Today's Business Headlines

Election blow for Labor

Labor's hopes of ending the Barnett government after one term have taken a body blow in the once-safe seat of Kwinana, with popular local mayor Carol Adams set to run against Deputy Opposition Leader Roger Cook. The West

Coalition wheat revolt intensifies

The revolt in Coalition ranks over Labor’s wheat export deregulation bill has intensified, with the 10 most senior members of the West Australian party urging WA Liberal MPs to defy Tony Abbott’s call for a two-year delay. The Aus

Great Southern seven cited

The liquidator of Great Southern has launched Supreme Court proceedings against seven former directors of the collapsed agribusiness company over allegations that they overstated assets and understated liabilities and expenses in financial statements. The Fin

Packer's plan B rejected

The council that owns the land under the Burswood Dome has rejected a potential fallback plan to build a luxury Westfield shopping centre at James Packer's Crown Perth casino. The West

BlueScope protection slammed

A plan to impose a punitive tariff of up to 15.45 per cent on imported steel to help BlueScope Steel against foreign competition has sparked warnings of price rises across the economy, including for new buildings, consumer goods and manufactured components. The Fin

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Labor's hopes of ending the Barnett government after one term have taken a body blow in the once-safe seat of Kwinana, with popular local mayor Carol Adams set to run against Deputy Opposition Leader Roger Cook.

Page 3: Not only does he donate his $422,678 annual salary to charity but Governor Malcolm McCusker has proved a dab hand at slimming down the vice-regal bureaucracy.

Page 5: Perth's most popular beach could remain closed for days after surf lifesavers said seaweed and seagrass choking the water was so thick swimmers could get held down in it.

Page 8: Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney pummelled US President Barack Obama over his handling of jobs growth in the first televised debate of the US presidential campaign.

Page 11: Commuter chaos is likely to continue today with the Public Transport Authority saying the Joondalup line will not be running again until tomorrow at the earliest.

Page 13: The private operator of Peel Health Campus had to repay $1.4 million of taxpayers' money after it admitted patients unnecessarily so it could claim extra payments from the state government, a parliamentary committee was told yesterday.

Page 18: Backbench WA Liberal MPs have foreshadowed voting as a bloc in defiance of Tony Abbott to support the Gillard government's plan to fully deregulate the wheat industry.

Business: The council that owns the land under the Burswood Dome has rejected a potential fallback plan to build a luxury Westfield shopping centre at James Packer's Crown Perth casino.

TFS founder Frank Wilson says there is no turmoil in the sandalwood grower's boardroom, despite six directors quitting over the past 15 months, and dismissed market speculation that he had fallen out with Richard Alston, who suddenly resigned as chairman on Wednesday.

Agribusiness company Ruralco has gone on the offensive after being spurned by merger target Elders, saying the rural services group does not have a sustainable capital position.

Minemakers executives breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after the company finally escaped its messy eight-month pursuit of UCL Resources, announcing a deal to sell its portion of their shared Namibian phosphate project for $25 million.

Austal is targeting both defence and oil and gas business by expanding its service capability in Darwin through the $10 million acquisition of a marine engineering business.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: The Australian Securities Exchange has admitted that structural change sweeping the financial services sector is forcing it to compete more aggressively with investment banks as stockbrokers – its key customers – to combat a slowdown in earnings brought about by weaker sharemarket activity.

The Gillard government's recent political momentum may be hurt by criminal charges against former Labor president and Health Services Union leader Michael Williamson and the return to court of the Speaker, Peter Slipper, who asked a judge to dismiss the sexual harassment suit against him.

A plan to impose a punitive tariff of up to 15.45 per cent on imported steel to help BlueScope Steel against foreign competition has sparked warnings of price rises across the economy, including for new buildings, consumer goods and manufactured components.

Page 3: A big US-based defence contractor says local defence manufacturing has shed up to 5,000 jobs – or about one in six – amid the Gillard government's slow implementation of projects and deep budget cuts.

