Today's Business Headlines

Liberal pledges 'add $1.2b to debt'

The Liberal Party's election commitments would add $1.2 billion to state debt over the four-year Budget period, rising to more than $1.7 billion if Premier Colin Barnett keeps his promise to hold electricity prices “at or around the rate of inflation”, according to Treasury. The West

BHP, Rio accused of rigging ore price

China has accused Australia’s top two mining companies, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, of manipulating the iron ore price by deliberately holding back supply in a bid to drive up global commodity markets and protect profits. The Aus

Law changes to give Fair Work more power

The Gillard government wants to give the FairWorkCommission the power to arbitrate disputes over entirely new workplace agreements and access to workplaces by union officials, changes that might reduce the ability of companies to hold out against union involvement in their businesses. The Fin

Buswell's red tape plan unravels

The Barnett government has failed to act on 100 of the 107 recommendations contained in a 2009 report aimed at slashing red tape, which Treasurer TroyBuswell said at the time was an ‘‘incredibly costly’’ burden for the state’s businesses and consumers. The Aus

Wesfarmers joins high-growth drive

Wesfarmers has joined the growing list of companies and private investors seeking access to the next wave of high-growth opportunities, quietly establishing an internal unit called Wesfarmers Emerging Ventures that is charged with looking for high-growth investments outside the group’s traditional business streams. The Aus

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: The Liberal Party's election commitments would add $1.2 billion to state debt over the four-year Budget period, rising to more than $1.7 billion if Premier Colin Barnett keeps his promise to hold electricity prices “at or around the rate of inflation”, according to Treasury.

Page 3: FotoFreo, Australia's first international photo festival, has folded after claiming it was going to lose the backing of its major naming rights sponsor, the City of Fremantle.

Page 7: Labor leader Mark McGowan pointed yesterday to the Joondalup and Mandurah train lines getting “tens of thousands of cars” off roads as evidence of why his Metronet would solve Perth's congestion crisis.

Page 8: Labor has set itself on a collision course with the timber industry and Forestry Minister Terry Redman after vowing to reduce logging in the South West's native forests if it wins the election.

Page 14: Lawyers for the federal government have accused WA of raising royalty rates to “cash in” on soaring iron ore prices in an attempt to undermine the state's argument against the mining tax.

Page 18: More than 250,000 new dwellings could be accommodated along Perth's key transport corridors by developing more medium and high-density housing, according to a study.

Business: Water Corp chief Sue Murphy has broken her silence to launch a strong defence of the utility's electricity contracts in the wake of questions about their cost to taxpayers.

The Pilbara's high costs and an inability to generate new revenue has been blamed for December's failure of a South Hedland technical college founded just six years ago with the help of the state's biggest resources companies.

Woodside Petroleum's bid to become an LNG exporter based in the Mediterranean has received a fillip after the Leviathan gas field partners yesterday said the massive discovery contained more hydrocarbons than initially thought.

A long-running group called Business and Professional Women has been inducted into a Hall of Fame by the Perth chapter of United Nations Women, in recognition of their fight for gender equality.

The chairman of embattled gold miner Navigator Resources has reassured its long-suffering shareholders that they are not alone, revealing he has lost $400,000 backing the company,

Shares in clean power microcap Enerji traded for the first time in more than three months yesterday after it landed a long-awaited mine site deal.

Treasurer TroyBuswell has given cautious support to a radical new way of funding social initiatives, including reducing crime and boosting literacy rates.

Darwin's pre-eminence over the Kimberley as the home of onshore infrastructure for the Browse Basin oil and gas industry has been cemented further by RoyalDutchShell confirming it will put a supply base in the NT capital.

A record wave of consolidation in China's mining industry is creating bigger companies that will have the muscle to compete with the likes of BHPBilliton for overseas acquisitions.

The LiberalParty has done nothing to dispel industry fears that it will further target private generators in WA's electricity market if re-elected after it pledged to revamp lucrative payments that have produced a glut of power.

