Government

Gold prices were on track for their weakest session since December on Thursday (US time), buoyed by a firm dollar and rising US rate hike expectations in March following buoyant US economic data and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve governors.

US stocks retreated on Thursday, led by financial stocks, while Caterpillar shares dropped following news that federal officials searched its Illinois facilities.

ANALYSIS: Colin Barnett says cuts in penalty rates should be extended to include the tourism industry to reflect the fact it is a 24-hours, seven-days-a-week operation.

The entire City of Perth council may be sacked over the lord mayor's travel scandal if Labor wins the state election and the Local Government Act allows it, opposition leader Mark McGowan says.

ANALYSIS: The row between Premier Colin Barnett and opposition leader Mark McGowan over the cost of their election promises is a clear sign the campaign is getting to the pointy end. But don’t rule out surprises.

ANALYSIS: The major parties are ramping up expectations of what they will deliver if they win the March 11 state poll, but financial realities have a way of stifling the best of intentions.

Premier Colin Barnett has demanded Labor submit its election promises to Treasury for costing, saying that should be the modern standard for oppositions.

GDP has bounced back from a poor showing in the September quarter with December quarter seasonally adjusted growth of 1.1 per cent, while Western Australia snapped a five quarter streak of shrinking state demand to grow 0.4 per cent.

The Australian share market continues to lose ground as investors steer clear of risk ahead of US president Donald Trump's long awaited first speech to Congress.

Western Australia’s peak association for lawyers has called on the state’s political parties to commit at least an additional $8 million to legal assistance services ahead of the March 11 election.

Stronger commodity prices and government spending in the final months of 2016 are expected to have helped the economy bounce back from the preceding quarter's contraction.

ANALYSIS: Nationals WA leader Brendon Grylls has attacked the debt reduction strategies of both the Liberal and Labor parties as unrealistic. However, he confirmed that, in the event of a hung parliament after the March 11 election, his party would only work with the Liberals to form a new government.

ANALYSIS: There used to be a golden rule in election campaigns that candidates should be seen but not heard. The public face of the party was the leader, whose commitments and comments were always carefully scripted.

Australia's current account deficit was $3.85 billion in the December quarter down from a deficit of $10.2 billion the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

 The Australian share market is clinging on to the green in early trade after three days of decline, as investors take cues from overnight gains on Wall Street.

There's still no plan in sight to connect the controversial Perth Freight Link project to Fremantle Port, a Senate committee has heard.

WA Labor has vowed to employ at least 50 apprentices at Western Power every year if it wins the state election.

SPECIAL REPORT: Strong employment growth in the gold sector partially compensated for job losses in iron ore in the 2016 financial year, according to recently released data from the Department of Mines and Petroleum.

ANALYSIS: Colin Barnett and Mark McGowan face the biggest test of their long political careers over the next 12 days. Each knows that a loss in the March 11 state election will mean the end of their political career.

Premier Colin Barnett has rejected calls to release the latest costings for the Roe 9 stage of the contentious Perth Freight Link project, saying it would undermine the tender process.

There’s been a big rise in the exercise of contract termination for convenience clauses in the past four years, according to Jackson McDonald lead partner of projects, infrastructure and construction Basil Georgiou.

Private sector wages growth of just 0.1 per cent in Western Australia in the three months to December, matched with recent unemployment figures, suggests the state’s spluttering post-boom recovery has some way to run.

ANALYSIS: Colin Barnett has taken a political risk in expressing his view that the Fair Work Commission’s historic decision to cut Sunday penalty rates for pharmacy, fast food, hospitality and retail workers should also apply to Western Australian award workers.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is hoping to put an end to decades of fracking in Western Australia, if the party wins seats in the upcoming state election.

Business representatives have welcomed a move to ease Sunday and public holiday penalty rates for hospitality and retail workers, saying it would be particularly beneficial for reducing unemployment in Western Australia.

WA Labor has promised the state’s sixth-largest town, Albany, would become fully powered by renewable energy – if elected – under a $19.5 million funding commitment with Carnegie Clean Energy.

Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour has made passionate defence of his time in charge of the postal service and says his decision to quit was not sparked by recent criticism of his $5.6 million pay packet.

ANALYSIS: Labor leader Mark McGowan had the edge over Premier Colin Barnett in their 30-minute confrontation on Channel 7 last night.

ANALYSIS: Why has WA Labor dumped its proposed 50 per cent renewable energy target for the state by 2030, at the same time as the party’s federal leader, Bill Shorten, is promoting the figure as a national goal?

The WA Liberals are talking up their proposed privatisation of Western Power, announcing details of plans to build a new live export loading berth at Kwinana in Perth's south using funds from the partial sale.

WA Labor has proposed a repurposing of the existing WA Future Fund into a new $1.1 billion Future Health Research and Innovation Fund that will collect annual interest, if elected next month.

Premier Colin Barnett has called on the federal government to pick a figure for the proposed GST floor, saying he would agree to 70 cents in the dollar as the prime minister has indicated.