Erik Pineda

Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan is set to argue his case as the tax fraud case filed against the Australian commenced its hearing on Monday in the Federal Court of Sydney.

A new report suggested that online and print advertisements of available jobs in Australia surged anew in October though it warned at the same time that only firm growth should be expected in the medium term.

Following the assurance of independence provided by Actividades de Construccion y Servicios (ACS) of Spain, Australia’s Leighton Holdings Ltd declared on Monday that no further attempts of blocking ACS’s takeover bid of Germany’s Hochtief would emanate from the giant construction firm.

Spending cuts must be strictly observed if the federal government really intends to return to budget surplus by 2013, that according to opposition leader Tony Abbott.

Emerging reports pointed to a possibility that Australia’s major banks are inching their way to some sort of reforms that would see the lowering of mortgage exit fess required from clients wanting to change their loan provider.

The six-month extension again required for the completion of the problem-plagued $4.4 billion Oakajee port and rail project in Western Australia adds up to the mounting woes of the proposed deepwater port, following numerous delays in the past.

It appears that the federal government has overcome another hurdle on its ongoing campaign to split up giant telecommunication firm Telstra Corporation Ltd in preparation for the full roll out of its National Broadband Network (NBN).

Qantas moved swiftly to ground its entire fleet of A380 aircrafts following the scary episode in Singapore where a plane suffered a blown engine after its take off, endangering the lives of passengers and crews of flight en route to Australia.

South Australia is all set for a bumper season as the state government announced that farmers in the region would harvest a total of 9.62 million tonnes, the biggest crop yield ever for the state since the 9.4 million tonnes recorded in 2001.

Australia will return to a budget surplus by 2013 as driven by a determined and committed Labor-led federal government.

Fanning further the already burning issue of banking controversies, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said on Friday that he is set to file a legislation that would bolster the power of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Share market reforms were meant to create competition against dominant stock operator Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and still protect the interests of investors.

Queensland mining mogul Clive Palmer could go ahead with his takeover plans for Gladstone Pacific Nickel Ltd, according to the federal government, who declared on Friday that it would not get in the way of the brewing acquisition.

Weeks after the meltdown of its iron ore partnership deal with Rio Tinto Ltd, BHP Billiton suffered another blow on Thursday when the Canadian government affirmed the earlier dumping of the mining giant’s $40 billion takeover proposal for Potash Corporation by the provincial government of Saskatchewan.

Broadband provider Optus was found guilty of violating the provisions of the country’s Trade Practices Act as a Federal Court determined that the telco firm deceived and misled consumers during its campaign blitz that commenced April this year.

A new report maintains that Queensland could suffer from skilled workers shortage mainly due to insufficient supply and fierce competitions offered by other mining projects across Australia and around the world.

Travellers can look forward for a much better access to Brisbane Airport as work on the bypass road to the terminal has been progressing well and first stage of the project should be unveiled within the next few days.

Those SUVs keep on rolling out from car dealers’ stations and helped Australian motor vehicle sales surging as of the month of October, according to the latest car sales figures furnished by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) on Thursday.

The Australian economy is still nursing some soft spots as the latest retails sales data suggested that consumers remain wary of spending their hard-earned money.

Following its breach of the $6 billion profit mark this week, media reports circulated that Westpac Banking Corporation is mulling the separation of up to 6000 jobs across its operations within the next two years.

The thought of switching banks was not even considered by most Australians, regarding the move as non-essential and fraught with too much hassle with no clear benefits at all.

Now, luxury enthusiasts do not need to leave the comfort of their homes in snatching those designer goods sitting on store shelves as they too have found their way on monitor screens, all for the taking with the use of some finger strokes by Aussie shoppers.

Believing at the moment that ceding control of the world’s biggest fertiliser producer to a foreign entity amounts to insufficient net benefit for Canada, its federal government shut the door for now on BHP Billiton Ltd’s $US40 billion or $A40.13 billion takeover bid for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

In an effort to bolster the prospect of more profits for its shareholders, Westfield Group gave birth to Westfield Retail Trust on Wednesday, which it said would consolidate up to 50 percent of the property group’s Australian and New Zealand assets.

Western Australia is poised to reap more financial benefits once it decides to support the federal-sponsored national health reform plan and the same goes with all the other states.

Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd booked a three-month profit of $S14.1 million or $A11.0 million as of September 30, which the airline attributed to ballooning revenue that exceeded its also increasing passenger traffic.

National carrier Qantas Airways Ltd lowered its latest capacity projection increases for the first half of 2010/11, downgrading its traffic forecast from the full-year numbers reported in August.

Media assets are attracting attention these days and the spotlight is trained at this time to David Gyngell, who was tasked to take the helm at PBL Media, once a territory of James Packer who now toys with the idea of heading Channel Ten, if analysts were to be believed.

Diverse manufacturing firm CSR Ltd (ASX: CSR) came out of the red during the first six months of financial year 2010/11 and returned to profit status as of the end of September, with growth projections on its building products division for the rest of the current year.