The state government has funded the key projects it has announced during the year, with fiscal restraint and rising royalty income allowing it to include infrastructure spending without blowing the budget.
In his first outing as Treasurer, Premier Colin Barnett delivered a promised surplus - $286 million - on the back of sharp royalty rises, increased services charges to households and restraint in spending growth which was limited to 3.9 per cent.
The Northern Territory government has launched a concerted campaign to poach business from Western Australia and rival Perth as a regional oil and gas capital.
The state government has today committed $12 million from this year's budget to provide low-interest loans to community sector ogranisations and a social innovation grants program.
Treasurer Wayne Swan has launched a salvo at mining executives from his "Treasury bunker" as the war of words over federal Labor's proposed resources rent tax intensifies.
Atlas Iron chief David Flanagan has taken the next step in a growing mining industry campaign against the proposed resources super profit tax, penning an open letter to the prime minister that will be published in newspapers tomorrow.
Iron ore veteran George Jones says the next resources boom is being threatened by the proposed super profit tax as a group of fired-up mining executives today gathered to again express their anger at the Rudd government.
The federal government has been told the cost of the National Broadband Network could be capped at $26 billion as opposed to the original $43 billion earmarked for the project, and that it should be built without Telstra.
International ratings agency Fitch has indicated that while the Commonwealth's proposed super profits tax on the nation's mining and resources outfits "isn't good news for Australian miners", it will not affect the ratings of these companies.
ANZ and Westpac have joined the other big banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank in raising the standard variable home loan interest rate in line with the 25 basis point rise by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
Premier Colin Barnett says companies are reviewing their investment decisions in the state in light of the federal government's proposed new super tax on miners.
The federal government is set to establish a new infrastructure fund with a starting base of $700 million to ready the country for future mining booms.
Western Australian consumers have taken a cautious approach towards taking on new debt with demand for mortgage and personal credit falling during the first quarter of the year as compared to the same period last year, a new study has found.
The state government has received 90 applications seeking more than $9 million in co-funding as part of its $80 million Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) to encourage drilling and exploration in untapped areas.
Chevron has awarded a Chinese engineering company a $US180 million contract for the construction of modules for the Gorgon gas project that was originally earmarked for Australian steel fabricators.
The state government has announced the development of an energy Generation Outlook to provide an outline of the type, size and timing of future power generation to help ensure Western Australia has adequate, cost-efficient electricity supply.
The state government has announced a significant win for the state's wheat farmers and exporters with Saudi Arabia's sole importer amending tender specifications to allow Australian wheat to be imported into the country.
The state opposition says proposed tax rises by the Barnett government would see local small businesses slugged an extra $355 million over the next three years.
The recovering local economy has prompted recruitment firm Hays to urge employers to review their recruitment processes as Western Australia's list of skills in demand grows.
A SERIES of moves by political staffers into roles linked to the resources sector reveals the growing need for corporate players to find their way around bureaucracy and political roadblocks.
The majority of Australia's private companies are optimistic about the future and are on track to meet revenue targets this year according to one of the world's "big four" accounting firms.
Western Australia's economic comeback is taking place faster than first predicted with growth expected to rise steadily over the next few years, reaching 6.25 per cent in 2012-13, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA.
Australia is expected to benefit from China's continuing economic growth, which grew at its fastest rate in almost three years during the March quarter.
WA Mines Minister Norman Moore says the government aims to raise around $35 million a year for the state's new safety system, predominately from levies charged for each worker in the resources sector.
State Treasurer Troy Buswell has cited potential costs of up to $467 million as a key reason for killing off the privatisation of government employees' superannuation administrator GESB, ending two years of speculation about its future.
The Barnett government has joined forces with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA and the Chamber of Minerals and Energy to develop a WA skilled migration strategy which will help address the state's looming skills shortage.
The state's first early phase clinical trials facility opened today paving the way for Western Australia to play a bigger role in delivering new treatments for potentially life-threatening diseases.
Premier Colin Barnett is jetting his way to the USA to spruik Western Australia's capabilities as a global energy supplier joining a list of distinguished speakers presenting at one of the world's leading energy policy research forums.
