Today's Business Headlines

Labor slumps as campaign starts

Labor support has slumped back to levels seen at the end of last year and Tony Abbott has surged against Julia Gillard as the nation’s preferred prime minister after the start of the record-breaking seven-month election campaign was marked by chaos and confusion in government ranks. The Aus

Buswell rejects changes to mining tax

West Australian Treasurer Troy Buswell has rejected proposed changes to the mining tax that he says would give the federal government greater autonomy over the country's mineral wealth. The Fin

Minister bows to green protests against oil giants

The Gillard government has bowed to pressure from environmental groups by moving to restrict the oil and gas industry’s activities near the Rowley Shoals, a spectacular marine area off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast. The Aus

Cowan accuses Grylls of sell-out

A founding father of the WA Nationals has accused leader Brendon Grylls of putting the party at risk by selling out on its traditional grassroots values. The West

Unions up ante on FLNG Browse proposal

Unions have joined the backlash against Shell's plans to fast-track floating gas platforms in preference to Woodside's $40 billion James Price Point development, threatening to target investors in a bid to stop WA job losses. The West

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: A founding father of the WA Nationals has accused leader Brendon Grylls of putting the party at risk by selling out on its traditional grassroots values.

Page 3: Welfare groups are reporting an increase in demand for help from families struggling with the cost of sending their children back to school today – despite millions of dollars handed out to parents under Labor's schoolkids bonus.

Perth house prices could jump 15 per cent this year, says one of Queensland's richest men, property mogul Kevin Young.

Page 6: A circle freeway allowing uninterrupted travel across Perth on four major roads would be created as part of Labor's Metronet plan.

Treasurer Troy Buswell says there was “nothing secret” about Colin Barnett's meeting with casino boss James Packer because talk of a Burswood stadium was already public.

Page 10: Julia Gillard faces a return to Parliament tomorrow under pressure to hold her government together in the face of a Cabinet re-shuffle, court hearings and demands to reveal how to pay for key election pledges.

Page 14: The mining slowdown has forced companies to cut demand for overseas workers – but they are being replaced by foreign chefs and IT workers.

Page 16: A Pilbara council at the coalface of WA's resources boom has warned that essential services such as rubbish collection are at risk because some of its lower-paid workers cannot afford to live in the region.

Business: A son of billionaire iron ore heiress Angela Bennett has emerged as rural property dealer Michael King's potential saviour from the wrath of another member of WA's Rich List.

Unions have joined the backlash against Shell's plans to fast-track floating gas platforms in preference to Woodside's $40 billion James Price Point development, threatening to target investors in a bid to stop WA job losses.

The state's peak farm lobby group has backed CBH's plan to take over the running of grain freight line in the heart of the Wheatbelt.

He has been absent from the WA business headlines for a few years but it appears “Diamond” Joe Gutnick is once again turning his eyes to this state and its gold.

Chevron has posted a 41 per cent profit gain for the fourth quarter as the company produced more oil and gas, improved the performance of its refinery business and confirmed its .4 billion windfall from swapping out of the Woodside Browse LNG consortium.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Page 1: Fear of sparking a leadership ballot at the end of last year was a key reason Julia Gillard delayed until last week the decision to reshuffle her cabinet.

Westpac Banking Corp made a surprise bid for a $400 million stake in Hong Kong's Bank of Asia in December, in a clear sign that Australia's second-largest bank is more serious about growing in Asia.

Asia-Pacific's largest in vitro fertilisation business, Virtus Health, is preparing for a $500 million sharemarket float, raising tentative hopes that Australia's initial public offering market is coming back to life.

Page 3: West Australian Treasurer Troy Buswell has rejected proposed changes to the mining tax that he says would give the federal government greater autonomy over the country's mineral wealth.

Holiday house sales are yet to recover, despite more optimism in the residential property market.

Page 4: Papua New Guinea's commodity export revenue could increase sixfold over the next two decades, producing an extra 100,000 jobs, according to a study that underlines the prospects of an economic bonanza in the country.

WA Labor has pledged to build a “circle freeway” to connect Perth's major roads, in the latest of a string of transport policy announcements that has dominated the state election campaign.

Page 8: Outgoing Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has left a raft of legal reforms unfinished, including new national discrimination laws and a shake-up of native title.

Page 13: Australia's top 200 companies risk missing guidance, tearing up forecasts, slashing jobs and booking goodwill write-downs this results season, potentially stalling January's strong sharemarket rally.

Page 15: Chevron is confident that the massive cost blowouts that have plagued the $52 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia will not be repeated at its other new ventures in Australia.

Page 16: Global office landlord Brookfield Office Properties has revived hopes that it will float its $4.2 billion Australian office portfolio due to strength in the real estate investment sector.

Page 17: Australia's miners with operations in Africa are expected to encounter another year of difficulties raising money, with experts predicting more mergers and acquisitions could be on the cards in 2013.

THE AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: Labor support has slumped back to levels seen at the end of last year and Tony Abbott has surged against Julia Gillard as the nation’s preferred prime minister after the start of the record-breaking seven-month election campaign was marked by chaos and confusion in government ranks.

Union leaders are seizing on Julia Gillard’s reshuffle to seek major changes to skills and migration policy amid claims that Australians are missing out on well-paid resource industry jobs that are going to thousands of foreign workers.

The Gillard government has bowed to pressure from environmental groups by moving to restrict the oil and gas industry’s activities near the Rowley Shoals, a spectacular marine area off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast.

Page 2: Research commissioned by peak resources groups shows permanent populations are growing faster in mining regions than in other regional areas, unemployment is lower and they are home to more high-income earners.

