Central banks seek to pump up growth – The Fin; $600m mega wind farm plan – The West; BHP sues over tugboat strike – The Fin; Tepco not a big player in gas field – The Aus; Gindalbie flags rival port plan – The West
Central banks seek to pump up growth
Central banks around the world scrambled to cut key lending rates last night in an effort to stimulate stricken economies across Europe and accelerate growth in China. The Fin
$600m mega wind farm plan
State owned power generator Verve is planning to significantly increase WA's share of renewable energy supplies by spending $600 million to build the state's biggest wind farm. The West
BHP sues over tugboat strike
Industrial strife at BHP Billiton moved west yesterday as the company launched legal proceedings against the Maritime Union of Australia over a wildcat strike at the world's busiest bulk export port. The Fin
Tepco not a big player in gas field
Chevron's declaration last month that it had struck an estimated $4.4 billion deal with Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power to sell it a stake in the Wheatstone gas project omitted one crucial detail: the stricken operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant will stump up a tiny portion of the money under the deal. The Aus
Gindalbie flags rival port plan
Gindalbie Metals chairman George Jones expects the future of the delayed Oakajee port and rail project in the Mid West to become clearer by September, saying several Chinese groups have expressed interest in underwriting a revised development model. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The number of Perth buses running late has hit a record high, as the Public Transport Authority admits there needs to be a “fresh approach” to tackle the city's public transport crush.
Page 4: Two legal challenges seeking to stop work on the $30 billion Kimberley gas hub at James Price Point were thrown out of court yesterday.
Page 6: Gina Rinehart last night offloaded $50 million in shares in Fairfax Media but the mining billionaire insisted the move was aimed at removing a key obstacle to joining the company's board.
Page 7: State owned power generator Verve is planning to significantly increase WA's share of renewable energy supplies by spending $600 million to build the state's biggest wind farm.
A WA solar company has become the first in the country to be slapped down by the competition watchdog for misleading customers about the impact of the carbon tax.
Page 11: An Aboriginal elder opposed to plans to mine uranium near the small northern Goldfields town of Wiluna has accused federal and state environment ministers of ignoring his concerns.
Page 17: Western Power has challenged two groups of university students to hack into a grid of cutting-edge electricity meters amid concerns the devices could pose a privacy risk.
Business: Gindalbie Metals chairman George Jones expects the future of the delayed Oakajee port and rail project in the Mid West to become clearer by September, saying several Chinese groups have expressed interest in underwriting a revised development model.
The Persian Gulf's biggest LNG contracting company has set up shop in Australia armed with a giant foreign workforce ready to step in if skilled local workers cannot be found.
Centaurus Metals was last night raising $26 million – almost 50 per cent of the Perth junior's market capitalisation – to help fund its ambition of becoming an iron ore supplier to Brazil's steel industry.
The so-called milk wars have reached a turning point, with Coles announcing last month it will increase the price it pays for its branded and private label milk.
Automotive Holdings Group has taken out a competitor in the refrigerated transport sector by buying Toll Group's struggling division for $6.5 million.
Big investment group BlackRock has joined one of the world's top business leaders in calling for an end to the era of excessive executive pay.
The Australian Securities Exchange has promised to overhaul the way it tests its key trading platform and to update older software to avoid a repeat of last October's four-hour market freeze.
Flight Centre has upgraded its full-year profit guidance primarily because of the continuing robust market for corporate travel.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Central banks around the world scrambled to cut key lending rates last night in an effort to stimulate stricken economies across Europe and accelerate growth in China.
Fast food king Jack Cowin is disappointed his role as the “Henry Kissinger of shuttle diplomacy” failed to get his friend Gina Rinehart two seats on the Fairfax Media board.
The electricity market is in danger of a “death spiral” as wealthy households use less power and install solar panels while poorer families bear the brunt of the cost of huge investments in transmission networks, according to economists at AGL Energy.
