AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - MAY 1, 2009.

SYDNEY, May 1 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers:

AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:

- Tougher energy efficiency requirements for new homes will push up the cost of construction and should be offset in the federal budget this month with compensation for first-home buyers, the housing industry says.

- Macquarie Group will raise capital for the first time in two years, seeking to tap shareholders for more than $700 million to top up its prudential buffers and eliminate speculation over whether it is adequately capitalised to weather the rest of the financial crisis.

- The federal coalition is to challenge Treasurer Wayne Swan to reject Rio Tinto's alliance with Chinese mining giant Chinalco on the grounds it fails the national interest.

- The nation's biggest planned resources project has overcome one of its final regulatory hurdles after Western Australia's environmental agency reluctantly approved Chevron's expanded Gorgon gas plant on Barrow Island.

- Lihir's Arthur Hood Lihir Gold managing director Arthur Hood has defended the long-term prospects of its troubled Ballarat gold mine in Victoria, which provided the only bleak spot in an otherwise strong March quarter report.