Asylum tide swamping solution
Kevin Rudd’s plans to halt the influx of asylum-seekers are buckling under the weight of nearly 3,000 new boat arrivals and the failure of his regional summit to produce any concrete measures, as another five people drowned off Christmas Island. The Aus
BHP ups China food bet
New BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie has defied investor pressure by raising the company's bet on Chinese and global food demand while cutting investment and costs in Australia. The Fin
Regions short on promised royalties
The Barnett government has failed to deliver its flagship policy of reinvesting 25 per cent of mining royalties in regional projects, with new data showing the Royalties for Regions scheme has fallen short of its allocated spending by $1.2 billion over four years. The Aus
Decades of deficit unless parties find billions in savings
The major, long- term spending commitments of Labor and the Coalition — worth more than $ 50 billion each — threaten a blowout in the deficit beyond the three-year budget estimates without billions of dollars of additional savings. The Aus
Teacher freeze and less help in education squeeze
The Barnett government has put school closures and amalgamations on the agenda after saying it would freeze hiring teachers and axe 500 education staff. The West
IR costs cripple investment
Builders and manufacturers have joined miners in complaining that high costs linked to greater union power were hurting productivity and sending investment offshore. The Fin
I've failed on gas hub: Barnett
Colin Barnett last night accused Woodside Petroleum of letting WA down as he apologised to state Parliament for the loss of the onshore Browse LNG project, with the emotional declaration: “I've failed”. The West
Worst is over for resources job losses
One of the state's leading employment forecasters says the worst of job losses in the cooling resources sector is over, with the workforce set to plateau for years. The West
It's far from doom and gloom for WA farmers
WA's biggest survey of farm financial performance has revealed that it is far from gloom and doom for many farmers despite what industry leaders are calling one of the most challenging periods in the sector's history. The West
The West Australian
Page 1: The Barnett government has put school closures and amalgamations on the agenda after saying it would freeze hiring teachers and axe 500 education staff.
Page 3: Colin Barnett last night accused Woodside Petroleum of letting WA down as he apologised to state Parliament for the loss of the onshore Browse LNG project, with the emotional declaration: “I've failed”.
Page 4: The independence of Public Sector Commissioner Mal Wauchope was questioned yesterday after it emerged he changed the scope of an inquiry into the office of senior Liberal Peter Collier at the minister’s request.
Page 5: Education assistants who face the axe under public school reforms unveiled yesterday say students and teachers will also suffer if the lose they jobs.
Page 9: Tony Abbott has publicly slapped down colleagues who remain critical of his expensive paid parental leave scheme, saying they have been “slow to adjust” to his proposed reform.
Page 15: One of the state's leading employment forecasters says the worst of job losses in the cooling resources sector is over, with the workforce set to plateau for years.
Page 17: The City of Fremantle has launched an international search for an architect to design the heart of its $220 million Kings Square project.
The City of Perth is hoping the saying actions speak louder than words will help convince the government to adopt the council's preferred light-rail route.
Business: BHP Billiton has again taken the knife to the value of its Nickel West unit, revealing the Goldfields mines and smelter and Kwinana refinery had net operating assets worth just $US127 million.
Woodside Petroleum has made it clear it will push ahead with developing the massive Browse Basin gas fields even without Barnett government support after yesterday ending a year of speculation and formally adopting floating LNG as the only processing option.
WA's biggest survey of farm financial performance has revealed that it is far from gloom and doom for many farmers despite what industry leaders are calling one of the most challenging periods in the sector's history.
Oakvale Capital, the financial advisory firm which called in administrators under the weight of compensation claims, will be given a stay of execution to maximise recoveries.
Fears about cost-conscious miners pulling the rug out from under Macmahon Holdings spooked investors after the company said it could not take contracted revenue for granted.
Monadelphous has cut a deal to sell its aviation business and restructured other parts of its business as it prepares for more sober times in resources after a decade of profit growth.
BGC has had a significant win in its stoush with the City of Stirling.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: New BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie has defied investor pressure by raising the company's bet on Chinese and global food demand while cutting investment and costs in Australia.
The head of one of Australia's top business groups has expressed doubts about how quickly a Coalition government would balance the budget.
Emerging economies have been hit by huge withdrawals of money flowing back to US shares and other safe havens in a flight of capital triggered by the threat of an Indian crisis and instability in Asia.
Page 3: The Reserve Bank of Australia sees the direction of the dollar as a crucial factor in future interest rate cuts, which remain a possibility, according to the minutes of its last meeting.
