Mark Beyer

Loyal Fremantle Dockers supporters will know that Premier Alan Carpenter is an avid fan but they probably don't realise he is regularly accompanied to games by his chief of staff, Rita Saffioti, and his principal media adviser, Guy Houston.

Western Australia's highest paid public servant, health supremo Neale Fong, has suffered the kind of year most people would like to forget.

Two of the most significant figures in Western Australia's property and construction industry, Multiplex founder John Roberts and Wyllie Group chairman Bill Wyllie, died during the past year.

The momentous changes inside the Labor state government over the past six months have left Premier Alan Carpenter in a stronger position than his predecessor Geoff Gallop ever enjoyed.

It may just be coincidence, but the two men judged to be the most powerful chief executives in Western Australia are from the US.

Julie Bishop and Senator Ian Campbell rank as the two most powerful Western Australians in the federal government, and both have the potential to take their careers further.

Critics of the Carpenter government fond of sporting analogies say that his ministerial team doesn't bat very deep.

The editor of Perth's only daily newspaper, The West Australian, is one of the most influential people in the state.

What is the common link between metalworkers' union boss Jock Ferguson, Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive John Langoulant and recent BHP Billiton recruit Ian Fletcher?

The University of Western Australia's Business School board ranks as the bluest of blue chip boards in Perth.

The big changes at the top of the state government over the past six months have put the new premier, Alan Carpenter, firmly at the head of WA Business News' fifth annual ‘Most Influential' survey.

Premier Alan Carpenter told a business lunch in Perth today that he was concerned about the impact of Australian Workplace Agreements on low-paid and low-skilled workers.

The state government is planning to start a trial of school-based and part-time apprenticeships next month in partnership with two group training providers.

Australia's skilled migration system could result in a glut of accounting graduates in a few years while doing little to address the acute shortage of engineers, a Perth conference was told last week.

Perth company Resonance Health has introduced a major change in strategic direction after concluding that its core technology, developed at the University of Western Australia, would not be able to sustain the business.

Western Australia is one of the world's great mining provinces but where are the great Perth-based mining services companies?

The Australian mining industry has provided a strong platform for contract drilling and drilling services companies such as Ausdrill, Brandrill and Imdex, but attempts to move into the international market have met with mixed success.

Nick Archibald, the founder of pioneering Western Australian minerals software developer Fractal Graphics, is close to completing his biggest ever deal as chief executive of listed Canadian company Geoinformatics Exploration Inc.

The state government's tax review has identified conveyance duty on property transactions as the top priority for reductions, while playing down the prospect of any changes to payroll tax rates.

Listed Nedlands company ISS Group Ltd is seeking to build on its strong position in the Australian market to become a global supplier of specialist software for process plants in the oil and gas and mining sectors.

The global mining services industry is a small place, judging by some of the people and companies involved in recent transactions.

The West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers produced strong profit results last year but a close analysis of their annual accounts shows that West Coast is much stronger financially than its cross-town rival.

Perth drug discovery company Phylogica has become Australia's top biotech stock this year, with its share price up by about 250 per cent over the past five months.

The state government's ambitious plan for the world's largest radio telescope could complicate the development of Murchison Metal's Jack Hills iron ore project in the Mid-West.

In-house corporate lawyers are keen to explore alternatives to traditional hourly billing but struggle to gain buy-in from their external legal advisers, an industry survey has found.

The mining industry is pushing the federal government to change its migration rules and make it easier to bring geologists, metallurgists and temporary workers into the country.

A quick statistical snapshot neatly sums up the legal difficulties associated with native title. Presently, there are 606 native title applications awaiting resolution and most have been before the Federal Court for a matter of years.

While native title is increasingly delivering on its promises for all parties, there remain those who aren't convinced.

Australia's biggest live sheep exporter, Emanuel Exports Pty Ltd, is planning a constitutional challenge to animal cruelty charges brought by the state government under the Animal Welfare Act.

Native title agreements reached in Western Australia during the past year have a major focus on providing employment and business opportunities for Aboriginal people.

The federal government provides just more than $50 million each year to native title representative bodies (NTRB), yet both business and Aboriginal groups agree this is grossly inadequate.

Twenty-three Western Australian inventions, in sectors ranging from drug delivery to communications and minerals processing, will be on show at next month's Commercialisation Expo 2006 in Melbourne.