Mining jobs, confidence sag in crisis – The Fin; Call to adapt laws to region – The Fin; Gina fights children of Lang ore partner – The Aus; WA leads the nation in boom-time air travel – The West; 2000 in US line up for Aussie vacancies – The West
Mining jobs, confidence sag in crisis
Expansion in Australian companies is being scaled back in the face of Europe's debt crisis, with the miners, the engine of the nation's boom, reducing planned hiring because of falling commodity prices. The Fin
Call to adapt laws to region
Australia should harmonise its financial rules, corporate governance and occupational skills with other countries in the region to exploit business openings better, a law firm boss and member of the government's Asian Century white paper group has advocated. The Fin
Gina fights children of Lang ore partner
Gina Rinehart has gone to Western Australia’s highest court to take on the children of her late father’s business partner in an attempt to win back a stake in one of Australia’s most valuable iron ore deposits. The Aus
WA leads the nation in boom-time air travel
Air travel in WA is breaking all records with the number of passengers on some routes to resource centres up 26 per cent on the previous year. The West
2000 in US line up for Aussie vacancies
Thousands of US workers have applied for Australian construction and mining jobs in a new international recruitment process offering temporary US workers a chance to share in the local mining boom. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Christian Porter has explained his dramatic resignation as WA Treasurer and Attorney-General by revealing it was never his desire to become the next state premier.
Page 3: Consumers sick of high fees and surcharges to use their credit cards have won support from the Reserve Bank.
Page 5: Colin Barnett has sought to assert his authority in the wake of his presumptive heir's departure, declaring he intends to serve a full term as Premier should his government win the election in March.
Page 8: WA's electricity watchdog could probe whether dozens of poles that toppled in Sunday's storm were too old or rotten amid the belief that most should have been able to withstand the conditions.
Page 13: Environmentalists have hit out at the decision by the Kimberley's peak tourism body to accept $180,000 from Woodside to promote Broome as a key destination.
Page 16: Thousands of US workers have applied for Australian construction and mining jobs in a new international recruitment process offering temporary US workers a chance to share in the local mining boom.
Julia Gillard has urged corporate Australia to talk up the health of the economy to help restore shattered consumer confidence and get people spending.
Page 19: Air travel in WA is breaking all records with the number of passengers on some routes to resource centres up 26 per cent on the previous year.
Page 27: The head of WA's local government lobby says revelations that 22 councils illegally levied more than $27 million in rates was “not a good look” but blamed the state government for confusion over the rates setting process.
Page 32: A Department of Housing employee says overworked South Hedland property inspectors have been attacked by dogs, abused by tenants and made to enter volatile premises without any backup.
Business liftout:
Page 1: A Perth auditor and exploration company chairman faces up to five years jail over allegations he audited Sandfire Resources while family members held significant stakes in the WA copper miner.
Atlantic executive chairman Michael Minosora is expected to take up a $10 million share placement within days after the vanadium miner was granted an end-of-week waiver by the Australian Securities Exchange.
Page 3: Gina Rinehart yesterday sought to reclaim a stake in the potentially multi-billion dollar Rhodes Ridge mine, in the latest turn in the ongoing feud between WA's two mining dynasties.
Perth has soared into the top 20 most expensive cities in the world, with the strong dollar and steep rents blamed for the rise.
Page 4: Premier Colin Barnett has warned off big miners circling valuable port space at South West Creek.
Page 7: Retravision Western has given shareholders a stark warning that the company could be wound down and the iconic brand sold if an emergency restructure of the business does not succeed.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The NSW government will offer home buyers concessions of up to $35,240 for new houses and apartments as conservative states ease restrictions on urban sprawl in the biggest cities.
Basic democratic processes have broken down in the union movement because Labor Party factional leaders, including Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten, want to preserve their political power, Health Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson told the HR Nicholls Society last night.
Page 3: The stoush between the federal and Queensland governments over rail lines crucial to major projects in the Galilee Basin has created uncertainty that is costing farmers millions of dollars in lost land sales and agricultural productivity.
Page 4: Australia should harmonise its financial rules, corporate governance and occupational skills with other countries in the region to exploit business openings better, a law firm boss and member of the government's Asian Century white paper group has advocated.
