Today's Business Headlines

Windsor declares tax war on FIFO 'cancer'

Resources companies are at risk of losing lucrative tax perks worth hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of a federal parliamentary committee report likening fly-in, fly-out work practices to cancer. The West

Flaw to blame for tax shortfall

A fundamental flaw in the mining tax is the main reason for the massive shortfall in revenue, not the drop in iron ore and coal prices claimed by Wayne Swan. The Aus

WA Labor shies away from PM

West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan said yesterday he opposed the carbon tax, as Newspoll reveals most voters believe he has a vision for the state but think Premier Colin Barnett is the better economic manager. The Aus

Offshore gas hub is no benefit to WA: Barnett

Colin Barnett has warned that WA would be unable to secure domestic gas from the Browse project if the liquefied natural gas hub was built offshore. The West

Palmer lays down the lore in Citic row

Mediation of Clive Palmer’s dispute with his Chinese state-owned joint venture partner Citic Pacific has been abandoned, with the parties preparing for a contested directions hearing in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Wednesday. The Aus

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: Resources companies are at risk of losing lucrative tax perks worth hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of a federal parliamentary committee report likening fly-in, fly-out work practices to cancer.

Page 3: Almost one third of the homes where state-owned electricity retailer Synergy cut the power last year were those of struggling families and the elderly, figures show.

Health experts say the elderly and children are at risk from predicted temperatures of 40C and above for the next three days.

Page 4: Colin Barnett has warned that WA would be unable to secure domestic gas from the Browse project if the liquefied natural gas hub was built offshore.

Page 5: Speed limits in the Northbridge Tunnel will be cut from 80km/h to 70km/h when a third lane is introduced in each direction this year.

Page 6: Safety inspectors have examined more than 500 gas-fuelled buses after a second engine fire in two months on Saturday but Transport Minister Troy Buswell has stopped short of suspending the fleet.

Page 7: James Packer's $470 million six-star hotel plan could become mired in the Supreme Court, with angry Burswood residents on the verge of legal action against the state government to halt its proposed sale of 5.8ha.

Page 8: Perth will get a rail line to the airport no matter who wins the state election after the Liberals matched Labor's commitment to build three stations along a spur from the Midland line to Forrestfield by 2018.

Page 12: Private schools should get twice the $25 million the state government hands out each year in capital loans, according to the head of Catholic education in WA.

Page 13: Multiple players from Essendon and one from another AFL club were yesterday confirmed as targets in the drug scandal engulfing sport, with the league's deputy chief executive saying players in one case may have been fed prohibited substances without their knowledge.

Page 14: The WA Greens have made an ambitious pitch to voters ahead of next month's state election, claiming all of WA's electricity needs could be met from renewable energy within 20 years.

Page 16: The number of public housing tenants evicted from their properties grew by 115 In the first full year since the state government introduced its strengthened disruptive behaviour management strategy.

Business: An international insurance giant has revealed plans to offer WA grain growers a harvest safety net from next year in what key industry figures have hailed as a crucial breakthrough for struggling farmers and rural communities.

Westpac's China chief is tipping increased interest in WA's non-resources assets as Chinas shaky economic recovery gains strength.

China has surpassed the US to become the world's biggest trading nation last year, a milestone in the Asian nation's challenge to the US dominance in global commerce.

Almost two years after private equity company Archer Capital finalised the deal to buy Brownes from NZ giant Fonterra, the man who took the reins of WA's oldest dairy says the turnaround is on track.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Page 1: ASX Limited will keep its monopoly over clearing and settlements, which accounts for 14 per cent of the group's total revenue, effectively shielding it from another takeover bid.

Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder plans to step down from some “extra-curricular” roles after acknowledging that his workload will increase as head of the business group hosting the Group of 20 summit in Australia next year.

Business groups have accused the Gillard government of election-year populism in pushing more family-friendly rules on to companies while ignoring calls to deal with productivity sapping elements of Labor's Fair Work Act.

