Staff Reporters

GOLF, painting, listening, composing. Which of the words above is the odd one out and why? Listening, because it is the hardest skill to acquire.

ALCOA of Australia managing director Alan Cransberg, Hawaiian property group manager Kate O’Hara (pictured) and KPMG tax partner Craig Yaxley have been appointed to the Black Swan State Theatre Compan

A SUBIACO-BASED consulting firm launched this week says the global financial crisis has provided it with an opportunity to ensure other companies survive the downturn.

KWINANA-BASED AusGroup is set to enhance its service offering and expand its geographical reach after acquiring scaffolding business Modern Access Services for $15 million.

THE Note has noticed the closing gap in what was once a yawning chasm between the arts and sport.

ALAN Newman has joined the board of infrastructure investment company Pacific Energy.

TWO Western Australian quasi-government agencies will pocket almost $120,000 in funding under the federal government’s Enterprise Connect’s small grants round, designed for remote and regional small t

Miner Panoramic Resources has moved a step closer to full ownership of the Lanfranchi nickel project after shareholders of a joint venture company approved the sale.

Neptune Marine Services has secured $20 million worth of contracts with a range of blue-chip companies including BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum.

Property developer Aspen Group has unveiled plans for a fully underwritten capital raising of more than $82 million, which will be used to "secure an enhanced senior debt facility".

A consortium of banks, owed $600 million, have called in receivers to timber plantation and cattle project manager Great Southern.

Shares in Mincor Resources have jumped as much as 30 per cent today after the nickel miner said it had made a potential discovery below its Mariners nickel mine near Kambalda.

NRW Holdings expects its annual profit to be in line with the previous year, following delays to major contracts with BHP Billiton, Citic Pacific and Fortescue Metals Group.

The acquisition of various assets and businesses of OZ Minerals by China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals Company has taken a step forward, with China's development and reform commission today giving the transaction the green light.

Perth-based Tasman Resources has won a dispute against WCP Resources over a farm-in arrangement near the massive Olympic Dam uranium mine.

Daylight saving should not be considered for another 20 years in Western Australia, Premier Colin Barnett says.

Automotive Holdings Group has launched an institutional share placement in order to reduce its $353 million debt and pursue growth opportunities.

Treasurer Troy Buswell has again defended the government's decision to not release the State Infrastructure Strategy, saying its framewok needs to be revisited.

The high end of Perth's property market has taken a battering from the global slowdown with seven metropolitan suburbs dropping out of the $1 million club, a new survey has found.

Gold hopeful Resolute Mining has raised $25 million through a share placement, with funds to be used for the commissioning of the Syama gold mine in Mali.

Two weeks after Gage Roads Brewing Co cancelled its distribution deal, the brewer has agreed to supply beer to major retailer Woolworths, which will take a 25 per cent interest in the company.

Western Australia's Liberal government has handed down its first budget, delivering a $647 million surplus but warning the state will be in deficit by 2012.

State regional air carrier Skywest Airlines is reportedly considering re-listing on the Australian stock market, nearly three years after it was taken over by Singapore-based Advent Air.

Minerals testing company Essa Australia has clashed with global firm SGS over a $3.2 million outstanding payment over a contract related to automation projects.

Shares in carbon offset specialists in Western Australia and Aviva Corporation have jumped after the budget unveiled a $4.5 billion Clean Energy Initiative, a move welcomed by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA.

Around two-thirds of small to medium enterprises in Western Australia are in favour of daylight saving with over 50 per cent of respondents to a new survey claiming the extra daylight increased business productivity.

Osborne Park-based A1 Minerals says it is on track to becoming a gold producer later this year as it awards a $1.7 million plant refurbishment contract to CPC Engineering.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has approved Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation's (Ansteel) $162 million acquisition of an additional stake in Gindalbie Metals.

Encouraging economic data won't stop the hard choices made in Tuesday's federal budget, Treasurer Wayne Swan has warned.

The Matt Birney-chaired Carbon Conscious says it has reached a substantial deal with an unnamed ASX top 50 company to plant "many millions" of Mallee Eucalypt trees in the Wheatbelt region.

BHP Billiton says it Yeelirrie uranium project could be the state's first uranium mine as it works closely with government agencies over an appeals process.

Great Southern has entered a trading halt pending the release of details relating to its managed investment scheme sales program and working capital requirements.