Big business $2bn tax cut faces defeat – The Fin; Some good news for Rinehart – The West; iiNet backs Optus in rights battle – The Aus; Moody's sounds Atlantic warning – The West; Pressure to adopt skills reform – The Fin
Big business $2bn tax cut faces defeat
The federal government's $2.4 billion big business tax cut funded by the mining tax faces defeat in Parliament after the Greens said they would only support cuts for small business. The Fin
Some good news for Rinehart
Gina Rinehart's South Korean partner POSCO has confirmed the bitter family brawl being fought out in the NSW Supreme Court will not affect its decision to invest in the Roy Hill iron ore project. The West
iiNet backs Optus in rights battle
Optus has gained a welcome ally in its landmark legal battle against the nation’s biggest football codes after rival iiNet said it would be ‘‘crazy’’ to amend laws to prohibit internet companies from streaming pre-recorded TV content to mobile internet devices. The Aus
Moody's sounds Atlantic warning
Atlantic, the group trying to revive WA's Windimurra vanadium project, has been dealt a fresh blow after Moody's Investors Service became the second ratings agency in a week to raise concerns about its cash position, warning there was “very little cushion” for further delays or cost blowouts. The West
Pressure to adopt skills reform
State coalition governments will come under pressure from Canberra to adopt federal Labor's ambitious productivity-driven reforms to vocational training or risk reward payments of $1.75 billion. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The Burswood sports stadium could be expanded to 70,000 seats for major events such as the soccer World Cup, have comfortable seats to accommodate “bigger” fans and include some standing room-only areas for spectators.
Page 5: The fragility of Perth's transport network was laid bare yesterday by a small fire that sparked chaos across the city, closing train lines, creating traffic gridlock and stranding thousands of people.
Page 7: Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt is leading a push for an ocean pool at Bathers Beach as the proponents of a plan to build Perth's first ocean pool continue to battle for support from Cottesloe Town Council.
Page 14: Two of Australia's foremost scientific agencies have warned that south-west WA is warming and drying faster than anywhere in the country and will be increasingly prone to drought.
Page 16: Gina Rinehart's lawyers argued that claims of misconduct made against her in a suppressed hearing of the NSW Supreme Court had breached a secret agreement her children signed not to “embarrass” the mining magnate.
Page 18: The Federal Opposition will risk enraging the business community by voting against a cut to the company tax rate that is funded by the mining tax.
Business liftout:
Page 1: Gina Rinehart's South Korean partner POSCO has confirmed the bitter family brawl being fought out in the NSW Supreme Court will not affect its decision to invest in the Roy Hill iron ore project.
Atlantic, the group trying to revive WA's Windimurra vanadium project, has been dealt a fresh blow after Moody's Investors Service became the second ratings agency in a week to raise concerns about its cash position, warning there was “very little cushion” for further delays or cost blowouts.
Page 3: The first sod on BHP Billiton's new fly in, fly out village in Port Hedland could be turned as soon as May 1, after the local council unanimously approved the revised Precinct 3 proposal on Monday night.
A leading egg producer ordered to remove nearly 60,000 chickens from his Swan Valley farm claims he's a victim of greed as urban development encroaches on the once rural area.
Page 5: China's steel mills, which have driven Australia's iron ore and coal boom for most of the past decade, have halved their forecast growth rates and turned to side businesses such as pig farming and childcare to maintain profit levels.
Page 7: China has defended its restrictions on exports of rare earths as Washington prepares to launch a fresh trade suit against Beijing at the World Trade Organisation.
Page 9: Qantas has demanded a review of Virgin Australia's radical shake-up of its ownership structure, which will open the way for more foreign investors and airlines to snap up stakes in its domestic business.
Page 20: An international property adviser is spruiking Perth's office sector as an investment hotspot among its Asian clients, as a separate survey ranks the city's offices as some of the world's most expensive.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The federal government's $2.4 billion big business tax cut funded by the mining tax faces defeat in Parliament after the Greens said they would only support cuts for small business.
Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has flagged plans to establish a Guardian newspaper-type “blind trust” to invest in Australian media to ensure diversity and stop independent newspapers going bust.
