Mark Beyer

The state government has provided funding and planning support for the development of a visionary oil and gas precinct at the Australian Marine Complex at Henderson, south of Perth.

Western Australia’s two listed pearl producers have reported mixed financial results this month, with Atlas Pacific returning to profit and Atlantic suffering another loss.

Perth company Arafura Pearls’ plans of becoming a profitable pearl producer have suffered a big setback, with the company forced to raise extra capital to help it recover from cyclone damage and to reduce its debts.

The Construction, Forestry Mining and Energy Union is facing legal action on at least five fronts in Western Australia and that number is expected to increase despite the resolution of the recent dispute on the Mandurah rail project.

The expected duration of apprenticeships would be cut from four years to as little as three years under reform proposals being put to the state government.

The state government is seeking to reintroduce a training levy to the mining industry that could put up to $10 million a year into a trade training fund.

Alinta Ltd's hopes of acquiring Sydney-based The Australian Gas Light Company have taken a small but notable step forward after the two companies finalised a confidentiality agreement.

Western Australia's economy has continued to outperform the rest of the country and has pulled ahead of Queensland to be the best performing state, National Australia Bank has found.

Embattled former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge today stepped aside from the board of Australian Wool Services Ltd, the fourth such decision this week, as his link with the Iraq wheat scandal generates heat for other companies in his sphere like IBT Education

Technology has been driving big changes at Perth-based international printing franchise Snap Printing.

Planned reforms to building industry apprenticeships that were hailed as a major breakthrough have become bogged down in a technical dispute between industry groups and the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union.

Embattled former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge announced this week that he is taking leave from three public company boards, and the company that will be most relieved is IBT Education, which has felt heat on this issue from Canberra to Canada.

John Poynton’s Prime Health Group has further expanded its interests in the corporate health sector by acquiring RMS Corporation.

Former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge has responded to mounting pressure by announcing that he would step aside from his public company board positions.

Former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge has responded to mounting pressure by announcing that he would step aside from his public company board positions.

Two new medical research centres, worth a combined $200 million, will be built in Perth in an attempt to make Western Australia a world leader in medical and biotech research.

Premier Alan Carpenter has warned striking workers on the southern suburbs rail project to go back to work or else face "cataclysmic" consequences.

The Commonwealth Grants Commission has recommended that Western Australia's share of GST grants should be cut by $89 million because of increases in the state's revenue raising capacity.

Private engineering consulting firm PCT Engineers has received a boost with diversified Asian industrial company IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group agreeing to acquire a 25 per cent shareholding.

Orbital Corporation’s latest results gave investors a glimpse into its colourful past when it wrote-down the value of a $19 million interest-free loan provided by the state government.

Balcatta is home to two of WA’s best-known technology stocks – ERG and Orbital Corporation – and the little-known SafeEffect Technologies. They all have a troubled past but Mark Beyer finds that recent developments at each company point to a varied future

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has lifted a stop order on float hopeful Eneabba Gas, which says it is back on track with its proposed power station development.

Former Orbital director Ken Johnsen is leading the revival of little-known Balcatta company SafeEffect Technologies, which is aiming to relist on the Australian Stock Exchange this month after a two-and-a-half-year suspension.

Nearly three years ago, automated ticketing company ERG completed a major balance sheet restructuring and installed a new board of directors.

Wesfarmers Ltd subsidiary Energy Generation Pty Ltd, formerly StateWest Power, has been selected as the preferred bidder for five new power stations in Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley region.

Engineering and property company Clough Limited has announced a net loss of $16.7 million for the half-year to December 2005, and is cautiously positive about its future prospects.

Barry Gregory’s Alexander Education Group has made a big strategic shift this year by winding down its vocational training programs and establishing closer links with Murdoch University.

Education is one of Western Australia’s top export industries, worth an estimated $1 billion a year, but changes in the market are making it hard for the state to compete.

IBT Education completed one of Western Australia’s biggest stock market floats in 2004 and now ranks as a successful top-20 WA stock.

IBT Education is hardly a household name, yet the Perth company runs colleges across Australia and internationally that have more than 10,000 students.

New science and innovation minister Francis Logan has moved quickly to put his stamp on state government policy by identifying four industry sectors that he would target for growth.

Premier Alan Carpenter has put some substance to his declared support for the technology sector, announcing today he would travel to the United States to attend Bio 2006, the world's largest biotech industry conference and exhibition.