Today's Business Headlines

Super funds finally beat GFC level

The global sharemarket recovery has put Australian superannuation funds on track for double digit gains this year and should finally restore retirement savings to where they were before the global financial crisis. The Fin

Browse hit by more litigation

Woodside's $35 billion Browse development has been hit with fresh legal action to overturn environmental approvals for the project because of conflicts of interest on the West Australian Environmental Protection Agency board. The Aus

'Mature' FMG sets up DRP

Fortescue Metals Group has launched a dividend reinvestment plan that could have saved the miner as much as $82 million cash this year if founder and billionaire chairman Andrew Forrest had decided to take shares rather than a twice-yearly cheque. The West

Burke's uranium delay fires up Barnett

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has accused federal Environment Minister Tony Burke of playing politics by again delaying an environmental clearance decision on Toro Energy’s proposed $270 million Wiluna uranium development. The Aus

Pt Bouvard raising brings company back from brink

A heavily-dilutive $24 million equity raising is poised to give Port Bouvard a new lease on life after 18 months of uncertainty which sent the property group to the brink. The West

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Page 3: The most vocal opponents to the Elizabeth Quay development have conceded there is no turning back from the project after a $200 million contract was announced yesterday.

Page 5: Millionaire mining entrepreneur and Perth Glory owner Tony Sage has been caught up in an Australian Federal Police probe, with his West Leederville offices raided yesterday.

Page 6: Jabirr Jabirr woman Rita Augustine has denied a suggestion she has withdrawn her support for the proposed gas hub at James Price Point and expressed anger at reports suggesting otherwise.

Page 7: Barrister Lloyd Rayney has shut down his legal practice within weeks of being acquitted of murdering his estranged wife Corryn.

West Australians are putting in the nation's longest hours and increasing the time they spend at work.

Page 9: Edith Cowan University has suffered an embarrassing rejection of its physiotherapy course for the second year in a row, after its professional accreditation was stripped last week.

Page 14: Construction magnate Len Buckeridge's company BGC – having just put the finishing touches to Perth Arena – has been chosen to develop a hotel on a Hay Street site that includes the former Perth Chest Clinic and FESA House.

Page 16: Premier Colin Barnett says the damaging legal feud between Treasurer Troy Buswell and Fremantle MP Adele Carles is a distraction the government can do without.

Business: Fortescue Metals Group has launched a dividend reinvestment plan that could have saved the miner as much as $82 million cash this year if founder and billionaire chairman Andrew Forrest had decided to take shares rather than a twice-yearly cheque.

A heavily-dilutive $24 million equity raising is poised to give Port Bouvard a new lease on life after 18 months of uncertainty which sent the property group to the brink.

Cameco Australia says it is too early to tell whether its newly-acquired Yeelirrie uranium deposit will become a priority project.

WA's environmental tsar has backed business concerns that excessive federal and state green tape is delaying mining projects, saying more should be done to streamline cross-border environmental approvals.

Former Crosslands Resources chief executive Andrew Caruso will reunite with his old boss Paul Kopejtka in a new Columbia-focused coal venture early next year after accepting the top role at Ascot Resources yesterday.

Southern Cross Electrical Engineering has sought an edge in bidding for LNG project work by tying up with global oil and gas specialist Kentech.

Nexus Energy has decided to sell an extra 2 per cent of the Crux liquids project to the asset's new operator, Royal Dutch Shell, as a way of solving almost $63 million of looming debt repayment commitments.

BC Iron's one-time takeover suitor Regent Pacific Group plans to sell its 20.1 per cent stake in the Pilbara iron ore miner, declaring that “now is the right time”.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: The global sharemarket recovery has put Australian superannuation funds on track for double digit gains this year and should finally restore retirement savings to where they were before the global financial crisis.

The Gillard government's top climate change adviser, Bernie Fraser, sparked a political row by warning the Coalition's vow to repeal Labor's carbon tax “flies in the face of science” and that scrapping his Climate Change Authority would be a “national loss”.

Manufacturing leaders have backed Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens' rejection of moves to try to lower the Australian dollar but called for a pro-business government as the mining boom downturn threatens to leave an economic gap in 2013.

Page 3: The federal government will target unfair clauses in insurance contracts after an outcry from consumers that they have been short-changed after fire, flood and natural disasters.

