Slowdown fuels union jobs push – The Aus; Shell spells out China growth fears – The Fin; Banks roll over in Bell fight – The West; Receivership threat as Nine faces debt test – The Aus; Perth lacks long-term vision to guide growth – The West
Slowdown fuels union jobs push
The peak union body has used the slowdown in the resources boom and shelving of mega-projects to escalate its war on the recruitment of foreign workers, setting the scene for a new row with miners who warn that the move would add to already crippling development costs. The Aus
Shell spells out China growth fears
The Chinese economy could be in worse shape than official figures suggest, threatening demand for Australia's resources at the same time as increasing international competition and rising costs spell trouble for this nation's fledgling gas boom, says one of Royal Dutch Shell's top global executives. The Fin
Banks roll over in Bell fight
The bankers to Alan Bond's Bell Group have waved the white flag in a battle to hang on to more than $280 million snatched out of the media and investment group after it collapsed in 1991. The West
Receivership threat as Nine faces debt test
The potential receivership of Nine Entertainment is now a real threat amid a critical debt covenant test for the group at the end of the month. The Aus
Perth lacks long-term vision to guide growth
Perth needs to overhaul its public transport network, tackle housing affordability and choice and boost efforts in tertiary education and indigenous affairs if it is to prosper as a city of 3.5 million people by 2050, a new report has found. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: Police have given violent revellers from Saturday night's out of control party a chance to hand themselves in, warning they will be tracked down one by one if they do not.
Page 4: WA Liberals are under mounting pressure to split from their east coast counterparts and support Gillard government plans to deregulate fully the national wheat industry.
Tony Abott's unpopularity in two opinion polls has Liberals suggesting the Opposition Leader change gear and start spelling out a positive alternative.
Page 5: The Gillard government called on internet giant Google Australia to consider blocking access to an anti-Islamic film that has caused riots around the world, but Google refused.
Cottesloe restaurant Indiana is to apply for a relaxed liquor licence that would allow it to operate as a bar and host cocktail functions.
Page 9: Perth needs to overhaul its public transport network, tackle housing affordability and choice and boost efforts in tertiary education and indigenous affairs if it is to prosper as a city of 3.5 million people by 2050, a new report has found.
Page 13: WA's real estate market is bouncing back, with new figures revealing first-homebuyer activity at its highest level for almost three years.
Business: The bankers to Alan Bond's Bell Group have waved the white flag in a battle to hang on to more than $280 million snatched out of the media and investment group after it collapsed in 1991.
Mining hasn't got a monopoly on sharp growth in WA, with racing's latest major report card showing a big jump in industry spending over the past 10 years.
Struggling gold miner Apex Minerals has been forced back to the capital markets for the third time this year, yesterday saying it would need another cash injection to keep its turnaround plans on track.
Having missed out on a two-day sharemarket rally for mining stocks while its shares languish in a trading halt, the embattled Fortescue Metals Group will this morning provide an insight into how it has fared in talks with bankers who are owed up to $10 billion.
MacMahon Holdings' inconsistent construction business will come under scrutiny again as the contractor moves to downgrade a bullish profit forecast made just a month ago.
Shareholders of Little World Beverages have rubber-stamped the sale of the WA-born brewer to Japanese-owned Lion.
The blue-sky money coming in for WA-based junior explorers continued yesterday, with the Michael Fotios-backed Pegasus Metals and Perth junior Enterprise Metals both experiencing significant share price gains.
The managing director of Perth-based iron ore miner Northern Iron admits pressure on its cash balance is growing, as fluctuating iron ore prices and high operating costs take their toll.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Chinese economy could be in worse shape than official figures suggest, threatening demand for Australia's resources at the same time as increasing international competition and rising costs spell trouble for this nation's fledgling gas boom, says one of Royal Dutch Shell's top global executives.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has installed battle-tested bureaucrat Dennis Richardson to head a Defence Department under severe budgetary pressures and behind schedule on formulating a white paper outlining Australia's strategic options.
No one thought it extraordinary when Aquila Resources shareholders rubber-stamped a board decision to award executive chairman Tony Poli 5 million options at a meeting in late 2005, but Mr Poli had just scored what would prove to be the most spectacular options deal in Australian corporate history.
