PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - May 20

Reuters: [2008-05-19 23:31:00]

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)

--Federal Labor has come under criticism from employer groups overlooked for advisory positions at Infrastructure Australia, Skills Australia and on the Government's tax review panel. Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) chief executive Heather Ridout has roles with all three after Treasurer Wayne Swan yesterday appointed her to the board of Infrastructure Australia. Ai Group has enjoyed favour over the larger Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which helped fund a pro-Work Choices campaign for the previous Coalition government ahead of last year's election. Page 1.

--Insurance premiums for directors' liabilities are set to rise after sharemarket volatility and the credit crunch prompted an increase in class actions over the past six months. Telstra <TLS.AX> chairman Donald McGauchie said this type of indemnity policy was 'complex, unknown and much more risky than anyone had thought.' The troubled Allco Finance Group <AFG.AX> and failed broker Opes Prime are both vulnerable to class actions, while a case has already begun against Centro Properties Group <CNP.AX>. Aristocrat Leisure reached a settlement with shareholders yesterday. Page 1.

--A Leighton Holdings <LEI.AX>-Macquarie Group <MQG.AX> consortium was yesterday named by the Queensland Government as the winning bidder for the A$4.8 billion Brisbane Airport Link. Under the public-private partnership, the government will contribute A$1.5 billion to the road and tunnel project, hailed by Premier Anna Bligh as the biggest transport infrastructure project undertaken in Australia. The two losing bidders, a Baulderstone Hornibrook syndicate and a second Leighton consortium, will each receive A$4 million compensation. Page 1.

--Music promoter Glenn Wheatley was released from a Victorian prison yesterday after serving 10 months of a 15-month term for tax evasion. 'He was packed two weeks ago, waiting for today,' his wife, Gaynor, told media outside the family's Melbourne home. Three news helicopters and a throng of photographers covered the event. Best known for managing John Farnham, Delta Goodrem and the Little River Band, 60-year-old Wheatley will serve the remainder of his sentence in home detention. Page 3.

THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)

--Queensland Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Yanner has been charged with driving offences and assault after allegedly ramming a Commonwealth four-wheel-drive at a meeting of the Carpentaria Land Council last week. It is understood Mr Yanner rammed a vehicle carrying members of the Doomadgee family following an altercation sparked by a native title claim. The 37-year-old is already on bail on charges of assaulting a Mount Isa police officer. He was jailed for assault in 2003. Page 1.

--Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has accused treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull of leaking an email sent by Mr Turnbull before the Coalition's budget reply last Thursday. In the message, Mr Turnbull rejected Dr Nelson's policy to cut petrol excise by 5 cents a litre, and warned 'this will inevitably find its way into the media.' Mr Turnbull yesterday denied leaking the email or knowledge of its existence to media. 'I support the policy measures announced in Dr Nelson's budget reply,' he asserted. Page 1.

--A Newspoll following last week's federal budget shows no change in the Government's standing, with the Australian Labor Party still leading the Coalition by 47 to 37 percent on primary votes. However, Labor's 'inflation-fighting' budget was rated worse than that delivered by the Coalition in May 2007, with 32 percent of voters believing they would be worse off financially. Most economists have described the budget, including A$47 billion in personal income tax cuts, as fiscally conservative. Page 1.

--The chief judge of the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission has spoken out against the centralisation of workplace laws under the new Federal Labor Government. Judge Roger Boland said arguments in favour of a national enterprise bargaining regime were just 'sloganeering.' Most businesses were content to stay with laws operating within state borders, Justice Boland said. The Government wants to replace the Australian Industrial Relations Commission with an organisation of visiting mediators called Fair Work Australia. Page 2.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)

--Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has established the strongest lead over an Opposition leader in three decades, according to the latest Nielsen poll. Taken after last week's budget, the survey shows Mr Rudd leading Brendan Nelson as preferred prime minister by 70 percent to 17 percent. 'It's the biggest hammering in history,' said Nielsen pollster John Stirton. The results coincide with revelations that Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull internally opposed Dr Nelson's post-budget promise to cut fuel excise by 5 cents a litre. Page 1.

--Drug companies including Symbion, Clifford-Hallam and Roche have refused to supply two of Sydney's biggest hospitals due to unpaid bills, an inquiry heard yesterday. Orders were regularly frozen because the Sydney Children's and Prince of Wales hospitals were hundreds of thousands of dollars behind on their accounts, a pharmacist technician told the special commission of inquiry. Page 1.

