Today's Business Headlines

Buswell to be reinstated as WA treasurer

Former West Australian treasurer Troy Buswell will be reinstated to his old job and emerging MP Liza Harvey is set to take control of the important housing portfolio in a state government reshuffle. The Fin

McGowan's silence on carbon tax creates federal ALP wedge

West Australian Opposition Leader Mark McGowan has become the first Labor leader to distance himself from the Gillard government’s carbon tax by refusing to give his support to the looming impost. The Aus

New CEO has analysts revising Seven's targets

Seven West Media new chief executive Don Voelte’s lack of media experience and the absence of clarity about the company’s financial position is creating uncertainty among investors, as analysts urgently revise their share price targets. The Aus

Verve ponders coal plant life extension

Verve Energy is considering prolonging its 42-year-old coal-fired power station in Kwinana, which is scheduled to shut down in 2015. The West

Retailers want a level playing field

Big retailers have called on local governments to protect the local market from international online rivals by plugging GST and duty-free loopholes and making it easier for consumers to shop around the clock by liberating trading hours and cutting penalty rates. The Fin

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Julia Gillard has demanded the Senate backs her revived Malaysia solution today after another asylum-seeker tragedy yesterday claimed more lives in treacherous waters north of Christmas Island.

Page 3: The carbon tax has been blamed for planned increases to Perth train, bus and ferry fares that exceed the inflation rate.

Page 10: Fairfax Media says it is unable to offer Gina Rinehart, the company's biggest shareholder, a seat on its board.

Page 11: The new Rottnest Island Authority head, local marketing and advertising guru John Driscoll, wants to promote the island so strongly that it features on the itinerary of every visitor to WA.

Page 14: Murdoch University faces a massive shake-up that will almost halve the number of schools and slash the number of degrees on offer.

Page 18: Unions want employers to top-up government funded maternity and paternity leave after a $188 million scheme to pay new fathers passed Federal Parliament yesterday.

Business: Verve Energy is considering prolonging its 42-year-old coal-fired power station in Kwinana, which is scheduled to shut down in 2015.

There are growing concerns for the building sector's future after new figures showed a dramatic fall in the number of apprentices entering the industry's traditional trades.

Building materials supplier Boral has slashed its profit forecast for the second time in three months – and just weeks after showing chief executive Mark Selway the door halfway through the company's restructure and turnaround project.

Cape Lambert Resources is a step closer to putting its hands on $80 million it believes it is owed by Metallurgical Corporation of China after a court win.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: Federal cabinet is set to approve and present to Parliament a tough public interest test for media ownership that could vet investors such as Gina Rinehart and the expansion plans of Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.

Labor and the Coalition remain deadlocked over a solution to asylum-seekers after a cross-party group of MPs failed to broker a deal between the Gillard government and the opposition on border protection.

Page 3: Former West Australian treasurer Troy Buswell will be reinstated to his old job and emerging MP Liza Harvey is set to take control of the important housing portfolio in a state government reshuffle.

Page 9: Big retailers have called on local governments to protect the local market from international online rivals by plugging GST and duty-free loopholes and making it easier for consumers to shop around the clock by liberating trading hours and cutting penalty rates.

Page 10: Banks are already factoring in the price of carbon when assessing whether to lend to owners of coal-fired generators, but senior bankers say there are much bigger reasons than the carbon tax, such as debt levels, for limiting lines of credit.

Page 11: Fairfax Media is bracing itself for more turmoil after chairman Roger Corbett knocked back billionaire Gina Rinehart's request for board seats.

Page 19: The Australian building sector faces its toughest year in decades, with hundreds of contractors struggling to survive as weak residential housing and stiff competition force builders to price jobs below cost to win business.

Page 21: Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has renewed attempts to wrest control of Central Petroleum, launching a legal bid to overturn Richard Cottee's appointment as managing director.

BHP Billiton is now spending nearly its entire greenfields exploration budget on searching for copper, amid growing expectations of a delay in its $US20 billion-plus Olympic Dam expansion project.

Page 22: Boral's acting chief, Ross Batstone, has warned that conditions in the building materials sector are the worst in 20 years, but insists the company does not need to raise fresh capital after downgrading earnings by a quarter.

Seven West Media may have appointed a new boss but the company is expected to keep working on succession plans amid speculation Don Voelte is not a long-term proposition as chief executive.

Page 23: Retailers are feeling the impact of the federal government's carbon tax compensation package, reporting stronger sales since the first payments were sent to consumers this month,

Page 40: In its first serious sell-off, Wesfarmers is disposing of 50-odd works from its fabled art collection.

Page 41: Australia's property chiefs have endorsed Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens's recent call to abandon pessimism as they head into the 2013 financial year.

Brookfield Multiplex has clinched a $190 million contract to develop accommodation and amenities for up to 2,000 workers on Hancock Prospecting's $9.5 billion Roy Hill iron ore project.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: The sinking of a second asylum-seeker vessel off Christmas Island in a week has failed to break parliament’s seven-month deadlock on the restoration of offshore processing, with the nation’s political parties last night unable to agree to any new move to discourage people-smuggling.

