BHP called into line on WA royalties – The Fin; State public service is 'hostile to change' – The West; Steel makers play the blame game – The Fin; Cockburn Cement wins appeal over licence – The West; OECD warns of global downturn – The Aus
BHP called into line on WA royalties
BHP Billiton will not be allowed to expand its West Australian iron ore mines unless it agrees to the state government's push to raise royalties. The Fin
State public service is 'hostile to change'
Treasury's top official warned the Economic Regulation Authority that shutting down the troubled Office of Shared Services would set back WA's public service 20 years. The West
Steel makers play the blame game
Major steel makers have lashed out at the federal government, the Reserve Bank of Australia and mining companies, warning that unless interest rates are lowered and access to resource projects is improved the industry's long-term viability is threatened. The Fin
Cockburn Cement wins appeal over licence
Cockburn Cement has successfully overturned an environmental licence condition that would have required it to fit expensive pollution control equipment to one of its kilns after the company appealed to the Supreme Court. The West
OECD warns of global downturn
New data overnight from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has indicated that a sharp downturn in the global economy is under way, a fear that is already roiling global stockmarkets. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Julia Gillard has implored Tony Abbott to help her ensure that the High Court does not have the final word on how governments deal with boatloads of asylum-seekers.
Page 5: State Coroner Alastair Hope has backed calls for a central register to curb abuse of pharmaceutical drugs and revealed police were investigating “inappropriate prescription of addictive medications” in WA.
Page 7: Treasury's top official warned the Economic Regulation Authority that shutting down the troubled Office of Shared Services would set back WA's public service 20 years.
Gen Y workers are the least satisfied with their jobs and are more likely to quit for something better, a national survey has found.
Page 9: Cockburn Cement has successfully overturned an environmental licence condition that would have required it to fit expensive pollution control equipment to one of its kilns after the company appealed to the Supreme Court.
Page 11: Local councils are being bombarded by thousands of calls a month from residents complaining about everything from missed rubbish collections to roaming dogs and illegal parking.
Page 12: Struggling retailers have been warned conditions are going to get tougher as the nation's consumers concentrate on paying off their credit card debts.
Page 13: In scenes that will be reminiscent of Australia's defence of the America's cup in 1987, tens of thousands of people are expected to converge on Fremantle in December for a 16-day “party” Associated with the world sailing championships.
Page 14: There has been a dramatic rise in households caught flouting the winter sprinkler ban, with figures showing an almost 10-fold increase in fines handed out for illegal water use.
Page 19: Andrew Forrest's mining company made payments to the private business of Aboriginal corporation chief executive Ross Norling, who was sacked amid claims of financial irregularities.
Business: Australian shares were pummelled yesterday as fresh concerns about global growth and a potential debt default by Greece sent investors scrambling out of global stocks.
OneSteel chief executive Geoff Plummer yesterday called for immediate interest rate cuts to stave off a broad economic slowdown and to take pressure off the high Australian dollar.
Directors of Perth coal play Hunnu Coal are eyeing a windfall of up to $38 million after agreeing to a takeover from its biggest shareholder, Thailand's Banpu Public Company.
Tiger Airways has named a former senior executive at Virgin Blue as the chief executive of its troubled Australian operations, in a further sign it intends to tough it out in the local market.
Cochlear's 30-year global reputation for providing the “gold standard” of bionic ear implants was substantially weakened yesterday when a voluntary recall of its latest generation Nucleus 5 device triggered a slump in its share price that stripped its market capitalisation by nearly a third.
Paladin Energy's horror run continued yesterday, with shares in the Perth uranium miner slumping to their lowest in six years.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Blue chip stocks, led by banks and resource companies, were sold off sharply yesterday as investors feared inept political leadership in Europe and a lack of will to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt could trigger further falls in equity markets.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is facing a Coalition rebuff on crucial reforms to migration law as her opponents use the policy row to weaken her leadership and extend brinksmanship on the issue into next week.
