News Articles for Mike Nahan

The state government has completed the first in a series of planned asset sales, announcing that it has concluded negotiations with an industry consortium to purchase the Perth Market Authority's Market City.

Treasurer Mike Nahan will not contest the deputy leadership of the state Liberal party, paving the way for Police Minister Liza Harvey, who is likely to be voted in unopposed.

The state government has hit back at a number of claims made by a new power industry lobby group, calling its campaign a scaremongering tactic run by companies seeking to protect their taxpayer-funded incomes.

While proponents laud the benefits in capital recycling from an electricity network sale, there's evidence it would lead to lower prices for users.

The state government's asset sales program has taken a step forward today, with Gresham Advisory Partners appointed as lead adviser for the partial sale of Keystart's loan book.

Ratings agency Moody's has downgraded Western Australia's credit rating to Aa2, reflecting an ongoing deterioration in the state's finances and concern that the government will be unable to meet its own spending targets.

Two niche operators in Western Australia's electricity market have accused the state government of being more concerned with protecting its own interests than creating a truly competitive industry

Economist and climate change adviser Ross Garnaut has called on the Barnett government to write down the value of coal-fired power stations and other ageing assets, warning that keeping them online threatened its ability to reduce power prices.

The state government will lay underground power lines in areas of the South West after the Yarloop bushfire racked up a $26 million damage bill to the region's electricity network.

The May budget looms as an important opportunity for the Barnett government to put its economic house in order.

The state government has flagged more asset sales after its mid-year budget update confirmed deepening financial problems, with the annual deficit worse than expected and state debt tipped to reach an unprecedented $39 billion.

The planned sale of Fremantle Ports is getting more complex amid uncertainty on the Perth Freight Link and the outer harbour development.

An industry consortium led by members of the Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries in WA has been selected as the preferred bidder for Market City, putting the state government a step closer to its first major asset sale.

THE innovation and diversification of Californian businesses, and the rapid growth they have driven, hold valuable lessons for Western Australia's economic development, according to some of the state's leading policy minds.

Deputy Premier Kim Hames will stand down from that role in February next year, but will remain as minister for health and tourism as he prepares for his retirement from politics at the 2017 state election.

Approval has been granted for the first in a series of state government asset sales, with legislation to sell Market City passing parliament after a debate that went until almost dawn.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is understood to be investigating Synergy following predatory pricing complaints from several players in the state's electricity market.

The mid-December budget review will set the tone for state government spending cuts before the 2017 election.

Synergy chairman Lyndon Rowe has mapped out a detailed agenda for energy market reform, saying there would be catastrophic consequences if the government did not tackle market players with vested interests.

A New Zealand-based insolvency expert has been put in charge of a new state government authority that will decide how $1.7 billion from the Bell Group litigation will be distributed.

The state government has begun the tender process to find a lead financial adviser as it plans to move ahead with divesting a portion of Keystart's loan book to the private sector.

The state government remains cautiously optimistic about its proposed sale of the Utah Point bulk handling facility in Port Hedland, following the introduction to parliament today of legislation to allow transition of the asset to the private sector.

The Barnett years will be remembered for many things, but economic responsibility is not among them.

Chinese investors appear increasingly bullish about opportunities in Western Australia's energy sector, following revelations a division of China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC, was a significant influence in one of the state's biggest battery storage trials.

Energy Made Clean has won the contract to build a solar farm on Rottnest Island as part of a $7.3 million renewable energy project.

Energy Minister Mike Nahan has welcomed the ‘Uberfication' of the electricity industry, saying the largely state controlled market must be challenged.

A consortium including Programmed Maintenance Services has been named the preferred bidder for the ACT's $150 million Law Courts Public Private Partnership, while the state government has signed a contract for Western Australia's first schools PPP.

Relentless optimism is a positive quality, as long as it's based upon the evidence at hand.

Leading local businesswomen Sharon Warburton and Vicki Krause have joined the board of the energy provider Western Power, replacing outgoing directors Paul Underwood and Sue Wilson.

Transferring control of large swathes of WA's electricity market to the east-coast based national regulator has been welcomed by dominant market player Synergy.

Kerry Stokes' private company and three property investors are among five bidders shortlisted for the privatisation of Perth's major fruit and vegetable market, which includes the largest land development site in Canning Vale.

SPECIAL REPORT: Business News looks at what's holding up and what's contributing to electricity price reductions, reviews the players in WA's wave energy and waste-to-energy industries and reports on allegations of market manipulation by a Synergy-owned business.

Two former BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto engineers from the Wheatbelt officially launched a wave energy prototype in the Swan River today as part of a long-term plan to produce electricity at costs so low it will rival wind energy.

Not only did state funding for housing in the Pilbara come too late, when it did flow it was poorly targeted.

The Perth Market Authority's Market City is set to be the first major transaction in the state government's asset recycling program, as expressions of interest in the fruit and vegetable wholesaler closed with a number of potential bidders.

SPECIAL REPORT: The privatisation of Fremantle Ports will have a major bearing on the future shape of freight movements across Perth.

Upwards of 130 corporate finance transactions worth more than $11 billion were announced in WA in the June quarter, but most notable was a handful of landmark M&A deals.

Following a push by industry, the state government has released a step-by-step guide on how to promote and access greater cultural diversity.

A top WA economic commentator can't see a way back to AAA any time soon.

The ‘iron ore wars' and budget battles are defining where power and influence lies in business and politics in WA. Read our latest Most Influential feature to see who is on the rise, whose influence is waning and who has dropped off the list.