State Labor pressures Canberra on mining tax – The West; Fresh Sino Iron doubts emerge – The Fin; Big builder warns on Perth recovery – The Fin; Tug of war over WA U-hopeful – The West; Poll showdown for open slather trade on Sundays – The West
State Labor pressures Canberra on mining tax
WA shadow state development minister Mark McGowan has broken ranks with his Federal ALP colleagues by calling for the mining tax to be delayed and for WA to get a bigger slice of its infrastructure fund. The West
Fresh Sino Iron doubts emerge
Leighton Holdings' subsidiary Thiess is the latest in a growing line of companies trying to recover money through the courts from the troubled $US5.2 billion Sino Iron magnetite project in Western Australia. The Fin
Big builder warns on Perth recovery
The head of the country's second largest home builder, Dale Alcock, ahs warned that the weakest performing capital city in the country, Perth, can only expect a modest recovery in the next 12 months. The Fin
Tug of war over WA U-hopeful
One of Russia's biggest steel-makers is on a collision course with Korea's main electricity supplier for control of WA uranium hopeful Berkeley Resources. The West
Poll showdown for open slather trade on Sundays
The government has given the strongest hint yet it will take a policy of fully deregulated Sunday trading to the next state election. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: Property tycoon Warren Anderson yesterday lost a bid to overturn his conviction for assaulting his wife after she called him "paedophile" during an argument at the estranged pair's Peppermint Grove mansion last year.
Page 4: The government has given the strongest hint yet it will take a policy of fully deregulated Sunday trading to the next state election.
The City of Stirling has been named Australia's most sustainable urban community, winning the 2010 Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Cities award.
Page 5: Almost one patient a week died or was harmed seriously by mistakes in WA hospitals last financial year, which health authorities admitted yesterday was unacceptable.
Page 6: The Reserve Bank is poised to deliver mortgage holders some Melbourne Cup cheer by leaving official interest rates on hold today on the back of more signs the housing makret is cooling and price pressures remain contained.
Page 7: A former council building coordinator who committed suicide before he could be scrutinised at the public inquiry into an alleged $5 million rort convinced his best friend to forge invoices to the officer could steal items from work, the Corruption and Crime Commission was told yesterday.
Page 8: Colin Barnett has instructed his ministers to cut back on "unnecessary" meetings with state and federal colleagues in the eastern states in a move the opposition claims is driven by the Premier's feud with Canberra and could risk seeing WA dealt out of important national talks.
WA mining magnate Andrew Forrest's ambitious plan to find 50,000 jobs for indigenous people has fallen far short of its target, with fewer than 3,000 working so far.
Page 9: Australians are drinking more alcohol than ever, according to alarming WA research whi9hc has tracked consumption for 20 years.
Page 18: WA shadow state development minister Mark McGowan has broken ranks with his Federal ALP colleagues by calling for the mining tax to be delayed and for WA to get a bigger slice of its infrastructure fund.
Business: James Packer and would-be business partner Lachlan Murdoch will get a say in the appointment of a new chairman for Network Ten if he accepts the broadcaster's offer of two seats at its board.
Inpex and Total have called for tenders for the construction of one of the biggest oil and gas platforms built, as the centrepiece for their technically complex $25 billion Ichthys LNG project.
Prominent Australian surfwear company Rip Curl has booked a slump in sales and profit for 2009-10, joining listed rivals Billabong and Quicksilver in painting a gloomy picture for branded retailers.
The Commonwealth Bank's online broking arm has warned it will be forced to slice nearly a third off the value of its $373 million IWL stockbroking acquisition after a downturn in equity markets triggered a drop in the value of the business.
One of Russia's biggest steel-makers is on a collision course with Korea's main electricity supplier for control of WA uranium hopeful Berkeley Resources.
QR National has increased its exposure to WA's iron ore sector, buying six locomotives to service new and expanding projects in the Yilgarn and Mid-West, including Gindalbie Metals' developing Karara mine.
Elektra Mines and Doray Minerals yesterday continued their battle for title of WA gold explorer of the year after exciting investors with more high-grade hits from their respective projects east of Laverton and north of Meekatharra.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Western Australia and Queensland are pushing for an overhaul of the way more than $50 billion of goods and services tax revenue will be carved up this year, claiming mining royalties are subsidising less wealthy states.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has asked federal Treasury to draft a new law to prohibit price signalling, in a move that would significantly boost the regulator's ability to prove collusion.
Page 3: Inflation looks set to accelerate in the December quarter, highlighting the challenge facing the Reserve Bank of Australia today as it decides whether or not to raise interest rates.
Big-time punters have thrown their money behind the Bart Cummings-trained So You Think to win today's $6 million Melbourne Cup, and the horse is set to start as one of the shortest-priced favourites in the race's 150-year history.
Page 5: Capital city house prices rose by 0.1 per cent in the three months ended September 30, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the slowest rate of growth since the start of last year.
Page 7: The Council of Australian Governments will consider proposals for new coastal planning standards after warnings that $63 billion worth of residential buildings could be at risk from rising sea levels.
Page 8: Australia and Malaysia have agreed to push for a comprehensive free-trade agreement by the end of next year.
Page 11: The West Australian Labor Party has joined with the Barnett Liberal government to seek changes to the federal government's resource rent tax.
Page 12: West Australians may finally be allowed to buy whatever they want on Sundays - but not until 2013.
Page 16: Leighton Holdings' subsidiary Thiess is the latest in a growing line of companies trying to recover money through the courts from the troubled $US5.2 billion Sino Iron magnetite project in Western Australia.
