Business Headlines

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

Page 1: The labour demands of Queensland's booming mining and energy industry would make it harder to find enough workers for the massive reconstruction effort, the head of the state's recovery taskforce, Major-General Mick Slater, said yesterday.

Businesses are in line for a raft of incentives and tax concessions as newly elected Liberal governments prepare to walk away from a deal that bans poaching across state lines.

Receding floodwater has produced a very awkward dilemma for Telstra and the federal government: whether to reconnect damaged buildings straight to optical fibre and the national broadband network or reinstall soon-to-be-redundant copper technology.

In a sign of the stunning turnaround of its fortunes since the global financial crisis, Rio Tinto is on track to report record annual earnings of $US14 billion after running its mines at full tilt.

Page 3: The willingness of Pankaj Oswal to return to Australia to face his accusers will be tested just weeks after the failed fertiliser tycoon fled his home in Perth.

The time needed to find a job is shrinking amid signs that demand for workers, particularly in mining, construction and the professions, is accelerating.

Festivals are a highlight of summer but penny-pinching has forced organisers to offer more free events.

Page 4: As the Gerry Harvey-led coalition of big retailers fighting the GST threshold enjoyed by foreign internet competitors shifts up a gear, a rival group has called for an end to the campaign, saying it is a "public relations nightmare".

National reforms to cut red tape associated with planning and development assessment have produced limited outcomes, says a damning study by one of the federal government's key infrastructure advisers.

Page 9: The resources sector appears to have shrugged off the prospect of a new minerals resource rent tax, since the top 150 resource companies experienced substantial increases in value during 2010.

Page 14: Australian airlines and retailers are set to suffer a drop in earnings in 2011 and beyond if the stronger global economy pushes oil prices above $US100 per barrel again, driving up costs at heavy fuel users like Qantas and Virgin Blue.

Page 35: Utility group Alinta Energy's battered shareholders may get little or no value from their stakes in the Redbank power station if lenders opt for a debt-for-equity swap or putting it into administration.

Page 36: The strong iron ore price has more than offset a rise in production costs at Fortescue Metals Group's mines and may delay the need for additional financing for its $US8.4 billion expansion.

Moly Mines needs a weaker Australian dollar and stronger molybdenum price to secure finance for its $600 million Spinifex Ridge project in Western Australia, as Chinese major shareholder Hanlong Mining Investment holds out on its share of funding.

Shares in diversified explorer Flinders Mines rocketed 22 per cent to a 12-month high of $1.95 yesterday, after the company announced the results of pre-feasibility studies into the company's Pilbara iron ore project.

Page 37: Qantas will increase capacity on flights into and around Western Australia as well as add a new route as the airline looks to fend off the expansion of rival Virgin Blue in the resource-rich state.

Page 38: Singapore Exchange says it is too soon to consider changing the terms of its takeover bid for the Australian Securities Exchange in order to gain political approval as it prepares to lodge a formal submission to the Foreign Investments Review Board on the deal.

Page 40: Residential land sales have fallen to their lowest levels in a decade, as affordability declines.

Page 41: The West Australian government said the $1.17 billion Children's Hospital project in Nedlands was on schedule and the procurement process for design and construction was under way.

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: The dam expert who will help preside over the judicial inquiry into the southeast Queensland flood disaster has warned of a potential conflict of interest in the operator of Wivenhoe Dam's dual objectives of maintaining a water supply and releasing water in times of flood.

Victoria's flood crisis has worsened, with hundreds more homes being swamped yesterday by a mass of water surging north towards the NSW border, cutting off entire towns and terrifying thousands of residents.

Page 3: The future of up to 600 off-the-plan apartment sales worth $577 million in inner Brisbane could be contested -- some in the courts -- in the wake of the devastating floods.

Page 7: Flamboyant Indian tycoon Pankaj Oswal's $30 million corporate jet is at the centre of the receiver's investigation into claims he treated Australia's biggest ammonia producer, Burrup Fertilisers, as his personal fiefdom.

Page 8: The nation's biggest miners have joined forces with the National Native Title Council to attack the Gillard government's draft indigenous economic development strategy, calling it a compilation of failed policies.

Business: Australian companies are tipped to lose more than half a billion dollars in earnings as a result of the floods in Queensland and Victoria, with insurance, transport, engineering and mining among the hardest-hit sectors.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) says it is on track to complete an $8.4 billion takeover of the Australian Securities Exchange, but political obstacles to Asia-Pacific's first major exchange merger remain a challenge.

Fortescue Metals Group shares jumped to a two-year high yesterday after the company revealed it had achieved higher than expected prices for iron ore in the previous quarter.

Qantas is reviewing international fares amid worries about rising oil prices.

Moly Mines has been severely punished by investors after the company warned that its Chinese shareholder had stalled financing for its flagship project.

Buoyant quarterly upgrades of commodity prices by broking houses spell bad news for steelmaker BlueScope, which has been hit by downgrades and forecasts of a first-half loss as a result.