Page 3: Gina Rinehart's children signed away their rights to have a family trust vest on the youngest child's 25th birthday in return for about $300 million every year for each child, court documents show, a total of $1.25 billion a year.
Page 4: Lower international carbon prices could wipe between $8 billion and $16.5 billion in revenue from the carbon price scheme until 2018, modelling done for the nation's biggest electricity generator and the NSW government says.
State coalition governments will come under pressure from Canberra to adopt federal Labor's ambitious productivity-driven reforms to vocational training or risk reward payments of $1.75 billion.
Page 8: Builders are worried that unions will be able to negotiate wide-ranging side agreements under rules approved by Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten ahead of a key senate vote to overhaul the industry watchdog.
Wage growth flowing from collective agreements has slowed across most sectors, taking pressure off the inflation outlook.
Page 10: Business groups have blasted the Greens' plan to block $2.4 billion in tax cuts for big corporations as part of the mining tax package, saying the move jeopardises Australia's competitiveness.
Page 14: There are tentative signs that businesses bearing the brunt of the strong dollar and patchy demand are becoming more efficient.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is under more pressure to cut interest rates because of a downturn in housing finance and lacklustre prospects for businesses not involved in the resources industry.
Page 17: Qantas Airways has stepped up its challenge to rival Virgin Australia's proposed corporate split.
Page 22: West Australian miners are confident that Gina Rinehart's legal battle with her children will not affect her ability to finance and build the Roy Hill iron ore project, despite the magnate's legal arguments to the contrary.
Karoon Gas Australia expects to start its long-delayed drilling program in the Browse Basin by the end of this month, initiating an investment in exploration set to reach $265 million in the next 12 months.
Page 53: Western Australia is looming as this year's distressed property hot spot, according to insolvency practitioners.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Greens leader Bob Brown will attempt to block $2.4 billion in big business tax cuts, flexing his party’s Senate muscle to redesign Labor’s minerals resource rent tax package to reflect his priorities.
Gina Rinehart’s senior executives raised strong concerns that any publicity over the billionaire’s legal feud with her children could threaten her corporate interests and even prove fatal to her planned $7 billion Roy Hill iron ore project.
Page 2: Tony Abbott has savaged industry super funds worth $250 billion for creating a ‘‘gravy train’’ for union officials who sit on their boards, as the Coalition prepares to shake up the way millions of workers put aside cash for their retirement.
Western Australia’s Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan remained on active duty last night after a bombshell revelation that he is being investigated by the state’s Corruption and Crime Commission about whether he gave false evidence to an inquiry into last summer’s devastating bushfires in the Perth hills.
Page 3: Cooler weather in Australia in the past two years due to the rain-inducing La Nina weather pattern does not undermine the collective evidence of climate change, the nation’s peak scientific and weather organisations say.
Page 4: Taxation experts have warned that the warring Rinehart clan could face a potential tax bill of nearly $1 billion if the Australian Taxation Office deems that the main reason for extending the vesting date of their family trust is to avoid paying capital gains tax.
John Hancock yesterday hit back at claims by his mother he and his siblings were not qualified to be involved in the family business, citing their credentials and experience in the resources sector.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart made a brazen attempt to indemnify herself from any future litigation by her children as part of a desperate push to retain control of a multi-billion-dollar family trust, court documents reveal.
Page 7: The collapse in international carbon prices could blow a $5.4 billion hole in the federal budget if prices fail to recover by 2016, according to secret research conducted by NSW’S biggest power generator and ticked off by the state’s Treasury.
The Australian apple industry has appealed to the federal government for $22 million to help the sector withstand the onslaught of cheap apple imports from China and New Zealand.
Business: The intense competition for deposits is not only eroding bank profit margins, it is also maintaining the rage of non-bank institutions offering rival fixed-income products.
The relegation of Telstra’s directories arm is complete after the company’s highly regarded Sensis boss, Bruce Akhurst, announced his departure from the company with what is expected to be a multi-million dollar payout.
