Miners baulk at PM's lecture - The Aus; Iron ore, coal price slump rattles Reserve's confidence – The Aus; FAST exit for 500 JV staff as BHP work dries up – The West; WA and NSW open to Gonski deal for school cash – The Fin; Plunging iron ore prices claim another victim – The West
Miners baulk at PM's lecture
Julia Gillard inflamed tensions with the resources industry when she used a speech to a major mining conference in Perth yesterday to promote her schools funding plan rather than address mounting concerns about rising taxes and high costs in a climate of plunging commodity prices. The Aus
Iron ore, coal price slump rattles Reserve's confidence
Sharp falls in iron ore and coal prices have shaken the Reserve Bank’s confidence in China’s economy and added to concerns that Asia is being swept into a global downturn. The Aus
FAST exit for 500 JV staff as BHP work dries up
The ripple from BHP Billiton's decision to shelve more than $20 billion of Pilbara expansion projects has become a wave, with one of the global mining giant's main WA engineering contractors moving to slash 500 jobs. The West
WA and NSW open to Gonski deal for school cash
Two conservative states have opened the door to negotiations with the federal government over its proposed $6.5 billion education boost, in a win for Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The Fin
Plunging iron ore prices claim another victim
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has torn up his plan to expand iron ore production to 155 million tonnes annually by the middle of next year, admitting yesterday the miner could not afford its $6.2 billion capital budget amid a plunging iron ore price. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 5: Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group yesterday axed hundreds of WA jobs and slashed $1.6 billion in capital spending, amid growing signs that the state's iron ore boom has fallen victim to slowing economic growth in China.
Resources giants BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum have unveiled plans to expand oil drilling to just 40km from Ningaloo Reef, setting them on a collision course with environmentalists.
Page 8: The general manager of the long-awaited $549 million Perth Arena has died on the eve of its opening.
Page 9: Colin Barnett's tough talk over Julia Gillard's proposed education reforms was replaced with a conciliatory tone after he met the Prime Minister yesterday.
Page 11: Three months after Colin Barnett censured a principal in Parliament for warning parents his school was so run down it was a threat to students' health and safety, the state government has given it more than $2 million for renovations.
Page 14: Lawyers for Gina Rinehart yesterday continued the billionaire's attempt to force journalist Steve Pennells and The West Australian to hand over “communications” related to exclusive articles about her legal battles with her children.
Page 18: Former premier and lobbyist Brian Burke warned a business client “it's worth my life: if a confidential letter about land rezoning leaked to him was exposed and that his source would be sacked, Perth Magistrates Court was told yesterday.
Page 19: WA's Chinese tourism invasion shows no signs of tapering, with a 43 per cent increase in visitors in 2011-12.
Page 20: Grain handler CBH ordered grain trucks off the road yesterday after three rollovers in four days.
Business: Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has torn up his plan to expand iron ore production to 155 million tonnes annually by the middle of next year, admitting yesterday the miner could not afford its $6.2 billion capital budget amid a plunging iron ore price.
Contractors with close ties with Fortescue Metals Group were hit hard yesterday, despite denials that the miner's cutbacks would hurt earnings this financial year.
The ripple from BHP Billiton's decision to shelve more than $20 billion of Pilbara expansion projects has become a wave, with one of the global mining giant's main WA engineering contractors moving to slash 500 jobs.
The huge turnaround task facing new Bankwest managing director Rob De Luca has been underscored by new figures which show the bank's lending to business fell in the 12 months to July.
A supermarket pricing war on lamb has sparked fears the local red meat industry is being undervalued and farmers will be forced to pursue stronger export markets.
Metals X shares soared 11.1 per cent yesterday after the Perth miner confirmed it had secured the backing of South Korean giant Samsung to advance the Wingella nickel project in WA's north east.
The opening of Raine Square last week delivered another 13,000sqm of space into Perth's patchy CBD retail market but property agents say the new venue is not likely to have a negative impact on city trading conditions.
WA property group Georgiou Capital will break ground on a $40 million high-quality office development in Innaloo this month after locking down a 15-year lease with the WA government for the entire office space in the new 6,800sqm-plus building.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The plunging iron ore price has forced Fortescue Metals Group to delay part of its Pilbara expansion and sack more than 1000 employees and contractors in an effort to save $US1.6 billion.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is considering cutting interest rates because it is concerned about falling commodity prices, the deteriorating outlook for the global economy and conditions in China.
