Treasury in spending wake-up call – The Fin; Improve productivity or 85,600 jobs go, PM warned – The Aus; Wesfarmers plans $2bn expansion – The Fin; Sino Iron project faces new delay – The Aus; Mining tax adds $65m to MinRes' bottom line – The West
Treasury in spending wake-up call
Treasury has warned that the surge in tax revenue before the global financial crisis was an unsustainable “bubble” and that Labor's mounting list of big-ticket spending promises will have to be funded by deep cuts elsewhere. The Fin
Improve productivity or 85,600 jobs go, PM warned
Unions and business leaders are warning that 85,600 jobs could be lost from manufacturing within five years unless the nation’s productivity and competitiveness is improved and are calling for a new innovation and skills agenda to take advantage of emerging markets for hi-tech products in Asia. The Aus
Wesfarmers plans $2bn expansion
Wesfarmers will invest more than $2 billion in its retail network and industrial operations this year and is looking for acquisitions to underpin future growth after reporting a second consecutive year of double digit profit growth in 2012. The Fin
Sino Iron project faces new delay
Chinese steelmaker Citic Pacific has revealed yet another delay and cost blowout at its disastrously over-budget, behind-schedule $US7.8 billion ($7.4bn) Sino Iron project i n Western Australia. The Aus
Mining tax adds $65m to MinRes' bottom line
The mining tax has added $65 million to the bottom line of contractor-turned-miner Mineral Resources in a perverse accounting benefit more commonly associated with the sector's biggest players.The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The state government will look at making ex gratia payments to four Kimberley ultramarathon burns victims after damning findings by a parliamentary committee against race organisers and government agencies.
Page 5: A Cottesloe artist fined $100 for slapping a boy repeatedly after he played “knock and run” at his home believed the incident had been blown out of proportion and was astounded he was charged, his lawyer said yesterday.
WA winemakers are celebrating a near 30 per cent surge in the value of the state's wine exports – driven by China's thirst for red wine.
Page 11: The state government has launched an official bid to make next year's Margaret River Pro an elite event that would guarantee the world's best 34 surfers attend.
Page 12: WA's power plants should be privatised and water quality relaxed for use on gardens, according to a sweeping critique of public services by former infrastructure minister Allanah MacTiernan.
Police yesterday used specialist officers and a cherry picker to move protesters at several roadblocks along the route to Woodside's $30 billion gas hub at James Price Point near Broome.
Page 14: Parking fee rises of between 13 per cent and 53 per cent at six public hospitals should be disallowed because they do not reflect the cost of service and are arguably a hidden tax, a parliamentary committee has found.
Page 16: Perth Wildcats players will “walk the talk” in their latest sponsorship deal by denouncing binge drinking and alcohol-fuelled violence in trouble spots such as Northbridge.
Page 17: Pensioners and war veterans are among thousands of West Australians denied rebates on their electricity bills after Synergy bungle.
Business: Wesfarmers has injected a shot of confidence into the sharemarket by wrapping a strong annual profit result with an optimistic outlook backed by booming investment.
The mining tax has added $65 million to the bottom line of contractor-turned-miner Mineral Resources in a perverse accounting benefit more commonly associated with the sector's biggest players.
Prominent lawyer Martin Bennett has won a nine-year legal battle against a former client's civil claim for millions of dollars in damages after a failed joint business venture into online tutoring services for school students.
Speculation is rife throughout Perth mining circles that BHP Billiton is about to swing the axe across its iron ore division as a result of deferring more than $20 billion of Pilbara expansion projects.
Internet services provider iiNet is pinning its future on selling more products to its broadband customer base, including a push into the mobile phone market.
Matrix Composites and Engineering breached debt facilities for second time this year as it struggled with loses caused by the delayed ramp-up of its new manufacturing facility.
CITIC Pacific's delay plagued $US8 billion ($7.6 billion) Sino Iron venture in the Pilbara will miss yet another deadline after the Chinese company revealed the magnetite project would not enter production at the end of this month as promised, but in three months time.
Murchison Metals has all but called time on its bold vision to establish an iron ore industry in the state's Mid West, after shareholders yesterday approved the first leg of its likely liquidation.