Page 50: Centro has flagged the sale of a $450 million portfolio of its US assets by December to settle a looming debt to JPMorgan.
Perth-based Property Bank Australia and Security Capital Corp bought an office building in Melbourne's Richmond Corporate Park for $18.35 million, the first acquisition in Melbourne in several years.
Page 52: Luxury home owners have listed their houses in droves this spring, but industry figures say the demand isn't there to match it.
One of Australia's largest mortgage brokers, Australian Finance Group, said economic uncertainty and a lack of credible government leadership was forcing home buyers to retreat from the market.
Page 53: The head of the country's second largest home builder, Dale Alcock, ahs warned that the weakest performing capital city in the country, Perth, can only expect a modest recovery in the next 12 months.
Alcock Brown-Neaves Group is finalising plans to build a $150 million bulky goods centre in Perth's south-east growth corridor to take advantage of residential developments in the area.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: (Melbourne Cup wrap) Counter-terrorism investigators are sharpening their focus on Australians with links to Yemeni militants.
The brother of a man convicted of a major terrorist offence has been deported from Malaysia.Malaysia has withheld formal support for Julia Gillard's proposed regional refugee processing centre.
Victorian Premier John Brumby has signalled the formal start of the state election campaign.
Page 2: A lack of blanket security checks on air freight in Australia has prompted warnings that aircraft are vulnerable.
Page 3: The ABC's network of foreign correspondents is in uproar after management's decision to make cutbacks to save costs.
World: (Port-Au-Prince) Haiti is bracing for the arrival of a hurricane.
Busienss: The Ten Network Holdings board and James Packer have held further talks.
Sport: Veteran Batsman Michael Hussey's Test career appears to be in its end days.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: (Melbourne Cup wrap) Kevin Rudd and his senior ministers were so suspicious of Lindsay Tanner they would hold fake pre-budget meetings to ensure their plans didn't leak.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has told Julia Gillard not to pressure him to investigate evidence of torture by the country's military in Papua.
Australians will be hit with higher electricity bills if the nation fails to implement a carbon price, the head of NSW's electricity price regulator says.
Kristina Keneally failed to disclose that she was signed up to the government's generous Solar Bonus Scheme while deliberating on its future.
Facebook postings are leading to employees being sacked.
Page 2: Sleeping medication linked to falls and fractures is still being taken by many elderly people.
Page 3: The mining giants are about to pick a second tax fight with the government.
World: (Kunashir Island) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has visited an island claimed by both Russia and Japan, triggering protests from Tokyo.
Business: The RBA is gearing up to sell a 0.25 point rate rise.
Sport: Victory in the Melbourne Cup could elevate So You Think to a level of distinction not known since Phar Lap.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Bart Cummings on the Melbourne Cup.
Page 2: Guide to the Melbourne Cup.
Page 3: This year's Melbourne Cup's 150th birthday but Bart Cummings says he treats them all the same.
World: (New York) The White House has warned that more air parcel bombs could be in circulation.
Business: Ten Network chairman Nick Falloon says he will not be chased out the door by James Packer and Lachlan Murdoch.
Sport: So You Think is set to start as the shortest Melbourne Cup favourite in nearly 40 years.
THE AGE:
Page 1: A Labor smear campaign against the Greens appears to have backfired on the first day of the Victorian election campaign.
The man who raised the money for the Liberal Party's 2010 election campaign has quit amid a bitter falling out with party president Alan Stockdale.
Page 2: Australia's decision to train militiamen loyal to an Afghan warlord is senseless and harmful to the long-term future of Afghanistan, experts say.
Page 3: Hundreds of thousands of elderly Australians playing poker machines could see their pensions cut after wins as smartcards are introduced to track gambling habits. Melbourne's rapidly growing northern and western suburbs are experiencing the brunt of the shortage of child protection workers, accounting for half the vacancies in the state. Drug company Roche has been fined $200,000 for offering to fund a nurse's position at a health service depending on how many patients were treated with its hepatitis C drug, Pegasys.
World: In the wake of the Yemen bomb plot, British airline pilots have warned that the obsession with passenger security has left the door open for attacks on freight carriers.
Democrats, facing a drubbing in tomorrow's mid-term US congressional elections, have urged supporters to get out and vote in a last-ditch effort to save critical seats and avert an electoral nightmare.
Business: Bookmakers say soggy tracks caused by the spring racing carnival's dismal weather have prompted some big punters to forgo their yearly plunge into the Melbourne Cup betting pool.
World markets are expected to turn turbulent when the US Federal Reserve unveils its latest attempt to restart America's ailing economy tomorrow.
Sport: Last year's Melbourne Cup winner Shocking is ready to bare his teeth and upset the favourite again.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Living legend Bart Cummings is hoping to add a 13th Melbourne Cup to his record haul with today's raging favourite, So You Think.
Page 2-3: Bart Cummings remembers the colour and characters linked to his marvellous Cup triumphs.
World: Authorities stormed a Baghdad church to free dozens of hostages in a drama that left up to 37 Christians dead.
Business: Cup Day punters could have an extra reason to cheer, with the odds strongly in favour of the Reserve Bank keeping interest rates on hold for a sixth consecutive month.
Besieged Ten Network chairman Nick Falloon is going to fight for his job, signalling he will not be chased out the door by the company's new major shareholder, James Packer.
Sport: Punters, rank-and-file and professional alike, have backed So You Think to do what no horse has done in the Melbourne Cup's 150-year history.
