Mining tax 'no role in scrapping BHP plans' – The West; Costs threaten gas projects – The Fin; WA cash given to union 'slush fund' – The West; Media reform: Seven breaks ranks – The Fin; Woodside puts Pluto gas search on hold – The Aus
Mining tax 'no role in scrapping BHP plans'
The head of Australia's biggest mining company has slapped down Tony Abbott after the Opposition Leader suggested the government was to blame for a decision to put off the expansion of the giant Olympic Dam mine. The West
Costs threaten gas projects
Santos chief executive David Knox says the next $100 billion of gas projects are at risk because it costs three times as much to develop them here than in the Gulf of Mexico and twice what it costs elsewhere. The Fin
WA cash given to union 'slush fund'
WA taxpayers were victims of the alleged $1 million union fraud that is continuing to haunt Julia Gillard. The West
Media reform: Seven breaks ranks
Seven West Media chief executive Don Voelte has broken away from the group of seven media bosses who had lobbied Prime Minister Julia Gillard on proposed media reforms, saying he did not like actions that had occurred after their original joint letter was sent. The Fin
Woodside puts Pluto gas search on hold
Woodside Petroleum has virtually conceded defeat in a five-year quest to discover enough gas to support an expansion of its flagship $14.9 billion Pluto LNG project in Western Australia, as chief executive Peter Coleman ordered a halt to a ‘‘disappointing’’ drilling campaign. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: WA taxpayers were victims of the alleged $1 million union fraud that is continuing to haunt Julia Gillard.
Page 3: Experts believe a statewide overhaul in the delivery of early childhood intervention services is needed to tackle unacceptable waiting times for essential child development therapies.
Page 8: The head of Australia's biggest mining company has slapped down Tony Abbott after the Opposition Leader suggested the government was to blame for a decision to put off the expansion of the giant Olympic Dam mine.
Page 10: Fractures emerged in the state government yesterday after Nationals leader Brendon Grylls signalled opposition to Transport Minister Troy Buswell's decision not to keep 700km of Wheatbelt rail lines open.
Page 13: A secluded patch of land overlooking one of the South West's most picturesque beaches is set to become home to a lavish multi-million-dollar house despite concerns from the Department of Environment and Conservation.
Page 16: Sports fans face fines of up to $2000 if they smuggle alcohol into a range of major Perth sporting arenas under a state government crackdown on alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour.
Business: BHP Billiton has confirmed it has pushed back a decision on the Port Hedland outer harbour development until late next year.
Woodside Petroleum boss Peter Coleman has muddied the waters about where gas from its $40 billion Browse LNG project will be processed.
Wooldridges was insolvent at least two months before its collapse, believe its administrators, who have recommended the WA schools supplier be wound up.
Seven West Media chief Don Voelte has widened his cost review to include a tighter focus on Channel 7's news department.
Kresta Holdings has appointed a new chief executive and confirmed the sale of a WA facility as part of efforts to turn around the window furnishings business.
The chief executive of Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill project has defended the company's plan to use an enterprise migration agreement, saying the community needs to look at the bigger picture before dismissing the need for foreign labour.
A cashed-up Clough is scouting for acquisitions after a stronger second half saw the engineering group on track to put legacy issues behind it.
Quickflix is headed for a merger or the sale of a big stake in the online movie provider to ensure it can survive in a market being targeted by bigger players.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: BHP Billiton has blamed rising capital costs and lower commodity prices for its decision to shelve the $US20 billion-plus Olympic Dam copper uranium project indefinitely, a move that has sparked a political row over tax and Australia's competitiveness.
Santos chief executive David Knox says the next $100 billion of gas projects are at risk because it costs three times as much to develop them here than in the Gulf of Mexico and twice what it costs elsewhere.
The new head of struggling textiles company Pacific Brands insists Australian manufacturing has a future, even though the owner of the Bonds underwear and Sheridan sheets brands has lost over $800 million in four years.
Page 2: Seven West Media chief executive Don Voelte has broken away from the group of seven media bosses who had lobbied Prime Minister Julia Gillard on proposed media reforms, saying he did not like actions that had occurred after their original joint letter was sent.
Page 3: Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten has thrown his support behind a Productivity Commission recommendation that Fair Work Australia establish an expert panel to select default super funds for inclusion in industrial awards.
Page 6: The opposition has stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Julia Gillard over allegations of corruption by her former partner, Australian Workers Union official Bruce Wilson, whom she dated while working as a lawyer in the 1990s.
