Business fears grow over carbon – The Fin; BHP outguns Rio with revised Pilbara target – The West; WA boom: $140k for a carpenter – The Fin; Coconut slur the last straw for MP – The Aus; Matrix 'keeping workers in dark' on shutdown – The West
Business fears grow over carbon
The global economic slowdown and a lack of co-ordinated action on climate change have prompted fresh warnings that businesses face higher costs under Labor's carbon scheme and might move operations offshore where polluting will be cheaper. The Fin
BHP outguns Rio with revised Pilbara target
BHP Billiton, for so long relegated to junior partner in the Pilbara iron ore duopoly with Rio Tinto, has finally fired a shot across the bows of its arch rival by declaring that an “ultimate objective” that even pips Rio's long term target. The West
WA boom: $140k for a carpenter
A union push that would result in West Australian labourers earning $137,000 a year is fuelling concerns of a wages breakout in the mining state that is underpinning the country's economic fortunes. The Fin
Coconut slur the last straw for MP
The first indigenous woman elected to any Australian parliament will today announce her resignation after being vilified as a ‘‘toxic coconut’’ over her support for Woodside’s contentious $30 billion gas hub proposal near the West Australian resort town of Broome. The Aus
Matrix 'keeping workers in dark' on shutdown
Matrix Composites & Engineering has been accused of keeping more than 100 employees in the dark about their future ahead of the closure of one of its WA plants. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 4: Dumped Fire and Emergency Services Authority boss Jo Harrison-Ward has been given a government job at the Department of Corrective Services, where she will keep her salary of about $300,000 a year.
The two-speed nature of WA's economy has been highlighted with new figures showing pay rises of up to 10 per cent in the past three months for some mining workers.
Up to 190,000 head of cattle across northern Australia originally destined for Indonesia will never make the trip because they can no longer reach the weight limit of 350kg, according to a key industry report.
Page 14: Intense community debate over a $30 billion gas hub at James Price Point, 60km north of Broome, has spilled over to the local council elections as four candidates vie to unseat councillors they claim to have supported the development.
Page 16: The cost of feeding a family fresh fruit has outpaced the rate of inflation fivefold over the past decade.
Page 17: Julia Gillard has signalled the government will spend up again to save the economy if the financial problems of Europe and the US start to threaten Australia.
Page 19: The world's biggest oil company has emerged as a surprise supporter of Julia Gillard's carbon tax and wants it made permanent.
The Gillard government is under mounting pressure from the Greens and independents to expand the coverage of its proposed mining tax to include gold and close a “gaping loophole: that requires the Commonwealth to pay back mining companies for any rise in state royalties.
Business liftout:
Page 1: BHP Billiton, for so long relegated to junior partner in the Pilbara iron ore duopoly with Rio Tinto, has finally fired a shot across the bows of its arch rival by declaring that an “ultimate objective” that even pips Rio's long term target.
Page 2: The Australian sharemarket rallied to its biggest gain in three years yesterday, even though caution is likely to prevail until there is a firm solution to Europe's debt crisis.
OZ Minerals is likely to spark new round of takeover speculation following revelations it had topped up its stake in WA copper-gold miner Sandfire Resources.
Page 3: Matrix Composites & Engineering has been accused of keeping more than 100 employees in the dark about their future ahead of the closure of one of its WA plants.
Bankwest has angered business groups by pushing through interest rate rises on two of its commercial loans, citing “continued pressure” from rising funding costs.
Page 4: Burrup Fertilisers' receivers have more than doubled their claim against Pankaj Oswal after further investigations of the company's accounts and are now alleging that the fertiliser tycoon pilfered $212.9 million from the business.
Page 5: Pizza Hut plans to quadruple its footprint in WA and hopes to ultimately match market leader Domino's, as new management intensifies its attempts to turn around the one-time underperforming pizza maker.
Page 9: Neptune Marine Services has ticked another box in its rescue plan by selling loss-making WA fabrication division for about $400,000.
Page 15: The supply of office space in the Perth CBD continues to tighten with demand from the state's resources sector accounting for more than half of the city's leasing profile and new figures from Savills forecasting a vacancy rate of 2.8 per cent for the September quarter.
Page 20: The WA Tourism Council says planning changes that could improve the viability of tourism projects fail to address the biggest financial hurdles blocking much-needed new hotel developments.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The global economic slowdown and a lack of co-ordinated action on climate change have prompted fresh warnings that businesses face higher costs under Labor's carbon scheme and might move operations offshore where polluting will be cheaper.
