At last, people put before politics – The Aus; Company tax cuts dead on arrival – The Fin; Carbon price permits link to Europe – The Fin; Aquila joins BHP in Pilbara cutbacks – The West; BlueScope deal wipes out debt – The Aus
At last, people put before politics
Labor will today legislate to reinstate offshore processing of asylum-seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea after heeding the advice of an expert panel to return to a border protection regime similar to the Howard-era Pacific Solution. The Aus
Company tax cuts dead on arrival
The federal government's plans to cut corporate taxes have all but collapsed as business refuses to give up tax breaks in return for a lower rate. The Fin
Carbon price permits link to Europe
The Gillard government plans to link its carbon price scheme to Europe's emissions trading scheme from 2015 while limiting Australian use of low-cost permits generated in developing countries. The Fin
Aquila joins BHP in Pilbara cutbacks
Aquila Resources has joined BHP Billiton in announcing spending cuts in the Pilbara, casting doubts over whether the Tony Poli-backed company will be able to meet self-imposed time frames for its flagship $7 billion West Pilbara project. The West
BlueScope deal wipes out debt
Bluescope is to report another $1 billion annual loss next week, prompting the chief executive of the struggling steelmaker, Paul O’Malley, to follow in the atonement foot steps of BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers and Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese by asking not to be considered for a pay bonus for fiscal 2012. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Julia Gillard has shut the door on any more boat people, vowing yesterday that all new arrivals would be sent to Nauru, where they will face indefinite detention.
Page 3: Karl O'Callaghan faces rebuilding his leadership team while renewing his focus on addressing social issues that drive high-volume crime after he was reappointed as WA Police Commissioner for three years yesterday.
Page 7: High profile Labor MP John Quigley yesterday claimed Colin Barnett had tried for four years to recruit him the the Liberal Party.
Page 9: Rogue operators will be banned from running retirement villages and residents will be able to appeal against unfair rises to fees and charges under laws to better regulate the sector.
City commuters should brace for long delays on Friday with Perth train station set to close for Fremantle, Armadale and Midland services from 10:30am.
Page 14: Parents are fighting to stop demolition of the historic facade of Mt Lawley Primary School, which was gutted by fire last month.
In another boost for the local tourism industry, a seven-storey serviced apartments complex has been earmarked for Rockingham.
Business: Aquila Resources has joined BHP Billiton in announcing spending cuts in the Pilbara, casting doubts over whether the Tony Poli-backed company will be able to meet self-imposed time frames for its flagship $7 billion West Pilbara project.
Casino operator Crown has become the latest in a string of companies to issue hybrid-style shares, through a planned $400 million offering.
BlueScope Steel chief Paul O'Malley has become the latest executive to step up for a pay freeze and forgo his bonus in an effort to placate shareholders.
Miners would lose billions of dollars of concessions to get a moderate company tax cut under a series of proposals revealed by the Business Tax Working Group.
One of the nation's biggest contractors, UGL, has added to growing pessimism about the resources sector by saying uncertainty is causing project delays and cancellations.
The worst-kept secret in exploration is about to be revealed with Sirius Resources cashing in on its Nova nickel-copper discovery with a capital raising.
Gunson Resources is on the brink of realising a 10-year bid to develop its Coburn zircon project north of Geraldton after a $28 million commitment by Korean steel giant POSCO to partner the company.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The federal government's plans to cut corporate taxes have all but collapsed as business refuses to give up tax breaks in return for a lower rate.
The Gillard government plans to link its carbon price scheme to Europe's emissions trading scheme from 2015 while limiting Australian use of low-cost permits generated in developing countries.
The opposition is expected to accept Prime Minister Julia Gillard's backdown on asylum-seeker policy, breaking a damaging roadblock and paving the way for offshore processing on the Pacific Island of Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island to start within months.
Page 6: The oil and gas industry, including some global energy majors, has warned of stalled investment and slashed spending on exploration should proposals in the government's discussion paper become reality.
Page 7: Leading labour academic and Fair Work Act review panel member Ron McAllum has admitted being surprised at the hostility that greeted the release of what he though was a cautious and moderate approach to relatively young legislation.
Page 8: The Australian government should sate dollar-stoking demand for safe-haven assets by selling long-term infrastructure bonds to foreign investors, says a prominent hedge fund adviser and author of Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis.
