Union bid to import US workers – The Aus; $US600m hit for Fortescue – The West; Narev orders executive pay freeze at CBA – The Fin; Foreign funds to fertilise 'dining boom' – The Aus; Investors take Rio to task – The West
Union bid to import US workers
One of the nation’s biggest unions is negotiating to import up to 2000 skilled workers from the US on temporary visas, declaring unions will be unable to ‘‘hold back the tide’’ of foreigners needed to plug skill shortages on multi billion-dollar resources projects. The Aus
$US600m hit for Fortescue
Fortescue Metals Group's claim it can expand its Pilbara assets at almost half the cost of Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton has been thrown into question after the miner yesterday admitted to a $US600 million ($582 million) cost blowout for its Solomon development. The West
Narev orders executive pay freeze at CBA
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has frozen the pay of chief executive Ian Narev and other senior managers in a bid to avoid wide-scale job cuts. The Fin
Foreign funds to fertilise 'dining boom'
The nation has been urged to accept greater foreign investment in farming and food processing – and the wider use of genetically modified crops – as part of a drive to become the new food bowl for Asia's 3.2 billion-strong affluent middle class. The Aus
Investors take Rio to task
Investors are hoping that BHP Billiton can today follow the strong lead from Fortescue Metals Group into the reporting season and avoid the production downgrades dumped on the market by rival Rio Tinto. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: Flu patients are paying hundreds of dollars to bypass public hospitals with long ambulance queues to be treated at Perth's only 24-hour private emergency department.
Page 9: Metropolitan and South West beaches will have increased aerial shark patrols this summer, including an extra 31 days in Perth, after the unprecedented increase in fatal attacks.
Page 10: Supporters of Kevin Rudd are warning Labor has only two months to hand the leadership back to the Queenslander, saying he might not want it after that.
Page 14: The latest Westpoll has uncovered overwhelming public support for city-wide Sunday trading ahead of its introduction on August 26.
Page 16: Building workers picketed an inner-city construction site yesterday amid claims subcontractors were not being paid their full superannuation and other entitlements.
Ford Australia manufacturing workers are reeling after the car company yesterday announced it will shed 440 jobs by November.
Page 17: Supermarket giant Coles has come under fire from health experts for forging ahead with plans for a mega liquor store about 200m from a similar-sized outlet planned by rival Woolworths.
Page 18: The Town of Claremont is threatening legal action against concert promoters over noise at the showground, as it fights to prevent Big Day Out returning to the venue.
Business liftout:
Page 1: Fortescue Metals Group's claim it can expand its Pilbara assets at almost half the cost of Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton has been thrown into question after the miner yesterday admitted to a $US600 million ($582 million) cost blowout for its Solomon development.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation's biggest lender by market value, will freeze base salaries for people making $150,000 or more in its institutional banking and markets division.
Page 2: Alacer Gold has axed its planned South Kalgoorlie gold expansion, saying yesterday its money was better spent elsewhere.
Page 3: Investors are hoping that BHP Billiton can today follow the strong lead from Fortescue Metals Group into the reporting season and avoid the production downgrades dumped on the market by rival Rio Tinto.
Grange Resources is adamant its $2.9 billion Southdown magnetite development near Albany will keep to a mid-2015 production deadline despite yesterday admitting to revised debt funding and commissioning deadlines for the project.
Page 7: The Fair Work Ombudsman has dropped its wage-related investigation of Perth outfit Future Building Materials, clearing one hurdle in John Hancock's bid to transform the emerging building panel maker into a listed company.
Page 28: Hundreds of millions of investment dollars are likely to be heading for the Pilbara following a recent tour of the region by superannuation funds and Pilbara tour later this month by Infrastructure Australia's full council.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Commonwealth Bank of Australia has frozen the pay of chief executive Ian Narev and other senior managers in a bid to avoid wide-scale job cuts.
The Gillard government has ruled out a taxpayer bailout of Ford Australia despite plans by the US car maker to cut 440 jobs in Victoria and reduce production by about a third from November.
Page 5: Toll Holdings will try today to push through a picket line that is still in place outside a Coles warehouse in Melbourne in defiance of a court order that the blockade be lifted.
Page 7: The federal government's green paper on the proposed national food plan, released yesterday, gives short thrift to manufacturers who have been complaining of falling competitiveness and threats posed by Australia's supermarket duopoly.
Page 9: Former treasury secretary Ken Henry has complained of the complexity of the minerals resource rent tax, yet his own proposed resources super profits tax was almost as complicated, lawyers and miners said.
Page 10: Reserve Bank of Australia policy-makers saw no need to extend rate cuts this month after having driven mortgage rates below their average over the past 15 years and amid signs of the resilience in the local economy.
Page 15: Fortescue Metals Group will have to raise another $US1 billion of debt in the coming weeks to cover rising costs at one of its key iron ore expansion projects.
Asciano is holding a board meeting today amid speculation the ports and rail group is considering acquiring equipment that would allow it to eventually automate its Patrick wharf operations at Port Botany.
Page 18: Alacer Gold is unsure if securing full control of the rich Frog's Leg mine will mean it automatically resurrects plans for a $150 million expansion of its South Kalgoorlie Operations in the West Australian goldfields.
Page 19: Rio Tinto's inability to ship more iron ore from the Pilbara than its stated capacity due to port maintenance in the June quarter is likely to lead to small downgrades to the market's half-year earning expectations.
Page 24: Australia's second-largest supermarket operator, Coles, has put farmers on notice: consumers want better quality and they want to pay less for it.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: One of the nation’s biggest unions is negotiating to import up to 2000 skilled workers from the US on temporary visas, declaring unions will be unable to ‘‘hold back the tide’’ of foreigners needed to plug skill shortages on multi billion-dollar resources projects.