Page 6: Banks have seized on comments about their profitability by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens, saying they justify moves not to pass on interest rate cuts in full.

Page 7: A plan to help Chinese investors develop agriculture in northern Australia will be unveiled on Thursday in a joint Australia-Chinese report that could reignite debate about foreign purchases of farms.

Page 13: ANZ Banking Group chairman John Morschel has warned that Australia faces a low-growth environment for the forseeable future as the mining boom grinds to a halt amid ongoing global uncertainty.

The resurgence of iron ore has underpinned a 6.5 per cent rally by the sharemarket over the past month, posing another headache for the Reserve Bank of Australia and providing further support for the Australian dollar after investors wrote-off the key steel-making commodity.

Page 15: Telstra rivals iiNet, Macquarie Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia have urged the competition regulator to block the telco giant's acquisition of Adelaide-based internet provider Adam Internet.

Page 16: Woodside Petroleum's $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas venture has been dealt a fresh blow after a legal challenge to Western Australia's environmental approvals for the James Price Point gas hub.

Page 20: BHP Billiton is canvassing the sale of its British oil and gas assets in a pre-cursor to further streamlining its petroleum business and focusing instead on material long-life ventures in the United States and Australia.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: The Reserve Bank’s interest rate cuts and hopes that China will avoid a hard landing have driven a surge in the stockmarket to its highest close in 18 months, putting super funds on track to deliver their best annual returns since the recovery from the global financial crisis in 2009.

Almost one in two voters believes a federal minority government has delivered ‘‘worse government’’ since the last election, and half of those voters believe it has been ‘‘a lot worse’’.

Big business is demanding that a Coalition government redesign elements of the renewable energy target to stop industry and households from paying unnecessary extra costs for electricity.

Page 2: Labor has moved to reignite a row with Tony Abbott on abortion in a bid to exploit his poor standing among female voters in the lead-up to the next election.

Page 3: The Australian Federal Police yesterday raided the Sydney and Perth offices of businesses associated with Perth Glory owner Tony Sage.

Page 4: The two most powerful states have warned that the commonwealth’s failure to swiftly deliver on expiring national partnership agreements worth billions is threatening to tear apart their budgets.

The federal Coalition yesterday revealed it would back a proposed crackdown on noise from wind farms.

Page 6: Woodside's $35 billion Browse development has been hit with fresh legal action to overturn environmental approvals for the project because of conflicts of interest on the West Australian Environmental Protection Agency board.

Page 8: The Coalition has seized on the legal opinion of Western Australia’s former anti-corruption watchdog that Julia Gillard may have breached the law, saying it reinforces its call for a judicial inquiry into the AWU affair.

Business: ANZ Bank is counting on growth in its burgeoning Asia-Pacific operations to offset mixed economic conditions in Australia, chairman John Morschel says, predicting further sharp falls in interest rates in the domestic economy in the new year.

Surf, skate and skiwear company Billabong is under pressure to accept a $527 million buyout offer from company veteran Paul Naude after announcing its third profit downgrade in 12 months.

Australian dairy farmers will be the major beneficiary of China’s decision to drastically reduce the tariffs on infant milk formula ordered to shore up supply to the fast-growing nation.

Institutional investors have slowed their uptake of electronic trading, in part to prop up the shrinking commissions being paid to Australia’s battling brokers, research suggests.

Whitehaven Coal has dismissed speculation China’s Shenhua Group is looking to take over the miner, as rumours continue about major shareholder Nathan Tinkler’s debt problems and plans for his stake.

LNG Limited has set its sites beyond its yet-to-be-approved Gladstone liquefied natural gas ambitions, securing land on the Gulf of Mexico to try to replicate any success it has in Australia.

BHP Billiton is considering exiting its British petroleum operations, including crude oil and natural gas fields and a processing plant, as part of ongoing efforts to sharpen the focus of its portfolio of mining and energy assets.

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has accused federal Environment Minister Tony Burke of playing politics by again delaying an environmental clearance decision on Toro Energy’s proposed $270 million Wiluna uranium development.

James Packer has declared he is ‘‘proud’’ of taking a controlling interest in gaming group Crown after spending more than $140 million to take his stake to 50 per cent yesterday.

