Cerita Perdana

Macmahon apologises for downgrade

Written By Unknown on Senin, 05 November 2012 | 23.51

MACMAHON Holdings has apologised to shareholders for its recent earnings downgrade, as the mining contractor undertakes a review of costs and construction projects.

Macmahon announced the downgrade last month, followed by the departure of chief executive Nick Bowen last week, as it reviews its Hope Downs 4 Rail Earthworks contract in Western Australia.

Mr Bowen is to be replaced by chief operating officer Ross Carroll.

Macmahon Holdings chairman Ken Scott-Mackenzie on Tuesday said the board shared the extreme disappointment of many shareholders as it focused on rebuilding market confidence.

"I would like to apologise to you for the recent earnings downgrade and the effect this has had on the value of your investment in Macmahon," Mr Scott-Mackenzie said.

The apology comes less than a week after the company called in lawyers to investigate a series of fake internal emails suggesting the mining contractor had received a takeover approach from a Chinese company.

It also comes three days before Mr Carroll will address the company's annual general meeting in Perth on November 9.

Mr Carroll is conducting a review of Macmahon's capital and operating expenditure as it evaluates its business mix and risk profile.

In a separate statement, Mr Scott-Mackenzie said Mr Carroll had a thorough knowledge of all aspects of Macmahon's business.

"He is well credentialled to lead the company as we work to rebuild value for our shareholders," Mr Scott-Mackenzie said.

He said Mr Bowen's total pay packet had been 19.2 per cent higher than the package negotiated with Mr Carroll.

He said Mr Carroll's new salary would be further reduced by 10 per cent for the remainder of the 2013 financial year.

Macmahon shares closed 0.5 cents lower at 30.5 cents.

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Choppers fight bushfire near houses

FIRE crews are gaining control of a fire that almost threatened to engulf properties near Inala this afternoon.

Two helicopters are currently water-bombing the blaze that broke out near Brookside Street at Doolandella just after midday.

"It looks like at the moment they're getting on top of it," the Brisbane duty manager of operations said at 4pm.

"We believe we have enough resources at this time to protect properties."

Five ground units are working under the direction of three senior officers.

A Department of Community Safety spokesperson warned a smoke hazard was affecting the area and locals who suffer from respiratory illness have been told to close their windows and doors.

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Child taken from hospital

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 04 November 2012 | 23.51

A FOUR-WEEK-OLD baby taken from a Sydney hospital has been found safe and well in a cafe in Sydney's west.

Police were caring for the boy, who was found in a Parramatta cafe and was to be reunited with his mother.

They have arrested a 26-year-old man who is being questioned.

Police said the boy was taken by his father from the The Royal Hospital for Women at Randwick in Sydney's east at 11.40am (AEDT) on Monday.

The hospital said in a statement earlier the baby had attended the hospital with his family for an appointment.

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Police seek witnesses to Vic train crash

SPIRALLING construction costs are holding back the removal of dangerous level crossings from Victorian roads, Premier Ted Baillieu says, following a fatal crash in suburban Melbourne.

One man is dead and 13 people remain in hospital after Saturday's crash in Dandenong South in which a truck went through the boom gates at a crossing.

The crash has intensified calls to remove the 170 level crossings in Melbourne, while there are 1900 across Victoria.

Mr Baillieu said the government would like to remove all level crossings in the state, but the costs would be prohibitive.

"If a grade separation is costing $200 to $250 million, there's obviously a limit as to how many of those we can do," Mr Baillieu told reporters on Monday.

"We'd all love to have level crossings eliminated ... but we have to be realistic about it. We have put the funds in to increase the number of grade separations and to increase the number of level crossings that are being upgraded."

Mr Baillieu said the government had funded five grade separations and had more than 50 upgrades planned across country Victoria.

But he repeated his call for a "fully independent productivity commission national inquiry into construction costs" which he says are limiting the ability to invest in major infrastructure projects such as grade separations at level crossings.

Police are seeking further details about incidents just before a white Western Star prime mover and the train collided at 11.42am (AEDT) on Saturday.

Police want particularly to speak with passengers who left the scene after the crash and the driver of a truck believed to have overtaken the Western Star truck shortly before impact.

"There was a white Kenworth cab-over prime mover with white curtain covering a semi-trailer that was seen crossing the railway intersection just prior to the collision," Inspector Bernie Rankin told reporters on Monday.

He said the driver of the Kenworth truck may have significant evidence that could assist police.

