Opinion

RARELY do two budgets – Tuesday's federal budget, which was the last before an election, and the August state budget, which will be the first after an election – send such conflicting messages.

Fear mongering over the size of Australia's population is founded in ignorance.

For some reason the word ‘objection' has been the prime topic of my email buzz and my customer requests recently.

Local and global factors are combining against a significant future strengthening of the $A against the greenback.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's chief Greg Medcraft has warned that investors hungry for yield are going to be attracted to riskier investments as Australia's interest rates

There's a raft of online resources available to increase your profile and grow your ‘outreach'.

The limitations of the traditional SWOT analysis have become clear – it's time businesses upgrade the way they plan and strategise for the future.

The Gillard government's inflammatory rhetoric on skilled migration and supposed widespread abuses of the 457 visa scheme still rankle.

Follow the man, follow the money. For hard-hit followers of resource stocks in Western Australia that's where they will find nuggets of good news, as smart people with spare cash refocus on a mining sector that's showing early signs of a sustained recovery.

I have just returned from holidays in Europe and among the many things I noticed was the rows of bicycles available for hire in central London. They were, to me, a noticeably new addition to city.

The last thing we need ahead of the federal election is the major parties promising to outspend one another, but that's probably what we'll get

Investigations by Victoria's Fraud Squad may put even further pressure on the prime minister's position.

The heat of a faux election campaign is the wrong time to make major economic decisions such as that relating to the NDIS.

The dynamics of Western Australia's growth profile are set to change in coming years as consumers step up their spending.

The lines are becoming increasingly blurred between not-for-profit groups and business.

I get many emails from people seeking insight or asking me to solve their sales dilemmas. Here are a few that may relate to your job, your life, and (most importantly) your sales thought process.

Businesses' marketing needs and costs vary significantly and there are no simple rules for determining how much you should spend on marketing your business.

The prime minister's warning about a tough budget outlook have wide implications; they apply to state and federal governments, now and into the future.

There are plenty of theories floating around today as to why the Australian Government has failed so badly at managing its finances but behind the politics is a simple fact; it has never understood that business creates wealth and jobs, not government.

We need to get over our blinkered opposition to high-density living in Perth.

The prime minister's aid package for farmers has carried the day when compared to the Barnett government's more modest offering.

Australians wisely adopted a federation with restrictions on the central government, something Julia Gillard has worked hard to undermine.

Fat dividends are the primary reason why Australia's big four banks have pushed most mining stocks out of the top 10 on the Australian Securities Exchange and, while investors might think bank shar

There have been some amazing changes in the composition of the workforce.

LinkedIn is great for business – er, I mean smart business.

The budget pressure facing the state government has added to the case for more private sector involvement in the delivery of traditional public infrastructure in Western Australia.

Australia's tightrope walk between long-time friend and ally, the US, and newfound customer for mining and energy exports, China, is back on the political agenda thanks to issues raised in a talk a

I saw an OKA truck on the road recently and, as I have previously lamented in this column, it was like an opportunity passing me by.

WA could lose out in the long run, with a likely incoming Abbott government paying less attention to a state perceived to be in the bag politically.

There can be no doubting the breadth of Margaret Thatcher's influence, even after her passing.

High-level warnings of continued volatility for the world economy, particularly in the European Union, are another strong buy signal for bullion.

The Western Australian economy is at the crossroads of a switch away from its very heavy reliance on resources-sector construction in favour of other parts of the economy – the interest rate-sensit