Big four stay silent on rate relief – The West; World supply faces delay, says agency – The Aus; Woodside chief backs foreign labour – The Fin; Cottee's Central Petroleum start to ward off Palmer – The West; Tudor says split needs more time – The West
Big four stay silent on rate relief
The big four banks have left borrowers in limbo yet again and undermined the Reserve Bank's attempts to kick-start consumer confidence by failing to immediately pass on the latest interest rate cut. The West
World supply faces delay, says agency
Australia's $US200 billion ($205.5bn) pipeline of advanced liquefied natural gas projects will probably be delayed by high project costs and first-of-a-kind risks, potentially leading to a spike in prices in 2015, the International Energy Agency says. The Aus
Woodside chief backs foreign labour
Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman has come out in strong support of enterprise migration agreements as a way to curb the cost escalation threatening to make Australian liquefied natural gas projects uncompetitive. The Fin
Cottee's Central Petroleum start to ward off Palmer
Embattled explorer Central Petroleum has rushed forward Richard Cottee's commencement as chief executive as part of plans to deal with a potential ambush from disgruntled shareholder Clive Palmer. The West
Tudor says split needs more time
One of the state's most senior electricity executives has waded into the debate over plans to re-merge retailer Synergy with power generator Verve Energy, saying the government should give the split more time to work. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Dozens of police staff will be asked whether they had contract with a teenager who allegedly posed as a policeman to get into Perth Watchhouse and other secure buildings as the hierarchy tries to determine the depth of the embarrassing security breach.
Page 5: A toxic algal bloom has been blamed for the deaths of more than 1,800 fish in the Swan River since Friday.
Page 6: The big four banks have left borrowers in limbo yet again and undermined the Reserve Bank's attempts to kick-start consumer confidence by failing to immediately pass on the latest interest rate cut.
Sales season has started and stores across WA are hoping yesterday's Reserve Bank rate cut will arrest falling consumer confidence and lure shoppers in for bargains.
Page 13: Deeper cuts and a new Middle East alliance could be the only measures that will save Qantas' international arm, a leading airline analyst has warned.
Page 19: Once-profitable Port Hedland small businesses are closing their doors at an alarming rate, with many crippled by rocketing rents and wages.
Page 26: As the cattle industry continues to suffer and businesses struggle to recruit and retain Aboriginal staff, Home Valley Station in the Kimberley has created a revenue stream and exceeded indigenous jobs targets by diversifying into pastoral-based tourism.
Business liftout:
Page 1: Qantas will plunge into loss this year for the first time since it was floated in 1995 as its international operations continue to bleed hundreds of millions of dollars and consumer conditions deteriorate.
Embattled explorer Central Petroleum has rushed forward Richard Cottee's commencement as chief executive as part of plans to deal with a potential ambush from disgruntled shareholder Clive Palmer.
Page 3: Faced with a room of disgruntled Navigator Resources shareholders still digesting the sudden departure of managing director David Hatch, chairman Allan Trench used yesterday's extraordinary meeting to tell them what they had already guessed – if the miner cannot cut costs it “won't exist”.
One of the state's most senior electricity executives has waded into the debate over plans to re-merge retailer Synergy with power generator Verve Energy, saying the government should give the split more time to work.
Page 5: A gold miner is pursuing GR Engineering Services for $25 million damages in a potential blow to the Perth contractor's reputation and bottom line.
John Hancock's bid to launch a career outside his family's mining heritage has hit a wall, with his fledgling building products company FBM embroiled in a patent dispute and the subject of claims it underpaid workers.
Page 7: Etihad has signalled its intentions to boost its stake in Virgin Australia to at least 10 per cent after confirming it had taken a cornerstone holding in Australia's second-biggest airline.
The Federal Government yesterday halted the approval process for Gina Rinehart's $6.3 billion coal mine amid a dispute over environmental assessments affecting the Great Barrier Reef.
Page 10: The long-lingering threat of strikes at the Griffin coal mine in Collie appears to have abated, at least temporarily, after the company claimed it had an in-principle pay agreement with the mining union.
Page 11: Growth of the world money supply has dropped to its lowest level since the 2008-09 financial crisis.
