Today's Business Headlines

Miners face funding hole

Fortescue Metals Group has predicted junior miners may be forced to shelve projects as a slump in commodity prices and a downturn in capital markets create new fears for Australia's flagging mining boom. The Fin

Business building bridges to China

Australian business leaders have seized the initiative on ties with China, starting a ‘‘desperately overdue’’ dialogue after becoming exasperated with what they view as Labor’s mishandling of the country’s most critical bilateral relationship. The Aus

No interest in NBN's price tag

The federal government has been accused of hiding the true cost of the $36 billion national broadband network by excluding billions of dollars in extra financing charges. The Fin

ATCO eyes Albany pipeline

Canadian energy giant ATCO has emerged as a potential white knight for the proposed extension of the Dampier to Bunbury pipeline to Albany, with its local managing director saying the project could proceed without a major foundation customer. The West

Libs dubbed copycats on station plan

Labor claims a state government decision to build a new train station on the Mandurah line south of Cockburn Central is a copycat election promise. The West

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 4: Former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has arrived in Broome to join protesters campaigning against Woodside Petroleum's Browse gas hub.

Page 6: WA dog owners are now allowed to take their pooches to cafes and restaurants with outdoor areas after changes to national food hygiene regulations.

Page 11: WA truck drivers who crash are often driving tired because of pressure from tight deadlines and almost half of them had serious sleep problems, research has found.

Page 14: Although waiting times for public housing have blown out to more than 2½ years, new figures show many WA battlers are waiting much longer to get a roof over their heads.

Page 16: Joe Hockey, the man most likely to be next federal treasurer, has again sounded caution on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, refusing to commit to the scheme's start date in six years.

The National Farmer's Federation has embraced the coalition's proposed register of foreign land ownership but has shown the cold shoulder to a plan to increase scrutiny by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Page 17: Labor claims a state government decision to build a new train station on the Mandurah line south of Cockburn Central is a copycat election promise.

Business: Canadian energy giant ATCO has emerged as a potential white knight for the proposed extension of the Dampier to Bunbury pipeline to Albany, with its local managing director saying the project could proceed without a major foundation customer.

Education services provider Navitas has shrugged off concerns the stubbornly high Australian dollar will permanently dent its overseas-reliant business model.

Labour and maintenance services provider Programmed will remain plugged into the LNG boom for at least another three years after winning a big follow-up contract with Chevron on the Wheatstone project.

Toro Energy's proposed Wiluna uranium mine will not be directly impacted by competitor and Canadian giant Cameco pouring cold water on its own Kintyre project.

A recent spate of job losses in the engineering field is unlikely to ease long-run shortages in the resource sector, according to Pit Crew Management Consulting.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: Fortescue Metals Group has predicted junior miners may be forced to shelve projects as a slump in commodity prices and a downturn in capital markets create new fears for Australia's flagging mining boom.

Australian investors are poised to jump on a wave of renewed optimism and push shares higher after global markets rallied on hopes of an accelerating US recovery and an improved outlook for Europe.

The federal government has been accused of hiding the true cost of the $36 billion national broadband network by excluding billions of dollars in extra financing charges.

Page 3: A review of the banking system must consider changes to protect depositors and taxpayers from a bank failure, former Commonwealth Bank of Australia chief David Murray says.

Page 4: The Gillard government will allow workers from Australia and New Zealand to move their superannuation between countries to encourage workforce mobility.

The transport and agriculture industries might have to help pay for a corporate tax cut by giving up levy breaks, under funding options the federal government's business tax working group is due to release this week.

Page 7: Small businesses say they have been ignored by the review of the Fair Work Act.

Page 15: Credit unions and building societies have called on the government to consider radical options to break the dominance of the big four banks, including higher taxes and the conversion of Australia Post outlets into bank branches to boost competition.

Page 17: Rio Tinto's reported profit will be boosted by $1 billion in the first real effect of the mineral resource rent tax on mining giants.

Page 18: BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers is pessimistic about an improvement in the nickel price in the longer term and has not ruled out the sale of the miner's Nickel West business in Western Australia.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Australian business leaders have seized the initiative on ties with China, starting a ‘‘desperately overdue’’ dialogue after becoming exasperated with what they view as Labor’s mishandling of the country’s most critical bilateral relationship.

Tony Abbott says Labor is yielding to an ‘‘authoritarian streak’’ to muzzle free speech through media regulation because it is unwilling to admit critical media coverage is the result of its own poor performance, not bias or malpractice.

Page 2: The flow and size of Chinese investments in the Australian resources sector are tapering off as Canada and Africa prove more attractive cash destinations.

Warren Truss has declared that official statistics underplay the foreign ownership of Australian farmland and has called for a national register of all foreign investment in agriculture.

Page 3: The Department of Finance has joined the Treasury in refusing to release details of publicly funded costing of policies of the Greens, revealing the documents are part of the Gillard government’s cabinet process.

Page 4: The private benefits from a university degree so far outweigh public benefits that continued government subsidies cannot be justified, says a think tank report that yesterday raised the ire of the tertiary education sector.

