Buckeridge blasts WA over port delay – The Fin; Troubled Verve poised to show turnaround – The Aus; Mining tax 'too generous' – The Fin; Toodyay victims vow to fight on – The West; Wages shake-up hurts business – The Fin
Buckeridge blasts WA over port delay
Building magnate Len Buckeridge launched a stinging attack on Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett, claiming he has backed away from a pledge to speed development of a private port south of Perth. The Fin
Troubled Verve poised to show turnaround
Western Australia's biggest electricity producer, Verve Energy, will today reveal a stunning turnaround in its financial position, posting its first profit since it was formed amid deregulation of the state's energy market in 2006. The Aus
Mining tax 'too generous'
The changes made by the Gillard government to the resource rent tax are "far too generous" and will distort investment in mining, a top international tax expert says. The Fin
Toodyay victims vow to fight on
Toodyay bushfire victims have vowed to sue Western Power for full compensation, despite the state government yesterday offering them a share of $10 million in hardship payments. The West
Wages shake-up hurts business
Labor's overhaul of industrial awards has left hundreds of thousands of employers unsure about how much to pay their staff, inundating the workplace regulator with calls for help. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Toodyay bushfire victims have vowed to sue Western Power for full compensation, despite the state government yesterday offering them a share of $10 million in hardship payments.
Page 3: The push to establish a peace park on the site of a Bali nightclub bombed by terrorists gathered momentum yesterday, with the release of a study which said the proposal would pay for itself.
Page 6: Tony Abbott has drawn a line in the sand in the bitter war of words with Julia Gillard over Afghanistan, flagging an Opposition push for more resources for Australia's "stretched" troops.
Page 7: Some of the lowest airfares offered to Kuala Lumpur and Bali will go on sale tomorrow to celebrate AirAsia carrying 100 million passengers.
Scientists have started pumping rainwater into one of the South-West's drying caves in a bid to save its prehistoric animal life from extinction.
Page 9: A $37 million sexual harassment lawsuit launched by David Jones publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk could be settled as early as Friday.
Page 11: More late-night trading, new cinemas and extra security cameras are among the ideas in a draft three-year community safety and crime prevention blueprint for the inner city.
Page 14: The public hospital system is facing potential chaos today with a strike by support workers set to threaten elective surgery, jeopardise the four-hour wait limit and increase ambulance ramping.
While lowly paid health workers struggle to get a better wage rise, WA public hospital doctors have won a $127 million pay deal with the state government which will give them increases of more than 12 per cent over three years.
Page 16: WA is trailing the country in its airport and telecommunications infrastructure, recording the nation's lowest score in a report by Australia's peak engineering body.
Business: Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has urged world political leaders to resist protectionist policies and pushed for currency reform in a bid to keep the fragile global economic recovery on track.
Mineral Resources co-founder Chris Ellison has made the most of the WA contractor's soaring share price to cash in a $35.9 million parcel of stock.
First signs of friction between Sandfire Resources and its Korean partners have emerged, paving the way for OZ Minerals to reconsider a billion-dollar bid for the company behind WA's best copper discovery.
Andrew Forrest has consolidated his position as Australia's richest man after Fortescue Metals Group shares soared 7.8 per cent yesterday, taking his wealth to more than $6 billion.
The days of bank boardrooms being the domain solely of suits and ties could soon end, with Westpac announcing its intention to dramatically increase the number of women in management roles.
Australian business dynasty the Myer family has taken full control of its private financial services and investment advisory boutique and signed up new directors, including veteran stockpicker Bruce Teele, as it touts for new business from the nation's rich.
Drilling technology company Coretrack emerged from a trading halt yesterday to announce plans for a $2.7 million capital raising while also outlining changes which could save the company $1 million a year.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Labor's overhaul of industrial awards has left hundreds of thousands of employers unsure about how much to pay their staff, inundating the workplace regulator with calls for help.
Do-it-yourself superannuation funds are using cash stockpiled during the global financial crisis to buy properties in record numbers following the clarification of laws that allow the funds to borrow money to invest.
