The week in numbers to May 23

THE big and small numbers that grabbed attention - or should have - in the business world over the past week.

Monday:

$10.2 million - The once mighty Elders has been doing it tough. But its most recent loss is better than the $303 million half year loss it notched up a year earlier. Traditional operations - livestock, wool, real estate and grain - made the biggest contribution to improved margins.

Could things finally be starting to turn for our struggling men and women on the land?

Tuesday:

$US100 - Iron ore prices per tonne dropped below this psychological level for the first time in two years. Doomsayers are predicting falls to $US85 per tonne, and the big miners shares' are well in the red. End of the boom? No. End of the honeymoon? Maybe.

Wednesday:

0.7 - Total hourly rates of pay, excluding bonuses, rose by 0.7 per cent in the three months to March, and by 2.6 per cent over the year. Both were the lowest growth rates on record - and you thought it was just you.

Thursday:

2.4 - Italy's statistics agency says estimated revenues from drug trafficking and the sex trade will be used in the calculation of economic growth from next year. The added revenue will put GDP growth at 2.4 per cent, compared to the government's 1.3 per cent growth estimate. The agency concedes calculating the growth will be "very difficult for the obvious reason that these illegal activities are not reported".

Friday:

$1.715 - Cleaning and catering company Spotless Group has relisted on the ASX less than two years after its owners privatised the company.

Its shares finished at $1.715 each, comfortably above their issue price of $1.60 - a nice result for the company and for overall market confidence.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abbott urged not to 'wink' at Indonesia

An Indonesian newspaper has warned PM Tony Abbott against winking when he visits Jakarta. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has been warned to keep his winking" out of diplomacy, with the infamous gesture now also making headlines in Indonesia.

The wink - Mr Abbott's response while listening to a 67-year-old talkback radio caller who said she was working on an adult sex line to supplement her pension and pay her healthcare bills - has been shared globally on social media.

It has been interpreted in many ways, with the prime minister himself describing it as a "mistake".

The Jakarta Post newspaper says in Indonesia, his wink could be seen as suggestive of arrogance.

In its editorial on Friday, titled 'Abbott's wink: what's the joke?', the influential English-language newspaper noted, "In the eyes of many Indonesians, the PM is not averse to being insensitive."

Relations between Indonesia and Australia quickly deteriorated after Abbott came to power, as he demonstrated he was going to be much tougher with his neighbour than the Labor Party had been.

In doing so, he is perceived by many Indonesians to be extremely arrogant.

The newspaper says Mr Abbott can expect Indonesia's next president to be less accommodating than Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Winking and smiling while listening to Indonesia's complaints will cost him diplomatically, it says.

Mr Abbott is tipped to visit Jakarta next month, his first trip since Indonesia suspended cooperation with Australia late last year over spying claims.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA man, 69, jailed for life over murder

A 69-YEAR-OLD Perth man has been sentenced to life in prison for repeatedly stabbing his house mate during a drunken argument.

John Henry Waterfall was found guilty of murdering Fifita Mailau, 56, at their Mount Lawley house, which they shared with two other people, in March 2013.

The West Australia Supreme Court heard on Friday that Mr Mailau was an abusive and violent person.

In sentencing, Justice Ralph Simmons said Mr Mailau had called Waterfall names that he found "deeply insulting" as they argued.

"You felt you had no alternative but to deal strongly with the deceased, if you and the others were not to be vulnerable to bad behaviour from the deceased in the future," he said.

The court heard Waterfall grabbed a knife from his bedroom and returned to the kitchen where he repeatedly stabbed Mr Mailau in the neck and abdomen.

"You were very angry. Some of the stab wounds were very deep," Justice Simmonds said.

"A number of them on their own were capable of killing him and one went into his heart."

The knife remained in Mr Mailau's chest after the final stabbing, the court heard.

Waterfall must serve at least 16 years behind bars before he will be eligible for parole.

Outside court, Detective Sergeant Paul Thornton said the men had been drinking very heavily.

