Tricks, cuts and handouts – The Fin; Swan defiant on tax retreat – The Aus; Porter faces bigger hurdle as WA take slashed – The West; $100m billing system blowout – The West; Port issues Lanco debt ultimatum, pay or else – The West
Tricks, cuts and handouts
Business will lose tax cuts but households will enjoy a cash bonanza as Wayne Swan's fifth budget redirects the benefits of the mining boom to underwrite growth and gives his embattled party its best chance at re-election in 2013. The Fin
Swan defiant on tax retreat
Wayne Swan denied breaching faith with business by scrapping a cut to the company tax rate, as he turned on the Coalition last night for making it impossible to get the reform through parliament. The Aus
Porter faces bigger hurdle as WA take slashed
WA faces its share of the goods and services tax plummeting to a paltry 29c in the dollar within two years, according to the latest official Federal Treasury projections. The West
$100m billing system blowout
The final cost of Synergy's trouble-plagued billing system has more than doubled to almost $100 million in a blowout that could add further pressure to skyrocketing household electricity prices. The West
Port issues Lanco debt ultimatum, pay or else
The Indian owner of half the state's coal supplies has been given until Friday to pay $8.5 million owed to the Fremantle Port Authority or be blocked from exporting coal to India, a move that heaps further financial pressure on the power group. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Budget wrap:
Page 2: Business, Australia's poor neighbours and travellers who enjoy duty-free cigarettes will provide the cash to deliver Wayne Swan's first budget surplus.
WA faces its share of the goods and services tax plummeting to a paltry 29c in the dollar within two years, according to the latest official Federal Treasury projections.
Page 4: The Gillard government has snatched back a tax break that would have benefited people over 50 wanting to pump more money into their superannuation nest egg.
Page 5: State Treasurer Christian Porter says there is no question that WA received a raw deal in the budget, claiming it would strip the state of about $1.1 billion.
Page 8: The Gillard government has ruled out a cut to the company tax rate, in a move which will deny an estimated 90,000 WA businesses a tax break worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Australia will continue to outperform the rest of the developed world but Treasury is fearful of a continuation of the unfolding economic disaster that is Europe.
Major work to roads around Perth Airport and the widening of the Tonkin Highway should get under way in the coming financial year as infrastructure funds from the budget flow.
Main paper:
Page 3: The final cost of Synergy's trouble-plagued billing system has more than doubled to almost $100 million in a blowout that could add further pressure to skyrocketing household electricity prices.
Page 4: Tainted MPs Peter Slipper and Craig Thomson survived opposition attempts to further undermine them when federal Parliament resumed.
Page 5: Embattled federal MP Craig Thomson misspent $1200 of union money in WA in 2005, including on a wine tour of Margaret River, a damning Fair Work Australia report reveals.
Page 9: WA high schools will face a shortfall of more than 2500 teachers in three years but graduates will find it increasingly difficult to get a job in a primary school, figures show.
Page 10: Aspiring Liberal Party candidate and Tourism WA chairwoman Kate Lamont will face questions today from a parliamentary committee over the agency's sponsorship of the bushfire-marred Kimberley ultramarathon.
Page 13: The City of Vincent will target drivers parking in residential streets in a bid to ease the parking squeeze in inner city suburbs such as Highgate and Leederville.
Page 14: Lancaster winery hopes to stage its first concert next year after state planners backed a proposal to turn part of the vineyard into the Swan Valley's fourth big concert venue.
Page 18: An aerial thermal survey of Perth shows the widening energy gap between richer and poorer suburbs.
Business liftout:
Page 1: Shareholders have ended their epic legal stoush with stricken property group Centro, striking a $200 million settlement that is the largest securities class action result recorded in Australia.
Investors savaged Iluka Resources yesterday, wiping more than $800 million off its market capitalisation in what was the worst performance on an Australian-listed stock after the Perth miner admitted weaker-than-expected demand for its flagship mineral sands product.
