PM leads push to ease LNG labour squeeze – The Fin; China seeking Oakajee assurances from Barnett – The West; Rudd guru slams NBN monopoly – The Aus; WA power sale under threat as Griffin Coal hangs by a thread – The Aus; Barnett scraps design competition for stadium – The West
PM leads push to ease LNG labour squeeze
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will preside today over a push for greater co-operation between resource companies and unions to ease labour problems threatening Australia's big slate of liquefied natural gas projects. The Fin
China seeking Oakajee assurances from Barnett
China's powerful National Development and Reform Commission, which rules over every major transaction by the Asian country's key enterprises, will today seek assurances from Premier Colin Barnett that the controversial Oakajee port project can be built. The West
Rudd guru slams NBN monopoly
Key planks of the National Broadband Network business case are anti-competitive and will send Australia backwards, one of Kevin Rudd’s ‘‘best and brightest’’ economic brains has warned. The Aus
WA power sale under threat as Griffin Coal hangs by a thread
The mining company that produces half of Western Australia’s coal supplies is losing money and surviving only through the financial support of its Indian parent, according to its lawyers. The Aus
Barnett scraps design competition for stadium
Colin Barnett has scrapped a plan to hold an international design competition for architects to come up with a design for the new sports stadium at Burswood. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: Microbiologists are warning that the growing use of “nano-silver” in common household products and clothing could create the perfect storm for superbugs in Australian hospitals.
Page 5: Abalone fishers face new restrictions this season after a rare marine heatwave devastated stocks north of Perth.
Page 9: Globetrotting Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd is shunning Qantas on his frequent overseas trips, travel documents reveal.
Page 10: Newspapers and online publishers could be subjected to the same watchdog as television and radio broadcasters as a result of a new inquiry into Australia's media.
Tony Abbott labelled the carbon tax the “longest political suicide note in Australian history” yesterday as he accused Julia Gillard of lying to the Australian public.
The Gillard government is under pressure from key independent Tony Windsor to lift the rate of GST so a ream of other taxes can be axed.
Page 11: The AFL has warned West Coast fans who buy tickets from online scalpers that they risk being turned away from Patersons Stadium.
Colin Barnett has scrapped a plan to hold an international design competition for architects to come up with a design for the new sports stadium at Burswood.
Page 12: Northam businesses have put up their prices are are scrambling to take advantage of the millions of dollars being spent in the town with the construction of the 600-bed immigration detention centre.
Page 14: Former premier Brian Burke will be hauled back to the Supreme Court to face a retrial into corruption allegations after prosecutors won an appeal in the state's highest court yesterday.
Page 19: A waste processing plant at the centre of eight years of complaints over foul smells has been given six months to fix the odour issue or risk closure.
Business: China's powerful National Development and Reform Commission, which rules over every major transaction by the Asian country's key enterprises, will today seek assurances from Premier Colin Barnett that the controversial Oakajee port project can be built.
Skilled Group is dramatically expanding its presence in WA with the launch of a new national construction labour business to tap the boom in liquefied natural gas.
Moody's yesterday downgraded the credit ratings of French banks Societe Generale and Credit Agricole following a period of huge volatility in the markets as investors fretted about their potential exposure to the debts of Greece.
One of WA's oldest family-owned companies is heading east, with the cost of doing business from Perth and a growing east coast presence driving Snap Franchising to move its head office to Sydney.
Indian entreprenuers Radhika and Pankaj Oswal claim they have won control of Burrup Holdings' board and will use it to block a $US700 million explosives project.
Leading economists have slammed key parts of the $11 billion deal between Telstra and NBN Co as “massively anti-competitive”, saying the agreement could have damaging effects on consumers for 20 years.
Aquila Resources has almost doubled operating profit from its Queensland coal mine as it tries to finalise a funding plan for its flagship West Pilbara iron ore development.
An independent expert has assessed Kagara's proposed $16 million purchase of the Einasleigh copper deposit from Copper Strike as unfair to the vendor's shareholders.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Fears that banks will have to pay more to borrow money, and a warning from a senior government official that investors should not rely on China bailing out troubled economies, sparked a sharp-sell off on the Australian sharemarket, led by banks and resource stocks.
The Gillard government has baulked at reviewing the concentration and ownership of the media in Australia, instead announcing an inquiry into codes of practice and the impact of technology on the industry.
Prices are not rising as quickly as initially thought, raising hopes that interest rates will remain on hold for longer and also that it might brighten the mood of consumers who have been encouraged by the pause in rate rises.
