Government

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she wasn't willing to hand environmental approval powers to the states for fear it would create a "dalmatian dog" of legal risk and uncertainty for business.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has struck a deal with the state and territory leaders on a plan she says could save households $250 a year on their power bills.

Labour productivity rose strongly in 2011/12, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Returning the federal budget to surplus this financial year should not be priority as it could further slow the economy, an economist says.

Lower commodity prices and the high value of the Australian dollar have seen Australia post its biggest trade deficit since 2008.

Confidence in Western Australia's economy among consumers has plunged to a record low but most households still expect to spend as much this Christmas as they did last year.

Myer has blamed economic conditions, the introduction of the carbon tax and a GST loophole on goods bought overseas for its weak performance.

Health minister Kim Hames has announced the terms of reference for an independent review into the Peel Health Campus and the state government’s contract with hospital operator Health Solutions WA.

John Holland has been confirmed as the managing contractor for completion of the $1.2 billion New Children’s Hospital in Nedlands.  

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Australia has a resilient economy but its future is not assured without further reform.

Opposition leader Mark McGowan has criticised increases in senior Western Australian bureaucrats’ salary packages during the Liberal-National government’s first term in office, describing them as “

An unexpected fall in Australia's unemployment rate will lift confidence in the national economy.

 Treasurer Wayne Swan says the latest growth figures show the ongoing resilience of the Australian economy in the face of a difficult and volatile global environment.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has rejected warnings by a former Reserve Bank governor that fiscal policy is going in the wrong direction.

The state government has officially put out the call for builders for its $900 million, 60,000 seat stadium to be built at Burswood.

Major banks are under pressure to deliver some Christmas cheer in the form of cheaper mortgages after the Reserve Bank returned its cash rate to record low levels.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says the cash-rate cut shows the government has no plan to deal with the deterioration in the Australian economy.

Ferry services will play an increasing role in Perth's public transport plans, Transport Minister Troy Buswell has said, while announcing a trial of late night services.

Australia's unemployment rate is expected to continue to grind higher, possibly peaking at around six per cent in 2013.

Retail company Premier Investments says the lack of GST on overseas online purchases under $1000 is seriously harming Australian businesses.

Company profits are down for a fourth consecutive quarter, driven lower by a 12.2 per cent fall in mining profits.

Former premier Brian Burke has been found not guilty of illegally obtaining official secrets.

The federal government has acknowledged the $1,000 threshold at which GST is collected on goods purchased from abroad is high by international standards, but has rejected calls for an immediate red

 Australian job advertisements have fallen for an eighth consecutive month, with falls in the mining states reflecting weaker activity in the resources sector.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has upped the pressure on Queensland and Western Australia to get on board the National Disability Insurance Scheme, ahead of Friday's Council of Australian Governments

Australia's manufacturing sector has contracted for the ninth month in a row, with weakness in both production and new orders.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott has thrown down the challenge to commonwealth and state treasurers to sort out the issue of the mining tax and royalties, and put politics "in the back pocket".

Australian households could get an early Christmas present in the form of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia - but it will be a close call.

The bid to reduce general government sector spending in Western Australia is off to a bad start, rising 3.9 per cent in the September quarter compared to the same period in 2011.

Two Western Australian Liberal senators have broken ranks with their colleagues in declaring their support for a Labor bill to finalise the deregulation of wheat exports.

The chairman of the Western Australian Planning Commission has been dismissed for misusing his government credit card, after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel over 28 months.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott called for a judicial inquiry into the 20-year-old AWU "slush fund" affair, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard sought his apology for claims she had breached the law.