ALP sets boundary for ocean park row – The Aus; WA rules out selling off ports – The West; Make the hard choices: RBA boss – The Fin; Wesfarmers bullish on Chinese appetite for coal – The Aus; Consumers unmoved by rate cuts – The Aus
ALP sets boundary for ocean park row
The world’s largest system of marine reserves will be unveiled today with the release of plans that put limits on oil and gas exploration in Western Australia, extend reef protection in the Coral Sea and open the way for compensation potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for the fishing industry. The Aus
WA rules out selling off ports
The state government has rejected a federal plan to sell off WA ports to fund future roads, rail and new ports, saying it is already encouraging record levels of private investment in key resource-exporting infrastructure. The West
Make the hard choices: RBA boss
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has told Australia's political leadership to get on with the job of implementing productivity reforms and suggested that well-known solutions had been ignored because they were considered too difficult. The Fin
Wesfarmers bullish on Chinese appetite for coal
Wesfarmers is confident China’s demand for Australian resources will remain strong, predicting the nation’s economy will double in size in the next decade, underpinning the company’s coal business. The Aus
Consumers unmoved by rate cuts
The Reserve Bank’s series of cash rate cuts have failed to revive consumer confidence, though struggling retailers might expect a pickup in sales as new welfare payments kick in from next month. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Fishing will be banned in massive areas off WA under one of the most ambitious conservation measures to be undertaken by the federal government.
Page 4: The state opposition has accused Colin Barnett of overseeing “a culture of secrecy” after he reneged on a promise to provide details of payouts to two former staffers.
The number of interstate visitors coming to WA for a holiday has fallen by more than 40,000 over the past year, prompting calls for an urgent marketing campaign in Sydney and Melbourne.
Page 6: Christian Porter will have to fend off a fierce grassroots backlash if he is to successfully transplant his political career from Perth to Canberra.
Opponents of the Perth foreshore redevelopment say they may take legal action to stop the project, telling a rally at Parliament House yesterday that it would destroy “one of Perth's main characteristics”.
Page 9: The Gillard government has reinstated its promise to cut company tax but says business must work out how to fund it so there is no effect on the budget bottom line.
Page 14: Western Power has suspended all planned power interruptions after inadvertently disconnecting electricity to a home where a resident was on a life support machine.
Business: The state government has rejected a federal plan to sell off WA ports to fund future roads, rail and new ports, saying it is already encouraging record levels of private investment in key resource-exporting infrastructure.
Australia's only rare earths miner, Lynas Corp, has signalled it may walk away from the African project at the centre of a legal battle.
Clive Palmer has lost his bid to stymie twin shareholder meetings called by Central Petroleum to deal with a running brawl over the leadership of the company.
Fortescue Metals Group was last night hosing down speculation it was moving closer to a float of its WA magnetite assets after striking a deal with Chinese partner Baosteel to create a Hong Kong-based magnetite subsidiary.
Wright Prospecting has hit back at claims that it gave Hancock Prospecting a permanent stake in the Rhodes Ridge iron ore deposit in 1989, as the feuding dynasties continue their court battle over the Pilbara holding.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has told Australia's political leadership to get on with the job of implementing productivity reforms and suggested that well-known solutions had been ignored because they were considered too difficult.
Australia will today begin the creation of the world's largest network of marine reserves, limiting fishing and oil and gas exploration off the Australian coast on the eve of the United Nations Rio + 20 Conference on Sustainable Development.
Page 3: Deloitte Australia has cracked the $1 billion revenue barrier and upset, temporarily at least, the ranking of the big four accountancy firms.
Page 7: The union movement would be strengthened if it were forced to renew leadership more often and there was a more level playing field in elections, experts say.
Page 9: The West Australian government has acted to address a slump in building approvals, allowing builders waiting on permits to begin construction.
Page 14: The growing threat of cyber attack at all levels of government and commercial business is a compelling reason for Australia to deepen its security relationship with NATO, its head, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has warned.
Page 16: Cuts in official interest rates and federal government handouts for carbon compensation have not done much yet to buck up the spirits of worried consumers.
Retail forecasts for this financial year and the next have been revised upwards in the wake of recent interest rate cuts and budget handouts.
Struggling regional tourism operators will be buoyed by the latest domestic travel figures showing Australians' spending on local trips was up 10 per cent in the year to March, hitting almost $50 billion.
Page 17: Dry conditions have led to a cut in the official forecast for winter crop production which is now expected to be 38.5 million tonnes, 15 per cent below last year's record, as wheat and barley volumes decline.
Page 25: Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder says the company's future is “inextricably tied” to the Chinese economy but he is not about to make any direct investments.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The world’s largest system of marine reserves will be unveiled today with the release of plans that put limits on oil and gas exploration in Western Australia, extend reef protection in the Coral Sea and open the way for compensation potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for the fishing industry.
Renewable energy targets are adding more than $100 a year to household power bills and should face a wholesale review, a key regulator warned as it approved an 18 per cent rise in NSW electricity prices.
Julia Gillard’s economic summit has failed to bridge Labor’s divide with business after corporate leaders last night challenged her plan for a ‘‘revenue neutral’’ company tax cut.
Germany's Bundesbank is considering adding Australian dollar assets such as bonds to its holdings in a historic move that would reaffirm Australia’s emerging status as a safe haven for investors amid growing disquiet in Europe.
