Australia & New Zealand

Financial News

National Australia's Stewart Expects Opportunities to Buy Amid Asset Sales National Australia Bank Ltd., the country's biggest by assets, expects acquisition opportunities as lenders and securities firms sell assets amid a global credit crisis.

BG Must Bid for Contact Energy If Origin Takeover Succeeds, N.Z. Decides BG Group Plc, the third-biggest U.K. natural gas company, will have to make a cash bid for Contact Energy Ltd. if its bid for Australian parent company Origin Energy Ltd. succeeds, New Zealand's takeovers regulator said.

Chalco, Baosteel, Sinosteel Interested in Fortescue Stake, Australian Says Aluminum Corp. of China has joined rival Chinese steelmakers seeking a stake in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Australia's new iron ore exporter, the Australian reported, without saying where it got the information.

Sigma, Metcash to Offer Under $940 Million for Symbion Unit, Review Says Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and retailer Metcash Ltd. are set to offer less than A$1 billion ($940 million) for the consumer and pharmaceutical wholesale units formerly owned by Symbion Health Ltd.

New Zealand House Prices Post Slowest Annual Gain in More Than Three Years New Zealand's house prices rose at the slowest pace in more than three years in April as record- high interest rates curbed demand for property.

Qantas Faces Industrial Action By Maintenance Engineers Over Pay Offer Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's biggest airline, faces overtime bans and stop-work meetings by maintenance engineers starting next week, after refusing to improve a pay offer.

Shell Australia Will Resume Premium Gasoline Supplies in New South Wales Royal Dutch Shell Plc, one of Australia's four crude-oil refiners, said it will resume supplies of premium gasoline in New South Wales in advance of completing a A$150 million ($142 million) plant upgrade.

General News

Australia Boosts Aid for Relief of Myanmar Cyclone Victims to $24 Million The Australian government boosted financial aid to victims of last weekend's cyclone in Myanmar more than eightfold to A$25 million ($24 million), Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.

Australian Regulator Criticizes State Governments Over Water, Review Says Australia's competition regulator accused the country's eight state governments of failing to deliver on promises to facilitate a free market in water rights, the Financial Review reported.

Swan Says Australia's Government to Review Personal and Company Tax System Australia's government plans a comprehensive review of the nation's tax system, including personal and company levies and the implications on taxation of an emissions-trading system, Treasurer Wayne Swan said.

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