Major steel makers have lashed out at the federal government, the Reserve Bank of Australia and mining companies, warning that unless interest rates are lowered and access to resource projects is improved the industry's long-term viability is threatened.
Page 3: BHP Billiton will not be allowed to expand its West Australian iron ore mines unless it agrees to the state government's push to raise royalties.
Page 4: Exports have shrugged off global market turmoil and lengthy delays in restoring coal production to push the trade balance into surplus for a fifth straight month.
Page 5: Consumers could be the big losers if purchases worth less than $1000 incur taxes and charges upon importation to Australia, according to online retailer eBay.
Page 7: Employers and governments have been working towards it for years, but the nation's largest construction industry groups now want the national occupational health and safety regime delayed.
Page 10: Tax experts have hit back at Treasurer Wayne Swan's dismissal of higher consumption taxes, saying a bigger goods and services tax take is vital for tax reform and would not hurt the purchasing power of the poor nor discourage workers.
Page 17: Thai coal giant Banpu has launched a $477 million friendly takeover bid for Mongolian coal explorer Hunnu Coal as it continues to expand its presence in global coal markets.
Page 18: In a potential boon to Australian coal producers and technology companies, the Indonesian government has raised the possibility of a ban on exports of low-quality thermal coal from 2014.
Page 19: Mining giant BHP Billiton is planning to progress thousands of square kilometres of prospective mining title applications over coming months and is working to rebuild its damaged relationship with the Papua New Guinea government.
Page 50: Economists are warning housing market watchers not to get excited by a slight increase in investor finance, saying it would take a reduction in interest rates or evidence house prices had stopped falling for investors to make a move.
Page 55: Mining services firm AGC-Ausclad Group has signed a two-year lease for an industrial property at Kwinana, about 30 kilometres south of Perth.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Fears that a default by Greece on its sovereign debt could trigger huge losses in the global banking system and set off another credit convulsion sent the local sharemarket into a tailspin yesterday.
Tony Abbott is withholding support for Julia Gillard’s plan to create a law to legitimise her Malaysia Solution asylum-seeker policy, throwing the nation’s immigration regime into doubt for at least another week.
Page 2: The 18 bills that comprise the carbon tax package will be introduced into parliament today with changes to clarify its economic objectives and to give the government discretion to exempt some medical gases, such as asthma sprays, from the scheme.
Page 4: Mines operated by the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance in Queensland will be hit by fresh strikes after management moved to put a pay offer directly to 3500 employees, following nine months of unsuccessful negotiations with unions.
Australia's most powerful retailers have demanded the government dump the ban on parallel imports in a bid to win back consumers who are taking advantage of the surging Australian dollar to buy books more cheaply over the internet.
Business: New data overnight from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has indicated that a sharp downturn in the global economy is under way, a fear that is already roiling global stockmarkets.
Rio Tinto has warned that continued uncertainty about key planks of the government’s carbon tax have thwarted the renegotiation of electricity supply contracts for big commercial and industrial energy users.
Thai coalminer Banpu has made a $423 million offer to acquire the remaining shares of locally listed Hunnu Coal that it doesn’t already own.
Foster’s has sought to shore up shareholder support ahead of the lodgment of official bid documentation by hostile takeover suitor SABMiller, urging investors to reject the bid, which it describes as seriously undervalued.
Herbicide vendor Nufarm provided mixed news yesterday, telling investors it would beat forecasts for its underlying net profit for the year to July 31 but warning of a further writedown knocking $28 million off the published net profit number.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Julia Gillard's hopes of reviving the Malaysian solution are hanging by a thread; The NSW Police Force has set up a strike force to investigate allegations of inappropriate practices within the Health Services Union.
Page 2: The coalition's "talking points" for its campaign against the carbon tax include several assertions that are untrue or misleading.
Page 3: Developers have called in the government to introduce an "anti-NIMBY" provision in new planning laws, to prevent councils vetoing big residential developments close to the city.
