Rio launches blitz to find 6000 workers – The West; Tax won't alter coal use: Verve – The Fin; Fortescue tipped for a fall – The West; Miners may continue ad campaign – The Fin; KOGAS, CPC join Shell in Prelude – The West
Rio launches blitz to find 6000 workers
Mining giant Rio Tinto will today launch one of the single biggest recruitment drives in Australian history, using Olympians to appeal to the aspirations of thousands of potential new workers. The West
Tax won't alter coal use: Verve
The head of Western Australia's biggest electricity generator – and Australia's 11th-biggest carbon dioxide emitter – has fired a parting shot at the carbon tax, saying it won't trigger a switch from coal-fired power but will heap added costs on business. The Fin
Fortescue tipped for a fall
Prominent hedge fund manager and short seller Jim Chanos has singled out Fortescue Metals as a “value trap” stock, telling a New York conference shares in billionaire Andrew Forrest's company will fall “materially”. The West
Miners may continue ad campaign
The mining industry's national advertising campaign might continue after the federal budget and could be broadened to include radio and television, Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Mitch Hooke warned. The Fin
KOGAS, CPC join Shell in Prelude
Taiwan's CPC and South Korea's KOGAS are taking stakes in Royal Dutch Shell's revolutionary Prelude project, joining Inpex as investment partners in the floating LNG facility, it emerged yesterday. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Australian educators are urging parents to withdraw their children from national literacy and numeracy tests next month, saying they are a waste of money, create fear and stifle creativity.
Page 3: More Perth bus services are running late, with Transperth figures showing a fall in punctuality over the past nine months.
Page 6: Planning Minister John Day declared the time for debate was over as the first sod was turned on Perth's $440 million waterfront redevelopment.
The US government could massively expand its space surveillance capability in WA's north, with experts considering building two new radar networks in Exmouth.
Page 9: Peter Slipper last night released copies of Cabcharge dockets that he claimed showed criminal allegations made against him were a “complete fabrication”.
Page 10: Tony Abbott will push for a major boost of skilled workers from overseas - “the best possible immigrants to Australia” - with a pledge to make employer sponsored visas the mainstay of a coalition government migration program.
Page 11: Expensive interactive whiteboards that the state government is installing in classrooms could soon be obsolete as schools embrace tablet technology such as iPads.
Page 12: Almost four homes in WA are being repossessed each day with banks foreclosing on 353 properties between January and March.
The discovery of mad cow disease in the US this week could be a boon for Australia's beef export industry but it is too early to make predictions, industry leaders say.
Page 14: Ratepayers will be left in the dark about whether their councils will be forced to amalgamate after a 10-month review failed to produce any recommendations on mergers.
The WA branch of the warring Health Services Union could cut its national ties and form a new body with other disaffected divisions in Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria.
Page 20: Wayne Swan has to slash spending or increase taxes by least $8 billion to deliver a Budget surplus and keep a lid on federal government debt, a private sector forecaster believes.
Business: Mining giant Rio Tinto will today launch one of the single biggest recruitment drives in Australian history, using Olympians to appeal to the aspirations of thousands of potential new workers.
Taiwan's CPC and South Korea's KOGAS are taking stakes in Royal Dutch Shell's revolutionary Prelude project, joining Inpex as investment partners in the floating LNG facility, it emerged yesterday.
Prominent hedge fund manager and short seller Jim Chanos has singled out Fortescue Metals as a “value trap” stock, telling a New York conference shares in billionaire Andrew Forrest's company will fall “materially”.
Kagara has bought itself more time to secure a funding lifeline to keep administrators at bay, placing its shares into suspension after failing to meet yesterday's deadline.
The WA Farmers Federation's bitter dispute with Wesfarmers appears to be thawing, opening the way for rapprochement over farm-gate milk prices.
Call it the Ian Middlemas effect – news the resources investor and busy corporate director was to take up the chairmanship at Berkeley Resources was enough to send shares in the uranium explorer 28 per cent higher yesterday.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has signalled any attempt by Telstra to expand its media interests will be subject to critical scrutiny, including a potential move for James Packer's $1.8 billion Consolidated Media Holdings.