Page 5: Kevin Rudd’s $600 million 2008 bid to cut elective surgery waiting times has failed spectacularly, with a massive 20 per cent blowout in wait times in NSW driving up the national figures, a new report card shows.
Page 6: The Reserve Bank’s series of cash rate cuts have failed to revive consumer confidence, though struggling retailers might expect a pickup in sales as new welfare payments kick in from next month.
Wesfarmers is stitching up deals with Australian farmers so that its Coles supermarkets can ensure future supplies of food in the face of an expected onslaught of demand for produce from supermarkets in China.
The end of the mining boom will force political leaders to sharpen their focus on the growth of services rather than resources, economist and Reserve Bank board member John Edwards has warned, amid frustrations over the policy focus on low-growth sectors such as manufacturing.
States will lose up to $250 million in federal payments over the next 12 months as they struggle to meet deadlines for reforms agreed with Canberra that were meant to ease burdens on business.
Page 8: Nicholas Stern, the economist whose work kick-started the international climate change debate, has backed Australia’s carbon tax regime and predicts the package could open up opportunities for business.
Business: Mining magnate Nathan Tinkler has made a surprising tilt at Whitehaven Coal just two months after he was involved in an asset shuffle that helped to create the $4 billion coal company in the first place.
Wesfarmers is confident China’s demand for Australian resources will remain strong, predicting the nation’s economy will double in size in the next decade, underpinning the company’s coal business.
Fortescue Metals Group and its Chinese partner, Baosteel, have merged their Australian magnetite iron ore interests into a vehicle based in Hong Kong.
More than two-thirds of large companies are prepared to hire foreign workers in the face of difficulties finding skilled labour here, a national survey has found.
One of Fairfax Media’s biggest institutional shareholders would welcome a private equity play for the company and has supported a call by fellow shareholder Gina Rinehart for the directors to personally hold more shares.
Gina Rinehart’s flagship mining company, Hancock Prospecting, has breached the Corporations Act by failing to lodge its accounts almost two years after the end of the 2009-10 financial year, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was told yesterday.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Blues full-back Brett Stewart scored the first try in State of Origin II - beginning a nail-biting game that ended with a chance at series glory for NSW. The Gillard government will look for a way to fund a cut in company tax, which it left out of the federal budget, as a matter of priority.
Page 2: Welfare groups have called on Premier Barry O'Farrell to increase assistance to help households pay the rising costs of electricity.
Page 3: The arrival of three asylum-seeker boats at Ashmore Island, Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands have stretched Australia's border patrol resources.
World: The UN has declared Syria to be in the middle of a full-scale civil war, as the US airs fears that Russia has been shipping attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Business: The big four banks' hesitation in passing on Reserve Bank rate cuts has attracted accusations they are profiting from the delays.
Sport: The Blues have defied the odds, winning the second State of Origin match. They are now able to head to Brisbane for the series decider.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: NSW won out in a nail-biting end to the second State of Origin, meaning they have a shot at securing a series win against Queensland. Gerard Baden-Clay has been charged with murdering his wife, socialite Allison Baden-Clay.
Page 2: Nearly two months after he reported his wife missing, the great-grandson of scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell has been charged with her murder.
Page 3: There's evidence people-smugglers are sending children to the front line of their dangerous trade, with a 14-year-old taken into authorities' care after a boat he crewed arrived in Australian waters on Tuesday.
World: Syria has officially descended into civil war, the UN says.
Finance: The Reserve Bank of Australia says the government and industries taking a battering from the high Australian dollar could help themselves by restoring productivity growth.
Sport: Coach Ricky Stuart has steered the NSW Origin team to a win in the second match of the series, giving them a chance of breaking Queensland's six-year State of Origin winning streak.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Sick and old doing it hardest in cash-strapped Greece where suppliers to hospitals are holding back their medical supplies because they are not being paid. Melbourne Water says it will keep on overcharging customers until at least early next year. Developers and land owners who donated to the Liberal Party coffers are among the big winners in green wedge and farmland developments.
Page 3: Banks make profits by dragging their feet on interest rate cuts. Arrival of three asylum-seeker boats across a vast stretch of ocean stretches Australia's border patrols. Jazz legend Graeme Bell dies at 97. Australian Ballet dancers find their feet in New York. \
World: US says Russia sending attack helicopters to Syria to strafe rebel positions across the country.
Business: Qantas appoints Macquarie Bank as adviser as speculation of a takeover attempt grows.
Sport: Carlton coach Brett Ratten tells firebrand Mitch Robinson to rein in his combative on-field play.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Hunger or thirst have been responsible for a number of deaths in Victorian hospitals. North Melbourne great Barry Cable inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
Page 2: Police will not offer a reward in an attempt to finally solve the killing of Jaidyn Leskie, 15 years after the Moe toddler's brutal death. Thousands of women have swamped the breast cancer screen hotline after Kerri-Anne Kennerley revealed she was fighting it.
Page 3: If children are going to eat chocolate, it should be dark chocolate because it has greater health benefits than white or milk. A security guard has been reinstated after being fired for telling his boss to "get f-----".
World: Amnesty International says in a new report that European governments care more about reinforcing their borders than saving lives, and endanger migrants by outsourcing security.
Finance: The state government is approving a record number of exploration licences as Victoria feverishly chases the spoils of the mining boom.
Sport: Footy is great, but family is number one, says new AFL Hall of Fame inductee Barry Cable.
