No Roy Hill cash deficit – The West; Overhaul of corporate bond market underway – The Fin; WA fears green hit to gas hub – The Fin; Union friendly deals ‘hurting productivity’ – The Aus; Brighter outlook dims rate cut hopes – The Aus
No Roy Hill cash deficit
Speculation Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill project may be running out of money as it seeks to raise debt financing may be overblown, with the company reporting it was holding more than $636 million in cash at June last year. The West
Overhaul of corporate bond market underway
The Gillard Government will push ahead with its long-awaited overhaul of the corporate bond market, excusing companies from publishing complex prospectuses and reducing rules around directors’ liabilities. The Fin
WA fears green hit to gas hub
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is concerned the $30 billion Kimberly Gas Hub involving some of the world’s biggest oil companies could become the next casualty of pressure from green groups before the federal election this year. The Fin
Union friendly deals ‘hurting productivity’
Strict rules for government spending on infrastructure and construction projects could boost productivity and save hundreds of millions of dollars by eliminating union-friendly deals, says the chairman of Tony Abbott’s productivity working group. The Aus
Brighter outlook dims rate cut hope
Strict rules for government spending on infrastructure and construction projects could boost productivity and save hundreds of millions of dollars by eliminating union-friendly deals, says the chairman of Tony Abbott’s productivity working group. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 6: Labor leader Mark McGowan says he would ban local governments charging for parking at the beach if Labor is elected in March.
Page 13: Water Corporation customers using Visa or Mastercard to pay their bills are subsidising the lavish incentive schemes offered to holders of cards such as American Express.
Page 66: Speculation Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill project may be running out of money as it seeks to raise debt financing may be overblown, with the company reporting it was holding more than $636 million in cash at June last year.
It was WA’s worst industrial disaster. Apache Energy’s 2008 Varanus Island explosion tore a $2.4 billion hole in the State’s economy, by disrupting a third of WA’s gas supplies for months.
The board of Macmahon Holdings says it needs more detail before it can compare a $38 million competing bid from Singapore for its construction arm with the deal struck with biggest shareholder Leighton Holdings.
Despite a high capital cost, the future demand for fertiliser – both locally and abroad – will enable local potassium hopeful Potash West to develop a producing mine, its managing director Patrick McManus says.
New Straights Resources boss Andre Labuschagne has walked into a baptism of fire at his new corporate home, forced to fly to Indonesia yesterday after regional authorities ordered the closure of the company’s Mt Muro gold mine.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Gillard Government will push ahead with its long-awaited overhaul of the corporate bond market, excusing companies from publishing complex prospectuses and reducing rules around directors’ liabilities.
Executive pay disclosure laws should be repealed and replaced with a single figure showing actual pay for each director, BHP Billiton has proposed, as part of changes to simplify company annual reports.
The Australian dollar rose sharply after unexpectedly string Chinese trade figures and signs of a recovery in the local construction industry raised hopes of a stringer economy.
Page 6: Annual general meetings are an expensive waste of time and should be scrapped in favour of better use of technology to communicate with shareholders, says the peak body that represents professionals who talk to investors for a living.
Page 7: West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is concerned the $30 billion Kimberly Gas Hub involving some of the world’s biggest oil companies could become the next casualty of pressure from green groups before the federal election this year.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says his government will not officially start campaigning for re-election until next month, despite an early media blitz by the Labor opposition.
Page 8: Company tax receipts, buffeted by a slowing economy and increased regulatory and compliance costs, will give the Government a key piece of its budget deficit picture by the end of this month.
Page 9: The outlook for the economy has received a fresh boost – putting upward pressure on the currency – amid growing optimism about nascent recovery in home construction and signs of life in China, Australia’s biggest trade partner.
Page 10: Two BHP Billiton coalmines in the NSW Illawarra region face industrial action on Friday over a pay dispute.
Page 11: Clients of Morgan Stanley are among the winners from Monday’s hoax ANZ Banking Group press release, with the broker buying up large parcels of shares in Whitehaven Coal during the 22 minutes of panic misinformed selling.
Venture capitalist and online gambling investor Roger Allen has broken his silence on his donations to social activist group GetUp!, which has a long running campaign against Woolworths and Coles over their interests in pubs with poker machines.
Page 12: Law firms are exposing themselves to risks because they lack strategies for using social media and don’t train their staff in its use, a survey has found.
Page 13: Fund manager and strategists warn that a near six-year low in market volatility is no reason for complacency, pointing to American fiscal problems and, European debt woes and any divergence from China’s growth trajectory as looming potential storms.
Former Leighton Holdings chief executive Wal King will travel to Britain in the next few weeks to meet with investors at Bumi Plc before a shareholder vote that could see him become chairman of the Indonesian thermal coal group.
