Super shifts to frontline of tax row – The Aus; Miner's spy plot claim – The West; WA blasts visa work barrier -The West; Aquila's port case 'fortified' – The West; Danger is passing, says upbeat RBA – The Fin
Super shifts to frontline of tax row
Big business has slammed the prospect of being stripped of corporate tax cuts linked to the mining tax but still being forced to pay higher employer superannuation levies, with the head of Australia's biggest private-sector employer, Wesfarmers, declaring there is not a "bottomless pit" of funds. The Aus
Miner's spy plot claim
Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has launched a stunning attack on the Greens, accusing them of being party to a CIA plot to cull the development of the nation's mineral resources and attack the Australian economy. The West
WA blasts visa work barrier
Training Minister Peter Collier has blamed the Federal Government's “Neanderthal” visa processing program for the collapse of negotiations between the state and Irish governments to bring 150,000 skilled workers temporarily to WA. The West
Aquila's port case 'fortified'
Aquila Resources executive chairman Tony Poli says Fortescue Metals Group's surprise revelation it could pursue an outer harbour development at Port Hedland strengthens his miner's case to be put in charge of a new port at Anketell Point in the west Pilbara. The West
Danger is passing, says upbeat RBA
The chances of further official interest rate cuts appear to be receding as global conditions improve and the local economy grows solidly despite tough conditions hurting key sectors. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has launched a stunning attack on the Greens, accusing them of being party to a CIA plot to cull the development of the nation's mineral resources and attack the Australian economy.
Page 9: Training Minister Peter Collier has blamed the Federal Government's “Neanderthal” visa processing program for the collapse of negotiations between the state and Irish governments to bring 150,000 skilled workers temporarily to WA.
Page 11: Average WA households could at least halve their power consumption and save hundreds of dollars a year by adopting a few energy efficient measures, a landmark trial has found.
Page 13: The state government has announced new moves to compulsorily acquire 3414ha of land for its proposed gas processing precinct at James Price Point, several months after the Supreme court ruled its original notices of intention to take the land invalid.
Page 14: More than 1,500 property owners along Stirling Highway, including Premier Colin Barnett, could have sections of their land resumed under plans to upgrade the road over the next 20 years.
Page 20: A deep rift is developing inside the coalition over foreign investment rules, with Liberal MPs accusing the Nationals of stirring up xenophobia for political advantage.
Perth's accommodation crisis has filtered through to caravan parks, with mine workers and tourists flooding the city.
Page 30: A northern WA electorate that Labor once regarded as rock solid is looking shaky as political parties line up to try and snatch the Kimberley seat held by retiring MP Carol Martin since 2001.
Business liftout:
Page 1: Aquila Resources executive chairman Tony Poli says Fortescue Metals Group's surprise revelation it could pursue an outer harbour development at Port Hedland strengthens his miner's case to be put in charge of a new port at Anketell Point in the west Pilbara.
Page 3: “Hungry” Jack Cowin, recently making news as a confidant of mining magnate Gina Rinehart, is about to make headlines himself: he has accused the owners of KFC of unconscionable conduct.
Steve Birkbeck says Atlas South Sea Pearl has enough cash to fund its turnaround efforts, after the country's last listed pearl farmer wrapped up a capital raising that has resulted in millionaire industrialist Gordon Martin emerging as its biggest shareholder.
Page 5: A handful of Perth-based companies faces the loss of valuable contracts when historic Australian sanctions come into place against Iran.
Page 7: The pace of Chinese steel demand is easing by WA's biggest iron ore miners are still upbeat on outlook, with rising industry costs, tighter credit and skilled-labour shortages tipped to delay new sources of supply coming into the market.
The $2.2 billion battle for control of Extract Resources is all but over, after Rio Tinto announced the sale of its 14 per cent stake in the emerging uranium player.
Shares in zircon hopeful Diatreme Resources got a fillip yesterday after the company announced what it says are “robust” pre-feasibility results from its flagship WA project.
Page 20: Developers are moving confidently to buy development sites in Perth with strong interest in land that has planning certainty as well as sites with zoning potential for future subdivision, according to property firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Greens are threatening to block tax breaks for both small and big business if the Gillard government tries to force the minor party into an “all or nothing” vote on the cuts funded by the mining levy.
