Oil giant fails to block blast report
Oil and gas giant Apache yesterday lost its bid to block Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore from getting a copy of a potentially damaging report into the Varanus Island explosion, which crippled WA's gas supplies. The West
Punch-up sets scene for Kennedy's Sandfire exit
Sandfire Resources, whose stunning WA exploration success has propelled the tiddler into a $400 million stock in just eight months, has parted company with veteran chairman Miles Kennedy only weeks after a restaurant punch-up involving him and managing director Karl Simich. The West
Wise men admit their mistakes
Perth mining entrepreneur Tony Sage concedes it was a mistake to close the float of Q Copper, a spin-off from his company Cape Lambert Resources, when he did. With the help of local stockbroker Patersons Securities, Cape Lambert had by last week raised $203 million for Q Copper and the new company was ready for listing. The Fin Review
Telstra begins $1.1bn Chinese float
Telstra has formally kicked off the public listing of its $US1 billion ($1.1bn)-plus Chinese real estate website Soufun by appointing no less than five investment banks to handle the float. The Australian
Pay freezes cool investor protests
Big business could be forced to rethink its executive pay plans next year after one in five companies on the S&P ASX200 suffered a protest vote of 25 per cent or more from investors during the annual shareholder voting season, which ended this month. The Fin Review
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Cyclone Laurence destroyed buildings, flattened trees, burst water tanks and ripped roofs off houses as the category five storm tore a swath across the Pilbara.
Page 3: WA Police have arrested a Canadian and a British citizen over a multi-million-dollar EFTPOS scam in which more than $4 million was siphoned from McDonald's customers in Perth.
Page 4: Oil and gas giant Apache yesterday lost its bid to block Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore from getting a copy of a potentially damaging report into the Varanus Island explosion, which crippled WA's gas supplies.
Australians under 40 have slashed their voluntary superannuation contributions in the wake of the global financial crisis, a new report has found, with up to four million people facing the risk of not having enough money to sustain their retirement.
First-homebuyers have abandoned their dreams of owning inner city apartments and are opting for cheaper and smaller homes further from the city to break into the housing market, according to new research.
Page 10: Tony Abbott has cranked up the pressure over Kevin Rudd's twice-defeated emissions trading scheme, demanding the prime minister order new Treasury modelling on the cost of Australia "going alone" on climate change action without a pact.
Page 11: WA shoppers are starting to pick up the pace after a slow start to the pre-Christmas period, spending their money at suburban shopping centres rather than the city.
Page 14: Mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest will today find out whether he will be banned from being a director of Australian companies because of allegations he misled investors in 2004.
Page 18: The head of WA's country health services, Kim Snowball, is the front-runner to become acting director-general of health in the wake of the sudden decision by Peter Flett to quit.
Business : Sandfire Resources, whose stunning WA exploration success has propelled the tiddler into a $400 million stock in just eight months, has parted company with veteran chairman Miles Kennedy only weeks after a restaurant punch-up involving him and managing director Karl Simich.
Owners of diesel powered four-wheel-drives might be in for a shock to take their vehicles off-road during the festive season after BP announced it had halted supply of its "ultimate diesel" brand.
Albany entrepreneur Steve Birkbeck has taken the helm of listed pearl farmer Atlas South Sea Pearl after buying almost 10 per cent of the company from its outgoing chairman.
Sinochem's proposed takeover of Nufarm has hit a hurdle, with the Chinese suitor lowering its offer for the pesticides manufacturer.
A banker is about to become the nation's top postie. After running banks from Wall Street to Australia and most recently in the Middle East, Ahmed Fahour has set his sights on the stamps and parcels business.
Diamonds from WA's Ellendale mine are set to sparkle inside the iconic blue boxes of high-end jeweller Tiffany & Co after the UK owner of the Kimberley mine struck a supply deal for its renowned fancy yellow diamonds.
Murchison Metals shares soared to their highest in more than a year yesterday after the Mid West iron ore hopefuk announced a trebling in size of the hematite-magnetite resource.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 4: Different mortgage rates between banks are prompting higher numbers of home borrowers to change lenders.
Page 5: Major investment and superannuation funds have criticised industry lobbies for using the outcome of the Copenhagen summit to push for a slowdown in emission reduction efforts.
