Boom under threat from higher costs – The Fin; $1.2b sale hangs in balance – The West; Bring in miners or miss best of boom – The Aus; QR boss upbeat about rail plan – The West; Cowin backs Gina on Fairfax – The Aus
Boom under threat from higher costs
High labour, energy and transport costs have made mining projects in Australia among the most expensive in the world to develop, throwing into doubt mega-projects such as BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam copper uranium mine expansion. The Fin
$1.2b sale hangs in balance
The $1.2 billion sale of Bluewaters power station to Japanese interests hung by a thread last night with the state government refusing to commit to a related bailout package for Indian firm Lanco Infratech. The West
Bring in miners or miss best of boom
Australia risks missing out on an extra $121 billion a year from growing global demand for resources if it fails to allow more 457-visa-style migration agreements and to encourage more local workers to move to jobs on mining projects. The Aus
QR boss upbeat about rail plan
QR National managing director Lance Hockridge has shrugged off turmoil on global financial markets, saying interest in the company's ground-breaking Pilbara iron ore rail line remains strong. The West
Cowin backs Gina on Fairfax
Fairfax Media is wrong to deny Gina Rinehart a place in the boardroom, according to one of her long-time friends and a fellow board member from Ten Network Holdings. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Eastern states job snobs facing the unemployment scrapheap are refusing to move to WA.
Page 4: An international recruiter predicts most foreign workers on Hancock Prospecting's Roy Hill project will be semi-skilled workers such as vehicle operators and riggers.
West Australians trying to find work in the resources sector yesterday pleaded with mining companies to give them a go before they looked abroad for workers.
Page 6: Questions have been raised about how the state government arrived at the name Elizabeth Quay for the Perth waterfront, with the Opposition and academic critics saying it is another sign of Colin Barnett's arrogant leadership.
The Public Sector Commission recommended staff in the office of Training Minister Peter Collier receive ethics training after investigating tensions between the Department of Training and Workforce Development.
Page 7: The state government stands to reap $1 billion annually from the Water Corporation within five years, highlighting the profitability of one of Australia's biggest monopoly service providers.
The backlash over rising electricity prices and wider problems in the industry have been laid bare by revelations of a threefold increase in complaints to the state's energy watchdog.
Page 14: More than 43,000 incidents and accidents involving airline flights were recorded over the past 10 years, Australia's air crash investigator has reported.
A $300 million plan to make Port Hedland Australia's new gateway to Asia should have been drawn up 20 years ago, says WA equity firm Centauri.
Page 17: Tensions intensified yesterday in the legal war between Apache Energy and the state government, with a lawyer for the US giant accusing a senior minister of misleading the WA public over the Varanus Island gas disaster.
Business liftout:
Page 1: The $1.2 billion sale of Bluewaters power station to Japanese interests hung by a thread last night with the state government refusing to commit to a related bailout package for Indian firm Lanco Infratech.
BHP Billiton will not approve any of its multi-billion dollar “mega” projects within the next six months, according to chief executive Marius Kloppers.
In a sign of the times for the struggling wine industry, Clairault has told more than 30 staff they will no longer have jobs when the pioneering Margaret River winery changes hands next month.
Page 3: QR National managing director Lance Hockridge has shrugged off turmoil on global financial markets, saying interest in the company's ground-breaking Pilbara iron ore rail line remains strong.
A rail line for Gina Rinehart's partly-owned $6.4 billion Alpha Coal project in Queensland has been given the go ahead.
Page 5: Pankaj Oswal has re-emerged to launch fresh legal action against receivers of his Burrup Fertiliser empire over more than $31 million they and their advisers pocketed in fees from the sale.
Just weeks into his reign as chief executive of Nexus Energy, Lucio Della Martina has flagged the possibility that his company's Crux gas-liquids field in the Browse Basin could be developed as a stand-alone floating LNG project, using Royal Dutch Shell's technology.
Page 8: Marubeni will pay $US3.6 billion for US grain giant Gavilon Group.
Page 13: The residential property market hasn't been particularly attractive for buyers for some time, and pure play property developers have suffered accordingly.
Page 14: Clive Palmer has bought into a brawl at explorer Central Petroleum, demanding sacked founding boss John Heugh be reinstated.
Page 23: Finbar's executive chairman John Chan has a blunt message to mining companies as the finishing touches are added to his company's first apartment complex in Karratha.
Page 24: A planning change that will allow for a cluster of more intensive development in South Perth with building heights increasing from four storeys to seven and 12 on some streets has been approved by the City of South Perth.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: High labour, energy and transport costs have made mining projects in Australia among the most expensive in the world to develop, throwing into doubt mega-projects such as BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam copper uranium mine expansion.
