Germany isolated on austerity – The Fin; Trade win spurs regional talks – The Aus; GST fight may push state to Asia: Barnett – The Aus; Roads snub angers Canberra – The West; WA's embarrassment of royalty riches – The Fin
Germany isolated on austerity
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become isolated over her support for European austerity following a push by the Group of Eight industrialised nations to boost economic growth and keep Greece in the euro zone. The Fin.
Trade win spurs regional talks
Labor hopes a breakthrough free trade agreement to be signed with Malaysia tomorrow — giving Australian companies unprecedented access to Asia’s eighth-biggest economy — will provide momentum to negotiations on other bilateral deals across the Pacific region. The Aus
GST fight may push state to Asia: Barnett
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has warned his state will ‘‘fully integrate’’ with Asia if the federal government doesn’t ensure WA gets its fair share of the GST pie. The Aus
Roads snub angers Canberra
Relations between the Barnett and Gillard governments have deteriorated again after federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese accused WA of breaching a memorandum of understanding over the $1 billion Gateway WA airport roads package. The West
WA's embarrassment of royalty riches
Pressure is mounting on West Australian Nationals leader Brendon Grylls to spend a quarter of the state's ballooning mining royalties held in a fund which now has at least $1.2 billion more than originally estimated five years ago. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Scandal-plagued MP Craig Thomson will use a long-awaited speech to federal Parliament today to claim he was set up by enemies the union movement and to plead for the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty.
Page 4: Future Australian aid to Afghanistan will be mapped out in an agreement with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Afghan counterpart will sign on the sidelines of a major NATO summit in the US.
Page 5: Relations between the Barnett and Gillard governments have deteriorated again after federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese accused WA of breaching a memorandum of understanding over the $1 billion Gateway WA airport roads package.
Transport Minister Troy Buswell insists the government still wants to build stage 8 of the Roe Highway despite funding for the project disappearing from the state budget.
Page 6: G8 leaders voiced their wish to see Greece stay in the eurozone at a Camp David summit at the weekend as the group papered over the deep-seated divisions about how best to tackle the eurozone crisis.
Page 15: University of Western Australia vice-chancellor Paul Johnson has warned that all universities face significant belt-tightening in the next few years because of a fall in student numbers and the impact of the global financial crisis.
Business: The Australian dollar could fall below $US90c if Greece pulls out of the eurozone, the chief currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank has warned.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become isolated over her support for European austerity following a push by the Group of Eight industrialised nations to boost economic growth and keep Greece in the euro zone.
The Gillard government is bracing for the fallout from Craig Thomson's statement to Parliament today amid concerns that the former ALP member could spark a new crisis by quitting politics.
Opposition communications spokesperson Malcolm Turnbull says a Coalition government would seek to make global technology companies such as Google and Facebook pay more tax, arguing they are eroding Australia's tax base.
Page 4: Big dairy-processing companies are warning that the carbon tax will put more pressure on their bottom line and be particularly costly for dairy-farming families.
Page 7: Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten indicated the government would act quickly on the findings of a report into the Fair Work Act amid heightening tension between the government and business over industrial relations.
Page 11: Pressure is mounting on West Australian Nationals leader Brendon Grylls to spend a quarter of the state's ballooning mining royalties held in a fund which now has at least $1.2 billion more than originally estimated five years ago.
Page 17: Leighton Holdings chairman Stephen Johns says the contractor should have never formed a joint venture with the Al Habtoor Group in the Middle East, warning the troubled partnership had become a “long-term problem”.
Page 20: Energy giant BP may bid on new exploration areas in the environmentally sensitive Great Australian Bight as it seeks to bolster its $1.4 billion punt on finding oil and gas in South Australian waters.
Page 21: Global funds manager BlackRock is poised to unveil a major restructure of its Australian equities business, and Justin Arter is set to become its new chief executive.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Labor hopes a breakthrough free trade agreement to be signed with Malaysia tomorrow — giving Australian companies unprecedented access to Asia’s eighth-biggest economy — will provide momentum to negotiations on other bilateral deals across the Pacific region.
Unions will today try to thwart an employer push to use Labor’s $2.1 billion cash splash in the federal budget to torpedo the labour movement’s wage claim for low-paid workers.
Reforms to banking competition could be pushed back to the second term of a Coalition government under plans to give the industry a respite from change in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Page 4: The Coalition appears to have denied itself any chance of blocking Wayne Swan’s plan to lift the national debt ceiling by a budget-night procedural gaffe in which it agreed to a Labor motion making it almost impossible to split the budget bills.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has warned his state will ‘‘fully integrate’’ with Asia if the federal government doesn’t ensure WA gets its fair share of the GST pie.
The federal Coalition says it will pursue the government and NBN Co in this week’s Senate estimates hearings over advertising for the $36 billion National Broadband Network.
