Labor's budget is broken: BCA – The Fin; Drive to lift dole work limits – The Aus; Barnett quashes speculation he will hand over top job – The West; Royalties scheme is under threat: Grylls – The Aus; Bartlett eyes $25m loss from Landing – The West
Labor's budget is broken: BCA
The leading business group warns Australia is headed into a long-term budget crisis driven by Labor's failure to rein in spending and by expensive promises from both major political parties. The Fin
Drive to lift dole work limits
A proposal to allow single mothers and others on the dole to keep more of their earnings before losing welfare benefits is shaping to be a key element of the May budget. The Aus
Barnett quashes speculation he will hand over top job
Colin Barnett has sensationally confronted election eve speculation about his health and suggestions from within his party that he struck a “Kirribilli deal” with Troy Buswell in 2008 to hand back the Liberal leadership. The West
Royalties scheme is under threat: Grylls
West Australian Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has revived tensions within the Liberal-Nationals government by claiming his $1.2 billion annual Royalties for Regions scheme will come under threat if Premier Colin Barnett is able to rule outright after Saturday’s election. The Aus
Bartlett eyes $25m loss from Landing
Barminco founder and accused tax fraudster Peter Bartlett has about $25 million tied up in a collapsed Port Hedland accommodation project, according to creditor records. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: Colin Barnett has sensationally confronted election eve speculation about his health and suggestions from within his party that he struck a “Kirribilli deal” with Troy Buswell in 2008 to hand back the Liberal leadership.
Page 5: Wineries in the South West believe microbreweries are “diluting” the region's brand and threatening its status as WA's premier wine region.
Page 6: Transport officials called an urgent meeting with the City of Swan in January because a government announcement on a rapid bus transit service to Ellenbrook was imminent, according to Swan mayor Charlie Zannino.
Page 7: Corrective Services Minister Murray Cowper is the subject of a Department of Environment and Conservation investigation after he used a front-end loader to clear vegetation from a Wedge Island beach shack without the required departmental permission.
Colin Barnett has rounded out the Liberal Party's election commitments with a pledge to boost women's take-up of apprenticeships and a proposal for a new government office building in Joondalup.
Labor leader Mark McGowan said yesterday he would reintroduce windscreen registration stickers for cars if elected.
Page 8: Former Liberal leader Matt Birney has emerged as a potential long-term replacement for Colin Barnett after yesterday refusing to rule out a political comeback, admitting he had “unfinished business”.
Page 11: Julia Gillard's Scottish spin doctor John McTernan has been drawn into the increasingly spiteful spat over foreign workers.
Page 13: Confusing is deepening over how the coalition would be able to protect families if it scraps the carbon tax as well as the household compensation and a raft of other Labor initiatives.
Page 15: Mine contractor Barminco had a lucrative contract worth tens of millions of dollars with Agnew Gold hanging in the balance when it sacked workers for performing the Harlem Shake dance.
Page 16: One of the state's most respected water experts has labelled the way WA people use drinking supplies as “crazy”, saying too much is wasted and attitudes need to change.
Page 18: Two of WA's resources titans are at odds over the prospect of the onshore gas industry amid claims by one that is destined to be a marginal player in the state's energy landscape.
Page 19: The Reserve Bank is laying the ground to keep interest rates on hold indefinitely after signalling it believes previous cuts are starting to work their way through the economy.
Business: Barminco founder and accused tax fraudster Peter Bartlett has about $25 million tied up in a collapsed Port Hedland accommodation project, according to creditor records.
Water Corp's board signed a deal to pay up to $30 million more for its power from Bluewaters power station as part of a related rescue bid for Griffin Coal, despite WA government concerns about the transaction.
WA's battling broadacre and dairy farmers have been warned to brace for big falls in income as experts cast doubt on Australia's ability to cash in on Asia's growing demand for food.
AWE has come up with a novel way to help fund its hunt for oil and gas in the Perth Basin, striking a deal that could see it access Commonwealth cash dedicated to geothermal exploration.
Perth-based iiNet has declared even if Julia Gillard's government is turfed from office in September and the coalition follows through on its promised to radically reshape the National Broadband Network, it is well placed to deal with the challenge.
A stockbrokers and alleged insider trader told former champion footballer Don Langsford that technology company Vision Systems could be worth a punt three weeks before a takeover bid was launched.
Shares in Austal have soared 13 per cent after the US Navy committed to buy an additional two warships from the shipbuilder.
Long-awaited changes to plot ratio rules in the CBD have come into place that potentially free up more than one million square metres of new development space.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Page 1: The leading business group warns Australia is headed into a long-term budget crisis driven by Labor's failure to rein in spending and by expensive promises from both major political parties.
Pauline Hanson has welcomed Prime Minister Julia Gillard's pledge to put “Aussie workers first”, saying it vindicated the One Nation founder's much-criticised warnings against foreign labour more than a decade ago.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has opened the door for more media mergers, arguing rapid changes in technology may make the regulator more willing to approve mergers in fast-evolving industries.
Page 4: Two of the federal governments key advisers on skilled migration criticised Labor's crackdown on the 457 work visa program, describing Prime Minister Julia Gillard's comments as extreme and questioning the evidence of rorting the system.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett's election campaign has taken a blow from news Corrective Services Minister Murray Cowper is facing an investigation into allegations he illegally cleared land at a holiday house.