Page 7: The liquidator of Great Southern has launched Supreme Court proceedings against seven former directors of the collapsed agribusiness company over allegations that they overstated assets and understated liabilities and expenses in financial statements.

Page 8: Australia should issue bonds with multi-decade durations to build a barrier against potential risks posed by the nation's property market, says a debt analyst.

A sense of gloom has returned to retail, with the latest official figures showing the government's $2 billion plus in carbon tax stimulus has almost fizzled out.

Page 9: Telstra could face more pressure to cut jobs after its employees resoundingly endorsed a workplace agreement that awards big pay increases.

Page 11: Toro Energy will start speaking with potential financiers for its $300 million Wiluna project, which could be Western Australia's first uranium mine, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard prepares to elevate discussions on a sales agreement with India.

Several federal Liberal MPs from Western Australia could defy Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and vote with Labor in support of full deregulation of the wheat market, two of their colleagues say.

Page 13: Former foreign minister Kevin Rudd says he is confident reform of the Chinese economy will continue despite Beijing's leadership transition, offering Australia vast new opportunities in tourism and services.

Page 14: A key tax watchdog has vindicated complaints that the Australian Taxation Office's efforts to clamp down on the cash economy have caught innocent small businesses and imposed unnecessary financial and emotional costs.

Page 15: Concerns about Billabong's earnings forecasts and the strength of its core brand have prompted private equity suitor TPG to express serious doubts about its $695 million approach.

Page 17: Rural services group Elders has taken the highly unusual step of releasing confidential correspondence with its biggest shareholder, Ruralco, in a bid to defend its decision not to enter merger discussions.

Arrium has increased its target for iron ore sales in the financial year to June 30 next year to as much as 9 million tonnes from 8 million tonnes as the takeover target prepares to convince investors of its value today.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Labor's Fair Work Act must be overhauled to head off another round of electricity price hikes, NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has warned Julia Gillard.

The Health Services Union's NSW branch allegedly destroyed, deleted and removed documents at the direction of former head Michael Williamson as part of a widespread attempt to cover up fraud and corruption.

Page 2: Tony Abbott has accused Julia Gillard of relying on a tainted vote in parliament from Craig Thomson as the Opposition Leader seized on the laying of charges against former ALP national president Michael Williamson.

Union members will receive close to a 6 per cent pay rise in the first year of a new enterprise agreement with Telstra and have welcomed new job security provisions after employees overwhelmingly approved the three-year deal.

Page 3: Trying to instil a culture of compliance at Gunns Ltd was a ‘‘nightmare’’, dumped chief executive Greg L’Estrange has told a hearing into insider trading charges against the company’s former chairman.

Page 4: The revolt in Coalition ranks over Labor’s wheat export deregulation bill has intensified, with the 10 most senior members of the West Australian party urging WA Liberal MPs to defy Tony Abbott’s call for a two-year delay.

The sugar-hit to retail sales from government hand-outs has worn off and new home approvals remain weak, new data shows, justifying the Reserve Bank’s rate cut and prompting calls for more.

Most businesses say the time they are spending on red tape has increased over the past two years, despite repeated promises by governments across the nation to slash business costs.

Page 5: Labor has been accused of neglecting some of the poorest and most disadvantaged Australians suffering with bad teeth by closing down the Howard government’s chronic-disease dental scheme, which has served about 1.5 million battlers.

ANZ’s chief economist says federal government revenue is already about $3 billion short of expectations this financial year, putting Wayne Swan’s promised surplus at risk if he does not find savings through measures including public-sector job cuts.

News of delayed resource projects and mass redundancies across the sector are having an effect on property rental and sales prices in the Pilbara region — agents estimate house prices have dropped by about 10 per cent since June, while rents have dropped by up to 40 per cent.

Business: Surf, skate and skiwear group Billabong last night hosed down rumours that US private equity fund TPG was ready to walk away from talks on a proposed $694 million takeover after a heavy share sell-off slashed its market value by almost a quarter.

BHP Billiton has been named as one of three companies looking to buy up to $US6 billion ($5.9bn) of offshore US oil and gas assets from Brazil’s national oil company.