Westpac Banking Corp chief executive Gail Kelly has warned that home loan rates will have to rise to offset "materially" higher funding costs, admitting a split with the government over whether banks need to raise mortgage rates by more than official rates set by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Page 3: Australia's housing shortage appears to be getting worse.
The changes made by the Gillard government to the resource rent tax are "far too generous" and will distort investment in mining, a top international tax expert says.
A lawyer representing Kristy Fraser-Kirk, who is suing David Jones for $37 million over sexual harassment, has told a Federal Court judge he hopes the case will be settled as early as this week in the Human Rights Commission.
Page 4: Building magnate Len Buckeridge launched a stinging attack on Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett, claiming he has backed away from a pledge to speed development of a private port south of Perth.
Page 7: Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday backed plans for corporate Australia to set quotas to increase the number of women in senior management jobs.
Page 9: Western Australia has "middle of the ruck" infrastructure that has not kept pace with its resources-generated wealth, a report has found.
Fitch Ratings has warned of rising costs facing Australia's proposed liquefied natural gas projects, saying the cost pressure and increased competition among projects were likley to derail some developments.
Page 10: Treasurer Wayne Swan has rejected demands by the Coalition for a mini-budget to cut government spending and take pressure off the soaring Australian dollar.
Page 16: Fortescue Metals is considering borrowing up to $US6 billion ($6.07 billion) to fund the expansion of its Chichester and Solomon projects after clearing a $US2 billion refinancing over the weekend.
Page 17: Virgin Blue Holdings surprised the market yesterday when it estimated the cost of the collapse of its reservations and check-in systems last month would hit pre-tax profits by as much as $20 million.
Page 20: Three months into the financial year, Flight Centre looks set for profits at the top of its guidance if recent sales growth continues.
Page 47: The spike in the Australian dollar has increased the amount of money that the big banks need to raise in foreign currencies, extending their reliance upon overseas funding markets.
Page 50: Market debate about the future of ING Real Estate Investment Management's five listed property funds has ramped up as new chairman Kevin McCann takes soundings from investors.
Page 55: The property industry has welcomed the Prime Minister's Task Group on Energy Efficiency report, which recommends the nation improve energy efficiency by 30 per cent by 2020.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Tony Abbott is rethinking the Coalition's call for more Australian troops to be sent to Afghanistan amid a plunge in his public support after his refusal to visit the war zone with Julia Gillard.
Dame Joan Sutherland, La Stupenda, the greatest opera singer Australia has produced, has died in Switzerland, aged 83.
The Gillard government and key providers of the $43 billion National Broadband Network are still working out how to ensure basic phone services are provided to those who do not sign up to the super-fast network.
Page 2: Business groups have called on the government to revamp economic policy by cutting spending on bureaucracy, restoring export grants and slashing the company tax rate.
The opposition has strongly denied misrepresenting the legitimacy of its election costings by claiming to have them ''audited'' when they were in fact not.
Page 3: The $37 million sexual harassment lawsuit launched by David Jones publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk could be settled as early as Friday.
Page 4: Drenching rains have delivered southeast Queensland enough water to last until 2018 without another drop falling from the sky, but the state is still paying for the $9 billion spent only two years ago for a water grid to ''drought-proof'' the region.
Page 6: Divisions have emerged between East Timor and Australia over the shape of a possible regional processing centre for asylum-seekers, with East Timorese President Jose RamosHorta saying Dili would agree only to a ''temporary'' facility.
As Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd flies into Tokyo today, expectation is surging that Japan is on the verge of a major announcement that will clear the way for the conclusion of stalled free trade agreement talks.
Wayne Swan was due to sell Labor's idea of a tax on mining super-profits to Wall Street bankers early today, claiming the proposed impost was justified to ''ensure Australians get a fair share''.
Page 7: Pay for construction workers on offshore oil rigs has risen by more than 39 per cent in the past year, the Australian Mines and Metals Association employers group has revealed.
Business: The corporate regulator has flagged tightening controls on stockbroking firms that allow hedge fund operators and fund managers to engage in highfrequency electronic trading using their systems.
Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has stood up to government calls for banks to avoid outof-cycle rate rises, arguing there are structural reasons why funding costs will rise in the next 18 months.
