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Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey has predicted the final federal budget deficit for 2011/12 will be around $50 billion.

UnionsWA secretary Simone McGurk and former television journalist Reece Whitby are among 33 WA Labor Party candidates announced last night who will stand for Lower House seats at the 2013 state ele

Mundijong-based Mundella Foods was the only local dairy to be honoured at the Australian Grand Dairy Awards held in Melbourne last week.

If the global economy is really improving after five years in the sin bin, why are the central banks of the world buying gold?That is a question which can only have a disturbing answer.

BHP Billiton says growth in Chinese demand for iron ore appears to be flattening out but fellow mining giant Rio Tinto is expecting Chinese demand to outstrip supply over the next seven years.

African-focused iron ore explorers Sundance Resources and Equatorial Resources are exploring the potential to share rail infrastructure.

More evidence has emerged underlining Perth's severe shortage of rental accommodation, with new figures released today showing just 973 vacancies at the end of February.

The Reserve Bank of Australia believes the nation's booming mining industry is balancing out weakness in other parts of the economy, suggesting there was no need to cut interest rates.

The Australian share market has opened lower on concerns over a slowdown in China and despite a positive lead from Wall Street.

Retail spending appears to be on the rebound, with a seventh consecutive month of growth, an industry study shows.

US stocks have pushed higher on news that Apple plans a huge dividend and share buyback program and delivery giant UPS is buying European rival TNT.

Stockbroking firm Intersuisse has unveiled its new brand following the acquisition of Austock Securities, and it has opted for a name that won't easily be forgotten.

The Australian dollar has climbed to a 10-day high in the absence of major economic data releases.

AusGroup subsidiary AGC Industries has extended its relationship with Gindalbie Metals, announcing its preferred supplier status had resulted in a $160 million structural and mechanical and piping

Shale gas fracking is set to begin in the lower Mid West in June, after months of regulatory delays.

The Australian share market finished stronger, boosted by the resources sector with iron ore players Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Iron the standouts.

Agribusiness Elders expects a substantial injection of cash if it emerges the winner in a long-running tax dispute with the Australian Taxation Office.

Shareholders will be hit with double taxation on dividends from miners if the federal government's mining tax legislation is passed, Australia's biggest and oldest listed investment company says.

The opposition has taken Treasurer Wayne Swan to task for insisting that Australia's 2.7 million small businesses will benefit from a planned cut in the company tax rate.

Boosting productivity growth is the only way for Australians to improve their living standards, the country's central bank chief says.

The United States Navy has exercised options to order an additional two Littoral Combat Ships from Western Australia-based shipbuilder Austal.

The number of scams reported to Australia's consumer watchdog almost doubled last year, with financial losses from the rorts totalling more than $85 million.

Several Woodside Petroleum oil fields off the Western Australian coast remain suspended from production following Tropical Cyclone Lua.

Forge Resources shares have jumped after it announced it had lined up $50 million in funding and signed a joint venture partner for its Balla Balla iron ore project near the Pilbara coast.

Minemakers has rejected reports that Indian state-owned miner NMDC is poised to buy all of its rock phosphate reserves, saying it is only in talks to sell half and for a lot more than flagged.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard's mining tax looks set to pass the Senate tonight, after the Australian Greens signalled they would vote for the legislation even though their preferred amendments have

All Australians will be entitled to government-funded training if the states and territories sign up to a new federal government plan.

The Australian share market has opened slightly higher.

The Australian dollar is more than half a US cent higher, following last week's US equities rally.

A clear improvement in the Federal Reserve's economic outlook, and a solid outcome of the Fed's stress tests for major banks, gave the markets another strong two per cent-plus boost this week.

Hong Kong-listed Wah Nam International has declared its cash and scrip takeover offer for iron ore explorer Brockman Resources free from all remaining conditions.