Labor's media rules enforce independence – The Fin; Kiwis ready to pay fly-in, fly-out fares – The West; Fair Work 'biased' to union super – The Fin; Foreign workers 'essential' – The West; Chevron says union delaying jobs – The West
Labor's media rules enforce independence
The Gillard government's public interest test for media would demand editorial independence, free and fair expression of opinion and a greater number of distinct owners, in hardline reforms that would hit the expansion plans of Gina Rinehart, Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Stokes. The Fin
Kiwis ready to pay fly-in, fly-out fares
International competition for WA's lucrative mine jobs has stepped up with thousands of New Zealanders offering to pay their own fly-in, fly-out costs across the Tasman. The West
Fair Work 'biased' to union super
Retail superannuation funds would have greater access to billions of dollars of compulsory worker contributions now directed by default into union-backed industry schemes under proposals from a damning Productivity Commission report into the role of industrial awards in the retirement income system. The Fin
Foreign workers 'essential'
Signing the country's first enterprise migration agreement has caused controversy for Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill Holdings, but chief executive Barry Fitzgerald says more will be necessary if the Australian resources industry is to remain competitive. The West
Chevron says union delaying jobs
Chevron has accused the maritime union of irresponsibly holding up work for Australians on the Gorgon LNG project by preventing the loading of a foreign-crewed ship south of Perth. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Premier Colin Barnett has dumped two high-profile ministers from his Cabinet and promoted Troy Buswell again in a bid to kick-start his stalled government 10 months out from the state election.
Page 6: Australia faces the prospect of more asylum-seekers dying at sea after federal politicians failed to strike a deal that could stop the flow of boats.
Page 9: West Australians making credit card payments on state government websites may be unwittingly exposing themselves to poor security.
Page 10: A $1.5 billion estate for 5,400 residents in South Hedland is planned to increase housing and ease high rents in the resources-fuelled North West.
International competition for WA's lucrative mine jobs has stepped up with thousands of New Zealanders offering to pay their own fly-in, fly-out costs across the Tasman.
Page 11: International flights to the South West are one step closer after Environment Minister Bill Marmion approved changes to a bitterly contested noise curfew at Busselton Airport.
Page 12: Seven West Media has criticised a federal government proposal to introduce a public interest test for media ownership, saying it is a threat to freedom of expression in Australia.
Page 13: There are finally encouraging signs that interest rate cuts are starting to pay dividends for the housing market as Australians squirrel billions of dollars away in their bank accounts.
Page 17: The Rottnest Island Authority has employed a public relations consultancy firm to improve the island's image.
Business: Signing the country's first enterprise migration agreement has caused controversy for Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill Holdings, but chief executive Barry Fitzgerald says more will be necessary if the Australian resources industry is to remain competitive.
Environment Minister Bill Marmion has thrown a spanner in the expected environmental approval of Woodside Petroleum's Browse LNG project by delaying a decision from the environmental watchdog that was to be released today.
The biggest change in WA's wholesale electricity market since the split of Western Power in 2006 begins on Sunday, and no, its not the carbon tax.
Wholesaler group Metcash has shrugged off the retail gloom by announcing its second major acquisition of a big franchise in a week and a $375 million capital raising to fund the expansion.
Investors have wiped $500 million off the value of gas giant Santos, after changes to the spending schedule for its massive Gladstone LNG plant fuelled market fears about two aspects of the proejct.
Chevron has accused the maritime union of irresponsibly holding up work for Australians on the Gorgon LNG project by preventing the loading of a foreign-crewed ship south of Perth.
Sundance Resources investors could learn as early as today whether the company's $1.7 billion tie-up with Hanlong Mining is on track, with a key decision looming from China's National Development and Reform Commission.
A former Automotive Holdings Group executive whose dismissal caused friction between shareholders and management is pursuing the vehicle dealer network for damages.
Woodside Petroleum's quest for more gas to underpin an expansion of its flagship Pluto LNG project has suffered a new setback after the much-anticipated Banambu Deep-1 well failed to reveal hydrocarbons.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Retail superannuation funds would have greater access to billions of dollars of compulsory worker contributions now directed by default into union-backed industry schemes under proposals from a damning Productivity Commission report into the role of industrial awards in the retirement income system.
