Government

Environment Minister Bill Marmion has and allocated $17.2 million to the Waste Authority for the first year of a proposal designed to improve recycling rates.

The mining boom - or at least investment in it - will peak in 2014, but the non-resources sector will then drive growth, a report has found.

Up to a dozen enterprise migration agreements (EMAs) are expected to be inked by the federal government, Special Minister of State Gary Gray says.

BHP Billiton's decision to shelve two high profile projects has not changed the central bank's upbeat view about the economic outlook.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she never personally benefited from a union fund which she helped set up for free, and off the books, when she was a lawyer 17 years ago.

The top brass of the Reserve Bank of Australia will face further grillings about scandals involving its note-making companies when they appear before a powerful parliamentary committee.

Debate has continued apace regarding the health of the mining industry, with federal cabinet ministers voicing contradicting views, the federal opposition saying project investment cuts are a sign

The Western Australian Greens are appealing to the state's fisheries minister to stop a Dutch super-trawler "pillaging" coastal waters, as their federal counterparts try to thwart it in the Senate.

The number of jobs advertised on the internet has hit its lowest level since late 2009.The seasonally adjusted count of internet vacancies index fell by 7,347 to 191,265 in July.

Treasurer Wayne Swan is trying to bully the mining states into freezing royalties to make up for falling commodities prices, Premier Colin Barnett says.

Australian economic conditions are expected to stay subdued for the rest of the year, although they will improve slowly.

Lax security has allowed some Australian employees to fleece their bosses to the tune of $398 million, according to a recent study.

Treasurer Wayne Swan says the federal government will make room in the budget for its spending priorities and will still return a surplus.

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne has told business groups to stop complaining every time the federal government tries to drum up extra tax.

A stabilising Chinese economy and tentative signs of an improvement in the non-mining sectors of the local economy were behind the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to keep the cash rate at 3.5

The cost of electricity is shaping up as a key election issue in Western Australia, with Labor unveiling a $630 million, three-year plan to reduce bills.

The federal opposition has seized on a survey which suggests half of small businesses are already feeling the effects of Labor's carbon tax.

A man who jumped the fence of Premier Colin Barnett's home and chained himself to the front gate is being removed by police.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the federal budget will return to surplus as planned, despite the additional cost of its new asylum seeker measures.

Jobs and growth pressures in Western Australia are expected to be the focus of a community cabinet meeting in Perth on September 5.

Australia's two-decade long economic expansion is at risk unless productivity growth returns to its long term average, according to a new report.

Community sentiment towards Australia's newest onshore asylum-seeker detention centre remains mixed, Northam Shire president Steve Pollard says.

A range of positive factors, including solid wage growth, has failed to lift the mood of consumers.

One of the world's largest credit agencies has warned Australia's states and territories to watch their persistent budget deficits and rising debt levels.

Wage prices data which came in close to expectations is unlikely to sway the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy too much, economists say.

The "world's biggest" carbon tax is partly responsible for a decline in international business confidence in Australia, the federal opposition says.

Bipartisan support is expected for proposed new legislation in Western Australia banning taxpayer-funded government advertising within three months of a state election, the oppositio

Environmental groups have called on the federal government to reject a push to allow state governments to approve certain business developments without federal oversight.

Australian businesses regained their confidence in July, as global sentiment stabilised, and the impact of Reserve Bank of Australia rate cuts began to be felt.

Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan has had his contract renewed after a recent Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) investigation cleared him of misusing his credit card.

A call for Western Australia to abandon or improve its popular Royalties for Regions (RfR) program has been rejected by the state government.

A panel of tax experts says a cut in the company tax rate to 25 per cent recommended by the Henry review would cost the federal budget $26 billion in revenue over four years, while the resources se