Today's Business Headlines

Banks push Labor for tax relief
Australia's banks are lobbying the Gillard government to change tax laws so they can avoid paying hundreds of millions of extra dollars in tax, amid public outrage about their record profits and interest rate increases. The Fin

Training levy plan for WA miners
The West Australian government is considering imposing a training levy on resources companies, as the mining boom threatens to once again suck skilled labour away from other industries. The Fin

Carles deal with premier under scrutiny
The state opposition has raised the spectre of possible criminal conduct over a reported deal between independent Fremantle MLA Adele Carles and the Premier, in which the ousted Green agreed to support the government on votes of supply and no confidence in return for an extra staff member. The West

Hancock opens test pit in giant coalmine
Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has letters of intent from buyers in five Asian countries to take coal from her $7.5 billion Alpha coalmine in Queensland's Galilee Basin, if a test pit confirms coal from the frontier region is suitable for their power stations. The Aus

Motorists ripped off by petrol prices: RAC
Oil companies have been accused of ripping $30 million off Perth motorists this year by using the strong Australian dollar as cover for increasing their profit margins. The West

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Oil companies have been accused of ripping $30 million off Perth motorists this year by using the strong Australian dollar as cover for increasing their profit margins.

Page 3: Politicians are letting companies covertly gather information about voters.

The first day of WA's popular abalone season was marred by drama yesterday.

Page 4: The state opposition has raised the spectre of possible criminal conduct over a reported deal between independent Fremantle MLA Adele Carles and the Premier, in which the ousted Green agreed to support the government on votes of supply and no confidence in return for an extra staff member.

Air crash investigators are focusing on the catastrophic failure of a Rolls-Royce engine at a test facility in Britain in August that bears a striking resemblance to the one involving a Qantas A380 last Thursday.

Page 6: Spending cuts of up to $10 billion will form the centrepiece of a mini-budget to be unveiled tomorrow in an attempt to regain control of government finances hit by the rising dollar.

Banks could face massive charges if they deliberately set escape fees from their mortgages at an "unreasonable" level under an element of the government's bank reform package to be released this week.

Moves are afoot to put Langley Park, the 11.7ha grassland at the foot of the city, on the State Register of Heritage Places.

Page 7: Julia Gillard has warned that the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan needs to be "irreversible" as she announced plans for a flying visit to Portugal this month for crucial talks with fellow world leaders on the war.

Page 10: When the first Beaufort Street Festival kicks off this month, it will be a celebration of 15 years hard graft by locals that has turned the street into one of Perth's best-loved entertainment strips.

Page 13: More home-owners are having to discount their properties to secure a sale, with latest figures showing more than two-thirds are selling below the listing price.

Page 16: WA businesses scooped two of three prizes at the national Ethnic Business Awards held at Burswood last night, including a new category for indigenous business.

Business: A mining company executive hailed in Zimbabwe for standing up to President Robert Mugabe's regime has been forced into bankruptcy by the Australian Taxation Office amid fears he left the country to avoid a tax debt.

Fraud is on the rise in corporate Australia, with the average price tag for fraud committed against organisations doubling in the past two years, a KPMG survey has found.

The boards of Paladin Energy and Aquila Resources have rebuffed requests to put Australia's first climate change shareholder resolutions to their annual meetings, arguing it is a management issue.

Ghana-focused gold play Noble Mineral Resources surprised investors in May when it decided to slice 35 per cent off a proposed $62 million capital raising.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: Australia's banks are lobbying the Gillard government to change tax laws so they can avoid paying hundreds of millions of extra dollars in tax, amid public outrage about their record profits and interest rate increases.

Australian and US leaders have played down political obstacles to putting a price on carbon to combat climate change in unveiling a new renewable energy pact.

Business fears that federal workplace laws will expose them to wage claims from work experience students, undermining a nationwide push by employers and universities to produce more work-ready graduates.

Page 3: The West Australian government is considering imposing a training levy on resources companies, as the mining boom threatens to once again suck skilled labour away from other industries.

Page 5: Accountants have renewed calls for the federal government to rewrite the tax rules for trusts, claiming the Australian Taxation Office was administering the law in a way that punished families and small businesses who used the tax-effective vehicle.

Qantas does now know when it will resume flights of its six Airbus A380s after Thursday's mid-air engine explosion.

Page 6: West Australian resources companies opposed to the tax deal the federal government struck with big miners before the election will demand changes to its implementation at a senate inquiry in Perth today.

The major banks are expected to follow the lead of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and increase their mortgage rates this week after the Reserve Bank's surprise rate rise last week.

Page 14: The Hancock Coal group has signed up potential customers from five countries and confirmed it is negotiating a partial sale of its $7.5 billion Alpha thermal coal project in central Queensland's Galilee Basin to fund the development of Australia's largest coalmine.

Page 15: Foster's Group is considering withdrawing a second US vineyard from sale this year and will increase premium wine production amid expectations of rising demand as consumer spending rebounds.

Page 18: Cape Lambert Resources will sell its DMC Mining subsidiary to Stirling Minerals for $83 million plus a $1 per tonne royalty on all iron ore produced for DMC's Mayoko project in the Republic of Congo.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: The Gillard government will work with a top-level US delegation at today's AUSMIN talks to begin charting a clear road map for an eventual withdrawal of Australian troops from Afghanistan.

The government will attempt to regain the initiative on banking regulation this week, unveiling tough new rules that are expected to force most banks to lower the exit fees charged on mortgages.

Julia Gillard has offered a personal guarantee that Australia's budget will be ''back in the black'' by 2012-13 as the government prepares to unveil a $10 billion hit to revenue in tomorrow's budget update.