--The New South Wales Government is considering a proposal to build a light-rail line along Leichhardt's Italian cafe strip in Sydney's inner-west. More than half a century after Sydney's tram network was uprooted, cabinet is deliberating on a 2.3-km rail line along Norton Street as part of a broader plan to build a light-rail extension to Circular Quay and Summer Hill. Page 1.

--The electorate officer who gave evidence at the trial of former New South Wales minister Milton Orkopoulos has rejected a A$100,000 compensation payment as 'an absolute insult.' Gillian Sneddon, 51, was sacked by Parliament in February on the same day Mr Orkopoulos faced Newcastle District Court on child sex and drug charges. The former Aboriginal affairs minister was found guilty of 28 paedophilia and drugs charges the following month. He will be sentenced tomorrow. Page 3.

THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)

--Melbourne University demoted a senior transport lecturer on concern over its relations with the Victorian Government, internal documents reveal. At a forum on the privatisation of Melbourne's public transport last August, Paul Mees said the authors of a report on the subject were 'liars and frauds and should be in jail.' Page 1.

--New South Wales Police will arm its officers with Taser stun guns before a safety report is handed down by the Ombudsman, Bruce Barbour, in July. Confirming the move yesterday, Police Minister David Campbell said the public demanded action on crime. The government has spent more than A$1 million on 229 new Tasers, and 2000 police across the state will be trained to use them before they are brought in at the end of this year. Page 2.

--Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke has denied he failed to carry out a proper assessment of a man who wanted to commit suicide. Accused in New South Wales Supreme Court of being 'hell-bent' on assisting the suicide of former Qantas Airways pilot Graeme Wylie, Dr Nitschke said he had accurately assessed Mr Wylie's mental capacity before the 71-year-old Alzheimer's disease sufferer ended his life in Switzerland in 2006. Dr Nitschke is giving evidence in the murder trial of Mr Wylie's partner, Sydney woman Shirley Justins. Page 2.

--Melbourne underworld figure Tony Mokbel will today launch a legal challenge against two murder charges and new drug-trafficking allegations. Mokbel, 42, will argue his case via a video link from Barwon Prison, where he has been held since his return from Greece on Saturday. Mokbel was arrested in Athens last June after fleeing Australia in early 2006 while on trial for cocaine trafficking. He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to a minimum nine years' jail. Several other charges were dropped during the recent extradition proceedings. Page 2.

--

((Sydney Newsroom +61-2 9373 1800; sydney.newsroom@reuters.com)) Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA GENERAL

PRESS DIGEST-Australian Business News - May 20

Reuters: [2008-05-19 23:20:00]

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)

--Fairfax Media <FXJ.AX> chief executive David Kirk said yesterday the group would exceed a targeted A$45 million in cost savings and revenue from its A$2.8 billion acquisition of Rural Press last year. Following the takeover, Fairfax closed three printing operations and cut staff in some areas. "Some of the increase comes from continuous improvement programs that wouldn't have been possible without the merger," Mr Kirk said. However, he declined to put a number on the new revenue the group was able to generate. Page 18.

--A joint bid on dairy producer Dairy Farmers by Parmalat Australia <PLT.MI> and Victorian cooperative Murray Goulburn has gained clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The Parmalat-Murray Goulburn consortium is the third party to line up for Dairy Farmers' A$800 million-plus auction, following earlier bids by National Foods and New Zealand's Fonterra. "Given the high level of interest…the board will be methodical in its assessment of available options," Dairy Farmers chief executive Rob Gordon said yesterday. Page 18.

--B&B Infrastructure <BBI.AX>, the flagship fund of investment bank Babcock & Brown, says it is on track to successfully refinance a A$500 million loan due in August. "We are starting to see signs of the debt markets recovering, certainly in our space…[and] it's a refinanceable amount of money," the fund's chief financial officer, Jonathan Sellar, told the Macquarie Global Infrastructure Conference last week. B&B Infrastructure has about A$10 billion in debt across its asset base, with about 10 percent of this falling due in the period to June 2009. Page 19.

--Nine Network executive David Radoczy has been appointed as the first general manager of FreeView, an organisation backed by free-to-air television (TV) networks. The Seven, Nine and Ten networks, along with public broadcasters ABC and SBS, have set up FreeView to promote digital TV channels in the face of competition from pay-TV. Mr Radoczy, who is believed to have been appointed for an initial three months, will join FreeView next week. He has previously worked for the ABC, British-based pay-TV group BSkyB and BBC Enterprises. Page 21.

THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)

--Hutchison Telecommunications Australia's <HTX.N> 3 mobile phone business yesterday reported a full-year loss of A$285 million, an improvement on the A$759 million loss in 2006-07. The company announced that the number of subscribers had increased by 9.2 percent to 1.72 million in the four months to April 2008. Canning Fok, managing director of the group's Hong Kong-based parent, Hutchison Whampoa, predicted an operating profit for Hutchinson Australia by the end of the year. Page 19.

--According to listed private health insurer NIB Holdings, its cheapest product is attracting customers for reasons other than private health care. "People who have bought lower-cost products are more likely to have been motivated by tax considerations," managing director Mark Fitzgibbon said yesterday. He revealed that individuals in the 20-29 age group formed the bulk of the 20,000 new members NIB signed up in the second half last year. Page 21.

--Mike Connaghan, the chief executive of marketing and communications group STW has assumed the role of main decision-maker and joined the agency's board. The move follows the announcement by executive chairman Russell Tate at the company's annual general meeting yesterday to step down from an executive role and become deputy chairman. Mr Connaghan told the meeting that STW remained optimistic about achieving its revenue targets for 2008 despite the current market uncertainty. Page 21.

--Chinese zinc and tungsten group Hunan Nonferous Metals said in a bidder's statement yesterday that its takeover offer for West Australian company Abra Mining <AII.AX> was aimed at lifting its stake in the metals explorer to 70 percent from the current 17.8 percent. Hunan has made an all-cash offer for Abra. "Our offer…reinforces our commitment to assist in the development of Abra's 100 percent owned…deposit located within the Mulgul project in central Western Australian," Hunan said. Page 23.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)

--Troubled general insurer Insurance Australia Group <IAG.AX> (IAG) yesterday rejected rival QBE's <QBE.AX> A$8.7 takeover offer, stating that the suitor's third attempt still "fell short of fair value." But QBE chief executive Frank O'Halloran told the stock exchange that his company "considers its final proposal is fair and reasonable, given IAG's declining profitability in the past three years and its recent profit downgrade." According to analysts, IAG is seeking A$5 per share, which would value it at A$9.45 billion. Page 19.

--The board of St George Bank <SGB.AX> has backed Westpac Banking Corp's <WBC.AX> merger offer to create a A$66 billion entity. St George chairman John Curtis told shareholders yesterday that the scrip-based bid by Westpac, valuing the target at about A$18 billion, was more attractive than any potential rival all-cash offer as it would allow St George to retain its brand, besides being a better financial deal. Analysts said a rival offer from overseas was unlikely, but there was a strong possibility of a competing local bid from National Australia Bank. Page 19.

--West Australian ammonia producer Burrup Holdings yesterday revealed plans for a A$500 million initial public offering. The listing is expected to value Burrup founder Pankaj Oswal's 70 percent stake at up to A$1.7 billion. As part of the float, Mr Oswal will sell down his shareholding to 53 percent, while Norwegian ammonia trader Yara International will reduce its holding to 27 percent from 30 percent. Page 21.

--Poker machine group Aristocrat Leisure <ALL.AX> will pay an estimated A$150 million to A$170 million to settle a class action initiated by investors who argued the company failed to keep the market informed six years ago. If Justice Margaret Stone of the Federal Court approves the deal, it will be a record payout by an Australian company to its shareholders. Aristocrat's insurers are expected to pick up most of the settlement bill. Page 21.

THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)

--Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese has made new appointments to the board of advisory body Infrastructure Australia, with half the members coming from the private sector. "This is the first time we've had…direct private sector involvement in a coordinated way, making recommendations to Government," Mr Albanese told Sky News yesterday. The new members include Babcock & Brown senior executive Ross Rolfe, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chairman Mark Birrell and Sydney Water chief executive Kerry Schott. Page B1.

--Industrial services provider Spotless Group <SPT.AX> yesterday extended its unsolicited takeover offer for property maintenance group Programmed <PRG.AX> to June 13 from May 26. Spotless said it had pushed back the deadline to allow shareholders to consider Programmed's annual results, which are due later this month. Page B2.

--A Committee for Economic Development in Australia meeting in Perth heard yesterday that financial markets would not be surprised by the introduction of a national emissions trading scheme in 2010. "We're well prepared," said ABN Amro director of environmental markets Craig McBurnie. He said the use of Renewable Energy Certificates and Greenhouse Gas Abatement Certificates showed that emissions trading had already commenced. "2010 is the start of compliance but not the start of the market," Mr McBurnie said. Page B3.