Page 3: The Indian owner of half the state's coal supplies has been given until Friday to pay $8.5 million owed to the Fremantle Port Authority or be blocked from exporting coal to India, a move that heaps further financial pressure on the power group.
Emu Nickel is again looking for a flagship asset after the second failed bid in a year to revive the Hillgrove antimony and gold mine in NSW.
Page 5: Corporate Australia has savaged the federal budget, with WA's peak business lobby denouncing it last night as “a slap in the face”.
Page 20: A record amount of office space will be completed in WA this year with more new office buildings than the boom year of 1992 when Central Park, Bankwest Tower and QV1 became part of Perth's skyline.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Budget wrap:
Page 1: Business will lose tax cuts but households will enjoy a cash bonanza as Wayne Swan's fifth budget redirects the benefits of the mining boom to underwrite growth and gives his embattled party its best chance at re-election in 2013.
Page 4: Treasurer Wayne Swan has used a multi-billion dollar shuffle to push the budget next year into surplus at the same time as promising $22 billion in new spending.
Page 7: The business tax breaks flagged by Treasurer Wayne Swan's working group as candidates for the $700-million loss carry-back measure made the business community livid.
Page 11: A sudden worsening of Europe's sovereign debt crisis is the biggest threat to the global economy, which is forecast to generate “sustained, albeit below-trend” growth, the budget papers say.
Page 13: The non-resources parts of the economy are expected to grow well below trend over the next few years and at less than one-quarter the rate of the mining sector.
The new-look building industry watchdog will have to do its job with millions of dollars less than its predecessor.
Page 18: Companies using heavy vehicles on public roads for business will be hit with a sharp increase in charges to reap almost $700 million for the budget bottom line.
Page 25: Treasury has maintained its projection for a high carbon price of $29 per tonne in 2015-16 when emissions trading starts, but has insisted the budget will remain in surplus if the price is lower.
Page 28: Business leaders warned that the return to a budget surplus will come at a price, criticising the decision to defer company tax cuts as a major blow to the non-mining sector and a setback for productivity.
Main paper:
Page 1: The Gillard government clung to its parliamentary majority by the slimmest of margins in an assault by the Coalition over its support for sidelined Speaker Peter Slipper and embattled MP Craig Thomson.
Shopping centre giant Centro and its former auditor PwC have agreed to a record $200 million settlement in a marathon legal dispute with shareholders.
Page 3: The Australian Rugby League Commission pulled out of talks with a consultancy firm run by Ten Network's former head of sport about advising on the sale of NRL broadcast rights after receiving a complaint from a former commercial television network.
Page 12: Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary David Oliver has supported moves for union officials to face the kind of penalties for breaches that company directors do but denies the union movement has a problem with rorting beyond the activities of a few individuals.
Page 15: Leading investors have criticised state and federal governments for delaying crucial investment spending, arguing there are not enough projects to meet their “huge appetite” for investment.
Page 17: Atlas Iron is confident the West Australian government will ensure its export allocation at Port Hedland is not squeezed as tensions simmer in the Pilbara over rail infrastructure developments.
Page 18: Food and liquor retailer Coles may have to lift sales by about 2 per cent a year to offset the increased cost of its revamped FlyBuys customer loyalty program.
Page 42: The seeds of a new industrial relations barney in the Bowen Basin have been sown with the coal unions readying a protected action ballot of workers at Wesfarmers' Curragh mine after defeating the company's move to block the authorisation process.
Page 47: Price deflation at Woolworths and Coles is hurting turnover-based rental growth, leading to serious concerns for owners and developers and heightening interest in alternatives such as the German giant Aldi.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Labor has scrapped its plan to cut business taxes and will instead pour $5 billion into its electoral heartland, sacrificing part of $33.6bn in budget cuts to an unashamed push to reconnect with the nation’s battlers and middle class.
The big three expenditure items in the budget — welfare, health and education — will return to the cash-splash levels of the global financial crisis as Wayne Swan takes a radical path back to surplus by combining deep cuts with new spending.