World: Turkey's prime minister Recep Erdogan was set to arrive in Cairo yesterday amid speculation he will try to stoke anti-Israeli sentiment.
Business: One Steel chief executive Geoff Plummer has called for immediate interest rate cuts to stave off an economic slowdown.
Sport: Sam Stosur wins US Open.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: A police strike force will investigate allegations embattled Labor MP Craig Thomson and senior ALP powerbroker Michael Williamson rorted union credit cards and misused union funds.
Page 2: Julia Gillard will defy the High Court and push ahead with plans to revive her Malaysian people-swap deal, with a rewriting of migration laws to go to parliament next week.
Page 3: Former Penthouse pet Madison Ashton has appeared in the NSW Supreme Court, claiming billionaire Richard Pratt promised her an annual payment of $500,000 to be his mistress.
World: Armed pirates stormed an exclusive island resort in Kenya favoured by celebrities and VIPs.
Business: Almost $50 billion was wiped off Australian sharemarkets on Monday, as growing concerns over the European banking sector sent shivers up the spine of the world's investors.
Sport: US Open tennis champion Sam Stosur is ready to carry the hopes of the nation at January's Australian Open in Melbourne and beyond.
THE AGE:
Page 1: The NSW police have established a strike force to investigate the Health Services Union, increasing pressure on the Gillard government over the Craig Thomson affair.
Page 3: Women are grossly underrepresented among the ranks of senior CSIRO scientists, figures show.
Page 5: Killing and corruption by Afghan police, as well as low recruitment of soldiers, are hampering Australia's efforts to build local security forces in Oruzgan province, ahead of a major withdrawal two years from now.
World: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who vowed to avoid a default and keep Greece in the euro, approved new emergency measures to plug a yawning budget gap as resistance builds to extending more aid to the European Union's most-indebted nation.
Business: The sharemarket has been pounded by worsening fears that Europe's debt crisis will unravel further this week, with skittish investors wiping more than $45 billion off the Australian market.
Sport: Having conquered her mental frailties to dominate the greatest woman player of her generation and win her first grand slam title at the US Open, Sam Stosur's coach believes relief from the burden she has carried since her French Open final loss 15 months ago will help the 27-year-old fulfil the balance of her potential.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: US Open champion Sam Stosur has her sights set on winning the Australian Open in Melbourne after becoming our first female grand slam singles champion in 31 years.
Page 3: Owners of killer dogs will be jailed for up to 10 years under new laws to be introduced on Tuesday.
Page 5: Tennis legend Margaret Court has finally passed the baton to Australia's new hero, Sam Stosur.
World: Police have raided a caravan park in England to rescue 24 men they say were held as slaves and forced to live in squalor, some for up to 15 years.
Business: The Australian share market has tumbled again amid mounting concerns that Europe's banking sector faces a tidal wave of pain as Greece edges towards default.
Sport: The St Kilda-Ross Lyon union is under mounting stress, with Melbourne looking on with growing interest.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Prime Minister Julia Gillard tries to wedge Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on changes on asylum seekers.
Page 2: Australia has lost 99 per cent of its old-growth mountain ash forests, new research shows.
Page 3: Retail sector going from bad to worse.
World: Gaddafi's supporters are using civilians as shields, reports say.
Sport: Sam Stosur's win "all about guts".
THE COURIER MAIL:
Page 1: Queensland faces a summer of cyclones, thunderstorms, torrential rain and bushfires, says the Bureau of Meteorology.
Page 3: The Bligh government has been accused of directing public servants to find good media opportunities in certain electorates.
Page 5: Julia Gillard could hit another hurdle with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott yet to declare his support to pass new legislation allowing the immigration minister the power to send asylum seekers to a third country.
World: US plans to allow the Taliban to open a political headquarters in Qatar.
Business: Fears Greece will default on its loans wiped $45 billion off the sharemarket.
Sport: Sam Stosur hopes her US Open win leads to a "new beginning".