House of Representatives Speaker Peter Slipper last night produced what he said was proof that criminal allegations that he misused Cabcharge dockets were false.
Page 3: Ford Australia will stand down about 1800 workers in Victoria for three days after a key component supplier, CMI Industrial, went into receivership.
The median prices of houses rose in most capital cities in the first three months of 2012, stoking expectations that cuts to interest rates will fuel further gains.
Page 5: Energy producer Santos has rubbished calls by local industry for a proportion of gas to be reserved for the manufacturing sector, arguing that government intervention would only reward buyers that have yet to secure supplies.
Page 6: Greens leader Christine Milne has warned her party is likely to block any attempt to cut the foreign aid budget, but may support changes to superannuation tax, means testing of welfare payments, defence cuts and some increased taxation to fund government services.
Page 8: The mining industry's national advertising campaign might continue after the federal budget and could be broadened to include radio and television, Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Mitch Hooke warned.
Page 10: Treasurer Wayne Swan's target of a budget surplus faces renewed threats after news of a double-dip recession in the UK, fresh doubts about European austerity measures and weaker US economic data stoked fears a global rebound may falter.
Page 11: The head of Western Australia's biggest electricity generator – and Australia's 11th-biggest carbon dioxide emitter – has fired a parting shot at the carbon tax, saying it won't trigger a swith from coal-fired power but will heap added costs on business.
Page 15: Rio Tinto is embarking on one of the biggest recruitment drives in Australia's history as a looming skills shortage in the resources sector demands action from federal Treasurer Wayne Swan on immigration.
Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina are considering feeding gas resources from their Arrow Energy venture into rival liquefied natural gas projects, in the first sign of long-awaited consolidation in Queensland's $70 billion coal seam gas sector.
Page 17: QR National has signalled its interest in supporting the development of Western Australia's ports after striking a deal with Atlas Iron to try to establish a rail network in the Pilbara.
Page 18: Embattled base metals miner Kagara Mining has suspended its shares as its scrambles to complete a deal to ease its funding position and save it from collapse.
Page 19: OZ Minerals chief executive Terry Burgess says the company could lose up to $20 million a year if the federal government stops miners from accessing the diesel fuel rebate.
Coles says its revamped FlyBuys customer loyalty scheme will be a “profit centre” rather than a major cost because of the points it sells to partners.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The Gillard government will crack down on conflicts of interest in the $1.3 trillion superannuation industry by imposing tough new rules on trustees who manage employee savings.
The scandal-riddled Health Services Union faces the most serious intervention into a union by a Labor government in 30 years, as Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten moves to sack the leadership of its biggest branch and place it in administration.
Labor backbenchers are questioning Julia Gillard’s continued support for Peter Slipper’s return to the Speaker’s chair while sexual harassment allegations remain unresolved, believing the affair is damaging the government and threatening to overshadow the budget.
Page 2: An overhaul of the remote Aboriginal jobs strategy will provide a single one-stop agency in 65 indigenous communities to focus on school-aged kids and threaten dole suspensions for others who avoid seeking work.
Page 3: Australia's $15 billion overseas student industry is being asked to consider caps on student numbers in the name of quality.
West Australian farmers are threatening a statewide boycott of Wesfarmers, the corporate owner of Coles supermarkets, because of the damage being wreaked by its $1-a-litre milk price discounts.
Telstra admits it needs to improve its rollout of new mobile phone transmitters, amid community concern over exposure to electromagnetic radiation.
Page 6: Tony Abbott wants to lift the limits on business and skilled migrants entering Australia, declaring that workers on skilled visas would become the ‘‘mainstay’’ of our immigration intake.
The Productivity Commission has called for an overhaul of drought assistance to farmers, warning that it could reduce incentives to adjust to a changing climate, in a draft blueprint on how the nation should adapt to climate change.
Business: Seven West Media is likely to cut dividends after its shock profit downgrade wiped $570 million from its market value yesterday and a major shareholder asked the board to explain the deterioration in the company’s fortunes.
Telstra is targeting up to $3 billion of new telecommunication service deals with the government and corporate sector in the year ahead, identifying the resources and financial services markets as key areas of focus.
