High costs crash Ford
Ford’s decision to stop making cars in Australia has increased pressure on both political parties to reduce business costs and led General Motors Holden to demand the Coalition quickly detail its plans to subsidise what is left of the car-manufacturing industry, if elected. The Fin
Dollar dives as stocks lose $32bn
A SHOCK contraction in Chinese manufacturing and the prospect that the US Federal Reserve could soon unwind its quantitative easing measures rocked local markets yesterday, pushing the Australian dollar close to an annual low and wiping more than $32 billion from the stockmarket. The Aus
$700m Ord sugar deal closer
The State Government is on the verge of announcing the next step in a deal that clears the way for a huge investment by Chinese interests aimed at establishing sugar as the cornerstone industry for agricultural development in the east Kimberley. The West
Immigration denies giving rorts numbers
Immigration Department officials distanced themselves from their minister’s claim of up to 10,000 rorts in the 457 visa program, revealing they never provided evidence of that figure to Brendan O’Connor and don’t know what advice he relied on for the claim. The Fin
FMG hoses down jump to 180mt
Fortescue Metals Group has denied speculation it is preparing plans for the next stage of its expansion to 180 million tonnes a year, saying it is firmly focused on meeting promises to be exporting 155mtpa by the end of this year. The West
Top Resources Headlines
FMG hoses down jump to 180mt
Fortescue Metals Group has denied speculation it is preparing plans for the next stage of its expansion to 180 million tonnes a year, saying it is firmly focused on meeting promises to be exporting 155mtpa by the end of this year. The West
Muja station hangs in balance
Verve Energy’s troubled $250 million bid to revive its 47-year-old Muja AB coal-fired power station hangs in the balance, with Energy Minister Mike Nahan warning the Government may pull the plug on the costly exercise. The West
Shale gas a trigger for major reform
Eminent economist and former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin has warned that the slowdown in the natural resources sector will accelerate due to the competitive threat of the shale gas revolution in the United States. The Fin
BHP’S project pipeline in doubt
FRESH doubt has been cast over BHP Billiton proceeding with the last remaining mineral expansion projects in its pipeline — the $US12 billion ($12.44bn) Jansen potash project in Canada and the unpriced development of a life-extending mega-pit at the Cannington silver and base metals mine near McKinlay in northwest Queensland. The Aus
Top Politics Headlines
High costs crash Ford
Page 1: Ford’s decision to stop making cars in Australia has increased pressure on both political parties to reduce business costs and led General Motors Holden to demand the Coalition quickly detail its plans to subsidise what is left of the car-manufacturing industry, if elected. The Fin
Abbott reply ‘the best in decades’
PETER Costello, the Liberal treasurer who featured in a Labor Party attack ad during the last election campaign accusing Tony Abbott of being an economic illiterate, will tonight praise the Opposition Leader’s budget reply speech as ‘‘the best in decades’’. The Aus
Immigration denies giving ‘rorts’ numbers
Immigration Department officials distanced themselves from their minister’s claim of up to 10,000 rorts in the 457 visa program, revealing they never provided evidence of that figure to Brendan O’Connor and don’t know what advice he relied on for the claim. The Fin
Schools unite to take on Gonski
INDEPENDENT schools have struck out against the Gillard government’s proposed Gonski education funding changes, declaring that the budget shows not only no additional money but a ‘‘significant reduction’’ for non-government schools. The Aus
Top Property Headlines
Big four banks’ big rise in commercial property holdings
Australia’s big four banks have collectively increased their exposure to commercial property by $1.73 billion in the past six months, but some analysts hold reservations about the growth of non-core property lending. The Fin
Cromwell plans more towers after NSW purchase
Cromwell Property Group has flagged that it is in exclusive due diligence on more office towers across Australia as it confirmed it was raising $250 million to help fund its purchase of a $405 million portfolio of NSW government office properties. The Fin
The West Australian
Page 1: Fears are mounting the national economy is fracturing after iconic manufacturer Ford announced it would stop building cars at its Australian plants and sack 1200 workers.
Page 3: One of WA’s most senior businesswomen says a proposal to force companies to appoint more women to their boards risks creating a culture of compliance, resentment and mediocrity.
Page 6: The terrorists who butchered a soldier in London were known to security services, it was revealed last night.
