Government

The amount Australians owe on their mortgages has notched up its fastest annual growth for three and half years.

Online retail spending growth continues to slow.

As worries about the global financial crisis fade, Australian households look ready to break open their piggy banks.

Western Australian industrial design firm Form Designs says its shark barrier technology is a more viable cost-effective solution to the shark nets proposed for 22 WA beaches by Premier Colin Barnett in media reports today.

Businesses are not adequately engaging with Asia, despite Australia's future economic growth depending strongly on the expanding region, a new report shows.

Accounting firm EY says debt levels and an ongoing focus on costs is placing more pressure mining services companies in Western Australia.

Standard & Poor's says Western Australia is unlikely to get a credit rating upgrade soon, but it seems encouraged by government measures to improve the state's finances.

The final federal budget deficit for the 2013/14 year has come in at $48.5 billion, $30 billion more than initially forecast.

A new estimate of job vacancies fails to give any credence to the reported surge in the number of people with jobs between July and August.

Western Australia has recorded its highest number of insolvencies for a month in nearly two years, with 841 companies entering external administration across the country in July.

Western Australian Treasurer Mike Nahan has defended his government's optimistic outlook for the state's most valuable export commodity in the past financial year, saying iron ore prices are "bloody hard" to predict.

The amount of money Australia reaps from resources and energy commodity exports is expected to fall this financial year, despite a pickup in volumes shipped overseas.

Western Australian treasurer Mike Nahan says he can’t guarantee a budget surplus in the next financial year due to the recent volatility in iron ore prices.

Labor will back the free trade agreement with South Korea but has again raised concerns about giving foreign investors the right to sue the Australian government.

The state government has been urged to take a whole-of-state approach to infrastructure planning after it emerged a new tax was being considered to help develop roads, railways and other major projects in regional areas.

The federal government’s competition review advisory panel has released its draft report, with recommendations including the abolition of the National Competition Council and Australian Energy Regulator, deregulation of taxis, pharmacies and trading hours, removal of restrictions on parallel imports, and promotion of user choice in health, education and community services.

Treasurer Joe Hockey has announced Australia will implement a new tax reporting standard from 2017, as part of a global initiative to tackle tax avoidance led by the G20.

Scientists and engineers in Perth have begun quietly setting up a centre which could encourage more floating gas projects off Western Australia's coast and create local jobs.

A new report says governments will need to balance the need to keep gas prices low for local consumers with securing royalties from producers.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon is worried Woolworths selling its 85 cent homebrand bread could spell a death blow to independent retailers.

Slashing tax deductions for property investors would erode housing affordability and drive up rents, a new report says.

Joe Hockey insists the states will get money from a $5 billion infrastructure building initiative "no matter what".

The forced merger of Perth's local councils shouldn't lead to higher rates, Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett claims.

Australia's longest-serving treasurer warns the country's luck is beginning to run out as wages fall and consumer pessimism grows.

The Western Australian government is poised to announce more cost-cutting measures as lower iron ore prices threaten to punch a big hole in the state's bottom line.

Australia's economy is expected to pick up pace in early 2015 as consumers become more confident and start spending again.

The City of Canning has been sacked by the Western Australian local government minister and replaced by a panel of three commissioners until a new council is elected in October 2015.

Taxpayers have been burnt by the Western Australian government after it paid $30 million upfront for dozens of luxury apartments it cannot sell, the opposition says.

High tuition fees and living expenses could place Australia’s reputation as an education destination for international students in jeopardy, according to global research from HSBC.

The transition of the Western Australian economy is under way amid strong population growth, according to recent research from the Committee for Perth.

Disputes over public sector pay rises have contributed to a significant increase in the number of working days lost to industrial action in WA.

A former National Australia Bank employee and a public servant have pleaded guilty to a $7 million insider trading scheme.