A committee of federal Labor MPs, likely to include former union leader Doug Cameron, will scrutinise requests from resource companies to use foreign labour on big mining projects, but the Gillard government has stopped short of giving it a veto over the guest worker schemes.
Fair Work Australia ignored a call in mid-2009 to “expeditiously” pursue investigations into the Health Services Union and to be prepared to refer “identified malfeasance” to the police.
Page 3: Targets for improving teacher quality are not robust or ambitious enough, according to a major report that calls for greater rigour in assessing teacher standards across the country.
Page 4: Regaining the edge that helped drive Australia's first resources boom, when the easy gains came through rising commodity prices, starts with recognising how badly things are going wrong, according to Port Jackson Partners director Angus Taylor.
Coal seam gas producers in Australia face even higher costs for their projects to prevent growth in the $50 billion industry being derailed by environmental issues and a lack of public acceptance, the world's leading energy economist has warned.
Page 5: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has moved to appease an ALP caucus disgruntled about the handling of enterprise migration agreements by foreshadowing a broad discussion about Labor's strategy in the 12 months leading to the election at the last caucus meeting before the winter break.
Page 6: Indian conglomerate GVK has backed away from earlier comments over the use of foreign workers to construct the $10 billion Alpha Coal Project in Queensland's Galilee Basin in a joint venture with Gina Rinehart's Hancock Coal.
Roy Hill chief executive Barry Fitzgerald is surprised by the political furore over Hancock Prospecting's plan to hire up to 1,715 temporary foreign workers.
Page 11: Retailers may have experienced their weakest month so far this year, increasing the Reserve Bank of Australia's leeway to cut interest rates again, analysts say.
Page 13: Rotting food and green waste are creating a political stink for the federal government as local councils threaten to raise rates by up to 1.5 per cent to recoup the carbon tax.
Page 15: Billionaire Gina Rinehart, Fairfax Media's largest shareholder, asked fellow Ten director Jack Cowin to take one of two board seats she is seeking at Fairfax.
Page 17: Coles managing director Ian McLeod has agreed to a new salary package that could cut his pay from 2014 onwards by more than half.
Page 29: Gold producers are accumulating cash at a faster rate than most others in the mining fraternity, and the strategic investment by Northern Star Resources offers a small taste of what is likely to come.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The Labor backbench has rolled Julia Gillard’s cabinet by imposing a sub-committee to oversee Immigration Minister Chris Bowen’s handling of recruitment of foreign labour for the nation’s booming resources sector.
Australia risks missing out on an extra $121 billion a year from growing global demand for resources if it fails to allow more 457-visa-style migration agreements and to encourage more local workers to move to jobs on mining projects.
Page 2: Carmakers have not been asked to guarantee jobs in return for almost $250 million in federal payments, officials have revealed, amid new doubts about the conditions put on Canberra’s help.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has shocked the economic profession with a consultation document suggesting that key economic performance measures may no longer be considered ‘‘essential’’.
Cyber-smart schools are getting rid of printed books, despite $4 billion of taxpayers’ money spent building 3472 libraries in the past three years.
Page 4: Julia Gillard has put Labor on a war footing by launching a midterm political campaign comprising radio advertisements, direct mail in key electorates and MPS standing at the gates of schools to spruik the government’s Schoolkids Bonus.
Fair Work Australia officials last night rejected opposition claims they could have referred the Health Services Union rorts investigation to police three years ago, saying they had not gathered enough evidence nor done any interviews.
Page 6: A $6.4 billion coal project part-owned by Gina Rinehart has become the centre of a new dispute between the Queensland and federal governments over fast-tracking environmental approvals and cutting ‘‘green tape’’.
Page 8: Mining magnate Andrew Forrest promised Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson up to $3 million to keep the doors open at Djarragun College, the indigenous school under police investigation for alleged fraud of taxpayer funds.
Business: Fairfax Media is wrong to deny Gina Rinehart a place in the boardroom, according to one of her long-time friends and a fellow board member from Ten Network Holdings.
Australia's economy is set to benefit from the Chinese government’s quiet unleashing of a stimulus package worth as much as 2 trillion yuan ($300 billion) as it attempts to reverse a fall in economic growth induced by property sales restrictions and falling export demand.
Billionaire Clive Palmer has fired another shot in his fight with Central Petroleum, calling on shareholders to dump the entire board and warning he will withdraw his support of the oil and gas junior if the current directors remain.
One in two employers are struggling to fill key roles, according to a new survey, which has highlighted that companies are willing to expand their search for candidates outside their local region and even the country.
Telstra's philanthropic arm, the Telstra Foundation, is marking its 10-year anniversary today with the creation of $1 million worth of grants for 100 Australian non-profit organisations with projects aimed at bridging the digital and socio-economic divide.
