Today's Business Headlines

Gillard moves to stop the rot

Fresh questions are being asked within the Labor Party about Julia Gillard's future as Prime Minister after she yesterday abruptly moved to end the political dramas surrounding Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper. The West

Twiggy ups challenge on indigenous jobs

Mining magnate Andrew ‘‘Twiggy’’ Forrest has opened a new front in his war against the Gillard government, accusing it of reneging on a promise to train thousands of indigenous people to fill jobs under his Australian Employment Covenant. The Aus

Spotless caves into pressure

Peter Smedley's Spotless board is poised to bow to investor pressure and settle for a $2.71 a share takeover offer from private equity suitor Pacific Equity Partners. The Fin

Employers distrust penalty rates review

The new Fair Work Australia president, Iain Ross, will lead full bench review of penalty rates from next week in a test case that some employers fear will shift focus away from workplace flexibility. The Fin

Taiwanese company joins Roy Hill backers

Taiwan's biggest steel maker is making a belated entry to Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill iron ore project by chipping in more than $300 million to the $10 billion development. The West

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Fresh questions are being asked within the Labor Party about Julia Gillard's future as Prime Minister after she yesterday abruptly moved to end the political dramas surrounding Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper.

Page 4: Less than 2 per cent of WA's housing rental market is within reach of people on a minimum wage, Centrelink benefit or pension, according to an Anglicare WA study.

Page 6: A key independent has signalled he will support passage of the Federal Government's Budget Bills, but remains open to blocking important measures contained within them.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has put a figure on the savings he needs to return the Federal Budget to surplus.

Page 10: Major health groups are stepping up their campaign for a federal tax on all alcohol based on volume rather than price.

Page 14: The state government has no idea whether a $600 million package designed to lift salaries in the not-for-profit sector is going towards higher salaries, according to a senior public servant.

Page 15: Some of the world's biggest technology companies will be asked at a federal parliamentary inquiry to explain why Australian consumers pay a premium for electronic products.

Page 17: A May interest rate cut is a certainty and borrowers can look in coming months because of weak inflation, a survey shows.

Business: Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest has hit back at suggestions by hedge fund operator Jim Chanos that his company is over-promoted and a “value-trap”.

Taiwan's biggest steel maker is making a belated entry to Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill iron ore project by chipping in more than $300 million to the $10 billion development.

Kagara executives were tight-lipped yesterday about the fate of their company ahead of a self-imposed deadline to give an update on its financial troubles.

Strong hopes of an official rates cut and anticipation ahead of the bank profit-reporting season are set to dominate the share market today after weak leads from overseas.

Google has launched an Australian movie rental service through YouTube and Google Play, joining the likes of Apple, Telstra and Optus in targeting customers who prefer to pay for access to content to legitimate online content, rather than watch illegal downloads.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: Prime Minister Julia Gillard will rely on the vote of Craig Thomson, who she pressured to suspend his Labor party membership on the weekend, to retain a knife-edge majority of one in Parliament.

The new Fair Work Australia president, Iain Ross, will lead full bench review of penalty rates from next week in a test case that some employers fear will shift focus away from workplace flexibility.

Page 3: Westpac Banking Corp will cut its fixed one- and three-year home loan rates tomorrow, the same day the Reserve Bank of Australia is scheduled to reveal whether it will cut the official cash rate.

Page 15: Peter Smedley's Spotless board is poised to bow to investor pressure and settle for a $2.71 a share takeover offer from private equity suitor Pacific Equity Partners.

Andrew Forrest says the declaration by iron ore miner Cliffs Natural Resources that it does not expect to pay the new mining tax is “the first concrete proof” of his predictions that the tax will not work.

Page 17: Carlsberg has become the latest major beer label to leave Foster's Group following SABMiller's $12.3 billion takeover, with Coopers Brewery believed to have snared the rights to sell the brand in Australia.

Page 18: The board of iron ore junior Mindax is expected to seek a revised joint venture deal with Japan's Sumitomo Corporation following the sudden resignation of its managing director, Greg Bromley.

The high cost of developing wide-scale renewable energy projects will mean international emitters will fail to limit a rise in global warming of two degrees by 2035.

Rare earths miner Lynas Corporation has dismissed a new wave of environmental protests in Malaysia over the company's plans to build a refinery on the country's east coast.

Page 26: China has slashed its current account surplus from a whopping 10 per cent of its gross domestic product in 2007 to less than 3 per cent in 2011 and, while the surplus will rise with the global recover, economists expect it to still be about 4 per cent of GDP in 2017.

Page 45: Seven West Media's profit warning last week highlighted a general problem in the media sector about containing costs amid a weakening advertising market.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Julia Gillard has jettisoned Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper in a dramatic political backflip to avert a backbench revolt over the scandals engulfing her government and to clear the decks for next week’s budget.

The cross-benchers have moved to capitalise on Julia Gillard’s bid to shield Labor from the controversies surrounding Peter Slipper and Craig Thomson, warning that they intend to hold individual budget-savings measures hostage to their demands.

