Costello: 'it's been a shemozzle' – The Fin; Small business set to get bigger – The Fin; Grange buoyed by Kobe stake – The West; Alacer Gold eyes chance to snap up rest of Frog's Leg mine – The West; Wahaha stakes $220m on WA dairy farms – The Fin
Costello: 'it's been a shemozzle'
Former treasurer Peter Costello has launched a blistering attack on the Gillard government's appointment of highly-regarded businessman David Gonski to chair the Future Fund, describing the selection process as a shemozzle that has harmed the reputation of the $73 billion fund. The Fin
Small business set to get bigger
Federal cabinet will consider broadening the definition of small business in a move that could give more enterprises tax cuts, reduce costly red tape and offer them exemptions from unfair dismissal laws. The Fin
Grange buoyed by Kobe stake
Grange Resources' plan to get a $2.6 billion iron ore project near Albany off the ground has received a big boost after one of the world's biggest steel mills, Kobe Steel, agreed to become a major investor. The West
Alacer Gold eyes chance to snap up rest of Frog's Leg mine
One of WA's more lucrative gold mines, the high-grade Frog's Leg operation, looks set to change hands after its 51 per cent owner and operator, La Mancha Resources, was put up for sale by its French backer, Areva. The West
Wahaha stakes $220m on WA dairy farms
China's third richest man is targeting Australian dairy assets in a move that is likely to fuel debate over whether there should be tighter controls on foreign ownership of farm land. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: Premier Colin Barnett wants to ring fence 2.5 per cent of all mining royalties and plough the cash into a future fund that would be legally protected from government raids for at least 20 years.
The theft of one of the most striking and expensive artworks in the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition has exposed the risk of not insuring the millions of dollars of art scattered across Cottesloe Beach.
Page 4: Mining companies struggling to find enough workers should be allowed to recruit unskilled foreign labourers to get big resources projects off the ground, Premier Colin Barnett has claimed.
The peak union will reveal today its claim for a weekly pay rise worth at least $26 for up to 1.4 million of Australia's lowest-paid workers.
Page 6: Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer plans to launch his High Court challenge against the carbon tax within six weeks.
Peter Costello says the respected businessman awarded a high-profile job, which the former treasurer coveted, should have disqualified himself from selection.
Police Minister Rob Johnson was described as bumbling, weak and incompetent in an extraordinary attack in Federal Parliament yesterday by fellow Liberal Party MP Don Randall.
Page 10: The Reserve Bank has given the green light to the nation's big banks to lift interest rates even if the central bank fails to move them.
Page 11: The state government has rejected a request from the City of Fremantle to permanently extend the relaxed liquor licensing laws that proved a success during last year's world sailing championships.
Page 14: The Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA has warned a glut of cattle could see prices slashed as Indonesia prepares to allocate up to 125,000 live cattle export permits.
Page 16: Agriculture Minister Terry Redman yesterday backed continued regulation of WA's potato trade amid warnings from a major grower that Labor's proposal to abolish the 60-year old monopoly system would cripple the industry.
A Fremantle building designer has released images of how the south side of the south mole could be transformed by ocean pools to help revitalise the port city's struggling west end.
Business: Fortescue Metals Group's $US8.4 billion ($8 billion) plan to triple the size of its Pilbara footprint is all but fully funded after the iron ore miner doubled the size of a planned bond issue to $US2 billion.
Moly Mines chief executive Derek Fisher has unexpectedly stepped down, three months after the iron ore miner parked its namesake molybdenum Pilbara project.
One of WA's more lucrative gold mines, the high-grade Frog's Leg operation, looks set to change hands after its 51 per cent owner and operator, La Mancha Resources, was put up for sale by its French backer, Areva.
Grange Resources' plan to get a $2.6 billion iron ore project near Albany off the ground has received a big boost after one of the world's biggest steel mills, Kobe Steel, agreed to become a major investor.
In the two years since “Magic Circle” law firm Allen & Overy opened its doors in Perth, London-based senior partner David Morley has witnessed a transformation in Australia's commercial legal landscape.
A high-powered taskforce launched by Prime Minister Julia Gillard to bolster manufacturing in Australia invited only one WA business to make a presentation when it visited Perth last month.
