Chiefs blast RBA for high dollar – The Aus; Weak trade date puts Swan budget forecast under fire – The Aus; ANZ digs in for Oswal fight – The West; Jobs to go as Roy Hill cuts costs – The West; Coalminers brace for royalty hike – The Fin
Chiefs blast RBA for high dollar
Chief executives have blasted the Reserve Bank for failing to act on the high Australian dollar as ‘‘hot money’’ flows into the economy and pushes up the currency, adding to pressures on a manufacturing sector already losing jobs. The Aus
Weak trade date puts Swan budget forecast under fire
Wayne Swan is under pressure to adjust the government’s forecast for Chinese growth after yet another set of weak trade figures came on the back of the slowest factory activity in the country since May 2009. The Aus
ANZ digs in for Oswal fight
ANZ Bank expects its legal fight with former Burrup Fertiliser owner Pankaj Oswal to last “for years”, but has moved to shield the plant's new owners Apache Energy and Yara International from further claims by the fallen tycoon. The West
Jobs to go as Roy Hill cuts costs
Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project is facing delays of up to six months as the company pulls back on non-essential work amid delays in securing debt funding from a consortium of international banks. The West
Coalminers brace for royalty hike
The Queensland government is set to raise royalties on coal production in the state's budget today despite tough market conditions that have caused more than 2000 job losses in the Bowen Basin since May and threaten the viability of growth project. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: A world-renowned scientist has warned that one of the CSIRO's genetically modified wheat varieties has the potential to cause a deadly disease that attacks the liver.
Page 7: The historic Subiaco Hotel could be listed on the state's heritage register.
Page 10: Perth MLA John Hyde has denied his Northbridge billboard is devoid of any reference to Labor because his party is on the nose in WA.
Opposition Leader Mark McGowan has said there is “nothing wrong” with pulling his children out of school for a week's holiday in Bali, a month after the Education Department warned the practice contravened the Education Act.
There are growing signs of confidence in the WA property market with new figures showing the biggest number of home loans taken in almost three years.
Business: ANZ Bank expects its legal fight with former Burrup Fertiliser owner Pankaj Oswal to last “for years”, but has moved to shield the plant's new owners Apache Energy and Yara International from further claims by the fallen tycoon.
China's growing economic reach in the South Pacific yesterday took another step when home appliance giant Haier indicated it would make a full takeover offer for much smaller New Zealand competitor Fisher & Paykel Appliances.
Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project is facing delays of up to six months as the company pulls back on non-essential work amid delays in securing debt funding from a consortium of international banks.
Banks are growing increasingly wary about lending to mining services firms amid the volatility surrounding the resources sector, according the accounting firm Ernst & Young.
The Australian Securities Exchange has turned up the heat on market darling Sirius Resources, questioning its disclosure practices after the latest surge in the Perth explorer's share price.
As the global economy continues to sputter, investors are turning towards what they always seem to in difficult times – gold bullion.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Queensland government is set to raise royalties on coal production in the state's budget today despite tough market conditions that have caused more than 2000 job losses in the Bowen Basin since May and threaten the viability of growth project.
Trade data indicates China's economy may be heading to its weakest growth rate since 1990, sapping demand for iron ore, coal and other important Australian products.
Page 4: Immigration Minister Chris Bowen insists asylum seekers arriving on boats should still expect to be sent to regional processing centres despite numbers now exceeding offshore capacity.
The Coalition's alternative broadband policy could be more expensive over the long term and preserve Telstra's dominant market position, NBN Co chairman Harrison Young says.
Page 6: A clean energy grants scheme for manufacturers worth $1 billion has been put on hold as the federal government's razor gang looks for new budget savings.
Treasurer Wayne Swan has tried to switch the focus of the budget debate onto his Coalition counterpart, Joe Hockey, after being accused of proposing policies that could cost $120 billion over the long term.
Page 10: The latest data suggest six out of ten adults are overweight or obese, with this proportion climbing from 56 per cent in 1995 to 61 per cent by 2007-08.
Page 13: Qantas Airways and Emirates have told the competition regulator Australia's national carrier will have to further shrink its European service and cut a daily service to London if a strategic alliance is not approved.
Page 15: A rising number of mining services companies face distress over the next six months because of chasing debt-funded growth while market conditions were buoyant.
Mining giant Xstrata will consult its major shareholders before responding to a revised offer from Glencore that softens some of the harsh new terms.