Quickflix has offered a US institutional investor a 15 per cent stake in the movie rental provider through a $1.7 million dilutive share placement.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Page 1: The federal government's NBN Co is poised to take control of the national broadband network's physical construction in the Northern Territory from the under-performing lead contractor as pressure mounts to speed up the lagging rollout.

China's richest man says he feels discriminated against in Australia, is worried about the negative perception of Chinese companies, and finds Australia's foreign investment laws difficult to navigate.

Page 3: The Gillard government wants to give the FairWorkCommission the power to arbitrate disputes over entirely new workplace agreements and access to workplaces by union officials, changes that might reduce the ability of companies to hold out against union involvement in their businesses.

Mid-sized companies appear set to become the training ground for a new wave of female bosses.

Page 4: Communications Minister StephenConroy has angrily rejected suggestions that NBNCo is prioritising its rollout in marginal electorates in western Sydney, even though NBN Co's own data shows a disproportionately heavy level of construction activity in the area.

Page 5: Former prime minister KevinRudd has cited skilled migration and population growth as critical to Australia's economic future, saying the country would be a minnow today had it not opened its doors to skilled workers after World War II.

Page 8: Australia's coveted AAA credit rating is dependent on the federal government keeping debt under control, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Page 9: A re-elected West Australian Liberal government will edge the AAA-rated state dangerously close to a credit downgrade, unless the federal government helps with billions of dollars to offset promised infrastructure costs.

Page 12: A practice known in the retail trade as “straight monies” is under scrutiny by the competition regulator and may be outlawed under a new industry code of conduct.

Page 13: Iron ore buyers believe China's National Development and Reform Commission has justifiable concerns over the index pricing system being open to manipulation by the big three miners BHPBilliton,RioTinto and Brazil's Vale, as well as traders.

Aurizon has assuaged investors biggest fear two years after its $4.6 billion float by renewing all of its coal haulage contracts with its largest customer, BHPBillitonMitsubishiAlliance.

THE AUSTRALIAN

Page 1: Unions will be given greater ability to recruit non-union members in workplaces and force long-running intractable disputes with employers into arbitration under major changes to the federal workplace laws that will spark a backlash from business.

Page 2: The Barnett government has failed to act on 100 of the 107 recommendations contained in a 2009 report aimed at slashing red tape, which Treasurer TroyBuswell said at the time was an ‘‘incredibly costly’’ burden for the state’s businesses and consumers

Lawyers for the government have called for a dose of ‘‘reality’’ to temper claims the mining tax is a crude form of control of the states which inhibits their ability to use and develop their resources.

Page 4: Labor is struggling to gain support for media reforms that could trigger a wave of TV mergers as federal independent MPs vow to block the move out of concern at the loss of regional services.

WayneSwan should develop a ‘‘blueprint for the reform’’ of working age welfare payments taking into account ‘‘basic rates of payment, indexation arrangements and earnings’’ according to a budget submission by one of the nation’s leading welfare groups.

The Italian company that has the $300 million contract to manufacture and supply the ribbon fibreoptic cable for the NationalBroadbandNetwork says production would have stalled if it weren’t for skilled workers on 457 visas.

The surge in exports responsible for the healthy economic growth in the December quarter petered out in January, with cutbacks in Chinese iron ore and coal purchases contributing to a blowout in the trade deficit.

Page 5: JuliaGillard distanced herself yesterday from a major Victoria Police fraud probe into an alleged scam run in the 1990s by her then boyfriend, union boss Bruce Wilson.

Business: China has accused Australia’s top two mining companies, BHPBilliton and RioTinto, of manipulating the iron ore price by deliberately holding back supply in a bid to drive up global commodity markets and protect profits.

Wesfarmers has joined the growing list of companies and private investors seeking access to the next wave of high-growth opportunities, quietly establishing an internal unit called Wesfarmers Emerging Ventures that is charged with looking for high-growth investments outside the group’s traditional business streams.