Qantas has upped the ante in its drawn-out battle with Fiji’s military government by withdrawing its four directors from the board of Air Pacific.
Wesfarmers has confirmed that Coles managing director Ian Mcleod will remain with the company after his contract expires next year, moving to a rolling 12-month contract.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Australia has joined a chorus of international voices denouncing a violent crackdown in Syria with an ultimatum for the country's top envoy to leave Canberra. The NSW government will award 15 super principals unprecedented authority - and annual salaries of more than $200,000, plus performance bonuses of $50,000 - at schools servicing indigenous communities.
Page 2: A study has found most Australians were in better financial shape and more satisfied about their financial position after the global credit crisis than they were before.
Page 3: Punters are a step closer to legal online betting during sports tournaments and playing in online poker tournaments, but a new report into the Interactive Gambling Act has called for harm minimisation standards.
World: An 11-year-old Syrian boy has told how he smeared himself in blood and played dead to escape loyalist gunmen in a Houla massacre.
Business: BHP Billiton will not approve any major multi-billion projects for six months, the company's CEO Marius Kloppers has told Chinese media.
Sport: The Penrith Panthers have asked for salary cap relief from the ARL Commission to help keep AFL from taking a foothold in western Sydney.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Crown Casino owner James Packer is making a bid to install friend and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett at Sydney's Star Casino as chairman.
Page 2: Splash continues - James Packer will call an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on Wednesday as part of a plan to remove Echo Entertainment chairman John Story from his board position.
Page 3: A tattoo parlour said to be connected to Kings Cross king John Ibrahim was approved by council in error.
World: A British mum-of-two is being detained in a Balinese jail, accused of smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine, a crime punishable by death.
Business: Facebook will launch its own smartphone by the end of the year, the New York Times reports. A coal venture backed by mining magnate Gina Rinehart could employ a large number of foreign workers.
Sport: The video referee who called a controversial try for the Maroons in the first Origin match, Sean Hampstead, has been stood down by the NRL following a spate of blunders.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Australians could get access to legal online poker tournaments and a wider choice of online sports betting options under proposals to liberalise the internet gambling sector. Medical experts have raised the alarm over a rising number of Asian fish imports carrying banned levels of antibiotics.
Page 3: Almost one-third of new teachers in Victoria do not see themselves working in the public system after five years. One of Australia's top business people working in Thailand is deeply distressed
by the laying of a criminal defamation charge against her that carries a possible 12-month jail term, her husband says
World: America's top military officer has warned Syria it might face armed intervention as international outrage grows over the massacre of women and children by tanks and artillery in the central town of Houla.
Business: BHP Billiton will not approve any of its multi-billion-dollar mega projects within the next six months, according to chief executive Marius Kloppers.
Sport: Controversial Adelaide recruiter Matt Rendell is on the verge of resurrecting his AFL career in taking a key role with Collingwood.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Lavishing children with praise and constantly pumping up self-esteem is breeding a generation of bullies, groundbreaking research reveals. When 13-year-old Isabella Ayre plays footy for her club, she can line up alongside twin brother Liam. But in the school league she is not allowed to play with the boys.
Page 3: Chiropractors and podiatrists report an increase in the number of drivers seeking treatment for leg cramps and pain in the ankles, hip and lower back because of Melbourne's worsening traffic. Teenagers will be urged to dob in their violent mates using a new smartphone app from Crime Stoppers.
Page 7: Diggers are being urged to defy new uniform guidelines that limit the number of badges allowed to be displayed. A cyber weapon discovered this week could bring the world to its knees. Flame is 20 times more powerful than any other cyber warfare tool. FormerVictorian premier Jeff Kennett could become chairman of Sydney's The Star casino.
World: UN-Arab envoy Kofi Annan last night was trying to salvage his battered Syrian peace plan during serious and frank talks with President Bashar al- Assad, amid international horror at the Houla massacre of more than 100 people.
Business: The Reserve Bank must keep cutting interest rates to stop the housing sector sliding into recession, according to the nations leading property industry group.
Sport: Richmond will drive its Michael Warner push for the finals from Craigieburn and Victoria Park.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Australia protests against Syria's brutal crackdown on civilians by delivering 72 hour ultimatum for the country's top envoy to leave Canberra. Lake Burley Griffin covered with potentially deadly blue-green algae. National Archives of Australia's security vaults at Mitchell are full.
Page 2: Waiting lists for cancer surgery go online.
Page 3: ADFA cadet pleads not guilty to sex charges.
World: NZ triplets killed in mall fire in Qatari capital of Doha.
Business: Coles renegotiates lower salary for imported boss.
Sport: Dual international sportswoman Ellyse Perry quits Canberra United.
