Treasury 'tainted' by Swan leak – The Aus; RBA's rates snub leaves business cold – The Aus; Chinese buy Joyce family's seized farms – The West; Esperance port caught in Buckeridge-Barnett stoush – The West; Revolt brewing over live exports as backbench concerns spread – The Aus
Treasury 'tainted' by Swan leak
Wayne Swan has been accused of politically compromising Treasury and undermining the effectiveness of its advice after his office leaked an analysis of opposition tax policies. The Aus
RBA's rates snub leaves business cold
A high dollar and relatively tight credit conditions could hold back business spending in the months ahead after the Reserve Bank kept official interest rates on hold yesterday. The Aus
Chinese buy Joyce family's seized farms
A Chinese company has paid more than $29 million for prime agricultural land in WA's South East that was formerly owned by one of the state's biggest grain growing families. The West
Esperance port caught in Buckeridge-Barnett stoush
Esperance port has become an unwitting pawn in the bitter stoush between the Barnett government and billionaire Len Buckeridge over his proposed James Point Port south of Fremantle. The West
Revolt brewing over live exports as backbench concerns spread
Julia Gillard faces heightened pressure to ban live animal exports as concerns among backbenchers over the cruel slaughter of Australian sheep in Pakistan spread beyond the Labor MPs who were instrumental in the revolt that led to last year’s Indonesian cattle ban. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 6: The Reserve Bank is preparing to leave interest rates steady for an extended period after denying mortgage holders a Melbourne Cup day rate cut.
Page 7: The state government is desperately trying to recruit a paediatric gastroenterologist for Princess Margaret Hospital, where children are waiting an average of 10 months just to be assessed.
Page 10: The race for the White House is pretty much back where it started – after thousands of advertisements, billions of dollars, two conventions and three presidential debates.
Page 12: Labor backbencher Kelvin Thomson has called for Perth live sheep company Wellard to have its export licence suspended after horrific footage was released of WA sheep being brutalised in Pakistan.
Page 14: Premier Colin Barnett says the government will not give land away cheaply to Liberal donor and magnate Len Buckeridge in efforts to resolve a $1 billion fight over a port south of Fremantle.
Page 19: WA Planning Commission chairman Garry Prattley must explain “issues of concern” uncovered in an audit of his travel expenses and credit card use.
Business: A Chinese company has paid more than $29 million for prime agricultural land in WA's South East that was formerly owned by one of the state's biggest grain growing families.
Esperance port has become an unwitting pawn in the bitter stoush between the Barnett government and billionaire Len Buckeridge over his proposed James Point Port south of Fremantle.
The latest global law firm to land in Perth, Clyde & Co, expects to have at least a dozen lawyers on its local staff by early next year as it powers up its Australian practice.
The thorny $1.2 billion sale of Bluewaters power station in Collie to Japanese energy giants Sumitomo and Kansai Electric finally appears resolved, 18 months after it stared, with new contracts exchanged in Sydney yesterday.
Traditional owners in the Pilbara have won an important victory over the state government and BHP Billiton, with the full bench of the Federal Court ruling this week that BHP's Mount Goldsworthy mining leases do not extinguish native title claims over the land.
The chairman of embattled contractor Macmahon Holdings is likely to hold on to its position at a shareholder meeting this week after proxy advisers threw their support behind him.
Former Avoca Resources boss Rohan Williams' return to the Goldfields has met with immediate success, with investors sending the Argonaut-managed $20 million float of Dacian Gold to an oversubscribed and early close.
Labour costs in WA's mining industry remain high, despite commodity price falls and a slowdown in the sector, according to the world's second biggest gold miner.
A report by Citigroup has warned that Saudi Arabia could run out of oil to export by 2030, raising fears that oil prices may rise significantly in coming years.
Ralph Sarich's Cape Bouvard Investments will sell a landholding with ocean and lake frontage at Lake Clifton after unsuccessful attempts to develop the land – first as a residential subdivision and later as a wind farm that could have supplied enough energy to power about 46,000 homes or the cities of Mandurah and Bunbury.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Reserve Bank of Australia has signalled that interest rates are so low investors should shun low-earning term deposits in favour of riskier assets such as new housing and shares.
Parliament's new Budget Office has launched an investigation into the long-term sustainability of government spending and tax breaks worth $120 billion, in a sign the independent body could rival the federal Treasury for high-level budget analysis.
Page 3: Listed property companies' use of inflated notional rents, or “face rents”, is boosting reported profits and leading to higher executive salaries, a leading proxy adviser claims.
Page 4: Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly, business leader Carol Schwartz and Future Fund chairman David Gonski will lead a push to boost the number of women on government boards from 35.3 per cent to 40 per cent by 2015.
Page 7: Rising home values and improved property market activity contributed to the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to keep rates on hold, but industry figures say buyer confidence remains weak.
It has been heavy going in retail recently and the Cup Day rates decision will make the run down the final straight to Christmas even harder for department stores.
Page 10: The Coalition is set to slash the amount of money set aside for its Direct Action plan to install solar panels on 1 million houses.
Page 17: AGL Energy and Origin Energy have hit out at Standard & Poor's review of its treatment of hybrid securities, saying the ratings agency is creating unnecessary uncertainty.
Page 19: US private equity firm Denham Capital expects to close its first investment in a mining company in Australia within weeks, and sees plenty more opportunities as cash-starved juniors hunt alternative sources of funding in today's tough equity market.