Page 3: Qantas Airways' battle for market share with Virgin Australia hit its bottom line when it lost 40,000 domestic passengers in July compared with a year earlier, even though it increased seats and cut airfares to fill them.
Page 4: Two conservative states, WA and NSW, have opened the door to negotiations with the federal government over its proposed $6.5 billion education boost, in a win for Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Page 6: Mining tycoon Gina Rinehart has hit out at federal Treasurer Wayne Swan's alleged promotion of class warfare, arguing her campaign against the perils of operating mines in a high-cost environment has become the “accepted truth” in the industry.
Page 7: Qantas chairman and former Rio Tinto chief executive Leigh Clifford has delivered a forceful critique of the Fair Work Act, suggesting it is preventing miners and other companies from achieving productivity improvements that would help them ride out difficult economic times.
Page 10: ACP Magazines (formerly Australian Consolidated Press) is about to become the property of a German publishing family whose longevity in the industry came to outlast even the Packers'
Page 13: BHP Billiton chief Marius Kloppers has expressed “categorical” confidence the iron ore price will rebound from current lows by the end of the year to bolster the miner's cash flows.
Page 15: DuluxGroup's long battle for control of garage-door manufacturer Alesco could be edging towards resolution, with both sides agreeing on key elements of the $210 million transaction.
Page 16: BC Iron managing director Mike Young says the miner will work to reduce production costs to maximise margins amid a lower iron ore price that has “everyone a little nervous at the moment.”
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Julia Gillard inflamed tensions with the resources industry when she used a speech to a major mining conference in Perth yesterday to promote her schools funding plan rather than address mounting concerns about rising taxes and high costs in a climate of plunging commodity prices.
A page turned in Australian publishing history yesterday when ACP Magazines, home of many of the nation’s biggest-selling and best-loved glossies, was sold to German publisher Bauer for $500 million by its debt-laden private equity owners.
Sharp falls in iron ore and coal prices have shaken the Reserve Bank’s confidence in China’s economy and added to concerns that Asia is being swept into a global downturn.
Page 2: Labor has dropped a key recommendation of the Gonski review of school funding to establish an independent body to set funding levels for schools and take the isssue out of the political arena.
Tax breaks for retirement funds are under the spotlight as Julia Gillard toughens her language on making big spending cuts to pay for her school funding plans, galvanising the finance sector to argue against budget changes.
Page 4: Bob Brown has defended the Greens’ stance on asylum-seekers as ‘‘courageous, legal and humane’’ as the party confronts warnings of a long-term electoral crisis and criticism its boats policy has helped drive away at least 450,000 supporters.
The Greens plan to push into regional Australia with a new wing of the party to oversee country campaigning and strategy.
Page 6: Former Queensland treasurer Keith DeLacy has declared he would be surprised if the government got a ‘‘single red cent’’ from the mining tax this year as plummeting commodity prices and soaring costs squeeze the profits out of iron ore and coal projects.
Australia's peak business group has backed calls by the conservative states to distribute GST revenue according to population share as part of a sweeping overhaul of federal-state finances.
Page 7: Grocon Employees are fed up and disappointed with the Union representing their own needs and agendas against, over and beyond Grocon employees wishes.
Business: The starting gun on the break-up of treasured Australian media assets fired yesterday, as ACP Magazines — a business started by the late Frank Packer in the midst of the Great Depression — was sold to German publishing powerhouse Bauer.
Fortescue Metals Group has succumbed to the severe slide in iron ore prices, laying off about 1000 workers and calling a halt to projects under construction to remain profitable and service debt.
The banking regulator believed in early 2008 that National Australia Bank risked a re-run of its foreign currency options crisis of four years before because of a failure by the bank in its ‘‘basic credit analysis’’.
The Reserve Bank is becoming increasingly concerned about the slowdown in the Chinese economy and its impact on commodity prices and Australia’s terms of trade.
Bullish mining giant Rio Tinto says it will not waver from its plan to boost iron ore production in the Pilbara by 60 per cent within three years despite the turmoil that has engulfed the industry.
