Government

The federal government’s revised migration strategy that would cap the number of incoming migrants has drawn both praise and criticism from industry groups.

WA’s building industry will pay more into the state’s portable long service leave fund in 2024, with the rate up 400 per cent from the record lows applied during the height of the pandemic.

Environment and Energy Minister Reece Whitby says there is no conflict of interest in holding both portfolios, after the government announced change to the environmental approvals process.

Environmental activists are splitting Aboriginal groups apart in moves which echo those taken by miners in the early 2000s, WA Premier Roger Cook says.

Premier Roger Cook will announce a significant overhaul of the state’s environmental approvals process today, in response to business delays and uncertainty which have hampered productivity.

WA Labor has preselected 38-year-old barrister Varun Ghosh to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Patrick Dodson from the Federal Senate.

The race for state and federal Liberal Party preselection is beginning to heat up, as some high-profile names flag their interest ahead of two party-defining ballots in 2025.

Department of Justice director general Adam Tomison has resigned from what Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia has described as a challenging role with many responsibilities.

Former federal attorney-general Christian Porter has told the court the decision to ban his client, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, from entering Australia was illogical and unconstitutional.

The WA government is being urged to set a specific plan for carbon emission reduction from state-owned buildings, as it maps a path to a net-zero future.

UK minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan says progress made towards nuclear submarine capability in WA is encouraging but has cautioned on the complexity of challenges.

Victoria Park MP Hannah Beazley has joined Premier Roger Cook's cabinet, while Reece Whitby and David Michael have been given major promotions.

Senator Linda Reynolds has sued former ACT director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold for defamation over a letter she claimed was republished in an article about the Bruce Lehrmann trial.

Property Council WA executive director Sandra Brewer has confirmed months of speculation by announcing she will challenge David Honey for Liberal preselection in the Cottesloe seat ahead of the 2025 state election.

Australia’s GST distribution arrangements will extend to 2030 but the states will chip in more to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the federal government has revealed.

Australia’s economic growth slowed to 0.2 per cent during the September quarter, as the nation’s household savings ratio hit its lowest level since the Global Financial Crisis.

Premier Roger Cook has told media he believes Australia’s state premiers understand WA’s role in the national economy, ahead of likely debate over GST in a national cabinet meeting.

A federal probe has urged all levels of government to funnel money into a northern Australia housing fund as the number of north-west projects grows.

Federal Liberal MP Nola Marino will retire from parliament at the next election, bringing an end to a 15-year tenure in the Forrest electorate.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA has refreshed its push for payroll tax reform, but Premier Roger Cook has played down the prospect of major change.

Two inland Pilbara towns are probing what needs to be done to diversify beyond their mining company town beginnings

The state government has committed $2.8 billion to the construction of the first stage of Water Corporation’s Alkimos seawater desalination plant.

A new electorate in Perth’s south-east has been confirmed by the WA Electoral Commission, in a shift that further reduces the number of regional seats in the state parliament.

Premier Roger Cook is expected to announce a three-year extension to operating subsidies paid to embattled miner Griffin Coal, with the total bill set to exceed $150 million.

The state’s independent infrastructure project advisory body has cautioned on the potential for congestion in the Kwinana industrial zone in years to come, as development ramps up.

A trial to reduce odour emissions from Cockburn Cement is being probed over concerns it failed to adequately test how well a new system would work under normal operation conditions.

The death of an Indigenous teenager from a self-inflicted injury has prompted Western Australia's government to close a youth detention facility.

Bill Johnston has announced he will step down from Western Australian cabinet next week.

City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has doubled down on the closure of an East Perth crisis accommodation centre, calling Premier Roger Cook’s comments undermining.

The amount of unclaimed money in the Department of Treasury’s register has grown almost 35 per cent since 2020, to around $160 million in 2023.

Major project delivery and an increased wages bill pushed public sector cash flow into deficit in the September quarter; a $1.2 billion turnaround on the cash surplus reported a year earlier.

The Western Australian Police Union has carried a motion that could pave the way for members to run for political office, following the lead of the Australian Nurses Federation’s WA branch.