The federal Liberal Party has been warned by its outgoing treasurer, Michael Yabsley, that it is in danger of slipping into insolvency.

Page 2: US President Barack Obama was not expecting other countries such as Australia to follow suit when he said the US would abandon an emissions trading scheme, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday.

Withdrawal from Afghanistan sooner rather than later need not mean the war-ravaged country would quickly revert to a Taliban-run terrorist haven, a senior US foreign policy adviser says.

Page 3: Qantas has still to determine when its fleet of A380s will return to the air after inspections resulted in the removal of two of the aircraft's Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, from super-jumbos in Sydney and Los Angeles.

Australian business leaders and public servants have still not got the message about the illegality of bribing foreign officials, and fraud is on the rise in their home operations.

Page 5: Mining entrepreneur and Perth Glory owner Tony Sage plans to add movie mogul to his repertoire, revealing he is in talks with a US filmmaker to bankroll a film.

Grain companies are facing a shortage of trains to transport a record wheat harvest to overseas markets.

Page 6: Unfair dismissal laws for small business and prescriptive rules on minimum hours of work should be targeted by the Coalition as future workplace reform areas, opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said yesterday.

Page 8: The Gillard government is threatening to use infrastructure funding as a stick to bring the states to the bargaining table as it tries to sort out its tax fight with the big three miners.

Page 9: A major restructuring of defence health services will see more medics working in public hospitals, the closure of dozens of military clinics and a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and mental health care.

Business: The major Australian banks could take a $280 million earnings hit after Julia Gillard foreshadowed the government would fast-track a plan to reduce mortgage exit fees and inject more competition into the domestic banking market.

The chairman of the Australian Securities Exchange has conceded he was wrong to oppose shareholder votes on executive salaries.

QR National chief executive Lance Hockridge will make his final sales pitch to international institutional investors this week, emphasising the claim that the Queensland asset sale is a growth story for buyers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has maintained its run above pre-crisis levels, following the release of stronger than expected US employment numbers.

Foster's US wine division is increasing production of high-level wines in anticipation of an upswing in demand at the top end of the market.

Sin-Tang Developments met key shareholders of Sphere Minerals on Friday, including Acorn Capital, in a last-ditch effort to derail Xstrata's $428 million takeover for the African iron ore hopeful.

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has letters of intent from buyers in five Asian countries to take coal from her $7.5 billion Alpha coalmine in Queensland's Galilee Basin, if a test pit confirms coal from the frontier region is suitable for their power stations.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: Politicians are letting foreign-owned companies covertly gather information about voters, planting spying devices on visitors' computers as they browse the Internet.

Page 2: Sydney Airport's 80-flights-an-hour cap will be breached within eight years as demand from airlines to use the airport increases.

Page 3: Spending cuts of up to $10 billion will form the centrepiece of a mini-budget to be unveiled on Tuesday in an attempt to regain control of federal government finances hit by the rising dollar.

World: The Pentagon's new Cyber Command is seeking authority to attack computers around the world to protect American interests.

Finance: Despite its glossy marketing campaign, QR National has been rejected by many advisers and retail investors as it prepares to float on the ASX.

Sport: Mitchell Starc and Clinton McKay tore through the Sri Lankan line-up as Australia avoided a series whitewash with a crushing eight-wicket victory at the Gabba.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: The big banks are set to get rid of mortgage exit fees in a bid to avoid tough government intervention, senior officials say.

Page 2: Liberal Party finances may have fallen to as little as $1 million, insiders say.

Page 3: A speedboat collided with a ferry on Parramatta River, injuring six people.

World: US President Barack Obama has announced a loosening of US restrictions on trade with India.

Business: The level of fraud suffered by Australian businesses surged during the GFC, a survey has found.

Sport: Canberra players who took a photo of Joel Monaghan simulating a sex act with a dog could face disciplinary action.

THE AGE:

Page 1: Australia risks a backlash from China over a bold plan to expand the US military presence here under a new deal to be unveiled on Monday at a summit in Melbourne.

The controversial north-south water pipeline has been turned off for months, and Melbourne could happily survive if it was never turned back on.

Page 2: Authorities spent the weekend urging landholders in the state's north-west to spray locusts on their properties before the insects could take flight.

Page 3: Big banks will be put under further pressure this week when the government releases the formal definition of the term "gouging" that it will use to guide prosecutions.

World: President Barack Obama charmed India by dancing Bollywood-style with his wife Michelle and declaring that there is limitless potential for the Indo-American partnership.

Business: Australian tax authorities have warned their US counterparts not to give Peter Lowy, the US-based son of billionaire Frank Lowy, documents arising from a cross-border investigation into his tax affairs, arguing the move could seriously damage relations between the two countries.

Sport: Huge question marks remain over three quarters of Australia's likely attack for the first Test despite Mitchell Starc and Clint McKay inspiring the home side to a crushing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the Gabba on Sunday night.

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: Australian charities are paying to fly homeless Kiwis back to New Zealand in a bid to stop the growing problem of begging on Melbourne's streets.

Page 3: Several detectives claim to have secret tapes of their bosses covering up for another senior Victoria Police officer they suspect of beating his wife.

Page 5: Hospital waiting lists will be slashed under a re-elected Brumby government plan for a record $344 million elective surgery blitz.

World: Burma has voted in its first election in 20 years, with complaints of intimidation adding to claims the poll is a sham.

Business: The Commonwealth Bank may have erred in lifting mortgage rates so quickly, so hard, a chairman at a rival bank says.

Sport: The US PGA Tour is considering making Melbourne an annual stop in its billion-dollar circuit.