Rio Tinto will trim jobs at its Argyle mine, famed for its rare pink diamonds, as it seeks to cut costs in a division the mining giant plans to exit.
Junior iron ore miner BC Iron has bucked the trend amongst its larger peers and received a boost to its share price after it declared a maiden dividend and a significant jump in annual profit.
China's largest steelmaking province says the sector has fallen into ‘‘extreme depression’’ and is unlikely to recover for some time as the country’s steel mills undergo a long-awaited restructure.
Dulux is edging closer to gaining control of Alesco, the construction products group, with the takeover target indicating its shareholders could back the $200 million bid.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The Gillard government has begun preparing for a federal election and has given itself the option of an early poll. The NSW government has promised Sydneysiders new motorways in its newly-unveiled transport plan. The Reserve Bank is preparing to cut interest rates in October. The new boss of NSW prisons, Peter Severin, believes more GPS monitoring should be used to protect crime victims.
Page 2: Indonesia has threatened to deny Australian requests for ship-to-ship transfer of rescued asylum seekers.
Page 3: A customs officer at Sydney Airport is facing charges of drug trafficking.
World: US First Lady Michelle Obama will underline her husband's humanity in a speech on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama's unofficial re-election campaign launch.
Business: Fortescue Metals has scaled back its multibillion dollar expansion plans until iron ore prices rises, and cut hundreds of jobs.
Sport: ARL Commission chairman John Grant has defended his concussion crackdown, which targets tacklers whose shoulders hit the heads of opponents.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Major energy users would be offered incentives to cut electricity use during peak times under an Australian Energy Market Commission proposal designed to offset rises in householders' bills. Ben Barba has taken four awards including the Dally M Medal at league's night of nights.
Page 2: The NSW government has admitted it is $53 billion short of the funds required to pay for its transport masterplan.
Page 3: An image of the Afghan soldier who killed three Australian soldiers has been released, and a US$5000 reward has been offered for information leading to his capture.
World: Actor Michael Clarke Duncan has died after nearly two months of treatment following a heart attack in July.
Business: Fortescue Metals has shelved multibillion dollar expansion plans and cut hundreds of jobs in another sign the mining boom may be slowing.
Sport: Bulldogs fullback Ben Barba was the golden boy at a black-tie awards night for the Dally M Medal on Tuesday.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Grocon employed a Hells Angel to intimidate striking workers at a Brisbane building site in March. Police investigate a $70,000 winning bet by millionaire horse owner and convicted drug dealer Peter Jones on a race allegedly fixed by champion jockey Danny Nikolic. More than 35,000 state school teachers, principals are expected to strike as part of escalating industrial action. Firefighting funds to be slashed by $66 million.
Page 2: Indonesia may refuse future requests by Australia to transfer rescued refugees from one ship to another so they can be returned to Indonesia.
Page 3: Sydney Airport customs officer and two drug couriers arrested by federal police agents last month. Melbourne woman who already has 12 children gives birth to quintuplets. Debt-laden Channel Nine off-loads ACP magazine stable to Germans. Locals divided over plans for a container vessel in Westernport Bay.
World: Syrian refugees caught in treeless wasteland in Jordan as they flee terror.
Buisness: Fortescue expansion put on hold as commodity prices weaken and hundreds lose their jobs.
Sport: Collingwood jumpers will be tailor-made to suit the man next season in a move to give them an extra advantage on the field.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Campaign to cut the road toll includes a 140km/h maximum speed for new cars, lowering .05 to a tougher new limit and banning young motorists driving at night.
Page 2: Union heavy banned from Grocon site spotted filming workers at the Emporium site. Federal MPs get another $525 annual allowance to travel to Canberra for work.
Page 3: Melbourne blows chance of hosting a US baseball league game and NBL match after government refuses to underwrite the events. Lou Richards takes another swipe at AFL for not awarding him Hall of Fame Legend status.
World: Democrats work hard to sell Obama after national passion of four years ago has cooled.
Business: Tumbling commodity ore prices forces Fortescue to shed hundreds of jobs and defer expansion plans.
Sport: Malthouse close to signing $3 million three year deal with Carlton.
