Coalition eyes IR reform – in 2016 – The Aus; Barnett ups the ante on Browse – The Fin; Booze plan attacked – The West; TV drama: Stokes grabs another slice of Ten – The Fin; MinRes sets Pilbara pace – The West
Coalition eyes IR reform – in 2016
The Productivity Commission would be charged with overhauling the nation’s workplace laws if Tony Abbott wins power — but major changes to the Fair Work Act would be delayed until after the 2016 election under a plan being ‘‘actively considered’’ by the federal Coalition. The Aus
Barnett ups the ante on Browse
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is planning to lobby Chinese and Japanese customers and investors in the state's huge Browse gas project directly to try to convince them they must back the controversial onshore site of James Price Point in the Kimberley. The Fin
Booze plan attacked
Labor leader Mark McGowan will today propose changes to WA's liquor licensing rules that would virtually eliminate drinking restrictions in restaurants. The West
TV drama: Stokes grabs another slice of Ten
Seven Group chairman Kerry Stokes has emerged with a $40 million holding in rival Ten Network as the federal government considers media reforms that could shake up the television landscape. The Fin
MinRes sets Pilbara pace
Mineral Resources has underscored its reputation as the quickest mover in the Pilbara, saying it will be able to build a new mine at Iron Ore Holdings' Iron Valley project within six months of receiving approvals for the project. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: Labor leader Mark McGowan will today propose changes to WA's liquor licensing rules that would virtually eliminate drinking restrictions in restaurants.
Page 3: Delayed telecasts of AFL games that have frustrated Perth footy fans will end this season.
Page 5: Exam markers have raised concerns about widespread problems with illegible handwriting and poor spelling and grammar in last year's WA Year 12 English exam.
Page 6: A re-elected Liberal government would let people other than relatives of homeowners rent granny flats in a bid to boost affordable housing.
A second emergency rescue helicopter based in the South West will be funded by a re-elected Liberal government after the RAC rescue chopper attended a record 416 jobs last year.
Page 7: A rally to support local jobs is ironically set to become an industrial flashpoint, with some of the 3000 protesters likely to be prosecuted for leaving work to attend the event.
Labor will ensure the integration of childcare facilities at new primary school sites in WA if elected.
Page 9: Bullsbrook residents faced a nervous wait last night as a bushfire, believed to have been sparked by a freight train, threatened lives and homes and forced the closure of the rail link to the eastern states.
The court system could fall into chaos today as the state's 2,000 prison officers stage a snap 24-hour strike.
Page 10: Tony Abbott is trying to quell a damaging internal flare-up after senior colleagues were accused of dog-whistling – sending a political message with two meanings – on asylum seekers.
Page 11: Port Hedland returned to normal yesterday after a 36-hour lockdown, with some flights resuming and ships returning to port as cyclone Rusty weakened.
Business: Mineral Resources has underscored its reputation as the quickest mover in the Pilbara, saying it will be able to build a new mine at Iron Ore Holdings' Iron Valley project within six months of receiving approvals for the project.
George Jones's second retirement from the helm of Gindalbie Metals has him one step closer to meeting a mid-year booking on a cruise ship in Europe with wife Penny.
WA sheep farmers have hailed a breakthrough on lamb sales to India as a shot in the arm for the struggling industry.
Struggling contractor VDM Group has agreed to sell an engineering subsidiary back to one of its former owners for $7 million less than it cost, while reporting a $60 million loss for the first half.
Special Minister of State and former Woodside Petroleum executive Gary Gray has urged a greater embrace of marine-based technology to help diversify Western Australia's economy.
CITIC Pacific has dumped construction contractor Metallurgical Corporation of China from the expansion of its Sino Iron magnetite mine in the Pilbara.
Woolworths has held its own in the so-called supermarket wars by increasing sales, margins and market share against a backdrop of price deflation.
Hanlong Mining's long-running takeover play for Sundance Resources took a step forward yesterday, with the Chinese suitor injecting $5 million cash, though a convertible note facility into its Perth-based iron ore target.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Page 1: Seven Group chairman Kerry Stokes has emerged with a $40 million holding in rival Ten Network as the federal government considers media reforms that could shake up the television landscape.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is planning to lobby Chinese and Japanese customers and investors in the state's huge Browse gas project directly to try to convince them they must back the controversial onshore site of James Price Point in the Kimberley.