--Victorian Minister for Industry and Trade Theo Theophanous last night presented the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame awards. The 11 companies inducted into the Hall of Fame included five automotive component manufacturers. Mr Theophanous said the Government recognised the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector, which contributed A$29.6 billion annually to the state's economy. "The Government will shortly be delivering a comprehensive Victorian industry and manufacturing strategy," he said. Page B3. --

((Sydney Newsroom +61-2 9373 1800; sydney.newsroom@reuters.com)) Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA BUSINESS

TABLE-Recent Australian economic statistics

Reuters: [2008-05-19 23:02:00]

    SYDNEY, May 20 (Reuters) - Table of the latest Australian 
economic data. 
                      Period  Latest   Prev1  Prev2    Next 
Westpac/Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment 
  Index level           Apr    87.4    88.6     97.4   May 21 
  Pct change(m/m)       Apr    -1.3    -9.1    -8.3 
New Motor Vehicle Sales (pct) 
  Total (s/adj, m/m)    Mar    +1.0    +0.6    +1.1    May 21 
  Total (trend, m/m)    Mar    -0.1    +0.9    +0.8 
Construction Work Done (s/adj, chain volume measure of value) 
  Total (q/q)           Q4     -1.0    +2.2    -1.8    May 28 
  Total (y/y)           Q4     +2.6    +8.9    +3.0 
Private New Capital Expenditure (s/adj, constant prices) 
  Total                 Q4     +5.1    -6.2    +7.0    May 29 
  Total (y/y)           Q4    +15.3    +9.0   +11.8 
Private Sector Credit 
  Credit (m/m, s/adj)   Feb    +0.8    +0.6    +1.0    May 30 
  Credit (y/y, s/adj)   Feb   +14.9   +15.4   +16.2 
Retail Trade (current prices) 
  Total (s/adj, m/m)    Mar    +0.5    -0.1     0.0    June 2 
  Total (s/adj, y/y)    Mar    +5.1    +5.8    +6.9 
  Total (trend, m/m)    Mar    +0.2    +0.2    +0.2 
Company Gross Operating Profits 
  S/adj (q/q)           Q4     +3.9    -1.4    +2.0    June 2 
  S/adj (y/y)           Q4     +11.7    +8.4   +11.2 
Business Inventories (volume measure, pct, s/adj) 
  Total (q/q pct)       Q4     +0.7    +1.3    +0.4    June 2 
  Total (y/y pct)       Q4     +3.9    +3.5    +1.0 
Balance of Payments (s/adj, A$ billions) 
  Current Account       Q4   -19.35  -16.352  -15.78   June 3 
  Goods, Services       Q4    -6.86   -4.79   -3.85 
Building Approvals (Total dwelling units) 
  (s/adj, m/m pct)      Mar    -5.7    -0.8    -2.8    June 3 
  (s/adj, y/y pct)      Mar    -0.7    +0.5    +7.5 
  (trend, m/m pct)      Mar    -2.1    -1.9    -1.6 
International Investment Position (A$ billions) 
  Net foreign debt      Q4   609.95  585.76  548.24    June 3 
  Net foreign equity    Q4   126.87   97.81  105.20 
Gross Domestic Product (s/adj, chain volume, percent) 
  GDP (q/q)             Q4     +0.6    +1.1    +0.9    June 4 
  GDP (y/y)             Q4     +3.9    +4.3    +4.3 
Balance on Goods and Services (s/adj, A$ mln current prices) 
  G&S Balance           Mar   -2736   -3261   -2227    June 5 
  Goods Balance         Mar   -2844   -3380   -2479 
  Services Balance      Mar    +109    +119     +52 
  Exports (m/m pct)     Mar    +4.0    -4.0    +2.0 
  Imports (m/m pct)     Mar    +1.0    +1.0    +5.0 
ANZ newspaper & internet job advertisements 
  (s/adj, m/m pct)     April   +3.1    -0.7    -2.1    June 10 
Housing finance for owner occupation (pct) 
  Total (s/adj, m/m)    Mar    -6.1    +6.8    +3.8    June 10 
Labour Force (s/adj) 
  Employment  (000)     Apr   +25.4   +18.2   +39.1    June 12 
  - full time (000)     Apr   +19.0   + 5.5   +47.9 
  - part time (000)     Apr    +6.3   +12.6    -8.7 
  Unemployment (pct)    Apr     4.2     4.1     4.0 
  Participation rate    Apr    65.4    65.3    65.2 
Dwelling Unit Commencements (s/adj, pct) 
  Total (q/q)           Q4     +2.6    +1.3    -2.5    June 17 
  Total (y/y)           Q4     +2.6    -0.8    -3.4 
International Trade Price Indices 
  Imports (q/q)         Q1     +2.2    -2.2    -5.5    Jul 18 
  Exports (q/q)         Q1     +0.1    -3.2    -2.5 
Producer Price Index (Final stage of production) 
  Final goods (q/q)     Q1     +1.9    +0.6    +1.1    Jul 21 
              (y/y)     Q1     +4.8    +2.3    +2.4 
Consumer Price Index (pct) 
  CPI (q/q)             Q1     +1.3    +0.9    +0.7    Jul 23 
  CPI (y/y)             Q1     +4.2    +3.0    +1.9 
  Mkt sector G/S(q/q)   Q1     +0.8    +1.1    +0.8 
  Mkt sector G/S(y/y)   Q1     +3.5    +3.0    +2.5 
  RBA trimmed (q/q)     Q1     +1.2    +1.0    +0.9 
  RBA trimmed (y/y)     Q1     +4.1    +3.4    +2.9 
  RBA weighted (q/q)    Q1     +1.3    +1.1    +1.0 
  RBA weighted (y/y)    Q1     +4.4    +3.8    +3.2 
House Price Index, weighted average of main cities 
  National (q/q)        Q1     +1.1    +4.1    +3.7    Aug 4 
  National (y/y)        Q1    +13.8   +13.8   +11.4 
Wage Price Index (s/adj, pct) 
  All sectors (q/q)     Q1     +0.9    +1.1    +1.0    Aug 13 
  All sectors (y/y)     Q1     +4.1    +4.2    +4.2 
Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (s/adj, pct) 
  All sectors (q/q)   Feb qtr  +1.1    +0.8    +1.1    Aug 14 
  All sectors (y/y)   Feb qtr  +4.8    +3.5    +4.5 
 ((Sydney newsroom, sydney.newsroom@reuters.com, tel: 
+61-2-9363-1816)) 
Keywords: AUSTRALIA STATISTICS/DAILY 
    