Tesltra's rivals have made an 11th-hour plea to the competition regulator to halt the telco giant’s proposed acquisition of budget broadband provider Adam Internet.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Page 1: At least 15 custom officers at Sydney Airport have allegedly been involved in serious misconduct or corruption, Fairfax media reports.

Page 2: A man shot dead outside his Punchbowl home had links to two men murdered in the past four months.

Page 3: Friends and family have said their goodbyes at a funeral for Kevin Quintal who was hit by a car on his way to his Kingsgrove school.

World: The National Rifle Association, which backs gun owners' rights, has pledged to "offer meaningful contributions" to make sure a repeat of the Connecticut killings doesn't happen.

Business: Billabong directors have confirmed that they have a $527 million takeover proposal to consider.

Sport: Australia's high performance chief Pat Howard has said that the number of fast-bowling injuries was not good enough.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:

Page 1: NSW is set to gets its toughest gun laws with a raft of changes proposed for existing gun licensing regulation.

Page 2: ANZ Bank boss Mike Smith was paid more than $19 million in 2012.

Page 3: Up to 30 custom officers have been accused of receiving bribes and turning a blind eye to the importation of drugs through Sydney International Airport.

World: Six health workers have been shot at the start of a nationwide polio vaccination drive in Pakistan.

Business: ANZ chairman John Morschel has warned shareholders that the global economic recovery was weak and that the key challenge for Australia is weakening mining investment.

Sport: NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert has agreed to register Williams' one-year contract with the Sydney Roosters.

THE AGE:

Page 1: Sydney Airport custom officers linked to importation of drugs for crime syndicates. Embattled Liberal MP Geoff Shaw under pressure over a fund-raising club. Police investigate alleged inappropriate financial conduct at a charity run by some of Australia's leading Italian community figures.

Page 2: Report finds that failure by customs officers to detect drugs in a shipping container was treated as a training error and not referred to a specialist investigation unit.

Page 3: Powercor agrees to pay full damages to victims of Weerite and Pomborneit Black Saturday fire which could amount to $10 million. Weekly lotteries run by the City of Melbourne decides who gets the best spots to busk in Bourke Street Mall. Statement of Claim by former employer says liquidator Glenn Anthony Crisp stole more than $500,000, some of which was used to pay for renovations on his house. Thief steals donations meant for a memorial plaque for murdered Sarah Cafferky.

World: The National Rifle Association pledges meaningful contributions to avoid a repeat of the killings at Sandy Hook elementary school.

Business: Billabong shares plunge more than 13 per cent to 85 cents due to uncertainty over takeover bid.

Sport: High performance chief Pat Howard says that following a spate of fast bowling injuries a wide-ranging review of the management of pacemen is under way.

THE CANBERRA TIMES:

Page 1: A grass fire burnt 26 hectares and threatened homes on Canberra's outskirts on Wednesday. At least 15 customs officials working at Sydney Airport are suspected of being involved in a drug importation ring. The Federal Court has ruled the public has no right to access papers about decisions on how Order of Australia orders are allotted.

Page 2: The Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity found the failure of Customs officers to detect drugs when using X-ray machines was treated as a "training deficiency" and not referred for investigation.

Page 3: The Australian Greens have told donors the party can boost its vote by 25 per cent at the 2013 federal election, as it tries to raise a multi-million-dollar warchest.

World: State and federal political leaders in America, including President Barack Obama, have proposed measures to curb gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting.

Business: Billabong's directors confirmed on Wednesday they still had a $527 million takeover offer to consider.

Sport: Canberra's elite sporting teams will each play a special centenary match in 2013.

THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER:

Page 1: Treasurer Jack Snelling has warned of major new spending cuts in today's mid-year budget review and refused to rule out more public sector job losses.

Page 3: Holden has started crucial multimillion-dollar renovations to its Elizabeth car factory that will carry the facility through to the next decade.

World: A seven-year-old boy at the centre of a legal dispute over cancer treatment was due to have more surgery on a brian tumour in Britain yesterday, against his New Zealand mother's wishes.

Business: Shareholders have backed the $10 million pay packet of ANZ boss Mike Smith, despite some investors labelling the amount excessive.

Sport: Former SA batsman Cameron Borgas says it's perform or bust for struggling Sydney Thunder against Adelaide Strikers tonight at Stadium Australia.