Adani gave Glencore nine days to fix problems at Abbot Point, court hears

A senior Adani executive admitted he was trying to cancel a contract for resource company Glencore to operate at Abbot Point coal terminal in North Queensland when it gave the company nine days to remedy defects, according to the Australian Financial Review.

As speculation mounts about whether Adani's $16.5 billion Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin will ever be built, the Indian energy giant has become embroiled in another legal battle, this time with Glencore over the management of its port near Bowen.

Questions remain over BHP dividend

BHP Billiton's output might be in decline but investors are more worried about whether it can afford its longstanding dividend policy, which is set to deliver $US6.6 billion in 2016, according to the Australian Financial Review.

As the commodity price carnage mounts, the spotlight is turning more keenly on BHP's balance sheet and the fate of its progressive dividend policy, which ensures its annual payout does not go backwards.

Government fast tracks $187m of work in north Queensland jobs push

The Queensland government has increased its accelerated spending in Townsville to $187 million in an infrastructure program it says will employ 430 people in the north, in the wake of 237 job losses at Clive Palmer's Yabulu nickel refinery, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was in Townsville on Wednesday meeting with affected Queensland Nickel workers and her cabinet's Working Queensland committee.

Palaszczuk announced on Wednesday an additional $126 million would be added to the $61 million that was announced in the government's accelerated works program on Sunday.