Roy Hill faces more delays – The West; AWU turns sights on BHP – The Aus; Visa lure for foreign investors – The West; Japan faces pressure for more stimulus – The Fin; Nats target Asia for farm boom – The West
Roy Hill faces more delays
Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill project faces further delays after the company moved to push back the appointment of engineering contractors amid rumours one of its major shareholders has retreated from a bid to manage the construction of the Pilbara mine. The West
AWU turns sights on BHP
The Australian Workers Union will seek to use Labor’s workplace laws to force BHP Billiton into negotiations for a collective agreement at the mining giant’s Worsley alumina plant in Western Australia. The Aus
Visa lure for foreign investors
Property syndicates are spruiking Perth real estate to wealthy foreign investors as a means of getting a new type of long-term visa. The West
Japan faces pressure for more stimulus
Financial markets have shrugged off moves by Japan’s central bank to revive its long-stalled economy by promising an extended period of monetary easing designed to replace price deflation with inflation and to drive down the value of the yen. The Fin
Nats target Asia for farm boom
WA Nationals have pinned their election hopes on $300 million to promises aimed at helping farmers and rural communities cash in on booming demand for food in Asia. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: A Perth man faces a caning in Singapore after being arrested for allegedly being involved in a swearing altercation on a Tiger Airways flight.
Page 3: Property syndicates are spruiking Perth real estate to wealthy foreign investors as a means of getting a new type of long-term visa.
As he settles into London and the top job at miner Rio Tinto, Sam Walsh has made a lightning trip to Perth to break bad news to the local arts community.
Page 4: WA’s chief medical officer Gary Geelhoed will review practices at Northam Hospital after the death last month of a 23-year old nurse the day after she was discharged with a severe headache.
Research at Perth Observatory has been axed after 116 years because of a budget cut that will save the State Government $300,000 a year.
Page 9: The number of WA doctors and the hours they work are not keeping up with the state’s surging population, a medical workforce report shows.
Page 12: WA Nationals have pinned their election hopes on $300 million to promises aimed at helping farmers and rural communities cash in on booming demand for food in Asia.
Independent Fremantle MP Adele Carles has called on her old party, the Greens, to commit publicly to giving her preferences at the March election.
Page 13: Labor has accused Troy Buswell of making “wild allegations” about the cost of its Metronet public transport plan after the Transport Minister claimed it would cost $6.4 billion to complete.
Page 14: US energy giant Chevron’s massive Wheatstone LNG project will not have any carbon emission restrictions after the state government ignored its own independent advice and removed them.
Page 16: Labor is set to get its first indigenous representative in federal parliament after Julia Gillard dumped a sitting senator yesterday to parachute Olympic gold medallist Nova Peris into the Upper House.
Page 17: A record number of Perth commuters caught the bus last year, making an extra 11,000 journeys every day, despite more buses running later than ever before.
Page 18: The world’s biggest bulk export port closed last night as Port Hedland and the wider Pilbara braced for a tropical cyclone.
A thunderstorm is forecast today for the northern Goldfields where a prospector has been missing for at least nine days.
Page 26: Millions of dollars has been showered on thousands of parents living in WA’s key electorates under the Gillard government’s school kids bonus.
Page 37: Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill project faces further delays after the company moved to push back the appointment of engineering contractors amid rumours one of its major shareholders has retreated from a bid to manage the construction of the Pilbara mine.
Former Burrup Fertilisers boss Pankaj Oswal is eyeing a trail blazed by the Finks bikie gang as he fights the tax office.
WA’s agricultural industry cannot afford to have real estate agents showing potential overseas investors around the state, Agriculture Minister Terry Redman said.
Page 39: Fortescue Metals Group has taken the first steps to open up its vast Pilbara landholdings to junior miners, signing a joint venture deal for gold exploration with Northern Star Resources yesterday.
The former head of the collapsed Allco Finance Group, David Coe, has died suddenly while on a skiing trip in the US.
The sale of failed base metals miner Kagara’s assets risks becoming a political football, with outspoken North Queensland MP Bob Katter yesterday launching a broadside at the company.
