POLITICS & POLICY

Australia may yet have its biggest independent listed coal miner after shareholders of Gloucester Coal gave their unanimous approval today to its proposed merger with China's Yancoal Australia.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan is confident that Australia is well positioned to weather the lingering financial storms worldwide, mainly in the eurozone, which today ate up some $23 billion from the local share market.

Resources Minister Martin Ferguson warned on Monday of a possible failure of the $9.5-billion Roy Hill iron ore project unless the venture gets foreign workers. He said the controversy generated by the enterprise migration agreement (EMA) places at risk not only Roy Hill but also $243 billion worth of future mining investments.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Market sentiment turned negative on Friday as poorer jobs data in the US and weaker Chinese PMI figures moved equity markets lower as the possibility of further stimuli from central banks helped prevent the AUD from falling further.

The national surveys may have been unkind to the Gillard Government but a key cabinet member believes the ruling party will stick it out with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Another dismal U.S. jobs report triggered the year's biggest stock selloff and erased what was left of the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 2012 gains.

The Friday announcement by Fair Work Australia (FWA) that boosted the minimum wage in the country by $17.10 a week to $606.40 produced an almost violent reaction from employers.

The Australian sharemarket fell for the third consecutive session today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.4 pct or 16.8 pts to 4116.9. Half the market actually improved today, however the energy, mining, industrials and consumer discretionary stocks all ended significantly lower. Modest gains from the financial sector were not enough to lift the market higher. Last month, shares fell by 7.5 pct, which was the worst performing month in two years (let's hope this month is better).

China will introduce effective Friday the issuance of a rare earths specialised value-added tax invoice system to its industry producers and miners in a bid to curb the rampant illegal mining of rare earths in its country, amid plans of building a national rare earths inventory reserve to regulate price fluctuations.

What has former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd been up to these days? The gruelling world of politics has been shunned lately by Mr Rudd but on Thursday he got one of the biggest milestones of his life - the world has welcomed the entry of the Labor backbencher's first grandchild - a baby girl.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet criticised Opposition MPs for speaking against the carbon tax while at the same time boosting their investment in mining which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

The board of Perth-based Norton Gold Fields has unanimously recommended and advised its shareholders to accept the $229 million takeover bid of Zijin Mining Group, China's biggest gold producer.

Fair Work Australia (FWA) has ended the country's work week with good news - workers will be getting a pay boost starting on July as the industrial watchdog said on Friday that the country's minimum wage level will be given a fair uptick.

BHP Billiton Ltd. continued to reiterate board approvals to pending projects will not be tackled until end of the year, even as it welcomed the latest positive development bequeathed by Australian government authorities on the planned expansion of its Port Hedland harbor in the country's Pilbara region.

Fair Work Australia (FWA) awarded on Friday a $17.10 per week increase in pay to the country's minimum wage earners. The award, though, is less than the $26 weekly raise that unions sought.

The Dow industrials slid, capping their biggest monthly decline in two years, after downbeat readings on the labor market and business activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26.41 points, or 0.2%, to 12393.45. Stocks turned red minutes before the close Thursday in a choppy session that saw the Dow move 173.39 points from low to high.

Vale SA, the world's largest iron ore miner, on Thursday announced it is suspending the operations of its Carborough Downs coal mine in Australia in compliance to a government directive after irregular levels of carbon monoxide were detected in the mine.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: Europe's woes and weaker US data released overnight drives the Australian Dollar to yearly lows.

A new earthquake hits Italy which brought more destruction and death to the country. According to reports, 17 deaths were already accounted for due to this new earthquake.

The world greeted the guilty verdict handed down to a Thai journalist on Wednesday with grave concern even as a separate trial could further complicate the existing legal woes of Chiranuch Premchaiporn.

The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second straight day today, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) falling 0.4 pct or 15 pts to 4133.7. At its worst, the market was down 1.3 pct early in the session. May was the worst performing month for Australian shares in two years, with stocks down 7.5 pct.

Australian mining company Mindoro Resources Ltd. is out to spin off its gold and copper assets in the Philippines to focus on the development of its Agata nickel project, also in the same country.

Australia will become the lead country on NATO's winding down mission in Uruzgan, a province in Afghanistan where the country's 1,550 troops are currently deployed.

Can there really still be a mining boom for Australia in the future? Or should it better take stock of inventories and salvage what it can from an overrated golden mining era?

Government authorities from China's province of Liaoning have confirmed the discovery of a large iron ore reserve by Fushun Hanking Maogong Mining Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Hanking Holdings Limited.

Molycorp Inc.'s business plan to become a one-stop rare earths shop facility is almost on its heels after shareholders of its acquisition target, Neo Material Technologies Inc,. unanimously approved its takeover bid of the Canadian rare earths processor.

Slavery, according to the Australian government, remains thriving in many corners of the world and the country has its share of the problem in the form of arranged marriage, human organ trafficking and forced prostitution.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave the minerals resource rent tax a boost on Wednesday night by saying at the Minerals Council of Australia annual dinner that the government with go on with spreading the benefits of the mining boom.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott aims to disprove the claim by large Australian mining companies that there are not enough local miners to fill in vacancies. He issued a challenge for the mining firms to send a plane to New South Wales and Mr Oakeshott promised to fill the jet with workers from his electorate.