After almost five years of haggling, Clive Palmer and his listed vehicle Australasian Resources have agreed to double the size of the Balmoral South project in the Pilbara.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Former treasurer Peter Costello has launched a blistering attack on the Gillard government's appointment of highly-regarded businessman David Gonski to chair the Future Fund, describing the selection process as a shemozzle that has harmed the reputation of the $73 billion fund.
Federal cabinet will consider broadening the definition of small business in a move that could give more enterprises tax cuts, reduce costly red tape and offer them exemptions from unfair dismissal laws.
Australia's largest department store retailer may close stores on Sundays and stop hiring university and school students because of the higher wages it has to pay on weekends.
Page 3: The gap between the wealthy and the rest is shrinking and the benefits of the mining boom are spreading across the nation, Reserve Bank of Australia research says.
Treasurer Wayne Swan gave away more revenue to vested interests than any such group won in history, Malcolm Turnbull has written in a stinging rebuttal to Mr Swan's recent attack on the growing power of vested interests.
Page 5: The Australian Council of Trade Unions will seek a 4.4 per cent wage increase for the lowest-paid from July 1, which it will argue is needed because their pay has lagged average incomes since 2005.
Page 6: Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegwa has described his country's relationship with Australia as solid and says the two nations have learned lessons from the handling of Australia's cattle export ban.
Australia's reliance on foreign investors to fund growth is shrinking as companies and households cut debt and boost national savings, the Reserve Bank of Australia has found.
Page 10: A government funded report that praised Labor's $36 billion national broadband network was not allowed to consider rival technology endorsed by the Coalition.
Page 15: Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes says there are still no signs that customers are ready to start shopping, and the retailer is relying on new brands, better service and cost savings to help limit profit decline to 10 per cent this year.
Page 17: China's third richest man is targeting Australian dairy assets in a move that is likely to fuel debate over whether there should be tighter controls on foreign ownership of farm land.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The federal government has toughened its environmental supervision of the Great Barrier Reef, tearing up conditional approval for a $1.4 billion Rio Tinto mine expansion and replacing it with new conditions that include the impact of shipping.
Peter Costello has accused the Gillard government of basic incompetence in its oversight of the $73 billion Future Fund as a furore erupted yesterday over Labor’s decision to reject secret advice to make him the fund’s chairman.
Page 3: Administrators at Australia’s only nuclear reactor facility used findings of an inaccurate, biased and partially fabricated in-house report as the pretext to suspend — and recommend the dismissal of — two employees who raised health and safety concerns over the mishandling of radioactive materials.
Ships at the massive mining port of Port Hedland have been ordered out to sea while cattle stations are bracing for the impact of Cyclone Lua before it crosses the coast late tonight or early tomorrow.
Potato grower Tony Galati has found an ally in his long campaign against Western Australia’s Depression-era potato board after Labor declared it would be abolished to free up ‘‘the most regulated vegetable in the country’’.
Page 4: The global financial crisis has been a wealth leveller, bringing a reduction in social inequality.
The verbal assault on Future Fund guardian Peter Costello by Labor ministers could discourage others from taking board seats on similar bodies, leading business figures warned yesterday, as calls mounted for the $73 billion fund for federal public servant pensions to rise above the politicking.
Australian households and businesses are storing cash with the major banks, driving up the sector’s funding costs and putting pressure on future interest rate movements.
A union push for a pay hike of $26 a week for the nation’s 650,000 lowest-paid workers has angered retail employers, who are concerned it would cost jobs.
The federal opposition will intensify its attack on the credibility of Labor’s 2012-13 budget surplus today with finance spokesman Andrew Robb using a keynote speech to accuse Wayne Swan of using ‘‘dodgy’’ accounting tricks to cover a $100 billion funding hole.
Page 6: Colin Barnett says he wants to convince Singapore’s leaders that their huge sovereign wealth funds should invest more in Australia’s resources and infrastructure sectors as part of his state’s push for closer business and political links with Asia.
Business: The owners of embattled telco Vodafone Australia are looking for buyers, industry sources say, with an abbreviated information memorandum circulating among potential purchasers in Europe and Asia.
More than 40,000 retail jobs will be lost within the next three years unless the government removes tax and import duty exemptions on purchases from foreign websites, according to a study commissioned by the National Retail Association.
