Government

Major party MPs have defended the Australian Electoral Commission amid sustained attacks by businessman and political hopeful Clive Palmer.

Plans to charge $4,000 per year for the children of 457 visa holders attending Western Australian public schools have been watered down after a backlash over the budget-boosting measure.

Federal Labor's leadership ballot, which will involve rank-and-file members for the first time, has the capacity to make or break the party – including in Western Australia.

Three Cabinet ministers is a reasonable start for WA, but this state ought to be aiming for more.

Three Western Australian politicians have been named in Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott's new ministry, with two others receiving posts in the outer ministry.

Canberra's mid-year budget update, usually released at the end of the year, may be delayed until early 2014 by the incoming federal coalition government.

Western Australia's private sector says the state government's decision to sink another $46 million into the Muja AB power station is a questionable decision that lacks financial discipline.

The continued cooling of the mining industry is being blamed for Western Australia's rising unemployment rate, which has jumped to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5 per cent.

The certainty and stability that business craves from Canberra may not be delivered.

Economy rides Abbott victory

Premier Colin Barnett says 457 visa holders deserve more information about plans next year to slug them $4,000 a year for their child's education.

An internet petition set up by a Liberal-voting student to save Labor's national broadband network has become Australia's largest ever online petition.

The federal government's leading employment index fell for an eighth consecutive month in September, pointing to below trend jobs growth in coming months.

The governments of Tony Abbott and Colin Barnett face big challenges when it comes to cutting spending.

Business confidence in the Western Australian economy has fallen further this quarter, to levels not seen since the GFC, according to the latest Westpac-CCI Survey of Business Expectations.

One of Western Australia's top judges has expressed anger in open court at the growing workload of the judiciary in the state.

Business confidence has soared to its highest level in more than two years, helped by lower interest rates and more certainty about the outcome of the federal election.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer says his party will block Tony Abbott's policy agenda in the Senate unless there's electoral reform.

The public may claim to dislike ‘personality politics', but evidence of our obsession with image is all around us.

Carbon delay 'to cost billions'

Progress may be slow at first, but federal tax reform will be high on the Abbott government's agenda.

Alannah MacTiernan says she is certain the party would have been wiped off the map in the west if not for Kevin Rudd.

The latest round of vote counting shows the Liberal-National coalition ahead in 87 seats, giving it a big majority, but with maverick billionaire Clive Palmer on track to enter federal parliament

Job advertisements are almost at their lowest point since the global financial crisis, suggesting subdued business confidence and a softening labour market.

The ability of micro parties to harvest preferences to win Senate seats could be investigated by the new federal government, deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop says.

The Abbott government is determined to press ahead with its bid to repeal Labor's carbon tax despite a hostile Senate.

Unless some of the smartest people in the financial world are misreading their tea leaves, Australia's new prime minister, Tony Abbott, has done more than win an election – he's won the keys to a new era of solid economic growth.

Status quo was the election headline in Western Australia - but there will still be several new voices on the state's political stage.

Potential coalition foreign minister Julie Bishop says she'll work to re-establish relationships with Australia's neighbours, especially Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Singapore, if she gets the j

The next federal government will need to legislate to raise the country's $300 billion debt ceiling, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says.

Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott are blitzing the airways and key marginal seats on the final day of a gruelling five-week election campaign, as Labor continues to dig holes in the coalition's costings.

The coalition's costings are full of holes and dodgy maths, Treasurer Chris Bowen says.Mr Bowen says the coalition's numbers - finally revealed yesterday - are wrong in a number of ways.