Page 3: Telstra has decided to increase the cost of mobile phone services days into the new financial year in a sign that the days of aggressive price competition among carriers may be over.
Page 4: Australia's China boom continues to gather pace, helping fuel an investment surge that shows little sign of slowing down.
A 31 per cent surge in global wheat prices over the past fortnight is encouraging farmers to consider forward-selling their crops but many are holding off in the hope that prices will continue to climb
Page 5: The newly appointed chairman of the Foreign Investment Review Board, Brian Wilson, will travel to Beijing next week in an effort to better explain Australian government policy towards Chinese investment.
Page 6: Billionaire Kerry Stokes' Seven West Media said it was bemused by Fairfax Media's criticism of rival publisher News Ltd for allegedly creating an environment that has led to proposals for a public interest test for media takeovers.
Page 7: Fairfax Media has turned down a peace offering from Gina Rinehart, saying the billionaire's decision to sell part of her stake would not alter a standoff over her demand for seats on the company's board.
Page 9: Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan yesterday ruled out changes to the three-year fixed carbon price but fuelled speculation that the government is seeking to redesign the price floor when emissions trading starts in 2015.
Page 11: Industrial strife at BHP Billiton moved west yesterday as the company launched legal proceedings against the Maritime Union of Australia over a wildcat strike at the world's busiest bulk export port.
Page 12: Lawsuits to stop preliminary work at Woodside's troubled $35 billion Browse gas project in Western Australia were kicked out of court yesterday.
A charity connected with Perth's Princess Margaret Hospital that lost $1.6 million in the global financial crisis has reached a confidential settlement with its former investment adviser before and expected federal court trial.
Page 15: AngloGold Ashanti chief executive Mark Cutifani has called on the federal government to hold a development summit with miners and other stakeholders to map out the future of the local industry and create a strategy to maintain global competitiveness.
Gina Rinehart says Australia needs to rapidly make decisions to restore its competitiveness as an investment destination or risk losing new jobs to other parts of the world.
Page 19: Leading Australian directors have backed Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis' criticism of spiralling executive pay but warn that excessive disclosure is only worsening the problem.
Page 23: Gindalbie Metals chairman George Jones has dismissed speculation the company may need to raise further equity to cover up to $US200 million of a funding shortfall on its $2.57 billion Karara iron ore project in Western Australia's mid-west.
Page 38: Financiers have accused Perth developer Luke Saraceni of engaging in “misleading or deceptive conduct” by not using money from a part-sale of a project in Western Australia's south-west to pay down debts.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has attacked the Coalition for seeking to ‘‘politicise’’ the referendum to acknowledge first Australians in the Constitution, as Aboriginal leaders lament the breakdown in bipartisanship crucial to the historic vote next year.
Gina Rinehart has again left Fairfax Media flummoxed after suddenly selling $50 million worth of shares in the company to a shareholder who supports her push for seats on the board.
Page 3: Jeff Kennett has demanded the consumer watchdog step up its investigation of the supermarket giants, launching a fiery attack on Coles for manipulating its market power and ‘‘deceiving’’ customers by selling foreign bread as freshly baked.
Page 4: Australia will express its outrage at South Korea’s surprise decision to resume whaling 26 years after abandoning the practice.
Page 6: The federal Coalition is calling for a national scheme to help farmers bargain with gas companies over access to their land, raising the prospect of a public register to reveal the millions of dollars flowing to landowners.
Tony Abbott said yesterday the government was in chaos after Julia Gillard confirmed consultations were under way on the floor price for carbon when it moves to an emissions trading scheme in 2015.
A rebound in iron ore exports was not enough to stem a rise in Australia’s trade deficit in May, as businesses took advantage of the higher Australian dollar to import more industrial transport equipment and fuel.
Business: Gina Rinehart has sold $50 million worth of shares in Fairfax Media to drop her holding to just under 15 per cent in an aggressive tactical move that adds pressure on chairman Roger Corbett to allow the mining magnate into the boardroom.