Department store group Myer has downgraded sales forecasts for the full financial year after disappointing investors with a 19.8 per cent fall in net profit for the first half and reaffirming the tale of woe besieging retailers.
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals believes that only a meltdown in iron ore prices stands in the way of it achieving investment-grade status for its junk-grade debts in the next 12 months.
Redundant workers from European construction giants are following their former employers to Australia in a desperate bid to find work.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Indonesia has called on Australia to "wage aggressive peace" in the Asia-Pacific region, and to accept that the rise of China is natural and not threatening.
Page 2: The signal failure that threw Sydney's afternoon commuter traffic into chaos was just one of about 250 a month that affect the city's train network.
Page 3: Four Australian universities are among the most prestigious in the world in terms of esteem and reputation, according to the latest Times Higher Education list.
World: China's orderly once-a-decade leadership transition has been rocked by the removal of the ambitious mafia-busting Chongqing Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai, from his post, bringing to a head one of the most sensational political scandals to have gripped the country.
Business: The Myer chief executive, Bernie Brookes, has pledged to halt the store's profit slide, setting himself on a possible collision course with markets. Investors pushed Myer shares lower as doubts grow that he can deliver on earnings.
Sport: Stephanie Rice has booked her placed on the plane to London in emphatic style, clocking the third-fastest time of the year in winning the 400m individual medley at the Australian titles in Adelaide.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 2: Sydney is facing a new skills crisis, with NSW needing an extra 320,000 trade or diploma qualified workers by 2015 to avoid the economy grinding to a halt.
Page 3: They are the stars of a TV show which is reaping millions in advertising and licensing revenue from all over the world.
World: A criminal prosecutor has discounted police theories that a coach which ploughed into an underpass wall killing 22 school children and six adults had been speeding.
Business: The board of the $73 billion Future Fund plunged into crisis after the Gillard government ridiculed Peter Costello's money management skills and accused the former treasurer of leaking against his new chairman.
Sport: Manly has taken a giant step towards retaining Daly Cherry-Evans after finding a way to immediately increase the boom halfback's meagre salary.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Bob Carr has sparked a diplomatic crisis in his first days as foreign minister after Papua New Guinea dressed down Australia's top envoy in Port Moresby over Senator Carr's surprise threat of sanctions.
Victoria is facing further deep spending cuts after Premier Ted Baillieu vowed to keep the budget in surplus despite plunging stamp duty revenue and rising unemployment.
Page 2: A stencil artist has for the first time made it to the finals of Australia's premier art awards, the Archibald Prize.
Page 3: Victorian irrigation agencies breached privacy laws when they provided the personal details of farmers to a Labor-linked company, allowing the company to target properties for purchase, a report to parliament says.
World: China's typically orderly once-a-decade leadership transition has been rocked by the removal of an ambitious mafia-busting party chief.
Business: Myer head Bernie Brookes says he will arrest the department stores full-year profit slide to 10 per cent, setting himself on a possible collision course with the market.
Sport: At the same time that some clubs have admitted to doubts over drafting indigenous players, the AFL is losing its hold on attracting indigenous players in Victoria.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Premier Ted Baillieu is setting up a new razor gang to slash public service costs as Victoria's financial liabilities soar by $10 a day for every man, woman and child.
Page 2: Three-year-olds kinder programs at preschools around the state are under threat. The Baillieu government is watering down laws on owning handguns.
Page 3: Melbourne faces a shortage of Guinness as Melburnians prepare to mark all things Irish.
World: Prince Harry has revealed a fear that woman are scared off by his job in the royal family.
Business: Financial advisers have won a one-year reprieve from tough new laws that ban commissions and are intended to help stop corrupt and conflicted recommendations to clients.
Sport: Richmond has extended coach Damien Hardwick's contract for two years, until the end of 2014.
THE CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Foreign Minister Bob Carr sparks diplomatic crisis with PNG over sanctions threat. Developer eyes `sacred drinking hole' Kingston Hotel site.
Page 2: ACT Liberals look set for uncontested preselections for territory election.
Page 3: ANU moves up university ranks.
World: Upbeat Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum wants more wins.
Business: Poor sales hit Myer profit.
Sport: Brumbies' Joseph Tomane's task: Stop Sonny Bill Williams.