The chief executive of one of Australia's biggest contractors, UGL, has called the top of the resources boom, warning the deferral of projects such as BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam expansion and Queensland's Solar Dawn power plant signalled it had peaked.
Page 11: Mining magnate Gina Rinehart's close friend, businessman Ron Manners, has called on the West Australian government to cut intervention in the state's economy.
Page 15: The world's second biggest steelmaker, Japan's Nippon Steel, will pay BlueScope Steel $US540 million ($511 million) in a deal that will transform the ailing Australian manufacturer and boost its earnings.
The Australian Securities Exchange has warned that the stability of financial markets will be at risk if the government opens up its crucial clearing and settlement functions to competitors.
Page 18: JB Hi-Fi is expanding its hardware range and stepping up efforts to sell more products through new channels to augment sales from new bricks and mortar stores and avoid another margin squeeze this year.
Page 19: Newcrest Mining, Australia's largest goldminer, believes costs in the mining sector may have peaked, but it is still cautious about committing capital to new projects while economic volatility persists.
Downer EDI chief executive Grant Fenn has forecast another solid year of growth driven by demand for contract mining and infrastructure services after delivering a healthy 2011-12 profit.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Labor will today legislate to reinstate offshore processing of asylum-seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea after heeding the advice of an expert panel to return to a border protection regime similar to the Howard-era Pacific Solution.
Industry groups are threatening to withdraw support from the Gillard government’s business tax review in a furious response to a new report that targets billions of dollars in company tax breaks.
Page 2: The Business Council of Australia has warned the Gillard government there is concern that the low rate of the dole is a barrier to employment and risks entrenching poverty.
Page 3: Some of Australia’s wealthiest families are threatening to wind up their charitable trusts unless Labor abandons plans that could strip them of their ability to keep their identities secret.
Page 4: Wayne Swan’s expert advisers have backed the economic case for a lower company tax rate despite doubts over how much of the benefit would flow to workers, sparking a Treasury project to quantify the wider benefits in a new paper due within weeks.
While the release of the taxation paper concerned itself primarily with the big end of town, small businesses were left wondering what was in it for them as they struggle with red tape and a better deal out of the Fair Work Act.
Scrapping building depreciation allowances would hit the struggling residential property market as mum-and-dad investors realised negatively gearing an investment property was no longer as attractive, according to Grant Thornton Australia tax partner Sian Sinclair.
Page 5: Universities have been accused of being disingenuous by claiming to be broke as part of their campaign to deregulate student fees and be allowed to charge market price for degrees.
Business: Bluescope is to report another $1 billion annual loss next week, prompting the chief executive of the struggling steelmaker, Paul O’Malley, to follow in the atonement foot steps of BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers and Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese by asking not to be considered for a pay bonus for fiscal 2012.
Investors cheered JB Hi-Fi’s profit result yesterday, despite the electronics retailer reporting a 22 per cent slide in net profit for the year to June 30.
Goldminer Newcrest has moved to meet investor demands for increased dividends by lifting its annual payment by 17 per cent, despite an underlying profit that was only marginally higher at $1.08 billion due to production shortfalls offsetting the benefits of higher gold prices.
Aquila Resources is pulling back spending on its $6 billion West Pilbara iron ore project in response to weak market conditions and approval delays.
UGL chief executive Richard Leupen has signalled a pull-back from the resources sector, warning the top of the industry had now passed, amid an uncertain economic future.
Downer EDI has leapt back to full-year profit, beating expectations and delivering a strong outlook that investors hope will put its troubled history behind it.
Westfield Group and its offshoot Westfield Retail Trust yesterday confirmed they were in ‘‘confidential negotiations’’ with AMP to finalise a $6 billion asset split.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The policy deadlock over asylum seekers is on the verge of being broken after an expert committee gave the government the green light to put its controversial Malaysia plan on the backburner and push ahead with a harsher version of the Howard government's Pacific solution.
Page 2: Refugee and human rights groups have condemned the recommendations of the expert panel led by the former chief of the defence force, Angus Houston, badging them a "cruel return" to the Pacific solution policies of the former prime minister John Howard.
Page 3: Match fixing, race fixing and other forms of corruption in sport will be punishable by up to 10 years in jail in NSW under new laws on cheating at gambling.
