Government

The Reserve Bank of Australia could slash its interest rate to just 1.5 per cent within a year amid weak consumer confidence and rising unemployment.

An innovative product developed in Western Australia is being exported to energy and resources companies internationally under the leadership of former Bankwest corporate and specialised banking head, Andrew Tolj.

Australian farmers and dairy processors will get a better deal than their New Zealand counterparts under a free trade agreement with China, the federal government says.

A multibillion dollar free trade agreement with China is a game changer that the Abbott government believes will supercharge the Australian economy.

Construction of a $63 million facility to house a space surveillance telescope being relocated from the US to Exmouth is expected to begin mid next year.

The state government has made further amendments to its decision to charge a $4,000 public school fee for families on 457 visas, after community backlash resulted in multiple delays.

Labor believes the federal government is planning to bypass a hostile Senate and introduce its controversial GP co-payment via the backdoor.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is confident the economy will gradually pick up pace in the next couple of years, with the labour intensive services sector a key driver.

Joe Hockey is not going to be panicked into further budget cuts despite a likely decline in the nation's income.

Sluggish wages growth and rising unemployment is hardly a recipe for a happy consumer.

The coalition government has accused Labor of betraying the renewable energy sector by abandoning negotiations on a new target.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia chairman David Turner says Australia's largest lender is "cautiously positive" about 2015 financial year.

Joe Hockey won't deliver a mini-budget when he updates the government's books next month.

A record-high surge in business conditions in October has failed to light a fire under Australian companies, with confidence taking a fall.

Leaner times in the junior mining and exploration sector have resulted in widespread cuts to chief executive pay, but the restraint has not been shared equally across the sector, with some actually lifting salaries.

The state government has been praised for its commitment to planning reform, but local governments are being urged to get on board.

Our annual Apartment Developers feature discusses the oversupply debate of apartments in Perth's inner city, the government's proposed changes to strata titles, and the next wave of demand for apartment projects.

Housing finance commitments in Western Australia rose by 0.8 per cent in September, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' seasonally adjusted figures, bucking a national falling trend.

As global calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions get louder, WA is quietly progressing its own carbon capture and storage project

Sellers in Perth's prestige property market could be forced to drop their prices next year as commodity prices continue to weaken.

Jobseekers looking for encouraging news in the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest assessment of the economy will be disappointed.

Australia's unemployment rate was at a near 12-year high in October but, on the plus side, economists are rebuilding their faith in the accuracy of the figures.

Western Australia's universities will receive just 7.4 per cent out of next year's $354 million national research grants program, the lowest portion the state has been allocated in the past three years.

BHP Billiton will start exporting oil out of the US, a practice banned since the 1970s oil crisis.

The chief executive of Surf Life Saving Western Australia has been named as the man to take over leadership of Lotterywest.

It may be a while before the official employment data will be fully trusted but other indicators show that things are looking a bit better for job seekers.

Business leaders' confidence in the Abbott government has slumped to the lowest level since the coalition won power, with almost two-thirds seeing no benefit in scrapping the carbon tax.

Most voters would support a rise in GST if the money went to health and hospitals, a new poll has found.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is having another stab at calculating its jobs figures, and the latest estimates will look a bit worse than the previous attempt.

Rising house prices and the release of new smartphones have tempted Australians out of spending hibernation.

The state's healthcare and social services sectors are in for another decade of rapid change, industry leaders say, after growing employee numbers by more than 60,000 during the past 10 years.

Western Australia is feeling the effects of recent changes to workplace relations law, with 457 visa restrictions causing skills shortages in niche markets and a high level of industrial activity.