Rio Tinto’s loss-making aluminium refinery in Arnhem Land should be shuttered, according to an internal review, with the expected loss of up to 1500 jobs and devastating effects on the regional economy.

Page 4: Stephen Conroy has secured the numbers to become the federal government’s third most senior cabinet minister with a vote expected today to make him Labor’s leader in the upper house.

Education Minister Peter Garrett yesterday warned the states they could face funding cuts if they did not contribute to the Gonski education reforms.

Business: Leading commodity forecasters have predicted a new stage of the commodity ‘‘supercycle’’ this year, underwriting optimism in the sector after a bumpy 2012.

You can get a home mortgage from a bank for as little as 5.5 per cent, which, apart from a brief period during the heart of the global financial crisis, is cheaper than at any time since the 1960s.

As the kick-off looms for the February profit reporting season, the gap between rising share prices and weak earnings has become compelling.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are set to reveal that profits have slumped in their latest reporting periods, explaining why both the miners have made cost-cutting their No 1 aim in 2013.

Confidence in superannuation is at an all-time low following years of constant changes to the system, the chief executive of the Self Managed Superannuation Fund Professionals Association (SPAA), Andrea Slattery, warns.

Mobile banking has reached a tipping point, with one of the major banks reporting that customer log-ins to its mobile app exceeded internet banking log-ins for the first time.

The federal government is considering forcing some of the world’s largest companies to publicly release details of the tax they pay on their Australian operations as part of a crackdown on multinationals minimising their local tax bills.

Manufacturing data out of Asia suggests the region’s economic recovery is continuing and should pick up steam as the year goes on.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Page 1: Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the resignations of two senior ministers recently in part to take the heat out of a battle over the top Senate job. Eddie Obeid has completed another lucrative deal days after the family has been accused of standing to make up to $100 million out of a tainted coal deal.

Page 2: Green slip prices have been allowed to rise by $50 despite a rise in profits for insurers.

Page 3: Former NSW premier Morris Iemma has welcomed a raft of reforms to the NSW Labor Party.

World: French President Francois Hollande has been met with an ecstatic welcome in Mali after ridding Timbuktu of radical Islamists.

Business: There's been a $15 billion cost blowout in the Gorgon gas project in Western Australia.

Sport: Glenn Maxwell's scored a million dollar contract to play in the IPL.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Page 1: More than 50 per cent of voters reckon Prime Minister Julia Gillard lied when she said "stability and certainty" were her reasons for calling a September election.

Page 2: Insurance companies are calling for bans on new houses in bushfire and flood-prone areas.

Page 3: HSC cheats have been caught hiding mobile devices in their clothing and even getting other people to sit their exams for them.

World: There's been dancing on the streets of Mali to welcome the French President Francois Hollande.

Business: Women need to do more than men when it comes to boosting their superannuation balances.

Sport: Glenn Maxwell has picked up a $1 million contract to play for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

THE AGE

Page 1: Insiders say former Victorian premier Steve Bracks would have the inside running for Nicola Roxon's Labor seat if he wants it. About 50 of the 300-year-old mountain ash trees of Kinglake National Park that survived the Black Saturday fires have sprung back to life. Reserve Bank will hold off on further interest rate cuts at its next meeting on Tuesday.

Page 2: A collection of early photographs of Aboriginal people bought in 2004 sparked a quest to identify them. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, from the Victorian Right, set to be elected as the new Senate leader.

Page 3: UN delivers scathing report on conditions on Manus Island putting incoming Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor under pressure. State government could soon set claim to ownership of the millions of litres of stormwater running into drains. RSL members claim high poker machine fees was the real reason behind the closure of the Heidelberg branch. The federal government seeks bipartisan talks in an effort to fix a deadly railway crossing. Monkey business surrounds Iran's space flight with claims the primate sent into space wasn't the one pictured after the landing.

World: French President Francois Hollande given rapturous applause in Timbuktu after his troops helped rout radical Islamists out of the Mali city.

Business: US energy giant Chevron blames the strong Australian dollar for soaring costs at Australia's biggest natural gas project, Gorgon, off Western Australia's northwest coast.

Sport: George Bailey's maiden international century has his critics, including Shane Warne, eating humble pie as Australia overpowers West Indies at the WACA.

THE HERALD SUN

Page 1: Labor would give juries the power to recommend sentences for serious crimes if Labor wins Victorian state election in 2014. Shame for soccer fans who tore up seats at Etihad Stadium as violence took the gloss off the local derby between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart on Saturday night.

Page 2: AFL players Brock McLean and Daniel Jackson join Gay Pride March and call for more action against homophobia in football.

Page 3: University study says high rate of immigration is harming the job prospects of the young. Dumped yellow Wiggle Sam Moran to host his own kids TV show for Foxtel's Nick Jr channel.

World: As Barack Obama readies to take on the US gun lobby, the White House releases a photo of him shooting clay targets.

Business: Merger and acquisition activity back on the table buoyed by the strengthening stock market.

Sport: Victorian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is cricket's latest millionaire after landing a deal with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League auction.

THE CANBERRA TIMES

Page 1: Canberra's parents are more concerned about the quality of their children's teachers rather than the size of their classes.

Page 2: Former NSW Labor kingpin Eddie Obeid and his family received millions of dollars in consultancy fees for the Top Ryde shopping centre.

Page 3: The foreign affairs department says new diplomatic missions should be established in areas with easy access to Parliament House.

World: French President Francois Hollande is mobbed by thousands of Malians after French forces drive Islamist radicals out of the African nation's capital.

Business: High Australian dollar and extra logistics have led to a $14.4 billion cost blowout at nation's biggest natural gas project, Gorgon, in Western Australia.

Sport: Batsman Shane Watson will make his comeback to international cricket in Canberra on Wednesday.