Tax breaks that subsidise mining companies' use of diesel fuel could be slashed in the May budget as the government looks for savings to bring the budget back to surplus.
Investors in bank stocks have been warned that the “glory days” of the big four profiting from windfall gains by playing the financial markets are over.
Almost 30 per cent of buyers of Australian commercial property were from overseas, research released yesterday shows.
Page 3: The corporate regulator has backed up a threat to force companies to disclose bad news quickly by warning it plans to scrutinise profit forecasts that could be considered misleading.
Page 4: Western Australia is poised to back a High Court challenge to the federal government's mining tax, after Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group said it was finalising its legal case against the levy.
Page 7: The chances of further official interest rate cuts appear to be receding as global conditions improve and the local economy grows solidly despite tough conditions hurting key sectors.
Page 10: Power generators are finding it harder to refinance their debts because of the carbon tax and the withdrawal of struggling European banks from Australia, according to the chairman of the body set up to ensure security of energy supply under the tax.
Page 20: Australia's biggest iron ore miners remain stoutly confident in the strength of the long-term market for their product – even as BHP Billiton starts making some subtle downward adjustments to its forecasts as the Chinese economy slows and changes.
Fortescue Metals Group operations director Peter Meurs says the miner is yet to decide whether it will back the Anketell Point port development or look more closely at sharing the outer harbour in Port Hedland with BHP Billiton.
Page 21: Rio Tinto has provided a detailed breakdown of the $US10.2 billion of payments it made to governments globally in 2011 – 38 per cent higher than 2010 – as it comes under increasing pressure to share the spoils of the mining boom.
Sundance Resources has signed an agreement with a third fellow iron ore explorer to look at sharing infrastructure in West Africa and is talking to others as it nears the deadline for its $1.65 billion takeover by Hanlong Mining.
Page 50: For a second time in about four months, Bill Shorten has intervened in a port dispute to encourage the Maritime Union of Australia to embrace formal conciliation rather than indulge in further debilitating strike action.
Page 56: Perth-based property developer Aspen Group will spend the next 12 months capitalising on Perth's strong rental growth after seeing a strong improvement in its share price and financial position.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Big business has slammed the prospect of being stripped of corporate tax cuts linked to the mining tax but still being forced to pay higher employer superannuation levies, with the head of Australia's biggest private-sector employer, Wesfarmers, declaring there is not a "bottomless pit" of funds.
Page 2: Federal auditors have issued another challenge to Labor’s claims about its fiscal stimulus policies, criticising a Greens initiative to create jobs by building bike paths and adding to doubts about whether the mammoth spending boosted growth as quickly as promised.
Page 4: Asciano has secured a breakthrough in its long-running dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia following the intervention of Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten.
The former head of the Australian Building and Construction Commission has warned worksites will return to ‘‘the law of the jungle’’ after legislation abolishing the watchdog last night passed the parliament.
Page 6: BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto continue to claim they are in the dark on how much mining tax they will be liable for, despite the legislation having passed through parliament and their heavy involvement in the tax’s design.
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has defied criticism to renew his warning that he will dock infrastructure payments of state governments that increase mining royalties.
Liberal voter and small-business owner Derek Stewart is baffled that Tony Abbott has not backed a tax cut for smaller operators to be financed from the mining tax proceeds.
Page 7: The nation’s biggest energy users have questioned the government’s commitment to streamlining a raft of carbon emissions reductions programs that are in addition to the carbon price, warning the schemes continue to grow in number and reduce economic efficiency.
The federal government is understood to be examining further cuts to the diesel fuel rebate scheme for miners as it looks for savings in its bid to cement a budget surplus for the 2012-13 year.
Page 8: A new brawl is looming over rules that keep major sports events on free-to-air TV as Communications Minister Stephen Conroy introduces anti-siphoning legislation that will ensure the biggest games remain accessible to all viewers.
The Australian Press Council is close to proposing a new funding structure that would see the print media watchdog gain greater independence from the news outlets it is charged with regulating.
Business: Australia's three big iron ore producers remain bullish about Chinese demand in the coming decade, despite raising some immediate concerns about the slowing growth of the Asian nation’s steel production and softer prices for the commodity.
