Noel Dyson

WA Treasurer Eric Ripper is preparing for one of his toughest political tests when he hands down his Government’s first budget this afternoon.

WA’S listed companies have fared better than their counterparts in most other States, according to a wide-ranging Ernst & Young study.

meetings industry.But videoconferencing is proving its worth with companies that operate from many different locations.Videoconferencing has taken the place of many of the face-to-face business meetings common in the corporate world.With the techno

SPECULATION of new and higher taxes has the WA business community, particularly those at the big end of town, seeing red.

BEING part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games has paid off for a number of WA companies.At least eight WA companies were involved with the Games in some form.

MULTIPLEX has until November 28 to secure the necessary approvals for construction of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

JUST months after it bought Patrick Stephenson’s 45-store Liberty Liquors chain, Wool-worths seems to be putting it to work as an acquisition vehicle.

FAILURE to implement ideas could make the difference between business success and business failure.

A COLD war is simmering on WA construction sites as unions and builders wait for the WA Government’s new industrial relations legislation.The new laws are expected to be in place by the end of the year.

WA business groups are bracing themselves for higher taxes when the Labor Govern-ment hands down its first budget on September 13.

WANT a house where the doors, lights, air conditioning, security system, reticulation controller and whatever else you want can be controlled by a single panel?Such houses are already here.

A PERTH firm is making the winning of tenders and contracts by other companies its business.Marketer Piers Dudman created MatchPoint to help engineering and consulting companies get their bids across the line.

WRITING software for a local leisure centre while still a university student created a business opportunity for Ryan Bilsby.

MORTGAGE originators have had their compulsory bond reduced by 90 per cent to just $5,000 by the Finance Brokers Supervisory Board.

RECRUITMENT firms are following the trend of the “big five” global firms in the legal and accounting industries.As their clients are going global, the larger recruiting firms are going global themselves to provide better service.

WA shippers and shipping agents are trialling a way of processing critical export and logistics documents online.The system has been set up by Sydney-based company Tradegate Electronic Commerce Australia.

DROUGHT assistance has been extended to non-farm rural businesses.

AFTER eight years as a partially Federal Government-funded Cooperative Research Centre, the Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture has reopened as a private body.

BARGES soon could be an option for the transport of containerised freight from Bunbury to Fremantle.The Bunbury and Fremantle port authorities and the Sea Freight Council are studying the feasibility of a shuttle service between the two ports.

THE City of Perth should begin putting parts of its economic development plan into action later this year.

WHAT is WAP? It is, after all, a term that has become a buzzword in many business circles.

WHILE the Australian Catholic University’s 12-month paid maternity leave offer has been branded as overly generous, some organisations are turning to such approaches to attract and retain staff.

THERE is growing disquiet among industry groups affected by the latest round of competition recommendations proposed by WA Government reviews of State laws.

A RECENT New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission decision has sent shockwaves through the WA machinery dealers industry.

PRIVACY is looming as a major issue for business of the same magnitude as Y2K and the GST. And, just as with those two crises, the message is being broadcast that privacy will build better businesses.

ARE consumers being forced to choose form over taste when buying fruit? And are they prepared to pay extra for something that is guaranteed to taste good?

THE WA Government is moving to make changes to its controversial Finance Brokers Control Act of 1975, which has stalled the entry of two mortgage products providers into the WA market.

KNOWING how much it costs to get an electrician to change a light bulb has created a business opportunity for Carol King.

COMPANIES that go public and want to give their employees a slice of the action at discount prices can find they have left their workers with an unpleasant tax surprise.

INDUSTRIAL Relations Minister John Kobelke has reneged on a promise to release details of Labor’s proposed rewriting of WA’s industrial relations legislation.

PETERS & Brownes last ditch effort to stop Nestlé selling ice cream products into WA has failed.

THE little things can often prove to be a winning, competitive advantage for a small business.Small businesses are constrained by their size in their ability to advertise and to compete on price against bigger competitors.