Page 41: Shares in gold miner Perseus Mining continued to tumble yesterday as investors responded to its quarterly report and the departure of its chief executive.
Following the disorder at the end of last year, embattled contractor Macmahon Holdings has started this year with a bang, securing a $1.8 billion deal to provide mining services for Fortescue Metals Group – its biggest ever mining contract.
Page 42: A rampant Australian dollar failed to stop WA’s mining industry shipping a record $106 billion in commodities last year, according to official figures, but recent savage swings in iron ore prices may mean the record stands for some time.
Page 48: A big future development site in Perth opposite Nib stadium is for sale through Knight Frank.
Page 49: It’s been a quiet sector of the inner-city residential market for the past couple of years – but last year marked the return of the million-dollar buyer and may have set up a strong year ahead for Perth’s premium property market, according to Colliers International.
QUBE Property Group has released the final parcel of land, a 17-lot sub-division, at the Freeway Industrial Estate in Malaga.
Page 50: Port Hedland may get its first development of Queenslander-style homes, with stilt homes seen as one of the solutions to provide housing on a low-lying coastal site that will need expensive fill if it is developed with conventional housing.
WA’s biggest privately owned document storage company Compu-Stor has opened the doors to its $20 million purpose-built storage facility in Belmont.
High rents, cautious consumers and the popularity of online shopping created a perfect storm for retail landlords but delivered a winning break to the pop-up store phenomenon, with many small retailers securing exposure, albeit a brief one, in prime CBD locations.
Page 51: The development industry claims problems remain in the way soft community infrastructure costs are shared between developers and local governments at new housing projects.
A 32,468 square metre warehouse office complex in the Australian Marine Complex, in Perth’s southern industrial corridor, is for sale.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Financial markets have shrugged off moves by Japan’s central bank to revive its long-stalled economy by promising an extended period of monetary easing designed to replace price deflation with inflation and to drive down the value of the yen.
Sydney’s business and arts community was in mourning after learning of the sudden death of former Allco Finance Group executive chairman David Coe, who had a heart attack during a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado.
The Future Fund may have lowballed bids for airports in Sydney and Europe by more than three-quarters to inflate contestable bids for airports in Perth and the Gold Coast where it faces competition from super funds.
Page 3: Qantas Airways slashed fares to London and mainland Europe to fill aircraft seats on new services flying through Dubai, the first benefit to consumers to come out of the Australian flag carrier’s much-hyped alliance with the Middle East’s Emirates.
CrimTrac, a federal agency overseen by Australia’s police chiefs, was investigated by the Australian Federal Police following claims of impropriety in the awarding of contracts.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has asked a court to freeze the assets of the financial planner behind the $27 million collapse of Wickham Securities, including his wife’s stake in a four-year old racehorse named Boomalicious.
Page 4: Businesses are bracing up for a tough first quarter, with an industry survey about whether now is a good time to invest falling to the lowest level in at least 15 years.
The Australian Tax Office cleared complex structures used by multinationals such as Google to cut tax bills before the federal government announced its crackdown in the area.
Page 5: Aluminium maker Alcoa claims it is “perverse” that Australia’s gas prices are “among the highest in the world”, escalating the stoush between gas producers and industrial users.
A former Lehman Brothers banker linked to the family of former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by a coal explorer for negotiating a deal with a company secretly owned by the Obeids.
Civil charges against independent MP Craig Thomson may not reach a trial until after the federal election.
Page 6: The resources industry employer group is confident that a push to re-unionise its workforce will not be successful, after the Fair Work Commission ruled that the Australian Workers’ Union could restart collective bargaining at Rio Tinto.
NSW Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat will meet one of the key critics of James Packer’s plans for a $1 billion hotel and casino in Sydney, despite the government and the Greens rejecting calls for him to review the proposal.
Page 7: Defence Minister Stephen Smith has come under fire for not setting aside enough money in a draft defence white paper to fund a $100 billion plus wish list of new fighters, submarines and warships.
Page 8: The new Japanese government’s moves to stimulate its economy have sent the yen tumbling and created a tough environment for Australian food exporters.
