Chinese bid to create $8bn coal giant – The Fin; Court lifts veil on Hancock feud – The West; Lion gets Stella from Foster’s cellar – The Aus; Death and downgrades savage Australian shares – The West; $30b gas hub hits funding delay – The Aus
Chinese bid to create $8bn coal giant – The Fin
China is attempting to create Australia’s largest independent coal producer through a proposed $8 billion merger between Yancoal Australia and Glocester Coal.
Court lifts veil on Hancock feud – The West
Australia’s richest person, Perth’s Gina Rinehart, is attempting to move her explosive legal battle with three of her four children into the High Court in a last-ditch attempt to keep the family feud secret.
Lion gets Stella from Foster’s cellar – The Aus
Brewing major Foster’s has lost a key import-distribution contract just days after new parent company Sabmiller took official control of the company.
Death and downgrades savage Australian shares – The West
Australian stocks crashed to a three week low yesterday as the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong II added another layer of uncertainty to markets already reeling from the onslaught of European credit rating downgrades.
$30b gas hub hits funding delay – The Aus
Woodside’s plan to build a $30 billion gas processing plant in the remote Kimberley — which has been plagued by court battles and protests — ran into more strife yesterday when a final investment decision was delayed.
The West:
Pg 3 – Australia’s richest person, Perth’s Gina Rinehart, is attempting to move her explosive legal battle with three of her four children into the High Court in a last-ditch attempt to keep the family feud secret.
Pg 6 – Premier Colin Barnet predicted yesterday that the $30 billion gas processing precinct at James Price Point would go ahead despite Woodside Petroleum delaying its final investment decision for up to a year.
A Karratha husband and wife who have expanded their hire fleet from one to 850 vehicles in 13 years have won a contract to supply vehicles to the giant Wheatstone and Gorgon liquefied natural gas projects.
Pg 7 – Construction heavyweight Len Buckeridge has attacked a pay deal between the building union and Brookfield Multiplex, saying it gives “morons” who quit school at 14 knowing only how to spell their name more than some doctors.
Pg 28 - Australian stocks crashed to a three week low yesterday as the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong II added another layer of uncertainty to markets already reeling from the onslaught of European credit rating downgrades.
Billabong’s beleaguered chief executive, Derek O’Neill, was yesterday forced to soothe investor panic that the struggling street and surfwear group could fall foul of its banking covenants after the company issued a shock profit downgrade that crunched its shares by nearly 50 per cent.
Norway’s Yarra International was last night staying mum on whether it would counter a $560 million deal for Apacher Corp to buy the Oswal Family’s stake in WA’s Burrup Fertilisers plant.
Pg 29 – Woodside petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman will learn how WA’s inflationary environment has affected the economics of the contentious $30 billion Browse development within months as tender bids for the liquefied natural gas project start to flow in.
Japanese owned Lion Nathan has emerged with the lion’s share of Australia’s top-selling imported beers, with Foster’s losing the rights to Stella Artois in one of the first effects of its takeover by Amglo-South African giant SABMiller.
The Fin:
Pg1 - China is attempting to create Australia’s largest independent coal producer through a proposed $8 billion merger between Yancoal Australia and Glocester Coal.
Woodside Petroleum has warned of a delay of up to a year in its $35 billion Browse liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia as it struggles with construction costs that threaten to make the venture uneconomic.
Battered surfware maker and retailer Billabong is carrying out a strategic review to shore up its capital and cut debt after announcing that sales for the six months to December 31 would be down three per cent on a year ago.
Australia’s largest electricity generators have warned the federal government about using the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation to “pick winners” in the renewable energy sector.
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, will ask the High Court to prevent details of a bitter dispute that threatens to reduce her control over the family’s $10 billion fortune being made public.
Pg 3 – The National Rugby League will today argue that the value of its broadcasting rights will be under threat if Optus is allowed to continue football telecasts to internet and mobile phone customers.
Pg 4 – Australia’s merchandise imports topped $21 billion in a month for the second time on record as trade reached levels last recorded before the global financial crisis.
Pg 5 – Labor is coming under new pressure to scale back its gambling reforms as another poll shows the challenge facing Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s to rebuild public support next year.
Pg 6 – West Australian Nationals leader and Lands minister Brendan Grylls has ruled out a review of land acquired for the state’s major gas projects, despite uncertainty in the industry following a landmark native title ruling.
Pg 7 – The federal government is to review its main arts funding body, the Australia Council, ahead of the development of a national cultural policy.
Pg 8 – Qantas Airways and its engineers have in effect ended a nine month industrial dispute, in an agreement that gives the airline most of what it wanted in the first place.
Workplace relations minister Bill Shorten declared yesterday he would not micro-manage negotiations between employers and unions, amid a growing debate over bargaining tactics under Labor’s industrial relations regime.
Pg 17 – The Australian sharemarket suffered its worst one-day sell-off in 2.5 months as further evidence of a sharp slowdown in discretionary spending, fears of rising tension in the Korean peninsular and worries about the future of Europe weighed on sentiment.
