Special Reports

Health reform is one of the major financial and political issues facing the State Government. WA Business News brought together a group of key players last week to discuss the reform challenge. Mark Beyer reports.

AUSTRALIAN of the Year Fiona Stanley has called for a greater focus on community health programs to prevent illness, particularly among young people.

THE Treasury department’s role in the health reform process has been questioned by the medical lobby.

THE State Government has copped a lot of flack for recent decisions on country hospitals and, judging by the comments of the WA Business News health panel, we can expect even less e

FAR-REACHING changes to the structure of Perth’s three major teaching hospitals are likely to be among the major reforms arising from the work of the State Government’s health refor

IT’S an age-old saying that prevention is better than cure – yet it seems that one obvious place where this adage has not been applied is our struggling health system.

DISEASE management systems are not well known in Australia but West Perth psychiatrist Dennis Tannenbaum is aiming to change that.

EIGHT Western Australian companies paid their chief executives $1 million or more last financial year, WA Business News’ annual salary survey has found.

IF there were an award for the company that provides the best disclosure on executive remuneration, Tap Oil would be a clear winner.

Million-dollar salaries are becoming more common in WA. Mark Beyer takes a close look at WA’s top 50 chief executives to find out who earned their keep.

Golf has retained its popularity among players in Western Australia, however the sport is facing a minor sponsorship crisis. Noel Dyson and Mark Beyer report.

CORPORATE golf days have come a long way over the past decade. They are slick, professional and highly competitive, with numerous businesses and clubs chasing patronage.

A REQUEST to build a putting green in a customer’s backyard has created a business opportunity for one Perth landscape gardner.

“I AM trying to find another big one,” prospector extraordinaire and reclusive gold player Mark Creasy says about his exploration plans

WITH his customary swagger, Josh Pitt seems as quiet in person as his name is in the business world.

PERTH’S commercial television networks have taken the concept of corporate golf further than most businesses.

Western Australia’s mining industry is on the verge of a boom and the battle hardened juniors are gearing up to take advantage of it. Jim Hawtin reports on what industry veterans are expecting the much-hyped boom to bring.

THE need to provide industry knowledge to assist in the management and running of golf clubs has led to the creation of a unique institute in Joondalup, the Australian Institute of Golf Management.

IT is a truism of golf. The most expensive, hi-tech clubs are of little use to a golfer if they are the wrong size or the flex in the shaft does not suit the way a person plays.

HE has been a backpacker, a lawyer, a prospector, a fish salesman, a company director but most of all he is known for his sovereign-like reign at the helm of one of WA’s largest and most successful independent nickel companies – Jubilee Mines.

WILL Burrell, tourism operator and owner of Kimberley station El Questro, received a rude shock last December when he discovered that the Department of Conservation and Land Management had earmarked 97,361 hectares for exclusion from his 274,149ha station

The WA Government may have made it clear that the days of the kings-of-the-grass-castle are well and truly over, but pastoralists across the State are still calling for a lease structure that offers more security of tenure to encourage investment into our

COMMUNITY access is a major factor in the push to exclude 2,000,000 hectares from the total 91 million hectares of pastoral land in Western Australia.

DESPITE substantial tariffs on wine imports, several WA wineries have started exporting to India to meet growing demand for luxury consumer goods.

India isn’t one of WA’s major trading partners, but trade liberalisation and diplomatic efforts are smoothing the way for increased trade while India’s growing middle class fuels consumer demand. Alison Birrane, Jim Hawtin and Chris Leitch look at some of

WESTERN Australian gold exports to India topped the State’s export list last year, making it the most valuable export to the sub-continent.

THE enormous size of the Indian market was a main factor in attracting JV International to explore export opportunities in that country.

THREE years after buying into the established West Perth business, Faces Dances Cards & Gifts, husband and wife team Dean and Paulette Savage have embarked on an expansion drive.

SHERYL-LEE Moroni has no regrets about her decision 21 years ago to step away from her career as a stenographer and move into the world of adult dance.

AS the year winds to an end and the summer break beckons, the thoughts of many turn to family and friends and the festive season.

FOR those people starting out in small business, buying an existing operation can save a lot of time and money in building up goodwill. But there are some important factors that need to be considered.

Many people like the idea of being their own boss but not all can follow through and make the dream a reality. Noel Dyson investigates how to set up a successful small business.