Page 3: Both sides in the battle between AustralianSuper and the Future Fund over ownership of Perth Airport are refusing the back down, making it more likely the case will end up in court.
Car makers receive some of the highest individual company subsidies in Australia but are worried they will pay more tax under new legislation aimed at squeezing more revenue from multinationals.
Australia's second-largest wine company, Treasury Wine Estates, opposes a potential move by Woolworths to buy a Barossa Valley winery and its premium brands.
Page 4: Manufacturing, construction and maritime unions rallied in Perth on Thursday to demand a greater share of the resources boom.
Page 6: Business groups and leaders have dropped their insistence on a budget surplus this financial year, a shift that removes a major source of pressure on the federal government to balance its books.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has released in-house modelling showing it believes the Aussie dollar may be overvalued by as much as 13 per cent – or undervalued by up to 23 per cent.
Page 7: Reserve Bank of Australia board member and BG Group chairman Catherine Tanna has become one of the most prominent directors to support female quotas for company boards.
Page 12: New federal-state reform adviser John Brumby has defended dissent by some state governments to proposed funding changes, saying the public should demand politicians debate big reforms such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the Gonski education plan.
Page 13: Woolworths chief executive Grant O'Brien says his goal of restoring profit growth to 10 per cent remains intact even though consumers are cautious about spending and the grocery sector faces increased regulatory scrutiny.
National Australia Bank is poised to announce chief executive Cameron Clyne's first major shake-up to the executive team in his four years in the top job.
Page 15: Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey says the worst may be over for the consumer electronics and homewares sector after a rebound in sales over the past few weeks.
THE AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: TheProductivity Commission would be charged with overhauling the nation’s workplace laws if Tony Abbott wins power — but major changes to the Fair Work Act would be delayed until after the 2016 election under a plan being ‘‘actively considered’’ by the federal Coalition.
The number of full-time GPs billing on Medicare has surged at more than twice the rate of both population growth and the increase in Medicare payments back to doctors.
Fears that Labor’s policies would lead to the creation of an underclass of asylum-seeker within Australia appear vindicated, amid revelations that they are living in squalid properties that are comparable to the desperate living conditions they experienced in their past.
Page 2: Economists and former top public servants have urged the federal government to scrap the bureaucratic duplication in areas such as health and education ahead of a tough budget that must deliver savings to fund Labor’s promises.
Farmers say the federal government is stifling productivity by refusing visas for foreign workers.
The Gillard government will cut and divert almost $7 billion from the national health and ageing budgets by 2016, according to departmental analysis of critical spending since the 2010 election.
Page 4: A key supporter of Julia Gillard is expressing disappointment at her performance since taking over the prime ministership from Kevin Rudd, saying she had been expected to have better communicated the government’s message.
Page 5: Federal schools funding should be distributed as general revenue to the states and territories based on their population under a radical decentralisation of education, which was outlined by the Queensland government yesterday.
The mantra that Australia ‘‘punches above its weight’’ on research is a myth, according to chief scientist Ian Chubb.
Page 6: Media companies have blasted the idea of government ‘‘intrusion’’ into news and current affairs amid widening concerns over last-minute changes to the Gillard government’s proposals for editorial regulation and industry ownership limits.
Ports and mining operations in the Pilbara resumed yesterday as tropical Cyclone Rusty weakened to a category-1 system and moved inland. Port Hedland was spared a direct hit on Wednesday night when Rusty veered east to Pardoo Station, killing cattle, uprooting trees and damaging accommodation buildings, fencing and sheds.
Business: Woolworths boss Grant O’Brien has reined in his rhetoric against the competition regulator while warning that the supermarket giant’s slight upgrade in earnings forecasts yesterday did not mean things were getting any easier in retail.
Being ‘‘cashed-up’’ was taken to a whole new level yesterday when in one day the Lowy family raised $664m to put away for a rainy day.
A surprise rebound in trading has propelled Harvey Norman shares to their highest level in nearly two years, despite the company booking a significant fall in first-half profit.
Rio Tinto chief Sam Walsh has continued the overhaul of his executive committee with the surprise appointment of former Transurban chief and BHP Billiton chief financial officer Chris Lynch to replace chief financial officer Guy Elliott.
