Today's Business Headlines

Foreign firms targeted to fund tax cut

Multinational corporations could be forced to pay hundreds of millions extra in taxes to fund a cut in the corporate tax rate. The Fin

Gas explorers score win in reserves plan

Woodside Petroleum, Shell, BP and others planning major exploration programs in environmentally sensitive waters around Australia will escape any significant impact from Canberra's marine reserves plan. The Fin

More firms snared by levy

Calls to cut payroll tax have intensified, with new data showing the number of Western Australian businesses being caught in the tax net has surged by 45 per cent in four years. The West

Land title backdown on gas hub

Kimberley Aborigines have bowed to threats from the West Australian government and Woodside and abandoned a bid to dissolve a native title claim, avoiding the suspension of more than $1 billion in benefits from the James Price Point gas hub. The Aus

Rio calls on government to fund FIFO services

Rio Tinto has told a Senate inquiry into fly in, fly out workplace practices that government can't rely on the mining company to pay for all the services its workforces require, noting its $5 billion corporate income tax bill in 2011. The Fin

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 3: A Health Department staff member faces corruption charges amid allegations a senior Gypsy Joker bikie asked her to tamper with urine samples so two of his employees could secure mining jobs.

Page 7: A Coolongup woman has told of being harassed by scammers who demanded entry to her badly storm-damaged home, asking for money and claiming to be from her insurance company.

Western Power said more than 1000 people throughout WA were still without power after the Sunday and Tuesday storms – and could remain so for days.

Page 9: Professional fishers have vowed to seek a bigger compensation deal from the federal government over its marine park plan after dismissing an initial figure as inadequate.

Page 10: Almost 80,000 WA businesses, councils and tradies will be eligible for 13c a litre more in fuel rebates from July 1 in changes timed to coincide with the carbon price.

Page 11: Threats to suspend a $1.3 billion native title deal for traditional owners of Woodside Petroleum's proposed $30 billion Kimberley gas hub site have resulted in the owners dropping a bid to discontinue their claim over the area.

Page 12: State MPs spent more than $850,000 on more than 150 interstate and overseas trips in the nine months to December, the latest parliamentary travel report reveals.

Business: Calls to cut payroll tax have intensified, with new data showing the number of Western Australian businesses being caught in the tax net has surged by 45 per cent in four years.

Eric Streitberg's Buru Energy was last night finalising a $50 million capital raising – the biggest in the Perth market darling's short history – to help fund a massive oil and gas exploration program in the Kimberley.

Gina Rinehart has increased her hold over Fairfax Media in a sharemarket raid that took her stake to more than 15 per cent.

A day after Lynas Corp said it was prepared to walk away from its African rare earths project because of legal wrangling, the mine appears to be positioning a $600 million WA development as its next big growth project.

Business is divided over a federal proposal for the state to sell its ports to private investors to help address a growing infrastructure backlog.

An unexpected lull in new mining project work has led Resource Equipment to lower profit expectations for this financial year.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: Multinational corporations could be forced to pay hundreds of millions extra in taxes to fund a cut in the corporate tax rate.

Gina Rinehart is believed to have increased her stake in Fairfax Media to about 15 per cent yesterday, adding momentum to her quest for two board seats and placing further pressure on the board to come to an arrangement with the company's largest shareholder.

Recreational fishing groups claiming to represent 5 million enthusiasts say they might campaign against Labor at the next federal election over the decision to create the world's largest network of marine reserves.

Tourism industry groups have joined Flight Centre to fund an aggressive advertising campaign against federal government tax rises.

Page 3: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has foreshadowed a crackdown on “creeping acquisitions” in retail after warning that small acquisitions by major retailers could lead to reduced competition and less choice for consumers.

Page 5: Frustrated business leaders at Prime Minister Julia Gillard's economic forum have labelled this week's event “stage managed” and lacking in deep debate, and called for the government to act quickly on skills, infrastructure and productivity.

Page 7: Industry assistance, keeping older workers in the workforce and the system of vocational training are the key areas the Productivity Commission should be asked to provide advice to the government on, according to an expert on productivity.

