Opinion

Financial crisis may present opportunities for tax reform.

Proposed IR changes will have a major effect on businesses across the nation

US Supreme Court ruling paved the way for financial meltdown.

Barack Obama looks set to follow a different foreign policy path than his precessor

Pressure to develop the state's north is only going to increase.

IN a recent research report, my colleagues Rachel Ong and Richard Seymour of the Centre for Labour Market Research, and I investigated aspects of the lives of people living on the federal minimum wage.

Its time something was done about the staffing situation at Parliament House

FOLLOWING falls of unprecedented magnitude during 2008, the Australian share market looks set to recover some ground late in 2009.

This is an edited version of Colin Barnett's maiden speech to the WA Parliament on September 12 1990.

I WAS pleasantly surprised to see a job vacancy advertised in the window of a restaurant last week.

I THINK it was Keith Suter who compared the global financial crisis to a 'big weekend' - too much to drink on Saturday, hangover on Sunday, cleansed and ready for work on Monday, the social commentator told a recent Technology and Industry Advisory Counci

LAST week, State Scene outlined how Australia would have become a true democracy if the 1891 draft constitution of South Australia's democratic-minded premier, Charles Kingston, was adopted.

IN Western Australia, there are many directors on boards of mining and other large organisations.

THE controversy over the federal government's proposed industrial relations reforms made me think back to the mid 1980s when people like Charles Copeman led a bruising battle to free up Australian workplaces.

SOME time during our schooling we learned how the six British colonies on the island continent Matthew Flinders named Australia formed a federated Commonwealth.

We're really excited. There is so much on offer in Melbourne. You've got the spring racing carnival, F1 racing, the Australian Open, not to mention all the bands and live music.

HOW much is too much when it comes to executive remuneration, especially bonuses and termination payments? This is the vexing question that's challenging the investment community more than ever before, as the market slide makes it a widespread issue rathe

AS the resource sector tumbled through late September and into early October, the Australian stock market appeared to be in a final capitulation mode.

I have been reading extensively this month about the deep problems in the US financial system and it has left me with one overriding conclusion.

TRANSPARENCY is a fascinating concept and last week I encountered two vastly different examples of its application, or more accurately, its absence.

ONE thing seems guaranteed - the Democratic Party in the US can be relied on to field idiosyncratic candidates for the presidency.

THE average debt per person in Australia is now about $28,000.That's $28,000 for each of the almost 20 million people we have in our great nation.

THE debate over infrastructure provision in WA has taken many intriguing twists and turns since the election of the Barnett government.

AS global carbon emissions continue to rise, the investment world has begun to grapple with growing costs of consuming fossil fuels.

SHORT-TERMISM has something of an Orwellian ring to it, so I reckon it's appropriate to blame it for undermining the free-market economy.

AS someone who prefers small perfectly formed objects as opposed to monolithic structures, when it comes to business, the government's decision to carve up two Labor-created super departments is something I'd generally welcome.

LAST week, as global stock markets performed a swan dive in a grindingly painful bear market, Briefcase became increasingly angry at the market's bad behaviour.

LIKE many people, I've been bombarded by views on the financial meltdown, some via email and others through the news, offering analysis about what has taken place and what the landscape may look like in the future.

SO far there have been two unwelcomed signals from the Barnett-Grylls alliance.

IN 1929, the Australian share market peaked and subsequently fell 41 per cent, heralding the Great Depression.

IT'S probably because State Scene, long ago, spent several months in the advertising industry that the ploys and proclivities of those in that sector continue to intrigue.

AS the global economy reels under the shock of the credit crisis, it's interesting to see how the blame game transpires, especially those voices quick to condemn capitalism as the root of the problem.