Mark Beyer

The state government has delivered an unusual flurry of major social infrastructure announcements over the past week.

Two months after UK company Cape plc completed its $250 million takeover of Malaga scaffolding and formwork supplier PCH Group Ltd, nearly the entire management team has left PCH.

The family of late Multiplex founder John Roberts is among the winners from three long-running tax disputes that have gone to the courts – and all decided in favour of the taxpayers.

The state government has announced plans to amend the Stamp Act, with immediate effect, after Origin Energy successfully challenged a $3 million stamp duty assessment.

The past week has thrown up a raft of extraordinary policy challenges for the Carpenter and Rudd governments, which are presiding over unusual times.

Law firm Lavan Legal has become the inaugural client for a secure email service that listed Perth technology company, Synergy Equities Group, believes sets a new benchmark.

After months of takeover speculation and feuding between Mid West iron ore miners Murchison Metals and Midwest Corporation, the two companies are once again independently pursuing their expansion plans.

Investors who have backed Paul van Saarloos over the past two decades have been on a rocky ride, but the Perth medical entrepreneur is increasingly confident that his current company is on the verge of success.

The Australian Small Scale Offerings Board is planning to revive the concept of a venture capital pitch event in Perth, to give emerging companies an opportunity to showcase their credentials.

Property developer Ascot Capital, Clive Palmer's mining group Mineralogy and conglomerate Wesfarmers were the biggest donors to political parties in Western Australia in 2006-07, data released by the Australian Electoral Commission has shown.

With Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group set to become the Pilbara’s third iron ore exporter this year, many other companies are racing to join the ranks of iron ore producers in the resource-rich region.

An experiment in public sector reform came to an untimely end last week with the resignation of Health Department director general Neale Fong.

Mr McGinty went out on a limb when he recruited Dr Fong to head up the state’s ambitious health reform plans, following the Reid Review

Western Australia’s third largest fertiliser supplier, United Farmers Cooperative Company, is being sold for an upfront payment of $6 million after tumbling to an $8 million trading loss last financial year, an offer document released by its purchaser has

The development of the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson as a major hub for Western Australian industry took a step forward last week when construction got under way on the local component of a $60 million floating dock.

Four months after completing its purchase of Alinta, investment group Babcock & Brown has commenced expansion of its infrastructure business in Western Australia under a new brand.

Technology companies typically emerge from universities and other research institutions, but one WA success story that evolved away from the limelight was ThinkSmart.

One of the buzz phrases of the 1980s and 1990s was “the now generation”.

The crisis in the US housing market has led to mounting concerns about the global economic outlook, but recent analyses have concluded that Western Australian exporters have little to worry about.

The holiday season is usually a slow news period, but one very important announcement that came out between Christmas and new year was the state government’s mid-year budget review.

An informal survey of investment bankers and corporate advisers has highlighted Wesfarmers’ $20 billion takeover of Coles Group as the top deal of 2007.

Oil and gas producer Chevron is planning to seek environmental approval for an additional gas production train on Barrow Island, after deciding to expand the capacity of its proposed Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project by 50 per cent.

NewGen Power and Rick Stowe's Griffin Energy have signed long-term electricity supply contracts with state-owned retailer Synergy, paving the way for major new gas and coal-fired power stations to proceed.

Plans to build a $400 million lumber project at Albany have effectively come to an end after Subiaco company Lignor Ltd said it had failed to raise $350 million, triggering the resignation of its managing director Glyn Denison.

Shipbuilder Austal Ltd announced today that its United States subsidiary has finalised a funding agreement with the US Navy, under which a portion of the costs of its planned manufacturing facility in Alabama will be reimbursed.

Woodside Petroleum has awarded the engineering contract for its Pluto gas plant to a FosterWheeler WorleyParsons joint venture, continuing the run of success Sydney-based WorleyParsons has had in Western Australia.

Prime minister Kevin Rudd and the premiers have agreed at today's Council of Australian Governments meeting to set up several working groups to drive policy reform.

The corporate sector’s focus on sustainable business practices has been reflected in the attention paid to environmental management, occupational health and safety and corporate governance awards.

Mining services companies dominated the major business awards programs in Western Australia in 2007, which was a fitting reflection of the economic drivers during the year.

This week’s property trust rout has highlighted the way in which an unexpected ‘x’ factor can change economic and market trends.

Ten years ago this month, Perth entrepreneur Graeme Morgan collected a giant payout when he and his fellow shareholders agreed to sell one of Perth’s great business success stories for $272 million.

The state Liberal Party has put forward a radical plan to phase out commercial shipping activity at Fremantle harbour in favour of a new port at Kwinana adjacent to the private port planned by private company James Point Pty Ltd.