Mark Beyer

Two of the most significant figures in Western Australia’s property and construction industry, Multiplex founder John Roberts and Wyllie Group chairman Bill Wyllie, died during the past year.

The momentous changes inside the Labor state government over the past six months have left Premier Alan Carpenter in a stronger position than his predecessor Geoff Gallop ever enjoyed.

It may just be coincidence, but the two men judged to be the most powerful chief executives in Western Australia are from the US.

Premier Alan Carpenter told a business lunch in Perth today that he was concerned about the impact of Australian Workplace Agreements on low-paid and low-skilled workers.

Perth company Resonance Health has introduced a major change in strategic direction after concluding that its core technology, developed at the University of Western Australia, would not be able to sustain the business.

The state government is planning to start a trial of school-based and part-time apprenticeships next month in partnership with two group training providers.

Australia’s skilled migration system could result in a glut of accounting graduates in a few years while doing little to address the acute shortage of engineers, a Perth conference was told last week.

The state government’s tax review has identified conveyance duty on property transactions as the top priority for reductions, while playing down the prospect of any changes to payroll tax rates.

Listed Nedlands company ISS Group Ltd is seeking to build on its strong position in the Australian market to become a global supplier of specialist software for process plants in the oil and gas and mining sectors.

The global mining services industry is a small place, judging by some of the people and companies involved in recent transactions.

Western Australia is one of the world’s great mining provinces but where are the great Perth-based mining services companies?

The Australian mining industry has provided a strong platform for contract drilling and drilling services companies such as Ausdrill, Brandrill and Imdex, but attempts to move into the international market have met with mixed success.

Nick Archibald, the founder of pioneering Western Australian minerals software developer Fractal Graphics, is close to completing his biggest ever deal as chief executive of listed Canadian company Geoinformatics Exploration Inc.

In-house corporate lawyers are keen to explore alternatives to traditional hourly billing but struggle to gain buy-in from their external legal advisers, an industry survey has found.

The mining industry is pushing the federal government to change its migration rules and make it easier to bring geologists, metallurgists and temporary workers into the country.

The West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers produced strong profit results last year but a close analysis of their annual accounts shows that West Coast is much stronger financially than its cross-town rival.

Perth drug discovery company Phylogica has become Australia’s top biotech stock this year, with its share price up by about 250 per cent over the past five months.

The state government’s ambitious plan for the world’s largest radio telescope could complicate the development of Murchison Metal’s Jack Hills iron ore project in the Mid-West.

Native title agreements reached in Western Australia during the past year have a major focus on providing employment and business opportunities for Aboriginal people.

The federal government provides just more than $50 million each year to native title representative bodies (NTRB), yet both business and Aboriginal groups agree this is grossly inadequate.

Twenty-three Western Australian inventions, in sectors ranging from drug delivery to communications and minerals processing, will be on show at next month’s Commercialisation Expo 2006 in Melbourne.

Legal action against nickel miner Minara Resources has provided a stark reminder that negotiating a native title agreement is not the end of the matter for mining companies.

A quick statistical snapshot neatly sums up the legal difficulties associated with native title. Presently, there are 606 native title applications awaiting resolution and most have been before the Federal Court for a matter of years.

While native title is increasingly delivering on its promises for all parties, there remain those who aren’t convinced.

Australia’s biggest live sheep exporter, Emanuel Exports Pty Ltd, is planning a constitutional challenge to animal cruelty charges brought by the state government under the Animal Welfare Act.

The owner of the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline has opted for a staged capacity expansion, fuelling speculation that planned expansion projects at Alcoa's Wagerup alumina refinery and BHP Billiton's Worsley Alumina refinery will be deferred.

Construction and development group GRD Ltd intends to sell down 180 million shares in its New Zealand gold mining subsidiary OceanaGold, now reducing its stake from 56.94 per cent to 6.94 per cent.

Mortgage brokers could double their share of housing loans with the biggest winners likely to be the industry’s big players such as Perth-based Australian Finance Group, a conference in Perth was told last week.

Malaysian investment fund Navis Capital Partners is looking to expand its Australian presence after entering an agreement to buy Perth-based printing franchise Worldwide Online Printing.

The top executive at BankWest parent HBOS plc has endorsed the aggressive and innovative growth strategy being pursued by the bank in Western Australia and on the east coast.

Technology Park manager Zernike Australia is planning to widen its activities, with new chief executive Arnold Stroobach looking to build stronger ties with the university sector and establish new medical centres.

Technology investor Entrepreneurs in Residence is planning a major diversification by establishing a US$20 million ($26 million) venture capital fund targeting Australian companies expanding into China.