Page 2: Billionaire Gina Rinehart has joined corporate leaders and former military chiefs in pushing for an overhaul of the way that defence pensions are indexed, placing the federal government under renewed pressure to improve the financial entitlements of retired service personnel.

Wayne Swan looks set to turn his planned budget tax slug on high-income earners into law, given how few taxpayers are involved and how little support they are getting.

Mining magnate Andrew ‘‘Twiggy’’ Forrest has opened a new front in his war against the Gillard government, accusing it of reneging on a promise to train thousands of indigenous people to fill jobs under his Australian Employment Covenant.

The Reserve Bank looks set to cut interest rates tomorrow for the first time this year, but borrowers and exporters should not expect mortgage rates or the dollar to fall much.

Business has warned that a proposed crackdown on workers claiming living-away-from-home allowances could result in unions pursuing catch-up claims against private companies.

Page 4: Peter Slipper may have agreed to Julia Gillard’s request to remain out of the Speaker’s chair until all allegations against him are resolved, but he has declared there is no reason for him to continue to stand aside as the criminal claims have been shown to be false.

Page 5: The numbers on the floor of the House of Representatives have changed again after yesterday’s action from Julia Gillard as the opposition’s moves to force the government to refuse Craig Thomson’s vote and threats by independent Andrew Wilkie to back a no-confidence motion threaten to plunge the parliament into new uncertainty.

Business: The long-running Spotless saga was heading towards a conclusion yesterday, with the board due to unveil a new $2.71 a share offer from Pacific Equity Partners that values the facility services company at $719 million.

Fortescue Metals Group chairman Andrew Forrest says global iron ore prices may sink as low as $US90 a tonne but he expects the steelmaking commodity to trade at an average price well above $US100 over the next five to 10 years.

Westpac is stoking up competition among the major banks by cutting its fixed mortgage rates in a bid to increase its home loan market share.

Taiwan’s China Steel Corp has agreed to buy a 2.5 per cent stake in the Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia from South Korea’s Posco for $305.2 million.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: The sidelining of MP Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper as Speaker could also lead to a softening of the carbon tax.

Page 2: Three University of NSW graduates are working on a way to alleviate world hunger.

Page 3: Australians are less concerned about the environment, a poll shows.

World: The recently retired chief of Israel's domestic intelligence agency says he has no faith in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Business: Fortescue Metals founder Andrew Forrest hits back at US hedge fund operator who says his company is over-promoted.

Sport: West Tigers coach Tim Sheens is furious even though his team defeated the Parramatta Eels by one point.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: A Galaxy poll shows Labor's support falling to 30 per cent as embattled MP Craig Thomson resigns from Labor.

Page 2: The Gillard government is hanging by a thread.

Page 3: Craig Thomson has retreated to the crossbenches but vowed to return to Labor.

World: A dentist in Poland pulled out all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth after he dumped her for another woman.

Business: An interest rate cut on Tuesday is looming as a near certainty.

Sport: West Tigers skipper Robbie Farah caught in a feud between Tim Sheens and Ricky Stuart.

THE AGE:

Page 1: Gillard moves to shore up her diminished authority by banishing embattled Labor MP Craig Thomson to the crossbench and keeping Speaker Peter Slipper out of the chair until allegations against him are resolved.

Michelle Grattan says Gillard should resign because she is no longer credible.

Page 2: Dangerous superbugs that were once found only in hospitals have spread through the community.

Page 3: Westpac dangles a rate carrot by extending some variable mortgage rates offered to people borrowing more than $250,000 to customers who borrow as little as $150,000.

Melbourne the worst for affordable rental properties in major cities, says Anglicare Australia report.

World: Diplomatic timebomb with Hillary Clinton visiting China on Thursday and blind activist Chen Guangcheng thought to be hiding in US embassy.

Business: Fortescue Metals founder Andrew Forrest says hedge fund critic Jim Chanos, who has an active short position in the iron ore group and is betting the shares, will fall.

Sport: Alastair Clarkson says Sydney looking the premiership goods after five-game winning streak, including Sunday's 37-point thumping of the Hawks.

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: Latest Galaxy poll shows voters demanding a federal election as Gillard dumps Thompson from the party room.

Page 2: About 9000 self-funded retirees will miss out on carbon tax payments if they don't give the government their bank account details. Baillieu government to spend more than $50 million protecting jobs of Victorian manufacturers.

Page 3: Homicide detective wants indemnity offered to a man suspected of helping cover up the murder of Elisabeth Membrey. Miranda Kerr limbers up through yoga.

World: A year after his death, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network is in ruins.

Business: Fortescue Metals boss Andrew Forrest confident iron ore prices will keep above the $US120 a tonne level over the next three years.

Sport: Hawks well off the pace after losing to Sydney, says Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson.

THE CANBERRA TIMES:

Page 1: Scandals crossed the line: PM

Page 2: Canberra's rental crisis worse than any other city.

Page 3: New study from US finds wind farms could change local weather conditions.

World: British PM says there is no grand deal between him and the Murdochs.

Business: All eyes on RBA as investors await reduction.

Sport: Ablett to lure massive crowd to Manuka.