Page 16: Ten Network has become the No.4 free-to-air television broadcaster, with its ratings collapsing so much since the Olympics that it is being consistently beaten by the ABC.
Page 22: Retailers have expressed frustration at Google's plan to charge businesses for a spot on its online shopping page, describing the move as yet another barrier to entry.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Labor is striving to revive its people-swap deal with Malaysia amid concerns that Nauru, which will receive its first asylum-seekers by the end of the week, risks being swamped by a wave of new arrivals flooding through Indonesia.
Australia's two biggest coalminers yesterday shed 900 jobs from operations in Queensland and NSW, provoking industry warnings that the resources sector is not a ‘‘bottomless pit’’ to be plundered for taxes.
Page 2: A mining company accused of deliberately desecrating one Aboriginal sacred site has been ordered to stop work at another after cracks appeared, prompting authorities to express ‘‘serious concern’’ over inadequate management and reporting by the miner.
Page 4: Chief executives have blasted the Reserve Bank for failing to act on the high Australian dollar as ‘‘hot money’’ flows into the economy and pushes up the currency, adding to pressures on a manufacturing sector already losing jobs.
Big business has warned that plans to link the carbon price to Europe and severely limit the use of cheap permits from projects in developing countries could put fundamental aspects of the scheme outside the control of the Australian government.
Wayne Swan has left room to increase taxes in the mid-year budget update in the face of Coalition questions over how the government will pay for promises that could reach more than $15 billion a year.
Page 6: Labor yesterday launched a two-pronged attack on Tony Abbott, demanding he account for an alleged incident from his student days and alleging he misled parliament over the shelved Olympic Dam expansion.
Page 8: Aggressive welfare recipients will be subjected to more sanctions, including the wider use of apprehended violence orders, after Centrelink staffers were forced to sound the duress alarm more than 1000 times in under 18 months.
Scientists from three countries are warning a CSIRO-led push to make Australia the first nation in the world to introduce genetically modified wheat crops could pose a significant health threat to humans and other animals.
Page 9: One of coal baron Nathan Tinkler’s companies failed to provide evidence of its financial position, according to a building company that is suing him.
Business: Lend Lease management has seized control of Abigroup and has been forced to launch an internal investigation and call in its auditors to examine irregularities i n the financial reporting relating to more than $1.5 billion of projects i n the construction and engineering subsidiary.
High costs and sliding prices have caused more than 3500 mining job losses in the past six months, with a worsening outlook for coking coal threatening to bring more cuts to the reeling sector.
Wayne Swan is under pressure to adjust the government’s forecast for Chinese growth after yet another set of weak trade figures came on the back of the slowest factory activity in the country since May 2009.
Ashok Jacob, the long-time investment adviser to the Packer family, says the extraordinary levels of money printing by central banks around the world will eventually drive investors back towards equities and property.
Apache Energy and its Australian partners — Origin Energy and Pancontinental Oil and Gas — have made Kenya’s first big offshore gas discovery, increasing East Africa’s potential to compete with Australian liquefied natural gas projects.
Qantas has warned that a failure to gain approval for its 10-year deal with Emirates would force it to stop flying to Europe and turn its international operations into a ‘‘virtual network’’ that would be against the national interest.
An international phone hook-up of Nine Entertainment’s lenders takes place today as negotiations start in earnest on restructuring the media company’s $3.8 billion debt pile.
The new boss of the country’s largest building materials supplier Boral, Mike Kane, has flagged up to $300 million in asset sales under his leadership.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Police will scour CCTV footage as they piece together how an AFL football star plunged to his death off a Las Vegas roof.
Page 2: Premier Barry O'Farrell is being urged to adopt a system of shared services between groups of the state's 152 councils to maximise the bang for buck and provide more money for infrastructure.
Page 3: A review of laws to tackle Twitter trolls who anonymously abuse others has been called for after radio host Ray Hadley and NRL star Robbie Farah became the latest high profile cyber victims.
World: A British girl seen as the key witness in the murders of her family in the French Alps has come out of an artificial coma, raising hopes she could give police vital clues.
Business: Interest rates may be cut again as early as next month with the Australian property sector stuck in the doldrums following a three per cent fall in housing loans since the start of the year.
Sport: Manly fans have been urged to avoid a repeat of last year's embarrassing semi-final turnout as it emerged that more Raiders than Sea Eagles supporters have snapped up tickets to this weekend's fixtures.
