Gary Kleyn

ONE of the world's largest shippers, the Mediterranean Shipping Company, is moving its Australian head office to Fremantle.

THE last four interest rate increases had significantly slowed the new housing market, according to Master Builders Australia.

The Australian Taxation Office web site has been operating for some years and the ATO has constantly strived to improve the site's services.

INTEREST only loans provide better tax benefits for property investors according to Investors Club member Graham Kirby.“The only component that is tax deductible in these loans is the interest, and not the principal reductions,” Mr Kirby said.

ONE of the most publicly-scrutinised initiatives in the WA Government's competition reform agenda – the contracting out of Transperth bus services – has been revisited by the WA Auditor General Des Pearson.

BGC Construction has won the major prize in the 2000 Master Builders' Excellence in Construction Awards for the $14.2 million TVW Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Subiaco.

ALTHOUGH the GST has now arrived, there is confusion in many areas.

THE attraction of Northbridge as a centre for new hi-tech companies has been highlighted by a number of leasing deals struck by NSC Corporate.

THE Perth International Airport Terminal remodelling proposal is in its initial stage, according to a spokeswoman for Westralia Airports Corporation director of engineering and maintenance Torben Petersen.

UNCERTAINTY over interest rates and the spectre of major tax system changes has contributed to a slump in WA business confidence during the June quarter according to the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

THE lower and middle-priced housing markets have performed well during the past year with many suburbs rising at a faster rate than the overall median house price of 5.4 per cent during the past year.

THE Busselton Chamber of Commerce has won approval for Sunday trading for the South West seaside town.Fair Trading Minister Doug Shave said Busselton shops could trade between 11:00am and 4:00pm on Sundays.The Chamber application was made in order t..

SMALL GST-registered retailers can expect a one-off credit for their embedded wholesale sales tax.

MORE than 300 real estate agencies in WA – about one in five – will disappear during the first year after the introduction of the GST, according to Geoff Baldwin Team managing director Geoff Baldwin.

Malcolm Richmond has turned his back on the private sector and joined the education arena with his appointment to Curtin University of Technology as professorial fellow in the Curtin Business School and the WA School of Mines.

A NEW nursery at Manjimup in the South West will be used in the war against salinity in the State.

WA HAS recorded its highest number of working days lost in one month through industrial disputes since April 1997, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureauof Statistics.

THE eastern part of the CBD area around Barrack Street – long regarded as a Cinderalla retail area – is poisedto become a major shopping hub, according to NSC Corporate Property Consultants director Andrew Campbell.

BGC Australia – WA's largest new home building company _ has announced major expansion plans for the company in the South West

AFTER a decade of underperformance, the Perth office leasing market is poised for strong rental growth that will lead to a new round of office tower construction in the city, according to Knight Frank office leasing director Ian Edwards.

BELMONT-based All Year Gas & Airconditioning has been named Australian established business of the year in the Micro Business Awards.

REAL estate agents are redefining themselves by acting as one-stop shops for their clients, providing anything from toilet paper to computer equipment to a cleaner

RECENT press suggested that the government had done a back flip and decided not to proceed with its previously announced alienation of personal income legislation.

THE WA roller door market is set for a shake-up following the sale of 50 per cent of Perth-based TG Doors to Adelaide company Gliderol Garage Doors.

BEST Western hotel chain WA managing director Laurie O'Meara has been appointed by Tourism Minister Norman Moore to the Rottnest Island Authority for two years.

A PERTH building company and a cabinet maker are looking at a possible joint venture to capture benefits from the huge growth spurt in South West wineries and produce barrels – in place of imported ones from Europe.

WA IS Australia's leading and fastest growing natural gas market with just under 50 per cent of primary energy share, according to Australian Gas Association industry development manager David Parker.

LISTED Property Trusts will continue to grow through amalgamations and consolidations as a result of pressures of globalisation, according to Australian Property Institute national president Ian Dalgarno.

WA WINEMAKER Xanadu has beaten winemakers from more than twenty countries to win two gold metals at the Singapore International Wine Challenge.

PERTH'S new soccer stadium could pose serious problems for CBD commuters.

IN RESPONSE to confusion in the small business sector inrelation to laws governing leasing, the Small Business Development Corporation has released a guide to commercial leasing.Leasing Business Premises: A Commercial and Practical Guide aims to assi

AUSTRALIAN mineral resource export earnings increased by7 per cent during the March quarter to $11,000 million according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.Exports of crude oil and other refinery feedstock were the larges