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Perth mid-tier accounting firm RSM Bird Cameron has increased its focus on the Queensland market by merging with MHM Accountants in Brisbane. The deal which will see 30 staff from MHM join RSM Bird Cameron is the most recent of several acquisitions after RSM acquired businesses in Port Lincoln, South Australia and Ballarat, Victoria.

Engineering company Downer has had its blasting services contracts in the mining sector extended for $230 million.

A sharp drop in confidence among medium-sized businesses can be blamed on uncertainty ahead of the federal election, a survey says.

The federal government is hinting it may recall parliament to consider its plan to dump the carbon tax and replace it with an emissions trading scheme.

Shares in ailing surfwear retailer Billabong are riding a wave after news chief Launa Inman will step down as part of a deal with a US private equity group to help refinance its debts.

Iluka Resources' revenue from its mineral sands operations has dropped 42 per cent in the first half of 2013 after lower prices forced it to cut production.

THIRTY years ago, I started my working life as a graduate economist in the Commonwealth Treasury.

The Australian dollar surged close to 92 US cents as traders interpreted the minutes of the Reserve Bank's July meeting as a sign interest rates won't be cut in August.

Australian shares have closed slightly higher, boosted by gains from resource companies on the back of record production results from mining heavyweight Rio Tinto.

Strike Energy has taken advantage of concern about an east coast gas supply shortage by negotiating a $52.5 million offtake deal with Orica to fast-track development of its Cooper Basin assets. Orica has agreed to buy up to 150 petajoules of natural gas over 20 years.

Negotiations between Western Australia and Canberra over the proposed schools funding plan are at a standstill, the prime minister's office has revealed.

Apache Northwest, Santos and Tap Oil announced today that drilling at the Bianchi-1 natural gas well co-owned by the three companies had confirmed a gas discovery, the second for the companies' offshore Carnarvon Basin joint exploration projects. Bianchi is located in the WA-49-R retention lease, around 60km north-west of Onslow and west of Barrow Island, and approximately 21km south of the Gorgon gas field. It is the second confirmed gas discovery in the retention lease, after the Zola-1 well, owned by the same companies and located about 6.4km south-west of the Bianchi site, tested positive in April 2011.

Rio Tinto has boosted its global iron ore production to a record level during the June 2013 quarter, as it reviews new options to achieve its growth target at its Pilbara operations. Rio has also disclosed the high cost of a legal dispute with Gina Rinehart's company Hancock Prospecting.

Belmont-based NRW Holdings announced today that it had been awarded a major contract at BHP Billiton's Mooka Iron Ore car repair shop site.

Australia's biggest owner of natural gas pipelines APA Group has approached leading natural gas distributor Envestra Limited about a merger proposal.

Beleaguered surfwear icon Billabong is expected to announce asset sales and new loans within days as it fights to overcome weak revenues and oversized debt.

The Reserve Bank says another interest rate cut could be on the cards thanks to a benign inflation outlook.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he's taking a wait-and-see approach to Indonesia's stance on live cattle export quotas.

Western Australia's role as a cash cow funding Canberra's pre-election spending spree was highlighted today when the first of the big iron ore miners filed its June quarter production report, confi

The Australian stock market is higher, following Wall Street's lead after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both reached fresh record highs for the third session in a row.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is under fire from unions, business and the Greens over his plan to start emissions trading in 2014, but insists it will help ease living costs while maintaining pollution

Analytical testing services group ALS will spend nearly $600 million on two acquisitions to increase its exposure to the growing oil and gas industries.

The tax office is set to target builders and sales and marketing managers over incorrect work-related expense claims this year.

Online entrepreneurs based in Western Australia have carved out some great businesses, but there is definitely an ageing quality about them.

Perth companies Aura Energy and South Boulder Mines have announced the appointment of new chairmen, as they strive to make progress on their mining projects.

The Australian dollar got a modest bounce from China's latest economic growth figures, but remains lower.

Encouraging signs for the housing sector have driven a rise in banking shares, which pushed the market to a fifth straight day of gains.

Minotaur Exploration has announced an agreed takeover offer for Perth-based Breakaway Resources and the establishment of two new joint ventures to fund exploration of Breakaway's tenements.

Perth-based Gold Road Resources has delayed a pre-feasibility study in the belief that project development and operating costs in Western Australia will become cheaper.

The completion of an initial resource estimate for Sirius Resources' second major nickel deposit near Norseman has failed to replicate the market excitement when the ore body was initially discover