Page 10: Police want to use teenage cadets in undercover stings on bottle shops to crack down on liquor outlets supplying juveniles with alcohol.
Page 14: Colin Barnett is demanding an explanation from anti-gas protesters after he flew to Broome to meet them and they cancelled the meeting.
Page 16: Qantas has finished a $20 million makeover of 15 of its 265-seat Boeing 767 jets, which are used on routes such as Perth to Brisbane and weekend flights to Melbourne and Sydney.
Page 18: A third Perth woman who had a double mastectomy is suing a Perth surgeon for negligence.
Business: Fortescue Metals Group has denied speculation it is preparing plans for the next stage of its expansion to 180 million tonnes a year, saying it is firmly focused on meeting promises to be exporting 155mtpa by the end of this year.
Adcorp, OMD WA, and Mitchells will again share the State Government’s $305 million Master Media Services contract, after the Department of Finance this week reappointed the three media agencies.
September’s Federal election is set to swell the ad industry’s coffers to the tune of $70 million, according to estimates from Goldman Sachs.
Verve Energy’s troubled $250 million bid to revive its 47-year-old Muja AB coal-fired power station hangs in the balance, with Energy Minister Mike Nahan warning the Government may pull the plug on the costly exercise.
David Buckingham, iiNet’s chief financial officer, has launched a defence of the major telco’s lofty valuation as a sharemarket rout wiped hundreds of millions from tech stocks yesterday.
A potentially ugly board showdown has been averted with Gunson Resources’ major shareholder withdrawing a call to dump the company’s managing director.
The State Government will ease strict eligibility criteria on its farm aid package if funds remain unallocated in the countdown to the deadline for applications.
Leading global engineering and environmental services company Golder Associates has shed 150 workers, including 40 in Perth, in another sign of the downturn affecting the local resources industry.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Ford’s decision to stop making cars in Australia has increased pressure on both political parties to reduce business costs and led General Motors Holden to demand the Coalition quickly detail its plans to subsidise what is left of the car-manufacturing industry, if elected.
Page 3: Immigration Department officials distanced themselves from their minister’s claim of up to 10,000 rorts in the 457 visa program, revealing they never provided evidence of that figure to Brendan O’Connor and don’t know what advice he relied on for the claim.
Page 4: Bob Katter’s fledgling political party will struggle to secure a Senate seat and the possible balance of power, according to a new poll of voters living in regional Australia.
Page 5: Eminent economist and former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin has warned that the slowdown in the natural resources sector will accelerate due to the competitive threat of the shale gas revolution in the United States.
Queensland’s peak mining body has rejected claims that extra ports and ship movements would cause irreparable damage to the Great Barrier Reef saying a moratorium on new development on the coast would “destroy” the state’s economy.
Page 6: Elective surgery waiting times have not improved despite an increase in hospital funding from the federal government, according to the Council of Australian Governments’ Reform Council.
Page 7: Former House of Representatives speaker Peter Slipper will face a seven-day criminal trial involving up to 39 witnesses on charges of misusing cab dockets worth around $1000.
Page 11: Suppliers to the car makers will be hardest hit by Ford Motor Company of Australia’s closure and some experts believe the number will need to halve to strip out excess capacity and wasted subsidies.
Page 13: James Packer’s plans to build a luxury hotel and casino in Sydney now appear to rest with the NSW government after the billionaire’s Crown Ltd moved to sell its $264 million stake in rival operator Echo Entertainment Group.
Page 16: Brockman Mining’s application to gain access to Fortescue Metals Group’s Pilbara railway line will need to ensure it does not preclude the larger company from giving access to other potential users like Atlas Iron, according to the state’s railway code.
Woolworths’ home improvement partner Lowe’s booked a $US15 million loss on its one-third stake in the Masters joint venture in the April quarter, confirming analysts’ fears that losses will accelerate this year.
Page 17: The corporate regulator has rapped the Australian Securities Exchange over the knuckles for its handling of a technical glitch that prevented sensitive company announcements from being released to the market.
A former Bell Potter Securities adviser has been sentenced to five years’ jail for fraudulent conduct that cost investors $1.6 million.
Standard & Poor’s has confirmed the “financial strength rating” of Australia’s biggest insurer, QBE Insurance Group, at “A+” and also upgraded the insurance giant’s outlook from negative to stable.
