Mark Pownall

FEW people will argue that innovation is the key to surviving in increasingly global markets.

AMP has put the horrors of the GIO takeover behind them, last week announcing an unexpected $1.5 billion turnaround in net profit.

LESS than a third of WA’s listed companies produced a return considered adequate during 2000, with most of them failing to beat the All Ordinaries Index and prob-ably leaving investors wondering why they didn’t leave their money in the bank.

BIG changes to tax laws have failed to change peoples’ tax planning habits, with many leaving decisions on investment in tax effective schemes until at least the second half of the year.

THEY say a week is a long time in politics and recent events certainly support that theory.

SPOOKED by an unhappy electorate, the past week has seen a major turnaround in the Federal Government's thinking.

In his first interview since being ousted as the chief of Western Metals last November, Rod Webster tells Business News he is ready for another challenge. Mark Pownall reports

SOME people are still offering the romance of a little vineyard in Margaret River, albeit in a commercial package which would be a credit to any investment banker’s innovation.

WA’S highly regarded wine industry is consolidating into the hands of fewer, bigger players as commercial reality relegates romance to the marketing speel found on the back of a bottle.

THE worst kept secret in WA's liquor industry was finally broken this week when Woolworths confirmed it had acquired the Patrick Stephen-son's 45-store Liberty Liquors chain for a reputed $60 million.

GIMMICKS have long been an important sales aid, but for the tradition-steeped wine industry they are a relatively new concept – creeping in as producers jostle for consumer attention.

A PERTH architect has found a novel way to tackle construction problems around the sensitive Kings Park escarpment – the building will “walk” its way up.

MARGARET River wine producer Xanadu is poised to bring its $30 million stock market listing forward as the pace of corporate activity in WA’s wine industry accelerates.

IT’S taken about six months of high-level negotiations, in-cluding sizing up 16 potential suitors, but Deutsche Financial Planning has finally found a new home.

PETER Beattie’s Lab-or government in Queens-land has just confirmed any fears the Federal Coalition government might have leading up to federal elections later this year.

IT has come to Business News attention that some company executives are prepared to mislead the press if and when it suits them.

WELL, who would have thought?You can be sure even the Labor Party’s most zealous supporters never expected the landslide result which occurred on Saturday.

FOLLOWING weeks of political posturing, the WA people have voted in a new Labor Government, after an unprecedented swing against the Coalition and stronger than expected support for Pauline Hanson’s’ One Nation Party.

IT is very hard for Prime Minister John Howard to argue that last weekend’s State election was fought entirely on State issues.

Business News welcomes four new regular columnists to our ever-evolving pages.

PERSISTENT efforts by scam artists operating from Nigeria may have finally paid dividends, with 400 WA investors likely to lose about $2.7 million to an investment apparently linked to an African oil company.

NOTRE Dame University has linked the environment with business studies under two WA heavyweights from the corporate sphere and government, former CALM chief Syd Shea and fishing industry executive George Kailis.

THE long hot summer holidays are over for children all over WA this week with the start of the new school year.For the State Government, 2001 marks the first year of the new four-year-old kindergarten program.

WA technology junior Pahth Telecommunications is seeking about $1 million in fresh equity in a bid to fund future growth for its reselling operations after being investigated and chastised by regulators for its disclosure procedures.

FIRST impressions are everything, and there is a whole industry based on making sure at least one type of corporate visitor is made to feel at home in Perth, almost as soon as they land.

THERE is some irony in the fact that prospectors have won a form of land rights, or least the wider rights to roam the land and explore for minerals.

WINEMAKER Mark Sheppard has emerged from the disappointment of WA wine venture Vincorp to play a new role with miner come dot.com Wells Gold Corporation.

AT least one Perth bank is conducting a review of its rights as a lender, in the wake of new laws allowing authorities to seize the assets of criminals came into force.

For the Perth couple who won $30 million in Powerball Lotto over the weekend, the champagne will be flowing on Australia Day celebrations for many years to come.

FROM February 15, WA's business community will be better served with the introduction of home delivery of Business News throughout the metropolitan area from Yanchep to Mandurah.

WA'S only dedicated pro-business newspaper, Business News will available by home delivery through-out the metropolitan area from February 15.

NO matter how much notice is given, election time always appears a bit frantic as all the major stakeholders try to maximise the impact of their messages in the critical few weeks before the poll.