James Hardie will receive more than $300 million after winning a legal dispute with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
More than one third of the amount will be paid into a compensation fund for sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.
The building and construction industry and retailers have expressed disappointment with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to keep interest rates on hold today, saying the nation’s central bank missed an opportunity to bolster business and household confidence.
Warren Buffet-backed Canadian company Sterling Crane has acquired Western Australian business Freo Group and its Queensland subsidiary Global Crane in a deal likely to be worth about $160 million.
Shares in Decmil Group gained ground after the engineering and construction firm won a $90 million contract for work at BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance's Caval Ridge coal mine in Queensland.
Skilled labour in the residential building industry remained in moderate surplus for the last three months of 2011, in a soft building market, according to an industry study.
OneSteel has become the second Australian steelmaker to receive an advance from the federal government's $300 million fund for the industry, with federal Minister for Industry and Innovation Greg Combet announcing a $64 million competitive assistance advance today.
The Swan River Trust has been appointed to manage the environmental assessment of the state government’s Perth Waterfront project, the Environmental Protection Authority has announced.
The Town of Port Hedland has put the brakes on a BHP Billiton Iron Ore proposal to build a 6,000-bed transient workers camp, saying it will renegotiate with the miner to reduce the size of the facility following a groundswell of criticism.
The number of home loans approved in November has beaten market expectations and the prospects for 2012 look good, economists say.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said the number of mortgages approved in November rose 1.4 per cent to 46,953.
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