Top Perth pubs picked up for $190m Compass float; BHP fires barrage at regulators over policy; Anger as two states lift ban on GM canola; Rio in $500m drilling push to fill Pilbara export targets; Aussi shoppers get bad deal, says retail guru.
Top Perth pubs picked up for $190m Compass float
A dozen of Perth's favourite pubs, including Geoff Ogden Albion Hotel in Cottesloe, the Carine Glades Tavern and the Gosnells Hotel are set to be sold into a new Sydney-based sharemarket float for $190 million. The West
BHP fires barrage at regulators over policy
BHP Billiton has launched a scathing attack on Australia's competition regulators after claiming its bitter court battle with Fortescue Metals Group over railway access had already cost up to $180 million and was symptomatic of policies that were jeopardizing the country's iron ore industry. The West
Anger as two states lift ban on GM canola
Victoria and NSW yesterday lifted their four-year moratoriums on growing genetically modified crops to boost agricultural output and reduce costs, despite bitter opposition from other States which warned for contamination and threat to major overseas markets. The Fin Review
Rio in $500m drilling push to fill Pilbara export targets
Rio Tinto is embarking on what it claims to be Australia's biggest-ever drilling program to ensure it has enough iron ore reserves for an ambitious 420 million tonne-a-year (mtpa) Pilbara operation. The West
Aussi shoppers get bad deal, says retail guru
Australian supermaket shoppers are getting substandard service compared with some other countries, according to the retailing guru hired by Wesfarmers to help fix the Coles supermarket business. The Australian
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: WA Liberals are resisting plans by their shell shocked Eastern States colleagues to bury the WorkChoices industrial relations policy and have instead foreshadowed moves to block Kevin Rudd's push to overturn the laws in the Federal Parliament.
WA homebuyers will get an unexpected 5 per cent reduction in stamp duty from July next year.
Business: A dozen of Perth's favourite pubs, including Geoff Ogden Albion Hotel in
Cottesloe, the Carine Glades Tavern and the Gosnells Hotel are set to be sold into a new Sydney-based sharemarket float for $190 million.
BHP Billiton has launched a scathing attack on Australia's competition regulators after claiming its bitter court battle with Fortescue Metals Group over railway access had already cost up to $180 million and was symptomatic of policies that were jeopardizing the country's iron ore industry.
Rio Tinto is embarking on what it claims to be Australia's biggest-ever drilling program to ensure it has enough iron ore reserves for an ambitious 420 million tonne-a-year (mtpa) Pilbara operation.
Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder yesterday delivered a withering attack on former Coles boss John Fletcher, demolishing his departing claim that Coles supermarket empire was already well on the road to recovery.
Clinical Cell Culture directors were grilled by shareholders yesterday as the troubled biotech continues to struggle to sell its cutting edge burns treatment developed by former Australian of the Year Fiona Woods.
Sinclair Knight Merz has bolstered its recruiting effort interstate and overseas after more than 17 per cent of its full-time employees quit the firm in 2006-07.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Page 1: Rising fears about the impact of the credit crunch on the already slowing United States economy have pushed Wall Street stock down 10 per cent from their peaks and into a correction, despite a renewed effort by the Federal Reserve to pump cash into the banking system.
Leading superannuation funds are planning to overhaul the management of their share investments in a bid to boost investors' returns by slashing the level of commissions they pay to stockbrokers.
Victoria and NSW yesterday lifted their four-year moratoriums on growing genetically modified crops to boost agricultural output and reduce costs, despite bitter opposition from other States which warned for contamination and threat to major overseas markets.
THE AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: The public face of a campaign to make James Hardie compensate its workers who became seriously ill from asbestos exposure, Bernie Banton, has died; Guarding political secrets from foreign government hackers is the motivation behind a move to step-up cyber protection at Canberra's parliament house; Contenders for the federal Liberal leadership are split on whether to accept Labor's mandate to reinstate unfair dismissal laws.
Page 2: Qantas flights could be grounded over the Christmas and New Year period by an industrial strike unless the airline agrees to a three per cent pay increase for engineers.
Page 3: Genetically modified crops will be allowed in all eastern states of Australia following yesterday's decision by NSW and Victorian government's to lift four-year bans on the GM canola.
Finance: The country's second largest private hospital owner, Healthscope, yesterday spent about $250 million buying some 64.7 million shares in Symbion Health, acquiring a blocking stake against other parties interested in taking over the health giant.