Page 4: Farmers' wives and other women drawing a wage from a family-owned business would be able to restructure their earnings to maximise the amount they would receive when they have a baby under Tony Abbott's paid parental leave scheme.
Tony Abbott should pay for his $5.5 billion-a-year paid parental leave scheme using consolidated revenue, not a new levy on the 3,000 largest companies, says a group representing some of Australia's biggest resources companies.
Page 7: Builders and manufacturers have joined miners in complaining that high costs linked to greater union power were hurting productivity and sending investment offshore.
Page 11: BHP Billiton's new boss Andrew Mackenzie has refused to abandon the miner's long-term plans to diversify into potash with a $US2.6 billion investment in its Jansen Potash project over the next three years, while forecasting more cuts to capital expenditure and spending.
Page 13: Coca-Cola Amatil is trying to avert its first decline in annual earnings for more than 10 years by slashing costs and launching new products such as lemon-flavoured Coke, chilled coffee and adult mixers.
Woodside Petroleum has rapidly honed in on floating liquefied natural gas as the best way of developing its large offshore gas resource in the Browse Basin, having ruled out other options after little more than four months of study.
Page 14: Mining services companies Monadelpous Group and Macmahon Holdings have been sold off heavily by investors after both warning that visibility on revenues for this financial year remains limited due to the mining industry's new found reluctance to invest in growth projects.
Page 15: Lachlan Murdoch's Ten Network and Kerry Stokes's Seven West Media are squaring up for a second legal fight over a top executive in two years, after Ten's opportunistic hiring of former Seven Network news and current affairs veteran Peter Meakin.
The Australian
Page 1: Kevin Rudd’s plans to halt the influx of asylum-seekers are buckling under the weight of nearly 3,000 new boat arrivals and the failure of his regional summit to produce any concrete measures, as another five people drowned off Christmas Island.
The major, long- term spending commitments of Labor and the Coalition — worth more than $50 billion each — threaten a blowout in the deficit beyond the three-year budget estimates without billions of dollars of additional savings.
Labor has charged the Greens with trying to sabotage its bid for re- election by “ratting” on a national preferences deal.
Page 2: The Barnett government has failed to deliver its flagship policy of reinvesting 25 per cent of mining royalties in regional projects, with new data showing the Royalties for Regions scheme has fallen short of its allocated spending by $1.2 billion over four years.
Telstra has been forced to delay the restart of work on the pits and pipes needed for the rollout of the NBN as it battles against the clock to get subcontractors up to speed on the proper removal of asbestos.
Colin Barnett’s push to create thousands of construction jobs by keeping the huge Browse gas project onshore has suffered another blow after Woodside Petroleum said it wanted to develop the project using radical floating LNG technology.
Page 3: Australia's slowing economy may convince the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates to a new historic low this year, but not in time to help Labor’s flagging electoral chances.
Page 5: The West Australian government has tied the introduction of a new funding model for schools based on the needs of students to the cutting of about 500 jobs in schools and the Education Department.
Page 6: As Labor recalibrates its national campaign strategy in response to Kevin Rudd’s dimming popularity, communications and logistical problems, the party is re-birthing its 2010 sandbagging strategy in the battleground state of NSW.
Page 8: Growing tensions between Labor strategists in campaign headquarters and the Kevin Rudd camp over how to run the election threaten to destabilise the ALP.
Page 10: Shareholders will take a $1.6 billion annual hit from Tony Abbott’s parental leave scheme by losing tax breaks on their dividends, sparking furious calls last night for the Opposition Leader to reveal the details of his plan.
Business: Mining giant BHP Billiton has made better-than-expected progress in slashing costs and capital spending under new chief executive Andrew Mackenzie, reporting $US2.7 billion ($2.98bn) in operating cost reductions last financial year and a faster drop in capital spending.
Woodside Petroleum is set to face questions about its lack of medium-term growth options today despite its decision to fast-track development of a floating liquefied natural gas platform at its Browse project off northern Western Australia.
Mining services groups Monadelphous Group and Macmahon Holdings have warned of challenging conditions in the year ahead, with increased competition and deep cost- cutting by mining companies likely to see earnings at the duo squeezed.
Steelmaker and iron miner Arrium has backed the bleak view of fellow BHP spin-off BlueScope Steel that improvement in domestic construction may have to wait until the second half of 2013- 14, partly because of election-related uncertainty.