Financial planners could be spared from having to sign up their clients to new agreements every two years under a surprise deal yesterday to amend the Gillard government’s landmark reforms to financial advice.
The competition watchdog has warned that it is carefully monitoring the takeover of Canadian grain business Viterra as speculation mounts that commodities giant Glencore is poised to swoop.
TPG Telecom has posted a 65 per cent rise in half-year net profit to $55.7 million as the broadband provider made strong gains in its corporate and consumer businesses.
The corporate watchdog examined 250 Leighton Holdings projects before dismissing the construction giant’s defence to a breach of its continuous disclosure obligations.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The NSW government hopes to attract thousands of skilled migrants into the state to boost economic development.
Page 2: Mental health treatment in prison vital to rehabilitation.
Page 3: Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan slams his party's proposed policy for more scrutiny of overseas companies buying into Australian agriculture.
World: Gunman may have filmed his shooting of three children and an adult outside a Jewish school in France, the country's interior minister says.
Business: Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman tells company directors to disclose bad news to the market immediately, after issuing Leighton Holdings a $300,000 fine for failing to disclose a $900 million plunge in profit last year.
Sport: Manly considering challenging Tony Williams' suspension for his tackle on Isaac de Gois to give him chance for selection for State of Origin.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: The wealthy family of Roberto Laudisio Cruti, who died after being tasered in Sydney, have engaged lawyers to find out what happened to the 21-year-old. Australians pay 130 per cent more for electricity than Canadians, according to research to be released on Wednesday.
Page 2: The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal says consumers are being charged for `phantom' renewable energy.
Page 3: Australian researchers have developed a new way of testing for peanut allergies.
World: Anti-terrorist police are hunting for a serial killer who killed three children and an adult outside a Jewish school in France.
Business: Apple has announced it will reward its shareholders with a dividend and a share buyback program.
Sport: Manly will announce on Wednesday whether it will seek a downgrading of Isaac De Gois' 10-week suspension for a spear tackle.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Tributes for AFL great Jim Stynes who has died.
Page 3: Mining companies are preparing bids to extract billions of tonnes of brown coal from the Latrobe Valley under controversial plans being promoted by the Baillieu government, raising the prospect of a new South Gippsland port to export it.
Page 5: A former Country Fire Authority volunteer has been convicted of deliberately lighting a bushfire on Black Saturday that claimed the lives of 10 people in Victoria's Latrobe Valley.
World: French police are reported to be searching for former paratroopers sacked for neo-Nazi activities in 2008, in the wake of the shooting of a teacher and three children at a Jewish school in Toulouse.
Business: Australia will slowly move into a broad-based economic recovery in 2012-13 but Victoria is in danger of missing out, leading forecaster Frank Gelber of BIS Shrapnel predicts.
Sport: Murky details of the conversation that ended an AFL career became clearer when it was revealed that Matt Rendell deeply offended his former St Kilda colleague Jason Mifsud.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Jim Stynes opened his eyes and looked at his wife Sam in the final minutes of his remarkable life.
Page 5: Melbourne and Collingwood's traditional Queen's Birthday clash may become the Jim Stynes Trophy match and a major fundraiser for the Reach Foundation.
Page 9: We pay 130 per cent more for electricity than Canadians, a power premium that will rise to 250 per cent once the carbon tax and locked-in price increases take effect.
World: An unprecedented terrorist alert has been imposed in the southwest of France as police hunt the serial killer who shot dead three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in Toulouse.
Business: Superannuation funds will dump some resources investments if the 30 per cent mining tax on profits cuts into dividends, industry experts have signalled.
Sport: Matthew Rendell is out of a job because he didn't apologise for his race-based comments and other remarks in his meeting with AFL indigenous boss Jason Mifsud.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: The federal police has investigated more than 20 of its overseas-based officers during the past two and a half years over allegations of serious misconduct.
Page 2: Anger over Brazilian student's death by Taser.
Page 3: A former volunteer firefighter has become Victoria's worst killer after being found guilty of starting a Black Saturday bushfire that killed 10 people.
World: The US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers does not remember the incident, his lawyer says.
Business: ASIC chairman gives all clear to trading halt by David Jones.
Sport: Swimmer Libby Trickett qualifies for her third Olympics.