The premier said the Dandenong South crossing had protection measures, including boom gates, bells, lights and traffic lights, but the government would wait for a full police assessment of the accident before considering how to act.

Police also want to speak to anyone who may have seen the driver of the Western Star truck as it travelled on the South Gippsland Freeway or Abbott Road just before the crash.

Killed in the crash was a 43-year-old Cranbourne West man, who was found trapped under rubble in the front carriage.

The 30-year-old train driver was trapped in his crumpled cabin for an hour before paramedics could take him to hospital. He remains in The Alfred hospital in a serious condition.

The truck driver, a 69-year-old Narre Warren man, was interviewed and released pending further inquiries.

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Budget surplus still on track: Wong

FEDERAL Finance Minister Penny Wong says the government has proven its fiscal discipline and is on track to deliver a budget surplus in 2012/13.

Falling commodity prices and economic contraction in Asia have prompted doubts that Labor can keep its promise to deliver a surplus next year.

Senator Wong said the government responded to the revenue downgrades by finding $16 billion of savings in its budget update released last month.

"I think that shows our discipline, our fiscal discipline, and it shows the approach we take," she told ABC television on Sunday.

The government's mid-year economic and fiscal outlook also showed it was "on-track" to return to surplus, she said.

"Over the forward estimates those surpluses continue to grow," Senator Wong said.

Treasurer Wayne Swan conceded that "frail global conditions" were weighing on Australia's economy.

"This was clear with the almost $22 billion write-down in government revenues made between the budget and last month's mid-year review," Mr Swan said in his weekly economic note on Sunday.

Mr Swan, who will meet his US counterpart, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, this week in Washington, warned that international economic events could quickly spill across borders.

"Flows of capital can surge or dry up almost overnight," Mr Swan said.

"Business and consumer confidence in one place can sway sentiment in another."

Despite some encouraging data in recent weeks, economic recovery in the US was still shaky, he said.

But Australia faced these global challenges from a position of strength, with the long-term prospects for the region remaining bright, Mr Swan added.

"We have an enviable combination of solid growth, low unemployment, contained inflation and low debt, with the budget returning to surplus ahead of every major advanced economy," Mr Swan said.

But opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb said it was embarrassing to hear Senator Wong speaking of the government's "supposed fiscal discipline".

"If Labor was serious about offsetting spending why has its spending outstripped revenue by $173 billion since coming to office?" he said in a statement.

"Why did it deliver a $43 billion deficit in 2011/12 off the back of a mining boom and the strongest terms of trade in 150 years?"

Meanwhile, former prime minister Kevin Rudd has said he supports the government's "stated position on the desirability of the return to surplus".

Australia faced "very challenging fiscal challenges", with revenue not growing as much as the government would have liked, Mr Rudd told Sky News on Sunday.

"Discipline on our fundamental national accounts is important, otherwise we will be seen to be not as rigorous in the international community."

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Petrol spill closes Pacific Highway

HAZMAT crews are mopping up a spill on the NSW north coast that is expected to leave part of the Pacific Highway closed for hours.

Police say a petrol tanker and a car collided head-on on the highway north of Ballina shortly after 3pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

The car driver was flown by rescue helicopter to Lismore Base Hospital with serious injuries.

The truck driver has been taken to Ballina Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The crash caused one of the truck's tanks to rupture, and hazmat crews are trying to limit the amount fuel leaking onto the road.

The highway is expected to be closed for several hours and motorists are being asked to postpone travel if possible.

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Chair of casino assessment team appointed

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 03 November 2012 | 00.51

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has appointed an independent chairman to oversee the next stage of James Packer's bid for a new Sydney casino.

David Murray, former chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank, will be in charge of the assessment team looking at the Crown Limited proposal for a $1 billion hotel and VIP gaming resort at Barangaroo.

Mr O'Farrell stressed that the move to the second stage of the government's unsolicited proposals process "does not necessarily guarantee final approval" of the complex.

"I am determined to act in the best interests of taxpayers and that's why the NSW government has appointed a respected businessman like David Murray," he said.

"The appointment of Mr Murray as independent chair will give the community confidence in the process and probity of the consideration of the Crown proposal."

The casino will only be approved if the review team finds that it will "deliver positive net benefits and a fair return for NSW taxpayers", the premier stressed.

Mr Murray was chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia from 1992 to 2005 and has more recently been chairman of the Future Fund. He stepped down from that role last April.

He now acts as a senior adviser for Credit Suisse and is the chairman of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Mr Murray, who was made an officer in the Order of Australia in 2007, was born in NSW and lives in Sydney with his family.