Page 7: The corporate regulator's ability to enforce new reporting guidelines for sharemarket capital raisings has been called into question, with some experts also criticising the monitor for shifting the burden of compliance to listed companies.
Page 8: Big business could be forced to rethink its executive pay plans next year after one in five companies on the S&P ASX200
Page 10: Foster's Group's crucial beer business has lots its managing director just 10 months after he joined the company.
Karl Simich, the managing director of one of the year's best performing stocks, may have lost a fight with his Sandfire Resources chairman, but it appears he won the war.
Page 11: National Australia Bank shareholders expressed concern at an impromptu investor forum on Tuesday that the bank is paying too much for wealth manager AXA Asia Pacific Holdings.
Page 12: Perth mining entrepreneur Tony Sage concedes it was a mistake to close the float of Q Copper, a spin-off from his company Cape Lambert Resources, when he did. With the help of local stockbroker Patersons Securities, Cape Lambert had by last week raised $203 million for Q Copper and the new company was ready for listing.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Kevin Rudd's election pledge to boost the Australian Federal Police by 500 sworn officers cannot be achieved without compromising the effectiveness of the force, an independent auditor has found.
Page 2: NSW Premier Kristina Keneally has relegated her first big reform challenge to the too-hard basket, caving in to union pressure to maintain the operation of Sydney's troubled ferry service in public hands.
Two men are being extradited to Perth to face charges of stealing more than $4 million from customers at fast-food outlets in what police say is Australia's biggest-ever eftpos card skimming operation.
One of Australia's most senior bankers, Ahmed Fahour, will today be confirmed as the next chief executive of Australia Post in a move likely to fuel speculation that the government postal service may yet become some kind of ''people's bank''.
Page 4: The federal opposition will back a referendum on health reform in order to fireproof any changes against an expected wave of High Court challenges from the states.
Page 5: The Bligh government's plan to open the way for Aboriginal home ownership in remote north Queensland settlements is failing, as not a single home loan has been signed since a new leasing scheme was introduced 18 months ago.
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has moved quickly to introduce security screening changes that will allow items such as knitting needles, crochet hooks and nail clippers on flights.
Page 6: The Henry tax review's plan to cut company taxes is in trouble even before the report is handed to the government, with one of the leading business lobby groups joining opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey in opposing the move.
Business : The Australian stock exchange has launched a savage attack on government plans to transfer the supervision of financial markets to the corporate regulator.
Nufarm is adamant that it will not be forced into accepting a lower takeover bid from China's Sinochem Corporation, despite concerns about the local chemical maker's high level of debt and difficult trading environment.
Queensland's Macarthur Coal has made a $1.2 billion bid to expand into NSW and broaden its coal mix and port options, agreeing to buy Gloucester Coal and other assets of Hong Kong's Noble Group to create a $3.4 billion coal company.
The 2000s has been a remarkable decade for the supposedly austere world of banking, with a full-throttled boom bookended by crises, and then a complete reordering of the local industry's top end.
A wave of re-regulation, together with after-shocks from the global financial crisis, loom as the biggest threats to the banking industry in the coming decade.
Telstra has formally kicked off the public listing of its $US1 billion ($1.1bn)-plus Chinese real estate website Soufun by appointing no less than five investment banks to handle the float.
Wesfarmers-backed Gresham Partners Group is predicting a return to earnings growth next year after joining the long list of investment banks to post a substantial drop in net profit in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Two of Tiger Airways' major shareholders are looking to sell down their stakes in a partial float in Singapore amid further signs the carrier's Australian operations continue to bleed money.
Before his first day at Morgan Stanley in 2006, James Gorman went to Las Vegas to play poker. He watched Texas hold ' em for hours, without ordering a drink. Once he started playing, he won hundreds of dollars, says a person who was there.
CBS and Disney are considering participating in Apple's plan to offer television subscriptions over the internet, say people familiar with the matter, as Apple prepares a potential new competitor to cable and satellite TV.
In this comeback year for investors, David Tepper may have scored one of the biggest paydays of all. Mr Tepper's hedge-fund firm has racked up about $US7 billion ($7.9bn) of profit so far this year -- with Mr Tepper on track to earn more than $US2.5bn ($2.8bn) for himself.
