BUSINESS

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd continues his quest on promoting the proposed resources super profits tax and heads to central Queensland to gain support.

A report from the National Water Commission about its water trading in the Murray-Darling Basin showed that the practice enabled farmers to survive the drought, however, certain restrictions have prevented irrigators from utilizing the full value of their water allocations.

Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd has announced Thursday that it has been granted tax concessions by the Thai government for its new processing plant at the company’s flagship Chatree gold mine in Thailand.

Power distributor Australian Power $ Gas said on Thursday that it has signed a three-year electricity supply deal with a major generator for its entry to the Queensland energy market as it increased forecast for customer growth and announced the availability of convertible note facility to be used for raising funds.

Orbital Corporation Ltd has announced Thursday that volatile situations in the global equity markets have prompted the company to back down from its planned capital raising, adding that the proposed acquisition of an alternative fuel system business would be withdrawn for now.

Receiver McGrathNicol Ltd has announced plans to sell the Great Southern Ltd's entire blue gum forestry estate, with initial bids expected in late July.

Australian banks have defended their penalty fees which are taken from late payments and overdue accounts of their customers.

Mineral sand developer Matilda Zircon will halts exploration on Cape York in Northern Queensland, following the Queensland Government's wild river legislation.

An Australian hedge fund manager will file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Goldman Sachs for losing money in mortgage-linked securities sold by the investment bank.

Challenger Wine Trust (CWT) said today that the value of its vineyard properties would decline by up to nine percent, blaming an oversupply of wine flooding the market and consequently pulling down grape prices.

A Tasmanian mining firm disclosed on Thursday that talks with the Government over the 40 per cent mining profit tax were productive.

Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens warned local households yesterday that debt level increase should not be excessive, but Australia's economy may be able to pull through if Europe's debt problems worsens.

Queensland Alumina Ltd. was fined $90,000 in the Gladstone Magistrates Court for an industrial incident at a Gladstone alumina refinery last year.

Nearly 2,000 people joined the rally in Perth yesterday to protest against the Federal Government's proposed resource super profits tax.

American railway company Genesee & Wyoming has bought FreightLink for $334 million and will assume about $1.7 million of FreightLink's debt.

The Sutherland Shire in Sydney topped this year’s listing of the worst areas in the nation for real estate investments, as compiled by real estate analyst and writer Terry Ryder in his annual ‘No Go Zones’ report released Wednesday.

Australian citizens are now cautious in their borrowing behavior, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

International visits to Australia peaked up over the first three months of 2010, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

A subsidiary of Macquarie Group Ltd is eyeing to takeover Redflex Holdings Ltd. In a statement to the ASX, Redflex Holdings Ltd. announced that it has received an indicative, non-binding and confidential proposal to acquire all of the issued capital of Redflex by a scheme of arrangement at a price of $2.50 per share.

Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd has acknowledged that it is experiencing slow down in sales and to address the slump, chief executive John Borghetti is training his eyes on business class flyers, looking at the possibility that the budget carrier could entice other market segments apart from its existing revenue base.

An airline has picked Melbourne and Auckland as the first long-haul destinations for its Singapore hub operations.

The newly appointed chief executive of Tasmanian timber company Gunns told media on Wednesday that recent interest sought by foreign investors spells a good sign for the company.

A survey shows that almost one third of Australian banks employees are worried about their customers' ability to repay loans while half admitted they are pressured to force on customers for more credit even when they were not requested.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will formally discuss his proposed resource super profit tax on Wednesday in resource-rich Western Australia today.

Commuters in Sydney’s Inner-West area will have more options of public transport within two years. The Government has budgeted $55 million to fast-track its light rail project which is expected to commence within this year.

Residential dwellers near south of Brisbane have complained about a hazardous waste incinerator near their homes.

Greater Bendigo Gold Mines Ltd (GBM) announced today it has signed an option to purchase the Bendigo Creek Tailings Project at Huntly, approximately 10 kilometres from Bendigo.

Business confidence in the country dropped for three straight months in May. Survey results suggested major factors affecting the economy like high interest rates and a lower Australian dollar with the European debt crisis, giving doubts of a global growth outlook.

Australia is nearing the height of its V-shaped recovery from the global financial crisis, said the longest-serving current board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), who added that Europe would eventually give up on euro over the long term.