Talking Points

* SHERATON Perth has won the Best Five-star Accommodation and Best Conference and Banquet Service Facility awards at the Australian Hotels Association WA awards. Other winners included the Windsor Hotel in the Best Bar Presentation and Service category, Burswood Resort Hotel in the Best Training Initiative Category, The Como Hotel in the Best Retail Bottleshop Outlet category and the Subiaco Hotel in the Best Restaurant category.

* GOOD starts to the abalone and rock lobster seasons and good catches of finfish along WA beaches and rivers promise an enjoyable summer fishing season for the State’s more than 600,000 recreational anglers. Recreational fishing in WA has an economic impact of more than a billion dollars annually.

* TWO new Lotteries Commission programs will make $1 million available for social research and projects to strengthen WA communities. In the past Lotteries Commission grants have focussed on capital expenditure, infrastructure or equipment. The money will be split 50-50 between social research grants and the commission’s Connected Families, Connected Communities program. The funding is available to WA not-for-profit community groups and local government authorities.

* ALCOA World Alumina Australia has joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund and the Natural Heritage Trust and launched a new program aimed at arresting the decline of WA’s ecologically unique wheatbelt woodlands. Woodland Watch will encourage private landholders to manage and conserve remnant eucalypt woodlands by providing assistance with fencing, brokering conservation agreements, covenants and programs such as Land for Wildlife, developing management plans and conducting botanical surveys to determine ecological significance.

* THE ministry for Women’s Interests has released a guide to help young women better manage their money and achieve financial independence. The guide covers a range of topics from starting a new business to balancing home and work and how to arrange finances in a relationship. On a similar theme, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued an alert for young people urging them to make themselves aware of their financial rights and responsibilities. The consumer alert provides the top 10 finance tips for young adults. ASIC are launching a new youth portal in their consumer website at, www.fido.asic.gov.au. Log on and learn new ways you can manage your money.