Page 3: Senior Coalition MPs have rushed to defend Tony Abbott's character, blaming Labor's “ferocious” personal attacks on the Opposition Leader for the fall in his approval rating.
Page 4: The Reserve Bank of Australia is not certain which central banks are holding the dollar in their currency reserves and has gathered some of its information from media reports.
The forecasts for key commodity prices are likely to be downgraded by the federal government today.
Page 5: Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has supported the central argument of big mining companies that Australia needs to get its cost structure down to lock in the promised pipeline of resource projects.
Mining in Australia has become more expensive, complicated and time consuming over the past decade, more than 70 per cent of industry leaders say in a new report.
Page 6: Large superannuation funds and the Australian Industry Group said they don't want any changes to the Renewable Energy Target for large-scale projects, a position that deepens the split over the policy to promote wind farms, solar energy and other alternative sources of electricity.
Page 11: QR National is planning to ditch its last links with Queensland almost two years after its $6.2 billion float, rebranding itself “Aurizon” as the 147-year old railway group reinvents itself.
Page 13: The top 100 chief executives have taken a major hit to their annual bonuses of more than 20 per cent on average, to $1.255 million, levels not seen since 2003.
Page 15: Pressure on the mining services sector is intensifying as large mining companies cut back on projects and spending, and contracting group Macmahon Holdings is the latest to feel the impact.
Japan's ambitions to phase out nuclear power by the end of the 2030s have raised early hopes of a sustained pick-up in liquefied natural gas demand that could kick-start struggling supply projects in Australia, despite soaring costs and intensifying global competition.
Page 17: Fortescue Metals Group is poised to emerge from a trading halt today with a positive update on talks with its lenders about relaxing its debt covenants.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The peak union body has used the slowdown in the resources boom and shelving of mega-projects to escalate its war on the recruitment of foreign workers, setting the scene for a new row with miners who warn that the move would add to already crippling development costs.
Mining companies could be forced to invest directly in protecting seagrass meadows thousands of kilometres away from their own export facilities as a condition of future port developments.
Page 2: The Coalition has attributed outgoing Defence secretary Duncan Lewis’ departure to ministerial mismanagement on the part of Stephen Smith, claiming he was ‘‘at war’’ with his own department.
Victoria's construction industry watchdog will investigate whether the federal government needs to toughen its regulation and legislation in the wake of last month’s union blockades against developer Grocon.
Australians and New Zealanders moving across the Tasman will be able to take their superannuation savings with them from next July, four years after the scheme was first floated.
Page 4: More divisions have emerged over the federal government’s review of the Renewable Energy Target with generators revealing they are divided on the future of the scheme and the coal industry calling for it be scrapped.
Page 5: Australia should allow the environment to adapt to climate change naturally, rather than trying to prevent ecological change completely, according to a new CSIRO study.
The mining sector faces a new challenge as the high Australian dollar fails to respond to plunging commodity prices, the federal government’s top resources adviser will warn today in another alert about the risks to the resources boom.
Business: The potential receivership of Nine Entertainment is now a real threat amid a critical debt covenant test for the group at the end of the month.
Progress in negotiations between Fortescue Metals Group and its financiers is unlikely to bury ongoing talk the iron ore miner requires an equity raising that would shore up the debt-heavy balance sheet but loosen founder Andrew Forrest’s hold on the company.
Telstra chief executive David Thodey has flagged significant job cuts across the next five years and declared he has ‘‘no option’’ but to make the telco a more Asian-focused business if it is to remain competitive against the global might of rival telecom companies such as Vodafone and Singtel.
More chief executives of the largest companies are expected to forgo bonuses amid a continual flattening of growth in pay packets, as challenging operating conditions and the ‘‘two strikes’’ rule increase pressure on boards.
Macmahon is expected to today announce a drop in its earnings guidance, less then a month after the mining and construction services company forecast a 20 per cent profit jump, because of a market deterioration.
Australia's tax and royalty regimes are more discouraging for investment than most global mining heavyweights but the nation’s political stability still leaves it one of the more attractive places to do business in, according to a global survey by lawyers Baker & Mackenzie.
If shareholders approve a proposal to go to the company’s annual general meeting in Brisbane on November 7, then the company previously known as QR National will be known as Aurizon.