Page 24: Retailers and landlords are facing fierce rent negotiations as one of Australia's biggest shopping centre operators, Stockland, drops the price on some leases.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Reserve Bank of Australia has taken out insurance against risks posed by Europe and weaker growth in China, and signalled that policy makers will wait for signs of more bad news before cutting rates again.
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has frozen the approval process for a $6.4 billion Queensland coal project owned by Gina Rinehart and India's GVK group, triggering a political row with the new Liberal-National government that has upset a breakthrough state-federal agreement to cut green tape.
Alan Joyce is standing by Qantas Airways' struggling international division, which will drag the airline's bottom line into the red for the first time since it floated 17 years ago.
Page 5: Bob Brown has predicted a bright future for the political party he founded but is now leaving to his successors, amid signs that support for the Australian Greens has been unaffected by his decision to retire.
Page 7: Lack of confidence is impeding development of enough big-scale solar power to provide a lot of Australia's electricity generation and the federal government needs to do more to show the technology is financially viable, the Australian Solar Institute says.
Page 12: Business and farmers have stepped up pressure on the banks to pass on the full cut in official interest rates.
Page 14: Australia needs to move beyond an “us and them” mentality in labour relations and focus more on collaboration, Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten has said, while defending the Labor government's reforms.
Page 15: Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says the national carrier will not be forced to raise more cash after it unexpectedly slashed 2012 profit forecasts by two-thirds.
Page 17: Bunnings is coming under pressure to augment its network of warehouses with an e-commerce store as Woolworths' rival home-improvement chain prepares to launch Australia's first major DIY online store.
Page 18: Union leader Paul Howes has lashed out at Etihad Airways' new stake in Virgin Australia, criticising a lack of oversight by the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Page 19: Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman has come out in strong support of enterprise migration agreements as a way to curb the cost escalation threatening to make Australian liquefied natural gas projects uncompetitive.
Page 22: Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, sees no urgency over what to do with its $6 billion stake in Australia's Woodside Petroleum, chief executive officer Peter Voser said on Tuesday.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Slowing growth in China and the threat of serious instability in Europe have forced the Reserve Bank to cut its benchmark rate to a level not seen since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, in an effort to deliver stimulus to the Australian economy.
Industry protection is costing taxpayers $9.8 billion a year as Canberra dispenses cash to manufacturers and creates green subsidies that offset savings made by cutting older schemes.
Page 2: Union leader Kathy Jackson faces possible contempt of court sanctions for allegedly trying to make private contact with a judge hearing the case to place the Health Services Union’s allegedly corrupt East branch into administration.
Page 3: A landmark announcement on native title today will herald the most significant changes to the system since the Mabo decision was handed down by the High Court 20 years ago.
Page 4: Labor faces new warnings that greater competition — which would allow consumers to access cheaper loans — is being undermined by delays to cuts to the withholding tax for foreign banks.
Retailers have cheered the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for a second time as they prepare for the crucial winter sales season.
Page 6: Julia Gillard has accused Queensland Premier Campbell Newman of breaching an agreement with the commonwealth by approving Gina Rinehart’s $6.4 billion Galilee Basin coalmine without properly investigating its environmental impact.
BOB Brown is ‘‘terrified’’ Labor will not act on the recommendations of the Finkelstein inquiry and create a statutory regulator to oversee print and online media, as well as radio and television.
Business: Qantas shares are in freefall as the company warned it was on track to post its first loss since 1993 and its first since the company listed on the Australia Securities Exchange in 1995.
Shares rebounded from six-month lows yesterday, as the Reserve Bank provided a timely boost to confidence by cutting the official cash rate amid the global economic gloom.
Australia's $US200 billion ($205.5bn) pipeline of advanced liquefied natural gas projects will probably be delayed by high project costs and first-of-a-kind risks, potentially leading to a spike in prices in 2015, the International Energy Agency says.
The stand-off between the Queensland and federal governments on environmental clearance for the $6.4 billion Alpha coal project of Gina Rinehart and India’s GVK could be the least of the project’s problems, with analysts questioning its economic viability after a collapse in thermal coal prices and a demand outlook that continues to sour.