Page 8: Conservative states have reserved the right to raise mining royalties, despite threats by Treasurer Wayne Swan to cut their federal funding.
Page 11: The government has attacked the Coalition's support for a British-style high speed broadband scheme by invoking a former BT executive's claims that the UK system was “one of the biggest mistakes humanity has made”.
Page 12: Resource Minister Martin Ferguson said the federal government hasn't lost hope on Olympic Dam and that the government would work with BHP Billiton to curb capital costs, adding that copper prices remained “attractive”.
Page 13: Gas price rises on the eastern seaboard will follow the big rises already hitting downstream industrial users in Western Australia, says Santos chief executive David Knox.
Page 14: Mining is the fifth-most unequal industry in Australia in terms of average pay by gender, despite efforts to dispel the image of a male-dominated workforce.
Australians should consider accepting the risk of more blackouts in return for lower electricity prices, says the chairman of the electricity regulator, who believes present reliability standards were made for a time of stable prices that has passed.
Page 23: BHP Billiton has pared back spending on growth projects and boosted returns to shareholders despite predicting that a recovery in China's economy should improve demand for commodities in the second half of 2012.
Page 25: Seven West Media chief executive Don Voelte is personally lobbying Prime Minister Julia Gillard to have the 50 per cent licence fee rebate for commercial TV networks extended.
Page 27: After drilling 25 wells looking for gas to expand the Pluto liquefied natural gas project, Woodside Petroleum has called for a temporary halt to the exploration campaign, leaving investors questioning where the company's next phase of growth will come from.
Boral chief executive Ross Batstone believes the residential housing outlook is more uncertain than a year ago, as Australia's biggest building materials group posted a 42 per cent drop in annual net profit.
Page 30: The world's biggest miner appears satisfied with remaining the third largest global player in iron ore, having shelved plans to grow its capacity to 340 million tonnes through a $US20 billion investment in the outer harbour at Port Hedland in Western Australia.
Page 35: Fortescue Metals Group is expected to face heavy questioning when it reports its results today after iron ore prices plunged again overnight and as traders say contract customers are asking to delay scheduled shipments.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Crippling development costs and weak commodity prices have been blamed for BHP Billiton’s decision to shelve its $US30 billion ($28.71bn) Olympic Dam mine expansion, in the latest sign the resources boom has peaked.
Julia Gillard wrote in a formal application to establish an entity for her then client and boyfriend, union boss Bruce Wilson, that it was being formed for the purpose of achieving safe workplaces.
Page 2: Labor has moved to head off reforms that would give employers more choice over $10 billion in annual retirement savings, winning praise from unions but sparking a curt industry response last night.
Page 3: The Australian Taxation Office would have tough new powers to access phone taps, text messages and other communications under a plan to safeguard the nation’s tax system from fraud.
Page 5: Schools are bracing for a huge influx of students, with the federal education department forecasting an additional 670,000 enrolments over the next eight years.
Page 6: The Coalition has questioned Julia Gillard’s ethical standards after she failed to open a file at Slater & Gordon for legal work she performed in the early 1990s for her then partner and union boss, Bruce Wilson.
Page 7: NSW police have rejected claims by Craig Thomson that he has been vindicated over union rorting allegations, saying at no time had they ‘‘cleared any person of interest’’ in the matter.
The Reserve Bank has denied any wrongdoing following allegations it failed to pursue adequately claims that some staff at its subsidiary companies were engaged in corrupt practices.
The nation’s biggest union has urged Fair Work Australia to increase the overtime entitlements of retail workers, condemning an employer push to cut employee conditions as outrageous.
Former Northern Territory intervention chairwoman Sue Gordon has warned that the population explosion in indigenous communities will lead to a dire housing shortage unless the major parties are able to outline long-term visions for addressing the problem.
Page 9: German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces one of the toughest choices of her career in coming weeks: whether to risk the unravelling of the eurozone or her government.
Business: BHP Billiton has wiped more than $50 billion of big Australian projects from its near-term growth plans and shelved an already approved Queensland coking coal expansion as costs surge, commodity prices tumble and investors call for more constrained use of the mining giant’s cash.
Embattled wholesaler Pacific Brands is hoping its new chief executive, former Foster’s Group boss John Pollaers, will revive the business, following a three-year transformation program that has failed to restore revenue or earnings growth.
Woodside Petroleum has virtually conceded defeat in a five-year quest to discover enough gas to support an expansion of its flagship $14.9 billion Pluto LNG project in Western Australia, as chief executive Peter Coleman ordered a halt to a ‘‘disappointing’’ drilling campaign.
