RBA focuses a worried eye on China

The Reserve Bank of Australia is becoming increasingly concerned about the slowdown in the Chinese economy and its impact on commodity prices and Australia's terms of trade, according to The Australian.

Holding the official cash rate at 3.5% for the third consecutive month yesterday, the central bank noted that the slowdown in China was occurring at a faster pace than expected.

Rinehart reminds Swan about mining challenges

Mining tycoon Gina Rinehart has hit out at federal Treasurer Wayne Swan’s alleged promotion of class warfare, arguing her campaign against the perils of operating mines in a high-cost environment has become the “accepted truth” in the industry, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Australia’s richest person, whose wealth is estimated at $20 billion, said the challenges to the industry, including the mining and carbon taxes, worsening productivity and high costs, were now beyond dispute.

“To point them out, I hope, is no longer a sign of self-interest but a duty and a call for action,” Rinehart said in a video posted on the Sydney Mining Club website.

Carbon payout to biggest polluters in doubt

Australia’s dirtiest power stations, Hazelwood and Yallourn in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, will not be paid by the federal government to shut down because of the failure of negotiations with their owners, according to the AFR.

Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson is today expected to disclose the outcome of talks with power generators over contracts for closure, a big step for the industry that could lead to the shutdown of some power stations under the government’s plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Negotiations with Hazelwood, which is owned by International Power, and Yallourn, which is owned by TRUenergy, failed to agree on a price acceptable to both sides.