Cut carbon price to $10, Labor told – The Aus; We'll use the cash to make Perth great – The West; Billionaire can't get WA on board – The Fin; Petrol price rockets to $1.50 a litre – The West; Signs of life return out west – The Fin
Cut carbon price to $10, Labor told
Key business backers of carbon pricing have called on the government to amend the carbon tax legislation to cut the price from $23 a tonne of carbon emissions to close to the European price of about $10, warning that the difference amounts to a ‘‘tax on industry’’ and will hit competitiveness. The Aus
We'll use the cash to make Perth great
Colin Barnett has declared that his Government is “going to do a Jeff Kennett” by seizing on the state's economic prosperity to push through an ambitious infrastructure agenda. The West
Billionaire can't get WA on board
Supplies of plasterboard to the eastern states could be affective if billionaire builder Len Buckeridge carries out a threat to shut his West Australian gypsum board factory over a dispute with the state government. The Fin
Petrol price rockets to $1.50 a litre
The average price of unleaded petrol in Perth will today rise to more than $1.50 a litre – only the second time in four years it has hit that price. The West
Signs of life return out west
The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut interest rates has helped spark the West Australian housing market, listed property groups report. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: The Commonwealth Bank has had to scrap a campaign to offer nearly 100,000 internet banking customers higher credit card limits after the regulator ruled it misleading.
Page 5: The average price of unleaded petrol in Perth will today rise to more than $1.50 a litre – only the second time in four years it has hit that price.
Page 6: Treasurer Wayne Swan plans a string of spending cuts to get the Budget in the black after revealing yesterday that the slowing economy and troubles out of Europe were hitting tax revenue.
The Reserve Bank may have to consider an interest rate cut at its next meeting after figures revealed the national economy slowing despite the mining boom.
Page 12: Labor's planned advertising blitz to sell the benefits of a carbon tax has hit a snag – the word “carbon” is a turn-off for the public.
Page 15: Flights out of Perth's congested airport could be delayed by up to 45 minutes from their advertised departure times from tomorrow because of a new schedule co-ordination system to prevent long queues of planes waiting on the tarmac to take off.
Page 17: Colin Barnett has declared that his Government is “going to do a Jeff Kennett” by seizing on the state's economic prosperity to push through an ambitious infrastructure agenda.
Page 19: The new head of a powerful state government environmental agency has warned conservationists to temper their expectations about native timber logging, saying calls to end the practice are unrealistic.
Business: Executive pay cuts at Kagara are being considered as part of cost-cutting measures, according to embattled managing director Geoff Day, after investors battered the company on its return to trading yesterday.
A tsunami of bad news yesterday drove Australian stocks to their biggest one-day fall this year, with $2 billion wiped from the value of BHP Billiton alone as the benchmark S&P-ASX200 index fell to its lowest close since January 9.
Apex Minerals' new board will sink at least $10 million into new exploration and development at Wiluna as the key plank of its bid to turn around the struggling gold miner.
Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has labelled Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan's criticism of mining magnates as “extraordinarily inept” and “totally against the national interest”.
Michael Minosora's Windimurra woes have worsened with the sudden resignation of parent company Atlantic's last two independent directors yesterday, following what is believed to have been a breakdown in relations between the executive chairman and the remainder of the board.
Ravensthorpe nickel mine is reaching its target production rates, only months after returning to full operations under new Canadian owners First Quantum Minerals.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Gillard government will confound market expectations and risk alienating the Future Fund's board of guardians by appointing an outsider to replace David Murray as chairman of the nation's $73 billion sovereign wealth fund.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has confirmed a less hard-line approach to assessing mergers and acquisitions after signalling he will wave through Foxtel's $1.9 billion takeover of Austar United.
The national plan to derail new coal mines and facilities grew out of a campaign against coal seam gas that won the backing of people such as the Ainsworth family, radio broadcaster Alan Jones, NSW independent Tony Windsor and Wotif founder Graeme Wood.
An unexpected slowing in economic growth will prompt more federal spending cuts, as Treasury and central bank officials warn that productivity is crucial to protecting living standards.
Page 3: Australia's former ambassador to Beijing, Geoff Raby, has slammed the federal government for not taking the rise of China seriously enough and called on it to embark on a massive overhaul of the way the relationship is handled.
Page 10: A senior European policymaker has warned that developing countries, as well as Australia, are losing one of the biggest competitive challenges from China – increasing the skills of their workforces.
Page 13: Supplies of plasterboard to the eastern states could be affective if billionaire builder Len Buckeridge carries out a threat to shut his West Australian gypsum board factory over a dispute with the state government.
Page 18: The Reserve Bank of Australia has flagged that it might act to cut interest rates and help dampen the currency if the unemployment rate surges.
Page 32: OZ Minerals has played down talk it may seek to buy the 80 per cent of Sandfire Resources it does not already own as it elaborated on how it plans to spend its $750 million mergers and acquisitions war chest.
Page 52: Tight credit conditions and declining confidence are forcing a contraction through most parts of the construction industry.