Page 3: Prime Minister Julia Gillard will preside today over a push for greater co-operation between resource companies and unions to ease labour problems threatening Australia's big slate of liquefied natural gas projects.
Western Australia's premier-turned-lobbyist Brian Burke will be retried on corruption charges of which he was cleared a year ago after an appeals court found prosecutors had not been given a fair hearing.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is venturing into diplomatic territory not normally the domain of state governments; he is off to China to sign a formal investment tie-up with the Middle Kingdom.
Page 4: A rise in the nation's healthcare costs worries the Gillard government but increasing the GST is not the way to pay for it, Finance Minister Penny Wong says.
Page 7: Payments to states and territories in relation to water reform should be overhauled, and significant commitments to return over-allocated surface and ground water to sustainable levels are still not being met, a report by the National Water Commission says.
Page 8: A plan to shield poor West Australian households from high electricity prices by charging them lower power tariffs has been called into question by the state's main electricity retailer.
Page 9: Prime Minister Julia Gillard endeavoured to put pressure back on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to back legislation to restore offshore processing by agreeing to provide a briefing with senior government legal figures on proposed legislative changes.
Page 10: The federal opposition yesterday raised the prospect of government intervention, changes to industrial relations laws and policies focused on specific industries as it escalated the debate about the future of manufacturing.
Page 20: Sundance Resources management is expected to meet Sichuan Hanlong Group's second-in-charge by mid-next week after receiving assurances the Chinese company is keen to advance takeover talks.
Contracts-for-difference market makers have defended their industry despite allegations Hanlong Mining executives used CFDs to profit from the company's bid for Sundance Resources and Bannerman Resources.
Page 21: US oil independent Hess Corporation is moving ahead with initial engineering work and approvals for a multi-billion dollar offshore gas project in Western Australia as it nears a long-awaited deal with either Woodside Petroleum or Chevron for processing the resources through a liquefied natural gas plant.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Key planks of the National Broadband Network business case are anti-competitive and will send Australia backwards, one of Kevin Rudd’s ‘‘best and brightest’’ economic brains has warned.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday declared the Australian Press Council to be a toothless tiger, as he ordered an inquiry to consider how to increase scrutiny and regulation of the print media.
Page 2: Tony Abbott has attacked the government’s carbon tax package as a ‘‘bad tax based on a lie’’ and accused Julia Gillard of being on ‘‘the wrong side of the truth’’ on the issue.
A big revision to the latest inflation figures has taken pressure off the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates, with prices no longer growing faster than the bank’s 3 per cent upper target range.
Qantas passengers face significant disruptions after the union representing thousands of ground crew and catering staff acted on long-standing threats and announced a four-hour national strike and the imposition of work bans at airports across the country next Tuesday.
The Coalition has flagged more decisive measures to help manufacturers deal with the mining boom and will meet unions and other industry stakeholders as part of a detailed review.
Page 3: Organisers of the disastrous Kimberley Ultramarathon that left four people severely burnt did not ask Western Australia’s emergency services for advice about bushfires in the days before the event, despite being told they should do so.
Page 4: Tony Abbott is under increasing pressure from Liberal Party moderates to reject Julia Gillard’s call for him to back a law that re-establishes the legality of offshore processing of asylum-seekers.
Page 5: Former West Australian premier Brian Burke believes corruption charges against him have no substance, despite the state’s highest court yesterday ruling he should face a retrial after it upheld an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The managing director of Hanlong Mining was due to return home to Sydney yesterday to face an examination by the corporate regulator on what he knew about Hanlong’s planned takeover of two resources companies at the time of suspicious trading.
Page 9: People living in urban areas face price hikes of up to 13 per cent a year in their water bills and a much greater use of recycled water.
Business: Australian investors were yesterday held hostage to the sovereign debt crisis unfolding in Europe, as the credit ratings of France’s leading banks were cut and as China baulked at being seen as a lender of last resort to the indebted continent.
Chinese investor Hanlong Mining’s $1.3 billion takeover bid for Sundance Resources is likely to be reassessed by Beijing’s chief economic policy-making body after three of the foreign group’s Sydney-based executives were stood down amid a probe into alleged insider trading.
The mining company that produces half of Western Australia’s coal supplies is losing money and surviving only through the financial support of its Indian parent, according to its lawyers.
Foster's chief executive John Pollaers has downplayed figures showing the company continued to lose market share in the packaged beer market last month, saying they reflect a short-term dip resulting from increased selling prices.
Newmont Mining’s huge Boddington mine south-east of Perth has been taken off the critical list, but is a long way from fit and healthy, according to the US mining giant.
