Special Report: Unforgettable ’08

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

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.

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

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.

AFTER several years of drought, farmers in the northern Wheatbelt had a bumper season in 2008, with a 7 million tonne crop expected this season.