Government

Western Australia's spike in unemployment to a two-year high has one business lobby group urging federal MPs to carefully consider the government's proposed Fair Work Bill ahead of next week's vote.

Shadow Treasurer Ben Wyatt has warned that record growth in public spending is likely to continue after Treasurer Troy Buswell sought a 143 per cent increase in on last year's advance.

Greens and Chevron set to face off over Gorgon vision; Unions opt for jobs over pay; Sacked workers rejected pay cuts; Coal price cut hits export earnings; China hit raises fear of great recession

BUSINESSES nation-wide are waiting on the Liberal Party to formally announce its position on the federal government's industrial relations legislation, which moved to the Senate this week.

THE awarding to Brookfield Multiplex of the $220 million stage one contract for the Fiona Stanley Hospital is noteworthy in a number of respects.

Long-term business strategies could become casualties of the downturn.

PERTH faces a waste management crisis if authorities do not build infrastructure to cope with increasing populations by 2019, says Perth Waste Authority chairman Barry Carbon.

THE Fishing Industry Women's Association of WA (FIWA) is poised to take a class action against the state for changes to the rules governing the rock lobster industry.

THE founder of the Small Business Development Corporation has expressed dismay that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA has named the SBDC as one of 50 agencies it wants either abolished or privatised in a step towards public sector reform.

The Western Australian Trade Enquiry Service is operated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA with the support of the WA government's Department of Industry and Resources.

IT has been heralded as some sort of magic number - the 47 per cent debt-to-revenue ratio that is somehow tied to the state's financial future.

WESTERN Australian exporters have received encouraging news about the economies of some of the state's key trading partners, in particular India and China, with strong signs of growth for the future.

A decision on Fremantle’s outer harbour may be near after nearly a decade of delays.

Peter Costello needs to polish up on his people skills if he’s to lead his party, and the country.

LEADERS in safety innovation in business and industry have been recognised at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia's Safety and Health Innovation Awards 2009.

NEW research by the Urban Development Institute of Australia WA suggests the federal government's first home owner grant (FHOG) needs to remain in place for 18 months in order to effectively stimulate the market for the long term.

Research into plant disease and breeding led John Gladstones to viticulture and fostered the beginnings of the wine industry in the South West.

CONSTRUCTION, hospitality and technical industries in the Mid West will get a boost when building of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Project telescope begins in June.

WITH the sixth anniversary of his chairmanship at Paladin Energy quickly approaching, Rick Crabb says it's a "good business to be in at the moment".

BRENDON Grylls has had a dilemma before.Back in September last year, he was sitting pretty, holding the balance of power and able to decide who formed a government.

INDIA'S dairy market has opened its doors to Australian milk products for the first time since trade was halted in 2003.

The financial crisis is a major challenge for governments as well as business.

A portion of development sites in Victoria Park will be allowed to be built up to 18 storeys high after the state government approved a lift in building height limits.

The state government will create a new director position to oversee the expansion of the Ord River irrigation scheme and associated community and social infrastructure in the east Kimberley.

US oil giant Chevron says it expects to "sanction" the Gorgon liquefied natural gas project during the second half of this year.

Aspiring gold miner Catalpa Resources has reserved Perth-based GR Engineering Services for the refurbishment and construction of a processing facility at its $92 million Edna May gold project near Westonia.

A business advisory firm has urged small businesses to quickly take advantage of a federal government tax break before the window of opportunity closes.

The state's Grain Licensing Authority is set to be dismantled as the government announces that the export market for barley, lupins and canola will be deregulated before the start of the 2009-10 harvest.

Inpex says it remains committed to developing its $12 billion gas processing plant, located in Darwin, after a Liberal Senator said the company could move to offshore locations due to the Rudd government's emissions trading scheme.

The unwinding of the commodity and mining investment boom will take the lustre out of the Western Australian, Northern Territory and Queensland economies over the next few years, according to Access Economics, as the nation's economic backdrop continues t

Westpac's plan to top SME lending; China slides into deflation; Labor braces for emissions fight; UBS tips $US2,500 an ounce for bullion; Turnbull, Costello face off on IR

Golden West Resources says it is not seriously considering iron ore offtake offers it has received from China, Korea and Japan as it waits to get "visibility" on port and rail infrastructure before pursuing an arrangement.