Government

More than half of respondents to a survey of 1,200 Business News subscribers and users believe the state's business environment deteriorated in the 2016 financial year.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promoted little-known Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan to a cabinet position as resources minister, with Josh Frydenberg moving from that role to the portfolios of energy and environment.

Treasurer Mike Nahan has said encouraging private investment in the Pilbara electricity grid could reduce its excess capacity and also energy prices in the north west, at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia lunch today.

Malcolm Turnbull's campaign failings have highlighted the danger of giving your opponent a free kick, and WA Liberals are sure to heed the warning.

The state government plans to cancel a new environmental review of the controversial Roe 8 highway extension project after winning a legal appeal today, but it remains unclear when contracts for the project will be awarded.

The state government has flagged the possibility of a broad inquiry into the use of imported building materials after confirming today that roofing panels supplied by Chinese company Yuanda to Perth Children's Hospital contained asbestos.

Unemployment in Western Australia retreated slightly last month, while the national jobless rate edged higher, new figures have shown.

Moving state government departments out of Perth's central business district into regional and urban centres will have social benefits, according to Environment Minister Albert Jacob, as the government announced today the shift of 800 staff to a Primewest development in Joondalup.

A credit rating downgrade could cost more than $1 billion in extra interest bills, but higher taxes to balance the budget is not the solution, according to KPMG Economics.

A ramp-up of iron ore exports has lifted annual throughput at Port Hedland to a new record of 460.4 million tonnes, with the combined Pilbara Ports Authority tracking for a figure of 633.5mt per year.

Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union WA assistant secretary Joe McDonald was among 29 union representatives fined a total of $61,000 for unlawful industrial action at Lakeside Joondalup in 2014.

A government body has slashed its 2017 iron ore price forecast by nearly 20 per cent on expectations of slowing demand growth in an oversupplied market, underlining the threat to the federal government's finances.

Malcolm Turnbull will be returned as prime minister, according to renowned election analyst Antony Green, as postal vote flows strongly favour the coalition parties and three lower house independents have offered him supply and confidence.

There's a one in three chance the Commonwealth government's credit rating could be downgraded within the next two years, according to Standard & Poor's, a move which would be expensive for taxpayers and may have flow on effects for other borrowers.

Premier Colin Barnett has softened his position on the proposed privatisation of Western Power, saying it could be used by Labor as a scare campaign in the state election next year.

Standard and Poor's has lowered Australia's sovereign debt ratings outlook from AAA stable to negative, citing the ambiguous outcome of the recent federal election potentially delaying fiscal consolidation, although it affirmed the strength of the economy broadly.

The top Senate candidate in Western Australia of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party could be ineligible to sit in parliament because he has been convicted of a crime and is still to face trial on a second charge.

The state government has announced new directors for the Gascoyne, Peel and Pilbara development commissions.

The state government has announced $23.1 million in funding to tackle waterfront erosion in Geraldton.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he accepts full responsibility for the coalition's poor showing in Saturday's election, but is increasingly confident of retaining majority government as nearly 3 million absentee and postal votes are still to be counted.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has held the official interest rate at a record low, but left the door wide open to a rate cut next month and perhaps even more.

Retail sales were up 0.1 per cent in trend terms in Western Australia in May, to $2.82 billion, about 1 per cent higher than the same month last year.

Slightly more than 1,000 Western Australian companies had external administrators appointed in the 12 months to May this year, an increase of 29 per cent on the previous period, according to the latest numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

End-of-financial-year bargain hunters provided a boost to new car sales in Western Australia last month, but it wasn't enough to beat last year's June 30 clearance sales.

Discretionary spending usually takes a hit in a downturn, but some WA retailers and service providers are banking on a bright future.

Australia's prized AAA credit rating could be at risk if post-election political paralysis damages the federal government's capacity to manage budget deficits, the key global ratings agencies have warned.

Recriminations have already started within the Liberal Party over its poor performance in Saturday's federal election, with the finger being pointed at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's campaign strategy for having shaken the party's grip on power.

The biggest swing towards Labor in the nation in Saturday's election is expected to be in Western Australia.

Western Australian companies have outperformed the broader stock market over the six months to June 30, judging by the performance of Business News' BN30 index.

Amid a few bright spots on the earnings front, the WA economy's rebound is being thwarted by still-low global prices for iron ore.

In a report released today, Auditor General Colin Murphy has expressed concern that Main Roads still focuses on critical maintenance instead of preventive work, despite a recommendation to change tack in a review seven years ago.

Mirvac Group and Singapore's Keppel REIT's $103 million new office tower at Cathedral Square has officially opened, with the Supreme Court to take up residence next month.