Today's Business Headlines

China puts the squeeze on iron ore

Australia's big iron ore suppliers are facing a double whammy as Chinese steel makers demand lower prices and our biggest competitor, Brazil, moves to accept price cuts of about 10 per cent to steal market share. The Fin

Tax 'ditched in six months'

The Coalition is planning to abolish the carbon tax within six months of an election victory as Labor warns that the uncertainty caused by the climate change stand-off could cost consumers as much as $5 billion a year. The Aus

'Severe risks' in culture of thrift

The International Monetary Fund has warned that the forces that caused the Great Depression in the 1930s are again at work, as households, businesses and governments all cut back their spending. The Aus

Airfares set to soar as more flights grounded

Airfares are expected to soar for flights from Perth to the eastern states after Qantas was forced to ground two more 265-seat 767s as its dispute with engineers escalated yesterday. The West

Major oil discovery in WA

Junior explorer Buru Energy and partner Mitsubishi have made the most significant onshore oil discovery in Western Australia for 10 years, raising optimism about more finds in the state's remote north-west. The Fin

 

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Overcrowding on Perth's jam-packed trains will get worse over the next five years, according to official projections.

Page 3: A former District Court judge who heard one of WA's most notorious bikie trials is the new Corruption and Crime Commission head.

Page 14: Airfares are expected to soar for flights from Perth to the eastern states after Qantas was forced to ground two more 265-seat 767s as its dispute with engineers escalated yesterday.

Page 17: Politicians and business groups have called for a rethink on how some local councils select their leaders after the Shire of Broome president was determined in a process likened to a “chook raffle”.

Page 18: Rio Tinto Iron Ore boss Sam Walsh has urged the government not to use growing donations and arts sponsorship as an excuse to wind back state funding for the building blocks of an innovative and progressive society.

Page 20: North West local governments dealing with an increasing fly-in, fly-out workforce have called for greater integration of FIFO workers into communities and more support for local businesses and residents to ensure the survival of regional WA.

Page 21: An interest rate cut on Melbourne Cup day is firming as favourite after the Reserve Bank conceded the economy was struggling and signs emerged that China's economy was beginning to slow.

Business liftout:

Page 1: A judge should decide whether Clive Palmer is obliged to share the fruits of his turnaround of the Yabulu nickel refinery with the shareholders of a rejected bidder for the plant, the NSW Supreme Court heard yesterday.

TPG Telecom yesterday tried to hose down speculation of a takeover move on the $382 million valued iiNet after its smaller Perth rival revealed that TPG had acquired a stake of just below 5 per cent.

Page 2: Telstra and its shareholders will reap billions of dollars from the company's participation in Australia's biggest infrastructure project, after voting overwhelmingly in favour of forging ahead with its NBN Co deal.

Alcoa and Transerv have suffered a major setback in their attempt to develop the Warro tight gasfield near Moora after reporting lower-than-expected flow rates.

Clough shareholders have voted in favour of allocating incoming chief executive Kevin Gallagher $900,000 worth of stock in the engineering group and up to three million options.

Page 3: Kerry Stokes' Seven Group Holdings is moving to delist National Hire Group as Tasmanian Caterpillar dealer Dale Elphinstone threatens to frustrate Seven's $180 million mop-up offer for the equipment retail group.

China's economic growth eased in the latest quarter to a still-robust 9.1 per cent amid government efforts to prevent overheating.

Page 4: Buru Energy executive director Eric Streitberg saw the value of his stake in the group jump to $3.6 million yesterday after investors celebrated a potentially significant onshore oil discovery in the Canning Basin.

Page 12: Perth's office market is going gangbusters because of resources-driven investment, with companies scrambling to expand and lock down premium locations.

Page 20: A Broome caravan park, Palm Grove Holiday Park, will be transformed into a resort and apartments in a potential $50 million redevelopment.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: Australia's big iron ore suppliers are facing a double whammy as Chinese steel makers demand lower prices and our biggest competitor, Brazil, moves to accept price cuts of about 10 per cent to steal market share.

Telstra's historic pact with the Gillard government's national broadband network has given it confidence to maintain its jealously guarded dividend for the next two years, cheering its 1.4 million investors after three years of regulatory uncertainty.