The federal government’s plans for returning the budget to surplus will help lower the value of the Australian dollar and boost export returns, an International Monetary Fund study predicts.
The federal government is being urged to increase the Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s annual funding, instead of hitting stockbrokers with trading fee increases to cover the cost of the corporate regulator now supervising the market.
Telecoms and broadband supplier iiNet has doubled the number of internet TV customers in the past two months, underscoring the willingness of consumers to spend on entertainment and communications even as confidence in the economy plumbs new lows.
Leighton Holdings has sought to bring stability to senior management with confirmation that Bruce Munro will head its largest contracting unit, Thiess.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Australian Industry Greenhouse Network says Tony Abbott's direct action scheme would at least double carbon costs. The egg industry has defined the term free-range and wants it to be legally enforceable.
The director-general of the Department of Transport ordered substantial changes to the brief on the impact of the carbon tax on public transport.
Page 2: Adelaide priest denies he raped fellow priest John Hepworth more than 40 years ago. Development of big projects in NSW has come to a grounding halt, according to a submission made to the planning department.
Page 3: Ibis eggs reveal clues to Sydney's pollution levels. ClubsNSW are launching a $2.5million campaign to fight poker machine reforms.
World: Palestinian leaders will ask the United Nations Security Council for a full UN membership, despite a US vow to veto the request.
Business: European investors are on edge after two of France's biggest banks had their credit ratings cut.
Sport: Roger Federer warmed up at Royal Sydney Golf Club yesterday.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Keisha Weippeart's family can finally lay her remains to rest. War heroes angry that up to 100 public servants are part of an official Australian contingent at Anzac Day commemorations in Gallipoli this year.
Page 2: The outcome of a media inquiry could mean that the newspapers could be subject to a single regulator with tougher powers. The Australian Press Council has considered a complaint from the Greens about an assertion made by the Daily Telegraph in May 2011 - as part of analysis of the federal budget.
Page 3: Neither NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell or Lord Mayor Clover Moore will attend the relaunch of the Star City Casino. Alleged drug dealer Adam Freeman left Long Bay Jail on Wednesday after raising more than $850,000 in bail money.
World: A sustained attacked on Western targets in Kabul ended with the killing of two insurgents.
Business: Australian vendors anxious over Google's push to enter the flight search market.
Sport: NRL player Anthony Watmough helping kids living on the streets.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Telstra is threatening to tear up its new $153 million broadcast rights deal with the AFL after a copyright dispute erupted over rival Optus providing football telecasts to its internet and phone customers.
Page 3: Qantas faces a nationwide strike next week as it runs into more industrial turbulence over stalled pay deals.
Page 5: Carl Williams wanted time to explain to his jail mates why he was leaving jail to provide information to police about a double murder, a jury has been told.
World: America's most dire poverty snapshot in 50 years has probably already deteriorated further as the jobs crisis has worsened in 2011.
Business: The corporate watchdog investigating an insider trading scandal feared that senior Chinese mining executive Steven Hui Xiao was a flight risk.
Sport: Hawthorn says the medical opinion is that Lance Franklin does not risk serious long-term injury to his right knee by playing tomorrow.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: An army of public servants and politicians is taking a free jaunt to Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli, in a multi-million dollar hit for taxpayers.
Page 3: A gigantic sculpture of a sheep skull will greet motorists hurtling along the Frankston bypass.
Page 5: Meadow Heights drivers are being hit with comprehensive car insurance rates up to four times dearer than residents in other suburbs.
World: Foreign military officials raised the death toll from a 19-hour siege in Kabul to 11.
Business: Tatts Group will consider moving its headquarters from Melbourne to Brisbane after failing in its bid for the contract to monitor Victoria's 27,500 poker machines, industry sources say.
Sport: Carlton coach Brett Ratten has turned the heat on West Coast, saying a loss in Saturday night's semi-final would haunt the Eagles for a long time.
THE COURIER MAIL:
Page 1: Queenslanders are losing $4000 a minute on poker machines.
Page 3: A Brisbane business has designed a program which can monitor Facebook activity and can send weekly updates to concerned parents about their child's computer use.
Page 5: A school has held a moving memorial for the pupil killed in an apparent murder-suicide a week ago.
Page 7: A father of four saved his partner's seven children from a house fire.
World: The death toll of a Taliban attack on the US Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul has risen to 14.
Business: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says financially troubled European countries should not rely on them for financial help.
Sport: Broncos centre Jack Reed is certain to play for England in the end of year Four Nations tournament.
