SBY seeks to beef up investment – The Fin; CEOs fight new media curbs – The Aus; Travel site warns against WA – The West; Partners have the numbers in WA – The West; Bottlenecks to stay as ports struggle for funds – The Aus
SBY seeks to beef up investment
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is pressing Australian companies to invest more in its domestic cattle industry as part of a plan to resolve the live cattle export tensions left over from last year, which simmered throughout this week's annual leaders' summit. The Fin
CEOs fight new media curbs
Media executives have stepped up their fight against government plans for tighter limits on ownership and news coverage, urging Julia Gillard to dismiss the proposals as a threat to free speech. The Aus
Travel site warns against WA
A popular travel website has encouraged tourists to “give WA a wide berth” until the mining boom is over. The West
Partners have the numbers in WA
The big four accountancy firms have gone on an intensive partner drive in Perth, which they say reflects the bullish outlook of the WA economy. The West
Bottlenecks to stay as ports struggle for funds
Vital state-owned ports have been so badly managed for such a long time — with mates’ rates, cut-price leases and undervalued assets — that they may be unable to secure the finance needed to avoid future export bottlenecks. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: A popular travel website has encouraged tourists to “give WA a wide berth” until the mining boom is over.
Homebuyers hoping for cheaper mortgages were disappointed after the Reserve Bank left interest rates unchanged yesterday and signalled it was not in the mood to cut further.
Page 7: Australia's competition watchdog will question one of the country's biggest franchise groups, Brumby's Bakeries, after it wrote to franchisees suggesting they raise prices and “let the carbon tax take the blame”.
The competition watchdog has given Synergy the all-clear to pass on the carbon tax to households who pay for emissions-free renewable energy, despite a backlash from customers.
Page 10: Labor has revealed a policy it claims will create more jobs and manufacturing in WA and limit big resources contracts going offshore.
Page 11: Indonesia's President is demanding the repatriation of 54 more convicted or suspected people smugglers but in return has offered Julia Gillard little more than platitudes towards stopping asylum-seeker boats.
Page 15: Citing the Magna Carta, free speech and commercial freedom, most of Australia's major media groups have implored Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott to block further media regulation.
Business liftout:
Page 1: Australia's top corporate regulator will liaise with its international partners to further investigate the $1.65 billion takeover offer for David Jones that was made public on Friday and dumped on Monday.
Page 2: The big four accountancy firms have gone on an intensive partner drive in Perth, which they say reflects the bullish outlook of the WA economy.
Page 3: Cropping scheme operator AACL Holdings is preparing to shed staff and slash overheads after drastically downgrading its forecast to $7.2 million net loss.
BP has decided not to use a pre-emptive right to gazump a Japanese consortium's $US2 billion plan to buy into the Woodside Browse LNG project.
Page 7: Euroz Securities has underlined the tough conditions facing local brokers, posting a 59 per cent drop in its profit for the financial year.
Mine camp builder OTOC has struck a $1.2 million deal to sell its loss-making consulting business Emerson Stewart to engineering firm PDC Consulting.
Page 10: Iron ore fell to its lowest level in almost three weeks on concerns a seasonal decline in demand from steel mills and slowing growth from China, which imports more iron ore than all other nations combined, will curb purchases.
Page 20: The first draft of a 10-point checklist issued by the Building Commission to clear confusion around the Building Act that slowed approvals in WA's new housing market has received a mixed reaction from the building industry.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is pressing Australian companies to invest more in its domestic cattle industry as part of a plan to resolve the live cattle export tensions left over from last year, which simmered throughout this week's annual leaders' summit.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept official interest rates at 3.5 per cent yesterday and signalled rates are unlikely to fall without a deterioration in confidence triggered by events in Europe.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is questioning stockbrokers over trading in David Jones shares as part of an investigation into the potential market manipulation of the retailer’s stock.
Page 3: National law firm Allens has been rocked by the loss of a key group of senior insurance partners to global firm Clyde & Co, which has pulled off a daring talent raid before its arrival in Australia in October.
Page 11: Builder groups were quick to chip away at the significance of a surprise surge in building approvals, arguing the industry is doing it tough and needs more interest rate cuts.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has delivered a reality check to households and businesses for further rate cuts, and signalled that events in Europe would dictate future changes.
Page 15: Mining companies are taking action to reduce costs as metal prices fall and they come under increasing scrutiny from investors.
Page 17: Iron ore hopeful Flinders Mines is again scouring for a partner or buyer after officially terminating a scheme of arrangement with Russia's Magnitogorosk Iron and Steel.
Page 19: Rio Tinto has reached a tentative agreement with unionised workers at its Alma aluminium smelter in Quebec that could end a six-month lockout at the plant.
Mitsui and Mitsubishi will get a say in the decision on whether to build the $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas venture after securing clearance from both partners and regulators for their $US2 billion investment.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Media executives have stepped up their fight against government plans for tighter limits on ownership and news coverage, urging Julia Gillard to dismiss the proposals as a threat to free speech.
Vital state-owned ports have been so badly managed for such a long time — with mates’ rates, cut-price leases and undervalued assets — that they may be unable to secure the finance needed to avoid future export bottlenecks.
Page 2: Billionaire Clive Palmer will keep control of his businesses and instead remove himself from any debate when there is any conflict of interest if he is elected to the federal parliament.
