Noel Dyson

LESS than two months after Labor won the WA election, State party secretary John Halden has announced his resignation.

THE Australian biotechnology sector outperforms the rest of the share market by almost 30 per cent as global funds pour into Australia on the back of a weak Aussie dollar and enthusiasm for invest-ing in life sciences.

THE falling value of the Australian dollar offers a mixed bag for WA.In theory, the lower value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar should make Australian exports more attractive.

DESPITE an Australian Tax Office draft ruling to clarify the Sale of a Going Concern provision in the GST Act making the sale of a business GST free, some advisors recommend business buyers keep enough cash aside to cover unforseen GST.

TAKING a corporate approach to running an accounting practice is paying off for one WA firm.

CHANGES to the tax act to allow groups of wholly owned companies to be treated as single tax paying entities have been deferred for a year.

MECHANISMS allowing the WA Government to set the maximum wholesale petrol price at fuel terminals will be in effect by the end of the week.

FAILING to keep shop scales accurate or operate them properly will prove costly for businesses.

PERTH City Council’s proposed 99-year lease on the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre car park for $50.4 million will force commuter parking fees to $10 a day – a rise of about 50 per cent on current prices.

LESS than one month after it went to the market, Sterling Financial Services has withdrawn its prospectus.

AFTER several months delay, Thin Technologies is finally ready to take its highly advanced retail check out system to the market.

The northern waters of Western Australia are among the most prospect-ive in the world for natural gas, with the industry’s challenge now centred more on selling it than finding it.

MONEY laundering is a growing problem in Australia and, indeed, worldwide.New technology and new methods have allowed criminals to find new ways to legitimise cash raised through illicit means.

BUSINESS success is set to reach new heights for Kununurra-based aviation tour operators Heliwork WA and Slingair after both companies recently received Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) from Federal Trade Minister Mark Vaile.

SMALL businesses are being encouraged to take more responsibility for safety in their workplaces.

THE taxation and legal systems and costs of training staff are major stumbling blocks for small and medium size busi-nesses wanting to take on new technology and innovations.

THE finance broking business is hardly flavour of the month, yet one of the authors of a comprehensive report into the sector has decided to set up shop in this controversial industry.

WA’S Criminal Property Confiscation Act is here to stay.WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty said Labor had supported the law that was brought in by the Court Government and had no intention of changing it in the near future.

THE Perth Convention and Ex-hibition Centre deal is teetering on whether the Perth City Council gives the Multiplex Consortium $50 million for a 99-year lease on the 1,500-bay car park that will be built under the centre.

IMAGINE the scenario. You walk into your local branch. Instead of being faced with a queue of people you are confronted by a gleaming steel obelisk.

WHILE still uncertain how the Australian Tax Office is going to face contractors that work through labour hire firms, the labour hire industry is facing another threat – this time from the unions.

THE future of BC The Body Club has been the subject of market speculation, with talk that the health club chain is considering some form of restructuring.

WA’S small businesses could soon be giving some of their employees a more than 20 per cent pay rise with the minimum wage rate jumping to up to $446 a week.

CONTRACT hire staff have become the sticking point in an industrial dispute that flared at Linencare Australia this week.

THE past 12 months has provided a dramatic illustration of just how quickly investment markets can change.

THE Australian Securities and Investments Commission Ltd has accepted an enforceable undertaking by licensed securities dealer D&D Tolhurst.

WHILE encouraging inner city living has been high on the agenda of Perth City Council, it has also posed some problems.

POPULAR Perth-based 24-hour restaurant/café chain Fast Eddys has launched an expansion program designed to establish up to 40 new all day/all night outlets nationwide over the next four years.

THE SBDC will not be removed or rolled into another government department under the new Labor Government.

A PROPOSAL to turn 356 Murray Street, Perth into an eating house and bar could still get off the ground, even though Perth City Council refused it.

AFTER 25 years in the union movement, Tony Cooke is looking for a change.He will not be standing for re-election at the end of his second term as Unions WA secretary.

GST levied on caravan parks still rankles the caravan industry, but there is no immediate solution in sight.