Gillard's Green path forward – The Aus; Latest counting points to a dead heat – The Aus; Crook's stance adds to intrigue – The Fin; Brookfield gets control of WestNet – The West; Fortescue rail fee 'high', say juniors – The West
Gillard's Green path forward
Julia Gillard has declared Labor better-placed than the Coalition to form a stable government after Saturday's election because it is more likely to win Greens support for its policies in the Senate. The Aus
Latest counting points to a dead heat
Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are heading for a draw of 73 seats each after further counting improved Labor's position in the Tasmanian seat of Denison, but the Liberals held their lead in Western Australia's Hasluck. The Aus
Crook's stance adds to intrigue
Newly elected West Australian National Tony Crook says he will withhold support from both Labor and his traditional Coalition partners and sit on the cross-benches if they do not back his two key demands for regional WA. The Fin
Brookfield gets control of WestNet
Canadian fund manager Brookfield will take control of strategic assets, including WA's WestNet Rail network and Queensland's giant coal exporting port at Dalrymple Bay, after making a $971 million bid for the remaining stake in Prime Infrastructure it does not already own. The West
Fortescue rail fee 'high', say juniors
Fortescue Metals Group may be sent back to the drawing board to come up with a new method for formulating what it will charge others to use its railway after the Pilbara's junior iron ore players said its proposed charges were based on a flawed model. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Talks to decide who will govern the country are due to begin today as a key independent said he would not be bought by offers of a ministry or the position of speaker.
Page 3: The deaths of four men in separate police pursuits are being investigated by the State Coroner after records showed the police officers involved broke pursuit speed guidelines.
Page 4: Julia Gillard will remind key independents their electorates will be among the first to be plugged into the National Broadband Network and warn that Tony Abbott's broadband plan will offer little for the bush as desperate negotiations to keep Labor in power continue.
Key independents will have to ignore deep anti-Labor feelings in their own electorates if they do a deal with Julia Gillard to keep the ALP in office.
Page 5: Julia Gillard has discounted WA National Tony Crook as a possible partner in a Labor minority government, ruling out his central demand to dump the controversial mining tax to focus on winning the support of three independents instead.
Governor-General Quentin Bryce is seeking advice about whether her family link to Labor powerbroker Bill Shorten compromises her role in appointing the next Australian government.
Page 6: A defiant Eric Ripper declared yesterday he would lead the WA Labor Party into the next State election, due in early 2013, despite reports around the party that he would be dumped by Christmas.
Wilson Tuckey will be enjoy a taxpayer-funded pension of at least $100,000 a year after voters booted him out of Parliament on Saturday.
Page 7: WA's gloomy property market looks set to remain in the doldrums following Saturday's federal election deadlock, with industry experts tipping prospective buyers to hold off until a new government is established.
Mortgage interest rates will move above 9 per cent by the time of the next election, one of the nation's leading economic forecasters has predicted.
Page 8: Foster's shares soared yesterday as investors reacted to speculation that offshore brewer SABMiller is considering a multi-billion dollar bid for the Australian group's lucrative beer business.
Page 10: Drunkenness and alcoholism in Australia is said to be costing the community $36 billion a year - more than twice the previous estimate.
Page 11: The Corruption and Crime Commission will hold a public hearing into claims of misconduct at the City of Stirling in the second inquiry involving the council in six years.
Page 14: Rottnest visitors will be able to book their accommodation, bike hire and marine rental facilities over the internet from today with the launch of a new online booking system.
Page 17: The Education Department shelled out nearly $400,000 in damages last year to children who were hurt at school - almost double the amount paid in previous years.
Business: Canadian fund manager Brookfield will take control of strategic assets, including WA's WestNet Rail network and Queensland's giant coal exporting port at Dalrymple Bay, after making a $971 million bid for the remaining stake in Prime Infrastructure it does not already own.
Foster's has just become $850 million more expensive amid speculation international brewer SABMiller is considering a takeover bid before the demerger of the Australian company's wine division next year.
Oakajee Port and Rail chief executive John Langoulant, who has been charged with overseeing development of one of the country's most anticipated infrastructure proposals, says he is confident Australia's hung parliament will not cost the Mid-West project a $339 million taxpayer handout.
BHP Billiton's $US40 billion ($44 billion) bid for Canada's PotashCorp has come under fresh attack from the target and faces the prospect of being gazumped by Chinese interests.
Fortescue Metals Group may be sent back to the drawing board to come up with a new method for formulating what it will charge others to use its railway after the Pilbara's junior iron ore players said its proposed charges were based on a flawed model.
RCR Tomlinson chief executive Paul Dagleish has highlighted the challenge of turning around the engineering contractor's fortunes (just after securing himself a $500,000 bonus), despite delivering a 25 per cent improvement in annual net profit.
Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly yesterday played down the prospect of an out-of-cycle home loan interest rate rise, despite continuing pressure on the bank's margins resulting in a third-quarter profit $100 million below expectations.
Former Aspen Group joint managing director Angelo Del Borello left the property group he helped found with about $9.5 million in cash and shares.
WA engineering group group Lycopodium says the 2010-11 outlook is "unsettled and difficult to accurately forecast", with a number of major projects that could either go ahead or be scrapped.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Labor Party has stepped up its claim to offer a more stable minority government than the Coalition despite a damaging display of party grievances over Saturday's election blow, before crucial talks with three independent MPs in Canberra today.