Wealth management veteran Chris Cuffe is heralding more consolidation among fund managers in Australia’s $2 trillion wealth sector, as business costs soar and force players to merge to survive.
Page 20: Ari Mervis, the SABMiller executive in charge of Carlton & United Breweries, wants a more “equitable” tax regime to help the nation’s second-largest brewer combat high manufacturing costs.
Page 22: Australian mining and metals companies face unprecedented volatility in commodity prices in the next few years as Chinese demand slows and the Australian dollar fluctuates.
Page 29: The federal government has announced a Productivity Commission review into red tape in the food supply chain in a bid to appease farmers and food makers.
Page 34: Australia’s big four banks have collectively increased their exposure to commercial property by $1.73 billion in the past six months, but some analysts hold reservations about the growth of non-core property lending.
Elite boys school Cranbrook has shelled out $15.5 million for a Mad Men-style Bellevue Hill mansion once frequented by former prime minister Bob Hawke and state premier Sir Robert Askin.
Cromwell Property Group has flagged that it is in exclusive due diligence on more office towers across Australia as it confirmed it was raising $250 million to help fund its purchase of a $405 million portfolio of NSW government office properties.
Canberra-based residential developer CIC Australia has warned investors it may need to raise between $25 million and $30 million to refinance a facility that comes due at the end of September.
The Australian
Page 1: THOUSANDS of jobs in the automotive components industry are at risk in the wake of Ford’s decision to close its Australian manufacturing operations from 2016 and consign the iconic Falcon to history.
ONE of the architects of Labor’s car industry reforms of the 1980s has likened government handouts to prop up the sector to ‘‘putting cash into a black hole’’ and declared that the best way to help the stricken manufacturing sector survive was to boost the competitiveness of the labour market and infrastructure.
HAZEL Hawke has been remembered as the Eleanor Roosevelt of Australian politics, a first lady ‘‘free of any airs and graces’’ and blessed with guts, compassion and fierce intelligence.
INDEPENDENT schools have struck out against the Gillard government’s proposed Gonski education funding changes, declaring that the budget shows not only no additional money but a ‘‘significant reduction’’ for non-government schools.
Page 2: THE explicit requirement that teachers undergo annual reviews of their performance linked to promotion and pay rises has been omitted from the national education reform agreement, which sets out conditions for school systems to receive increased money under Labor’s new funding model.
PETER Costello, the Liberal treasurer who featured in a Labor Party attack ad during the last election campaign accusing Tony Abbott of being an economic illiterate, will tonight praise the Opposition Leader’s budget reply speech as ‘‘the best in decades’’.
A NEW seven-member childcare advisory board will be unveiled today, charged with determining which centres will receive wage increases.
Page 3: RECOGNISING the first Australians in the constitution will help close the indigenous disadvantage gap and herald a new era of formal national unity.
A SUSPECTED drug ring in which security officers trafficked drugs and other contraband to asylum-seekers at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police.
A SALT canister filled with caustic soda at a West Australian fast-food outlet has left five children under 10 with mouth and throat burns and sparked a police investigation in the south-west city of Bunbury.
Page 4: THOUSANDS of jobs in the components sector are at risk from Ford’s decision to close its Australian factories, with industry warning of a devastating domino effect across the supply chain.
THE depths of Ford Australia’s woes have been highlighted by a balance sheet deeply in the red at the end of the 2012 financial year, meaning the company was effectively on life support from its American parent.
Page 5: TAXPAYER funds will keep flowing to Ford Australia for the next three years to finish vehicles including a six-cylinder diesel wagon that receives $47 million in industry aid because it is considered a ‘‘green’’ car.
FORD rejected an eleventh-hour bid to save thousands of car industry jobs when it was offered taxpayer-funded financial assistance to keep manufacturing in Australia.
Page 6: THE resignation of former NSW premier Nick Greiner as the chairman of Infrastructure NSW has put a question mark over the future of the government’s key advisory body for its signature projects, such as the $10 billion WestConnex motorway.
THE shortage of doctors in rural and remote Australia will be targeted through a new classification scheme aimed at better directing federal government incentives.
Page 17: A SHOCK contraction in Chinese manufacturing and the prospect that the US Federal Reserve could soon unwind its quantitative easing measures rocked local markets yesterday, pushing the Australian dollar close to an annual low and wiping more than $32 billion from the stockmarket.
