Get your house in order, Rio tells Twiggy
Rio Tinto has called on Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest to get his own company in order rather than waging a campaign blaming Rio for an iron ore glut that has sent the price downwards, threatened Fortescue’s existence and undermined federal and state budgets. The Fin
Carnarvon delivers again for Chevron
Chevron has continued its extraordinary run of exploration success in the Carnarvon Basin, yesterday trumpeting the 25th significant find over the past six years. The West
APRA threat hits banks
Almost $20 billion has been wiped off the value of the big four banks by sharemarket investors this week, partly because of expectations the prudential regulator will take quicker-than expected action to tackle the threat of rampant property speculation. The Fin
Impasse derails CBH
WA’s grain freight network ground to a halt yesterday, with Brookfield Rail and customer CBH still at loggerheads over an interim access deal. The West
Barnett pulls back on community closures
Colin Barnett has stepped away from his controversial rhetoric that up to 150 remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia will be closed down, revealing plans for a “hub and orbit” strategy that will leave some communities bigger and better resourced, others reduced in services and the smallest ones abandoned. The Aus
WA oil and gas workers accept pay freeze until July 2016
Resources sector technicians in Western Australia have accepted a pay freeze, as the post-boom correction to wages and conditions extends into the oil and gas sector. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Almost $20 billion has been wiped off the value of the big four banks by sharemarket investors this week, partly because of expectations the prudential regulator will take quicker-than expected action to tackle the threat of rampant property speculation.
Rio Tinto has called on Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest to get his own company in order rather than waging a campaign blaming Rio for an iron ore glut that has sent the price downwards, threatened Fortescue’s existence and undermined federal and state budgets.
Page 4: The small business tax breaks to be included in next month’s federal budget are likely to be confined to businesses with an annual turnover of less than $2 million as the government seeks to keep the cost of the package under control.
Page 5: China has become Australia’s biggest source of approved foreign investment for the first time after a $12.4 billion splurge on real estate in the last financial year.
Page 9: The Canberra consulting firm used by Australian National University to blacklist seven resource stocks last year admitted it failed to meet its stated standards in research into a mining company that the university’s endowment fund publicly dumped.
Page 10: Resources sector technicians in Western Australia have accepted a pay freeze, as the post-boom correction to wages and conditions extends into the oil and gas sector.
Page 13: Pressure is tightening on Ten Network Holdings to raise cash and conclude its tortuous strategic review after the embattled broadcaster warned investors it could run out of money if it misses revenue forecasts amid a volatile advertising market.
Page 15: iiNet chairman Michael Smith is hoping the offers keep coming for the Perth-based internet service provider, after the company’s board recognised M2 Group’s $1.6 billion takeover offer as superior to TPG Telecom’s all-cash proposal, worth $1.4 billion.
TPG Telecom’s surprise raid on Amcom Telecommunications’ stock has ‘‘no other purpose than to disrupt real and fair competition’’, says Vocus Telecommunications chief executive James Spenceley.
Page 16: US miner Cliffs Natural Resources says the seaborne supply of iron ore to China is a ‘‘doomed, horrible business’’, and declared it can’t wait to finish mining in Western Australia.
Page 19: Nickel hopeful Sirius Resources will more than double its spending on development of its Nova nickel mine in the June quarter, compared with last quarter, as the project’s construction gathers pace.
The Australian
Page 1: Working parents will gain more payments while stay-at-home mothers will lose out in this month’s budget, as federal cabinet locks in its central features, pitching it to voters as a plan to expand the workforce.
Colin Barnett has stepped away from his controversial rhetoric that up to 150 remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia will be closed down, revealing plans for a “hub and orbit” strategy that will leave some communities bigger and better resourced, others reduced in services and the smallest ones abandoned.
Page 4: The nation’s peak business group has urged the government to conduct and publish modelling to assess the cost of any post-2020 emissions reduction target and set out the required structural adjustment.
Page 6: Support for Noel Pearson’s model of indigenous recognition is growing, with land councils from NSW and Western Australia backing his plan for a declaration outside of the Constitution.
Page 19: Seven West Media has raised $289 million by selling new shares in the company to pay down debt and strengthen the balance sheet.
Santos shareholders have delivered a strong rebuke over the company’s recent performance, coming very close to delivering a first strike on remuneration at the company’s Adelaide annual meeting yesterday.
Page 20: Fortescue Metals chairman Andrew Forrest has avoided prosecution over his controversial call for the nation’s big miners to cap their iron ore production as a way of boosting prices.
Page 28: Individuals should have the right to take action against harmful surveillance by drones, with increased penalties to compensate for any harm caused, a paper suggests.
The West Australian
Page 3: A record low number of young Australian women developing high-grade cervical abnormalities has been linked to the anti-cancer HPV vaccine given to school girls.
Page 14: The Federal Government is under increasing pressure to overhaul the personal tax system after new figures showed hundreds of thousands of Australians being pushed into higher tax brackets.
Page 20: Bill Shorten has rebuffed his deputy Tanya Plibersek over her push to compel all Labor MPs to vote in favour of gay marriage, saying the way to achieve change was to convince people and not force them to support it.
Page 22: A company backed by WA’s former agriculture minister Kim Chance wants to build Australia’s first commercial camel dairy 160km north of Perth.
Page 25: A cap should be put on the number of backpackers given working holiday visas to make it easier for young unemployed Australians to find jobs, unions say.
Page 31: Richard Branson’s multinational Virgin Group is cracking down on a small Wilyabrup olive oil business in an effort to trademark the “virgin” tag.
Business: Chevron has continued its extraordinary run of exploration success in the Carnarvon Basin, yesterday trumpeting the 25th significant find over the past six years.
The Australian season launch last month of hit television series Game of Thrones saw fans post 161,500 tweets that were viewed more than half a million times.
Contractors Emeco Holdings and Swick Mining Services have flagged further cost-cutting after reporting improvements in equipment utilisation.
WA’s grain freight network ground to a halt yesterday, with Brookfield Rail and customer CBH still at loggerheads over an interim access deal.