Page 3: The AFL has identified multiple premiership winning club Essendon as one of two cases of possible performance enhancing drug use within the code, with multiple players potentially given the drugs without their knowledge or consent.

Page 4: GM Holden will use its new VF Commodore to lead an export push to the United States, where it will be sold as the Chevrolet SS Sports Sedan by its parent, General Motors.

Page 5: West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has brought forward plans to build a railway to Perth airport, promising to spend $1.9 billion on the project as he steps up efforts to tackle transport concerns before the March 9 election.

Page 7: James Packer will respect the Murdochs “till the day I die” for their understanding after the failure of their joint investment in telecommunications venture One.Tel 13 years ago.

Page 8: Stockbrokers are calling for listed companies to share the costs of the corporate regulator's $43 million enforcement bill, blaming a wave of job losses across the broking industry on the levy.

Page 11: Australia's biggest education philanthropist, Graham Tuckwell, has taken a swipe at mining moguls who made their fortunes from the resources boom but have shown little philanthropic spirit.

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting claims the minerals resources rent tax is “backward thinking” and based on boom-time prices, and that it will damage Australia's competitiveness and limit new mining investments.

Page 15: National Australia Bank has appointed the Boston Consulting Group to review its cost base as it looks to make cuts to cement an improvement in profits.

Page 17: Coffey International will disclose a $2 million restructuring charge related to job cuts in its mining operations and a debt refinancing when the engineering group reports first half results today.

Page 48: For all the $5 billion worth of deals struck for stakes in Woodside Petroleum's Browse liquefied natural gas project in the past year, the future of what could be Australia's second-biggest resources project remains in the balance.

THE AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: A fundamental flaw in the mining tax is the main reason for the massive shortfall in revenue, not the drop in iron ore and coal prices claimed by Wayne Swan.

West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan said yesterday he opposed the carbon tax, as Newspoll reveals most voters believe he has a vision for the state but think Premier Colin Barnett is the better economic manager.

The NSW mining industry has warned that if the level of corruption alleged at the inquiry into mining licences issued under the former Labor government had occurred in an African country, investors would abandon the region.

The man at the centre of the scandal engulfing Australian sport, Stephen Dank, is launching a $10 million defamation suit alleging media outlets have wrongly accused him of selling illegal performance-enhancing drugs to elite footballers.

Page 2: The Coalition is set for a Senate estimates showdown with the government over the future costs of border protection after the government dramatically wrote down the costs of dealing with asylum-seekers in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years.

Page 3: Scores of Australian sheep have been allegedly spotted for sale at unaccredited Kuwaiti markets, in what animal rights groups claim is another serious breach of the government’s live export trade rules.

Page 4: Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has been forced to bring to a head decisions on two key NSW coal projects after the leaking of a second letter he wrote last year to the NSW government.

Page 6: The Gillard government was warned before it approved another round of health insurance premium increases that Australians may not be prepared to pay any more for full cover.

Business: Several years of restructuring and the rebound in the sharemarket have left the Packer family's private investment empire in a robust financial position, with the group posting a bottom line net profit last year of $179.3 million.

One of Australia’s longest-running infrastructure fund managers, the $8 billion Hastings Funds Management, is planning to take advantage of the weak European economy by lifting its exposure to seaports, airports and motorways in the region.

Mediation of Clive Palmer’s dispute with his Chinese state-owned joint venture partner Citic Pacific has been abandoned, with the parties preparing for a contested directions hearing in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Wednesday.

Hardware chain Bunnings looks to be queering Woolworths’ pitch in the New Zealand hardware market by registering the name of its rival home improvement chain as a business.

Foreign trade will be the main support for the nation’s economic growth as the great surge of resource investment passes its peak, but it will not generate the jobs that came with the investment boom.