A union push that would result in West Australian labourers earning $137,000 a year is fuelling concerns of a wages breakout in the mining state that is underpinning the country's economic fortunes.
The major miners are confident that iron ore markets will remain robust despite the downturn in base metals, as copper prices bounced off a year-low on the Shanghai Futures Exchange yesterday.
Page 3: The depressed economies of Europe are the target of government-sponsored migration drives to attract skilled workers to Australia.
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has done little to hose down speculation he is eager for another tilt at the top job after suggesting he was a “very happy little Vegemite being prime minister”.
Page 4: Unions will begin a campaign today to change the law to give casual and labour-hire workers the ability to switch to permanent employment, a sign of how low unemployment and a Labor government are emboldening the labour movement.
West Australian unions have made Chevron's $29 billiWheatstoneon gas project the next target of their protracted campaign for a greater share of resources-related work.
Page 5: Red tape is costing business $90 billion a year, a leading business group has warned.
Page 8: Fremantle MP Adele Carles has launched an attack on the local council for preparing to enter into negotiations with a company tied to embattled Perth property developer Luke Saraceni.
Page 10: Nearly 40 per cent of businesses view the mining tax as a good thing, and would like to see it extended to other industries such as banking.
The Greens have given a first indication of what amendments they may demand from the Gillard government to support the minerals resource rent tax through Parliament.
Page 13: The West Australian government's tough law and order campaign has run into a practical hurdle: four prisons it is building or renovating for an expected surge in criminals have been delayed.
Page 47: Rio Tinto has raised its stake in Ivanhoe Mines, owner of the prized Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia, to 49 per cent – the maximum allowed until a standstill agreement expires in January.
BHP Billiton iron ore executives have told analysts and fund managers the miner is not experiencing any weakness in demand from its customers, despite investor fears of a softening outlook for the raw material.
Page 51: Property prices and rents are expected to skyrocket at the sleepy coastal town of Onslow, in Western Australia's Pilbara region, after the final approval of Chevron Australia's $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project.
Page 53: Western Australia's flagging residential property market is beginning to have a negative impact on state coffers, according to the annual report on the state's finances.
Page 54: The corporate regulator has placed asset allocation restraints on a new superannuation fund by buying group The Investors Club, after taking several years to sanction the product.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Optus and three major internet service providers have warned that plans to break up Telstra’s fixed-line monopoly — the Gillard government’s ‘‘holy grail of microeconomic reform’’ in the telecommunications sector — are doomed to fail unless they are radically overhauled.
Julia Gillard has warned that superannuation savings will be savaged by the sharemarket turmoil, as the Australian stockmarket recorded its biggest one-day rise in three years.
The first indigenous woman elected to any Australian parliament will today announce her resignation after being vilified as a ‘‘toxic coconut’’ over her support for Woodside’s contentious $30 billion gas hub proposal near the West Australian resort town of Broome.
Page 4: Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has defended Leonora as a ‘‘more appropriate’’ site to detain teenage asylum-seekers than Christmas Island but health professionals described the remote centre as a ‘‘toxic environment’’.
Page 6: Key rural independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor will campaign against the government’s plans to apply the carbon tax to fuel used by the heavy road-transport industry from 2014.
Business: Global financial markets, trading on political soundbites, took an optimistic view yesterday that a deal to solve the European sovereign debt is about to be finalised, prompting the Australian market to record its biggest one-day gain in almost three years.
Over-reliance on the big four banks could pose systemic risks and create a ‘‘moral hazard’’ that would force policy-makers and regulators to take action.
A process never before used in Australia — burning shale deep underground to produce oil — will be used by Linc Energy to develop deposits in a remote part of South Australia.
Rio Tinto has tightened its grip on Ivanhoe Mines and the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit in Mongolia, spending almost $C73.1 million ($72.2m) to raise its stake in the Canadian mining company by 0.5 per cent to the 49 per cent limit permitted under a pact between the companies.
Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes does not expect to see any improvement in consumer confidence for at least six months.
Virgin Australia has moved to assure the competition regulator that its alliance with Singapore Airlines will not reduce its incentive to compete against Tiger Airways Australia.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The decision to open all combat roles in the defence force to women should provide the impetus for more women to be promoted to the highest ranks, says a former chief of army and the defence minister.
Page 2: Sergeant Sheree Bissett stood up and made straight for the door of the Coroner's Court, her face awash with tears.
