New mine tax fails to raise a cent – The Aus; Now business tax reform hits the wall – The Fin; Primewest buys Esplanade – The West; BHP uranium sale ups ante on ownership – The Fin; St Barbara suffers offshore headaches – The West
New mine tax fails to raise a cent
Wayne Swan’s $1.1 billion budget surplus projection has received an immediate body blow, with the government’s new mining tax raising zero revenue in its first three months. The Aus
Now business tax reform hits the wall
The Business Council of Australia has blamed ground rules set by Treasurer Wayne Swan for the failure of a business group set up to negotiate the government's promised corporate tax cut. The Fin
Primewest buys Esplanade
Perth property syndicate Primewest has bought the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle off business identity Marylyn New for $88.5 million, ending a protracted two years on the market for the historic building. The West
BHP uranium sale ups ante on ownership
BHP Billiton's decision to sell its Yeelirrie uranium deposit in Western Australia to Canadian giant Cameco has stoked diplomatic tensions between the two countries, with Australian politicians lobbying to ease Canada's prohibitive foreign ownership rules. The Fin
St Barbara suffers offshore headaches
The first cracks have appeared in St Barbara's offshore expansion plans, with the gold miner flagging issues with its newly acquired assets in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Graffiti deemed to have artistic or cultural merit will be preserved in Fremantle under a policy shake-up intended to promote a “vibrant street art culture”.
WA workers are reluctant to take sick days, with figures revealing a bigger fall in “sickies” in WA than in any other state.
Australia's resources sector has become “fat and lazy” and should not let lower prices curb expansion, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says.
Page 4: Perth's 30 councils would be cut to 12 and voting in local government elections made compulsory under proposed reforms that have divided the city's mayors.
Page 6: Peter Slipper has taken a swipe at Julie Bishop for asking WA Liberal MPs to ignore the wishes of the state's wheat growers in the upcoming vote on industry deregulation.
The Gillard government will unveil another $170 million in spending on the National Broadband Network, with $70 million in works awarded to Perkins Builders.
Page 7: WA's biggest electricity retailer has vowed to crack down on customers seeking life-support exemptions amid suspicions many are rorting the system to avoid having power supplies cut off.
Page 13: Australian lawyer Sarah Armstrong has been told that she cannot leave Mongolia until she is cleared of multi million-dollar money laundering and bribery allegations surrounding the Rio Tinto subsidiary that employs her.
Business: Perth property syndicate Primewest has bought the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle off business identity Marylyn New for $88.5 million, ending a protracted two years on the market for the historic building.
Gina Rinehart has landed a blow on the Fairfax Media board, voting down the company's executive pay report at a torrid annual meeting yesterday.
WA's most senior business leader, Michael Chaney, yesterday conceded that finding women directors remained a challenge as he announced the appointment of a second female board member at Woodside Petroleum.
The first cracks have appeared in St Barbara's offshore expansion plans, with the gold miner flagging issues with its newly acquired assets in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Billabong International founder Gordon Merchant has survived a push to dump him from the board for opposing a takeover bid that valued the surfwear maker's shares at almost four times their current worth.
A new-look Forge Group believes its spread of skills and diversification will help insulate the engineering and construction contractor from the mining slowdown.
Monadelphous Group shares dipped yesterday, despite the company announcing it would benefit from Rio Tinto's commitment to its Pilbara expansion plans.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Business Council of Australia has blamed ground rules set by Treasurer Wayne Swan for the failure of a business group set up to negotiate the government's promised corporate tax cut.
The carbon tax and Labor's crackdown on health insurance have contributed to an unexpectedly sharp surge in inflation that may limit the Reserve Bank of Australia's scope to deliver the interest rate cuts that Treasurer Wayne Swan needs to bring the budget into surplus.
Australia's coal mining industry has been warned its low productivity and high cost base will make a third of the country's coal mines unprofitable if coal prices drop much further.
Page 2: Trustees of some of the country's biggest superannuation funds are expressing doubts about whether retirement schemes should buy assets that may be privatised by the federal and state governments.
Page 3: BHP Billiton's decision to sell its Yeelirrie uranium deposit in Western Australia to Canadian giant Cameco has stoked diplomatic tensions between the two countries, with Australian politicians lobbying to ease Canada's prohibitive foreign ownership rules.
Page 8: The federal government has paved the way to embrace more foreign investment in its Asian Century white paper by appointing Tax Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo to the Foreign Investment Review Board to toughen up its ability to manage tax losses from foreign investment.
Page 11: The mining sector remains the most productive sector of the Australian economy despite a “collapse” in the past decade, Reserve Bank of Australia board member John Edwards says.
Page 14: The carbon tax has contributed to a jump in inflation in the previous quarter but economists believe the increase may be lower than anticipated.
Page 15: The early signs of recovery in housing could be stamped out if rising inflation forces the Reserve Bank of Australia to slow the pace of interest rate cuts, economists say.
Page 27: Whitehaven Coal is being forced to search for a new boss after managing director Tony Haggarty told directors he wanted to leave the troubled company controlled by Nathan Tinkler.
Page 28: Hong Kong's Noble Group and Korea's Posco have returned for a second tilt at steel maker Arrium, addressing initial concerns raised by chairman Peter Smedley over its $1 billion takeover offer.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has helped deliver a decisive “strike” to the Fairfax Media board on executive pay, clearing the way for a spill of the board next year unless the company can reconcile its differences with its major shareholder.
