The Northern Territory news Wed 2 Feb 2011
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2011-02-02
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
Copyright. Made available by the publisher under licence.
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/230685
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/670702
22 NT NEWS. Wednesday, February 2, 2011. www.ntnews.com.au P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 2 -F E B -2 0 1 1 P A G E : 2 2 C O L O R : C M Y K BUSINESS WEEK l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ntnews.com.au Homeowners up the creek CANBERRA: About half of all the homeowners affected by the summer floods in eastern Australia did not have insurance cover for the disaster. Thats because they did not have riverine flood insurance, prompting federal Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten to call for simpler language in policies. There are a lot of views from consumers groupswho are frustrated that home and content policies are hieroglyphic, Mr Shorten said yesterday. MoreAussie economygrowth CANBERRA: The Australian economy is set to continue its strong growth this year through its ties to China, with a bonus of a recovery in the US economy, says a leading finance analyst. ANZ chief economistWarren Hogan said demand for commodities would underpin the local economy as China buys the resources to fuel its economic growth. Chinas economy is expected to grow between 8 and 9 per cent in the next couple of years. New press for NT News By NIGEL ADLAM Artists impression of the new press to be installed at the NT News Hans Vos TheNTNews (was the) the prototype ... of a new, open newspaper building Old days at the NT News THE NT News is about to perform one of the toughest tricks of the trade continue publishing while installing a new press. A new press will be installed in a special extension behind the old press while the old press is still running. The whole project will cost about $16m. Doomsayers have long been predicting the demise of newspapers. But the NT News and its sister paper, the Sunday Territorian, continue to prosper. And the installation of a new state-of-the-art press is seen as a massive display of faith in newspaper publishing and the Territorys economic future. Concept designer Hans Vos has designed the extension. Its like coming home for the long-time Territorian he designed the News Ltd building in McMinn St in 1985. His design won the Tracy Award that year. The trophy was presented to News Ltd boss Rupert Murdoch when he visited Darwin. Rupert Murdoch liked the building and said to me, Ill be in touch. And he was. Mr Vos was contracted to work on News Ltd buildings in Melbourne, Adelaide and Hong Kong over many years. The NT News building was the original, the prototype, if you like, of a new, open newspaper building, he said. Its got a great frontage and lots of windows. Its a very transparent building where everybody can see whats going on and work well together. And it takes advantage of the good views to be had. It still looks good. The new building will be constructed by PW Baxter and Associates, which has operated in Darwin for more than 30 years. Managing director Paul Baxter said News Ltd had been one of the companys first customers and it was good to be doing business with the international media corporation again. The steel-frame building will be 7m wide and 24m long. Work will begin in two weeks and be finished by August. News Ltds Territory manager Grant Galvin said there would be no disruption to publishing newspapers would still be published seven-days-a-week. Short-termpain from floods MELBOURNE: Recent floods on Australias east coast will hurt agriculture, but the sector is expected to benefit in the long term from better moisture profiles and strong commodity prices. Releasing its latest Agribusiness Index yesterday, the Commonwealth Bank said agribusiness companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange ended 2010 positively, but the sector would suffer short-term negativity in 2011. Floods key to stable cash rate Glenn Stevens SYDNEY: Low inflation and floods helped spare borrowers a February rate rise, but economists say high terms of trade could force hikes later in the year. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) yesterday cited low inflation and the temporary adverse effect of the Queensland floods on the nations economy as reasons for keeping the cash rate at 4.75 per cent. RBA governor Glenn Stevens also said he expected inflation to remain within the RBAs two to three per cent target band over the year. In setting monetary policy, the bank will, as on past occasions where natural disasters have occurred, look through the estimated effects of these short-term events on activity and prices, Mr Stevens said. But economists say high terms of trade will accelerate economic growth. That would give the RBA reason to take the cash rate as high as 5.5 per cent by the fourth quarter of the year, JP Morgan economist Helen Kevans said. We werent too surprised by the (RBAs) statement, she said. The medium term outlook for inflation is uncomfortably high. The central bank last raised the cash rate in early November, from 4.5 per cent to its current 4.75 per cent. Confidence down on flood worries SYDNEY: Business confidence collapsed in December 2010 to an almost two-year low, as the nation braced itself for the extreme weather that left Queensland devastated, National Australia Bank says. But the NAB Monthly Business Survey showed business conditions improved in the month, thanks to a sharp retail trade rise. Business confidence fell nine points to -3 in the month, the confidence series first negative reading since April 2009. Mining and wholesale had the lowest confidence levels in December, each with a reading of -24. The worsening January situation in Queensland mining and transport may explain the sharp decline in confidence in mining, transport and utilities, wholesale, construction and manufacturing, the survey said. NAB has revised its economic growth forecasts and now tips a 2.4 per cent growth over 2011, down from the 3.6 per cent forecast in the November survey. By removing the Queensland component from the survey, national business confidence barely escaped negative territory, with an index reading of +1. JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said he was surprised by the findings. The fundamental backdrop for the economy remains pretty robust . . . and the outlook remains strong, he said. Takeover bid for Kresta PERTH: Window blinds retailer Kresta Holdings Ltd says it has received a $46.9 million cash takeover bid from an entity associated with its chairman, Ian Trahar, who says an attractive premium has been offered. The bid from Wildweb Enterprises Pty Ltd comes about six weeks after Hunter Hall Investment Management Ltd, Krestas largest shareholder, requested an extraordinary general meeting of Kresta investors to oust Mr Trahar and Krestas non-executive director Peter Hatfull. Hunter Hall wants the executives replaced with two of its nominees. Manufacturing hit by decline SYDNEY: Manufacturing activity remained soft in January due to weaker domestic demand and a stronger Australian dollar, a survey showed. The Australian Industry Group/PwC Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) rose 0.4 points to 46.7 in January, below 50 for the fifth straight month. Readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity. Nine of the 12 manufacturing subsectors posted declines in activity for the month. Australian Industry group chief executive Heather Ridout said it reflected the complex nature of the Australian economy.