Takeover target Northern Iron is the latest casualty of the falling iron ore price, announcing job cuts and a suspension of its exploration program because of the volatility.
Having owned the surfwear brand Rip Curl for 43 years, joint founders Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer, who are in their late 60s, believe it is time to hang up their surfboards and sell their business to US private equity players for close to $500 million.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The accountant-turned-mining boss Tony Poli last year enjoyed a $169 million windfall from Aquila Resources, the iron ore interest he oversees, even as its annual accounts show he was paid only $572,000 for his role. Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens, his former deputy and the whistleblower who exposed alleged corruption inside the Reserve's subsidiaries will all be called to testify about the scandal before federal parliament.
Page 2: Lifting the GST to 15 per cent would boost state budgets by an extraordinary $25 billion a year - $8 billion of which would be kept by the O'Farrell government in NSW.
Page 3: Police say they are closing in on those responsible for the anti-American violence on the weekend, as the Muslim community and national authorities try to stave off a second wave of demonstrations planned for this weekend.
World: A mob of Indonesian Islamists waving jihad flags attacked the US embassy, throwing rocks and bricks, but they were repelled by tear gas and riot police.
Business: Up to 23 central banks from around the globe have included Australian dollar assets in their foreign exchange reserves, underlining the wide appeal the currency holds among overseas investors.
Sport: A record NRL finals crowd of more than 75,000 is set to pack ANZ Stadium for Saturday night's match after South Sydney and Canterbury members snapped up 20,000 tickets.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Police have released images of several men they want to speak to in relation to Saturday's riot in Sydney. ID scanners will be installed in every pub, club and strip joint in Kings Cross to rid the area of violent troublemakers.
Page 2: More asylum seekers are expected to land on Nauru this morning in the second plane load of refugees to arrive under Labor's new offshore processing regime.
Page 3: Penalty rates for Sunday workers will be protected after the federal government ruled out watering them down ahead of a major review of industrial awards.
World: A tawdry Italian magazine owned by Silvio Berlusconi is set to defy pleas from Buckingham Palace and publish 50 photos of the Duchess of Cambridge topless.
Business: Fortescue Metals will struggle to recapture its status as a market darling even if it reveals this morning it has stitched up a new deal with its lenders, analysts say.
Sport: Bill Harrigan believes there is a witch hunt to get him as the referees boss and his men threaten to descend into chaos.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens to testify before federal parliamentary committee on what he knew of alleged corruption inside the bank's subsidiaries. He had a $169 million windfall after cashing in options from Acquila Resources, but mining boss Tony Poli was paid a salary of just $572,000. Local government watchdog inquires into allegations of inner city residents being fraudulently added to the city's electoral roll. Privacy concerns raised after public transport authorities handing over information about myki users to Victoria Police.
Page 2: Nauru detention centre gathering pace as a planeload of Sri Lankan boat people expected there on Tuesday.
Page 3: Razor gang budgets reignite the debate about lifting the GST to 15 per cent, which would boost Australian state budgets by a $25 billion per year. Coroner finds that a 30-year-old Victorian man who died while bushwalking in Tasmania most likely perished from drinking too much water. A study of Albert Park lakes' black swans during the F1 grand prix finds the race is stressful for them and could shorten their life span. Australian Ballet goes back to tradition for Swan Lake.
World: Royals ask French prosecutors to launch criminal proceedings against the photographer who took pictures of the Duchess topless and the French magazine that published them.
Business: Australian dollar proving popular with the world's central banks who are buying the Aussie for their foreign exchange reserves.
Sport: AFL players scrutinising salary bill for each club's football department with an eye to push for an early change to the collective bargaining agreement.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens to front joint parliamentary committee over corruption allegations with note printing subsidiary.
Page 2: One of Australia's top diplomats switched to defence department head to bridge rift between Defence Minister Stephen Smith and the military.
Page 3: Two CSIRO scientists bullied or forced out after whistleblowing on alleged criminal or civil breaches of the law by the scientific organisation.
World: The US defence department has sent extra troops to protect personnel and property at American diplomatic outposts across the Muslim world.
Business: CEOs bonus pay drops nine per cent to 2004 levels.
Sport: Raiders fullback Josh Dugan opts for a full pre-season training over shoulder surgery to prepare for the 2013 NRL season.
