to broaden the economy.
Wayne Swan has been grilled by Wall Street bankers about whether the Gillard government's planned tax on mining profits will impede future investment.
Page 5: West Australian police officers could soon be forced to hand over their Tasers before entering lock-ups so there can be no repeat of the shocking incident in which an Aboriginal man was tasered 13 times.
Perth is to get its first six-star hotel to cater for billionaire visitors as money talks in the west as the resources boom heats up.
Page 8: Prominent retailers are pushing for radical changes to the nation's unfair dismissal laws, urging the major parties to exempt businesses with up to 50 employees and significantly wind back access that unfairly sacked workers have to compensation.
Business: Australia's emerging resource companies are on track to raise well over $4 billion in calendar 2010 to fund ambitious local and overseas development plans, as appetite for the booming industry outshines other sectors.
The head of one of Western Australia's biggest gas consumers, Verve Energy, has played down claims that the resource-rich state is facing a severe shortage of reasonably priced gas needed to power the next wave of the resources boom.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has insisted that any changes forcing sharemarket operators to put in place systems to deal with unauthorised and erroneous electronic trading will be uniformly implemented across all new stock exchanges in Australia.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The Anglican Church in Sydney is in diabolical trouble.
The opera theatre at the Sydney Opera House should be renamed after Dame Joan Sutherland, Barry O'Farrell says.
The board of the Sydney Turf Club will consider pursuing a merger with the Australian Jockey Club.
Page 2: Mobile phone footage shows police used batons during a deadly brawl.
Page 3: Cyclists can ride from the Harbour Bridge to the Anzac Bridge on a new bike-lane network.
World: (Beirut) The Iranian President can expect a rapturous welcome when he arrives in Lebanon on Wednesday.
Business: The surging Australian dollar ranks as a far bigger influence on profitability than the threat of further interest rate rises.
Sport: Peter George captured the first Test wicket.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Liberal MP Peter Slipper has been forced to pay back more than $14,000 in taxpayer funded entitlements. A disabled Australian girl vanished from her home in the US and is feared dead.
Page 2: People smugglers are using a new strategy to reach Christmas Island.
Page 3: Parking fines have contributed more than $1 billion to state government and local councils in the past six years.
World: (London) The family of a British aid worker killed in Afghanistan have demanded to know the full facts about a US attempt to save her.
Business: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has warned consumers to prepare for pain as the Government intends to push ahead with major reforms.
Sport: Peter George dismissed Sachin Tendulkar during the Test in Bangalore.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: A million dollars will be up for grabs in a design competition to restore Flinders Street station to its former glory if Ted Baillieu wins power.
Page 3: Melbourne residents are paying up to $285 a year for power before they turn on a single light or appliance.
Page 5: After two months trapped underground, 33 Chilean miners are steeling themselves for the nerve-racking rescue that starts today.
World: Terrorists plotting the 2005 London bombings had planned to unleash their carnage a day earlier, it was revealed yesterday.
Business: Powerful shareholders are losing patience with the major banks for talking the talk but failing to combat mounting funding costs by hiking mortgage rates.
Sport: Geelong's suspicions that dual premiership coach Mark Thompson will join Essendon have escalated after Thompson's long-time lieutenant left for Windy Hill.
THE AGE:
Page 1: The Victorian government has ordered urgent meetings in a bid to deal with the crisis engulfing Victoria's most senior prosecutor.
A controversial deal struck between Victoria Police and the AFL to cooperate on criminal matters gave the league extraordinary rights to investigate football identities and to vet public disclosure of police inquiries.
Page 2: British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has chosen Melbourne to host the follow-up to the world's most successful musical, The Phantom of the Opera.
Page 3: More than half of Victorian drivers who are caught speeding are let off with a warning when they apply for a review of their infringement notice.
World: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can expect a rapturous welcome when he arrives in Lebanon today for a landmark two-day visit that will underscore Iran's broadening regional influence and aggravate roiling tensions with Israel.
Business: Australian house prices may rise by up to 20 per cent over the next three years, despite interest rates possibly reaching 9.1 per cent, but Melbourne will miss out on most of the price growth, according to a respected business forecaster.
Sport: The large band of supporters who believe Shocking can win back-to-back Melbourne Cups need not fear a Caulfield Cup victory on Saturday, for even if he is to win the $2.5 million race, he is unlikely to be penalised more than one kilogram.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Higher interest rates and restraint in government spending will keep Canberra house prices from rising much above inflation for the next three years, a new report predicts.
Page 2: Governor-General Quentin Bryce heard Dame Joan Sutherland sing on a number of occasions and says the world will never hear a voice like hers again.
Page 3: A man accused of a double murder in Downer two years ago has told a Canberra court that he cannot remember what happened on the night he "lashed out" against his friends using a meat clever.
World: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer of a freeze on settlement building in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel's Jewish identity was widely seen as a ploy to complicate US-backed peace efforts.
Business: Canberra companies' employment plans took their first hit in 18 months because of the federal election and the uncertainty surrounding its result, a new report finds.
Sport: In yet another controversy for Australian athletics in Delhi, the Australian 4x100m men's relay team avoided disqualification and was cleared to compete for a medal in the final following a belated late-night appeal.