World: President Mohamed Morsi has forced the retirement of Egypt's powerful defence minister, the army chief of staff and other senior generals, moving aggressively to reclaim political power that the military had seized after the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year.
Business: BlueScope Steel chief executive Paul O'Malley has become the latest executive to step up for a pay freeze and forgo his bonus and long-term financial incentives in an effort to placate shareholder sentiment about management accountability.
Sport: An NFL-style "challenge system" enabling coaches or captains to contest refereeing decisions is set to be trialled after a meeting of the game's Rules Advisory Committee on Tuesday.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Asylum seekers could be sent to Nauru and Manus Island within weeks after Prime Minister Julia Gillard was forced into an embarrassing reversal on asylum seeker policy after the Houston report was released.
Page 2: The grieving Morcombe family is still waiting for the remains of their son Daniel to be released by police.
Page 3: Hundreds of police are being cut from high crime areas across Sydney to meet government commitments to replace rail transit officers with police.
World: A knife-wielding man was shot dead by police in New York's tourist-packed Times Square.
Business: Qantas is to resurrect its Sydney-Gold Coast flights, four years after abandoning them as unprofitable.
Sport: The NRL's independent commission is on notice from the 16 clubs, which are fed-up with secrecy and inaction as the game eyes a $1 billion TV broadcast deal.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Federal government to rush through legislation to process asylum seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea after accepting proposals to return to Howard-era offshore processing. Australia's overseas trade agency seeks independent security review after a top official's secret affair with a Vietnamese spy colonel implicated in bribery claims.
Page 2: Victoria's Director of Public Prosecutions terminates charges against a man who was facing 11 trials. Victoria's court system faces headache over Black Saturday class action, with the case stalled until a large enough room can be found.
Page 3: An average eight ambulances a day left off Victoria's roads last year as Ambulance Victoria struggled to fill thousands of paramedic shifts. Metro's five-year plan for a world-class Melbourne train network hangs on Baillieu government's pre-election promise to buy 40 new trains. Social media nightmare for Target after NSW mum says the store's clothes make girls look like "tramps". Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance's lone pine likely to be removed after efforts to save the tree from a fungal infection fail. Kidnapping victim tells Melbourne court she feared she'd be buried in a hole.
Page 5: Victims of clergy sexual abuse fear losing the right to testify at Victoria's church abuse inquiry, as some must apply to the church for permission to give evidence. Business investment in the non-mining economy shrinks to lowest share of GDP for almost 40 years. Guards at a Melbourne youth detention centre living in fear after a series of violent assaults by inmates. Victorian government to formally apologise for misguided adoption practices of the past that saw tens of thousands of babies removed from their mothers. Victoria faces school funding reform showdown with federal government set to use NDIS-style tactics to put pressure on states.
World: Indian Yoga guru Baba Ramdev leads hunger strike in protest against corruption and attacks on farmers' livelihoods. Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi stakes bold claim to power.
Business: Bluescope Steel boss the latest executive to forgo his bonus and long-term financial incentives. Billionaire Solomon Lew says he'll be oppressed as a minority shareholder if Country Road's takeover of Witchery succeeds.
Sport: Melbourne vows to be a major player during AFL trade and free agency periods, urging supporters to help pay for a revamped playing list. Lance Franklin set to return for Hawks, but Cyril Rioli will miss 2-3 games.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Tony Abbott under pressure to show his hand after Julia Gillard's backdown to reopen the Howard government's Pacific solution detention centres.
Page 2: Victorian police want tougher laws to crack down on taxi passengers running off without paying fares. Victorian bureaucrats use taxpayers' money to deck out their offices with $15,000 coffee machines. Nine Network switches its focus from the Olympics to Big Brother, which set social media abuzz on its debut.
Page 3: Thieves pinch more than $12 million worth of goods from JB Hi-Fi in a year. Older trains could be altered to carry more passengers under a plan being considered by Metro.
World: Emergency workers in Iran turn down international aid offers despite reports hospitals are struggling to cope after a double earthquake killed almost 300 people.
Business: Bluescope Steel stages its biggest single session share rally after striking $1.3 billion deal to enter Asia's booming whitegoods market.
Sport: Hawthorn says its star Lance Franklin has no psychological scars ahead of his return from five weeks on the sideline with injury.
