Opinion

A few weeks ago I wrote about the big plans the City of Perth has and how frustrated many councillors are about any perceptions they are to blame for the current inactivity.

Regular viewers of the ABC’s Sunday morning program, Insiders, will have noted that two occasional guest commentators – Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and Melbourne’s Herald-Sun columnists, Piers Akerman and Andrew Bolt, respectively – long ago conceded Labor w

Just how important is Perth in the scheme of things?

The price of wheat is at an all-time high, the share price of AWB Ltd (once known as the Australian Wheat Board) is at an all-time low. Why is this so?

Hats off to the Local Government Managers’ Association for pushing the debate on local government reform in a positive and constructive manner.

The annual survey of major resource and infrastructure projects featured in this week’s WA Business News provides plenty of support for those who have a ‘stronger for longer’ view on the state’s economic outlook.

Since about April, when Liberal strategists began realising they were unlikely to shake-off Kevin Rudd as easily as initially anticipated, they’ve resorted to using a new phrase.

There have been many headlines in recent weeks about foreign investment in Australia, especially with so many key foreign leaders in Sydney for last week’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.

Inverse yields in the money market are a telltale sign of a future recession and are high on the watch list of US economists.

The world’s sub-prime credit squeeze came from nowhere, a fact that will please one seasoned observer of the way economies work, Don Stammer.

This week’s visit to Perth by Chinese president Hu Jintao highlighted the important role Western Australia plays in supporting the world’s powerhouse economy.

One of State Scene’s sharpest political contacts insists that spades always be called spades, never digging utensils. He won’t blindly fall into line by referring to things the way political spin doctors – of whom we have plenty – want them described and

I’ve had quite a bit of correspondence in recent weeks with City of Perth councillors regarding the various developments in the central business district.

Going soft is not usually an admirable trait in anyone, and certainly not when it comes to the hardheaded world of investing.

When CSIRO chief executive, Dr Geoff Garrett, visited Perth recently on the research group’s national industry roadshow, he delivered a very entertaining presentation on exponential change.

Since about April, all of State Scene’s best informants have said that the coming federal election would be held in November; in other words, later rather than sooner.

Getting answers out of people isn’t always easy.

When Newspoll - Australia’s most reliable measure of two-party voter mood - shows Labor running at 56 percent and Liberals at just 44, the only question left to ask is how big will the seat margin be after the dust from the coming landslide has settled.

Booming markets have all sorts of effects on an economy.

The aftermath of a stock market correction is always a marvelous time for pondering some of the deeper investment questions, such as whether a business is better off following the

Amidst the turmoil that has engulfed global stockmarkets, one group of Western Australian investors took an unusual, almost quixotic stand last week.

The past week has seen a flood of commentary and analysis focusing on the instability in global financial markets and trends in interest rates, with comparatively little attention paid to developments in the real economy.

The road transport lobbies are very close to the government, as can be observed at any social function where they lob.

While technically a South Australian company ever since taking the national rural giant Elders, Adelaide-based Futuris Corporation Ltd is a company I’ve always watched – albeit at

‘Conspicuous by his absence’ is an old expression normally reserved for someone who fails to turn up at a meeting.

Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi are a long way from Perth, but they are the names of African countries that should be burning deeply into the conscience of Western Australia’

One theme emerged strongly when 10 prominent Western Australian business executives attended a WA Business News boardroom forum last week to discuss the future development of Perth – frustration at the slow pace of change.

With the survival of the Howard-Costello government looking shaky, Australians face the prospect of whizz-bang Kevin Rudd as prime minister.

Housing affordability in Perth has reached a crisis and the blame game has started in earnest.

Knowing a lot about the companies in which you invest is a good thing.

It’s now most likely the John Howard-led Coalition will go into the election campaign well behind Kevin Rudd-led Labor.

It’s not often you get to sign off in the way that you want to, but I’m lucky enough to be doing just that.