Today's Business Headlines

China shield against iron ore price fall

Australia's biggest mining companies hope an acceleration in Chinese infrastructure spending and a recovery in China's housing market will protect them from a profit collapse driven by iron ore prices, which hit a 10-month low. The Fin

Coles still has upper hand in discount war

Coles supermarkets continued to outpace larger rival Woolworths on a key measure of sales growth during the fourth quarter, as the two retail giants continued to slash shelf prices in the ongoing battle for shoppers’ wallets. The Aus

Coates denies $750m IPO

Australia's biggest equipment hire firm, Coates Hire, has strongly denied reports its owners, Kerry Stokes’s Seven Group Holdings and US private equity firm Carlyle Group, are set to raise up to $750 million in an initial public offering. The Aus

Wooldridges goes under

Wooldridges, the former family business which helped prepare generations of WA children for school, has collapsed. The West

Patersons faces final siren in footy shakeup

Football could walk away from Patersons Stadium, its spiritual home of more than 100 years, to cash in on its long-term lease and shore up its finances when the $700 million stadium is finished at Burswood in 2018. The West

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Football could walk away from Patersons Stadium, its spiritual home of more than 100 years, to cash in on its long-term lease and shore up its finances when the $700 million stadium is finished at Burswood in 2018.

Page 14: Colin Barnett says he is considering switching WA's compulsory third-party vehicle insurance to a no-fault system as a stepping stone towards a national disability insurance scheme.

Page 17: Gina Rinehart has been ordered to release the tax advice she relied on to try to force her children to sign away rights to a $5 billion family trust.

One of Gina Rinehart's private companies has reportedly splashed out $44 million on two luxury apartments in Singapore.

Business: Wooldridges, the former family business which helped prepare generations of WA children for school, has collapsed.

Janet Holmes a Court has dismissed talk that parts of John Holland will be sold to cut debt at parent Leighton Holdings, declaring that its aviation services and transport divisions were core to the company.

Media tycoon Kerry Stokes' part-owned Coates Hire has attempted to pour cold water on reports it has appointed banks to manage a possible refloat of the nation's biggest equipment rental company.

Hess Corporation is considering an Asian buyer for part of its Equus project in a bid to help develop the key natural gas field.

Wesfarmers yesterday described persistent supplier criticism of Coles' pricing practices as “overdone” as the supermarkets business racked up a 12^th consecutive sales victory over Woolworths.

Newcrest Mining has underscored concerns about the comparatively high cost of its WA operations, with the company's latest quarterly report showing its Telfer gold mine had marched back up the company's cost table.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: Australia's biggest mining companies hope an acceleration in Chinese infrastructure spending and a recovery in China's housing market will protect them from a profit collapse driven by iron ore prices, which hit a 10-month low.

Kerry Stokes' Seven Group and the Carlyle Group are gauging a sharemarket float of their equipment rental group Coates Hire as early as October that could value the company at $3 billion.

Qantas Airways is prepared to sever a 17-year partnership with British Airways as part of its effort to form an alliance with the world's biggest international airline, Emirates.

Australia's most successful prospector, Mark Creasy, looks to have struck pay dirt again in partnership with junior explorer Sirius Resources.

Page 3: Another 630 jobs will disappear from the manufacturing industry after Caltex Australia decided to shut its refinery in Sydney and rely more heavily on imports to stem heavy losses in the business.

Page 4: Singapore appears to have drawn another high profile Australian mining magnate to its shores, with Gina Rinehart reportedly set to buy two apartments for luxury getaways for $S57.2 million ($44.08 million).

Page 5: Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said the Foreign Investment Review Board was stacked with investment bankers who were eager to sell off local assets and they should be replaced with small business people and family farmers.

Page 7: The European Union plans to delay the auction of hundreds of millions of carbon permits to increase lagging prices.

Page 10: Four state governments, including Western Australia's, want the Gillard government to resist pressure from the union movement to retain the status quo on industrial relations.

Page 12: Qantas Airways could offer its customers many more destinations in Europe, Middle East and Africa if it signed a code-share agreement with Emirates, the world's largest international airline.

Page 16: Wesfarmers chief Richard Goyder has vowed to maintain pressure on rivals by reinvesting in price to attract customers across its retail businesses, even if it means sacrificing short-term profit growth.

Page 17: Kerry Stokes's Seven Group Holdings has been dealt a setback in its attempt to gain clearance for a takeover bid for pay TV company Consolidated Media Holdings after the corporate regulator asked for more information.

Page 18: Mining and earthmoving equipment giant Caterpillar, among the first companies to ring warning bells about the recession in 2007, is not subscribing to the pessimism on world markets.

Page 22: Confirmation that Newcrest Mining met its full-year production guidance with an improved June quarter has overshadowed news of a cost overrun at the goldminer's $1.9 billion Cadia East project in NSW.

Coles has stopped selling deeply discounted pallets of beer as part of a strategy to improve profit margins and the quality of sales.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Julia Gillard this week rejected an offer from state leaders of unconditional political support for a Medicare-style levy to fund a National Disability Insurance Scheme, fearing Tony Abbott would seize on the proposal as a ‘‘great big new tax’’.

The closure of Australia’s second-biggest oil refinery has sparked calls for a Productivity Commission inquiry into the long-term viability of key industries and business demands for reforms to boost manufacturing competitiveness.

James Ashby actively encouraged Peter Slipper to resign from the Liberal National Party before the MP accepted the Speaker’s role last year, but the media adviser continued to moonlight for the LNP despite Mr Slipper’s fear that the party ‘‘was out to destroy him’’.

Page 2: Union members would be able to complain to an independent ombudsman about the conduct of union officials, under proposals being developed by the labour movement i n the wake of the Health Services Union scandal.

