Government

Transport Minister Troy Buswell has announced a joint venture featuring contracting group Downer EDI has won its third significant road maintenance deal, this time a $152 million contract in the Kimberley.

Australia's top 300 listed companies recorded stronger business conditions in the March quarter and also expect to perform better than smaller companies in 2012, a bank survey has revealed.

Company collapses in Western Australia are at an all-time high and corporate insolvencies are only tipped to increase over the short term, a new report says.

Australian businesses are repaying their debts at the slowest rate for three years, and the number of companies paying bills severely late has jumped by 20 per cent, according to a new report.

New research shows that more than half of WA employers believe that labour shortages and associated wage pressures are the biggest challenges to their businesses this year.

The federal government says it's close to releasing draft maps of where it intends to establish future marine parks in Western Australia's south west.

Western Australia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry says only a third of respondents to a recent survey believe economic conditions will improve over the next three months.

The Australian economy is not doing too badly, but it is hardly breaking any speed records.

The Australian Greens say they will oppose any moves to compensate mining giants under a carbon price, amid calls from Rio Tinto that business will struggle to adapt, and from Woodside Petroleum, which says its exports should be exempt from the tax.

Wayne Bergmann, the Kimberley Land Council head who has spearheaded Aboriginal negotiations over a controversial gas hub near Broome, is stepping down from the role.

Former West Australian cabinet minister Norm Marlborough choked back tears outside court after hearing his conviction of giving false evidence to the state's corruption watchdog had been quashed.

Western Australia's Chamber of Minerals and Energy says it is crucial for the Federal Government to expand its skilled migration program to ensure labour demand from the resources industry is met.

January retail trade figures were better than expected, helped by a rise in food sales and a recovery in department store sales, economists say.

Using natural gas to generate power and fuel buses is a better way to reduce carbon emissions than falsely assuming a carbon tax will cut energy use, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says.

There is growing concern about new and controversial police powers for October's Commonwealth summit in Perth.

Australia will put a price on carbon emissions from mid next year, but Prime Minister Julia Gillard has released no details on how the price will work or how it will affect businesses.

The West Australian government's triple-A credit rating has been re-affirmed but will come under pressure in the future from rising state debt levels.

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett is disappointed in Troy Buswell for notching up nine speeding offences in three years but says he doesn't deserve to be dumped as transport minister.

Business confidence and conditions slumped in the December quarter, even before the onset of the Queensland floods, a survey shows.

Former West Australian Labor frontbencher Alannah MacTiernan has defended Transport Minister Troy Buswell who has come under the spotlight again for a string of minor traffic offences.

Global warming is likely to be reducing rainfall in Western Australia, a Senate hearing has heard.

The federal government was always going to face hurdles in the home straight to its controversial mining tax, but a new set of figures has made the course even trickier.

The expected pace of economic growth over the next three to nine months has increased for the first time in nine months, according to a survey.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is refusing to make any changes to Labor's planned mining tax, despite Treasury figures showing the modified version will collect $60 billion less in revenue.

The Australian dollar was higher on Monday after strong official home loan data boosted investor appetite for the growth currency.

Less than 24 hours before the first West Australian parliamentary sitting day of the new year, Opposition Leader Eric Ripper has unveiled a reshuffle that affects more than half the shadow ministry.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has proposed a 50-50 public hospitals funding arrangement with the states and territories.

Interest rates are not excessively restrictive but Australians are becoming more cautious about their funds, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens says.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will get a national agreement on health and hospital reforms if she can separate the GST from the deal, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says.

The Australian dollar opened domestic trade lower today, as currencies struggled to find direction during a cautious offshore session.

The West Australian government's long awaited legislation for fixed-term elections is expected to be introduced next week nearly two and a half years after it was promised.

The Australian bourse closed in the black for the third consecutive day after a better than expected profit result from Commonwealth Bank drove gains in the financial sector.