Opinion

THE Australian High Court’s decision not to overturn vote weighting arrangements across WA’s farmland and outback regions is the second time it has rejected Attorney-General Jim McGinty’s approaches on this issue.

IT’S been a couple of weeks since the successful State Arts Sponsorship Awards night...

THE debacle arising from the secretly agreed upon McGinty-Barnett $1.28/vote compulsory vote levy (CVL) plan that consumed so much time and energy, especially within Liberal ranks, rested upon two essential ingredients.

THE announcement last week by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Western Australian Supreme Court judge Hon Justice Kevin Parker had been appointed to the International Criminal Tribunal...

ALTHOUGH politicians work assiduously refining their interview skills, occasions arise when those efforts fail them badly.

MARK Latham might be Federal Labor’s head-kicking attack dog but at least the thinking he does out loud sparks the occasional policy debate.

EFFORTS to introduce daylight saving (DLS) into WA have failed at three referendums – in 1975, 1984 and 1992 – having been initiated by premiers Sir Charles Court for the liberals, and Brian Burke and Carmen Lawrence for Labor, respectively.

IT’S intriguing how worlds collide – or perhaps, in the instance I am about to raise, touch ever so softly, time and time again.

MUCH has been said lately regarding fund managers’ new interest, some would say interference, in companies they invest in.

THERE’S no law of politics that postulates political parties are essential for the effective operation of our representative form of democracy.

DIRECTORS’ fees and management incentives have featured prominently in the news recently.

MOST of us have either read or know about George Orwell’s prescient and terrifying novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which highlights Big Brother Government, an all-knowing, all-powerful overseer.

THE Australian Shareholders Association’s battle against what it sees as inappropriate options packages is not just reserved for monster corporations such as Southcorp.

TEN years ago the newly elected Court-Cowan Government received a report from a team headed by CRA’s former chief, Sir Roderick Carnegie.

ABOUT this time last year we published a major feature on the Burrup –depicting the development plans for the North West peninsula as being on a knife edge.

WHILE State Scene rarely bothers analysing parliamentary answers there’s always the chance of an exception arising...

LAST week State Scene highlighted South Australia’s recent Constitutional Convention...

IT has been fascinating to read some of the reports on Perth as a place to live and work in recent times.

ASK any West Aussie if they’re living in a democracy and, Sydney-to-a-brick they’ll say, yes.

Free at last JUST in case anyone is interested, I’ve declared this paper an Alan Bond free zone – the only one in the country as far as I can tell.

MOST of us have been told, or have subsequently worked out, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

AS the Federal Government salivates over the billions it will earn from the Gorgon project, it would be worth its leadership considering how this potential resources revenue and vast billions that preceded it came to be.

WITH the next State election likely in mid-2004 rather than early 2005, and set to be a close encounter, it’s worth asking what kind of premier Opposition leader Colin Barnett would make.

THE green light for the Gorgon is a major step ahead for Western Australia and, as the Federal politicians know, a significant boost to the nation’s treasury.

IT seems that we have seen our first results from negotiations for a free trade agreement with the US, with many Western Australian farmers ending up winners even though no deal has been signed yet.

AUSTRALIAN prime ministers, like democratically elected leaders worldwide, are under constant pressure from published opinion polls that tell voters how leaders are faring between elections.

LITTLE has improved for the Gallop Government since it passed the half-way mark of its term in office six months ago.

WHAT is worse than not having enough money? For some people, dear souls, it is the problem of having too much.

WA Business News played host to a wide range of business people and the leading State Government figures on the issue of taxes and charges imposed in Western Australia.

IT’S sobering to be reminded that there are limits to science, technology and Western engineering marvels such as, say, electricity distribution grids.

THIS week’s vote by BankWest shareholders to agree to a takeover by UK-based HBOS should come as no surprise. Faced with the prospect of the bank becoming a lame duck with a parent that might refuse to invest, shareholders had little choice.

DID anyone notice a bit of news floating around last week that Australia’s film-making industry was doing well on the back of a clever tax deduction.