Page 31: West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has refused to disclose to the WA Parliament whether Fortescue Metals Group had asked for temporary relief on royalty payments.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Wayne Swan’s $1.1 billion budget surplus projection has received an immediate body blow, with the government’s new mining tax raising zero revenue in its first three months.
Julia Gillard warned Kevin Rudd in writing that under no circumstances would she support taking an emissions trading scheme, which insiders say she thought had become electoral poison, to the 2010 election.
Page 2: Business groups have called on the federal government to maintain the momentum for a cut in the company tax rate, despite the release yesterday of the draft report by the Business Tax Working Group.
Up to 1,400 jobs are at risk in a remote Northern Territory mining community of about 3,800 people after Rio Tinto announced a review of its loss-making alumina operations there.
Page 3: The Australian Workers Union and the Greens will hold talks today in Sydney over the future of Tasmania’s Tarkine wilderness in a meeting that will spark hopes of a negotiated settlement to one of Australia’s most explosive environmental disputes.
Page 4: Reducing family tax benefit payments for second or additional children could save the federal budget $1.2 billion a year or $5bn over the forward estimates, modelling has revealed.
Farmers around the country are worried labour shortages may result from the federal government’s decision to lift the price of working holiday visas as part of its mid-year budget update.
Page 5: The introduction of the carbon tax in July and a flatlining Australian dollar have prompted a sharp rise in inflation, dampening expectations of a Melbourne Cup Day interest rate cut next month.
Page 6: Job and training groups say the Gillard government’s overhaul of the apprenticeship system is sexist and hurts women.
Business: Echo Entertainment has vowed the casino group will not ‘‘sit on its hands’’ in the battle with James Packer’s Crown, revealing it is working on its own expansion plans in its home Sydney market which could see a new high-roller facility at a location other than Barangaroo.
Gina Rinehart has renewed her push for boardroom representation at Fairfax Media — but is not seeking control — as she helped to deliver the company its first ‘‘strike’’ by voting against the remuneration report and chief executive Greg Hywood’s performance rights package.
South Korean steel giant Posco has confirmed that its takeover designs on steelmaker and iron ore miner Arrium are centred on the target’s South Australian mines and that it is keen to re-engage after an initial $1 billion bid was rejected.
Disgruntled Billabong shareholders yesterday strongly attacked the company’s board for claiming to have no knowledge of why private equity company TPG withdrew its takeover offer after saying it had ‘‘some concerns’’ about Billabong’s direction.
A gauge of Chinese manufacturing activity rose in October, offering the latest sign that China’s economic slowdown might be bottoming out.
Shares in WorleyParsons plunged and analyst estimates were downgraded yesterday after the engineering services group forecast a tough outlook.
Forge Group’s new chief executive David Simpson expects to win up to $300 million in new contracts over the coming weeks, as the contracting group continues to grow its order book despite recent volatility in the resources sector.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: James Packer is pushing to alter building height limits at Barangaroo to add up to 20 storeys to his planned $1 billion hotel and casino complex and make it one of Sydney's tallest towers.
Page 2: Consumers are at risk of being hit with higher petrol, gas and airline ticket prices because of the NSW government's plans to privatise Port Botany, a group of companies central to the state's energy supply chain is warning.
Page 3: In the days after Tosha Thakkar's battered body was found floating in a small canal off the Parramatta River, two dozen of her fellow Indian students rallied outside Burwood Local Court to demand justice.
World: A day after the last presidential debate and a fortnight before the deadlocked election, both campaigns hit battleground states yesterday, repeating their best lines from the final televised encounter.
Business: Gina Rinehart has used her voting power to force a first strike against Fairfax Media's remuneration report, maintaining her criticism of the company's board at its annual meeting yesterday.
Sport: The last time Shoot Out was in a Cox Plate will not be forgotten by his owner Linda Huddy.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Criminal charges against MP Craig Thomson are a step closer after police yesterday raided his Central Coast home, seizing items including samples of the politician's handwriting.
Page 2: Prices across the nation have soared, with the Gillard government's controversial carbon tax the driving force behind about a third of the biggest rise in inflation in 18 months.
Page 3: Arrest warrants on charges of attempted murder and robbery have been issued for 14 asylum seekers on a pirated fishing boat which is thought to be headed for Australia.
World: President Barack Obama has framed the upcoming US election as a question of trust and warned American voters they cannot rely on his "reckless" and elusive Republican foe Mitt Romney.
Business: The expected Melbourne Cup day rate cut may be on the backburner as inflation surges to its highest level in 18 months, economists said.
Sport: He may well have to wave the magic wand made famous by his namesake and he'd better hurry up.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Raid on Thomson's home talk of the cul-de-sac
Page 2: Parkes must make way for the Queen.
Page 3: CPI quiets carbon tax scare talk
World: Taliban targets second schoolgirl
Finance: Rinehart delivers first strike to Fairfax
Sport: Hird to face land of the Giants.
THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER:
Page 1: Teachers will be told to stop identifying students in photos on school websites, publishing pictures of them on their own or in swimwear, as part of the education department's new social media policy.
Page 3: New closed circuit television cameras will be installed across the Adelaide city centre as the state government and Adelaide city council review security coverage.
World: A sexual abuse scandal shaking the BBC has broadened, with the broadcaster's chief saying it's investigating claims of abuse and harassment against as many as 10 former and current staff.
Business: South Australia's next uranium mine, the Four Mile project, has been given the go-ahead by its owners.
Sport: Crows chairman Rob Chapman insists the Adelaide Football Club has nothing to hide after initiating an AFL investigation into Kurt Tippett's out-of-contract terms at West Lakes.
