Labor shunned Fair Work advice – The Fin; Miners point finger at PM over tax burden – The West; Abbott goes green to undercut Milne – The Fin; BHP boss begs to differ with Forrest – The Fin; NBN rival has merits: Telstra – The Aus
Labor shunned Fair Work advice
The Gillard government overrode repeated advice from the Department of Finance and Deregulation that the review of the Fair Work Act was too narrow and should investigate how Labor's workplace laws have hit productivity. The Fin
Miners point finger at PM over tax burden
Julia Gillard was warned in Perth yesterday that a rising tax burden threatens the Australian mining industry with “death by a thousand cuts”. The West
Abbott goes green to undercut Milne
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will today flag he is prepared to do a deal with the federal government to slash so-called “green tape”, amid fears within Labor that it will be harder to deal with the Greens under new leader Christine Milne. The Fin
BHP boss begs to differ with Forrest
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have rejected Andrew Forrest's claim that they were involved in negotiating a secret deal on a revised mining tax with Julia Gillard before she challenged Kevin Rudd. The Fin
NBN rival has merits: Telstra
The National Broadband Network model proposed by the Coalition if it wins power would be faster and cheaper to roll out than the $36 billion design being pursued by Labor, Telstra has declared. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: A study of chemical contamination among pregnant women in WA has discovered elevated levels of heavy metals and the presence of pollutants banned for almost 40 years.
Page 3: Supermarket giant Coles is sending out more than 16 million loyalty cards in a bid to sign up shoppers across Australia to its Flybuys program.
Page 7: Julia Gillard was warned in Perth yesterday that a rising tax burden threatens the Australian mining industry with “death by a thousand cuts”.
Colin Barnett yesterday rejected a plea from the federal government to prevent pension increases linked to the carbon tax from being swallowed up by state housing rents.
Page 10: Action-starved WA basketball fans will have the opportunity to see every Perth Wildcats game on television next season if the National Basketball League and its clubs take full advantage of a renegotiated broadcast deal.
Page 14: Camden Sound in the Kimberley is set to become home to the state's second-biggest marine park under plans unveiled by the state government yesterday.
Page 18: A key independent MP helping keep the Gillard government in power says some revenue from the minerals resource rent tax should be returned to regional Australia.
Business: Telstra has opened the way to paying higher dividends and is confident its multi-billion-dollar deal with NBN Co will still deliver even if a future Coalition government winds back the controversial national broadband network.
Kalgoorlie's most famous pub, the century-old Exchange Hotel, is in the throes of being sold to a consortium of businessmen for $3.5 million, four weeks after the iconic property failed to get a single bid at auction.
Fortescue Metals Group has given the strongest indication yet it wants to fast-track development of its Nyidinghu project, adding more weight to suggestions it will pursue an outer harbour expansion at Port Hedland instead of a new port in the West Pilbara.
Woodside Petroleum yesterday underlined the importance of the Pluto LNG project after reporting its lowest quarterly production of oil and gas in more than four years.
Industrial peace is set to descend on Fremantle wharf as the maritime union yesterday agreed to one pay deal and almost finalised another.
Commonwealth Bank's new boss wants to make his customers happier while increasing business lending and expanding into Asia.
One of the biggest shareholders in Apex Minerals, UK fund M&G Investments, has put its hand in its pocket to support a $22.2 million rescue deal intended to keep the troubled gold miner on its feet.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Gillard government overrode repeated advice from the Department of Finance and Deregulation that the review of the Fair Work Act was too narrow and should investigate how Labor's workplace laws have hit productivity.
Telstra chief executive David Thodey has declared that a change in government would not affect the telco's growth under the national broadband network or its ability to make large digital media acquisitions such as James Packer's Consolidated Media Holdings.
The federal government will today unveil the biggest aged care reform in 15 years to save taxpayers money by unlocking funds from the family home and expanding the means test on nursing home costs, while lifting aid for those who stay in their own house or retirement village.