Page 2: The government’s projected surplus of $1.5 billion next year won’t be enough to stop its outstanding borrowings pushing past the parliament’s legislated debt ceiling.
The government’s major new nation-building infrastructure initiatives are skewed towards later years and are funded from the contingency reserve, providing a fillip to Labor’s efforts to return its budget to surplus in the new financial year.
Page 3: Wayne Swan denied breaching faith with business by scrapping a cut to the company tax rate, as he turned on the Coalition last night for making it impossible to get the reform through parliament.
Business last night was disappointed with the government’s decision to scrap the promised one-percentage point cut in company tax and described the proposed surplus as ‘‘fragile’’.
Page 4: Funding for a no-fault National Disability Insurance Scheme was the spiritual core of Wayne Swan’s budget last night, with a $1 billion commitment over four years to pay for its inception.
Page 5: Wayne Swan has shifted the spoils of the mining tax bonanza from business tax cuts to bigger handouts to low- and middle income families.
Page 8: Defence is the area hardest hit in the Gillard government’s push for a return to surplus, with spending slashed by a huge $5.45 billion over four years.
Page 9: Treasury has taken a $3.2 billion revenue punt that carbon prices will recover in the years to 2015-16 by sticking to the predictions it made last year that the price would be $29 a tonne despite a collapse in international carbon markets in recent months and gloomy forecasts from analysts.
Tax breaks to create ‘‘green buildings’’ have been axed in a $405.2 million saving over the next four years in a budget that has left largely unchanged the Clean Energy Future package unveiled by Julia Gillard last July.
Page 10: Labor is banking on a strong rebound in company tax to help drive the budget back into surplus, despite reneging on a deal to deliver companies a tax cut.
Page 15: The Gillard government’s hold on power was looking more precarious last night with independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor indicating they were considering whether to back Coalition action against Craig Thomson.
The opposition yesterday failed in a bid to turn back the clock and restore Harry Jenkins to the Speaker’s chair, as Peter Slipper denied allegations of fraud and sexual harassment before formally standing aside.
State plans for a High Court challenge to the carbon tax are in tatters after Queensland Premier Campbell Newman acknowledged legal advice he had commissioned revealed the federal legislation was ‘‘bullet-proof’’.
Page 16: The busting of the Health Services Union’s East branch moved a step closer yesterday when emergency legislation was introduced in NSW to allow the state government to appoint an administrator to run the union.
Page 17: ANZ Bank chief executive Mike Smith has launched a fresh attack on Wayne Swan over interest rates as Reserve Bank figures reveal the Big Four’s lending margins are larger now than at the height of the global downturn three years ago.
Page 18:Australia's trade balance has recorded its worst deficit since 2009 as the heat comes out of the commodities boom and is set to become a drag on economic growth.
Business: The strained relationship between the government and big business is set to be further tested after last night’s federal budget backtracked on a range of initiatives designed to assist corporate Australia in favour of redistributing the proceeds of the new mining tax to help low-income earners and families.
The business investment boom is expected to reach an all-time high this year.
The booming mining sector has been saved from further significant tax pain in Wayne Swan’s fifth budget, but the government has broken a promise it made to the industry to secure the deal on the controversial resources tax.
Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources has had its biggest one-day slump in more than four years after it slashed full-year zircon sales and production guidance by more than 10 per cent because of slowing demand.
Centro Retail Australia is understood to have brokered a $200 million settlement in the class action claim over the 2007 accounting errors and refinancing issues that almost led to its collapse.
Leighton Holdings and its German parent Hochtief have reported losses from two problem projects in Australia.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The federal government has unveiled a budget full of concessions for low- and middle-income earners to reconnect with voters angry over the carbon tax. Crossbench MP Craig Thomson is on his own in parliament and the Speaker Peter Slipper has again pleaded innocence as he stepped aside from the post amid allegations of corruption and sexual harrassment.
