Big jump in land prices raises new boom fears; Investors snap up $1bn worth of Myer shares; Labor faces $25bn fight over Telstra network value; Import costs slashed as rate increase looms; We were wrong on closing branches - Hanlon
Big jump in land prices raises new boom fears
Land prices have jumped 5 per cent in three months in a worrying sign that Perth is on the verge of another boom that may make it the most expensive capital in the country. The West
Investors snap up $1bn worth of Myer shares
Powerful US institutional investors, including fund managers and pension funds, have told Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes the department store's private equity owners should sell down their entire stake before the sharemarket float next month to remove the threat of a stock overhang. The Age
Labor faces $25bn fight over Telstra network value
Telstra and the Rudd government are struggling to close a $25 billion gulf in their negotiations over the company's structural separation as its chief executive, David Thodey, heads to Canberra again today to persuade senators to resist the changes. The Fin Review
Import costs slashed as rate increase looms
The high value of the dollar has slashed the cost of imports, putting a lid on wholesale price inflation. But there are troubling signs that domestic prices are rising more rapidly than the Reserve Bank would like. The Australian
We were wrong on closing branches - Hanlon
Westpac group executive Peter Hanlon has admitted its two-decade policy of shutting branches and removing customer-focused bank managers has cost it - and consumers - dearly. Daily Telegraph
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The operator of the crippled West Atlas oil rig has convened a war cabinet with its competitors and a famed Texan oil well fire-fighting firm to find a way of plugging the leak and solve the industry's public relations disaster.
Page 3: The state government's crackdown on antisocial behaviour in Northbridge this summer began unravelling yesterday after it emerged that some nightclubs could ignore "voluntary" lockouts and early closures which come into effect next week.
Page 4: Land prices have jumped 5 per cent in three months in a worrying sign that Perth is on the verge of another boom that may make it the most expensive capital in the country.
The pressure on the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates may ease after signs that inflation through the business chain is remaining in check on the back of the string dollar and subdued global demand.
Page 5: Public officials were bullied, deceived and given gifts to encourage them to buy photocopier toner at inflated prices from a Melbourne business, the Corruption and Crime Commission has been told.
Criminals have now stolen $4 million in an EFTPOS scam targeting McDonald's WA customers after siphoning another $100,000 from bank accounts at the weekend.
Page 7: A grandfather killed in a Wheatbelt hay-carting accident has been described as a dedicated family man who was always joking and having fun with his 11 grandchildren.
Page 9: Cottesloe Town Council is considering legal action to stop dredging by Fremantle Ports amid concerns that contaminated plumes will wash up on Cottesloe Beach at the height of the summer swimming season.
The first delivery of genetically modified canola was received at the CBH Metro Grain Centre yesterday with assurances by the bulk handler that all segregation guidelines would be met.
The government has demanded a "please explain" from Perth's road bosses over a traffic debacle on Sunday that is now being partly blamed on Thomas the Tank Engine children's shows.
Page 10: Perth Airport has emerged as one of the fastest growing capital city airports in Australia, with passenger numbers growing fivefold over the past 23 years.
Page 14: The state government's plans to reform WA's councils have taken another hit with the first four shires to agree to merge saying yesterday they would only do so if the government funded the move.
Business: Powerful US institutional investors, including fund managers and pension funds, have told Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes the department store's private equity owners should sell down their entire stake before the sharemarket float next month to remove the threat of a stock overhang.
The real estate agent charged with selling WA tycoon Ric Stowe's sprawling beachfront property at Bunker Bay says he has received strong local and international interest despite the likely $20 million-plus asking price.
Wild swings in the Australian dollar have forced state Treasury to abandon its long-held method of forecasting the currency in a bid to improve the accuracy of its budgets - crucial in planning WA's essential services such as health and education.
CSR has announced a $375 million capital raising and further write-downs of its Viridian glass business as the diversified industrial group shores up its balance sheet before the proposed split into separate sugar and building product operations.
Bauxite Resources is hoping to finalise terms of an alumina refinery joint venture with China's Yankuang Group within months after shareholders yesterday supported the initial funding of the project.
The corporate regulator's high-profile pursuit of former AWB chief executive Andrew Lindberg over the Iraq kickbacks scandal will be forced to adjourn this week as the regulator hurries to issue a second - and possibly bigger - case against the businessman.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Telstra and the Rudd government are struggling to close a $25 billion gulf in their negotiations over the company's structural separation as its chief executive, David Thodey, heads to Canberra again today to persuade senators to resist the changes.
The strong demand for the Rudd government's $1600 solar hot water subsidy ha slashed renewable energy credits, putting at risk billions of dollars in near-term investment in major climate change initiatives such as wind power.
