Today's Business Headlines

Swan turns up heat over poll costings

The Gillard government will increase pressure on the opposition over policy costings by publishing the final budget figure well before the election and requiring in law an independent audit of every political party's promises that would be published one month after polling day. The Fin

PM knifes own health reforms

Julia Gillard has threatened to abandon her own landmark health reforms before the federal election, escalating a row with the conservative states as they seek more funding for public hospitals from the commonwealth. The Aus

Norilsk threatens to close mine

Russian mining giant Norilsk is on the verge of closing its only remaining Australian mine, with local managing director Edwin van Leeuwen warning staff that its Lake Johnston operation will shut in April if a buyer is not found. The West

Secret lobby to target the Greens

Business and political identities in the West Australian mining centre of Kalgoorlie have launched a secretive lobby group to campaign against ‘‘Greens extremism’’ and are raising funds to run advertisements in the lead-up to the federal and state elections. The Aus

Broker cops four years jail

A District Court judge issued a warning to potential white collar criminals yesterday, imposing a four-year jail term on a star options trader who almost singlehandedly brought down his broking firm. The West

 

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: WA nurses are threatening to escalate industrial action over a pay stoush into a mass strike.

Page 5: Treasurer Troy Buswell wants a court-imposed confidentiality order banning his former partner Adele Carles from releasing a document which will outline details of his defamation case against the Fremantle MP.

Page 6: Labor leader Mark McGowan has backed away from his fervent support for an alternative waterfront plan as he tried to justify his election pledge to “renegotiate” the Barnett government's Elizabeth Quay development.

Mark McGowan is relying on a dramatically revised foreshore plan as a vote winner but his plan has had a lukewarm reception from the public.

Page 7: WA's best-known child health researcher Fiona Stanley has weighed into the state election campaign, calling for tougher policies on alcohol which she says will do more to curb child abuse, violence and crime than anything elese.

Labor has committed $7 million over five years to a cyber crime research institute at Edith Cowan University.

Page 13: The Gillard government will force political parties to submit all election promises for independent costing before the September federal election.

Retiring Australians could find themselves out of money halfway into their retirement years with a new survey revealing many people are not financially prepared to finish work.

Page 14: Qantas will upgrade its fleet of 20, 314-passenger A330s and retire its ageing Boeing 767s in a major overhaul of its domestic offering to fend off a resurgent Virgin Australia.

Perth's gas fuelled buses have been involved in another two incidents in recent days.

Page 18: The retirement of stalwart John Kobelke and the changing demographics in Balcatta make it the seat Liberal strategists are most confident of pinching off Labor.

Business: A District Court judge issued a warning to potential white collar criminals yesterday, imposing a four-year jail term on a star options trader who almost singlehandedly brought down his broking firm.

China's biggest energy company, PetroChina, has added further fuel to an industry push for an LNG hub in the Kimberley after yesterday striking a deal to farm into the Canning Basin shale sector.

Russian mining giant Norilsk is on the verge of closing its only remaining Australian mine, with local managing director Edwin van Leeuwen warning staff that its Lake Johnston operation will shut in April if a buyer is not found.

Qantas has revealed the damage arising from a bruising battle with Virgin Australia, admitting that profits on its domestic operations had fallen more than a third because of the savage business class fare war.

Demand from institutional investors has led the founding shareholders of MACA to sell down $35 million stock in the mining contractor after a capital raising was heavily oversubscribed.

Perth-based iiNet continues to defy gravity, with Australia's third-biggest telco beating analyst expectations to post a record $32 million half-year profit yesterday.

Iluka Resources yesterday flagged further WA job losses as it cut costs to protect margins on its mineral sands products.

NRW Holdings says it will not lose any revenue from the owners of a weather-affected Queensland coal mine taking over its operation from the WA contractor.

An Indonesian coalminer has dropped a .3 million legal action against heavy equipment supplier Emeco Holdings.

The problems associated with gold miner St Barbara's newly acquired Pacific operations were rammed home yesterday, with the combination of high costs and the acquisition itself correlating in a wafer-thin half-yearly profit.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Page 1: The Gillard government will increase pressure on the opposition over policy costings by publishing the final budget figure well before the election and requiring in law an independent audit of every political party's promises that would be published one month after polling day.

Concerns that the world's leading central banks may not indefinitely support global equities by printing money sparked the largest one-day sell-off in Australian stocks in almost a year and pushed the key market index below 5,000.

Labour shortages and poor hiring practices are delaying the construction of Labor's national broadband network, as the contractors building it rush to meet crucial rollout targets.

Page 5: Fairfax Media's flagship metropolitan newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Melbourne, have been around for more than a century and a half, but on March 4 they will be transformed when they change from broadsheet to compact formats during weekdays.

Page 7: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has threatened to slash the amount of money given to state governments and reroute health funding directly to hospitals, in a move designed to foil Liberal state leaders who have blamed the federal government for health cuts.

Page 8: Julia Gillard's supporters do not believe Kevin Rudd has ruled out being drafted into the leadership despite him saying no such prospect exists.