Policymakers have proposed steps to address a plunge in ship orders in South Korea, home to seven of the world's 10 largest shipbuilders. But there is little chance the industry will avoid steep job losses and financial difficulties in coming years.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Kevin Rudd's environmental agenda is under attack on two fronts, with the country's biggest private renewable energy business declaring his green power target at risk of failure.
Page 2: An emissions trading scheme is the cheapest and most efficient way to achieve the greenhouse gas cuts the Federal Government is aiming for from the Copenhagen Accord, economists believe.
Page 3: The state government has buckled to union pressure and decided against further private sector involvement in the running of Sydney's ferries.
World: Evidence that the British Army subjected prisoners in Northern Ireland to waterboarding during interrogations in the 1970s is emerging after one of the alleged victims appealed against his murder conviction.
Business : The Singapore Airlines-backed Tiger Airways has revealed that its Australian subsidiary lost $79.3 million within its first two years, outstripping the losses its Singaporean parent has accumulated in its first six years of operation.
DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Our growing reliance on cars is coming at a devastating cost.
Page 2: Tropical Cyclone Laurence caused destruction in northern Western Australian, but its ghost could bring life back to central and western NSW.
Page 3: Almost one in every two teens in the Canterbury-Bankstown area is out of work, with the region now boasting the nation's highest teenage unemployment rate.
World: It was meant to be harmless fun, a light-hearted snowball fight to bring some joy to a snowbound Washington street.
Business : Sinochem Corporation of China has cut its takeover offer for agricultural chemicals supplier Nufarm by $1 million a share of $218 million, sending the target's board into a spin as directors query the reasons for the reduction.
HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Cruel thieves stole a boys presents from under a family Christmas tree while he was in hospital undergoing tests for a heart operation.
Page 2: The company behind Victoria's controversial desalination plant wants to set baits to attract sharks along one of Victoria's most popular coastal stretches.
Pages 3: Carlton's newest bad boys spent a boozy day with teammates before being kicked out of Crown for brawling with staff.
World: Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was yesterday accused of a cover-up over sex abuse in his family.
Business : Bank analysts yesterday questioned National Australia Bank
THE AGE:
Page 1: Overcrowding at Christmas Island has forced the Rudd government to move 30 Afghan youths to Melbourne to speed up processing of their claims for asylum.
Mentally ill inmates at Thomas Embling Hospital will still be allowed to use knives, live together and go out on leave, following a review of two stabbing deaths at the facility.
Page 2: Australia should adopt only a 5 per cent 2020 emissions cut after a weak outcome at the Copenhagen climate summit, according to opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Page 3: Victorian women will be able to give birth at home - with hospital back-up for the first time - under a pilot project starting at three hospitals next year.
World: Evidence that the British Army subjected prisoners in Northern Ireland to waterboarding during interrogations in the 1970s is emerging after one of the alleged victims launched an appeal against a conviction for murder.
Business : Macarthur Coal has set its sights on becoming Australia's dominant independent coal producer, launching a $1.2 billion bid to take over NSW miner Gloucester Coal and buy key assets from Hong Kong commodities trader Noble Group.
THE COURIER-MAIL:
Page 1: Figures reveal 40,000 poker machines in Queensland took $1.67 billion by the end of November.
Page 2: Intense storm cells blacked out 36,000 homes on Tuesday.
Page 3: A 10-year-old girl owes her life to fast-acting strangers after she was stung by a box jellyfish.
World: Heavy snowfall and temperatures plunging to -8C brought a new wave of commuter chaos to Britain.
Business : Macarthur Coal has announced a string of deals worth $1.2 billion to expand into NSW and increase its interests in Queensland.
CANBERRA TIMES:
Page 1: Analogue TV channels will be sold to phone companies when the nation switches over to digital television.
Anglers on the NSW south coast say they are experiencing some of the best fishing in years. Postal workers have put a planned strike on hold.
The ACT government will go ahead with a controversial development in a suburban car park.
Page 2: The federal government has ruled out a climate deal with the Australian Greens.
World: United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has urged world leaders to commit to a binding climate deal next year.
Business : The Australian sharemarket closed higher on Tuesday.