Page 5: Qantas is poised to announce it is shedding more than 500 engineering jobs and closing its heavy maintenance base at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport as it continues to rationalise operations.
Adverse market conditions confronting Alcoa’s ageing Point Henry plant have not improved since the company announced a review of its Geelong smelter three months ago, with any relief from the falling dollar offset by weakening aluminium prices.
Page 6: Environmental groups fear oil and gas giant Woodside is using misleading maps to drill at its $40 billion James Price Point gas hub site, putting at risk fossilised dinosaur tracks.
Business: Rio Tinto has raised questions about a major West Australian iron ore expansion as rising Australian development costs and calls for more returns to shareholders lead to a more cautious pace.
Russian aluminium giant Rusal has accused the Gillard government of hobbling the once high-growth alumina industry through the July 1 introduction of the carbon tax.
The effects of surging Queensland domestic gas prices driven by $60 billion of planned LNG plants have hit southern states, with Exxon Mobil and BHP Billiton pushing to link Bass Strait gas contracts to international oil prices.
Tiger Airways Holdings chief executive Chin Yau Seng is ‘‘quietly optimistic’’ the Australian arm will return to profitability after posting a $S77 million ($61m) operating loss this fiscal year.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Australians remain firmly against relaxing illicit drug laws despite declarations by a group of eminent Australians and a global commission that the war on drugs has failed.
Page 2: Senior Liberals claim the NSW senator Bill Heffernan, accused of assault and vilification by a staffer, could be the victim of payback for exposing alleged breaches of electoral donation laws.
Page 3: The most comprehensive study ever of strata properties has found 85 per cent of new apartments in NSW are plagued by defects.
World: Leaders of the world's richest countries have banded together to press Germany to back more pro-growth policies to halt the deepening debt crisis in Europe, as President Barack Obama for the first time gained widespread support for his argument that Europe, and the US by extension, cannot afford Chancellor Angela Merkel's one-size-fits-all approach emphasising austerity.
Business: The Australian dollar could fall below 90 US cents if Greece pulls out of the eurozone, the chief currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank warned as leaders from the G8 group of nations worked over the weekend to combat the region's financial turmoil.
Sport: While Blues skipper Paul Gallen trained and said he was fit for Origin, the Queensland camp was struck by a flu virus.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Embattled MP Craig Thomson will today name the man he claims has tried to ruin his political career by setting him up with prostitutes.
Page 2: After more than three years languishing in a prison cell for a murder he has always denied committing, the last place you would think Gordon Wood would visit during a brief trip to NSW was Goulburn jail.
Page 3: A boat carrying the largest number of asylum seekers on a single vessel this year has been intercepted by Customs.
World: A mother of three will spend the next 20 years in jail for firing a gun into a wall during a domestic dispute, even though no one was hurt.
Business: Pre-retirees who use salary sacrifice to beef up their superannuation need to look at their strategy in the next few weeks or risk hefty tax penalties.
Sport: Breathe easy NSW - Paul Gallen is all but certain to play in Origin I.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Taskforce finds former policeman Paul Dale had no involvement in the murder of Carl Williams in Barwon Prison. Craig Thomson is expected to repeat his claims of innocence in parliament and ask to be judged by the legal system. Majority of voters are against decriminalising drug use.
Page 3: Victoria's overcrowded prisons could lead to greater risk of injury and damages claims by inmates. Political analyst says controversial Liberal MP Geoff Shaw could be Ted Baillieu's Craig Thomson. Stressed parents relinquishing their intellectually disabled children to state care. Residential developments offering car-sharing to its residents. Thousands who cycled to work for the first time on Ride2Work Day last year have become regular riders.
World: US President Barack Obama will try to persuade cash-strapped European governments and their war-weary citizens to back Afghanistan's security over the next decade.
Business: Australian dollar could fall below 90 US cents if Greece pulls out of the eurozone.
Sport: Carlton coach Brett Ratten blasts his team for playing like individuals rather than as a group after 69-point thrashing by Adelaide.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Claims that top crime fighter Graeme Ashton passed on information obtained by bugging to an employer which resulted in the sacking of a senior female public servant.
Page 2: Whistleblower says he has evidence that proves Liberal MP Geoff Shaw was using his parliamentary car for commercial purposes.
Page 3: Research shows Melbourne's congested traffic now almost as bad as Sydney's clogged freeways. Four-hundred Qantas jobs set to go at Tullamarine's heavy maintenance base. Bob the Fantail goldfish gets special treatment from the vet.
World: We must spark growth while cutting debt, US President Barack Obama tells European leaders at G8 meeting.
Business: Nervous investors hope for progress at crucial meetings of eurozone leaders as pressure builds to keep Greece within eurozone.
Sport: Carlton coach Brett Ratten blasts his players after 69-point drubbing by Adelaide.