US urges 'tough political choices' to get Doha deal

Reuters: [2008-05-19 22:41:00]

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - The United States is prepared to make "tough political choices" to reach a world trade deal by the end of the year, if other countries do the same, a U.S. trade official said on Monday.

"Specifically, we will be looking to see how the world's largest and fastest growing economies are going to make market-opening contributions commensurate with their increasing participation and role in the world economy," Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, said in a statement.

Hamel was responding to set of new texts released in World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva aimed at narrowing differences on agricultural and manufactured goods trade in the long-running Doha round negotiations. ((doug.palmer@reuters.com; +1 202 898 8341; Reuters Messaging: doug.palmer.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: USA TRADE/DOHA

RPT-NZ housing confidence falls to 12-year low - survey

Reuters: [2008-05-19 21:16:00]

WELLINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - Confidence in New Zealand's housing market fell to its lowest in 12 years in the three months to April, as high interest rates and a slowing economy dented sentiment, a survey by the ASB Bank showed on Tuesday.

The survey showed the number of people expecting lower house prices over the next 12 months was a net 34 percent in the February-April period, compared with a net 1 percent expecting higher prices in the previous survey.

It was the lowest level since the survey's introduction in 1996.

"One reason for the low level of price expectations is the persistently high level of home loan rates, especially the fixed rates that the majority of loans now attract," ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said in a statement.

The RBNZ has held interest rates at a record 8.25 percent after raising them by 100 basis points between last March to July last year to to cool inflation, particularly in the housing market.

Local lending rates have also been driven higher by the fallout from the global credit market turmoil, which has seen banks funding costs rise sharply.

A net 54 percent of those surveyed expected interest rates to rise in the next 12 months, up from 46 percent in the previous quarter.

Last month the central bank repeated it was seeing signs of a slowdown in the economy, but said it expected to keep rates on hold for some time because of persistent inflation pressures.

However, data in the past month has pointed to a sharp slowing in the economy, and consumer and business confidence at multi-year lows.

"The balance of forces has swung in the buyers' favour, but not far enough to suggest a surge in buyer demand is imminent," Tuffley said.

A net 9 percent of those surveyed thought it was a bad time to buy a house, compared with zero in the previous survey, but an 18 percent negative reading in the final quarter of last year.

"The risk of income loss and the likelihood of only modest income growth in the next two to three years suggest any eventual pick up in housing demand will be moderate."

The latest data from government agency Quotable Value showed annual house price inflation eased for the eight consecutive month in April, while industry data showed the number of sales fell to a 16-year low. (Reporting by Gyles Beckford; Editing by James Thornhill) ((gyles.beckford@reuters.com ; +64 4 471 4231; Reuters Messaging: gyles.beckford.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: x