Page 2: In the largest securities class action settlement ever recorded in Australia, shareholders have struck a $200 million deal with the Centro housing company five years on from its GFC-era collapse.
Page 3: One of the state's biggest clubs, Mounties, has withdrawn $3 million it promised to put towards a youth centre after Fairfield City Council denied its application to bring in 60 new pokies machines.
World: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has abandoned his call for an early election, bringing the rival Kadima party into his coalition government instead.
Business: Infrastructure NSW has shelved its plan to develop Newcastle as a container port.
Finance: Australia posted a wider-than-expected trade deficit on Tuesday - the third month running that economists have overestimated the strength of Australia's trade balance..
Sport: Blues coach Ricky Stuart could still pick Michael Jennings to play for NSW in the State of Origin even though he was dropped by his Penrith coach on Tuesday.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Treasurer Wayne Swan has unveiled a series of cuts aimed at business and the rich to deliver his $1.5 billion surplus; he has found $3 billion for the unemployed and low- to middle-income earners to make up for the carbon tax.
Page 2: (Advertisement)
Page 3: The federal government will use the mining tax to pay for tax breaks and handouts for low- and middle-income earners. Dual-income families will get little budget relief.
Page 4: The wealthy will face an extra $3.6 billion on their tax bill under the 2012-2013 budget.
World: CIA has thwarted an al-Qaeda plot to blow up a New York-bound plane with a bomb hidden in underwear. Supermodel Linda Evangelista has reached a child support settlement with her billionaire ex-lover.
Business: The government is showing off its economic credentials, insisting the global recession years are behind us.
Sport: Dumped Penrith NRL player Michael Jennings could be on the State of Origins NSW side when the Blues line-up is announced on Sunday.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Peter Slipper pleads his innocence and steps away from the Speaker's chair to an uncertain future. With the end of free immunisation doctors fear parents and carers of newborn babies will stop getting the whooping cough vaccine. The Baillieu government may have to bail out the troubled construction of a new jail in Ararat. 280 jobs go at the state government's IT agency CenITex.
Page 2: Federal government diverts $158 million from a major Victorian road project to fund a controversial new freight terminal in voter-sensitive western Sydney.
Page 3: A government study into a rail link to Doncaster may end up in an improved bus service. Niger is the world's worst place to become a mother. Cardinal Pell threatens to sue Twitter for defamation claiming a tweet from comedian Catherine Deveny following a Q and A appearance implied he sexually abused young boys. Researchers find evidence of brain abnormalities in violent psychopaths. Mother's Day like Christmas for struggling retailers.
World: European Union tells France's Socialist president-elect Francois Hollande that the eurozone austerity treaty won't be renegotiated.
Business: Centro shareholders end long legal stoush with a $200 million settlement, the largest securities class action result recorded in Australia.
Sport: AFL umpires boss Jeff Gieschen agrees that West Coast Eagles are playing up high tackles to win free kicks.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Victoria Police are preparing a brief of evidence for the coroner to examine the shooting murders of police witness Terence Hodson and his wife Christine in 2004 that will involve gangland figures and former police.
Page 2: The $6000 Craig Thomson is alleged to have spent on prostitutes is dwarfed by the tens of thousands of dollars spent on high-class hotels, flash restaurants and European travel.
Page 3: Support for Gillard wavering as independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor consider a move to oust Craig Thomson.
World: CIA thwarts an al-Qaeda plot to blow up a US-bound plane with a sophisticated bomb hidden in underwear.
Business: Corporate Australia to foot the bill for the federal government's promised $1.5 billion budget surplus.
Sport: Salary cap restrictions could squeeze out a St Kilda star.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Swan slashes 4200 public service jobs; ACT takes biggest hit since Howard years; Treasurer to woo working families.
Page 2: PS agencies, institutions to bear the brunt of cuts.
Page 3: Green light for new speed cameras.
World: CIA foils US undie bomb plot on Yemen
Business: Centro shareholders win record class action
Sport: Raiders to appeal coach David Furner's fine for comments on referees.