THE fallout from losing a key contract to build the National Broadband Network has continued to damage Service Stream as the specialist telecoms construction firm revealed falling earnings had forced a breach of its banking covenants.
BILLIONAIRE James Packer has ramped up pressure on rival Echo Entertainment, dumping his $264 million stake in the Sydney and Queensland casino operator just days after winning approval to increase his holding.
FRESH doubt has been cast over BHP Billiton proceeding with the last remaining mineral expansion projects in its pipeline — the $US12 billion ($12.44bn) Jansen potash project in Canada and the unpriced development of a life-extending mega-pit at the Cannington silver and base metals mine near McKinlay in northwest Queensland.
Page 18: CHINA’S powerful manufacturing sector is slowing, prompting speculation that the government may be forced to deliver a new fiscal stimulus package.
OSAKA Gas has agreed to pay up to $US204 million ($211m) to acquire stakes in natural gas assets in Papua New Guinea owned by Horizon Oil, in the latest bet by an international energy company on the country’s potential as a supplier of clean-burning fuels.
Page 19: FORTESCUE Metals Group is likely to focus on Brockman Mining’s ability to fund additional infrastructure in its defence against the junior’s attempts to force its way on to the miner’s railway.
TROUBLED surf, skate and skiwear group Billabong has put its Canadian retail operation up for sale in a further sign that the company does not expect a full takeover to proceed.
Page 23: A GLOBAL initiative to strengthen reporting standards in the resources sector has received a major boost with Britain and France announcing yesterday they will join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
The Daily Telegraph
Page 1: A hero has emerged in the form of a female scout leader who stood up to the London killers who butchered a soldier in broad daylight on Thursday.
Page 2: One of the killers who butchered a British soldier warned the public that "you will never be safe".
Page 3: British PM David Cameron has issued a defiant message that the country will not buckle to terrorism in the wake of the horrific slaying.
World: (Oklahoma City) Two babies are among the 24 fatalities of the tornado that ripped through suburbs of Oklahoma City as residents start rebuilding after the tragedy.
Business: James Packer looks set to sell his shares in rival casino operator Echo Entertainment, the company that runs The Star in Sydney.
Sport: Racing NSW has threatened to ban punter and brothel owner Eddie Hayson from all Australian racetracks.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Page 1: Hazel Hawke has died aged 83. The local car-making industry is under threat after Ford decided to pull out of Australia. Jihadists have butchered a man, thought to be a soldier, on a London street.
Page 2: Department store David Jones has celebrated its 175th birthday. There's a push to get more local kids to attend Sydney Boys High by relaxing entry requirements.
Page 3: The online betting industry will push for a ban on the promotion of live odds in sports broadcasts.
World: The killing of a British soldier on a street in London has been labelled "unprecedented".
Business: The Aussie dollar has gone into free-fall as traders reacted to comments from the head of the US Federal Reserve.
Sport: The father of South Sydney forward Ben Te'o is confident his son will emerge unscathed from claims he assaulted a Brisbane woman.
The Herald Sun
Page 1: Ford has betrayed Australians, slamming the door on manufacturing after accepting $1.1 billion in taxpayer cash. Tributes are pouring in for Hazel Hawke, former wife of ex-Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who died aged 83 on Thursday.
Page 2: (Cont from page 1) Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the Ford closure announcement was a "distressing day" and asked the company to make a contribution to a worker support fund.
Page 3: Ford workers fear they lack the skills to find new jobs.
World: A friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev reportedly implicated himself in a triple murder just before he was killed by an FBI agent.
Finance: Billions of dollars will be sucked from the Victorian economy as a consequence of Ford's retreat, casting a fresh pall over the state.
Sport: James Hird says Essendon players will not be found guilty of doping, despite the CEO's resignation.
The Age
Page 1: After 88 years of making cars in Australia Ford has called it quits.
Page 2: Australia's car-making industry faces closure following the announced departure of Ford. Ford Falcon enthusiasts have loved the name since the 1960s, but that's about to end.
Page 3: Pressure is mounting on Canberra to do more to protect Australia's manufacturing sector.
World: The afternoon beheading of a British soldier in London was unprecedented.
Finance: The Australian dollar plunged to its lowest in a year, shedding more than two US cents in a session.
Sport: An increase in training intensity was responsible for Collingwood's improved showing last week.
