Edited announcement

Great Southern has welcomed a Federal Court decision allowing the appeal in respect of the industry's test case on whether participants in non forestry managed investment schemes should be entitled to claim deductions in respect of carrying on a business

Perth-based office equipment financing firm ThinkSmart will put its United States ambitions on hold as it forecasts a 32 per cent increase in earnings.

VDM Group has been awarded a $32 million contract by the Attorney-Generals Department to develop new freight handling and passenger transport facilities on the Cocos Islands.

The state's Economic Regulation Authority says a re-amalgamation of Verve Energy and Synergy will have adverse implications on the wholesale energy market.

The communications authority has issued a community television trial licence for Perth to West TV, which will provide an analog television service to be known as New Vision 31.

VDM Group expects a $15 million hit to revenue after Argyle Diamonds scaled back the company's workload on the underground expansion project.

HBOS Australia has today completed the $2.1 billion sale of Bankwest and St Andrew's to Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

More than half of Australia's small business owners believe the country will dip into recession in the next two years, a survey has revealed.

The state government has budgeted $2.4 billion for the Royalties for Regions scheme as it forecasts a net debt of nearly $17 billion in 2010/11, according to the mid-year economic review.

Four years after winning a boardroom stoush, St Barbara chief executive and managing director Eduard Eshuys has tendered his resignation with former Newcrest Mining executive Tim Lehany to take over.

Amid a backdrop of falling base metal prices, Northbridge-based Impact Minerals says it will focus on its Nowthunna uranium joint venture in Western Australia following the state government's decision to lift the uranium mining ban.

Perth-based Indo Mines has secured a $5 million financing facility with Anglo Pacific Group for its $860 million Indonesian project.

The state government will ask the private sector to submit proposals for the expansion of Exmouth Boat Habour, which is increasingly catering for super-yachts and ideally placed to service the oil and gas industry.

Low fares airline Jetstar has boosted its Perth to Denpasar service to four times a week following its successful launch in October.

Macmahon Holdings has secured a $40 million contract to construction the new Bunbury port access road, with work to start early next year.

Metal recycling group CMA Corporation says it expects a net loss after tax of some $35 million in the first half of this financial year largely on the back of falling commodity prices and a weaker Australian dollar.

Wet weather has put a dampener on Western Australia's harvest, which collected 7.3 million tonnes according to the state's biggest grain handler CBH Group.

Western Australian borrowers are going back to basics when choosing a loan to finance property, with basic variable loans surging 2 percentage points to 36 per cent and variable loans representing 80 per cent of all loan approvals.

Perth-based explorer Galaxy Resources has successfully raised $1 million through a book build to sophisticated investors, with funds to be applied to a definitive feasibility study for its Mt Cattlin lithium-tantalum project at Ravensthorpe.

The RAC has chosen The Brand Agency and Maxus as its preferred creative and media agencies following a closed financial tender for creative and media services.

Mining and market groups have called the federal government to fast track the implementation of its promised investment incentive scheme that is expected to encourage mineral exploration.

Macmahon Holdings has been selected by the New South Wales government as the preferred proponent for the construction of a transport interchange.

Small business operators in Western Australia want the option to "opt out" of unsolicited marketing calls, according to the Small Business Development Corporation.

Perth-headquartered mining services company Crushing & Mining Equipment has been acquired by Atlanta-based mining supplier H-E Parts International.

A social housing taskforce is to be established to review the acute shortage of public housing in Western Australia and to come up with innovative strategies for addressing the problem.

Subiaco-based Carbon Conscious has been awarded approved abatement provider status under the federal government's carbon pollution reduction scheme.

A consortium comprising Satterley Property, Leighton Contractors and Ngarda Civil and Mining has been announced as the preferred proponent to further investigate development of a 120 hectare parcel of land in Port Hedland.

Channel Seven Perth programming and communications manager Ray Wardrop has today been confirmed the new general manager for the network's Western Australia operations.

Deputy chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, Melinda Cilento, has been appointed to the board of Woodside Petroleum.

The federal government will provide $10 million over four years to support the expansion of Clontarf Academies to improve the education, life skills and employment prospects of 700 Indigenous young men in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Australian small and medium enterprises say they are burdened by the complexity of regulation, according to a global study of tax professionals by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

National property valuer Herron Todd White has expanded its presence in Western Australia following a merger with Southern Independent Property Valuers.