PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Dec 11
Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
Mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) will cut 14,000 jobs and may sell off key assets in order to slash US$10 billion from its debt of US$38.9 billion by the end of next year. Analysts speculated that Rio may offload a stake in its Hammersley iron ore project, as well as its holdings in coalminer Coal & Allied and uranium miner ERA. Rio chief executive Anthony Albanese maintained yesterday the company did not need to raise equity but conceded that "the world has changed, not just within the mining industry but within the whole economic climate.' Page 1.
-- Federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry has signalled there will be no further cuts to the 30 percent company tax rate, as it is already below the developed-country weighted average. Mr Henry made the admission at yesterday's release of two papers aimed at outlining the broad agenda of the tax review launched by Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan earlier in the year. Mr Henry also conceded that the omission of the general services and goods tax (GST) from the review was "a constraint on our thinking.' Page 1.
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State-owned energy companies have warned the Rudd Government they may not be able to fund the massive capital investment programs needed to meet the Government's carbon emissions targets unless they can raise prices. Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser said yesterday that the global financial crisis had limited the ability of state government-owned energy companies to raise equity. However, the Energy Users Association of Australia said that state-owned energy firms "have had it far too good for far too long.' Page 1.
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Collapsed childcare operator ABC Learning Centres ABS.AX may receive a further A$35 million from its lenders in order to keep its 720 profitable centres open long enough to be sold. The Big Four banks, which have a combined exposure of over A$1 billion to ABC Learning, last month injected around A$30 million into the company. Receivers McGrathNicol said yesterday that 55 unprofitable ABC Learning centres would be closed on December 31. Page 3.
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THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
Lawyers for Andrew Forrest's iron ore company, Fortescue Metals Group (FMG.AX) (FMG), and six other companies yesterday pleaded not guilty to over 40 charges brought by Worksafe. The charges concern the death of two workers, Debbie Alexandra Till and Craig Allan Raabe, when Cyclone George destroyed one-third of FMG's rail camp in the West Australian Pilbara region. The charges, made under the West Australian Occupational Health and Safety Act, include a failure to design and construct buildings capable of withstanding a cyclone. Page 2.
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Indonesia has agreed to the extradition of an accused people-smuggling kingpin who is alleged to be responsible for hundreds of asylum seekers reaching Australia. The move to extradite Hadi Ahmadi, a citizen of both Iran and Iraq, follows talks between Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday. The Australian Federal Police has been calling for the extradition of Mr Ahmadi since his arrest at Jakarta airport six months ago. Page 2.
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High Court judge Michael Kirby will receive a solo farewell when he retires next year, a tradition that normally only applies to chief justices. The break with convention was authorised by Chief Justice Robert French. Attorney-General Robert McClelland said Justice Kirby had "made an outstanding contribution during his 25 years of judicial service.' Justice Kirby has indicated he will retire once the Federal Government has secured passage of its same-sex legislation. Page 2.
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Convicted killer Arthur "Neddy' Smith is set to appeal for an early release from Sydney's Long Bay jail on grounds of ill health. Mr Smith, 64, who is serving a lifetime sentence, broke his hip around six weeks ago. "His mind's fine but his health's quite poor,' said his lawyer, Andrew O'Brien. Mr Smith was jailed in 1988 but gained indemnity from all crimes committed apart from murder after giving evidence to the Wood Royal Commission's investigation into police corruption in the mid-1990s. Page 3.
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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
Banks will have to display the cost of withdrawing cash from an ATM owned by a competing bank in changes flagged by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The reforms, due in March, would put "downward pressure on the cost of ATM withdrawals,' according to the RBA. Yesterday's move was prompted by the RBA's concern that ATM fees were "not subject to the normal forces of competition,' after it was shown that banks charge customers up to A$2 for using a rival's ATM, despite the process costing only A74 cents. Page 3.
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Violent crime rates in Sydney have fallen for the first time in seven years but arrests for recreational drug use have risen sharply. Figures from the New South Wales (NSW) Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show that robberies with a firearm fell 26 percent over the 24 months to September. However, the report also highlighted a 55.4 percent jump in ecstasy use and 37.5 percent rise cocaine use. The drop in crime rates was due to increased police numbers, according to NSW Police Minister Tony Kelly. Page 3.
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Australian writer and poet Dorothy parker died from breast cancer yesterday morning, aged 54. Porter, best known for her verse novel, The Monkey's Mask, was working with musician Tim Finn on a rock opera called January before she died. Finn said he did not realise the extent of her illness and was "extremely shocked and saddened.' Porter, who was admitted into a Melbourne hospital three weeks ago, had been diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago. Page 5.
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The Federal Government needs to make road safety changes to help the increasing number of elderly drivers expected on the nation's roads, according to motoring organisation NRMA. "They [baby boomers] will be even less likely than the current generation of older drivers to give up the car,' warned NRMA senior policy advisor Anne Morphet. The report recommended increasing the number of dedicated right-turn lanes and making street signs bigger and simpler. Page 3.
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THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
Tasmanian police have apologised to "green' groups after an anti-terrorism exercise featured an environmental activist. The exercise at Devonport Airport centred on a fictional forest campaigner who "hijacked' an aircraft and threatened to crash it into a pulp mill. Following protests by the Wilderness Society, Tasmania Police acting Assistant Commissioner Steve Bonde said the scenario was "unconnected with events in history, unconnected with current events, or what police expect in the future.' Page 2.
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Australia's chief ombudsman, Colin Neave, released his annual report yesterday, calling on banks and other financial institutions to improve their capacity to handle customer grievances. He predicted that complaints would increase as the economic downturn continued to put pressure on consumers. "That's why I think it is really important that financial service providers have in place the departments who deal with these disputes,' Mr Neave said. The report revealed that 7911 new complaints were recorded in banking and finance last year. Page 3.
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The Australian Federal Police has moved quickly to place wanted Sydney crime figure Lam Dao Kiet back on its PACE fugitive alert system after the Federal Government said Australia's criminal investigators needed to "refocus.' It is understood the Government was reacting to recent revelations that, despite being wanted for drug offences, Lam Dao Kiet was granted a new passport by the Australian consulate in Hong Kong. The Government said yesterday it would soon appoint a new chief executive of the Australian Crime Commission. Page 3.
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The Victorian Government's new coastal planning strategy will include restrictions on residential developments in coastal areas threatened by rising sea levels. Following warnings from climate change advisers, developers will be required to assume that the sea level will rise by 80 centimetres by 2100. The Government said the 80-centimetre rule was "conservative' given that predictions by climate change experts were more dire. The rule, which will come into force on Monday, will not be applied retrospectively. Page 5.