Page 34: After years of strong growth, the Perth and Brisbane office markets are poised for a weaker 2013 as demand for spaces decreases in a softer resources market and government jobs are shed in Queensland.
Starhill Global REIT, the listed Singaporean real estate giant, is considering paying close to $50 million for the Plaza Arcade in Perth’s city centre in a move that may signal an expansion of its adjacent David Jones building which it acquired in 2009.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Strict rules for government spending on infrastructure and construction projects could boost productivity and save hundreds of millions of dollars by eliminating union-friendly deals, says the chairman of Tony Abbott’s productivity working group.
Page 2: The building and construction sector expects to have to spend $600 million to train staff and update policies to comply with Labor’s discrimination overhaul.
Leading economists have countered Labor and union claims about rising productivity in a new row over industrial relations policy as business leaders press for workplace reform to be put on the federal election agenda.
A big jump in China’s trade and an increase in the number of new dwellings gaining council building approval are the latest signs of an improving economic outlook that is leading financial markets to wind back their forecasts of further interest rate cuts.
Page 15: Investment bankers are on high alert over their job security after Morgan Stanley yesterday joined the list of banks to take the axe to staff numbers.
‘‘Better late than never!’’ is how international payments company Swift this week described corporate Australia’s newfound interest in doing business with China in its own currency.
Page 16: A generation of workers unaccustomed to anything other than boom times will inhibit the mining industry’s efforts to improve productivity, chief executives have warned.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: An arms dealer and international fugitive has been arrested in Melbourne after applying to be a protective services officer. The nation is in the grip of a heatwave that's hard to budge. There was a snake on the wing of a Qantas flight to Papua New Guinea.
Page 2: The recent Twilight movie is set to sweep the Razzies, which reward the year's worst films. The Greens have backed a man who successfully hoaxed Whitehaven Coal this week.
Page 3: McDonald's is installing a state-of-the-art security system that sprays thieves with a synthetic DNA spray. Two men from the Northern Territory were recently found dead in Laos, sparking more concern about potentially lethal cocktails in South-East Asia. An investigation unit has been set up to investigate sex offenders as part of the royal commission into child sex abuse.
World: Giant retailer Walmart has joined talks on US gun control measures following the school massacre that killed 20 kids.
Business: A major Aussie super fund is dumping News Corp shares because a lack of change at the media organisation.
Sport: George Bailey has hit out at the Nine Network for talking down the one-day side in an attempt to drive down TV rights price.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: The Rural Fire Service has slammed cuts to frontline services, saying it's making it harder to fight fires.
Page 2: A federal MP has called for moderate Muslims to "slap down" a firebrand cleric who's calling for the imposition of sharia law in Australia.
Page 3: Vodafone phone bills could rise by hundreds of dollars after the company said it would be changing the way it charges for data usage. A Melbourne murderer plans to marry her lesbian lover behind bars.
Business: The lift in China's economy will be a major boost for Australia.
Sport: NRL club Parramatta are trying to steal Matt Scott from North Queensland. There's an attempt being made to end the feud between Bernard Tomic and Pat Rafter.
THE AGE:
Page 1: An international fugitive who worked with the world's most infamous arms trafficker has been arrested in Melbourne after applying to be a protective services officer.
Page 3: Forcing Fairfax journalists to reveal their sources in the banknote bribery scandal has no forensic purpose, the Supreme Court has heard.
Page 5: Acting Opposition Leader Warren Truss has hosed down a push from within the Liberal Party to end compulsory preferential voting for federal elections.
World: US Vice-President Joe Biden has vowed quick executive action to deal with gun violence.
Business: Traders who lost money in this week's $314 million market manipulation should have their money returned, according to a corporate law expert.
Sport: Tennis Australia will not intervene in the dispute between Bernard Tomic and Pat Rafter and on Thursday denied there was any animosity between the pair.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: The woman who throttled housewife Maria Korp has provoked anger by planning to wed her jailbird lover behind bars.
Page 3: Patients, their families and health workers could be forced to pay more for car parking at Eastern Health hospitals, an internal memo indicates.
Page 5: A cop who allegedly rammed a car to end a high-speed police chase and showered its occupants, at least one of whom had his hands up, in capsicum spray could face up to seven years in prison.
World: The lawyer representing three men accused of fatally gang-raping a 23-year-old student in a bus in New Delhi says the victims are to blame.
Business: China's economy is galloping ahead, in a development likely to boost Australia's growth.
Sport: Audio recordings from Melbourne's coaching box during Dean Bailey's tenure could unlock the answer to whether the club tanked in 2009.