Jim Hawtin

ANOTHER $3 million to $10 million of taxpayers’ money could be spent to reconfigure the Geraldton Port, which recently underwent a $103 million upgrade, because it cannot cope with growing iron ore exports.

WESTERN Australia’s hard rock exploration and mining sector has expressed deep disappointment at what some are calling a lack of long-term vision by the Federal Government in its 2004-05 budget.

THE chances of salvaging up to $300 million worth of Western Australian wheat exports to Indonesia appear to have worsened despite recent Federal Government attempts to appease the largest private buyer of Australia’s wheat.

WESTERN Australia’s wine industry came under the international spotlight last week when Margaret River hosted the inaugural International Wine Tourism Conference 2004.

THE UK has firmed in its ranking among Western Australia’s top 10 trading partners in recent years, but there are questions as to whether the complex international gold trading system has led to an overstating of this elevated status.

THE president of BHP Billiton Iron Ore has warned Western Australia’s resource sector to do its homework on labour relations as the upcoming Federal election brings the possibility of a change in government before the end of the year.

AUSTRALIAN business visa approval rates in China have improved by 5 per cent in the past three years, according to the Federal Government.

THE Australia Chinese Business Council has moved to quell what it is says are growing frustrations over strict visa requirements Chinese people are facing travelling to Australia.

UNSOLICITED resume distribution is not only damaging WA job hunters’ prospects but also the reputation of the local recruitment industry, according to the WA branch of the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association.

WESTERN Australia’s rock lobster industry has welcomed next month’s accession of eight countries in Central Europe to the European Union.

WESTERN Australia’s iron ore producers appear unfazed over recent moves by the Chinese Government to cool its rapidly expanding economy.

THE president of the Australia China Business Council has warned the presence of Australian politicians at the inauguration of Taiwan’s re-elected president next month could pose problems for Western Australian businesses.

SPECULATION is growing over the further delay of WMC’s sale of its last major Kambalda nickel mine – the underground Lanfranchi project.

WITH Beijing milk stands selling out of their daily supplies of fresh milk before 9am most mornings, things could be looking up for western Australia’s dairy industry.

A PASSION for Western Australia’s raw coastline combined with a long-held determination to produce quality surf wear targeting the surfing lifestyle is something WA wet suit and surfwear company,

THE education of Federal Opposition leader and Western Sydney resident Mark Latham about the importance of Western Australia’s resource industry got off to a shaky start last week.

THE proprietors of a Western Australian-developed hair regrowth treatment have embarked on a promotional tour of the US to capitalise on interest in their product.

BHP Billiton has given the strongest indication yet that plans for a 300-strong residential workforce model to service a $1.86 billion nickel mining operation at Ravensthorpe will

Investment in exploration has remained relatively stagnant in recent years, prompting the Federal Government to consider providing initiatives to kick-start activity in the industry, as Jim Hawtin and David Gibson report.

AUSTRALIAN exploration levels have remained flat as increasing numbers of small-to-medium resource companies look offshore, adding their weight to increasing global exploration expenditure.

AMENDMENTS to Western Australia’s Occupational Safety and Health Act, which include the new penalty of jail terms for grossly negligent managers, “reflect community expectations”, according to Consumer and Employment Protection Minister John Kobelke.

IF THE level of interest at a recent national Indigenous tourism conference is anything to go by, Indigenous participation in the Western Australia tourism industry is set to grow.

HIGHLY lauded University of Western Australia finance graduate and former WA league footballer, Joe Procter has put himself into a postion to help commercially-minded Aborigines break into the world of business.

THE Western Australian Government has weighed into the debate over Indonesia flour millers possibly slashing their Australian wheat orders.

SLOWLY parts of the WA Indigenous community are emerging to commercialise the synergies between the WA mining industry and Indigenous Australians.

FOR a town of 13,500 Broome certainly has its fair share of air services.

TALKING from a mobile phone in the small mid-west fishing village of Shark Bay, Yadgalah Aboriginal Corporation chairman Ben Bellottie emits pride as he describes the change taking hold in his local community.

AWAY from the mining and tourism projects more akin to WA’s regionally dispersed Aboriginal population, two local groups are successfully finding their feet in the metropolitan commercial property market.

NORTHEN Asia’s rapacious demand for Australian iron ore continues.

AS Federal politicians sound the death knell for Australia’s peak Indigenous representative body – the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Commission – a different  kind of will is slowly emerging to advance indigenous Australia’s plight.

THREE new resorts and significant refurbishments will pour an estimated $50 million of investment into Broome’s hospitality sector over the next few years.

DRAWN-OUT negotiations between a Rio Tinto-led joint venture and the Western Australian Government over long-held bauxite deposits in the Kimberley region have concluded for the time being with the joint venture agreeing to allow the third party access