Deep petrol discounts of up to 40c a litre are under threat, with the competition regulator launching an investigation into the fuel price wars estimated to save motorists about $400 million a year.
The nation has been urged to accept greater foreign investment in farming and food processing – and the wider use of genetically modified crops – as part of a drive to become the new food bowl for Asia's 3.2 billion-strong affluent middle class.
Julia Gillard’s hand-picked expert border protection committee appears unlikely to break the political deadlock over offshore processing of asylumseekers, as the Greens have joined the Coalition in ruling out adopting any recommendation at odds with their own policy.
Page 4: Labor MPs yesterday ruled out any near-term attempt to depose Julia Gillard, but her critics have warned that the Prime Minister’s future depends on her ability to lift the party’s poll ratings in coming months.
Page 6: The government’s first national food strategy makes clear what agricultural scientists have been saying for the past decade: it is impossible for Australia to double its food production by 2050 to meet growing world demand without the use of all available investment, innovation and scientific advances.
The ACTU has savaged the nation’s most senior business leaders and employer groups for blaming the Fair Work Act for Australia’s long-term productivity decline, accusing them of waging a ‘‘dishonest and misleading’’ campaign to cut wages and conditions.
The company at the centre of a union blockade of a Coles warehouse has baulked at testing the blockade, despite a 48-hour court order instructing the union to allow free access for trucks and employees, but is almost certain to test it today.
Julia Gillard says the government remains committed to tax cuts, pension increases and family payment increases irrespective of whether the carbon price falls to $15 a tonne in 2015 when the scheme floats as part of a market mechanism.
Business: Rio Tinto chief Tom Albanese has given a pessimistic assessment of global markets, indicating that the big miner is not expecting any respite from sliding commodities prices that have been slicing resource company profit expectations and share prices.
Fortescue Metals Group has defended its decision to radically fast-track its Pilbara expansion after being forced to tap debt markets for up to $1 billion due to a 19 per cent cost blowout in building the Solomon hub.
Treasury has hit back at criticism of a backdated tax overhaul by some of the biggest multinational companies operating here — including Chevron and GM Holden — revealing that $1.9 billion in tax is at stake.
Arrium, the steelmaker and iron ore miner formerly known as OneSteel, has been saved from a full-year net loss by a carbon tax handout and an increase in the book value of its mining assets as it prepares for the minerals resources rent tax.
The head of Asian equities at major global asset manager BlackRock says an ‘‘incredible opportunity’’ has emerged for investors willing to look beyond the current global economic uncertainty and invest in shares.
Rare-earths miner Lynas has had a win in one of its defamation cases against groups voicing strong opposition to its Malaysian processing operation.
A corporate watchdog review of the unlisted property sector has uncovered a raft of problems, including operators breaching key financial requirements and failing to adequately manage information disclosure.
Telstra's high-flying shares have spurred on brokers to test the market for possible buyers of Kerry Stokes’s stake in the telco, but it is understood the billionaire media magnate has knocked back the move.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The state government began an audit of all licensed premises in Kings Cross on Tuesday night.
Page 2: Sydney small bar owners have rejected claims by a senior state government minister that they are contributing to problems in areas such as Kings Cross, arguing their emergence has been "a catalyst for change in NSW".
Page 3: The new four-cylinder Ford Falcon, developed with millions of dollars of federal government "green car" funding, is not being bought by NSW government departments because it does not meet their environmental guidelines
World: The US government has warned its Western allies and Syria's opposition groups that it can do nothing to intervene in the country's crisis until after November's presidential election.
Business: Investors are hoping BHP Billiton can follow today the strong lead from Fortescue Metals Group into reporting season, and avoid the sort of production downgrades dumped on the market by rival Rio Tinto.
Sport: Bulldogs coach Des Hasler was once worshipped by the Manly fans he expects to abuse him when he returns to Brookvale Oval on Friday night - but he wouldn't have it any other way.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: NSW government inspectors have been given the task to inspect all the pubs and clubs in Kings Cross over the next four days.
Page 2: The state government has done a backflip on speed cameras saying they are necessary to save lives and not cash cows.
Page 3: Bad eating habits are contributing to Australia's soaring obesity rates.
World: A jury in the US took just half an hour to find a lottery millionaire guilty of murdering Australian businessman Greg McNicol.
Business: The latest round of job cuts at Ford has sparked renewed calls for subsidies to carmakers to be phased out.
Sport: Penrith's Michael Jennings says that there is no certainty that he will be at the NRL club next season.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Ford job losses leave Gillard red-faced after she said six months ago that a $34 million government bailout of the company would mean more jobs. Proposed Titanic II casino only for first class paying passengers, says Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer.
Page 2: Angus Houston's parliamentary reference group fails to reach compromise on an asylum seeker policy. Managers at blockaded Coles warehouse push for a staff vote on their wage offer as soon as possible.
Page 3: Report finds that home ownership in Melbourne is a fading dream as land and building prices escalate. Detroit jury takes 30 minutes to find millionaire lottery winner shot dead Australian property developer Greg McNicol. The 05 numbers for mobile phone numbers will be introduced in 2017. Conservative activist group picketed Fairfax Sydney HQ demanding a board seat for Gina Rinehart.
World: Indonesia's latest Russian-made jet fighters to take part in Australia's largest air combat exercise over NT.
Business: Investors are hoping BHP Billiton can replicate Fortescue Metals Group into reporting season and avoid production downgrades dumped on the market by Rio Tinto.
Sport: Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says Hawthorn are the team to beat in the AFL.