Former senior federal cabinet minister Stephen Smith has identified Western Australia's economic future as a major factor in his audacious bid to wrest leadership of the WA Labor Party from the incumbent, Mark McGowan.
A SERIES of moves by political staffers into roles linked to the resources sector reveals the growing need for corporate players to find their way around bureaucracy and political roadblocks.
The privatisation of the state government's 300,000-member superannuation fund GESB remains stalled, with an expanding number of problems - including tax treatments - preventing the state from giving the move the green light.
State opposition leader Colin Barnett has accused Treasurer Eric Ripper of misleading the public over Japanese company Inpex Ltd's decision to build a $12 billion liquefied natural gas plant.
A report by Western Australia's Economic Regulation Authority has recommended the Water Corporation should drastically curtail price increases proposed for the next two years.
The State Government has hailed a deal with the Indigenous people of the west Kimberley as a major step towards the long-awaited expansion of the Ord River irrigation project.
Last week's State Scene lifted the veil on the unwitting moves by Premier Geoff Gallop and Energy Minster Eric Ripper that are helping Alinta further tighten its stranglehold over Western Australia's domestic and industrial gas markets.
