Matt Mckenzie

States and territories have signed up to the federal government's proposed National Energy Guarantee today, and it will have a big impact on Western Australian industry despite the state not being part of the National Electricity Market.

Special Report: Early-stage social enterprises and not for profits will have a new home available in the city when The Platform opens up a new space, Purpose Studio, next week.

Special Report: Thousands of square metres of co-working space are set to open in Perth in the next 18 months, and it’s clear smaller businesses are looking for more than just a hot desk.

Podcast: Mark Beyer and Matt McKenzie discuss the WA Club, Subiaco Pavilion Markets, two hotels changing hands, house prices, Andrew Forrest's philanthropy, WA's award winning wineries and our special report on small business.

A deal between Adelaide-based Silentium Defence and Curtin University astronomers to develop technology tracking space junk is an example of WA’s growing capability in matters extraterrestrial.

Belmont-based remote power provider Zenith Energy has won a contract to provide a 20 megawatt power station at Chevron’s oil operations on Barrow Island.

It may have gone largely unnoticed in Western Australia, but a recent report into the east coast's electricity market could have major implications for the state, including for government-owned monopoly power business Synergy.

Gas users will save nearly $200 million over five years after the Australian Competition Tribunal dismissed a move by the owner of the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline to alter a pricing decision by the state’s Economic Regulation Authority.

SPECIAL REPORT: Despite a host of deals in the Perth Basin during the past year, proponents are battling issues with red tape.

SPECIAL REPORT: With shipments at Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility still to get under way, one Perth businessman is hoping to reignite use of the technology for stranded gas fields.

SPECIAL REPORT: Chevron’s $5 billion Gorgon phase two project announced in April might be the first in a wave of new oil and gas investments.

West Perth-based oil junior Triangle Energy has revealed a leak at its Cliff Head oil platform, about 300 kilometres north of Perth, although the company said the spill was substantially less than 10,000 litres.

Talison Lithium has confirmed it will build a third concentrator at the Greenbushes lithium mine to boost output to 1.95 million tonnes per annum, but the owner of tantalum rights at the project has again warned the expansion will be subject to an ongoing legal battle.

Perth inflation has hit its highest level since 2015, with prices rising 1.1 per cent in the year to June, while national data has again come in below expectations, signalling a likely continuation of loose monetary policy.

Lithium advocates have been cautioned to separate facts from hype as it is not yet clear if battery manufacturing in Western Australia will be practical, although refining plans should proceed immediately, according to Mckinsey & Co partner Prabhav Sharma.

The much anticipated Browse LNG project has taken a step forward with partners arriving at an early stage agreement on pricing to pipe gas through an existing Karratha plant, while a proposed second train at Pluto LNG now looks likely to be much larger.

Lower company tax rates and changes to power pricing are among possible moves that would support the state’s economic development, according to local academic Peter Hartley.

Shares in Carnarvon Petroleum were up 57 per cent today after the company revealed its joint venture partner Quadrant Energy had made an oil discovery described as staggering.

A bid to launch a battery focused cooperative research centre in Perth has so far received more than $26 million in commitments from supporters, and will build on existing research programs at institutions such as Murdoch University.

Hazelmere-based trucking business Centurion had made its second major acquisition in two months, buying Welshpool-based heavy haulers Triton Transport Services.

A doubling of production at Chevron’s Gorgon LNG plant has helped boost national exports of the fuel 38 per cent to $30.8 billion in the year to June 2018, according to consultancy Energy Quest.

An avocado farm near Pemberton, deep in the state’s South West, may not be the obvious location for an award-winning energy technology application.

A Perth-based banking consultant who helped banks in Africa develop more customer-centric strategies believes a return to that model would benefit Australian institutions.

PODCAST: Mark Beyer and Matt Mckenzie discuss closures in the hospitality sector, growth in the Pilbara, residential property, the outlook for oil and energy markets, and our quarterly corporate finance review dissects 235 WA deals worth $7 billion.

SPECIAL REPORT: AusCann has benefited from a wave of interest in medicinal cannabis for pain relief to be the BN30’s top performer in shareholder returns for the year to June 30.

SPECIAL REPORT: Battery metals businesses such as Pilbara Minerals, Altura Mining, and Western Areas have joined AusCann Holdings, Buru Energy and OM Holdings among the best-performing stocks in the year to June.

Joondalup-based medicinal cannabis hopeful AusCann Holdings has secured $33.4 million from local and North American institutions, with NYSE-listed marijuana play Canopy Growth Corporation upping its stake to 11.2 per cent.

Law firm Squire Patton Boggs is sharpening its Asian engagement strategy, with former Lavan partner Tony Chong appointed to head its Asia desk in June.

A University of New South Wales study has called for caution about the potential benefits of medicinal cannabis to relieve pain, but a Western Australian hopeful in the sector is still confident for the future of the industry.

The state government is aiming to decide the future of the TAB by the end of this year, following today's release of a Treasury paper warning that failure to sell the state’s betting agency could create a major risk for the longevity of the local racing industry.

Richard Goyder will become chair of Qantas in October, less than a year after he joined the board of the Sydney-based carrier, replacing Leigh Clifford after more than a decade in the role.

SPECIAL REPORT: Spacecubed has been at the vanguard of the growth in Perth’s startup community in recent years, with the social enterprise now operating about 5,000 square metres of co-working spaces and a range of accelerator programs.