Pg 21 – The US dollar reasserted itself as a preferred safe haven yesterday as markets were rattled by the threat of further ratings downgrades for European nations and the death of North Korea’s leader added to global political uncertainty.
Pg 33 – Private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific is finalising the appointment of advisers to work on the refining of Nine Entertainment Co’s $3.66 billion worth of debt.
Fairfax media has poached senior Southern Cross Media executive Adam Lang to run its radio division following the resignation of general manager Graham Mott.
Pg 34 – Orica is set to beef up its position in the West Australian explosives market by taking a role in the development of an ammonium nitrate plant planned by Burrup Holdings.
Pg 35 – Telstra has formally extended the deadline on its $11 billion deal to lease infrastructure and transfer customers to the national broadband network.
Goldminer Newcrest Mining has warned of a significant downgrade to its full year production forecast following difficulties at three of its largest operations.
Pg 41 - Mirvac Group has bolstered its coffers with the sale of four industrial assets to the Aviva Investors Australian Logistics Property Trust for about $85 million.
The Aus:
Pg1 - The nation’s shoppers have firmly closed their wallets amid fears of a full-blown debt contagion in Europe, while Billabong shares were smashed by 44 per cent yesterday after the iconic surfwear company released a shock profit downgrade.
Pg3 - Australia's wealthiest person, Gina Rinehart, is attempting to go all the way to the High Court in an attempt to silence the case brought against her by her children.
Pg4 - Woodside's plan to build a $30 billion gas processing plant in the remote Kimberley — which has been plagued by court battles and protests — ran into more strife yesterday when a final investment decision was delayed.
Pg5 - Power stations are demanding Labor impose new limits on its $10 billion clean energy fund, including a ban on the government becoming the main investor in any project, declaring this is crucial to minimising the distortion to financial markets and risks to taxpayers.
Arts Minister Simon Crean has ordered the first major review since the 1980s of the Australia Council as he moves to draft the national cultural policy. Several submissions to the NCP discussion paper criticised the peak arts-funding body’s rigid structure that made it inflexible towards new ways of making art.
Higher water charges are inevitable under Labor’s carbon tax regime, with a confidential industry survey finding that every company expects to pass on increases to consumers.
Pg15 - The negative sentiment in global financial markets worsened yesterday as investors feared the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il would increase the geopolitical risks in the Asian region, while Australia’s consumer shopping strike is hammering retail stocks.
Investors in surfwear group Billabong have lost more than $400 million after the company issued a shock earnings downgrade that prompted a 44 per cent plunge in the company’s share price and rattled an already fragile retail sector.
Woodside Petroleum has requested a year’s grace on the mid 2012 deadline for a final investment decision on the Browse liquefied natural gas project, in a potential blow to plans for an LNG plant at James Price Point, 60km north of Broome.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will issue a discussion paper as early as this week on regulation of the National Broadband Network, vowing oversight of the $36 billion project will be a top priority.
Brewing major Foster’s has lost a key import-distribution contract just days after new parent company Sabmiller took official control of the company.
Pg20 - Optus has told the Federal Court its phones are no worse than digital personal video recorders as it defends its TV Now service, which allows subscribers to record and watch television shows on their phones and personal computers.
Supermarket giant Woolworths tightened its grip on the pubs market by finalising a deal, believed to be worth $500 million, involving the Laundy, Waugh and De Angelis groups yesterday.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Page 1: The death of Kim Jong-il and the rise of his son Kim Jong-un has sparked concern in the region and the sharemarket.
Page 2: The real mystery behind the death of Azaria Chamberlain is why it has taken so long to pronounce that a dingo took the young girl.
Page 3: A major power supplier to NSW's east coast has needed to ask for special permission to continue trading amid financial strain.
Business: Billabong posts its biggest one-day share price fall since 2000.
The Age
Page 1: Asia on alert after North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il dies. Loy Yang Power under pressure from carbon tax and debt refinancing. Survivors of fatal sinking vow to try again to reach Australia.
Page 2: Melbourne's City Loop faces serious structural problems. Fairfax appoints new publisher for its Melbourne division.
Page 3: Former WorkCover boss blasts Baillieu government for its plan to take $500 million out of the authority to cover state budget surplus. Vincent gets high VCE marks for his drum beat. Sunday night deluge makes 2011 the wettest year since 1993. Two bags of Twisties was all Wesley Care got from one Woolies supermarket as non-perishable donations down. Fight over a disabled car park killed a 78-year-old man.
Business: Billabong tries to calm investors as its share price plummets.
Herald-Sun
Page 1: Victoria Cross hero Mark Donaldson urges Australians not to forget our soldiers fighting in Afghanistan at Christmas time.
Page 2: Military on high alert after death of North Korean tyrant. Banks shut down over Christmas break and customers face transaction blackout.
Page 3: It's the silly season and councils are banning silly by-laws like needing a permit to camp in your own backyard. Decorate your dog for Christmas?
Business: ASX tumbles as concerns grow that Europe crisis will intensify.