Page 3: After evidence emerged of the high failure rate of an artificial hip, it took three years for the recall of the product. This resulted in an estimated 5000 Australian patients having to undergo repeat operations.
World: Germany's top judge has issued a blunt warning that no further fiscal powers may be surrendered to Europe without a new constitution and a popular referendum, vastly complicating plans to boost the European Union's rescue machinery to 2 trillion euros ($A2.77 trillion).
Business: Europe's attempt to contain the region's debt crisis is approaching a critical test, with politicians set to decide the fate of key measures designed to avert a full-blown credit crunch in the coming days.
Sport: The versatility of Wallabies back-rower Radike Samo will again be put to the test against Russia in Nelson on Saturday as he is in line to play on the right wing to help cover the team's glaring lack of back-line players.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: A damning report accusing the Police Integrity Commission of bias has been blocked after the watchdog lobbied to stop it being tabled in parliament.
Page 2 : Two key stories emerged from the stockmarket's strong recovery yesterday.
Page 3: As far as suspected gastro bugs go, this newborn baby is a seriously cute one.
World: Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has been ousted after rebelling against a plan to install President Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister when Vladimir Putin returns to the Kremlin next year.
Business: One of the nation's leading lenders, Loan Market, says global financial uncertainty has led to an unprecedented demand for fixed-rate mortgages.
Sport: This is the behemoth poised to turn ANZ Stadium into Jurassic Park - take a look at the size of him.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Business groups are set to lobby for a higher or broader GST to replace state taxes and for changes to be made to the mining tax at next week's tax summit with the federal government.
Page 3: Mental health advocates have criticised Beyond Blue chairman Jeff Kennett over his board's practice of flying business class around Australia on taxpayer dollars.
Page 5: Doctors are outraged that penicillin supplier CSL took a month to alert authorities to a shortage, after it informed hospitals on September 20 to start rationing the drug.
World: Long-serving Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin has been pushed out of government after saying he would refuse to serve when President Dmitry Medvedev swaps the premiership with Vladimir Putin next May.
Business: Australia's sharemarket rallied to a three-year high and the dollar edged back towards US parity, as hopes intensified that Europe was making progress in containing its debt crisis.
Sport: Players suspended for minor offences could remain eligible for the Brownlow Medal under a reform to be considered at an end-of-season tribunal review by the AFL in the wake of Sam Mitchell's near win on Monday night.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: A father has told how he and his wife have lost their "gorgeous angel", after two-year-old Matthew Bond was killed when his mother accidentally drove her 4WD into a verandah where the boy was sitting.
Page 3: After an eight-year estrangement, Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic has been pictured reunited with her father Damir at an exclusive Belgrade tennis club, following his release from jail.
Page 5: Standards will not be lowered in allowing women into frontline combat roles, the government says.
World: Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has died of cancer at the age of 71.
Business: The Australian sharemarket has rallied to a three-year high amid optimism Europe is preparing to tackle its debt crisis, but market volatility is likely to become the norm, experts warn.
Sport: Geelong will give injured player Steve Johnson until AFL's grand final morning to prove his fitness and coach Chris Scott says he is "a chance".
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Former ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope will use an address to university graduates to air concerns his union is not representing its members. A government plan to open up combat roles to women must do more than set unisex physical and mental criteria, defence insiders warn. A top air quality scientist has questioned methods used by the ACT government to test for toxic pollutants from the Mitchell chemical fire.
Page 2: Angry ACT school teachers rant in Civic Square.
Page 3: The ACT and NSW governments have agreed to work cooperatively to address looming cross-border issues around planning, transport, education, health and emergency services.
World: German officials have downplayed prospects of any quick and dramatic change of course in the eurozone debt crisis.
Business: Excessive government red tape is hurting the nation's productivity and stopping Australian companies from hiring more workers, a report by the Australian Industry Group and Deloitte says.
Sport: Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton have been left out of the Socceroos game against Malaysia at Canberra Stadium on October 7.
THE COURIER MAIL:
Page 1: Thousands of new solar power systems are failing because of poor quality components.
Page 2: Women to join men on the front line in Australian Defence Force.
Page 3: Scientists say they have identified the tipping point of over fishing in the Great Barrier Reef.
Page 5: Facebook has promised to fix a major privacy breach after it was revealed the website was tracking users.
World: Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan has sought have a civil case against him dismissed.
Business: Local shares gained three per cent or $40 billion in equity value on Monday.
Sport: Jelena Dokic has reconciled with her estranged father Damir, who she had not spoken to for eight years, in Belgrade.
