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The Australian share market finished marginally in the black with a weaker Commonwealth Bank and energy stocks weighed on the bourse.

A Greek shipping group has filed a $US130 million lawsuit against Fortescue Metals Group after the miner allegedly cancelled a five-year ship charter.

Perth-based Phosphate Australia has emerged as the best performing initial public offer for 2008, as the number of company listings in Western Australia more than halve as the financial crisis bites.

More than half of Australia's small business owners believe the country will dip into recession in the next two years, a survey has revealed.

The state government has budgeted $2.4 billion for the Royalties for Regions scheme as it forecasts a net debt of nearly $17 billion in 2010/11, according to the mid-year economic review.

The continued high risk of Rio Tinto's debt following its Alcan acquisition has prompted international ratings agency Moody's to downgrade the miner's rating.

Wembley-based property developer and manager United Overseas Australia expects its 2008 profit to slump over 70 per cent, largely on the back of project delays.

Minemakers is targeting first production from its Northern Territory project next year as it unveils capital costs of around $100 million for Australia's largest phosphate resource.

Oil and gas explorer Salinas Energy will close its Perth office as its managing director transfers to California as part of restructure plans to help maintain the company's oil production profitability.

BHP Billiton says it will focus on brown-field expansion projects including its Western Australian iron ore operations, to help carry it through the current economic uncertainty.

WITH mining activity in the Pilbara forecast to double over the next ten years, demand for water in West Pilbara could outstrip long-term supply within the next two to six years.

WE'VE gone beyond the old boom-bust cycle." How many times did we hear that comment over the past year or two? "We're in a new paradigm."

Finsia Residential Property Outlook The strength of Australia's economy has been highlighted in recent years by its ability to withstand a number of internal and external events, including a major dro

THE All Ordinaries is at levels approaching 3,500 and Colin Barnett is premier of Western Australia.

I THINK it was Keith Suter who compared the global financial crisis to a 'big weekend' - too much to drink on Saturday, hangover on Sunday, cleansed and ready for work on Monday, the social commentator told a recent Technology and Industry Advisory Counci

NEXT year may be the year of the insolvency practitioner but the sector was certainly gearing up for business in 2008 as the older hands of the sector recognised the signs of a stumbling bull market.

I WAS pleasantly surprised to see a job vacancy advertised in the window of a restaurant last week.

AT first it seemed Western Australia, riding the mining boom, was digging a hole all the way to China.

THIS is State Scene's eighth year-in-review column and, like the first, it features a change of government.

WHEN Alcoa of Australia announced that it was embarking on a joint venture to develop the $100 million Warro gas project north of Perth, it underscored the biggest business issue of 2008 - energy security.

THE global credit crunch effectively put the brakes on the Western Australian property market during the latter part of 2008, limiting sales volumes and hampering the development of new projects.

AN already strained rock lobster industry took another hit late this year as new Fisheries Minister Norman Moore introduced strict limitations to an already tightly controlled field.

RIO Tinto will cut 14,000 jobs, slash its 2009 capital spending from $9 billion to $4 billion and increase asset sales in order to reduce its $38.9 billion debt by a further $10 billion by the end of

The Western Australian Trade Enquiry Service is operated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA with the support of the WA Government's Department of Industry and Resources.

SWEEPING changes have occurred at WA Newspapers Holdings this month, with a number of arrivals at the state's biggest media outlet and publisher of The West Australian.

THE million dollar renovations to The Western Australian Club's St Georges Terrace home have been unveiled, with the fresh look hoping to breathe new life into the 115-year-old private facility.

UWA Professor Peter Quinn has been appointed the director of a new $20 million radio astronomy research centre, headquartered at UWA.

A SPATE of mergers in the property valuations sector could be a sign of things to come, as the downturn in the property market forces greater consolidation within the sector.

Mount Magnet South non-executive director Fred McMurray has been issued with 4 million convertible notes at a total cost of $200,000, with each note holding a conversion price of five cents each.

LAST year, in a deal which was value destroying for the shareholders of base metal miner Oxiana Limited, that company merged with Zinifex Ltd to become Oz Minerals.

Port Hedland consortium named THE state government has selected a consortium comprising Satterley Property, Leighton Contractors and Ngarda Civil and Mining as the preferred proponent to investigate t

THE buying and selling of securities by directors appears to have softened as the year draws to an end, but not without some last-minute grabs.