Page 58: The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut interest rates has helped spark the West Australian housing market, listed property groups report.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Key business backers of carbon pricing have called on the government to amend the carbon tax legislation to cut the price from $23 a tonne of carbon emissions to close to the European price of about $10, warning that the difference amounts to a ‘‘tax on industry’’ and will hit competitiveness.
Wayne Swan has promised to find the spending cuts necessary to fill a massive hole in the federal budget left by stalling company tax revenue.
Page 2: International bureaucracies are trying to impose their ‘‘crusading cultures’’ on Australia’s economy, claim port operators after demands by the UN’S environment arm for new controls on coal and gas port expansions around the Great Barrier Reef.
Page 4: Left-wing union leader Dave Oliver is set to become secretary of the ACTU after Jeff Lawrence stood down yesterday following the refusal of unions to support him for a new three-year term.
The government has tapped the taxpayer-funded contingency reserve for an unexpected payment worth $300 million to Telstra for its involvement in the $36 billion National Broadband Network.
The Reserve Bank does not believe the Australian dollar has risen too high and would require a sharp jump in the jobless rate before it reviewed this assessment.
Business: Renewed fears of a Greek debt default and weak economic growth at home dragged the Australian stockmarket down 1.5 per cent yesterday, bringing falls on local shares to 3 per cent this week and almost wiping out the year’s gains.
Australia may be experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime mining and capital expenditure boom, but stagnating commodity prices, the high Australian dollar and rising costs are seeing mining stocks lose their lustre.
Karoon Gas Australia has already had approaches from parties interested in buying gas from its significant but early-stage Poseidon discovery off the north of Western Australia, according to executive director Mark Smith.
The booming Chinese electric bicycle market is now the key focus for Australian miner Galaxy Resources as it finally opens its $100 million lithium battery factory in Jiangsu province, a few hours north of Shanghai.
Kagara Mining lost 38 per cent of its market value yesterday as investors reacted to revelations it had been forced into survival mode by heavy losses in its Queensland metal mines.
Australia's biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, has had its second run-in in two months with the corporate regulator over its messages to consumers.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Defence Minister Stephen Smith allows reappointment of Bruce Kafer, whose actions were labelled as "completely stupid" after last year's Skype affair. Falling tax revenue forces the government to make more budget cuts.
Page 3: Clover Moore angry over state government bill to increase maximum leases in Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park, from 20 to 99 years.
World: Mitt Romney manages victory in campaign to secure Republican presidential nomination.
Business: CBA has had to pull a campaign which offered customers a chance to take higher credit card limits, after a regulator deemed it misleading.
Sport: Judiciary panel rules Frank Pritchard's one-match suspension stays.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Slain police officer David Nixon may have interrupted a drug deal when he was shot in Tamworth, police say. Only five of 55 Australian graves in Libya remain standing after a mob destroyed the Commonwealth cemetery.
Page 2: Federal government could be forced to apologise for 775 claims of sexual and other abuse against the ADFA.
Page 3: 300 square kilometres of water is flowing across Riverina, swamping homes.
World: Republican candidate Rick Santorum becomes the only candidate who can stop Mitt Romney.
Business: Future Fund's sell down of Telstra shares left taxpayers to foot millions of dollars.
Sport: Channel 9 boss declares they'll win the rugby league broadcast rights.
THE AGE:
Page 1: The Baillieu government is set to appoint its own construction industry watchdog in a bid to rein in the power of building unions in Victoria and to counter the Gillard government's decision to abolish the federal building watchdog.
Victoria is on the brink of recession and South Australia and Tasmania are already in one, as the high dollar, high interest rates and government spending cuts slowed Australia's economic growth in the December quarter to just 0.4 per cent.
Page 3: The carbon tax will help pay for an ambitious scheme to connect great swathes of the Australian landscape and protect endangered species, under a proposal before the federal government.
World: Mitt Romney ground his way to another uninspiring and indecisive victory in his campaign to secure the Republican presidential nomination in the Super Tuesday primaries.
Business: The sharemarket slumped to a two-month low after battling headwinds on all fronts, with Wall Street sharply lower, concerns about Greece's record bond write-off looming and disappointing local economic growth figures weighing on sentiment.
Sport: Hawthorn vice-captain Jordan Lewis says some teammates have been guilty of looking after themselves and not always the team but hopes the Hawks emerge as a collective force this season.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Victoria's health system faces a $170 million carbon tax slug in the next decade.
Page 2: Nurse-to-patient ratios are expected to be protected under a landmark pay deal to be finalised next week, following a deadlock breaking concession by the state government.
Page 3: A good citizen who coloured his hair to raise money for charity has been laid off work by one of Melbourne's top caterers.
Business: Taxpayers have been left hundreds of millions out of pocket as a consequence of the Future Fund's ill-timed sell-down of Telstra shares.
Sport: Hawthorn warrior Jordan Lewis says selfishness might have cost the Hawks a crack at the flag.
