Government

Creditors for collapsed Perth building firm Gavin Construction are owed around $20 million, according to the company's administrator.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says Australia's falling dollar and low official interest rate are signs of economic volatility.

A coalition government wouldn't fund urban rail projects in Western Australia and would instead back roads, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has confirmed.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott says the only debate he will enter into with Kevin Rudd is across the floor of parliament or in election mode.

Australia has posted it largest trade surplus in 18 months as mining exports remain strong.It was the the fourth consecutive monthly surplus.

The City of Perth is set to introduce tighter performance measures for infrastructure projects in a bid to ensure they are delivered on time and on budget.

The frosty relationship between Canberra and the state government appears to be thawing, with the state's premier suggesting a DisabilityCare deal is edging closer.

The City of Perth has slammed the federal government's infrastructure grants program after being allocated $57,209 from a national funding pool of $150 million.

The new-look Labor Party has improved its competitiveness for federal seats in Western Australia, Defence Minister Stephen Smith says.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is starting the work of rebuilding Labor's ties with the business community.

Former Western Australian government minister Alannah MacTiernan says she'll decide in the next 48 hours whether to nominate as Labor's candidate for Stephen Smith's federal seat of Perth.

Australia's export commodity prices fell in June, the third monthly fall in a row, following a run of three rises.

Well-known as a ‘boom denier', Colin Barnett has added another string to his bow – recession rejecter.

The new financial year brings a swag of price hikes as the state government turns to consumers to prop up its sagging revenue base.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the core task of his new frontbench will be to keep the Australian economy strong.

Scandals in state Labor parties have compounded the failings of the Rudd-Gillard government(s).

Annual growth in China could be as low as 6 per cent as Australia's largest export market focuses on internal issues such as environmental standards and air pollution, Premier Colin Barnett said to

Premier Colin Barnett says he will be happy to sit down with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to thrash out a school funding deal.

A controversial crackdown on employer abuse of a skilled foreign worker visa program has passed parliament on the final sitting day before the election.

Clive Palmer got more than he bargained for when he decided to enter the political arena.

Labor's treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt has ruled out seeking pre-selection for the seat of Perth following the resignation of Stephen Smith.

The state's upper house has passed a bill to keep a tax on the transfer of businesses after a marathon near 24-hour sitting session.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is preparing to announce a key election policy ahead of the naming of his new ministry, after half a dozen key ministers, including Treasurer Wayne Swan, resigned on Wedne

MPs, judges, magistrates and senior public servants have been granted a 2.6 per cent pay rise, roughly in line with inflation, as more than 1,000 government staff face redundancies.

Nearly four in five Australian employers have no plans to put on new workers in the next three months.

The state government will establish a $5 million ex gratia hardship fund for subcontractors who were not paid for work on government building projects as a result of the insolvency of head contract

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has laid out a coalition government's plan for the resources sector while mocking the government's controversial mining tax as an act of "economic self-harm".

Federal resources minister Gary Gray is confident Australia will remain a major supplier of metal and minerals commodities, especially to South-East Asia.

The two federal independent MPs who have helped keep the Gillard minority government in power for nearly three years are walking away from politics.

While the federal treasurer believes Australia should become the world's largest liquefied natural gas exporter by the end of the decade, an industry insider says high production costs are putting

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says a falling Australian dollar should help the transition from mining investment to broader-based growth in the economy.