The Gillard government's public interest test for media would demand editorial independence, free and fair expression of opinion and a greater number of distinct owners, in hardline reforms that would hit the expansion plans of Gina Rinehart, Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Stokes.
The Coalition will introduce legislation to repeal the carbon price scheme on the first day of the new parliament if elected, but it is refusing to reveal key elements of its “direct action plan” or how it will pay for its promised tax cuts.
Freehills is the latest top-tier legal firm to join the global rush, merging with Herbert Smith of the UK.
Page 4: White collar workers are shunning pay rises to stay under the radar as companies shave staff numbers, particularly in struggling industries, according to advisers.
Page 5: The Pilbara town of Port Hedland is set to grow by a third after the West Australian government announced a $1.5 billion residential land release.
Page 9: Housing has become less affordable despite the federal government pumping $1.3 billion annually into state and territory programs, the COAG Reform Council has found.
Household wealth recovered in 2012, but around a quarter of the wealth was kept in cash, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday.
Page 13: The systematic winding up of various state-based schemes on carbon is costing businesses time and money as they make the transition to the national counterpart programs.
Page 19: The West Australian government has delayed releasing the environmental report into Woodside's controversial $35 billion Browse gas hub at James Price Point while it seeks legal advice into the approvals process.
Former West Australian Treasurer Troy Buswell will once again control the purse strings of the country's fastest growing economy after winning back his old job in a major cabinet reshuffle.
Page 20: Kerry Stokes' Seven West Media has attacked the government's plan to impose a public interest test for significant media transactions, and called it a political interest test.
Page 23: News Corp's Australian papers are likely to come under greater scrutiny after Rupert Murdoch announced plans to split his global empire into two separate entertainment and publishing companies.
Metcash is raising $375 million in new capital to diversify into the $5.6 billion car parts market and cement its position in the $42 billion hardware sector as the price war between Woolworths and Coles takes its toll on independent grocery retailers.
Page 25: Queensland has seen the second multi billion-dollar cost blowout in its emerging liquefied natural gas industry in two months, heightening worries that returns to shareholders from the huge plants will be much lower than initially anticipated.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Federal MPS are bracing for an angry public backlash after leaving Canberra last night with the only progress towards ending the political impasse over asylum-seeker policy being Julia Gillard’s creation of a committee of non-politicians to bring ‘‘fresh eyes’’ to the problem.
News Corporation’s $6 billion entire Australian pay-TV and newspaper subsidiary, News Limited, will be housed in the new share market-listed publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire following a landmark break-up of the group unveiled in New York last night.
Unions have lost a crucial stage in their fight over retirement savings worth $10.5 billion a year as the Gillard government is urged to dismantle a regime that protects funds backed by the labour movement and employer groups.
Sixty per cent of manufacturers do not plan to pass the costs of the carbon tax on to their customers, sparking warnings from a leading industry group that the sector — already reeling from the high Australian dollar — will face even more pressure after the carbon-pricing regime begins on Sunday.
Page 2: Labor reforms to curb the media could be junked within 18 months as the federal Coalition vows to repeal the changes, labelling them a political ploy to restrict free speech.
Page 3: Stood-aside Speaker Peter Slipper flew to New Zealand in November to study art acquisition, according to reports on parliamentarians’ expenses for the first six months of the financial year released yesterday.
Page 6: Frustration with the deadlock over offshore processing sparked hostility between Labor and the Greens, with government senators accusing their minority partners of being ‘‘impotent’’.
Page 8: Official forecasts for electricity demand in Australia’s eastern states will be slashed today, adding to the pressures on coal-fired power stations just days before the start of the carbon tax.
The stoush over the presence of paid political lobbyists on the Liberals’ national executive is widening, with Victorian and Queensland powerbrokers set to call for greater transparency over the party’s finances at the federal council meeting, which opens in Melbourne today.
Business: The historic split of News Corporation into separately listed entertainment and publishing businesses will unleash hidden value inside the company, chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch said last night.