Page 2: A belligerent Clive Palmer has likened the presence of paid political lobbyists on the national executives of the Liberal and Nationals parties to Fitzgerald-era corruption in Queensland, saying it amounted to ‘‘favours for policy’’.

Page 4: One of the nation’s busiest ports faces a seven-day shutdown, with three unions threatening industrial action that could cripple coal exports from Gladstone Harbour in central Queensland.

Australia's resource exports will surge to a record $209 billion next financial year on the back of resilient demand from Asia, the government’s resources watchdog said yesterday.

A new row is brewing between the Gillard government and miners over a commonwealth proposal to charge proponents of major resources projects for administrative costs of environmental assessments.

West Australian Opposition Leader Mark McGowan has become the first Labor leader to distance himself from the Gillard government’s carbon tax by refusing to give his support to the looming impost.

Page 5: The directors of Fairfax Media had ‘‘no choice’’ but to knock back a request by Gina Rinehart for directorships at the media company in order to prevent the board becoming dysfunctional and avoid setting a precedent for shareholders with vested interests in other companies, according to the group’s institutional investors.

Some of the key construction firms building Labor’s $36 billion National Broadband Network have denied they are planning to abandon the next multi-billion dollar tender stage in the ongoing rollout of the fibre network across the nation.

Business: Rupert Murdoch is expected to continue to invest in News Corporation’s $9 billion publishing division, with the board of the global media company overnight tipped to approve the historic separation of the legacy assets from its booming film and entertainment businesses.

Seven West Media new chief executive Don Voelte’s lack of media experience and the absence of clarity about the company’s financial position is creating uncertainty among investors, as analysts urgently revise their share price targets.

Australia's largest listed building materials company, Boral, has downgraded its profit forecast for the second time in two months, saying earnings could be as much as $75 million less than it expected in February.

Profit expectations for Australia’s listed oil and gas producers are being slashed in response to the oil price slump, putting further pressure on already beaten-up share prices.

BHP Billiton could become the world’s biggest silver producer should it decide to expand its Cannington silver and base metals mine near McKinlay in northwest Queensland.

Hold that line about Gina Rinehart being the world’s richest woman. The slump in the market’s valuation of the iron ore and coal assets is estimated to have cut as much as $4.4 billion from her wealth, reducing it from the $29.17bn estimated in March in the 2012 BRW Rich 200 list to $24.7bn.

Leading retailers have called for uniform nationwide trading regulations as they struggle with one of the toughest retail environments on record

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: The Federal Parliament is in a state of paralysis after a compromise bill designed to implement some offshore processing and prevent more asylum seeker tragedies passed the lower house, but the Greens promised to block it in the Senate. Fairfax Media has declined to offer mining businesswoman and significant individual shareholder Gina Rinehart a seat on its board because she will not agree to its charter of editorial independence. A mental health expert will tell an international dementia conference in Sydney that should be considered a normal part of ageing for people aged 85 and over.

Page 2: Members of the Nomads outlaw motorcycle gang will take their battle against the NSW government's consorting laws to the High Court if they have to.

Page 3: Defiant NSW teachers have vowed to continue an industrial campaign against the government's Local Schools, Local Decisions policy as Education Minister Adrian Piccoli called on the upper house to pass legislation that could increase the size of any fines copped by the Teachers Federation.

World: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to push for a deal to rescue the eurozone when she meets with French president Francois Hollande.

Business: Worried newspaper editors are meeting in New York as News Corporation considers splitting its publishing and entertainment divisions.

Sport: NSW coach Ricky Stuart has kept changes to his squad to a minimum as the Blues prepare for the State of Origin decider.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: A compromise deal aimed at persuading asylum seekers not to take the dangerous sea voyage to Australia has been thrashed out in parliament following the latest boat capsize in which at least one person drowned.

Page 2: The former head of the NSW Department of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery, has attacked the barristers who ran high-profile cases for Gordon Wood and Jeffrey Gilham.

Page 3: The head of Coles has flagged queue-less supermarket checkouts as a possibility thanks to smart phone technology and radio tags on groceries that could be scanned as shoppers walk out of stores.

World: European Union leaders under increased pressure to solve the eurozone crisis will meet in Brussels for talks.

Finance: News Corporation shares hit four-year peaks following news the company may split its entertainment and publishing businesses.

Sport: Blues prop Tamou says he hopes he has opened the door for fellow New Zealand players to join the State of Origin.

THE CANBERRA TIMES:

Page 1: The federal opposition is poised to scuttle the passage of asylum seeker legislation through the Senate, in the wake of another ocean tragedy involving refugees heading to Australia.

Page 2: Labor asks Abbott to tell all on Slipper.

Page 3: A new study shows far fewer Australians are riding bikes today compared with the 1980s.

World: Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai had denied any knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the death of British businessman Neil Heywood. (Shanghai)

Business: Australian sharemarket closes slightly higher.

Sport: Two-time winner Rafael Nadal and four-time champion Serena Williams have reached the Wimbledon second round. (tennis)