Mark Pownall

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.

Neil Hamilton maintains a low-key approach to his high-pressure role as a company director

IN John Howard's day, a visit to Western Australia was a chance to preach to the converted.

IT'S not quite the bush telegraph but the good old-fashioned town hall meeting is still being used to good effect in rural Western Australia.

It’s time for some clarity on superannuation provider Gesb.

Energy retailer Synergy has become the latest government entity to defend the role of a highly paid executive, with speculation emerging that one of its management team has an undisclosed pay packet that rivals the top bureaucrats in Western Australia.

THE controversy over the pay packet of Michele Dolin, chief executive of the state superannuation agency GESB has overshadowed the long-running debate over the organisation's future being held at the highest levels of government.

Monopolies are everywhere, and we tolerate them despite their often-poor delivery.

ITALIAN renaissance scientist Galileo Galilei is purported to have said "to count what is countable, measure what is measurable, and what is not measurable, make measurable".

Getting the bureaucratic balance right is a challenge for the red tape task force.

There are benefits and challenges ahead, as Australia’s population heads towards an expected 35 million by 2049.

LAND development has changed substantially in the past decade or so.

A 40-year dream is about to become reality near the dunes at the end of the Mitchell Freeway.

KING Neptune has been waiting a long time for this.Amid much anticipation of rapid development, a six-metre high statue was built almost three decades ago, facing southward from a promontory at Two Rocks towards Perth, 60 kilometres distant.

IT is the land where Alan Bond infamously painted the sand dunes green to make the brochures look better.

Can controlling red tape help change the way government works?

Finding the balance between domestic needs and those of our trading partners is a challenge for policy makers.

The nation’s future prosperity starts at school, but a rethink may be needed on the provision of education.

THE wine business is an emotional one and passions rarely run higher than when business people get involved in the sector.

How aware are most shareholders of the FIRB rules that may affect their investments?

WHEN the powers that be at Wesfarmers were mulling over the CV of Diane Smith-Gander before appointing her to their board, they must have thought how opportune it would have been to have her as a director two years earlier.

DOES technology offer a back-to-the future view for the future of television market? While TV stations are swiftly forming alliances with newspapers to compete in the online space in key areas such as news, Subiaco-based Loconut is using the internet to d

IT will have been a busy week at the headquarters of LandCorp with the state's development agency playing host to pitches from the short-listed developers for the Alkimos project 50 kilometres north of Perth.

Premier Colin Barnett put the price of domestic gas firmly on the agenda last night, telling the Petroleum Club of Western Australia's annual meeting that a competitive domestic gas cost was part of doing business in the state.

WHILE the status of the federal government's emissions trading scheme may be up in the air, laws linked to climate change continue to affect business.

AS Baosteel seeks to get the latest big decision across the line at the Foreign Investment Review Board, many share market investors may not realise what legally occurs with a transaction of this nature.

Woolworths has serious plans for its hardware business.

WESTERN Australian regional powerbroker Brendon Grylls said he would not prop up the Muresk agricultural college with funding unless it had a long-term future.

WITH much front page hype, the federal government last week announced what it claimed was Australia's biggest ever deal when PetroChina agreed to buy 2.25 million tonnes of LNG a year for 20 years, worth $50 billion.

Progressive or backward? It depends which side of the fence you sit on.

As Fortescue Metals Group becomes established, it also starts to look and act big.