Page 7: State Labor and Liberal treasurers said yesterday they were open to a Productivity Commission plan under which the states would abolish stamp duties in exchange for Canberra funding the national disability insurance scheme.

A reality check is needed on speculation of a slowdown in the mining sector, according to West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, who says his state will continue to deliver strong surpluses in the face of declining royalty revenues.

A fluke experiment tinkering with the genes of Australian wheat has created a new variety that could rocket wheat yields by 30 per cent a year.

Business: The government is facing increased calls for a major review of the banking system to increase competition and turn the credit union sector into a formidable opponent to the big banks.

Steve Sargent, the head of the local arm of US corporate giant GE, has seen the headlines declaring the end of the resources boom and he’s heard people who reckon we are all doomed. And frankly he doesn't believe them.

Investors are set to comb through company outlook statements for any sign of improving conditions as fund managers warn earnings expectations remain too high for several sectors struggling with deteriorating margins, rising costs and the strong currency.

BHP Billiton’s savage writedown of its US shale gas assets has raised the prospect of further billion dollar impairments in other parts of the business, with the group’s struggling aluminium operation in the spotlight before the full-year results in two weeks’ time.

The market value of Western Australia’s top 100 listed companies has recorded its sharpest drop since the global financial crisis hit, providing further evidence that negative sentiment is crushing resources stocks.

Australia's investment pipeline is expected to come under further pressure as weak capital markets and tighter bank funding squeezes junior miners’ access to funding for resources projects.

The chance of an interest rate cut in the next few months is dwindling as the nation’s economic conditions improve and the resurgent dollar complicates the Reserve Bank’s job of keeping inflation stable.

Lost receipts are costing one in two Australians $1000 in tax rebates, or $7.3 billion in total, a survey by the Commonwealth Bank has found.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: Sydney's Parramatta Road would be excavated to enable the building of an eight-lane motorway underneath, under Infrastructure NSW plans.

Page 2: Australia wasn't much of a target for the Russians during the Cold War, declassified documents say.

Page 3: Too few medical educators are available to teach trainee doctors.

World: The US State Department and the Pentagon are planning for the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Business: Reed Constructions was trading insolvent since March, three months before administrators were appointed.

Sport: Trent Barrett believes he is ready to be the next State of Origin coach.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione believes violent video games are fuelling knife crime.

Page 3: Silver medallist Mitchell Watt says fellow runners-up should be proud.

World: A group of 138 skydivers have set a world record in Chicago.

Business: Debt agreements can cause financial harm.

Sport: Swimming Australia's board is manoeuvring to retain power for the 2016 Olympics despite Australia's poorer performance in London.

THE AGE:

Page 1: Police are investigating a string of top Australian horseracing figures, including champion jockey Danny Nikolic, for alleged race fixing in what is shaping as the biggest corruption scandal to hit the sport in decades. A Qantas captain was forced to relinquish the controls of a passenger jet last week just minutes before it was due to take off from Sydney Airport after cabin crew suspected she had been drinking alcohol before the flight.

Page 3: At least three building-related businesses are going to the wall every week in Victoria, prompting industry leaders to plead for urgent government help to bolster the struggling sector. A ruling that Facebook is an advertising medium and not just a way to communicate will force companies to vet comments posted by the public to ensure they are not sexist, racist or factually inaccurate.

Page 5: Orphans abused in state care in Australia are taking their complaints to the United Nations Committee against Torture, hoping it will recommend better compensation and understanding.

World: The Syrian army pounded rebel positions in second city Aleppo on Sunday ahead of a threatened ground assault after boasting its capture of the final rebel-held district of the capital.

Business: Gold Coast property developer Sunland brought a lawsuit against two men involved in a controversial Dubai property deal for the ulterior purpose of protecting itself and a senior executive against prosecution in the emirate, it has been alleged.

Sport: An emotional Matthew Primus has parted company with Port Adelaide, as the club continued to self-destruct following Saturday's shock loss to Greater Western Sydney.

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: Mass murderer Julian Knight has enlisted one of Australia's top lawyers to sue his way to freedom.

Page 2: The Baillieu Government will not follow Tasmania's lead in introducing same-sex marriage laws. A Democratic Labor Party senator has started a campaign against imported crockery being used at Parliament House.

Page 3: A couple who believed they had been married for 26 years have been told they weren't legally married because the priest failed to lodge the paperwork.

Page 5: Cabbies are demanding answers after the hi-tech camera in murdered driver Stephen Seymour's taxi had to be sent overseas to try to retrieve images of his killer.

World: Syria's armed forces have pounded the rebel-held Salaheddin district of Aleppo from the air and ground, a rebel commander reported.

Business: In the battle for the small and medium-sized business telecommunications market, Melbourne company M2 is not just hooking into the latest technology, but finetuning its sales pitch.

Sport: Carlton coach Brett Ratten declared the Blues still had a heartbeat despite their 22-point loss to Sydney on Sunday.