Page 3: The Future Fund has $2.8 billion riding on a solution to the euro zone debt crisis through its investments in equity and debt across the continent, officials revealed on Tuesday in their first disclosure of the matter.

Page 4: The chief executive of the company rolling out the government's $35.9 billion national broadband network has withdrawn a controversial measure that would have allowed it to force up the price of internet access.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called on European leaders to take “decisive action” on the euro zone debt crisis amid government warnings that troubles could spread to Australia and weaken the federal budget.

Page 6: The opposition has clarified its warning to businesses not to buy future carbon permits, saying yesterday its advice did not apply to those generated through changes to agricultural and land management practices.

Page 8: The Reserve Bank of Australia October board minutes show a cut in interest rates is still possible on Melbourne Cup day if figures due next week point to an improved inflation outlook and Europe's weekend summit avoids a worsening crisis.

Page 15: Businesses that are the lifeblood of remote communities, such as pubs or service stations, should be sold discount electricity in recognition of their crucial role and to alleviate their stretched finances, according to Western Australia's regional power supplier.

Page 47: Kerry Stokes's bid to buy out minority investors in equipment rental group National Hire has hit a major stumbling block in the form of the company's second-largest shareholder, Dale Elphinstone.

Page 50: Junior explorer Buru Energy and partner Mitsubishi have made the most significant onshore oil discovery in Western Australia for 10 years, raising optimism about more finds in the state's remote north-west.

Page 56: BHP Billiton could retain 30,000 square metres of its existing Perth office space, apart from the 60,000sqm to which it has committed at the new City Square development.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: The International Monetary Fund has warned that the forces that caused the Great Depression in the 1930s are again at work, as households, businesses and governments all cut back their spending.

Page 2: The Coalition is planning to abolish the carbon tax within six months of an election victory as Labor warns that the uncertainty caused by the climate change stand-off could cost consumers as much as $5 billion a year.

Page 3: Samsung's bid to block sales of Apple’s iPhone 4S in Australia ‘‘smells of retribution’’ and for that reason is unlikely to succeed, according to an expert patent lawyer.

Page 4: Telstra has indicated it would expect a multi-billion-dollar payment to break up its fixed-line monopoly under a Coalition government, after shareholders yesterday approved the $11 billion deal to participate in Labor’s high-speed National Broadband Network.

Page 5: A union turf war on the nation’s largest public transport infrastructure project has intensified after Fair Work Australia approved agreements between the Australian Workers’ Union and the project’s final bidders.

Households are increasingly reining in credit card debt but remain concerned about a lack of savings, the size of their bills and the lack of investments outside the home.

Business: Market analysts are increasingly confident that Telstra will embark on an ambitious share buyback program after shareholders voted in favour of the $11 billion deal to co-operate with the National Broadband Network.

In a falling stockmarket where media stocks tend to be the canary in the coalmine, the Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven West Media pulled off a rare feat yesterday and attracted plenty of buyers thanks to a $1.95 billion debt refinancing.

China's economic growth has seen its biggest slowdown for more than two years, broadening concerns about the global economy, which is driving financial market volatility.

The Reserve Bank has flagged it could be prepared to cut interest rates as early as next month to stimulate the Australian economy if inflation begins to moderate.

Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson has joined a growing chorus of policy-makers demanding that European leaders find a solution to the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

Rio Tinto’s asset sales from its aluminium division would boost the global major into a net cash position by the end of next year.

Leighton Holdings has been put on notice that its credit rating could be further lowered if it emerges that its strategic direction is being driven by its German parent or its controlling shareholder, Spanish construction group ACS.

Construction equipment renter National Hire Group has told shareholders to make up their own minds on whether to accept a $180 million takeover offer from Kerry Stokes’s Seven Group Holdings after an independent expert declared the bid to be reasonable but not fair.

 

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: The average household will be much better off than the Gillard government has calculated after pocketing carbon tax compensation, according to independent modelling.

Page 2: The Reserve Bank has spelt out the conditions under which it would cut interest rates at its next meeting on Melbourne Cup Tuesday.

Page 3: One of the world's biggest drug companies has been accused of paying Australian pharmacists to promote some of its best-selling drugs.

World: (Jerusalem) A family's joy at their returned son is heartache for those who lost loved ones.

