Today's Business Headlines

Dollar rises on interest rate cut

The dollar jumped in defiance of the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut official interest rates to half-century lows, dashing hopes for currency relief for struggling industries such as manufacturing and tourism. The Fin

WA spree could cost top rating

The Barnett Government's planned transport spending spree has prompted warnings it could threaten the state's vaunted AAA financial rating. The West

Top End plan for new steel industry

An ambitious rail plan to create a new Australian steel industry by linking coalfields in the east with mines in the west has taken a step forward with a top Japanese consultancy agreeing to help develop a feasibility study. The Aus

$300m call to fund stadium

The private sector will be asked to fund up to $300 million towards the cost of building Perth's new football stadium at Burswood under the public-private partnership the state government will use to build the $750 million venue. The West

FMG at war with 'middle man'

Fortescue Metals Group is facing allegations it bankrolled a breakaway Aboriginal group in Western Australia in order to secure a native title deal form a solicitor, who, at the same time, was trying to negotiate his own commercial venture with the group. The Fin

 

 

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: The nation's biggest banks are under pressure to deliver a rate cut to millions of mortgage holders and small business owners in time for Christmas.

Page 3: The private sector will be asked to fund up to $300 million towards the cost of building Perth's new football stadium at Burswood under the public-private partnership the state government will use to build the $750 million venue.

Sea levels on the Perth coastline are rising at three times the global average, the latest State of Australian Cities report shows.

Page 4: Retailers waiting on Christmas stock could face delays because of an eight-day strike by wharfies and maintenance workers at Fremantle Ports.

Page 5: Bremer Bay residents are holding their breath as they wait to see if a change in wind direction has disastrous consequences for the town.

Page 10: Chinese buyers of Australian farms have been told they will face much tougher scrutiny under a federal Coalition government.

Page 13: A group of rock lobster fishermen have escalated their fight with Fisheries Minister Norman Moore over cuts to their catch limits.

Page 14: Transport Minister Troy Buswell believes Perth will need to expand ferry services on the Swan River to meet future demand, naming Burswood and East Perth as potential destinations for a new network.

Page 17: Shield laws that protect journalists from being forced to reveal their sources as part of a legal stoush between The West Australian and reporter Steve Pennels and mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Page 18: Perth Fashion Week, which has been in financial straits since the middle of the year, is facing a winding-up action by a company owed more than $20,000.

Page 19: Qantas will increase the size of its lounge at Perth Airport by 30 per cent just two years after almost doubling the space to meet unprecedented demand from the resources industry.

Page 26: A defamation battle between a female former senior executive and Woodside Energy yesterday saw parts of the woman's claim struck out, including an allegation the oil and gas giant had painted her as a liar.

Business: The Barnett Government's planned transport spending spree has prompted warnings it could threaten the state's vaunted AAA financial rating.

Western Areas boss Dan Lougher has denied yesterday's surprise capital raising is a sign the company's balance sheet is under pressure, saying the $65 million raising was designed to retire debt and position the company for any recovery in the nickel price next year.

After building the company from scratch, Toro Energy managing director Greg Hall will step down early next year, saying it is the right time as the company takes final steps towards developing WA's first uranium mine.

The collapse of a WA construction group last month which exposed subcontractors to losses has been blamed on a failed $5 million bid to prop up its sister company in NSW.

A delegation representing the WA cattle industry has returned from a mission to Indonesia with a bleak outlook for local pastoralists and convinced the key market cannot sustain drastic cuts in beef imports.

Tony Sage has hit out at the sharp decline in Cape Lambert Resources shares, saying there is no reason the company should be trading at four-year lows.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has agreed to buy a 7.3 per cent stake in Norilsk Nickel, which boasts operations in WA, as the two biggest owners of the world's top supplier of the metal seek an end to a four-year feud over control of the company.

Amadeus Energy has moved to win over opponents of its tie-up with US group Lonestar Resources by sweetening the deal.

A drilling technology company and its corporate advisers have hatched a plan to snare the ailing outfit Coretrack by kicking former state Liberal leader Matt Birney and other directors off the board.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: The dollar jumped in defiance of the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut official interest rates to half-century lows, dashing hopes for currency relief for struggling industries such as manufacturing and tourism.

Ralph Waters, chairman of Australia's largest retailer, Woolworths, and biggest building materials group, Fletcher Building, says the latest interest rate cut is not enough to resuscitate the economy.

The Ten Network plans a $225 million capital raising, its second in six months, to pay down debt.