"Alcohol in this situation was probably the main factor contributing to the tragic circumstance," he said.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

China mine tycoon sentenced to death

A Chinese mining tycoon has been sentenced to death for leading a crime gang that killed rivals. Source: AAP

A FORMER Chinese mining tycoon has been sentenced to death for leading a crime gang that killed rivals, a state news agency reports, in a case that revealed ties between organised crime and politicians.

Liu Han is former chairman of energy conglomerate Sichuan Hanlong Group in the southwestern province of Sichuan, which owns stakes in Australian and US mines.

He disappeared in March 2013, temporarily disrupting deals to finance mine development in Nevada and Australia, before police announced he had been detained.

The death sentences for Liu Han and his brother Liu Wei were the first in trials of their 36-member gang by a court in the central province of Hubei, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched an anti-corruption crackdown that has ensnared senior politicians and influential businessmen.

Many of the Sichuan cases are believed linked to Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Communist Party's Standing Committee, the country's ruling inner circle.

He is now believed to be a target of the wide-ranging graft investigation.

The Liu brothers and their associates have been charged with 15 crimes, including murder, assault, illegal detention, blackmail and operating casinos.

Prosecutors say their criminal activities, dating back to 1993, helped them amass 40 billion yuan ($A6.9 billion) in assets with businesses in finance, energy, real estate and mining, Xinhua has said.

The gang is accused in the deaths of nine people, five of whom were shot, according to earlier reports.

Police seized hand grenades, a half-dozen submachine guns, 20 pistols and other firearms.

Liu Han ranked No. 148 in 2012 on Forbes magazine's list of the richest Chinese businesspeople, with a fortune estimated at $US855 million.

He told The Wall Street Journal in 2010 that an investor once shot up his car after suffering losses in a deal.

The group is accused of fostering ties with politicians in Sichuan that helped Liu Han win appointment as a delegate of the provincial advisory body for three terms, according to earlier Xinhua reports.

Among the accused are three officials in city-level police and prosecutors' offices in Sichuan, Xinhua said.

It said Liu Wei's testimony showed the officials received money and gifts as well as weekly parties with illicit drugs.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA Labor tight-lipped on Ferguson move

LABOR'S West Australian branch is remaining tight-lipped about moves to have former federal resources minister Martin Ferguson ousted from the party.

On Monday night, the ALP's WA executive endorsed a motion put forward by the Maritime Union of Australia to remove Mr Ferguson from the party.

Mr Ferguson - who in October accepted the newly created chairman's role with the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association's advisory board seven months after resigning from Julia Gillard's cabinet - has previously labelled the MUA a "rogue" union.

In February, he singled them out for delays and blowouts to the massive Gorgon gas project in WA.

And on Tuesday, Mr Ferguson told ABC radio in Perth that he would "not be losing any sleep" about the MUA's motion.

"This is the same branch of the ALP that in many ways is a national disgrace," he said.

"They should be debating more seriously why at the recent half-Senate election, why they let down not only the working people of Western Australia but the working people of Australia in their inability to elect two or three Labor senators.

"And the fact there's too much union influence in WA pre-selections at the state and federal level, and in policy determinations.

"It's about time we broadened the church of the Labor party and encouraged rank and file participation rather than union dominance."

A WA Labor spokesman said state leader Mark McGowan would not be commenting on the matter as it was "an internal issue".

But WA opposition treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt retweeted a quote by federal leader Bill Shorten: "The Labor party has to learn to live with people with different views within its ranks".

The MUA was being sought for comment.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abbott contradicts budget on uni fees

A student union says Tony Abbott behaved cowardly by cancelling a university visit amid protests. Source: AAP

CONFUSION abounds over government plans to deregulate university fees after Prime Minister Tony Abbott contradicted his own budget.

But students who protested in Sydney and Melbourne are certain of one thing: they'll have to pay for the government's decisions and they're not happy.

Mr Abbott told ABC radio that only students who start studying in 2016 would face potentially higher fees when universities can charge what they like.

