Special Reports

LOW-COST carrier Virgin Blue this week said it would reduce fuel surcharges by 20 per cent on its domestic flights and Pacific Blue trans-Tasman and Pacific Island flights, just days after Skywest Airlines announced its airfares would rise by 4 per cent.

THE skills shortage has been an important element in the changes to Perth's social fabric during the past five years.

THE Margaret River wine region welcomed its newest microbrewery late last month with the opening of the $10 million Saracen Estate/Duckstein microbrewery.

WESTERN Australian businesses may still have critical skills shortages to deal with, but in the current climate of uncertainty many employers are also looking for legal advice to potentially downsize their workforce.

MUSIC festival organisers in Perth are taking a 'green' approach to the events they stage, creating carbon-neutral concerts and implementing elaborate environmentally friendly programs.

FINANCIAL services may be a dirty word to most as the global turbulence slams this sector harder than most, but that hasn't stopped automotive parts group Capricorn Society Ltd from cranking up its own offering to the market.

Despite the global downturn, the retail market is confident the significant amount of retail space under construction will be absorbed.

THE Shops at Ellenbrook, the retail heart of the burgeoning Swan Valley township, has been expanded beyond the requirements of the original agreement because of rapid population growth in the area.

PERTH is attracting more large-scale commercial bulky goods complexes, despite the sector experiencing a lull on the back of the credit crisis and global economic downturn, according to real estate agents.

AT least four major shopping centres across Perth are poised for a change of ownership, including three of the Centro Properties Group's largest Western Australian assets.

THE growth of retail space in suburban Perth shows little negative signs of the global financial meltdown, as shopping centre operators and traders hold their collective breath that public spending in the approach to Christmas will be at, or near, last ye

Western Australia's leading internet authorities are warning that the federal government's proposal to introduce internet service provider filtering will do more harm than good.

THE state government plans to release a draft revision of a controversial policy which caps shopping centre growth, which has been described as out of touch with residential expansion in new growth areas, early next year.

SOME of the largest publicly-listed retailers in Western Australia have been feeling the pinch during the recent economic turbulence, but preparations made early to deal with the downturn and positive signs about the future of retail in the state are keep

THE development of so-called "main street" or strip shopping centres around the city has created another viable retail category outside of the traditional suburban and CBD shopping centres.

IN with the new and out with the old.That is how outsiders expect the world of lobbying works when a government changes.

POLITICS wouldn't be the same without ideological differences, even within the governing party.

THE inner court of Colin Barnett is a small and select group, according to those that watch government closely.

STRATEGY, psychology, risk assessment - the card game of bridge sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the political career of David Wawn.

THERE has to be some advantage in being the only chink in otherwise wall-to-wall Labor governments across Australia.

INTERNATIONAL visitor numbers to Western Australia reached record highs in 2007-08, while domestic tourism continued to struggle.

WESTERN Australia's property market was a vastly changed landscape in the latter half of financial year 2008, as the boom came to an end and the global financial crisis began to unfold.

THE Western Australian economy ended the 2007-08 financial year on a positive note, with most of the growth again driven by increased business investment.

WHAT a roller coaster ride it's been in the past week or so.

WESTERN Australia's population is growing at the fastest rate since 1989, thanks largely to more than 32,000 migrants settling in the state in 2007-08.

LABOUR market pressures remain high in the Western Australian economy, with the skills shortage continuing to hit hard and the wage price index running ahead of the rest of the country.

THE value of the state's mineral and petroleum industry increased by 9 per cent on last year, with the industry generating $58.

THE state government posted a record surplus in 2007-08 of $2.56 billion, fuelled by significant growth in mining royalties and taxation revenue.

PERTH'S housing market has been through a difficult few years.

MINING company directors haven't been the only victims of the stock market plunge.

LOCATED among the colour and movement of Perth's cultural and nightlife hub, the city's 'cultural centre' between William and Beaufort streets stands in stark contrast to the Northbridge strip, particularly after dark.

HISTORIC statistics have only limited value in the context of an unprecedented market meltdown, nevertheless there is some comfort in knowing the economic position before the latest chapter in the slowly unfolding crisis.