Government

The state’s agricultural body has welcomed the Commonwealth’s decision to reduce its planned backpacker tax to 15 per cent, less than half than what was originally proposed.

Attorney General George Brandis says every decision he made in relation to the Bell Group liquidation protected the interests of taxpayers, as the Insurance Commission of Western Australia estimates the litigation over the matter could take another 15 years to resolve.

Attorney General Michael Mischin said today he was disappointed at the federal government’s role in overturning state legislation designed to settle the long-running Bell Group dispute, as the amount of litigation around the matter once again escalates.   

The federal government is aiming to provide better transport across the nation by considering changes to how Australians pay for roads.

Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US election two weeks ago is already having ramifications for world trade, with his confirmation today he will withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership likely to spark a recalibration of plans among nations in the region.

Former Western Australian premier Richard Court has been named Australia’s next ambassador to Japan.

Western Australian businesses will have another opportunity to win work in the defence sector, with 30 companies today meeting the two potential head contractors for the Army’s Land400 procurement program.

Colin Barnett may be the government’s best performer in parliament, but his standing in voters’ eyes is fuelling talk of a challenge.

The state government reached a milestone in its asset sales program last night after passing a bill to enable the leasing of Port Hedland's Utah Point, despite opposition from a lobby group representing the miners that currently use the wharf facility. 

Unemployment in Western Australia surged last month, placing it ahead of South Australia as the worst-performing state in October.

Australian workers' preference for job security and shorter hours over pay rises has pushed wage growth to a fresh all-time low.

If a Donald Trump administration imposes tariffs on Chinese imports to the US, the hit to China would be limited but the move would spark a damaging trade war, a leading China-focused economist has warned.

Private companies Wilson Parking and Calibre Group have posted solid results for the 2016 financial year, with one returning to the black and the other nearly doubling its profit.

The United States Associated Press has called the presidential election for Republican candidate Donald Trump, after he won swing states Ohio and Florida and pulled bricks out of Hillary Clinton's rust belt blue wall, pushing WA gold stocks well up and causing volatility across financial markets.

Six south metropolitan councils are formalising a lobby group to push for development of an outer harbour near Kwinana as the March 2017 state election approaches.

The state government is putting the finishing touches on the business case for a second floating dock at the Australian Marine Complex at Henderson, which it plans to pitch to the federal government to cement the complex’s place as one of the nation’s two shipbuilding hubs.

New car sales crashed in Western Australia last month, adding to a year of poor performance in the industry.

The state election next year looks set to be a close one, with two polls this week showing conflicting shifts in popularity among the major parties.

A co-funding program with angel investors and a commercialisation fund for Western Australia’s universities are the ‘big ticket’ items in the state government’s $20 million innovation strategy, released last night.

The state government will be working to avoid potential skills shortages as the federal government’s naval shipbuild program ramps up in the west, according to deputy premier Liza Harvey, as businesses hopeful of winning contracts for the build attended a defence industry procurement roadshow today.

The Chinese steel industry may be facing years of consolidation, according to Deloitte China chief economist Sitao Xu, but the nation’s economy is more resilient than many pundits would have us believe.

The state government has been forced to make a special budget allocation of $9.74 million to demolish the old Port Hedland hospital, 18 months after announcing a deal to sell the site to apartment developer Finbar Group.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has held its benchmark interest rate at 1.5 per cent, saying the current rate is right to meet its forecasts for sustainable growth and inflation.

Interest from North American pension funds could help drive continued strength in the gold sector, although tax competitiveness and policy stability will be important, according to industry leaders.

The latest inflation figures won't eliminate the chance of another interest rate cut, but they do offer hope that the Reserve Bank won't feel compelled to go down that risky path.

Mike Nahan says recycling of capital invested in Western Power will be key to job creation and economic growth in Western Australia’s transitioning economy. 

Western Australia’s peak business group is facing competition for members after the Australian Industry Group established a Perth office, shortly after ending a commercial alliance with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA.

An upcoming Indonesian-Australian business summit in Perth will put a focus on the bilateral relationship of the two countries while negotiations on a new free trade deal continue.

A Business News survey of industry confidence shows an economy increasingly balanced between those experiencing growth and, at the other end of the scale, those dealing with decline.

Western Australia has fallen to the bottom of the pile in CommSec's latest ‘State of the States’ report, following the end of the mining construction boom.

September's national unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent was as low as it's been since February 2013, but that's about where the good news from the Australian Bureau of Statistics today ends.

The state government has failed to hit any of the targets in its own waste management strategy, and part of the reason is a lack of coordination among its two key agencies, a review by the auditor general has found.