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Shares in Vocus Communications fell almost 30 per cent following the telecom operator's second profit warning in six months, as management grapple with a raft of problems following its rapid expansion.

The Australian share market has been dragged lower at the open by the heavyweight financial and mining sectors, with telco stocks also down after Vocus Group downgraded its full-year guidance.

Women account for just 8.7 per cent of board positions at the top 100 Western Australian companies listed on the ASX, a report by the Committee for Perth has found.

PM steals Gonski away from LaborThe Turnbull government will pour almost $19 billion extra into school funding over the next decade and embrace David Gonski's needs-bas

The Australian dollar is a touch higher against its US counterpart.

Perth entrepreneur Steve Tobin is gearing up for an expansion of oil and gas and minerals exploration in Australia, after selling a majority stake in Terrex Seismic to a private equity group to fund the acquisition of what he believes is a breakthrough technology.

ANZ's weaker-than-expected $3.4 billion half-year cash profit has weighed on the big four banks and pulled the share market slightly lower.

The head of Western Australia's public sector union has defended what is being viewed as a muted response to the biggest slashing of the public service in decades and job losses that might be in the thousands.

The federal government has confirmed it will build Sydney's second airport after the operator of the city's main Kingsford Smith airport said it will not take up an option to develop the project.

ANALYSIS: With abundant supplies of energy and the raw materials growing Asian economies need, WA is set to ride out the economic headwinds facing the eastern states.

OPINION: Much has been made in recent times about the need to grow and diversify the Western Australian economy, now that the construction phase of the mining boom is over.

The state government has frozen Tafe fees for all courses over the next four years in the hopes of giving more people an opportunity to have an affordable education.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has held the cash rate steady, signalling it is less concerned about the growth of household debt and low inflation.

Shares in Pilbara Minerals were up 20 per cent on news the company has inked a major offtake and $US20 million investment agreement it says will pave the way for final funding of development of its Pilgangoora lithium project.

Chinese direct investment in Western Australia was more than 10 times higher last year than it had been in calendar 2015, according to the latest data compiled by KPMG and the University of Sydney.

Perth junior Salt Lake Potash has tapped investors for $17.6 million to fund development of a pilot plant at its Goldfields salt lakes project near Laverton.

Retail giant Woolworths has delivered strong comparable food sales for the third quarter in a sign it has wrested customers from arch-rival Coles.

ANZ Banking Group shares have tumbled as much as 3 per cent after the lender fell short of most analysts' expectations with a first-half profit of $3.4 billion.

The Australian share market has slipped in early trade, after softer-than-expected results from ANZ dragged indices lower, despite some gains on Wall Street overnight.

ANZ blows up bureaucracyANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott will take an axe to the bank's hierarchies and bureaucracy and shift the workforce into ‘‘ag

The Australian dollar is sharply higher against its US counterpart and comfortably back above 75 US cents.

Oil has slipped more than one per cent as rising crude output on Libya and the United States counters OPEC-led production cuts aimed at clearing a supply glut.

Gold prices have fallen one per cent to a three-week low, pressured by rising US stocks and an agreement that averted a US government shutdown.

Senior public servants Stephen Wood, David Smith and Darren Foster are among the main winners from the state government's plan to create 11 larger departments.

The Australian share market has defied negative overseas leads to close higher as investors look forward to the big four banks' profit reports.

Five months after listing on the ASX, the founders of Leederville-based bicycle accessories maker Cycliq have stepped back from their executive roles as part of a leadership restructure.

A third student accommodation project has been proposed for Perth's CBD, while a Hong Kong-based developer has been enlisted to build a residential, retail and entertainment complex as part of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority's latest efforts to get things moving at the Perth City Link.

SPECIAL REPORT: A pilot plant for WA's second rare earth metals mine is helping broaden the state's resources horizons.

Sandalwood producer Quintis has negotiated a second deferral of an option agreement that could see it having to pay nearly $34 million to buy back 400 hectares of plantations, as the company confirmed it was in advanced negotiations with a possible replacement for a key Chinese customer.

SPECIAL REPORT: West Perth-based junior Metalicity is developing a plan to take the Admiral Bay zinc deposit in the Canning Basin to production, two years after the project was bought from the collapsed Kagara Mining.

SPECIAL REPORT: The value of investment into WA gold projects is about four times as much as this time last year, while growth in spending on lithium has been even more substantial.

Junior explorler Azonto Petroleum has announced plans to farm-in to an oil and gas project in Canada through the acquisition of one of the project's joint venture partners, which is owned by Perth executive Alan Stein.