YOU don't have to be a Rhodes scholar to understand that, over the past 12 months, global financial markets have experienced some of the most severe and destabilising events ever seen.
WHEN Andrew Forrest does things he doesn't do them by halves.Having stormed the world of iron ore, shaking up the BHP Billiton-Rio Tinto Pilbara duopoly and briefly becoming Australia's richest man, he focused his sights on one of Australia's most intract
WHILE there are plenty of people sighing with relief that the BHP Billiton takeover of Rio Tinto fell in a heap, the Note was amused to hear one unexpected reason.
KWINANA-BASED engineering and fabrication company Ausclad Group epitomises the challenges facing Western Australia's mining services companies: just when it completed the recruitment of a new senior management team, two of its clients have suspended major
LAST week, State Scene outlined how Australia would have become a true democracy if the 1891 draft constitution of South Australia's democratic-minded premier, Charles Kingston, was adopted.
DURING the past two months there has been an unprecedented wave of bad economic news and plunging business confidence; but just how bad is Western Australia's economic outlook? Many people ask rhetorically why there is so much gloom in the local business
Premier Colin Barnett says he cannot guarantee reliable power supply for Western Australia for the next three years, as he delivers his "school report" into his first 79 days in office.
Perth-based energy group Aviva Corp has terminated its $22 million merger with Canadian coal producer Northern Energy and Mining Inc due to a lower than expected interest in a project.
Bulk commodities iron ore and coal have largely driven Australia's export earnings to a record $42.6 billion for the September quarter, just before prices took a dive.
Babcock & Brown Power has shaved off $20 million from its 2009 earnings guidance after taking into account its soon-to-be sold interests in two Western Australian power stations.
Corporate lawyer Stephen Power has established a new law firm less than three weeks after Sydney-based Middletons moved into Perth by merging with his old firm Salter Power and with Franklyn Legal.
Perth-based gas company PO Valley Energy is a step closer to first production at its Italian project, following the completed connection to the country's gas distribution network.
Job fears grow, but unions want more; Non-bank lenders hurting; Miners tear into ETS proposal; BHP, Rio face $2bn iron threat; Qantas plays down BA merger
Oil and gas producers Apache and Santos have officially deferred development of the $900 million Reindeer gas project, as forshadowed last week in WA Business News, with engineering company Clough likely to be the biggest loser.
A crane has failed during a maintenance operation at Wesfarmers' Curragh coal mine in Queensland causing major structural damage and leaving one worker injured.
Woodside Petroleum says it will continue negotiations with the Kimberley Land Council over a compensation package for a proposed gas hub after traditional landowners knocked back a proposal.
Gas reserve 'puts off explorers'; Call for Canberra to steer energy projects; Banks will take control of B&B; Senate resists Rudd's $26bn building plan; Rio dives 11pc on growing debt fears
Perth-based Pacific Energy will pay $77 million in cash and scrip to acquire Kalgoorlie Power Systems, which owns a suite of power stations in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The DomGas Alliance has today welcomed the Senate's report into the Varanus Island gas pipeline explosion while the state government confirmed plans to hold a further independent inquiry.
Recession looms as growth drops close to zero; Listed WA companies drop $17bn; Hostile opposition to Qantas changes; Rudd plots bankroll plan; Varanus gas explosion rocks national accounts
THE downturn in Western Australia's mining industry is starting to flow back to the energy sector, with Apache Energy understood to be reviewing its $900 million Reindeer gas project.
SHARES in Fortescue Metals Group soared as much as 40 per cent on speculation the miner could be the target of a takeover bid by BHP Billiton or a Chinese firm.
REMUNERATION packages for the non-executive chairmen of some listed companies in Western Australia continue to attract attention, with significant fees outlaid to keep these part-timers at the head of their respective tables.
COFFEY Geotechnics and Environments was the only Western Australian winner at the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia awards night held in Perth on November 28.
THE Australian share market finished November on a positive note, buoyed by bargain hunters snapping up shares in BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, two days after the $100 billion takeover dissolved.
WESTERN Australia will be among the first states targeted in the national roll-out of Origin Energy's domestic solar roof-top systems installation program.