QR National is expected to shift its focus from railway track building once it is listed and concentrate on the coal-haulage business, as it tries to match competitor Asciano.
The soaring Australian dollar has chief executives and boards of locally listed global organisations furiously considering their acquisition opportunities abroad.
Commercial and industrial energy users fear the secrecy around gas prices could undermine competition among suppliers.
Virgin Blue is optimistic it will claw back some of the $15-20 million it estimates has been wiped from its pre-tax profit by the meltdown of its reservations system two weeks ago.
Western Australia's biggest electricity producer, Verve Energy, will today reveal a stunning turnaround in its financial position, posting its first profit since it was formed amid deregulation of the state's energy market in 2006.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Sam Walsh says the proposed $US116 billion ($117.7bn) iron ore joint venture with BHP Billiton is still alive.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Westpac has announced plans to boost the number of women in management roles.
The man accused of murdering Sydney nurse Michelle Beets faces court.
A group hoping to develop a memorial park on the site of the 2002 Bali bombings is planning to sell souvenirs to help the project become financially sustainable.
The federal government aims to legislate for a price on carbon late next year.
Page 2: The celebration of Mary MacKillop's cancer cures is a worrying example of the lack of scientific literacy in the community.
Page 3: More HSC students than ever are enrolled in higher level maths.
World: (Washington) The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has confirmed holding unofficial talks with the Taliban.
Business: Wayne Swan has urged world leaders to resist protectionist policies and pressed the case for currency reform.
Sport: India has eased back into contention in the Second Test.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk has sent a bill for her airfare to New York to David Jones as part of her record sexual harassment claim.
The CityRail network will not have enough power to drive the new extra-long trains for the government's Western Express Project.
The athlete who claimed Sally Pearson's gold medal has tested positive to a banned substance.
Page 2: Every beach was closed and rainfall records tumbled on Monday during storms on Queensland's Gold Coast.
Page 3: Six customs officers from Australia's border protection have contracted tuberculosis.
World: (London) The family of a British aid worker killed in Afghanistan have demanded to know the full facts about a US attempt to save her.
Business: Westpac chief Gail Kelly has issued a stark warning that mortgage rates will rise.
Sport: Alex Croak became the first athlete in Commonwealth Games history to win gold medals in different sports.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Drivers caught by speed cameras will be given free photos in a Brumby government move to shore up confidence in Victoria's faulty road camera system.
Page 3: Many well-off mothers-to-be think natural childbirth is undignified and distasteful, and want a caesarean for comfort and safety, a study shows.
Page 5: One of Victoria's most experienced and respected police officers has taken a swipe at Chief Commissioner Simon Overland and force command, questioning whether they were placing their own careers before the needs of Victorians.
World: The long-awaited inquests into the deaths of 52 people in the 2005 London bombings will consider alleged failings by police and intelligence services.
Business: Telstra chief executive David Thodey has given his first indication the telco may be open to spinning off its directories business, Sensis.
Sport: David Cloke's hand grenade on the final day of trade week - that his son Travis could enter the national draft - has left Collingwood officials dumbfounded.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Construction of Victoria's $5.7 billion desalination plant was in jeopardy until the state government struck a controversial deal under which police agreed to make available secret files on anti-desalination protesters to the private consortium building the plant.
East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta has given the strongest signal yet that the Gillard government's controversial plan for his country to house a regional refugee processing centre could be accepted.
Page 3: Surgeons at Box Hill Hospital are working overtime to operate on more than 1000 "long wait" patients, who have waited up to three-and-a-half years to make it onto the operating table.
World: A Republican candidate in the US mid-term elections is battling to save his credibility after it was revealed he had dressed up in a German SS uniform to participate in a Nazi re-enactment.
Business: Treasurer Wayne Swan has urged world political leaders to resist protectionist policies and pressed the case for currency reform, in a bid to keep the fragile global economic recovery on track.
Sport: Chris Tarrant says his recall to Collingwood in AFL trade week is "unfinished business". Collingwood might be more inclined to call it a post-premiership bonus.