Page 3: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will today flag he is prepared to do a deal with the federal government to slash so-called “green tape”, amid fears within Labor that it will be harder to deal with the Greens under new leader Christine Milne.
Page 7: Virgin has stepped up its campaign to attract corporate customers, offering more flights and larger aircraft, prompting Qantas Airways to put on more aircraft.
Supermarket chain Coles will give customers 10 per cent off their five favourite grocery purchases as well as one point for every $1 they spend under a long-awaited overhaul of the FlyBuys customer loyalty scheme.
Page 9: Ports operator Asciano has claimed victory in the battle for the right to manage its business, striking a deal with the Maritime Union over a new enterprise agreement after more than 18 months of negotiations.
Page 11: BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have rejected Andrew Forrest's claim that they were involved in negotiating a secret deal on a revised mining tax with Julia Gillard before she challenged Kevin Rudd.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett poured cold water on Fortescue Metals' High Court challenge to the mining tax yesterday, saying the federal government could amend its legislation to sidestep any legal victory.
Page 14: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has berated critics of her determination to return to surplus and admonished industry leaders for complaining about business tax changes ahead of next month's budget.
Page 17: Commonwealth Bank of Australia will step up its push into fast-growing Asian markets but has ruled out sending local jobs offshore as part of a technology-led, cost-cutting drive.
The potential removal of the diesel rebate in the budget would add more than $US2 a tonne to Fortescue Metals Group's iron ore production costs, which it is already battling to control as a result of a high Australian dollar and higher strip ratios that its peers.
Page 19: Rio Tinto is “somewhat more confident” about the global economic outlook that it was six months ago but expects volatility to continue, according to chairman Jan du Plessis.
Page 20: Two of Australia's largest gas providers have backed a warning by Rio Tinto that big industry will struggle to secure domestic supply deals after 2014 as producers start shipping liquefied natural gas to Asia.
Woodside Petroleum suffered a 15 per cent fall in first-quarter production as cyclones hit its Western Australian operations, disappointing investors who hoped for an update on its stalled Pluto gasfield expansion project.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The National Broadband Network model proposed by the Coalition if it wins power would be faster and cheaper to roll out than the $36 billion design being pursued by Labor, Telstra has declared.
Superannuation tax breaks will be put to the knife as Labor searches for billions of dollars in budget savings, despite fears of a political backlash if it cuts too hard.
The states will be offered the power to act as one-stop shops for environmental approvals for major projects — including administering federal laws — under a Coalition plan aimed at cutting green tape.
Page 2: Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has stepped up his attack on Julia Gillard after she labelled his claims about her secret mining tax talks with the big resources companies ‘‘nonsense’’, as he prepares to launch a High Court challenge against the controversial tax.
Minerals explorers are ratcheting up their campaign against new environmental conditions on coal-seam gas projects, declaring the plan is in conflict with Julia Gillard’s pledge last week to wind back cumbersome green tape.
Page 3: Waterfront workers have won pay rises of 22.5 per cent and increases in superannuation after Asciano and the maritime union settled their 20-month dispute and signed off on an enterprise agreement yesterday.
Page 6: Joe Hockey has accused Labor of trying to frighten Australian families by politicising his London speech in which he linked the debt crisis crippling the West to an entrenched culture of economic entitlement.
A Productivity Commission study has rejected claims by business groups that the collapse in Australia’s productivity in the past decade is due to the lack of economic reform.
Business: Telstra has won broad market support for deciding to hold fire on launching a share buyback, despite expecting to bank up to $3 billion excess cash in the next three years.
Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer is set to pocket another $US200 million ($193 million) from China’s Citic Pacific, as the cash he has earned from the sale of rights to mine his West Australian magnetite iron ore ground heads closer to $US1 billion.
Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese has scored a spectacular win over mining billionaire Robert Friedland by overhauling the board and management of Ivanhoe Mines, forcing out the mogul in the process and taking control of one of the world’s best new copper resources.
