Mark Pownall

AS the Federal Government salivates over the billions it will earn from the Gorgon project, it would be worth its leadership considering how this potential resources revenue and vast billions that preceded it came to be.

AUSTRALIAN Wine Holdings is preparing the groundwork for a major acquisition with a fund raising effort to pay off debt associated with the purchase of Hay Shed Hill Estate for almost $6.3 million last year.

IF you had been stuck on a desert island for the past 20 years, or maybe taken a Forrest Gump-like approach to ultra-marathons, you would hardly recognise the world of sport in 2003.

THE surprise announcement of a merger between Bluewave Seafood and two industry minnows is likely to end fishermen's domination of any major processors in the southern lobster regio

THE green light for the Gorgon is a major step ahead for Western Australia and, as the Federal politicians know, a significant boost to the nation's treasury.

IT seems that we have seen our first results from negotiations for a free trade agreement with the US, with many Western Australian farmers ending up winners even though no deal has been signed yet.

WA Business News played host to a wide range of business people and the leading State Government figures on the issue of taxes and charges imposed in Western Australia.

THIS week's vote by BankWest shareholders to agree to a takeover by UK-based HBOS should come as no surprise. Faced with the prospect of the bank becoming a lame duck with a parent that might refuse to invest, shareholders had little choice.

BEST Employers in Western Australia is an important project for WA Business News, one we intend to develop into something of a signature award like our successful 4

DID anyone notice a bit of news floating around last week that Australia's film-making industry was doing well on the back of a clever tax deduction.

HOUSING affordability is being billed as a Federal election issue. On the face of it, concern for new homebuyers or, more importantly, renters wanting to become home owners, is understandable.

HIGH profile Western Australian weight loss group The Metabolism Centre has signalled a major challenge to the weight loss market by going to the Australian Stock Exchange to fund a national roll out.

FRANKLAND River Olive Company Pty Ltd has won the approval of investors in the troubled Preston Vale wine project to take over as the responsible entity for Western Australia's largest vineyard-based scheme.

THE development of the Gorgon gas field off Western Australia's north west coast is shaping as the major test of the Gallop Government's business-friendly credentials ahead of the next election.

EVER since The West Australian newspaper ran Dullsville as its front page headline, there has been significant public debate about whether or not this is a great place to live.

WA Business News has won third prize for Best Newspaper, Small Tabloids at the Association of Area Business Publication's Editorial Excellence Awards, announced at

WESTERN Australia's dominant media player The West Australian newspaper has advertised nationally for a new editor following the departure of Brian Rogers, who surprised the industry recently by resigning just six months into a two-year contract.

PROFESSIONAL indemnity is one of the crises that has failed to capture the imagination of the very people who will end up being affected – consumers.

IT was with some trepidation that I prepared for the judging process for this year's Family Business Awards.

WHILE Save Ningaloo campaigners were in the final stages of their long running and, ultimately, successful battle against the Maud's Landing development, a wealthy conservationist linked to their cause may well have had his mind elsewhere.

INVESTORS in the ailing Preston Vale vineyard are being asked to replace the $27 million project's original management company Southern Wine Corporation in a bid to keep the managed investment scheme alive.

THE high-profile dumping of the Maud's Landing proposal near Coral Bay may have been politically expedient but it leaves the Gallop Government looking extremely weak when it comes to policy.

EVERY week we publish dozens of government-based contracts and tenders in our For The Record section – doing our bit for transparency by picking through the reams of available information.

THE legacy of Kingstream Steel continues to linger with the Supreme Court of Western Australia finding that Landcorp had significantly undervalued land that was to be compulsorily acquired for the ill-fated project north of Geraldton.

SOME of you might have noticed Dr Fiona Wood gracing the cover of a magazine that came with an edition of a national newspaper this weekend.

THIS week I received an interesting note that started me thinking. The notion it contained was generally against compulsory superannuation.

ALAN Green jokes about how he is going to improve his golf handicap after June 30, the date he steps down from his management position at EG Green & Sons, the company behind Harvey Beef and Western Australia's dominant force in meat processing.

FOR anyone thinking of making a tax-effective investment during the final weeks of this financial year, a review of the collapse of Tuart Resources should prove a timely eye opener.

THE Federal Government's Australian Research Council has backed WA wine producer Evans & Tate's ambitious five-year project to develop Australia's best chardonnay, providing $500,000 in funding through the University of Western Australia.

THE situation occurring in the Western Australian parliament with the Greens (WA) decision, unusually backed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in at least one instance

UPSTART wine producer Palandri Limited is drawing up plans for a property trust investment product that would own and manage vineyards.

AUSTRALIA is missing out on a major trade opportunity because it lacks a coordinated approach to attract foreigners here for medical treatment, according to Professor Ian Constable.