Page 8: Rio Tinto has told a Senate inquiry into fly in, fly out workplace practices that government can't rely on the mining company to pay for all the services its workforces require, noting its $5 billion corporate income tax bill in 2011.

Page 11: High-speed broadband will boost productivity in the resources sector through automated mining, but the sector will contribute less to the economy by 2020, a report says.

Page 12: Woodside Petroleum, Shell, BP and others planning major exploration programs in environmentally sensitive waters around Australia will escape any significant impact from Canberra's marine reserves plan.

Page 19: Concerns that a raft of mining projects could be cancelled or delayed have intensified after a report that BHP Billiton has trimmed its medium-term commodity price forecasts.

Page 20: Woolworths is adopting a more cautious approach to its ambitious liquor store expansion strategy, deferring plans to buy two bottle shops after trigging competition concerns.

Page 24: The European financial crisis and slowing growth in China, India and the United States have pushed down the prices of a wide array of commodities in recent weeks.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Senior Australian Defence Force officers, including some still serving, are suspected of being among personnel involved in hundreds of cases of ‘‘horrific’’ sexual abuse, bullying, harassment and intimidation in the military over six decades.

The Nationals are poised to launch an all-out assault on Tony Windsor by conscripting popular independent state MP Richard Torbay as their candidate in the federal independent’s northern NSW seat of New England.

Julia Gillard’s signature education policy aimed at lifting national literacy and numeracy standards has failed to produce any noticeable improvements after three years and $322 million in public spending.

A budget blowout of up to $107 billion in public servants’ pension costs risks swamping the value of the Future Fund and potentially undermining the Gillard government’s AAA credit rating.

Page 4: A senior Chinese government official has allegedly cited Australia’s federal workplace laws, including the apparent difficulty companies have sacking underperforming workers, as a reason why Australia was not attractive for Chinese manufacturing investment.

Professionals and managers are the big winners from the restructuring of the economy being forced by the mining boom and the high Australian dollar.

Kimberley Aborigines have bowed to threats from the West Australian government and Woodside and abandoned a bid to dissolve a native title claim, avoiding the suspension of more than $1 billion in benefits from the James Price Point gas hub.

Page 6: Former Fair Work Australia president Geoffrey Giudice has questioned whether existing protections for the public from the effects of strikes were adequate, prompting employers to warn against giving the tribunal greater powers to intervene in industrial disputes.

After years heavily involved in the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan, Australia has finally reached a formal agreement to co-operate with the Europe-based alliance into the future.

Resource sector employers have accused Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott of failing to shut down ‘‘divisive and uninformed’’ criticism of skilled migration, amid fears that a ceasefire in a union campaign targeting West Australian federal minister Gary Gray could prove fragile.

Page 7: A Murray Darling Basin-style campaign for hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation would be waged by communities hard hit by federal government plans to create the world’s largest system of marine reserves, fishing groups said yesterday.

A federal government officer will oversee future environmental approvals in Queensland to avoid a repeat of the volatile dispute over the $6.4 billion Alpha coalmine.

Page 8: The Coalition will negotiate with big power users to cut demand on hot days as part of a strategy to reduce the demand peaks that have been blamed for forcing massive investment in electricity networks and driving up prices.

Business: Gina Rinehart has thrown down the challenge to Fairfax Media chairman Roger Corbett and his fellow directors to let her into the boardroom, yesterday snaring another 2 per cent of the media company in a sharemarket raid targeted to lift her stake to 19.9 per cent.

Germans are affectionately known for rising early to reserve the best spots by the pool but when it comes to buying Australian government bonds, Germany’s central bankers are late off the mark.

Nathan Tinkler has held talks with Whitehaven Coal’s major shareholders in the hope any formal move on the coalminer will be a friendly transaction, as he works to secure funds to back his ambitious takeover plan.

The collapsed Hastie Group is expected to be wound up, with proceeds from the sale of several businesses falling well short of the estimated $600 million owed to banks and other creditors.