Page 10: The Reserve Bank of Australia is waiting to see more green shoots in the non-mining economy before ending its easing cycle, keeping the official interest rate at 3 per cent for a second month and leaving some economists speculating on another cut this year.
Global food prices will barely change in real terms by 2050, according to an assessment by Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences which casts doubt on predictions rising demand from a growing population will itself cause a boom for Australian farmers.
Page 15: The federal government has appointed former banker and Skilled Group chairman Vickki McFadden as Takeovers Panel president as the dispute resolution body prepares for a busier year for mergers and acquisitions.
National Australia Bank will cut as much as $900 million in costs over the next five years as part of a plan to boost profits and win back the support of investors.
Page 17: Chinese, Japanese and European investors are lining up against local super funds to snare billions of dollars' worth of wind farms coming onto the market as part of a broader re-shaping of the industry in Australia.
Page 18: Rio Tinto remains confident of hitting the slated June commissioning date for its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia, despite continuing disagreements with the country's government.
Nufarm has lost the rights to distribute popular weed killer Roundup after the world's biggest seed company, Monsanto, terminated a decade-long contract with the Melbourne-based crop protection group.
THE AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: A proposal to allow single mothers and others on the dole to keep more of their earnings before losing welfare benefits is shaping to be a key element of the May budget.
A key architect of Australia’s $1.4 trillion superannuation system has vowed to fight any moves to increase taxes on the nation’s retirement savings, saying any hikes would cause the government to lose its legitimacy. The Coalition has accused Julia Gillard of preferring migrants who arrive ‘‘illegally on boats and go on to welfare’’ to skilled workers who arrive the ‘‘right way’’, get jobs and pay taxes.
Page 2: West Australian Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has revived tensions within the Liberal-Nationals government by claiming his $1.2 billion annual Royalties for Regions scheme will come under threat if Premier Colin Barnett is able to rule outright after Saturday’s election.
Rosy forecasts predicting agriculture as the next boom industry set to replace the declining mining sector have been dealt a blow by the government’s own specialist rural economics agency.
Page 4: A spending surge has added $49 billion to Labor’s budget outlays in the past few years, according to a new analysis that urges stronger action to restrain government excess.
A leading free-market think tank is so fed up with the relentless spread of government it is launching a campaign to scale it back, singling out wasteful spending across the health, education and welfare budgets.
Business leaders are warning that the Gillard government’s refusal to consider allowing overseas companies unhappy with Canberra to seek arbitration is threatening the loss of markets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Page 5: Julia Gillard’s social inclusion board has told the government it must lift welfare payments and introduce a suite of new measures to attack poverty.
Business: The owners of Rip Curl have abandoned a planned $400 million sale of the renowned surf brand, blaming the volatile state of the investment and boardsports markets.
The proposed $4 billion merger of Nine and Southern Cross Media not only puts the heat on Network Ten and WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon, but also Kerry Stokes, as it emerges talks between Nine and Southern Cross began as early as November.
The Reserve Bank’s decision yesterday to keep rates on hold for the second month in a row pushed the Australian dollar higher but capped share price gains as traders pared back the likelihood of further interest rate cuts this year.
Rate cuts by the Reserve Bank continue to have little impact on the housing market, which would be better stimulated by the return of government incentives, according to one of the largest trans-Tasman building groups.
Australia's farm exports are tipped to fall for the next three years as exporters battle the high local dollar and volatile commodity prices.
Takeover target Australand has been approached by three Australian listed property companies, a Canadian private equity giant and some Asian groups after GPTGroup’s failed $2.94 billion bid for the bulk of the company last year.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Page 1: The Art Gallery of NSW is expected to unveil a $400 million plan to double its exhibition space and attract more visitors. Australia's drug regulator is investigating a Sydney doctor accused of importing and injecting women with dodgy Botox.
Page 3: A NSW doctor whose mother died while visiting him at his home among members of strict religious group the Bruderhof had several days to get her life-saving medical care, a court has heard.
Page 3: NSW children would skip TV in favour of sport and family catch-up time, a report has found.
World: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has promised to end xenophobia and promote freedom.
Business: The Business Council of Australia wants Labor to give up trying to deliver a budget surplus next year.
Sport: Sonny Bill Williams has been given medical clearance for his NRL comeback.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Page 1: A four-year-old girl has died in a southwest Sydney house fire after her mother was able to save only her twin sister.
Page 2: A Sydney corruption inquiry has heard allegations that the family of former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid spent money gained through a corrupt coal deal on palatial homes and luxury cars.
Page 3: Kids are stressed out by homework, a survey finds.
World: Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has topped the Forbes rich list.
Business: Qantas boss Alan Joyce says he is finally seeing a more "together" team at the airline, a year after he decided to split the business into multiple units.
Sport: The Bulldogs have signed a $1 million deal with young prop David Klemmer.
THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER
Page 1: Liberal leader Steven Marshall will not ban his own MPs from jobs outside parliament, despite continuing to demand that former Labor minister Patrick Conlon quit because he has accepted a job as a lawyer for three days a week.
Page 3: Only 34 immigration inspectors are policing the 84,000 foreign workers in Australia on temporary visas.
World: A day after beng admitted to hospital for the first time in a decade, the Queen was well enough to go home.
Business: Uranium Equities' PhosEnergy process can produce uranium oxide for less than a pound, the Adelaide company says.
Sport: Brenton Sanderson has accused the Crows of having an attitude problem.