"If you start next year, your conditions of study won't change," he said.

But the budget papers clearly state that anyone who enrols after May 14 will face deregulated fees in 2016.

Only those who were already studying on budget day would continue to have their fees capped - and only if they finish their studies by 2020.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne reiterated this in a separate ABC radio interview after Mr Abbott's comments.

A mother asked him whether her daughter, already at university, would have to pay more.

"If that student stays in the course that she's doing, she'll continue under the rules that she started," he said.

"If she changes course, then quite rightly she will face the new measures."

A spokesman for Mr Pyne said the prime minister "may not have been as clear as he could have been".

Universities Australia told AAP it understands there's not been any change to policy.

It wants the government to take more time to look at any unintended consequences of the higher education changes before setting them in law.

Students were enrolling now to start in the second half of 2014 and universities had to be able to tell them what the costs would be from 2016.

"There is no time for universities to be able to cross the Ts and dot the Is to be able to advise students on what those fees might be," chief executive Belinda Robinson said.

National Union of Students president Deanna Taylor wasn't surprised by the confusion at high levels.

"I don't think the government really put a great deal of thought into their policy," she told AAP, saying it appeared to be very ideologically driven.

The union organised a national day of action on Wednesday with thousands of students protesting the changes.

In Melbourne, students clashed with police, while one activist was arrested in Sydney.

A police risk assessment before the protests forced Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne to cancel plans to visit a Geelong research facility at Deakin University.

Mr Abbott said students were looking for "a big rumble" and an excuse to riot.

Ms Taylor labelled the prime minister cowardly and said students weren't violent rabble-rousers out to cause trouble.

"They're trying to make us sound like spoiled little brats who don't know how good we've got it. They have a very clear agenda," she said.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Third NSW mine death in six weeks

A CONSTRUCTION rigger who died while working on a cherry picker at a coal mine was minutes away from stopping work.

The man, who police say was in his 30s, was working on the construction of a coal-handling plant at Boggabri coal mine in northwest NSW.

Reports about how the man died vary but it appears he was working on a cherry picker when he was hit by a piece of machinery on Wednesday morning.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Newcastle organiser Peter Harris was at the Boggabri coal mine expansion project for a monthly union meeting when he heard people screaming.

"We could see everyone screaming and yelling and trying to do CPR," Mr Harris told AAP.

"[Paramedics] let us know after 20 minutes that he had died."

Mr Harris said the man had only about five minutes to go before he would have left the construction site to attend a 9am union meeting.

He said it looked like a mechanical failure prompted the bucket on the cherry picker to tip, hitting the man and breaking his neck.

"The bucket itself, we could see it was leaning over at a precarious level," he said.

"I have never seen reported the type of mechanical failure that has occurred.

"It is something fairly extreme that has made the bucket drop off the angle it has."

A police spokesman said the man was crushed between the cherry picker and another structure.

It is understood the man was from Queensland.

"This site has a good safety record, there has never been a serious incident," Mr Harris said.

Idemitsu Australia Resources is expanding the coal mine, for which Thiess Sedgman has the construction contract.

In a statement Idemitsu said all mining had ceased at the site until further notice.

"We will work closely with our construction contractor to provide the appropriate support and assistance at this time," the company said.

Counselling is being provided to workers.

CFMEU NSW assistant secretary Rebel Hanlon said the death came on the back of last month's double fatality at a mine site in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Jamie Mitchell, 49, and Phillip Grant, 35, died after a wall collapsed on them 500m below ground at a coalmine in Paxton on April 15.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA prisoner recaptured after rehab escape

A 22-YEAR-OLD prisoner who escaped custody while at a rehabilitation hospital in Perth has been caught.

Darren John Goldsworthy escaped from the Royal Perth Rehabilitation Hospital in Shenton Park just before 2pm on Wednesday.

Police apprehended him near the Australian Army Irwin Barracks base in Karrakatta just after 3pm.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More