Copper hopeful Horseshoe Metals has joined the ranks of junior explorers on share price runs over the past month, soaring 54.5 per cent yesterday after releasing new drilling results at its Murchison project.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Treasury has warned that the surge in tax revenue before the global financial crisis was an unsustainable “bubble” and that Labor's mounting list of big-ticket spending promises will have to be funded by deep cuts elsewhere.
Australian companies in 2012-13 could face the largest number of earnings downgrades since the credit crisis as corporate leaders warn of a tough outlook.
Page 5: The government of Ecuador has agreed to grant political asylum to Julian Assange, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks who is being pursued by Swedish authorities and fears he will ultimately be extradited to the US.
Rents in shopping centres have finally started to fall as the stress that retailers have been under from weak sales and poor consumer sentiment cascades through to landlords.
Page 6: State-owned companies and sovereign wealth funds could be forced to take on commercial partners if the Foreign Investment Review Board is concerned their acquisitions in Australia are driven by political factors rather than market forces.
Page 9: The federal government isn't backing away from its plan for a modest surplus this year even though its asylum-seeker U-turn threatens to blow a hole in the budget.
Page 11: The Gillard government's manufacturing taskforce has called for a lower tax burden on business and for a “leadership” group to continue talks about finding potential solutions.
Page 15: Wesfarmers will invest more than $2 billion in its retail network and industrial operations this year and is looking for acquisitions to underpin future growth after reporting a second consecutive year of double digit profit growth in 2012.
Page 17: The prospect of buying BHP Billiton's alumina assets in Brazil could prove attractive for Alumina Limited, says chief executive John Bevan.
Page 19: iiNet founder and chief executive Michael Malone has called for an acceleration in the rollout of the national broadband network and dismissed political risks surrounding the $37.4 billion project.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Former High Court judge Ian Callinan has warned against muzzling the media with regulation, arguing that the right to free speech has been hard won and should not be wound back by governments.
Page 2: Unions and business leaders are warning that 85,600 jobs could be lost from manufacturing within five years unless the nation’s productivity and competitiveness is improved and are calling for a new innovation and skills agenda to take advantage of emerging markets for hi-tech products in Asia.
China has turned off its unlimited overseas investment funding tap over the past 18 months, making it harder for its state-run companies to access huge dollops of cheap cash from its ‘‘policy banks’’.
The federal Treasury has warned politicians against aggressive measures to stop Australian consumers paying more than US shoppers for iTunes songs, computer games and hardware.
Page 3: Julian Assange has been granted asylum by Ecuador after the South American country declared the WikiLeaks founder’s own government in Australia had failed to protect his rights.
Page 4: Tony Abbott has sought to extract maximum political gain from Labor on border security, amending legislation to reinstate offshore processing of asylum-seekers to explicitly acknowledge the government has embraced Coalition policy on the issue.
Page 6: Wayne Swan is facing a revolt over red tape in Labor’s overhaul of federal-state funding, with critics warning that the reporting system is costing millions and undermining key programs.
Business: Supermarket giant Coles may have helped push parent company Wesfarmers’ annual profit 11 per higher, but managing director Richard Goyder says there is ample room for improvement.
Australian Securities Exchange managing director Elmer Funke Kupper has called for a pause to structural reforms of equities trading to avoid mistakes made in the introduction of a new exchange and the further fragmentation of the market.
Administrators of the collapsed Hastie Group feared being arrested if they travelled to the United Arab Emirates to monitor the failed company’s Middle East operations.
Chinese steelmaker Citic Pacific has revealed yet another delay and cost blowout at its disastrously over-budget, behind-schedule $US7.8 billion ($7.4bn) Sino Iron project i n Western Australia.
Alumina has abandoned dividend payments for the first time since the global financial crisis after continued weakness in alumina/aluminium markets and the strong dollar pushed it to an interim loss of $US8.2 million ($7.8m).
A slumping coal price and a higher Australian dollar will hit earnings at Wesfarmers’ resources division, says chief executive Richard Goyder.
Companies controlled by foreign states are being warned to disclose every investment they make in Australia, after an embarrassing oversight in which Etihad failed to do so.
A strategic review that identified $125 million in capital and operating-cost savings has failed to halt the slide in Ivanhoe Australia shares that accelerated when Rio Tinto took indirect control in January and displaced a more entrepreneurial leadership under billionaire mining financier Robert Friedland.