Page 5: The prospect of further rate cuts receded as the Reserve Bank conceded yesterday domestic economic growth was stronger than it had thought.
Moves are under way to oust the chief executive of the Indigenous Land Corporation, which controls six million hectares of property worth more than $1 billion, only months after the board reappointed him for the good work he was doing.
Australia's depressed building industry can look forward to a flurry of activity in coming months, as the number of council approvals of new homes showed the biggest monthly rise since the 1970s in May.
Business: David Jones will today begin combing through records of last week’s share trades to see if it can discover who was behind a mystery $1.6 billion takeover offer that has also forced the corporate regulator to launch a far-reaching investigation.
Business groups are hoping the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates in the next few months to revive struggling sectors of the economy, after the central bank kept rates on hold yesterday.
Another global law firm, Clyde & Co, is entering the Australian market after a raid on leading national firm Allens netted eight of its top insurance partners.
The federal workplace watchdog says dishonest and debt-laden directors who set up phoenix companies to avoid tax, superannuation liabilities and other creditors are costing the nation up to $3 billion a year.
Flinders Mines is officially back on the market after Russia’s Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works dumped its $554 million deal for the junior, with a new buyer tipped to be closer to home.
A combination of the drop- off in management investment schemes in agriculture and a poor season in Western Australia has seen agricultural investment and management firm AACL Holdings reverse a forecast profit of $2.1 million for the financial year to an expected loss of about $7.2m.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has demanded the release of asylum seeker boat crew members from Australian jails in talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Page 2: Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor has been reunited with her family after nearly four weeks in captivity in Libya.
Page 3: Tunnels being dug for the North West Rail Link will be too small for the type of trains used in Sydney, sparking fears from some transport planners that the NSW government is permanently locking out transport options.
World: The Australian chairman of the board advising the East Timor government on where to invest the country's $10.5 billion petroleum fund has been captured on tape joking that he "want(s) the money, not the power".
Business: Public spending on infrastructure has fallen to levels not seen since 2006, posing a threat to the country's productivity.
Sport: NSW coach Ricky Stuart is at pains to point out the Blues haven't won this year's State of Origin yet, but he believes he has the men to win on Wednesday evening.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: The Blues will have momentum on their side when they take on the Maroons in the 2012 State of Origin decider, former NSW player Matthew Johns says.
Page 2: Matthew Johns predicts NSW will win the third State of Origin match on Wednesday 26-12.
Page 3: The independent Remuneration Tribunal has ruled federal MPs should get a $5550 pay rise just three months after a $44,000 salary increase.
World: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has endorsed previously banned foods, including pizza and burgers, and arranged trips for children to go to zoos and amusement parks.
Business: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will investigate a mystery $1.65 billion bid to take over department store group David Jones.
Sport: Coach Ricky Stuart is giving his men on the NSW side of Origin the hope they need to put an end to the Queensland side's winning streak.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Former Coodabeen Champion Judge Simon Whelan was not looking for laughs when he sentenced Tony Mokbel to 30 years jail with a minimum sentence of 22 years. Victoria's 36,000 public servants win an annual average pay increase of 4.4 per cent for the next 31 years, plus a one-off $1500 bonus. Rebecca and Shannon Carey, who lost their mothers to breast cancer, paid more than $10,000 for new IVF technology to select genes not predisposed to cancer. Indonesia's president calls for the release of Indonesian teenagers who have crewed on people smuggler boats.
Page 2: SAS soldier killed in Afghanistan was on his seventh tour to the troubled country. Four soldiers close to completing cycle across the Nullabor to raise awareness of the Australian commandos killed in Afghanistan.
Page 3: Solomon Lew's Just Group hit by claim by a manager who says her $190,000 a year job was was downgraded while she was on maternity leave. Aboriginal elder Hilda Kickett, who claims she has DNA evidence to prove she is a half sister to billionaire Gina Rinehart, says the Rinehart family are behaving like village idiots.
World: Renewed fears the conflict in Syria has gone beyond diplomacy into a protracted ground war.
Finance: Spending on infrastructure down to levels not seen since 2006, posing a threat to the country's falling productivity, says quarterly survey.
Sport: Carlton president Stephen Kernahan refuses to guarantee beleaguered coach Brett Ratten will see out the season, opening the door to a $500,000 payout if he's dumped.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Federal MPs sneak another three per cent wage hike just three months after a $44,000 increase. Tony Mokbel avoids life sentence because of his guilty plea and failing health.
Page 2: Indonesia urges PM Julia Gillard to set free under-age members of people-smuggling crews from detention. A woman waiting for a lung transplant dies just six days before her twins born to surrogate mum.
Page 3: Hugh Jackman reportedly looking for a mansion with water views on the Mornington Peninsula. SAS sergeant Blaine Diddams was a soldier's soldier, a hard hitter who led from the front and inspired his men with courage and humour. Naomi Watts turns in a convincing performance as Princess Di.
World: Japan rejects Latin American-led proposal to create a sanctuary for whales in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
Business: Reserve Bank ready to cut interest rates again if the European debt crisis worsens, say leading economists.
Sport: Mick Malthouse says he's not interested in coaching offer until after the season ends, ending speculation he will take over mid-season at Carlton.
