Today's headlines

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS

Westpoint crisis deepens
Norm Carey's Westpoint Group yesterday called in administrators to its $300 million web of mezzanine financing companies as it sought endorsement from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission for an audacious restructuring push.

Lenders look to WA to keep home loans ticking
Australia's mortgage brokers are scrambling to increase their presence in WA to make up for sharply falling home prices on the east coast.

Buyers boost Pluto stocks
Woodside Petroleum has leapt closer to developing its $5 billion Pluto liquefied natural gas project off Onslow, agreeing key terms with North Asian LNG buyers for the lion's share of its planned output.

Aspen picks up Stowe's Dunsborough Lakes for $93.5m
Aspen Group will today confirm it has agreed to buy the Dunsborough Lakes residential estate and 18-hole golf course from Perth tycoon Ric Stowe doe $93.5 million.

Fever bites: Iamgold pounces on Gallery
Canada's gold sector takeover mania has spilled over into the Australian market, with Toronto-based Iamgold making an agreed $270 million paper-only offer for the Perth-based Gallery Gold, the fast-growing African gold specialist.

GENERAL

Page 1 - Union hit by total ban on rail strikes
The construction union has been banned permanently from staging strikes on the Perth to Mandurah railway line in an historic industrial decision aimed at getting the $1.5 billion project finished on time.

Page 1 - Watchdog to probe Buy WA scheme
Australia's consumer watchdog will investigate misuse of the State's controversial Buy WA First scheme after warning yesterday that some companies might be breaching the Trade Practices Act by wrongly attaching the loyalty logo to products.

Page 4 - Gallop saves Kucera from new share probe
Geoff Gallop will not push for a separate investigation into the disappearance from a parliamentary register of a key document outlining the share investments of former Cabinet minister Bob Kucera.

THE AUSTRALIAN

Page 1 - Senior Australian officials travelled with AWB employees in Iraq at the time the wheat exporter was paying tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime. The Howard government is considering spending more than $1 billion compensating divorced parents, mainly single mothers. Universities will secure extra grants to fund sporting clubs and campus services under a last-ditch plan to secure support for voluntary student unionism laws before Christmas.

Page 2 - The first black super fund for the country's most disadvantaged communities will be created from the proceeds of Aboriginal land developed under a scheme to be run by Macquarie Bank.

Page 3 - Babies born in large city hospitals are more likely to die in their first month than those born in smaller rural centres, a study shows.

Finance - The Australian Stock Exchange is softening up the broking industry for a hike in trading fees, possibly to be announced before the end of the year.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Page 1 - The Australian Taxation Office failed to follow its own prosecution policy by not referring an audit report alleging tax evasion and false and misleading statements against Adelaide businessman Robert Gerard's company to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The federal government plans to fast-track key elements of its workplace relations reforms, establishing its wage fixing body well before the rest of the changes come into force in March.

Page 3 - Taxpayers will contribute an extra $2 billion to the first payment into the Future Fund early next year under legislation to be introduced into federal parliament today.

Page 5 - Virgin Blue's late entry into the lobbying battle over competition on the trans-Pacific route between Australia and the United States has increased the chances the government will delay a decision on the issue until the new year.

World - China has reaffirmed its intention to dramatically expand its liquefied natural gas importing capacity.

Markets - The gold price shattered records again yesterday, reaching the highest level in 25 years.