Noel Dyson

WA’S February 10 election threatens the very future of Australia’s political leadership.

SMALL retailers claim the widely reported strong Christmas trading results have not filtered through to them.WA Retailers Association of WA CEO Martin Dempsey said small traders were reporting a poor Christmas and an unhappy New Year.

NEW legislation requiring the price of fuel at the bowser to be fixed for 24 hours has given the big oil companies a free kick against independent service station operators.

SMALL business doesn’t want much in 2001. It just wants more customers to spend more money more often.

WA GRAIN growers have received a pleasant Christmas present with strong prices sure to offset some of the pain from this season’s poor harvest.

WELL known winemaker Bill Crappsley has been appointed a director of Margaret River producer Xanadu Wines.

PERTH could become a city that never sleeps with a redeveloped Swan River foreshore and lively back lanes in 10 years if Lord Mayor Peter Nattrass has his way.

THE removal of mechanics bays from the service stations operated by majors such as Shell and BP has proved a boon for independent operators.

BOOKKEEPING, the bug bear of many small businesses, is vital, as a former WA company director has found.

THE battle to have Perth City Council-owned Arden Street land turned into a park is over, with Lands Minister Doug Shave signing the resumption order giving the East Perth Redevelopment Authority control of most of it.

REMOTE or small gas fields off the West Australian coast could be developed employing the world’s first floating LNG plant, the technology for which is now available for Woodside and Shell.

ACCOUNTANTS, tax planners and lawyers are bracing themselves for an avalanche of work with the December 27 announcement that pre-nuptial agreements had become law.

PERTH’S $5.5 million Belltower development seems to be paying dividends for businesses around Barrack Street jetty.

WA wine growers will have to continue to push their products overseas if they are to remain viable, says the WA president of the Wine Association Denis Horgan.

YET another door-to-door selling operation has been found guilty of breaching the Door-to-Door Trading Act, bringing into question its use as a valid sales tool.Nanolab and its director Gary Anderson were each found guilty on 15 counts of the act.

AN EXCHANGE program run by the Catering Institute of Australia is paying dividends for both sailors and hotel chefs alike.

NEARLY 200 WA small businesses have applied for program funding through the Small Business Smart Business program.

BUSINESSES can beat crime by forming business watch programs with their neighbours and taking crime prevention courses.

THE six-month takeover saga involving Argyle Diamonds, Ashton Mining, Rio Tinto, DeBeers and the Malaysian Mining Company has come to an end.

HERITAGE battles, councillors’ financial interests, parking, Crawley development issues, a dispute over land at Arden Street, the Swan River Foreshore and dashed hopes for a V8 Supercar Grand Prix through city streets, characterised the year at Perth City

ALINTAGAS is considering entering either WA’s electricity or telecommunications market.

THE hunt is on for the South West’s leading businesses with small business owners invited to nominate for the 2001 South West Small Business Awards.

SMALL businesses in some WA rural areas face a bleak Christmas following the third poor harvest in three years.

SCIENCE and sport are clashing in Burswood.Scitech has launched its latest bid to escape from City West that involves a $15 million to $20 million purpose-built facility on about half the land leased by Tennis West on the Burswood Peninsula.

MAL Bennett has owned Mama Maria’s restaurant for the past 18 years and witnessed the highs and lows of Northbridge.

THE lion’s share of the $23.5 billion the Federal Government is spending on defence over the next 10 years will miss WA completely because the State does not have industries to capitalise on it.

A PLAN to tax discretionary trusts as companies is likely to be modified as the Federal Government faces rising opposition to the proposal.

PEOPLE looking to open specialty retail businesses such as fashion boutiques and tourist gift shops in Northbridge could soon be getting financial help from the Perth City Council.

A LOCAL Government Department probe has dismissed allegations of impropriety against three Perth City councillors.

A PERTH-based business incubator will not only offer its tenants business advice and lodgings, it will offer them seed capital too.

ENERGY is a competitive business, even in the isolated market of WA which seen price falls unequalled in the rest of Australia.

THE old Omni Theatre site’s run as a cinema has come to an end.