Mark Beyer

Premier Alan Carpenter has finished the year sounding upbeat, despite all of the ministerial and corruption crises gripping his government. Mark Beyer and Mark Pownall report.

With local government coming under close scrutiny, WA Business News invited some of the leading figures in the sector to discuss key challenges and propose solutions.

The amalgamation of local councils is a topic of debate that generates a lot of heat, but outside of Geraldton and Northam there is no immediate prospect of real change.

New Iluka Resources Ltd managing director David Robb has quickly made his mark at the mineral sands producer by instituting a new management structure and recruiting a new chief financial officer from his old employer.

The state government’s energy reforms have failed to deliver the expected returns, after the government declined to accept any of the tenders for its own electricity purchases.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA has estimated that government regulation costs the state’s business sector a total of $2.1 billion, or $26,582 per business.

The extraordinary saga surrounding Christmas Island mining company Phosphate Resources Ltd has taken a surprising new twist, with Perth mining executive Mark Caruso failing to secure a board seat.

The massive cost-blow out at BHP Billiton's Ravensthorpe nickel project adds to the long run of technical and financial problems at laterite nickel projects around the world.

Brisbane company Super Cheap Auto is facing an estimated $490,000 stamp duty bill on its purchase of car parts retailer Marlows after the State Administrative Tribunal ruled on its dispute with the Commissioner of State Revenue.