Union leader has blasted internal Labor Party leakers who are undermining Prime Minister Julia Gillard, calling on them to stop making anonymous criticisms of her.

Page 9: The Labor government has called the Greens hypocritical for opposing abolition of tax breaks for miners, a measure designed to fund its $1 billion package to support blue-collar jobs, as the split between the former allies worsens.

Page 10: Telstra Corp has confirmed plans to cut nearly 700 jobs from Sensis as part of a restructuring that aims to accelerate the transition of the faltering directories unit to a fully fledged media business.

Page 12: Santos chief executive David Knox has called for a “very steady hand on the policy tiller” through the election period and beyond to avoid jeopardising the $180 billion being invested in liquefied natural gas.

Woolworths chief executive Grant O'Brien has blamed the entry of global rivals such as Aldi for pricing pressure on suppliers, saying the future of Australia's largest retailer is at risk unless it responds to changing market conditions and shopping habits.

Page 13: Origin Energy has ruled out equity raising to help fund its $24.7 billion Australia Pacific LNG venture in Queensland even after putting plans to sell part of its stake in the project on the back-burner.

Page 16: Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman has revealed the company will move to sell its underperforming business in the Gulf of Mexico as it focuses on building a position in the Mediterranean and looks at an entry into Canada.

Page 17: Incoming BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie and new Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh have both made it clear that cutting costs is one of the top items on their respective agendas.

BHP Billiton has not ruled out approving growth projects in potash,copper and iron ore in the 2014 financial year as it completes a two-year internal budgeting plan.

Mineral sands miner Iluka is to reduce production and cut costs – which will result in the loss of about 200 jobs – because of persistent weak demand for its products.

Page 19: Market confidence is more fragile than most people think, with weak share trading volumes showing many investors are remaining on the sidelines despite the bull market, says ASX Ltd chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: Julia Gillard has threatened to abandon her own landmark health reforms before the federal election, escalating a row with the conservative states as they seek more funding for public hospitals from the commonwealth.

Labor is seeking to set a budget time bomb for Tony Abbott by forcing an audit of all parties’ policy cost estimates within 30 days after the next election, stepping up the fight over the budget as the government mulls over deep cuts to pay for its promises.

The UN’s climate change chief, Rajendra Pachauri, has acknowledged a 17-year pause in global temperature rises, confirmed recently by Britain’s Met Office, but said it would need to last ‘‘30 to 40 years at least’’ to break the long-term global warming trend.

Religious organisations running schools, health and aged care services face losing key exemptions to Labor’s new anti-discrimination laws under recommendations that could see them sued by people who disagree with church ethos.

The Australian sharemarket had its worst day in 18 months yesterday, with the main index falling 2.33 per cent or more than 118 points to drop below the psychologically important 5000 level it had recently punched through.

Page 2: Disaffected caucus members are pinning their hopes on drafting Kevin Rudd to the Labor leadership as late as June, despite a blistering attack from union boss Paul Howes demanding an end to the internal unrest.

The peak union body is pressing for further government action to help manufacturers deal with the high Australian dollar, amid a policy row over whether enough is being done to spread the benefits of the mining boom across the economy.

Page 3: Male-dominated industries such as those in the energy, gas and mining sectors are outperforming the female-weighted fields of retail and accommodation services when it comes to offering paid parental leave.

Page 8: Business and political identities in the West Australian mining centre of Kalgoorlie have launched a secretive lobby group to campaign against ‘‘Greens extremism’’ and are raising funds to run advertisements in the lead-up to the federal and state elections.

Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten yesterday defended his new Future of Financial Advice and Stronger Super legislation, after criticism it would cost the industry about $1.5 billion ‘‘just to get ready’’ for the changes.

Unions have slammed Telstra for announcing plans to slash nearly 700 jobs or 20 per cent of the workforce at its struggling directories arm Sensis, just weeks after posting a group first-half profit of more than $1.6 billion.

Business: Financial market chief executives are gaining confidence that rallies in global stocks can be sustained, despite a plunge in prices yesterday on concerns about the US bond-buying program.

Fare-slashing wars have shaved more than $100 million from Qantas Domestic’s first-half earnings, and look set to continue, with the airline predicting capacity growth of up to 7 per cent in the current half.

Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood has ruled out further asset sales and flagged more cost savings at the newspaper and radio group after first-half profit fell 39 per cent to $83 million.

Origin Energy has booked a $1.65 billion cost blowout at the Australia-Pacific LNG plant in Gladstone in Queensland and revealed that so far it has not been able to find a buyer for a $3bn stake in the project partly because of growing liquefied natural gas investor interest in US shale.

BHP Billiton’s departing chief executive, Marius Kloppers, has cited his transformation of the iron ore pricing system, BHP outperforming its peer group and the global miner’s improved safety performance as his greatest achievements.

Woodside Petroleum boss Peter Coleman has made his most upbeat comments to date about the potential for a controversial $40 billion Browse LNG plant at James Price Point north of Broome.