A 40 per cent slide in coking coal prices in the past year is set to wipe $7. 7 billion from its export revenue this year and threaten to blow a massive hole in the government’s expected take from the minerals resource rent tax.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is ramping up the pressure on the owners of investment platforms to explain how they choose the different products they recommend to investors.
Business trading conditions are improving, underlining Australia’s economic resilience.
Optus has gained a welcome ally in its landmark legal battle against the nation’s biggest football codes after rival iiNet said it would be ‘‘crazy’’ to amend laws to prohibit internet companies from streaming prerecorded TV content to mobile internet devices.
Virgin Australia has defended the independence of its restructured international operations after Qantas objected to its request to transfer capacity to the new entity on Indonesian routes.
Perth hotel rates could jump 20 per cent this year thanks to the resources boom and Sydney rates could also rise as much as 14 per cent as owners put pressure on to increase yields.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Greenhouse gases have risen to their highest level since modern humans evolved, and Australian temperatures are now about a degree warmer than they were a century ago, a major review by the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology has found.
Page 2: Premier Barry O'Farrell has intervened to shield his Hospitality Minister George Souris during question time as the opposition resumed its attack on the government over The Star casino scandal.
Page 3: The Immigration Department has suffered another significant judicial defeat, with the Federal Court's full bench ruling there is no time limit on boat arrivals accessing the courts.
World: Barack Obama and David Cameron will discuss the withdrawal of American and British troops based in Afghanistan in the wake of the murder of 16 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a US soldier.
Business: The Chinese steel mills that have driven Australia's resources boom for the past decade have halved their forecast growth rates for the next year, as China comes to terms with an economic slowdown.
Sport: Rival NRL clubs have hit out after it emerged Brisbane are scheduled to play on Friday nights for the first eight rounds of the season, saying they will reap massive benefits in both player fitness and sponsorship revenues.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: The seizure of a pistol used in Sydney's drive-by shooting epidemic led police to uncover a global firearms trafficking syndicate operating out of a suburban Sydney post office, it will be alleged.
Page 2: The US soldier and father-of-two accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, will face the death penalty if convicted of murder.
Page 3: Children are starting kindergarten with the speech skills of three-year-olds and too much TV and a lack of extended family are to blame.
World: A serving British soldier is being quizzed on suspicion of murder after a young mother was stabbed to death in front of her four-year-old son.
Business: Macquarie Group's profit will not recover to its pre-global financial crisis levels for years, a credit ratings agency believes.
Sport: As Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra went to war over his signature late last year, Tim Moltzen entered secret negotiations with NSW Rugby that could result in the classy utility switching codes in 2013.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Homeopathy has been described as an "unethical" and baseless health practice by the National Health and Medical Research Council in a draft public statement.
AFL Richmond player and Muslim ambassador Bachar Houli has signed up his 100th relative as a club member.
The Police Association has attacked the proposed Victorian anti-corruption commission's treatment of judges.
Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks has been arrested in London on a conspiracy charge.
Page 3: The three eldest Rinehart children say their mother, Gina Rinehart, effectively put a gun to their heads in her email telling them to hand her control of their multibillion-dollar trust, legal documents show.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith has refused to comment on secret commando operations in Africa.
World: US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron are meeting to discuss their troops' future in Afghanistan after the shooting of 16 civilians there by a US soldier.
Business: Chinese steel mills have halved their forecast growth rates for the next year, as China faces an economic slowdown.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: A man lauded as a hero after the Kinglake Black Saturday bushfires has pleaded guilty to dozens of theft charges after turning to crime when his life fell apart after the fires, a Melbourne court has heard.
Page 3: Qantas is set to seek a multimillion-dollar injection from the Victorian government to save 1000 jobs at Avalon Airport. Two Craigieburn primary school girls diagnosed with the same form of cancer are hoping to raise $5000 for the Leukaemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave.
Page 5: A Herald Sun investigation has uncovered a litany of triple zero call errors by the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority.
World: The US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians will face the death penalty if convicted.
Business: Investors are pulling out of the housing market as prices slide and banks strengthen lending criteria.
Sport: AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has slammed suggestions that the Liam Jurrah controversy could discourage clubs from recruiting indigenous players.