Opinion

Against expectations, the nickel sector appears set for a rebound in 2015.

While doom and gloom is now rife, there are some signs that global shares may be at or close to a low.

In this week's Podcast, James Lush, Mark Pownall, Mark Beyer and Shanna Crispin discuss Tony Poli, Port Geographe, coal and small business.

Despite ruling out a run at state politics, Stephen Smith has been vocal about WA's role in Asia of late.

Verbal and financial volatility is the best way to describe what's happening in Western Australia today.

A second weekly increase in reported activity signals the seasonal lift in the market in October is underway which is also reflected in a healthy rise in listings.

The lack of a political plan to confront emerging terrorist threats is a grave concern for Australia.

The youth of each successive generation cringe when their elders yearn for ‘the good old days', but there's a real danger technology is robbing us of some vital skills.

A key component in the battle for repeat business, service is usually the poor cousin of ROI and other measure of ‘progress'.

If we can build on the beach at Rottnest, why can't we on the mainland?

A recent study of world LNG supply and demand has some positive news for WA.

Wide-open spaces, spectacular coastal cliffs and even a spot of golf on the Nullarbor are some of the highlights from the drive across Australia back to Perth.

In this week's Podcast, Mark Pownall and Mark Beyer join James Lush to discuss urban infill, the state's budget, the Premier's criticism of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, the state's first schools PPP and our updated listing of WA's biggest exporters.

The foreign affairs minister must be thankful she didn't take up Richard Court's offer of the state Liberal leadership in 2001.

Karl Simich and Mark Bennett are justifiably annoyed at having the companies they run added to an investment blacklist; but behind their frustration there is an enormously serious issue for every member of a superannuation fund – and that, in theory, is every working and recently retired Australian.

How would you go at your job if you had to pay someone else's mortgage off before you received any income? Would that be an incentive to turn up to work?

Reported sales this week rebounded 5% back to a similar level before the recent long weekend.

Julia Gillard's autobiography has poured salt into a few old wounds.

Targeted community engagement programs can add value to the NFPs, businesses and staff members involved.

If everyone had to work for tips there would be a dramatic improvement in the level of customer service.

Nauru is a good example of why a sovereign wealth fund is not such a smart idea.

The big commodities exporter has stolen a march on Australia with a China deal to use giant ships at cheaper rates.

In this week's Podcast, Catie Low, Tim Treadgold and James Lush discuss property prices, the iron ore slump, corporate finance challenges and the Barrack Square restaurant lease.

The drives across Australia's south-east, take in spectacular coastal and mountain scenery, making it very hard to select the best.

The premier and the treasurer are making some headway in their concerted efforts to rescue the budget.

If Western Australia's small iron ore miners thought all the bad news about falling prices was in the open, they got a shock this week when the two biggest producers, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, launched a war of words, complete with threats of fresh expansion programs.

Last week's increase in reported sales was short-lived, with the AFL grand final, Royal Show and long weekend all conspiring to pull the week's reported sales figure down to its lowest level since the end of July.

Debate is hotting up over longer-term climate trends, historical temperature statistics and a recent expansion of the Antarctic sea ice.

Standfirst: The IMF and Reserve Bank have urged reform of housing taxes but we should tackle this in a broader context of tax reform.

Misinformation and pseudo science are being used to thwart fracking, which is in its infancy in Australia.

Sydney is an amazing city with lots of iconic attractions, so it's hard to summarise a week there in short-form, but I'll try – I love visiting and experiencing what it has to offer, but have no great desire to live there.

In this week's Podcast, Mark Pownall, Dan Wilkie and James Lush discuss the state government selloff, BGC, the budget surplus, and a wrap-up of the retail property sector.