Page 9: The poor showing by local tennis players in the Australian Open has hurt Seven West Media’s ratings, though Seven Network’s audience share is still higher than that of any other free-to-air television station.
Page 10: The quality of China’s economic data is again under scrutiny after a major accounting fraud at a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc highlighted how sales numbers are often fabricated in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Sims Metal Management group chief executive officer Dan Dienst said he is focused on finding the source of a potential fraud at two of the company’s British sites, refusing to be drawn on investor calls for his head.
Rio Tinto may look to bring in an Indian or Chinese partner on its Mozambique coal assets to lessen the risk profile and funding burden now that export infrastructure solutions appear tougher than expected.
Page 13: Australian Pharmaceutical Industries has avoided a second-strike on its remuneration report after shareholders voted to approve changes to its pay policies.
Listed law firm Slater & Gordon is investigating collapsed services company Hastie Group after inquiries were made by dozens of aggrieved investors.
GUD Holdings is trying to lower costs, pursue offshore alliances and revise the product development of its small electric appliance brand, Sunbeam, to deal with higher overseas and local competition.
Page 15: Credit Suisse has named Rob Stewart the new chief executive of its Australian business.
Spanish banking giant Satander has hosed down speculation of a bid for National Australia Bank’s United Kingdom business, denying that it is in talks about the deal.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has poached a senior BT Financial Group executive to run its biggest dealer group, RI Advice.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Julia Gillard has risked a backlash from Labor members and stoked internal divisions after moving to dump long-serving senator Trish Crossin and install Olympian Nova Peris as the candidate to become the party’s first indigenous federal member.
Carbon emissions from the electricity sector have dived in the first six months under the carbon tax, with much greater use of renewable energy and cutbacks in consumption.
David Coe was yesterday remembered as a business pioneer, generous donor and great friend after his shock death on the ski slopes of Aspen, Colorado.
The Australian Workers Union will seek to use Labor’s workplace laws to force BHP Billiton into negotiations for a collective agreement at the mining giant’s Worsley alumina plant in Western Australia.
The company behind the super-trawler banned from fishing in Australia plans to use it as a floating fish freezer instead, a move that could provoke further government intervention.
Page 3: The Gillard government will seek a formal defence deal with Afghanistan as part of its struggle against global terrorism.
A coalmining executive said he was surprised by an offer made by a representative of the Obeid family that would guarantee his company would be awarded mining exploration licences by the NSW government.
A South Australian Labor MP has spent $14,000 of taxpayers’ money on a 19-day European tour with his wife, just five months after Premier Jay Weatherill set rules restricting spousal travel.
Page 4: Labor has handed millions of dollars to voters in must-win marginal seats in Queensland and western Sydney under its newly automated Schoolkids Bonus scheme.
Gloomy builders and manufacturers putting their hopes on further interest rate cuts are likely to be sorely disappointed.
Page 5: The breaking of an election promise by the West Australian government has been held responsible for the over-crowding that triggered a devastating riot at the state’s only remaining juvenile detention centre.
Page 17: The deputy chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Ross Jones, has warned superannuation funds not to overinvest in infrastructure assets that could adversely affect their liquidity.
The Mozambique government has reportedly called for its own review of the Rio Tinto coal data that along with infrastructure problems led to a billion ($2.8bn) writedown of the coking coal assets and the replacement of former chief executive Tom Albanese.
One of Australia’s largest property companies, Lend Lease, has been left scrambling to find about $500 million to pay investors wanting to exit the group’s wholesale office fund backing the $6 billion Barangaroo South project in Sydney.
Page 18: BHP Billiton iron ore boss Jimmy Wilson may have beaten secondquarter iron ore expectations by 10 per cent thanks to installation of new shiploaders at the company’s port in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Page 19: Sims Metal Management chairman Geoff Brunsdon said yesterday the committee investigating control failures and potential fraudulent conduct at its British arm would determine the ‘‘remedial action’’ needed to address the failings.
Brewing major Foster’s has reported further declines in sales for the December quarter despite its flagship Victoria Bitter reporting its first gain in sales for more than a decade.