Business: Telstra and its shareholders are set to reap billions of dollars from the company`s participation in Australia's largest infrastructure project.

Sport: Tom Moody has emerged as a potential successor to Andrew Hilditch as chairman of selectors.

 

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: Thousands of commuters were left stranded across Sydney yesterday after the state's bus union made a snap decision to withdraw its fleet of 650 gas-powered buses.

Page 2: A Telstra shareholder vote on the NBN was not about the scheme's merits but the company's best interests, the company's chairman said.

Page 3: Patients at one of Sydney's busiest hospitals will be given dinner at lunchtime following an attack on a nurse using hospital cutlery.

World: (Los Angeles) British billionaire Richard Branson lapeled from a balcony while christening the world's first commercial spaceport built from scratch.

Business: Telstra shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the telco's proposed $11 billion deal to switch off its old copper network.

Sport: Rekindled interest emerged from the shadows into the Cox Plate spotlight when he humbled New Zealand superstar Jimmy Choux in a Moonee Valley track gallop yesterday.

 

THE AGE:

Page 1: Captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit released after five years in massive prisoner swap. Mokbel fights to change guilty plea. IVF specialist tells women contemplating freezing their eggs to settle for Not Quite Mr Right. Pfizer accused of giving pharmacists kickbacks to promote its products.

Page 2: Judge says police making unsworn affidavits will send tremors through the criminal system.

Page 3: RBA spells out conditions in which it would cut interest rates at its next meeting On Melbourne Cup day. Royal touchdown in Australia sends canberra all a-flutter. New sex charge at Jewish school. NSW police report will help will keep Bali drug teenager out of jail.

World: Shalit faces new battle to cope with freedom.

Business: Future Fund has $2.8 billion of assets tied up in the troubled eurozone.

Sport: Trainer Stuart Webb says demotion of his three-time Group 1 winner Yosei from the Cox Plate has thrown the mare's spring carnival into chaos.

 

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: Drug lord Tony Mokbel wants taxpayers to pay his legal fees for changing his plea over drug charges.

Page 3: Industry warns that Tony Abbott's threat to scrap the carbon tax will drive up charges. Red tape could force Melbourne's horse and carriage operators off the road.

World: US Army to get miniature kamikaze drone that can hover before divebombing into a human target.

Business: Telstra to reap an $11 billion windfall for surrendering its role as the nation's telco wholesaler.

Sport: Etihad Stadium is a money pit for battling AFL clubs, with North Melbourne banking just over $97,000 for 11 home games at the city arena.

THE CANBERRA TIMES:

Page 1: The ACT government is preparing to cut its historic ties with Jervis Bay, the tiny South Coast community governed directly from Canberra since 1915.

Page 2: Art Gallery of NSW unveils 150 Picasso originals.

Page 3: The number of asylum-seekers reaching Australia has dropped by almost 20 per cent in the past year, a report shows.

World: First Israeli soldier freed in 26 years. (Gaza city)

Business: Telstra's participation in the national broadband network moved a big step forward when shareholders said yes to the telco giant's deal with the Federal Government.

Sport: Bart Cummings thinks he is creeping closer to a 13th Melbourne Cup win with a most unlikely horse: the little known German galloper Illo. (Racing)

THE COURIER MAIL:

Page 1: Unions will step up industrial action across Queensland's hospitals in their bitter fight for better pay.

Page 3: PM Julia Gillard is paid less than 230 federal business chiefs.

Page 4: Back-flow valves in drains and storm water pipes would have saved thousands of Brisbane properties from flooding during the January flood.

Page 5: The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrive in Australia today to begin their tour of the country.

World: A captured Israeli soldier has been exchanged for 1000 Palestinian prisoners in the biggest prisoner swap deal per person.

Business: Telstra shares have risen on the back shareholders approving the NBN deal with the government.

Sport: Ewen McKenzie is figuring a succession plan to coach the Wallabies.

THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER:

Page 1: Business wants the state GM ban to be lifted

Page 3: Health Minister John Hill has asked the independent health commissioner to investigate two incidents involving birthing advocate Lisa Barrett.

World: An Israeli soldier has been freed after more than five years in Palestine.

Business: Telstra's participation in the NBN moved a step forward when shareholders said yes.

Sport: Lewis Johnston leapt at the chance to join the Crows.