Atlas Iron and QR National are backing a ‘‘paradigm shift’’ in Western Australia’s Pilbara region to unlock huge potential for junior operators through the proposed development of a new railway that will provide a circuit-breaker to the major mine corporations’ dominance of regional infrastructure.
OZ Minerals has warned the Gillard government against tinkering with the diesel fuel rebate, estimating its removal, as has been rumoured ahead of the federal budget, would wipe $16 million$20m from its annual earnings.
Caterpillar says global retail sales of its construction and mining machinery rose 18 per cent in the three months to the end of March, driven by continued strong expansion of sales in North America.
Kagara Mining has again suspended its shares from trading as it tries to refinance its debt facility to ensure the company, which has put all its operations on care and maintenance, keeps its doors open.
Troubled junior explorer Paynes Find Gold has cut its final boardroom link to Perth mining identity Peter Salter after his long-time protege, Adam Bennett, resigned as a director.
Business travel is outstripping federal government growth forecasts, boosting domestic visitor spending and overnight trips, according to the Tourism Forecasting Committee.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: A new proposal will push for teachers to get bonus payments by presenting testimonials from peers, parents and their own students.
Page 2: An inquest into the disappearance of Sydney toddler Rahma El-Dennaoui has heard allegations that her father killed her.
Page 3: CityRail will spend up to $100 million to keep steel ticket machines at stations until 2017, despite being obsolete next year.
World: Rupert Murdoch has told the Leveson Inquiry in London that he has had 75 meetings with prime ministers over the past 24 years.
Business: Seven West Media has had the biggest one-day drop in its share value in 20 years.
Sport: Manly player Kieran Foran is expected to say no to an offer by Canterbury in order to remain at Brookvale for the next three seasons.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: A new proposal will push for teachers to get bonus payments by presenting testimonials from peers, parents and their own students.
Page 2: An inquest into the disappearance of Sydney toddler Rahma El-Dennaoui has heard allegations that her father killed her.
Page 3: CityRail will spend up to $100 million to keep steel ticket machines at stations until 2017, despite being obsolete next year.
World: Rupert Murdoch has told the Leveson Inquiry in London that he has had 75 meetings with prime ministers over the past 24 years.
Business: Seven West Media has had the biggest one-day drop in its share value in 20 years.
Sport: Manly player Kieran Foran is expected to say no to an offer by Canterbury in order to remain at Brookvale for the next three seasons.
THE AGE:
Page 1: The board of the Victorian government's troubled information technology agency is set to be removed after a review found the body suffered from poor governance. Ford Australia has stood down its entire Victorian workforce for almost a week because of a dispute between one of its suppliers and their landlord over unpaid rent.
Page 2: The federal government has taken the unprecedented step of intervening in the scandal-plagued Health Services Union.
Page 3: A group of education consultants is urging Australian parents to withdraw their children from next month's annual NAPLAN (National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy) tests, saying they are damaging children's creativity.
World: The downfall of Chongqing's charismatic Communist Party leader, Bo Xilai, until now linked to his wife's alleged role in murdering a British citizen, has now been connected to the Chinese President himself.
Business: Prominent US hedge fund manager and short seller Jim Chanos has singled out Fortescue Metals as a value trap stock, telling a New York conference that shares in billionaire Andrew Forrest's company will fall materially.
Sport: They have one of the most exciting full-forwards in the AFL and one of the most promising centre half-forwards, they should be among the most potent forward lines, but this year the Tigers have been toothless.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: The Baillieu government is ready to get tougher on crime, unveiling plans to spend more than $500 million to house 900 extra criminals sentenced under harsher laws.
Page 2: Peter Slipper has described as a complete fabrication claims that he misused Cabcharge dockets as he released private records to prove his innocence.
Page 3: Notorious crime figure Mark "Chopper" Read has been given weeks to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
World: Mitt Romney's path to the Republican nomination for US president cleared further as former House speaker Newt Gingrich started shutting down his debt-laden campaign and endorsing him.
Business: A furniture retailer backed by private equity plans to create up to 800 jobs in Victoria, rolling out 20 new stores in a fillip for the state's struggling economy.
Sport: Sam Lonergan's cyber stalker has also targeted controversial AFL official Jason Mifsud.