Retail shareholders entered the sharemarket rally with their lowest holdings in more than a decade as institutional shareholders consolidated their hold over the largest public companies, a new study has found.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Page 1: NRL clubs will be informed on Monday or Tuesday whether their players have been accused of illegal doping, yet confusion abounds, with no authority apparently having the power to name offending teams and players.

Page 2: Public schools are missing out on significant financial assistance from philanthropic trusts and organisations because they often don't know the support exists, according to a report.

Page 3: A woman accused of fatally stabbing her housemate with a kitchen knife will remain in custody until she faces court in April.

World: In the second time in less than two years a minister has quit the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel over plagiarism.

Business: The outgoing chief justice of the Federal Court wants the government to urgently restore funding or risk the court stretching resources to a point where it starts "devouring" itself.

Sport: Uncertainty and anxiety hang over NRL players and staff after the league signalled it would begin informing the clubs named in the Australian Crime Commission's report with 24 to 48 hours.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Page 1: Sydney is demanding politicians end decades of squabbling and commit to building a second airport.

Page 2: Australia's most decorated soldier, Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, is the latest elite warrior to leave the force.

Page 3: Cash-strapped schools are asking families to donate paper to boost classroom supplies and are charging fees for photocopying booklets and worksheets.

World: A fox has torn off a one-month-old baby's finger after dragging him from his cot in what is believed to be the worst attack of its kind in the UK.

Business: Australian stocks are expected to open flat on Monday as investors await earnings results for banking, mining and retail giants.

Sport: The National Measurement Institute at North Ryde could hold the key to the Australian Crime Commission's investigation into illegal drug use and match fixing.

THE AGE

Page 1: Australian Crime Commission named at least seven AFL clubs in a confidential briefing as having illicit drug problems. James Hird's position as coach of Essendon hangs in the balance. Workers flown in by helicopters in a bid to break a week-long blockade of a Werribee water treatment plant.

Page 2: Victorian government tells Zoos Victoria to either dump or change its campaign urging its visitors to buy sustainably sourced paper products because it is contrary to government policy. Baillieu government yet to be briefed by the Australian Crime Commissions into investigation into organised crime and drugs in sport.

Page 3: Paramedics take a record number of "sickies" with FoI record showing average of 46 paramedics were on sick leave every day last year. Residents along the M80 Ring Road in Melbourne's north demand the noise barriers afforded to other residents on busy freeways. Environmentalists in uproar after Planning Minister Matthew Guy approves relocation of the Eastern Golf Club course to the Yarra Ranges. Casey Hospital's emergency department may have to close at night because of the budget cuts. Two miniseries in race to dramatise life of Gina Rinehart.

World: Chicago is America's new murder capital with 42 shot dead in January.

Business: Cosmetics entrepreneur Napoleon Perdis tells department stores to hire more staff at their beauty and fashion counters or risk losing more customers to online shopping.

Sport: AFL Players Association concerned that some players may have been phone-tapped by Australian Crime Commission.

THE HERALD SUN

Page 1: Parents will risk a $70 fine if they can't provide a good reason whey their child was not at school. VC recipient Ben Roberts-Smith to leave the army.

Page 2: Former deputy police commissioner Kieran Walshe to oversee clean-up of the toxic contamination at the CFA's Fiskville Training College.

Page 3: Lady Susan Renouf is being treated for cancer. Camouflaged police set up radar speed guns in the bush near Healesville.

World: Four dead in snow storm that paralyses America's northeastern states.

Finance: Experts tip ASX could improve 300 points in 2013 as it is set to pass 5000 barrier this week.

Sport: Club chiefs want the AFL to identify alleged rogue drug taker.

THE CANBERRA TIMES

Page 1: Alistair Coe set to lead the ACT Liberals.

Page 2: Federal government moves to give carers more flexibility.

Page 3: Bill for Australian Sports Commission bullying probe $170,000.

World: America's murder capital in the spotlight.

Business: Market likely to focus on earnings.

Sport: Good news for Essendon players but not James Hird.