The private equity industry in Australia is ‘‘in absolute crisis’’ because most managers have not performed well enough to justify the fees they have been charging, according to MarkCarnegie.

WoodsidePetroleum has revealed plans to use compressed natural gas to develop smaller offshore fields as new technology allows more gas to be put in ships for transport.

Australia has vaulted ahead of Qatar to become the largest single source of LNG to energy-starved Japan for the first time.

Aurizon has secured one of the largest coal haulage contracts signed in the Australian market in the last decade, ending more than a year of negotiations with major customer BHPBilliton.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Page 1: The South Sydney Rabbitohs have beaten the Sydney Roosters 28-10 in the opening match of the NRL season. The Cronulla Sharks rugby league club has offered 14 players full pay including representative bonuses to stand aside for six months if they agree not to sue the club over the latest doping scandal.

Page 2: Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says there is a "world of difference" between the resignation of Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu and the federal Labor leadership challenge that resulted in Julia Gillard's ascension to prime minister.

Page 3: The mother of a four-year-old girl who died in a house fire has been discharged from Liverpool Hospital after receiving treatment for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

World: A huge crowd has turned out in the Venezuelan capital Caracas to pay their respects to Hugo Chavez as his body was driven from the hospital he recently died in after a two-year battle with cancer.

Business: Superannuation charges have jumped six per cent, reaching record heights and costing most people about $150 a year.

Sport: The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority has been accused of blackmailing players from the Cronulla Sharks NRL team into confessing to the use of performance-enhancing substances.

THE AGE

Page 1: Frankston MP Geoff Shaw likely to be offered boosted parliamentary superannuation scheme as part of a package of sweeteners to induce him back to the Liberal Party.

Page 2: Shaw refuses to say whether he will formally support the coalition government or make any demands in exchange for his vote.

Page 3: Deputy PM Wayne Swan calls for an investigation into Peter Costello's potential conflicts of interest.

World: Syria is the world's "top destination for jihadists", British Foreign Secretary William Hague says, announcing that Britain will give the opposition "non-lethal" military equipment.

Business: BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto deflect accusations from China that the world's biggest miners have manipulated the market to spur a spike in iron ore prices in the past six months.

Sport: James Hird confident Essendon isn't in the same boat as under-siege NRL club Cronulla Sharks, but admits the turmoil will take a toll on his players.

THE HERALD SUN

Page 1: Maverick MP Geoff Shaw, who quit the Liberal Party and helped topple Ted Baillieu, has not ruled out a return to the coalition.

Page 2: Geelong scientists on the brink of creating the world's first disease-proof animals.

Page 3: Victoria's most wanted man, Graham Potter, is likely to be living under the nose of people in a small country community, police believe. Pools closed temporarily and others cleaned after an urgent warning about a gastro outbreak sweeping the state.

World: The US spent almost $60 billion on a vast reconstruction effort in Iraq that had few successes and a litany of failures, an auditor says.

Finance: Premier Denis Napthine must overcome party infighting and get shovels into the ground on major transport and tourism projects to kick-start a new era of prosperity in Victoria, business leaders say.

Sport: Collingwood's Round 1 preparations take a major hit with midfielder Luke Ball unlikely to be ready.

THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER

Page 1: The Crows and Port Adelaide fear escalating Adelaide Oval management costs will eat into their future profits, eroding a key reason for switching to the new stadium.

Page 3: People who quit smoking or lose weight could soon get a discount on their health insurance.

World: By the hundreds of thousands, Hugo Chavez's tearful supporters carried their dead president through streets still plastered with his smiling image.

Business: Iron ore and coal exports slumped in January as a result of bad weather, pushing Australia's trade deficit to just over $1 billion - the country's 13th consecutive monthly blow-out.

Sport: Port Adelaide president David Koch is ready to fight the AFL on the damaging television blackout the Power has suffered in the past two pre-seasons.