Troubled chemicals manufacturer Penrice Soda has been taken by surprise with a decision by the Australian Shareholders Association to support both the incumbent and challenging directors at this Friday’s board spill meeting.
Speculation that Mirvac Group’s new boss may oust top executives at the company failed to come to fruition yesterday, as chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz announced a reshuffle of existing management, rather than departures or new appointments.
Page 23: Titan Energy Services, a company specialising in supporting the infrastructure of the coalseam gas industry in Queensland, has forecast an annual profit almost three times higher than last year.
Japan’s central bank fell into line yesterday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s radical growth strategy by formally adopting a 2 per cent inflation target and announcing ‘‘ open ended’’ new easing measures.
THE AGE:
Page 1: 50 jobs to go at the Royal Children's Hospital as budget cuts start to bite. Teachers told that if they go on a school camp, it's in their own time. Barack Obama uses his second inaugural address to call for an end to division. Veteran Labor senator Trish Crossin angry that Julia Gillard has dumped her for Aboriginal gold medallist Nova Peris for the next election.
Page 2: Greenpeace says expanding Australian coal mining and exports would make us the world's second largest contributor of new carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.
Page 3: Melbourne City Council considering a push to slug the gambling giant Casino double rates. British drug smuggler Lindsay Sandiford shocked when a Bali court hands her the death sentence for smuggling 4.8 kilograms of cocaine. The Great Ocean Road's house on a pole to be replaced by another house on a pole after its architect failed to save it. Seaplane crash lands in Corio Bay. Aspirin linked to eye disease in the elderly.
World: The Obamas savour the occasion with the inauguration and then kick up their heels dancing the night away.
Finance: Former chairman of collapsed Allco Finance, David Coe, dies while skiing in Aspen.
Sport: RMIT finds that the gloves some AFL players wear have greater silicon on the palm giving them an unfair advantage.
The Sydney Morning Herald:
Page 1: Young men are arming themselves with illegal guns to fight petty disputes in a trend that is alarming police and has placed Sydney in the midst of another spike in public shootings.
Page 2: PM Julia Gillard has anointed the athlete Nova Peris as Labor's first indigenous federal parliamentarian after demanding the party appoint her as its new Senate candidate for the Northern Territory.
Page 3: The forecast expansion of Australian coal mining and exports would be the world's second largest contributor of new carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels if fully realised, Greenpeace research says.
World: The US has celebrated Barack Obama's inauguration for his 2nd term as President.
Business: David Coe, the former chairman of the collapsed Allco Finance Group, has died while on a skiing trip in Aspen in the US.
Sport: An international consortium has expressed interest in buying the Melbourne Storm, provided Craig Bellamy is retained as coach.
The Daily Telegraph:
Page 1: Senate veteran Trish Crossin will be ousted from an assured Senate seat by Nova Peris, who stands to become the first indigenous Labor representative in federal parliament in 112 years.
Page 2: Four months after claiming he was so powerful he could force telco bosses to wear red underpants on their heads to win the bid for the mobile phone network space, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been left red-faced by two of the three main telcos pulling out.
Page 3: Every case of domestic violence reported to police, hospitals and non-government organisations will be recorded on a central data base under plans for a sweeping overhaul of domestic violence laws.
World: Barack Obama has used his inauguration to call on Americans to work together as a nation and a people.
Sport: Black Caviar made an unexpected visit to Sandown yesterday, showing off her figure and burning her rivals.
Adelaide Advertiser:
Page 1: A third of all official requests to upgrade the accident black spots around South Australia are being rejected because of a lack of government funds.
Page 3: Eccentric Labor backbencher Michael Atkinson wants to clean up the public perception of politicians and has a plan to reform question time if he is selected as parliamentary Speaker.
World: Barack Obama launched his second term as US president by confronting conservative opponents in Congress.
Finance: Engineers Australia's new South Australian president has declared 2013 the year of engagement.
Sport: World champion Philippe Gilbert believes today's killer climb up Corkscrew road and daredevil descent - on which riders could hit 100km/h - could decide the Tour Down Under.