The major banks are on track to deliver a record $21 billion in profits this year but trading conditions are turning against them, with home lending slowing, business reluctant to borrown and funding pressures continuing to rise.
Page 3: Land values are heading upwards in most of the country, a trend that might lead to bigger tax bills for investors down the track.
Page 4: The swing that secured a lower house seat for the Greens could deliver them more berths in the Victorian parliament at the coming state election.
Page 5: Two of the final building blocks used by economists to estimate how the economy fared in the June quarter are out this week, amid expectations they will indicate a faster pace of growth.
Page 6: Regional airlines were more efficient and cancelled fewer flights than the major domestic carriers in July, the latest figures show.
Page 7: Newly elected West Australian National Tony Crook says he will withhold support from both Labor and his traditional Coalition partners and sit on the cross-benches if they do not back his two key demands for regional WA.
Page 11: Two seats expected to be retained by the Liberals were listed as doubtful yesterday as Labor edged closer to the prospect of forming a minority government.
Page 12: The Greens harvested most of their increased vote from disillusioned Labor voters, despite claims that the party's increased support was due to a backlash against both parties.
Page 13: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott would be prime minister today if his party had run a more effective national campaign, senior Liberals say.
Page 14: Legal experts have played down the prospect of Governor-General Quentin Bryce facing a conflict of interest over her family relationship with federal government parliamentary secretary Bill Shorten.
Page 18: The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan's board has formally rejected BHP Billiton's hostile $US40 billion ($44 billion) takeover offer after telling its shareholders superior offers or other alternatives were likely to emerge.
Boart Longyear, one of the world's largest suppliers of drilling products and services for the minerals industry, yesterday raised its 2010 earnings guidance for a second time in anticipation of recovery in its markets.
Page 20: Seven Group Holdings has hosed down speculation it will lift its stake in James Packer's pay TV investment company Consolidated Media Holdings when a standstill agreement that stops it buying shares expires on September 10.
Page 21: Australia's biggest oil refiner, Caltex, has offered investors a glimmer of hope that the worst is over in the refining downturn, although no rapid improvement is expected as overcapacity continues to weigh on margins.
Page 22: Telstra stock fell to a new low yesterday as shares went ex-dividend and investors worried about the federal election outcome and cast doubt on the company's turnaround plan.
Page 49: Industry leaders are already urging the future federal government to step up and remove long-standing roadblocks to residential and commercial development.
Page 50: Perth-based property company Aspen Group is confident revenue streams will rebound in the coming months, after the $33.6 million operating profit for 2009-10 was weighed down by large decreases in fund management fees.
Aspen Group former managing director Angelo Del Borello received a termination payout of $931,950 after being moved aside earlier this year, according to the company's annual report lodged yesterday.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Julia Gillard has declared Labor better-placed than the Coalition to form a stable government after Saturday's election because it is more likely to win Greens support for its policies in the Senate.
Governor-General Quentin Bryce is seeking advice over whether she has a conflict of interest caused by her daughter's marriage to Labor powerbroker Bill Shorten.
Page 2: As Tony Abbott continues to try to negotiate forming a minority government, questions are being asked inside the Coalition about poor decision-making that might have cost it the chance to win the election with a majority of seats in its own right.
Page 3: Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are heading for a draw of 73 seats each after further counting improved Labor's position in the Tasmanian seat of Denison, but the Liberals held their lead in Western Australia's Hasluck.
Page 5: Two experts in Australian politics have backed Labor's claim that its higher two-party-preferred vote gives the party more legitimacy to govern if Labor gains the same number of seats as the Coalition.
Page 6: West Australian Nationals MP Tony Crook will not support Tony Abbott or Julia Gillard unless his multi-billion-dollar demands for regional WA are met.
Page 7: Liberal Ken Wyatt has inched ahead of Labor's Sharryn Jackson in the battle for Hasluck as heavyweights from both major parties yesterday scrutinised each vote.
Page 8: A strong rebound in local and overseas sharemarkets in July has given the superannuation funds a solid start to the 2011 financial year, with returns up 2.2 per cent in the month despite a cloud hanging over the global economy.
Business: Westpac chief Gail Kelly has warned that the Australian banking sector faces major ''revenue headwinds'' that will slow earnings growth for the big four majors.
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan has formally rejected BHP Billiton's hostile $43 billion takeover bid and says it has started talks with several other parties.
More than nine years after the collapse of telecommunications company One.Tel, a $244 million court case will go ahead against a host of media companies and former One.Tel executives.
Two key government advisers have warned that reforms aimed at lifting productivity across the economy could be jeopardised by a minority government.
One way or another, the Canadian asset management group Brookfield appears determined to take out the 60 per cent of Prime Infrastructure by taking the unique step yesterday of announcing both a scheme of arrangement and a concurrent formal takeover offer.
With no sign of a white knight emerging, Lihir Gold shareholders have voted almost unanimously to accept Newcrest Mining's $10.6 billion scrip-and-cash takeover offer to create the world's fourth-biggest mining company.
Mining stocks rallied yesterday as investors punted that Labor's planned $10.5 billion minerals resource rent tax faces the axe regardless of which party forms a minority government.
Graincorp has been scrambling to deal itself into Agrium's $1.2 billion takeover bid for wheat exporter AWB, as it tries to salvage some of the benefits of its overshadowed merger proposal.