Governments that fail to implement the right policy settings for potential gas sources such as shale gas and coal-seam methane risk seeing their economies go ‘‘backwards’’, ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson warns.
High cost pressures faced by the oil and gas industry have been reflected in Royal Dutch Shell’s contrasting approach to two separate liquefied natural gas developments, with Shell chief executive Peter Voser signalling that progress at the company’s huge Arrow LNG project in Queensland would not be rushed.
Minerals carrier QR National plans to shed at least 500 jobs, primarily in Queensland, as part of its journey from a state-run organisation to a listed company.
Sundance Resources has finalised the terms with the government of Cameroon and China’s Sichuan Hanlong Group for the development of the Mbalam iron ore project in central Africa.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The Reserve Bank stands to cut rates again following Tuesday's 25 basis point cut.
Page 2: Hospital staff are failing to diagnose cases of child abuse, a study shows.
Page 3: Qantas will suffer a loss for the first time since it was floated in 1995.
World: Germany has indicated it will provide greater support to the eurozone's most indebted partners in exchange for more centralised control over government spending in Europe.
Business: The Reserve Bank is poised to keep cutting rates this year to levels last seen during the depths of the global financial crisis.
Sport: The writing was on the wall for David Gallop when ARL Commission chairman John Grant called him to discuss his weaknesses as chief executive.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: David Gallop forced out as rugby league chief executive barely four months into new era.
Page 4: Gallop never saw his ousting come.
Page 7: Roads and roofs ripped by wind gusts of up to 128km/h.
World: Prince Charles praises his mother to close the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert.
Business: Etihad Airways plans to double its stake in Virgin Australia.
Sport: Gallop's departure was a shock in the timing, even though few believed he would serve out his four-year contract.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Defence Minister Stephen Smith, wary of Chinese espionage, leaves his mobile phone and laptop in Hong Kong before travelling to Beijing. RBA believes carbon tax is behind Australians' pessimism about the economy. Qantas flies into the red as its international operations bleed hundreds of millions of dollars and consumer conditions deteriorate.
Page 3: Victorian Health Minister David Davis waits for reports on the safety of alcoholic energy drinks. Mildura police brace for trouble as a new Rebels motorcycle clubhouse is set up in the town. Trademark battle brews between a Brunswick micro-brewery and global giant SABMiller over resurrection of brands such as Victoria Lager, McCrackens Invalid Stout and Abbots Lager.
Gina Rinehart supporter Jack Cowin believes she will eventually get a director's seat on Fairfax. Facebook considers letting kids under 13 get online.
World: Diamond Jubilee concert goes on without a hospitalised Prince Philip.
Business: Reserve Bank is poised to push through more interest rate cuts amid renewed stresses in Europe and a stalled economy in the US.
Sport: After Eugene Arocca's surprise departure as North Melbourne CEO, president James Brayshaw should follow him out the door.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: The big four banks are pocketing $6.4 million in extra profit for every day they refuse to pass on the RBA's interest rate cut. Magpie star tells why he took a stand against a racist fan.
Page 2: Students to stay home as teachers go on strike. Family switches banks for better deal.
Page 3: The big four banks use their domination of the $1.1 trillion mortgage market to boost profits at the expense of households. Hospital cutting patient treatment and sacking staff due to budget pressures.
World: Syrian troops in deadly battles with armed rebels.
Business: Qantas shares nosedive as the airline prepares to report its first loss since it was privatised almost 20 years ago.
Sport: North Melbourne had targeted Cats CEO Brian Cook before Kangaroo chief Eugene Arocca quit.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: ACT government to remove inefficient land taxes despite an estimated $318 million deficit in 2012/13.
Page 2: The status of alleged smugglers to be reviewed following an ABC investigation. Australians reject anti-dobbing ethos to support whistle-blowers.
Page 3: ACT welfare groups dismiss report ranking Canberra with the most affordable housing as flawed.
World: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Beijing for talks expected to focus on Syria, energy and other international issues.
Business: Qantas to post its first full-year loss since it floated in 1995 with the airline's share price falling 19 per cent to a record low of $1.155.
Sport: ARL insider to replace the code's departing boss David Gallop.
