Fraser Beattie

Defence Issues Minister Paul Papalia says Western Australia has been dudded in the federal government’s $89 billion naval shipbuilding plan, of which WA will receive just over $3 billion of work, while the prime minister has lauded it as “unashamedly nationalistic”.

Perth businessman John Langoulant has been appointed to lead the state government’s commission of inquiry into the Barnett government’s spending on 26 projects over the past eight years.

A former New Zealand bureaucrat has been appointed to lead a three-person panel that will conduct a review into the state’s public service, where Premier Mark McGowan is targeting $750 million in savings.

Family-owned German shipbuilder Lürssen will be setting up shop in the Australian Marine Complex through a partnership with Civmec and government-owned ASC.

Western Australian car retailers will be hoping for better May numbers after new vehicle sales fell 12.7 per cent in April.

Shares in Pilbara Minerals were up 20 per cent on news the company has inked a major offtake and $US20 million investment agreement it says will pave the way for final funding of development of its Pilgangoora lithium project.

Junior explorler Azonto Petroleum has announced plans to farm-in to an oil and gas project in Canada through the acquisition of one of the project’s joint venture partners, which is owned by Perth executive Alan Stein.

Multiple public holidays in April are considered a likely contributer to a soft housing market for the month, with Perth house prices slipping into negative territory again amid a slowdown across the country.

The state government has cut the number of its departments from 41 to 25, with a fifth of jobs in the Senior Executive Service – Western Australia’s highest-paid bureaucrats – to go.

Mount Gibson Iron will spend nearly $100 million on the redevelopment of its Koolan Island iron ore mine, with the company’s board giving the green light to bring the operation out of care and maintenance.

Strandline Resources has attracted Rio Tinto for a $14.5 million farm-in agreement at its heavy mineral sands tenement portfolio in Tanzania.

Ausdrill-Barminco joint venture African Underground Mining Services has won a $US280 million ($A373 million) contract to provide its services to Newmont Mining’s Subika underground gold operation in Ghana.

UPDATED: Building commissioner Peter Gow has issued a clarifying statement today (Tuesday), essentially confirming the state government's view that lead leaching directly from brass fittings remains the only significant source of lead at Perth Children’s Hospital.

The recently recruited global sales manager of Perth engineering company VEEM has been forced to resign after his former employer took Supreme Court action, claiming he breached terms of his employment agreement.

The state government has taken control of the trouble-plagued Perth Children’s Hospital to solve what it believes is the cause of the ongoing lead contamination problem.

Carnegie Clean Energy has tripled the size of its capital raising to $18 million after accepting oversubscriptions from a share purchase plan and undertaking an additional placement.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced the abolishment of the 457 skilled visa program, which will be replaced by a visa with new requirements for temporary foreign workers.

Shares in mineral sands miner MZI Resources were higher on news one of the company’s existing offtake partners had agreed to take additional leucoxene product from its Keysbrook mine near Serpentine.

TRG Properties executive Tanya Trevisan has been elected president of the Property Council of Australia’s WA division, replacing Tony Perrin who left the role after just two months following his departure from Frasers Property Australia.

A day after the Takeovers Panel put restrictions on the voting power of a group of shareholders in Indiana Resources, the same group has withdrawn plans to seek a board restructure vote at an upcoming general meeting.

The jobless rate in Western Australia notched up 0.4 percentage points last month, while national unemployment figures remained steady.

Western Areas has reignited plans to upgrade its Cosmic Boy concentrator in the light of interest in nickel in the electric vehicle battery market, with GR Engineering Services to carry out the work.

Telstra shares fell today after internet provider TPG Telecom said it would build Australia's fourth mobile network for about $1.9 billion, after securing much-needed mobile spectrum in a government auction.

After locking in a $US20 million ($A26 million) debt facility agreement last week, aspiring coal miner Paringa Resources has tapped investors for $53 million to fund development of its Poplar Grove mine in Kentucky.

A research collaboration between CoreLogic and ratings agency Moody’s has predicted a turnaround in Perth’s depressed property market this year, with a 2.8 per cent rise in detached house values foreshadowed.

Neometals hopes to reap about $US96 million ($A125 million) from the sale of its interest in the Mt Marion lithium mine near Kalgoorlie, with the operation’s joint venture partners given a pre-emptive right to buy the stake.

Todd River Resources has closed higher on its ASX debut, after spinning-out of Perth-based minerals explorer TNG and raising $6 million in an initial public offering.

Two competing subsea cables are set to be built between Perth and Singapore after Vocus Communications finalised construction contracts this week, coinciding with a Telstra-led consortium striking an agreement with the same builder.

Bronwyn Barnes has been appointed the new chair of West Perth-based Indiana Resources, on the same day the company went to the Takeovers Panel to fight attempts by a group of shareholders to oust existing directors.

New car sales in Western Australia slipped another 3.8 per cent last month, dragging its performance for the year even further away from parity.

Former BHP Billiton executive Julius Matthys has been named interim chief executive of Quintis, after Frank Wilson resigned on Tuesday to plot a takeover of the Indian sandalwood producer.

Nickel miner Western Areas will progress plans to develop a new deposit at its mothballed Cosmos project, after today revealing a $210 million capex to bring the mine into production.