Seven West Media will scrutinise costs across the business in a tough operating environment after yesterday announcing a profit result slightly below expectations and the appointment of Ryan Stokes to the board.
More than 1000 Australian manufacturing jobs are being axed by two of the largest building materials players, Boral and Fletcher Building, which yesterday said volatile conditions in the construction market made it too difficult to predict earnings for the 2013 financial year.
Engineering group Clough is planning to ride Australia’s liquefied natural gas boom after announcing its order book had swelled to a record $2.3 billion as it booked a 2 per cent rise in annual net profit to $50.7 million.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: More than $50 billion of resources projects will not go ahead, signalling that the peak of the resources boom is past. PM Julia Gillard may have breached WA law by her involvement in setting up an association for her ex-boyfriend in the 1990s. Channel Seven predicts Channel Nine could lose $200 million over the course of its five-year NRL broadcast deal.
Page 2: Peter Costello says the RBA should have told him about a memo detailing evidence of foreign bribery by a subsidiary. It's going to take at least three months to build a processing facility on Nauru.
Page 3: AGL is drilling a coal seam gas well on the edge of Sydney. Construction work on the M2 motorway will continue until the end of next year. Children born to older fathers start life with more genetic mutations compared to the progeny of younger dads. The man accused of killing the Lin family was at home in bed on the night of the murders, a court's been told.
World: 2000 US troops have died in Afghanistan over the course of the 11-year conflict.
Business: BHP shareholders have won a greater slice of profits despite the big miner's profits slumping by 35 per cent.
Sport: Rabbitohs star Greg Inglis is likely to be the first NRL player to earn $1 million a season.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Telcos that gouge customers who use mobile phones while overseas face tough new rules. Nathan Hindmarsh's farewell game has been shifted to ANZ stadium.
Page 2: PM Julia Gillard prepared documents in relation to a workplace training fund 17 years ago even though she later stated she knew it would be used as a union slush fund.
Page 3: A goat and its owner have spent the last two days wandering through Sydney. A State MP stands to make millions from the government decision to change the way petrol prices are displayed.
World: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could leave power as part of a negotiated settlement as the civil war continues.
Buisness: BHP's profits have slumped, sparking fears the mining boom may have ended.
Sport: More on Nathan Hindmarsh's farewell game being switched from Parramatta stadium to ANZ.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Former federal treasurer Peter Costello says the Reserve Bank should have told him and police of a 2007 memo detailing evidence of foreign bribery by one of its subsidiaries that was covered up. Australia's biggest resources companies have revealed that more than $50 billion worth of expansion projects have been mothballed, in an ominous sign that the peak of Australia's resources boom has passed.
Page 3: New laws will allow authorities to collect and monitor Australians' internet records, including their web-browsing history, social media activity and emails. An orthodox Jewish organisation in St Kilda East accused of covering up a child sex abuse scandal has unreservedly apologised to victims.
Page 5: The Commonwealth ombudsman has urged the Gillard government to find an urgent solution to deal with refugees deemed security threats by ASIO but whose mental and physical health is threatened by indefinite detention.
World: Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley, became the 1990th US service member to die in the war in Afghanistan. Sanjeev Alex Kuhendrarajah, the high-profile spokesman for 254 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who refused for months to leave their boat at an Indonesian port, has resurfaced in Thailand, telling how he escaped capture by ruthless people-smuggling agents he had betrayed.
Business: Major shareholders in BHP Billiton appear to have won their long battle for a greater slice of profits, with returns to shareholders rising 11 per cent in the same year the company's earnings slumped 35 per cent. Former Foster's chief John Pollaers will swap beer for underwear, replacing Sue Morphet as boss of embattled clothing wholesaler Pacific Brands.
Sport: In what would surely prove the final flourish to what has been a stunning winter season for the North Melbourne Football Club, Ben Buckley now looks a near certainty to takeover as that club's chief executive.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: BHP Billiton has dealt a massive blow to Australia's mining boom, scrapping its $30 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam mine as it declared a $4.4 billion profit slump.
Page 3: Australians using their mobile phones overseas to make calls, send a text or surf the internet have been stung by phone companies reaping massive profit margins as high as 1000 per cent.
Page 5: Prince Harry is embroiled in controversy again after pictures of him playing late night strip billiards with a pretty young woman were published in the US.
Business: Tumbling commodity prices, soaring costs and a series of deep writedowns have wiped $7 billion from BHP Billiton's full-year profit.
Sport: Essendon chairman David Evans says responsibility for the club's dramatic season fade-out must be shared.
