Opinion

It's a shame that Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay are not writing any more of their Yes Minister books.

State Scene realises the most common school debating topic after whether capital punishment should be re-introduced is whether compulsory voting should be abolished.

To list, or not to list? That is the question facing Australian resource company executives as they contemplate doing business in the capital of mining finance, London.

SINCE the day I joined WA Business News I have been asked constantly, ‘when are you going daily’? The reply to that has been consistent. We are never going to do that, at least not as a newspaper.

Peak Oil is a hot topic in the petroleum business, and one that worries government because of the pain being felt at the bowser by voters.

The Gallop government’s move to streamline the approvals process for resources developments is a welcome, albeit belated response to a critical issue in this state – making sure we maximise benefit from the boom we are experiencing.

A view has begun to emerge around State Parliament and the major political parties that the Gallop government is approaching a fork in the road.

I had the pleasure of chairing a panel session for our recent Success & Leadership event, The Modern Entrepreneur in WA. The event kicked off the 2006 WA Business News 40under40 Awards by bringing together four previous winners from the program to discuss

The recently released 480-plus-page report on Joondalup Council is a quizzical document.

TAKING the moral high ground can be a very expensive business, as the innocent small shareholders of Consolidated Minerals are discovering.

Last week’s bagging of junior minister Bob Kucera’s scalp wasn’t a day too soon for Liberal leader Matt Birney, since a consensus was emerging within party ranks that, while he’d made a fairly good start in February, little had happened since to cheer up

What's wrong with this equation?

The resignation from state cabinet of Bob Kucera may well provide a boost for young Liberal leader Matt Birney, but it signals just how difficult we make it for our politicians to be normal these days.

Big fish in Perth’s small corporate pond pay a high price when they move to deeper waters.

John Howard is one of the canniest politicians in the business and his proposed reform of industrial relations has his textbook approach written all over it.

Last week, State Scene was fortunate to sneak a look at what could become Western Australia’s non-metropolitan lower house electoral boundaries at the 2009 election.

Every speculator dreams of a 10-bagger, that legendary stock market winner that delivers a profit of 10 times the outlay.

Matt Birney’s Liberal Party manifesto announced at the weekend marks a key point in his fledging leadership.While publicity about his plan was largely overwhelmed by the news of new bombings in Bali, there were several initiatives of interest to business

History, like life in general, can be most unkind to some people. Put otherwise, it can be kinder, much kinder, to some while not so to others.

By now, most politicians will have marked their favourite Mark Latham diary quotation. Mine was his remark about Labor’s Kevin Rudd: “If he grew up in poverty in rural Queensland where did the posh accent come from?”

It's not every day that a new, and successful, investment theory emerges.

I don't normally pick up on issues raised by politicians campaigning for their slice of the funding pie, but I was intrigued by the efforts of Greenough MLA Grant Woodhams who raised the vision of the Indian Ocean Drive in State Parliament last week.

One thing I am not an expert on is technology. I struggle with any new piece of equipment and probably only ever use 10 per cent of the capabilities of the gizmos that I own.

HAD Mark Pownall (WA Business News, September 15, Opinion) contacted me to talk the issue through rather than simply quoting from our brief media release, I would have pointed out just how dirty (i

Hardly a year passes without a new development that focuses on the loss of Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney, off Carnarvon, on November 19 1941.

THE experts say that a glass (or two) of wine a day is good for your health.

During the past fortnight Australians have again been subjected to what some are calling the Johnny and Pete show.

A funny thing happened on the stock market last week at the height of the confusion about the sale (or not) of the Government’s outstanding 51 per cent stake in Telstra.

The planned visit by the Rainbow Warrior to Fremantle at the weekend did little to stir passions that I could note – having not been in the port city or caught the news – but it did get me thinking about where the environmental debate was heading.

It's a brave or foolish man prepared to criticise, however mildly, a company that has just reported the biggest profit in Australian business history.

TELSTRA is the classic example of why business and government don’t mix. The current furore over the telco’s new and outspoken leadership team is all politically driven, despite criticism of some management for talking down the price of the stock.

With Labor leader Kim Beazley registering poor polling ratings it’s little wonder discomfort is showing across Labor ranks.