Page 20: Central Petroleum managing director Richard Cottee has scored a second major partnership deal for shale gas exploration in the Northern Territory, this time with France's Total.
Troubled contracting group Macmahon Holdings has sought to protect itself against further investor backlash over executive pay by including a clawback provision in new boss Ross Carroll's salary.
Page 21: The big four banks have slashed more than 6,600 jobs over the past year as part of an aggressive cost-cutting drive amid growing concerns about slowing economic conditions.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Wayne Swan has been accused of politically compromising Treasury and undermining the effectiveness of its advice after his office leaked an analysis of opposition tax policies.
Julia Gillard faces heightened pressure to ban live animal exports as concerns among backbenchers over the cruel slaughter of Australian sheep in Pakistan spread beyond the Labor MPs who were instrumental in the revolt that led to last year’s Indonesian cattle ban.
Page 2: The federal government has deployed a ‘‘dishonest and disingenuous’’ ploy to claw back millions of dollars from its centrepiece university equity program.
Page 3: Julia Gillard has hit out at suggestions that she failed to tell authorities about a union slush fund she helped to set up, arguing yesterday she could not report what she did not know.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s and the Royal Bank of Scotland are facing further litigation, with another group of local councils seeking compensation for losses incurred in the global financial crisis as a result of investments in complex financial instruments.
Page 4: Glimpses of an economic recovery in the US and brighter prospects in China convinced the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates steady yesterday, although future cuts are likely as the end of Australia’s resource boom approaches.
The architect of the government’s carbon tax policy is firming as the favourite to take over the chairmanship of the Productivity Commission from Gary Banks, who retires at the end of the year.
Asian and European leaders ended a summit yesterday without a breakthrough on steps to resolve the eurozone crisis despite hopes China could draw on its reserves to bolster European bailout funds.
Business: A high dollar and relatively tight credit conditions could hold back business spending in the months ahead after the Reserve Bank kept official interest rates on hold yesterday.
IMF Australia chief executive John Walker is to fly to Europe on Saturday to speak with investors from Britain, France, Germany and The Netherlands about launching legal action over more than j800 million ($980m) of synthetic derivative products in the wake of this week’s Federal Court decision.
Macmahon Holdings is hoping a review of expenditure and business mix will restore investor confidence after a shock downgrade and share price plunge.
French oil major Total has become the latest global player to put its foot on Australian shale gas ground, signing up to a $US152 million ($146m) farm-in deal with Richard Cottee’s Central Petroleum.
Rio Tinto’s success in securing Chinese power for its $US6 billion ($5.8bn) Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia has been applauded by analysts, providing some respite from concerning developments in the riskier places it operates.
Leighton Holdings has issued $US500 million ($479m) worth of bonds in the US as the company pursues its turnaround strategy to fix its debt problems.
Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly, Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone, Coca-Cola Amatil chairman David Gonski and Melbourne businesswoman and investor Carol Schwartz are among business leaders who will be part of a program to be announced by Finance Minister Penny Wong today to get more women on government sector boards.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Green Moon has won the Melbourne Cup, in what could possibly be the best-ever field assembled. Five Catholic priests have quit the council of the University of Sydney's St John's College after Cardinal George Pell and Premier Barry o'Farrell voiced disgust about the initiation ritual scandals. The US election result could be so close that it will trigger law suits which could delay results for weeks.
Page 2: As part of a plan to battle allegations of unacceptable behaviour, a senior student of the University of Sydney's St John's college misrepresented herself in an interview with the ABC.
Page 3: Government-employed bus drivers could be replaced by private operators unless they agree to substantial cost-cutting measures.
World: US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has made a final plea to voters in Florida, imploring them to to help him "change the course this nation is on".
Business: The Reserve Bank is set to cut interest rates on December 4 after surprising most economists on Melbourne Cup day.
Sport: Melbourne Cup winning jockey Brett Prebble has completed his journey from confessed scoundrel to champion.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1:Hong-Kong based jockey Brett Prebble has ridden through a chaotic finish to win the Melbourne Cup on former english stayer Green Moon. Opinion polls show the two main contenders for the American presidency are neck-and-neck. Former Labor minister Eric Roozendall denies receiving a car at a $10,800 discount in return for political favours for the family of ALP powerbroker Eddie Obeid.
Page 2: Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens has held back dropping interest rates, marking the first time since 2006 the RBA hasn't cut the cash rate on Melbourne Cup day.
Page 3: Australian actor Sam Worthington was pepper-sprayed and handcuffed after shoving a bouncer who refused him entry to a bar in Atlanta in the US.
World: Syrian rebels bombed a military post in the central Hama province, killing 50 soldiers fighting for the Assad regime.
Business: Borrowers may still receive a pre-Christmas interest rate cut.
Sport: Green Moon's victory in the Melbourne Cup has been overshadowed by the scandal surrounding jockey Damien Oliver.
THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER:
Page 1: An audit has discovered the state government is being billed for more than 2300 unused mobile phones.
Page 3: The paedophile at the centre of the child abuse disclosure controversy worked at a Catholic school in Adelaide for almost five years.
World: Children have flocked to reopened schools across New York for the first time since superstorm Sandy, while the US braced for another powerful storm.
Business: Central Petroleum has signed a $190 million deal with oil and gas giant Total to explore for shale gas in central Australia.
Sport: An owner's magnificent obsession, an anonymous trainer and a jockey who was once told to look for another profession combined with Green Moon to win the $6 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington yesterday.
