Mark Pownall

WHEN Graeme Speak first encountered the term 'cloud computing' it was something of an epiphany.

The state needs friends for the tough task of making the Pilbara liveable.

GOVERNOR Stirling Tower's reputation as a haven for the national Liberal Party faithful appears secure following two key state government staffers' decisions to step away from high-profile roles.

Forty years, 35 companies, $80 million a year in income and just one major customer. The maths just don’t seem to add up for Aboriginal contractors in the Pilbara, which say after four decades of development they are still being overlooked.

The resources sector is preparing for an upswing in union activity.

The state’s biggest industries are watching closely as water reform bubbles away below the political surface.

The receiver of failed MIS promoter Great Southern has taken legal action to win the right to vote on the future of a number of forestry schemes caught up in the collapse.

AS global competition among universities heats up, one local institution is not shy to tap its alumni and other leaders on the shoulder to help deliver on its ambitions.

WESTERN Australians are often accused of being behind the times when it comes to regulations governing retail shopping hours, but national lawmakers aren’t beyond of bit that themselves.

CALLS for a major population centre in the state’s north-west have failed to find a sympathetic ear from the man charged with responsibility for the region by the federal government.

MORE than a year after the mutualisation of government superannuation fund administrator GESB was halted, the structure remains in place for the entity to take its place in the private sector.

Some of Wesfarmers’ business divisions may present public relations challenges in the near future.

IT is an unexpected pairing, to say the least. Nick Tana, the former soccer club owner and fast food magnate teaming up with Gordon Martin, the industrialist who is chancellor of Curtin University of Technology.

The battle for the hearts and minds of Great Southern scheme investors has escalated with Gordon Martin returning to the table with a revised offer and a new partner, Nick Tana.

On company boards as in politics, it’s about getting the balance right.

Brent Stewart takes a scientific approach to his role with Synovate.

THERE was a huge sigh of relief in political circles last week when Thai oil company PTTEP finally brought under control a leak in the Timor Sea.

THE concept of a major population centre in the north-west may have the illusory quality of Dorothy’s fabled Emerald City, but the so-called Pilbara City is slowly moving beyond just a fantasy.

THE spending growth of the state government remains at high levels, putting increased pressure on Premier Colin Barnett and his treasurer, Troy Buswell, to rein in costs.

  A LOSS of nearly $50 million in an established enterprise would set investors’ hearts pounding in the listed sector, but the patient capital of private business views things differently.

A shortage of workers presents ongoing challenges across government and the community.

ASK almost anyone about Perth’s airport and the response is likely to be less than complimentary.

Is it 1978 again? The WA Newspapers Holdings annual general meeting was so far removed from last year’s hostilities that it was only missing John Paul Young’s 21-year-old hit Love is in the Air as the theme song.

IT is with some trepidation that I leap in to defend politicians & allowances in the wake of a $240 mistake by Treasurer Troy Buswell in claiming for accommodation in Perth.

Former state Labor minister Sheila McHale is adjusting to life after politics.

IS it a case of the squeakiest wheel getting the lubrication? For those outside it, the political process is an extraordinary thing, with rapid changes in policy possible within just a few hours.

Anthony Wooles' five-year expedition into the energy infrastructure sector has paid off handsomely, with the takeover of his listed PearlStreet business valuing his stake at more than $32 million.

WHY is one hour so important in Western Australia? Earlier this year, the battle was over daylight saving, that magical hour of time difference that splits the electorate almost evenly down the centre.

THEY may be accidents of history, geography and geology, but Western Australia's long-term economic future is all the more rosy because of its tremendous resources, located near the most important growth markets in the world.

Twelve months is clearly a long time in an economy, as WA’s remarkable turnaround indicates.

Why should some people’s pay packets be public property while others are allowed to keep theirs private?

MAIN Street in Osborne Park is a real place with a range of small businesses servicing Western Australian consumers and enterprises.