Australia's biggest container port is seeking a third operator as part of a $1 billion expansion, in a move that would further weaken the existing waterfront duopoly on the east coast.
CSR will treat retail and institutional investors more equitably in its $375 million capital raising, which will underpin plans to split off its booming sugar business early next year.
Page 3: A leadership stoush is brewing within the union movement over a replacement for ACTU president Sharan Burrow, who is vying for a new international union role.
Federal and state taxpayers have been told they must share with local council ratepayers to cost of sea walls and other safeguards to protect waterfront property from rising sea levels.
Page 4: Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has made a spirited defence of the Rudd government's record on dealing with China, insisting ties are strengthening despite inevitable but manageable tensions.
Page 5: Business costs are moderating as the strong Australian dollar and weak global demand offset surging electricity charges, relieving some of the pressure for a sharp tightening of monetary policy.
Westpac Banking Corp and its former head of mining finance, Haydn Lynch, have settled their employment dispute on the eve of the trial.
Investors will get an update on Rio Tinto's progress in streamlining its aluminium division later this week when Alcan group chief executive Jacynthe Cote addresses shareholders in London on Friday.
Australian steel producers BlueScope Steel and OneSteel are poised to update the market on their manufacturing plans next month, as local demand for steel improves.
Page 17: Australia's Timor Sea basin has emerged as the global focal point for the emerging floating liquefied natural gas sector, after the formal launch of plans by controversial Thai company PTT Exploration and Production.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: State education departments should hand control of school finances and the power to hire teachers to principals and school boards, reversing a century of bureaucratic stranglehold over the running of schools.
The nation's workplace watchdog has joined with Qantas in a bid to have significant financial penalties imposed on a major union and its senior officials for authorising industrial action over security concerns at four capital city airports.
Nearly three-quarters of projects claimed by the Rudd government as evidence of its delivery of major new infrastructure were conceived by John Howard.
Page 2: Malcolm Turnbull's office has been advising coalition press secretaries to demonise special interest groups and attack public servants as fat cats.
Page 4: The high value of the dollar has slashed the cost of imports, putting a lid on wholesale price inflation. But there are troubling signs that domestic prices are rising more rapidly than the Reserve Bank would like.
Apathy is mostly to blame for customers of the big four banks missing out on $6.1 billion in annual savings that can be achieved by switching their home loans and other borrowings to the cheapest providers.
Page 5: The Rudd government has welcomed a decision to drastically slash Australia's lucrative southern bluefin tuna catch, despite criticism from the fishing industry that it unfairly penalises local efforts to boost fish stocks while letting Japanese overfishing off the hook.
Page 6: The Rudd government has made its first, long-awaited move towards framing a China strategy but has criticised local media for airing differences between the countries, saying Australia's concerns about China are most effectively raised in private.
Page 7: Firefighters complained during debriefings after the Black Saturday disaster that they had been left parked by the side of the road "doing nothing" by senior Country Fire Authority officers while nearby houses were being threatened.
Business: Myer is firmly in fashion, with retail investors crowding into the public float for more than $1 billion worth of shares ahead of next Monday's ASX listing.
CSR will raise $375 million to pay down debt after its demerger with a unique entitlement offer designed to give retail shareholders the same rights as institutional investors.
China-backed Minerals and Metals Group is still considering an Australian listing, even though that is not a regulatory requirement of its $US1.38 billion ($1.49bn) deal with OZ Minerals.
The Australian Taxation Office is investigating a Chinese national over an alleged $75 million-plus GST fraud relating to numerous business developments in NSW, including a luxury Hunter Valley resort.
Expected revenue from the Australian government's emissions trading scheme could be cut if Australian emitters rushed to source cheaper abatement opportunities overseas.
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing believes the economic downturn has bottomed out and that annual air travel growth in the Oceania region will outstrip the global average over the next two decades.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has warned that proposed changes to liquidity rules forcing banks to hoard enough cash to support 30 days of operations will reduce profits and make it impossible for them to support each other, as they did in the financial crisis.
ING plans to raise j7.5 billion ($12.18bn) in a rights offering and sell its insurance units, as the biggest Dutch financial services company seeks European Union approval for a taxpayer-funded bailout.
As the US dollar continues to weaken, concerns are mounting in much of Asia over another descending currency: the Chinese yuan.
Two Chinese mutual-fund companies have obtained quotas from the foreign-exchange regulator to invest in overseas securities, indicating China is reopening its window for outbound securities investments after closing it for 17 months.
One of the US's largest commercial real estate lenders has filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest sign that problems in that market are far from over.
For city traders and economists, punch-drunk after two of the most extraordinary years in financial history, it was yet another moment of drama.
The Australian sharemarket closed lower yesterday following a weaker materials sector and caution among investors after a poor lead from offshore.