Fortescue Metals Group remains on track to hit its full-year production guidance, despite a slip in output in the last quarter because of severe weather, as the miner continues to sell every tonne it mines.
Woodside Petroleum has reported a 20 per cent increase in first-quarter revenue as higher oil prices offset output declines due to cyclones, and says it expects to produce liquefied natural gas from its $14.9 billion Pluto project in the coming days.
Supermarket major Coles has overhauled its Flybuys loyalty card scheme, increasing reward points and adding new discount offers in an effort to encourage customer spending.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Aged care overhaul to enable tens of thousands more to be cared for at home. Labor MP Craig Thomson received $160,000 payment from Health Services Union.
Page 2: Major housing project worth $3 billion in trouble.
Page 3: Coles to send shiny FlyBuys cards in the mail.
World: The death of American Bandstand host Dick Clark gets more coverage than US troops posing with corpses of suicide bombers.
Business: Telstra confident its deal with the National Broadband Network Company will survive a future coalition government.
Sport: Willie Mason takes to Twitter with a broadside within hours of signing with Newcastle.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell's tourism advisory board recommended a second airport for Sydney.
Page 2: Extra nursing home packages for the elderly.
Page 3: Coles will knock $4 off average weekly grocery bills with a new loyalty card.
World: The US condemns photos of soldiers posing with mangled corpses of insurgents.
Business: Commonwealth Bank boss Ian Narev declines to be involved in rates debate.
Sport: NRL referees boss Bill Harrigan threatens to sack those who fail to enforce 10-metre rule.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Victorians will rarely witness the work of Premier Ted Baillieu's anti-corruption commission after it was revealed the government wants the $170-million body to conduct most of its business in private.
Page 3: Melbourne and Tasmania are bearing the brunt of rising unemployment.
Page 5: A human rights lawyer and WikiLeaks advocate on her way to Australia to give a speech about lawyers on the front line has been held up at London's Heathrow airport after being told she was inhibited from flying.
World: Syrian security forces have opened fire on anti-regime demonstrators surrounding the cars of a UN team meant to monitor a shaky ceasefire.
Business: The supermarket war between Coles and Woolworths has moved to loyalty programs, with the relaunch of the Coles FlyBuys card to 8 million Australian households.
Sport: Collingwood is dealing with its worst injury blight in years.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: The woman responsible for policing public service ethical standards has been stood down as police investigate a crash involving her government car.
Page 3: Wally De Backer, better known as Gotye, has topped the US pop charts.
Page 5: Coles has revamped its FlyBuys loyalty program, saying it could save families hundreds of dollars a year.
World: The US has strongly condemned photographs of soldiers posing with the mangled remains of Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
Business: Telstra will hold on to billions of dollars in excess cash due to flow into its coffers over the next three years, creating an immense war chest for acquisitions.
Sport: Collingwood midfielder Scott Pendlebury says the Magpies changed their game plan to avoid running blindly into opposition boundary-line traps.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Canberrans are environmentally complacent, wasteful and the most selfish people in Australia. Labor MP Mike Kelly has saved taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars by failing to claim a travel allowance when attending Parliament.
Page 2: Coalition slams Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon for role in removing journalist Les Carlyon from the Australian War Memorial governing council.
Page 3: Roads ACT not gun shy over new speed limit on the Gungahlin Drive extension from 90kmh to 80kmh.
World: Anders Behring Breivik played computer games as he prepared to kill 77 people in Norway last year.
Business: Australian shareholders of News Corp have had their voting rights in the media giant halved after the company discovered it had breached US foreign ownership laws.
Sport: ACT Brumbies captain Ben Mowen ready to rise from sick bed for his side's Super Rugby match against the Bulls in Pretoria on Sunday. Canberra Raiders star Josh Dugan can expect to have weekly painkilling injections to his ruptured shoulder joint for the rest of the NRL season.