Page 3: Nathan Tinkler's private jet and helicopter have been repossessed, in the latest sign of financial strife for the former billionaire.

Page 4: Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plan to roll out smart meters will make little difference to electricity prices and she should concentrate on giving the regulator more power to take on state government power monopolies, according to Australia's biggest power users.

Page 5: Industry groups and the Coalition have backed the federal government's decision to appoint an anti-dumping regulator to stop unfairly cheap imports.

Page 6: All employees would be allowed to seek time off to look after sick or disabled relatives, including adult children, under a push planned by trade unions for early next year.

Page 7: Fortescue Metals Group is facing allegations it bankrolled a breakaway Aboriginal group in Western Australia in order to secure a native title deal form a solicitor, who, at the same time, was trying to negotiate his own commercial venture with the group.

Page 8: The Reserve Bank has moved to check a softening of demand that threatens to undermine growth as the mining investment boom peaks.

Page 10: Business leaders have called for a deeper interest rate cut, saying the Reserve Bank of Australia needed to take more decisive action to breathe life back into the struggling retail sector in the lead-up to Christmas.

Page 11: Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop has been forced to defend Tony Abbott's hardline approach to Chinese state-owned enterprises, insisting the Coalition encouraged “investment from all sources”.

Page 13: The troubled Ten Network is poised to launch a heavily discounted $225 million rescue raising, less than two months after chief executive James Warburton ruled out the need for fresh equity.

Page 16: Brazilian miner Vale has indicated it plans to maintain a coal business in Australia despite market speculation it could exit as it looks to divest non-core assets across its portfolio.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: One of Labor’s most respected figures has dared the ALP to abolish its factional system, declaring that it concentrates power within ‘‘the stunted perspectives of just a few’’, isolates the party from the broader community and allows corruption to flourish.

The Reserve Bank has moved to head off an economic slowdown, cutting rates for the sixth time in little more than a year to levels last seen in the depths of the global financial crisis.

Page 2: Business fears backsliding by governments on plans to cut ‘‘green tape’’ as chief executives head to Canberra tomorrow to urge state and federal leaders to simplify rules that cost companies hundreds of millions.

Page 3: Forget the environment, it’s the economy, stupid. Young Australians have dumped the environment from the top of their concerns and replaced it with the economy.

Nathan Tinkler’s $15 million private jet and a corporate helicopter have been seized by receivers as another of his companies collapses over unpaid debts.

Page 4: Hundreds of jobs will go and a range of fees and charges will increase as the Northern Territory government struggles to reverse soaring deficits and return the budget to surplus by 2016.

Page 5: Energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has delivered a broadside to Indian complaints over Australian labour and tax costs, warning there will be no discounting and that India’s capacity to buy Australian resources will depend on its ability to pay market price.

Labour costs in Australia’s oil refineries are higher than in the US and Europe, with ‘‘very high’’ wage inflation adding to a blowout in the cost of doing business and putting pressure on the viability of the nation’s remaining refineries.

Page 6: Australian mining industry veteran Warwick Grigor struggled to explain to the Independent Commission Against Corruption yesterday why he signed over the bulk of a potential $500 million coal project to a $2 shelf company registered by a complete stranger.

Business: Businesses welcomed the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut official interest rates to ‘‘emergency’’ lows yesterday, but growing concerns that this latest cut marks the end of the RBA’s 13-month rate-cutting cycle is tempering any new-found optimism.

The new publishing company formed by next year’s split of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire will be known as News Corporation, maintaining the name under which Mr Murdoch built much of his global news business.

Graincorp is reviewing a sweetened $2.8 billion takeover proposal from US commodities giant Archer Daniels Midland, which has lifted its holding in the east coast grain-handling business to 20 per cent.

An ambitious rail plan to create a new Australian steel industry by linking coalfields in the east with mines in the west has taken a step forward with a top Japanese consultancy agreeing to help develop a feasibility study.

Australian rice growers are not getting a premium to international prices nor the best possible returns under the single export desk, raising questions whether the monopoly should be renewed, says a report by Deloitte Access Economics.

Toro Energy’s long-serving managing director Greg Hall is to leave the company early next year to pursue a new interest, paving the way for its project general manager Vanessa Guthrie to step into the role.

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission may be forced to seek changes to the law if auditors do not lift the quality of their work, chairman Greg Medcraft said yesterday.

Vodafone Hutchison Australia has secured a multi billion-dollar injection of funds from its major shareholders after the under-fire telco committed to continued cuts in its operational expenses.

Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew has accused the federal government of selling out Australian retailers by retaining tax breaks for internet shopping to avoid an electoral backlash.

 

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: Reserve Bank calculations show Australia's big four banks are in a good position to pass on the latest 0.25 per cent rate cut.

Page 2: Receivers have taken possession of the private jet and helicopter of former billionaire, Nathan Tinkler.

Page 3: Public cynicism is undermining democracy and support for legislative reform, according to Labor senator John Faulkner, who says politics needs to return to integrity and accountability.

Business: Despite the Reserve Bank's new interest rate cut, the Aussie dollar continues to surge.

World: US President Barack Obama's plan to reduce deficit has been countered by Republican congressional leaders, who are calling for new taxes to be introduced over the next decade raising $US800 billion.

Sport: Australian cricket legend Shane Warne said he could return to test cricket and perform.

 

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: Pressure will mount on Australia's big four banks to pass on the Reserve Bank's latest 0.25 point rate cut.

Page 2: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had planned to break their baby news to family on Christmas Day, but were forced to speed up plans after the Duchess fell ill with severe morning sickness.

Page 4: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will want their child to have the most normal life possible, just as Princess Diana wanted her sons out of the media glare.

Business: Next year may see interest rates dip to their lowest point in the Reserve Bank's 52-year history.

World: Barack Obama has warned Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad not to attack rebel forces with chemical weaponry.

Sport: Leg-spinner Shane Warne would consider returning to cricket is asked by Australia's cricket captain, Michael Clarke.

 

THE AGE:

Page 1: Australia's big four banks are in an excellent position to pass on all of the latest 0.25 per cent interest rate cut, Reserve Bank calculations show. The right to a fair trial in Victoria risks being threatened as a shrinking legal aid system leaves more people representing themselves, the state's chief justice warns. Australian researchers are conducting a world-first study to try to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes by treating children with their own umbilical cord blood. Elective surgery waiting lists are likely to explode due to funding cuts at Victorian hospitals and no patient will be spared longer waits, including children and cancer patients, surgeons warn.

Page 2: Australians are increasingly experiencing mortgage and rental stress and more people are waiting for public housing, research shows.

Page 3: Relations between Israel and Australia, already tense after Labor backed away from opposition to a Palestinian seat in the United Nations, have worsened after Israel's ambassador was summoned for a dressing down.

World: Republican congressional leaders countered President Barack Obama's deficit reduction proposal with a plan of their own that has far heavier spending cuts but that includes $US800 billion ($A768 billion) in new taxes over the next 10 years.

Business: The dollar has surged despite the Reserve Bank cutting the official interest rate to a record low and telling global investors it thinks they have overvalued the currency.

Sport: Leg-spin legend Shane Warne is adamant he could return to Test cricket on a whim and still excel, were it not for his family priorities trumping cricket.

 

THE HERALD SUN:

Page 1: The big banks are under pressure to pass on a Christmas rate cut gift in full to spur on the retail sector and give much-needed relief to homeowners.

Page 2: Tens of millions of dollars in voluntary school fees may be under threat due to the teachers' pay dispute, with the Baillieu Government last night offering to re-open talks.

Page 3: An allegedly corrupt detective accused of organising the execution of a whistleblower and his wife is penning a book he says will contain explosive new material about their murders.

Business: The official interest rate is likely to fall to an all-time low next year as the mining investment boom slows, economists believe.

World: US President Barack Obama has dramatically told Syria's President Bashar al-Assad not to turn chemical weapons on his own people, following US warnings his forces were mixing deadly sarin gas.

Sport: Shane Warne would consider answering an Ashes SOS from Australian captain Michael Clarke.

THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER:

Page 1: South Australians have been urged to boost local retailers by spending the money they save from interest rate cuts that the banks are now under intense pressure to deliver in full.

Page 2: AGL has launched legal action against the Essential Services Commission of South Australia - arguing the regulator has wrongly exercised its power to review electricity prices.

Page 3: A federal government report has ranked Adelaide the nation's most liveable city for the second consecutive year.

World: Children with cancer are being bullied by their classmates, losing friends and risk falling behind at school, new British research suggests.

Business: Incoming Hillgrove Resources managing director Greg Hall is looking forward to the challenge of building up the copper miner, which owns the Kanmantoo mine in the Adelaide Hills.

Sport: Kurt Tippett will return to AFL football next year in top form after spending 11 matches in the stands because of his AFL-imposed ban.