Opinion

I’VE noticed there’s a lot of talk about marginal tax rates suddenly.

A REVIEW of the Australian Stock Exchange’s corporate governance guidelines has recommended changes to assist smaller listed companies.

NO matter what anyone says about young people today or the litigious nature of our society, every now and then something turns all that sour stuff on its head.

REGULAR State Scene readers will know that new Federal Labor leader Mark Latham was treated sympathetically rather than circumspectly in this column on becoming leader.

I WAS quite staggered this week to find that Alinta’s general manager of corporate communications David Franklyn had quit over his former employer’s $1.69 billion bid to buy the Australian and New Zealand assets of Duke Energy.

LONG-TIME State Scene readers may recall a March 2001 column highlighting research by Dr Bob Catley, then of New Zealand’s Dunedin-based Otago University.

IT’S easy when you spend a short time away from Perth to find the grass is greener elsewhere, especially when you are on holidays.

IT’S finally happening, and it’s happening much earlier than expected. But in politics nothing’s lost by getting things out of the way sooner rather than later.

I HAVE been doing as much analysis of the free trade agreement with the US as possible and I simply can’t understand the objections that are arising from vested interests around the country, led by sugar growers.

GROWING numbers of Labor and Greens activists are concerned that the Gallop Government is the weakest link in Labor’s current hegemony over all States and Territories.

FEBRUARY 18 – ‘hot Wednesday’ – clearly showed how reform of Western Australia’s energy sector has been bungled, for the time being at least.

HOW things change in a week.

ERIC Ripper should resign. At least that’s the call made by numerous people during the past week as the State’s Energy Minister has copped the full brunt of our displeasure at being deprived of air-conditioning, among other power services.

WHENEVER controversies surface at the national level that impact, even indirectly, upon State affairs it’s hard to hold back premiers and/or State opposition leaders from commenting.

Time for a little political transparency THE superannuation debate that flared up and lit a spot fire, until Prime Minister John Howard doused it with an opportunistic sprinkling of cynical politics, is worth a brief discussion.

BUREAUCRATIC fashions, like those in clothing, constantly change. And the changes invariably sweep across the globe.

THE article below is as complicated as a business story can get. The man at the centre of it is at the helm of a public company, yet his private business dealings raise many questions.

THE free trade agreement with the US is obviously the talking point this week.

THE Barnettled Liberals are heading towards the February 2005 election in what can only be described as a deplorable state.

WORKERS’ compensation is such a minefield that it rarely raises a wrinkle on the public’s brow until there is a major catastrophe.

TOO often in publishing we are accused of always seeking out the negative. Well, WA Business News tries where it can to balance the ledger and find the positive stories.

FEW realise that the Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Standing Committee (L&CSC) is considering “the most appropriate process for moving towards the establishment of an Australian republic with an Australian Head of State”.

AS it has been two months since Labor’s factional chiefs moved to replace Simon Crean as leader, it’s worth asking whether the change has significantly altered Australia’s political landscape.

MY research for last week’s editorial on petrol prices gave me reason to call the RAC for comment on the issue.

WITH sport so major an ingredient in Australian cultural life it’s not surprising new Labor leader Mark Latham announced he’d welcome, with “open arms” outgoing Test cricket captain Steve Waugh should he ever seek a political career.

FUEL prices are not something I get worked up over very often.

IF elections, complex internecine party machinations and factional imbroglios aren’t your favourite – and you qualify for long service leave after mid-2004 – take some time off and go interstate or overseas for that long-planned holiday.

THE Wine Industry Association of Western Australia walked into a storm when it announced that our State had a glut of red wine and that millions of litres were sitting unsold from last vintage.

IT’S something a breath of fresh air when all the talk around town is focused on the likelihood of a pre-election tax cut.

A PUZZLING feature of 2003 was the fact that, despite the Liberals being in disarray, and with a weak and unpopular leader, Gallop-led Labor sometimes found itself trailing the conservatives in the polls.

THE looming concern about property prices, particularly investment-based apartments, is starting to focus attention on the perceived culprits – real estate investment spruikers.

SIX months ago a contact close to the Liberals’ parliamentary leadership group told State Scene that Colin Barnett’s number cruncher, Darling Range MLA John Day, was deeply concerned about losing party endorsement.