Takeover target Elders as taken the extraordinary step of publicly releasing confidential correspondence with its largest shareholder, Ruralco, in a bid to set the record straight about proposed merger discussions.

Steelmaker and iron ore miner Arrium has bolstered its defence of a $1 billion takeover offer from an Asian consortium by adding up to 1 million tonnes of iron ore to its sales and capacity targets for this year and next.

The head of exploration success story Sirius Resources says he is surprised the company has not been approached by third parties in the weeks since it made its Nova nickel-copper discovery in Western Australia.

The fall in iron ore prices will be good for Australian producers in the long term, BC Iron’s managing director Mike Young says.

ING Direct, the nation’s fifth largest mortgage lender, has increased the pressure on the big banks, passing on to homeowners in full the Reserve Bank’s 25basis-point cut to interest rates.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: Aid worker Pippi Bean claims in an interview that Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr delivered the lowest point of her ordeal. Experts warn NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell that plans to build a motorway underneath Parramatta Road will not revitalise the area.

Page 2: James Ashby has been criticised by a judge for publicly alleging Peter Slipper misused Cabcharge vouchers before dropping the claim. The states of NSW, Queensland and Victoria are presenting their own reform plan to slow electricity price rises.

Page 3: Deputy NSW Police Commissioner Catherine Burn has been cut from the force's professional standards command following allegations of misconduct from a decade ago.

World: Mitt Romney is deemed to have won the first presidential debate.

Business: Australian pension funds are expected to call for the removal of Rupert Murdoch as News Corp chairman.

Sport: Bart Cummings is chasing his 13th Melbourne Cup as he recovers from surgery to his nose.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: Maggie Abbott breaks her silence on politics to say that her husband, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, is no sexist and that he "gets women".

Page 2: Former Health Services Union national president Michael Williamson is charged with 20 offences, with five current and former HSU officials under police investigation.

Page 3: Four-year-old boy with Down syndrome back with his family after being found in the bush by rescuers.

World: Turkish artillery launches retaliation after a Syrian mortar attack.

Business: Billabong's takeover from TPG could be under threat.

Sport: The A-league's star imports are all set to play for their new squads this weekend.

THE AGE:

Page 1: Gillard government urged to establish compensation scheme for dozens of Indonesian children wrongly jailed as adult people smugglers. Transurban steps up push to overhaul pricing for future motorway projects after Wednesday's computer glitch caused a Melbourne traffic meltdown. Newly released foreign aid worker Pippi Bean says Australia failed her during the darkest hours of her Libya ordeal.

Page 3: Australians' spending growth "anaemic" since carbon tax compo kicked in, with figures showing we're turning away from shops but car lovers are spending big.

World: US tracking down the killers of the US embassy staff in Libya. Deakin University suspends at least one international student believed to be among a large group being probed for submitting copied work.

Business: Australian pension funds set to join US and British funds seeking to remove Rupert Murdoch as News Corp chairman and his sons from the board following the phone-hacking scandal.

Sport: Football Federation Australia officials predict the biggest and best season the A-League has ever had, as Melbourne derby kicks off the season on Friday night.

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: Margie Abbott, the Opposition Leader's wife of 24 years, speaks out against criticism that her husband has a problem with women, saying Mr Abbott is a "soft touch" who "gets women".

Page 2: Victorian police have biscuits, coffee and tea removed from training courses and meetings under new budget cuts.

Page 3: Millions of dollars in fines and thousands of demerit points being reviewed after a major Victorian traffic light glitch.

Page 6: Young woman who lived in fear of her jealous husband is killed and set on fire in a murder-suicide in Melbourne's east.

World: Mitt Romney performs strongly in first US presidential debate with Barack Obama.

Business: Investors flee Billabong with shares diving as doubts grow over a potential buy-out by TPG.

Sport: Geelong officials and players contact Port Adelaide, backing favourite son - and current Gold Coast assistant coach - Ken Hinkley as a potential head coach.