AMP chief executive Craig Dunn is growing confident Europe is edging towards a solution to the debt crisis but says the Australian economy has major challenges to overcome as the terms of trade boom begins to fade.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: After four years of investing in racehorses and about $300 million spent, business identity Nathan Tinkler may be able to go on a racing selling spree. Property tycoon Ron Medich offered a police informant $100,000 in cash to have someone "visit" the widow of slain businessman Michael McGurk, a Sydney court has heard. Three NSW ministers may be targeted for branch stacking if the Liberal Party passes reforms to the way it preselects candidates. Andrew Upton will stay at the artistic helm of the Sydney Theatre Company for another three years, but he won't be joined by his wife Cate Blanchett.
Page 2: An inquiry into race fixing in Victoria is expected to lead to new laws.
Page 3: Former Keddies partner Tony Barakat declared himself bankrupt weeks ago and cannot pay his debts, though his wife owns properties worth millions.
World: Two decades after civil war ended in Lebanon, the country is bracing for sectarian kidnappings.
Business: Supermarket giant Coles has driven a profit surge for Wesfarmers.
Sport: The NSW Rugby League Association has threatened to cut ties with the state's Origin Legends association because the body will not supply financial accounts.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: A man wearing a wig told the widow of slain businessman Michael McGurk to pay his loans, a court has heard. Jennifer Hawkins has taken the Myer Spring-Summer range to the catwalk.
Page 2: Almost a year after Michael McGurk was killed in his driveway, a man wearing a wig told his widow to "pay (her) husband's debts", a court has heard.
Page 3: Ecuador and Britain are locked in a standoff as rumours swirl of a possible raid on the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been holed up for two months.
World: At least 31 people died in a Syrian air strike as regime forces bombarded the battleground city of Aleppo.
Business: Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder has signalled the group is in buying mode, with net profits topping $2 billion for the first time.
Sport: Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens has targeted Bulldogs star Ben Barba on the eve of a much-anticipated game between the teams, declaring he is "no Superman".
THE AGE:
Page 1: Files released in the Victorian Supreme Court show Tony Mokbel's meteoric rise from having assets worth $128,000 in 1995 to a property developer worth more than $15 million in five years. The documents also show that NAB loaned him millions as he was emerging as the state's biggest illicit drug manufacturer. Police have surrounded and isolated the Ecuadorian embassy in London as tension mounts over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's bid for political asylum. Compensation claims by Tatts and Tabcorp could cost Victorian taxpayers $1 billion. An inquiry into race fixing in Victoria is expected to lead to changes to laws.
Page 2: Two companies owned by the Reserve Bank are to be the focus of corruption prosecution after it was found they communicated with the bank about payments made overseas.
Page 3: Treasury boss Martin Parkinson has foreshadowed more taxes following an assessment of Australia's tax position. Researchers have found a drug that could become the world's first contraceptive pill for males. Victoria's public servants are among the lowest paid in the country. A woman offered an elderly gardener a cup of tea before allegedly asking him to pay her for sex, then kidnapping him.
World: Tensions are rising in Russia in the lead-up to the verdict in the Pussy Riot trial.
Business: The $18 billion spend on Coles is finally starting to pay dividends for Wesfarmers as the supermarket giant posted an 11 per cent profit gain.
Sport: A Geelong footballer who has been concussed five times this season says there is little the AFL can do to prevent concussions.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Court documents have revealed Tony Mokbel borrowed up to $7 million from NAB in the lead-up to his arrest in 2001, despite telling the tax office he earned little. Close to $10 million of his money has never been recovered.
Page 2: The probe into race fixing in Victoria has spread. Four marathon runners plan to sue for more than $10 million after they were caught in a bushfire last year. Leaked Department of Education documents show staff may have to compete with colleagues to keep their jobs in a proposed structural overhaul if their jobs do not exist in the new structure.
Page 3: The ACCC will crack down on door-knockers following an investigation that found they were being directed to target vulnerable residents, including youth, the elderly, people on welfare or those who struggled with English. Jennifer Hawkins has launched her own swimwear line, Cozi.
World: US President Barak Obama's decision to grant temporary residency to undocumented immigrants has led to massive lines of people seeking to take advantage of the offer.
Business: Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder says the company is seeking to expand.
Sport: The AFL has found another suspicious game as it investigates the Melbourne Demons for "tanking".