Telstra is preparing to outsource more than 300 call centre jobs as it continues to cut costs and simplify its business.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: More Sydney commuters may have to change trains in order to get to the centre of the city under a NSW government plan to speed up services. Sri Lankan asylum seekers are reportedly being promised Australian citizenship by an international people smuggling network.

Page 2: An audit has found that a $540 million government scheme to lift numeracy and literacy rates has made no measurable difference.

Page 3: The pricing regulator IPART says it could have halved the cost of household electricity prices if it was not hamstrung by regulations prescribing the way it calculates rises.

World: British Prime Minister David Cameron answers questions over his links to Rupert Murdoch at the Leveson Inquiry.

Business: The administrator of Hastie Group has dashed creditors' hopes of substantial returns.

Sport: Robbie Farah says being presented the match ball after NSW victory at the Origin was a career highlight.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: Robbie Farah celebrates his Origin victory with his mum at the hospital where she was admitted for cancer treatment. Public housing rents will rise from March next year as a result of the carbon tax, the NSW government says.

Page 2: NSW households set to pay higher electricity bills than their ACT neighbours.

Page 3: The NSW government and three of Australia's big banks are among more than 30 organisations trying to change the way the internet names websites.

World: Fresh clashes between regime troops and rebels have erupted in Syria as opposition fighters withdrew from the town of Al-Haffe.

Business: The stock market threatened to go below the 4000 point threshold as the European debt crises deepens.

Sport: Michael Jennings knocks the ball loose from Queenslander Brent Tate to spoil a certain try at the Origin.

THE AGE:

Page 1: Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has increased her hold on Fairfax Media in a sharemarket raid that has taken her stake in the publishing house to more than 15 per cent. Premier Ted Baillieu has warned coalition colleagues to put up or shut up, telling them to stop anonymous sniping about his leadership and instead visit him in his office to discuss any concerns.

Page 2: The Victorian government is on the hunt to bring the Oscars of Bollywood to Melbourne, but success could come at a huge cost, with organisers suggesting the bill to taxpayers could be as high as $18 million.

Page 3: Melbourne Water, facing public outrage over its billing blunder, has declared it will reconsider its options for refunding millions of consumers the money it is currently overcharging them for their water. Online betting company Sportsbet.com.au has stopped taking bets on whether Melbourne's trains will run on time following a request from Metro Trains to cease the bets in the interest of public safety. Four convicted pedophile priests are receiving significant financial support from Melbourne's Catholic archdiocese to pay for rent and health insurance.

World: US President Barack Obama visited the key state of Ohio to deliver a speech to cast November's election as a choice between his economic stewardship and a return to the policies that caused the downturn.

Business: The competition watchdog is considering laws to limit the leading supermarket chains' steady increase in market power.

Sport: Essendon says veteran free agent David Hille wants to stay with the club next year despite the strong competition for ruck positions at the Dons and the apparent interest in him from other clubs.

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: Victims of bullying should be able to make parents of their tormenters pay for their pain, says a former chief judge of Australia's Family Court. Teenage hero Sam Porter has saved three lives in two years.

Page 2: Melbourne Water is paying executives up to $18,000 in cash bonuses while telling some ripped-off customers they may never see their money again. The AFL has taken another step into hi-tech communications by securing an innovative new internet domain name. SMARTmeter customers are finally beginning to see hour-by-hour information about their power bills.

Page 3: A primary school is punishing students with counselling sessions if they are caught giving high fives, hugging or playing tiggy, basketball or football. Black Saturday survivors will be stripped of much needed mental health services because of a federal staffing freeze.

World: The man who has called himself the mastermind of the September 11 attacks is seeking to wear military-style clothing at his war crimes trial in Guantanamo.

Business: Australia's benchmark share index is sliding towards the 4000-point threshold as the European debt crisis deepens ahead of the pivotal Greek election this weekend.

Sport: St Kilda coach Scott Watters has dismissed talk the Saints could suffer from match weariness against a fresh Adelaide side.