Santos has revealed a $2.5 billion cost increase at its Gladstone liquefied natural gas project as it prepares to drill an extra 300 onshore coal-seam gas wells in Queensland to ensure it has sufficient supplies for its huge LNG plant, which is due to start exporting in 2015.
New Seven West Media chief Don Voelte is expected to cut costs and staff as the company edges towards a capital raising.
Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby says the markets are too skittish about China’s economic growth numbers, and long-term trends for the country’s unprecedented industrial expansion remain intact.
Caltex has flagged a strong first half on the back of a good performance at its struggling refineries and higher margins.
Metcash is banking on strong support from institutional investors, after kicking off the first stage of a $375 million equity raising overnight to fund the expansion of the business into the hardware and auto supply sectors.
The head of Gina Rinehart’s planned $9 billion Roy Hill project is confident the company will secure financing within six months, adding that a deal to allow 1700 foreign workers to help build the mine would be critical in getting banks over the line.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has asked a group led by retired Defence Force chief Angus Houston to try to find a solution to Australia's asylum seeker policy. Independent senator Nick Xenophon says he is not the only one frustrated at watching politicians cry over the asylum seeker crisis without coming up with a solution. Rupert Murdoch will oversee a historic split of his News Corporation. Olympic weightlifting coach Mike Keelan has been dumped just weeks out from the London Games.
Page 2: An expert with the Lowy Institute says Australia is drifting towards a crisis with major trading partner China because the Gillard government has failed to build strong communication channels.
Page 3: The daughter of a leading advocate of `free birthing', Janet Fraser, died because the mother, her partner and a friend were not adequately prepared for complications that struck during the birth, a coroner has ruled.
World: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lost the support of key ally Russia, according to three UN diplomats.
Business: Santos investors have reacted to changes in the gas company's Gladstone LNG plant spending schedule by wiping half a billion dollars of its value.
Sport: Michael Cheika is a strong favourite to be named Western Force head coach, but several Waratahs coaches and team officials have expressed interest in a move to Perth.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: After two days of negotiations, debate and tears over asylum seekers who perish trying to reach Australia by boat, MPs have headed off for their winter break without reaching a resolution.
Page 2: A driver has been crushed to death in a freak road accident in western Sydney.
Page 3: Quarantine officials have given the green light to importers of certain types of animal droppings used in medicinal and therapeutic treatments.
World: A wildfire continues to blaze through a city in Colorado, in the US.
Business: Despite the RBA's interest rate cuts and a state government keen to stimulate the housing construction sector, sales of new detached homes fell 5.5 per cent in May.
Sport: Glenn Stewart is optimistic that his injured left knee will be fit for play and he will be able to rejoin the Blues in time for the third and final State of Origin match.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Former Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston will head a panel charged with proposing a solution to break the impasse over fighting people smuggling.
Page 3: Victoria will have a new corruption fighter on Monday, but he will have no power to investigate anything, cannot take complaints and is not legally trained.
Page 5: Alcoa is secretly trying to extract millions of dollars more in effective subsidies from Victorian taxpayers on top of a $42 million rescue package for its troubled Point Henry aluminium smelter in Geelong.
World: The Republican Party is standing firm on its threat to strike down President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms.
Business: Investors have wiped half a billion dollars off the market value of Santos.
Sport: Carlton are facing an elimination final in June as it tries to revive its faltering season tonight.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: More desperate men, women and children are expected to risk their lives on boats seeking a new life in Australia while our MPs enjoy their winter break.
Page 3: A school bully, who said on Facebook she would taunt her victim until she died, is risking jail by continuing to stalk her, a magistrate has warned.
Page 5: People smugglers promised Basam Helim and his family a five-star cruise to Australia, but the family from Iraq instead boarded a dilapidated fishing vessel.
World: A raging wildfire has destroyed dozens of houses, while thick smoke and intense, towering flames kept officials from learning the full scope of damage to Colorado's second-largest city.
Business: Grocery wholesaler Metcash is seeking an immense cash injection to bankroll an acquisition spree following a dramatic slide in profitability.
Sport: Carlton will put its finals credentials on the line against in-form Hawthorn tonight.