Chevron's declaration last month that it had struck an estimated $4.4 billion deal with Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power to sell it a stake in the Wheatstone gas project omitted one crucial detail: the stricken operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant will stump up a tiny portion of the money under the deal.
China and Europe lowered key interest rates and the Bank of England increased stimulus measures last night in a surprising flurry of activity to confront the slowdown in the global economy.
Leighton Holdings has suffered its first casualty in the Iraqi bribery scandal, which is at the centre of an Australian Federal Police investigation and has dogged the company for months.
Gindalbie Metals chairman George Jones says he has the support of the West Australian and federal governments for a Chinese-backed plan to revive the troubled $5.9 billion Oakajee infrastructure project, and he will seek to activate it if the project remains stalled beyond September.
One of the world’s highest-paid non-executive chairmen, Rio Tinto’s Jan du Plessis, has attacked spiralling executive pay rates in the wake of the departure of London’s best paid chief executive, Barclays boss Bob Diamond.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Australia's Girl Guides have dropped service to the Queen from the pledge young guides must make, with girls to vow to serve the community instead.
Page 2: The 162 asylum seekers who have arrived on Christmas Island sent out distress calls, though officials are yet to determine the exact nature of the "distress".
Page 3: A magistrate has ordered a couple involved in a custody dispute to only allow their boys, aged seven and four, to watch age-appropriate television and films.
World: South Korea plans to join Japan in killing whales for "scientific research", despite criticism from Australia, New Zealand and other anti-whaling nations.
Business: Leighton Holdings has sacked a senior manager linked to an alleged bribery scandal in Iraq as an Australian Federal Police investigation continues.
Sport: Queensland players and fans celebrate their seventh Origin win in a row.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Suppliers to Woolworths claim they have been given two weeks to cut their prices by up to 10 per cent or have their goods removed from shelves with no commitment from the supermarket giant to lower prices to consumers. Gina Rinehart last night offloaded $50 million worth of shares in Fairfax Media, but the mining billionaire insisted the move was aimed at removing a key obstacle to joining the company's board.
Page 2: Coles says it has made contingency arrangements ahead of expected industrial action that seems likely to shut down the supermarket chain's national distribution centre in Melbourne's west.
Page 3: The French government has made an extraordinary intervention in the saga over Victoria's desalination plant, urging the Baillieu government to negotiate with companies financially burnt by their involvement in the project including French water services giant Suez. A company that claims its weight-loss pills undo the damage of hamburgers and chocolate cake has been ordered to retract misleading advertisements and write to customers about its wrongdoing.
World: WikiLeaks has begun publishing a vast database of 2.4 million emails it says involve the Syrian government and associated companies.
Business: Australia's biggest construction company, Leighton Holdings, has sacked a senior manager working in its offshore business amid a corruption investigation into its Iraq operations by the Australian Federal Police.
Sport: Brett Ratten has punted on a first-gamer for Carlton's season-defining game against Collingwood at the MCG - Dandenong Stingray Andrew McInnes, 20, learnt from Ratten that his debut would take place in front of 75,000 people at the home of football against the AFL's top team.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: The Country Fire Authority secretly knew for more than a decade that water used in training at its notorious Fiskville base was potentially deadly, but never warned firefighters. Girl Guides will make a new pledge, but not to God or the Queen.
Page 2: Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel is launching an appeal against his sentence, claiming it should be further reduced because of his ill health and other factors.
Page 3: William Henzell will represent Australia at the Olympics in table tennis skills. One of Julia Gillard's advisers was acting within the scope of his duties when he passed on information that unwittingly led to Australia Day protests, police say.
World: Members of a suspected cannibal cult, who police allege are responsible for the deaths of seven people, have been arrested.
Business: Gina Rinehart has sold $50 million worth of Fairfax Media shares, cutting her stake in the group as she ups her game of cat and mouse with chairman Roger Corbett.
Sport: The clash with Collingwood will be do or die for Carlton.