Chinese oil and gas giant PetroChina has expanded its footprint in Australia, taking stakes in two promising gas projects in northern Western Australia in a deal with US energy major ConocoPhillips.

Alumina is holding off paying dividends despite recent price improvements and the post balance-date equity injection of $452 million from China’s state-owned Citic.

Mineral-sands producer Iluka is to shed 200 workers at its West Australian and Victorian operations in response to weak market conditions, highlighted by the 33 per cent fall in annual profit from $541 million to $363.2m.

Constant policy changes are putting Australia’s world-leading superannuation system at risk, AMP chief executive Craig Dunn has said.

Woolworths chief executive Grant O’Brien has questioned why Australia’s consumer watchdog is holding an inquiry into supermarket monopoly power, pointing out that competition in the sector had increased since the previous inquiry five years ago.

Sailing on the twin tailwinds of favourable regulatory conditions and the success of its recent acquisitions, Australia’s No 3 telco iiNet has delivered another record profit result for the half to December.

Goodman Group — the Australian-based landlord with $21 billion worth of global business parks, warehouses and sites under its control — could increase the value of its development workbook to boom-time levels within 18 months, despite posting a 22.7 per cent fall i n its half-year net profit to $155 million.

 

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Page 1: It looks like Barry O'Farrell will block any move to grant a mining licence over the Mt Penny coal tenement in the Hunter Valley. A Sydney woman was forced to deliver her own baby in hospital. A former gynaecologist may face a manslaughter charge after fresh claims his negligence caused the death of a new mother.

Page 2: A police officer has admitted an attack by an Aboriginal man on another officer never took place. The Gonski school education reform package may be hit by the underperforming mining tax.

Page 3: A number of the nation's wealthiest businessmen are worried the ICAC inquiry into former NSW Labor MP Ian Macdonald may make misconduct findings against them.

World: The lead investigator in the Oscar Pistorius murder case faces attempted murder charges arising out of a shooting in October 2011.

Business: BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers will leave his job with about $75 million.

Sport: The men's 4x100m relay swim team are expected to front a media conference on Friday to lift the lid on inappropriate behaviour.

 

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Page 1: Bikies are trying to force school kids to push drugs at suburban shopping centres in Sydney. A member of the Aussie swim team at London has lifted the lid on inappropriate behaviour at the 2012 Games.

Page 2: Premier Barry O'Farrell will block a mine being developed at the controversial Mt Penny site. A woman who got badly burnt at an ultramarathon in Western Australia is suing race organisers.

Page 3: A Sydney woman was forced to deliver her own baby in hospital because nursing staff allegedly didn't hear her cries.

World: Oscar Pistorius's chances of getting bail have increased after a number of prosecution blunders.

Business: Qantas's profits have jumped with a big lift in profits due to improved performance on international routes.

Sport: Stephen Danks used a secret back street lab as a location to inject NRL stars with supplements.

 

THE HERALD SUN

Page 1: Olympian Jade Neilsen has accused three members of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay team of inappropriate behaviour.

Page 2: Victoria will host the Australian International Airshow for at least another decade. Free family entertainment will be a feature of this year's Melbourne comedy festival.

Page 3: A jail guard has lost his job after trying to get a prisoner to take responsibility for his driving fines. A Melbourne four-year-old is in remission after doctors removed a tumour the size of a football.

World: An estimated 4700 people, including civilians, have been killed in bombing raids conducted under America's secretive drone war.

Business: Qantas Airways has started to shake off its troubles after nearly tripling its first-half profit.

Sport: The AFL will trial its radical blockbuster pricing strategy this season, with a view to it being implemented in 2014.

THE AGE

Page 1: Victorian hospitals say jobs lost as a result of federal government funding cuts will not be reinstated, even though the money has been. The Greens are threatening to change a key part of the federal government's Gonski education reform package if the mining tax isn't fixed. Sixty-one years after Australian servicemen were deliberately exposed to the fury of nuclear bomb testing at Maralinga, lawyers are seeking a desperate intervention by the Australian Human Rights Commission on behalf of 295 survivors.

Page 2: Compact editions of The Age will be introduced on March 4. Labor has accused the Greens of hypocrisy over their threat to vote down its plan to save $1 billion by cutting a research and development tax break for big companies.

Page 3: Melburnians have used a record amount of water over the past week as the city endured searing temperatures. The first long list of the inaugural Stella Prize has been revealed. Yarra Trams' new chief executive has used his first day in the job to fire an extraordinary rocket at his staff, telling them much of the work they did was not good enough and promising to fix a host of problems for the benefit of the travelling public.

World: The Obama administration has warned that it will launch new efforts to persuade China and other countries to halt the theft of billions of dollars worth of US trade secrets.

Business: Outgoing BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers will take cash, shares and performance rights worth up to $75.2 million at current prices when he leaves in October.

Sport: Allegations that Essendon's sports science team bypassed the club's AFL-accredited medical staff only reaffirm the integrity of club doctors.