Gindalbie Metals chairman George Jones has retired after almost nine years in the job during which he steered the junior’s flagship Karara project into production.
The receipt yesterday by Sundance Resources of $5 million from Hanlong Mining carries symbolism far beyond the relatively small amount involved because it demonstrates that finally the Chinese private equity firm has been able to satisfy a deadline in its protracted $1.38 billion takeover of the iron ore hopeful, and that there must now be a much greater chance the transaction will proceed.
China's Citic Pacific has admitted it misjudged the difficulties of building a mine ‘‘in a foreign land’’ as it missed yet another deadline to begin shipments from its disastrous billion ($7.8bn) Sino Iron project in Western Australia.
The Future Fund may miss out on large chunks of the $2 billion worth of airport investments it sought in a deal with the Australian Infrastructure Fund after other shareholders in those assets exercised pre-emptive rights to increase their holdings.
Treasury Wine Estates is stocking the cellar in preparation for a surge in demand for highend wine, but chief executive David Dearie says the industry needs government help to boost the profile of Australian wine overseas.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Page 1: Premier Barry O'Farrell has called a halt to the introduction of hunting in national parks, ordering a review into the organisation overseeing it, after initial investigations found evidence suggesting an employee was engaged in illegal activity.
Page 2: Four men have been convicted for administering 40 lashes to a Muslim convert because he drank alcohol.
Page 3: Raising the Warragamba Dam wall by 23 metres will cost up to $800 million, it has been claimed, with experts divided over its value for reducing flooding.
World: Malaysia will help arrange peace talks with Muslim rebel groups in Thailand's south, signalling a possible breakthrough in a conflict that has claimed more than 5300 lives.
Business: Woolworths boss Grant O'Brien has cast himself as the consumer's friend by warning low prices at the supermarkets were here to stay, no matter the protests from squeezed suppliers.
Sport: NRL chief executive Dave Smith is prepared to accept that Ben Barba may never play again but he has vowed the game will always support the Canterbury star.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Page 1: The NRL will use the same "biological passport" policy that exposed Lance Armstrong as the world's biggest drug cheat, collecting samples from 50 of the game's stars.
Page 2: A court has declared Islamic sharia law is no excuse for viciously flogging a man in his own home as punishment for drinking at a bar.
Page 3: Star Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos has been caught breaching parliamentary rules by failing to declare six company directorships during his 15 months in the upper house.
World: Pope Benedict XVI was spending his last night in his Vatican apartments after bidding an emotional farewell to thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square on the eve of his resignation.
Business: Woolworths chief Grant O'Brien says he is confident the retail giant's practices will stand up to scrutiny in the face of investigations by the ACCC.
Sport: Rugby league's new supremo Dave Smith wants to make the league a national competition played in all states.
THE HERALD SUN
Page 1: A sadistic rapist on the run after assaulting his girlfriend has a five-day head start.
Page 2: The Baillieu government's tough-on-crime credentials are under fire with figures showing 35,300 more crimes were detected last year. Taxpayers were slugged more than $184 million last month for a company to run the Nauru asylum seeker processing centre for a year.
Page 3: ALDI is set to shake up Australia's mobile phone market by offering low-cost deals. Collingwood AFL player Marley Williams faces more serious charges after police upgraded his assault case to grievous bodily harm.
World: A man killed in a New Zealand shark attack possibly swam straight into a group of sharks feeding on birds and fish.
Business: Woolworths chief Grant O'Brien is confident the retailer's practices will stand up to scrutiny in the face of ACCC investigations.
Sport: Former Essendon chairman Graeme McMahon brands AFL's stance on drugs hypocritical.
THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER
Page 1: Holden and Ford beware - there are two new kids on the block, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, and they're baying for blood at this year's Clipsal 500.
Page 3: Police have told the Education Department not to inform parents about the arrest of a school teacher who allegedly raped his partner's daughter because it could impede their investigation.
World: Prince Harry says he hopes his late mother would be "proud" of his fund-raising efforts, as he launched a project to help disadvantaged children in South Africa.
Business: Australian wine has been dumbed down and needs to regain its high-quality allure, Treasury Wine Estates boss David Dearie says.
Sport: Phil Harper will return to work at the Adelaide Football Club after an AFL-imposed suspension to a new title, fewer duties and distanced from player contracts - the task that landed him in hot water.