Treasurer Wayne Swan has warned against complacency in Australia's attitude to the long-term potential of its economic relationship with China.
Page 5: Expansion in Australian companies is being scaled back in the face of Europe's debt crisis, with the miners, the engine of the nation's boom, reducing planned hiring because of falling commodity prices.
Page 7: The sudden departure of West Australian Treasurer and Attorney-General Christian Porter for a tilt at federal politics has left a gaping hole in the Liberal government's front bench just nine months out from the state election.
Page 10: The consumer watchdog has warned building companies to pass on to buyers the full amount of industry assistance received by their suppliers, as it investigates allegations of misleading carbon tax claims by builders.
Page 11: More than 50 company directors have joined the 515 facing the axe under the government's controversial two-strikes rule, as investor anger over executive pay reignites.
Page 17: Fairfax Media's largest shareholder, Gina Rinehart, has questioned whether the board are “true believers” and asked why they have not personally bought more shares in the company.
Woolworths chief executive Grant O'Brien has offered an olive branch to the food sector, proposing a joint retailer and manufacturer body to better represent the mutual interests of the grocery sector.
Page 19: Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce is relying on the airline's ambitious Asian strategy to turn its fortunes around.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Greater use of tollways and other user-pays charges are needed to unlock private finance for new projects and ease the traffic gridlock and bottlenecks that are holding back national productivity, a Labor-initiated taskforce has found.
Page 2: The departure of Colin Barnett’s top performer has thrown the WA Liberal Party’s succession plans into chaos and forced Premier Colin Barnett to step in as temporary Treasurer for the second time in two years.
Kevin Rudd has emerged from self-imposed exile to bolster the profile of caucus supporter Jill Hall as his confidants continued to promote his leadership credentials but warn he will need to be drafted by October.
While there was little good news for the government in yesterday’s Newspoll, there were some worrying indicators for the opposition.
Page 3: Shops, airlines, taxis and websites will be banned from socking customers with ‘‘excessive’’ surcharges to pay by credit card, the Reserve Bank ruled yesterday.
Some of the nation’s biggest banks — including Westpac, Macquarie Bank and St George — systemically broke the banking industry’s own charter during the property boom by lending to thousands of customers without checking whether borrowers could afford to repay the loans.
A pioneering paper on climate change has been put on hold after a mix-up in its methodology was identified.
Page 6: Julia Gillard has challenged business leaders to ‘‘speak up’’ in praise of the nation’s performance in the face of global shocks, as she held out the promise of economic reforms including a cut to the company tax rate.
The Gillard government is being urged to demolish barriers that prevent companies expanding across Asia just as cabinet ministers talk of the gains to be made from trade with the region.
The consumer watchdog has warned the building industry over carbon tax price rises as it emerged it has received 170 complaints about alleged rip-offs.
Page 7: Health Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson has called for tougher supervision of unions and new controls on union elections while lambasting Bill Shorten as the ‘‘international grand master’’ of using unions as pawns in ALP factional politics.
Gina Rinehart has gone to Western Australia’s highest court to take on the children of her late father’s business partner in an attempt to win back a stake in one of Australia’s most valuable iron ore deposits.
Networks will launch a raft of new television shows after the London Olympics, including a ‘‘family-friendly’’ Big Brother and a series based on The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Business: Fairfax Media majority shareholder Gina Rinehart was yesterday weighing her next move in the effort to secure boardroom representation, as the company warned that its revenues continued to fall.
Subprime-style lending practices were rampant during the last property boom despite claims by lenders that local practices were superior to global standards.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says the airline has had no approaches about a potential takeover despite a move to set up a defensive committee to deal with the scenario.
Aurora Oil & Gas is closing in on Eureka Energy under its 45c a share on-market takeover bid, after a reverse merger proposal for Eureka from the unlisted US group Lonestar was withdrawn.
The mining and construction sectors are tightening their hiring strategies in reaction to concerns about China’s growth and falling commodity prices, with a new survey revealing employers are taking a step back from aggressive hiring competition.
Etihad boss James Hogan has indicated he may push the airline’s investment in alliance partner Virgin Australia above 10 per cent but says there are no plans to take control.
The mining and construction sectors are tightening their hiring strategies in reaction to concerns about China’s growth and falling commodity prices, with a new survey revealing employers are taking a step back from aggressive hiring competition.