The 2014 closure of Australia’s second-biggest refinery at Kurnell means that the nation will for the first time probably be importing more refined fuel products, including petrol and diesel, than it makes.

Page 6: Greens senators Christine Milne and Lee Rhiannon, who have built their careers demanding openness and transparency, argue that official Treasury costings of the party’s policies must remain secret despite the process being funded by taxpayers.

Business: Coles supermarkets continued to outpace larger rival Woolworths on a key measure of sales growth during the fourth quarter, as the two retail giants continued to slash shelf prices in the ongoing battle for shoppers’ wallets.

Two of Australia’s largest listed media companies, Fairfax and APN News & Media, are planning to announce combined write-downs worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Caltex's decision to close the bigger of its two oil refineries was welcomed by the market yesterday despite news of a capital raising and dividend reduction.

The iron ore price has fallen below $US120 a tonne for the first time in eight months, sending another jolt through resources stocks as investor fears rise of softer demand from China.

Indonesia is being warned it risks foreign mining investment evaporating under the double cloud of ownership controversies and the government’s rush to impose a welter of tough new regulations on the industry.

Newcrest managing director Greg Robinson is breathing easier after delivering a June quarter production report that met previously lowered guidance on gold production targets.

Speculation that Qantas is poised to enter into an alliance with Dubai-based powerhouse Emirates saw its shares rocket almost 10 per cent yesterday, despite indications a deal is not imminent.

Australia's biggest equipment hire firm, Coates Hire, has strongly denied reports its owners, Kerry Stokes’s Seven Group Holdings and US private equity firm Carlyle Group, are set to raise up to $750 million in an initial public offering.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: The closure of Caltex's Kurnell refinery means NSW will have no refining capability and will be totally dependent on imported oil within two years. Australian women were the first people in the world to be used for the trialling of thalidomide. The Chinese government ran a doping regime on its Olympic athletes through the 1980s and 1990s modelled on eastern Europe.

Page 2: The NSW government has refused to budge on funding levels for the National Disability Insurance Scheme putting the trial launch in the Hunter Valley at risk.

Page 3: Scientists will test whether underwater alarms stationed along the NSW coast will prevent whales from being caught in shark nets during their northern migration.

World: The Assad regime is pumping troops and tanks into Aleppo as the fight for control of Syria's second largest city continues.

Business: Caltex will pay $680 million to remediate the site of the Kurnell refinery after its decision to close the plant.

Sport: The NSWRL will meet with former Blues Origin coach Ricky Stewart to determine who will coach the NSW side in 2013.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: Asylum seekers on a crippled boat first contacted by the ABC's Indonesia correspondent wanted him to inform Australian authorities so they would co-ordinate their rescue.

Page 2: The Liberal Party plans to `decapitate' potential Labor leaders by running heavily resourced strong candidates in their seats at the next federal election.

Page 3: After a 13-year break from working in movies Kylie Minogue will play a lesbian seductress in a horror-romance film.

World: Michael Jackson's nephew TJ has been granted custody of the late pop stars three children by a US judge.

Sport: The English press says the Australian Olympic team are underdogs as rumours abound that the team is below its best.

THE AGE:

Page 1: Pregnant Australian women used as human guinea pigs in thalidomide trials that had devastating effects on some unborn babies. Mary Henley-Collopy, aged 50, discovers her disabilities could have been prevented if drug company Grunenthal hadn't covered up warnings.

Page 2: Victorian government backs call for a minute's silence at the Olympics opening ceremony to honour the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at
the Munich Games 40 years ago.

Page 3: Victim of a Catholic pedophile priest is referred to a Catholic agency less than a week after the government inquiry promises that won't happen. Peter Slipper told James Ashby the staffer's homosexuality might not be accepted by the "redneck local majority" on the Sunshine Coast, court documents show. Melbourne's Hamer Hall reopens after two years of silence and darkness, with a gala concert and after-party to celebrate its revamp. Leno Yammouni, 37, who stabbed a woman who'd stopped to help him, receives double the average maximum jail term imposed on hundreds of recent Victorian offenders guilty of intentionally causing serious injury.

World: Chinese Olympians were subjected to a state-sponsored doping regime throughout the 1980s and '90s, retired team doctor says. Michael Somare quits as leader of PNG's National Alliance party.

Business: Australia will become more dependent on foreign oil when Caltex closes its Kurnell refinery, which will see hundreds of jobs lost.

Sport: Luke Hodge will captain Hawthorn for just the third time this
season, while Bomber Jason Winderlich will play his first game for the season coming back from a knee reconstruction when the two teams clash.

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: Champion swimmers James Magnussen and Stephanie Rice will settle for nothing less than London Olympics gold.

Page 2: Victoria's economy cops double whammy with 530 jobs cut at Public Transport Victoria and LTQ Engineering. Health Minister David Davis flies to the US for a medical conference with Bill Clinton, Elton John and Whoopi Goldberg while the Royal Children's Hospital is plagued by problems.

Page 3: Report says the Grand Prix generates more than $200 million a year in publicity for Melbourne, sparking calls for the Baillieu government to secure new contract. Melbourne's Hamer Hall reopens in style after a $136 million, two-year makeover.

World: Accused Colorado cinema mass murderer James Holmes reportedly asks jail worker how The Dark Knight Rises ends.

Business: Coles extends its winning streak against Woolworths, with stronger sales than its larger rival despite opening stores at slower rate. Qantas shares soar as the airline confirms talks with Emirates.

Sport: Essendon's Jason Winderlich reveals painful 15-month journey to return from knee reconstruction against Hawthorn on Friday night.