The latest version of Tourism Australia’s global advertising campaign, There’s Nothing Like Australia, has achieved almost 6 million downloads since it was launched just over a week ago, making it one of the nation’s most successful advertisements.
Major banks are holding back from cutting key savings rates to maintain deposit bases and avoid having to access volatile wholesale funding markets.
Australia's superannuation funds have lost a greater share of their members’ funds since the global financial crisis than any other pension system in the advanced world, with the exception of Iceland.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Treasurer Mike Baird is telling the people of NSW to take their medicine with his second budget. State budget support for first homeowners who buy new homes has won support from developers and criticism from real estate agents. The cause of death field on Azaria Chamberlain's death certificate can finally be completed after 32 years, after a coroner ruled the baby was indeed killed by a dingo.
Page 2: Public education campaigner Trevor Cobbold has called for education ministers to back up claims that greater school autonomy will improve student outcomes.
Page 3: Health Services Union officials including Michael Williamson and Kathy Jackson have been suspended by the interim administrator.
World: Russian President Vladimir Putin has increased pressure on Russia's opposition movement, and several of the movement's leading figures' homes have been searched.
Business: Ad man John Singleton has declared he is "always interested" in potential deals, and described Qantas as an undervalued airline with a future.
Sport: Blues coach Ricky Stuart is confident his team can take NSW to State of Origin glory in the second match on Wednesday.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: The fate of the NSW State of Origin side on Wednesday night will rest with superstar player Todd Carney.
Page 3: The Reserve Bank will tackle ripoff credit card fees - said to cost Australians $700 million a year - by limiting card surcharges to the "reasonable cost of the merchant accepting the card".
Page 3: A 32-year legal saga has ended, with the cause of death of baby Azaria Chamberlain in 1980 officially declared that she was attacked and taken by a dingo.
World: A woman has been doused with petrol and set alight by a former lover at a service station in Florida.
Business: Apple has pipped its rivals by unveiling its most powerful laptop to date, and revealing it would drop Google Maps for its own iPhone street directories.
Sport: The Blues are stepping up to end Queensland's six-year State of Origin winning streak.
THE AGE:
Page 1: A weightlifter at last week's Oceania championships in Samoa has been accused of threatening to tank his lifts and sabotage the Olympic hopes of the entire Australian team if he was not paid $5000. Melbourne Water admits to overcharging households more than $300 million but says it will repay it. The Pitjantjatjara people at Uluru never doubted that a dingo took Azaria. Prime Minister Julia Gillard renews her push to cut company tax rates.
Page 2: Refugee Medhi Rezaiee says he was wrongly named as a people smuggler on Four Corners, saying he was collecting money from a Dandenong store for his brother. Tamil refugee walks her two children to school but only under guard because she has been branded a threat to Australia.
Page 3: Green wedge land and farmland will be used for new housing on Melbourne's fringes. Government-owned businesses making a fortune selling off public land despite Baillieu government pledge to protect Melbourne's open spaces. Thousands of Black Caviar groupies making the pilgrimage to Royal Ascot. All six mainland Australian capital cities among the most expensive in the world.
World: UN and US diplomats warn Damascus that war crimes will not go unpunished.
Business: John Singleton weighs up Qantas, saying it is an undervalued airline with a future.
Sport: AFL looks at abandoning traditional Richmond-Carlton opening in 2013 because the clubs are reluctant to play it at Etihad Stadium in an earlier start to the season.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: After 32 years, Lindy Chamberlain says coroner's ruling that a dingo took her baby gives her peace of mind.
Page 2: Peter Slipper calls for the case against him to be thrown out of court. As Falcon sales continue to slide Ford looks at cutting jobs at its Geelong and Broadmeadows plants.
Page 3: The Voice singer Sarah De Bono will draw on her experience battling schoolyard bullies in her bid to win. Reserve Bank moves to end credit card surcharges.
World: Ex-UK prime minister Gordon Brown slams Rupert Murdoch at Britain's media ethics inquiry claiming the media mogul lied under oath.
Business: Ten shares tumble as sales chief quits after just six months.
Sport: Carlton coach Brett Ratten says AFL tribunal's fine for Geelong defender Josh Hunt's standing on an opponent's hand sent a bad message to junior footballers.
