Latest Headlines

Bega Cheese has pulled out of the three-way battle for control of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter.

Australian shares are marginally weaker as uncertainty about the US Federal Reserve's stimulus decision hits banks and retailers.

The state government has postponed some of its big transport infrastructure projects in order to reduce the projected increase in state debt, as it strives to regain its AAA credit rating.

Perth house blocks in new developments shrank by 9.2 per cent over the year to September, with the average size of a block sold declining to 415 square metres.

Woodside has for the first time confirmed the high cost of its shelved James Price Point gas project, though the figure it has released is not directly comparable to the construction cost estimates for other LNG developments like Chevron's larger Gorgon development on Barrow Island.

Stockland has announced a $116 million redevelopment of its Baldivis shopping centre with plans to quadruple the size of the centre.

Eden Energy will continue to wait to sell its entire UK coal seam methane and shale gas portfolio for up to £11.5 million ($21 million), due to UK-based buyer Shale Energy failing to complete a £7 million capital raising for the purchase.

Western Australians could be using energy converted from municipal solid waste in less than two years if companies proposing waste-to-energy plants achieve their timeframes.

McAleese Resources, a subsidiary of McAleese Group, has been awarded a four year, $250 million iron ore haulage contract for Atlas Iron's Mt Webber mine in the Pilbara.

Engineering and construction business Decmil Group has won a $147 million contract for work on the expansion of the Manus Island detention centre, taking its total awarded work at the centre to $284 million.

Australian engineering group UGL has been awarded a five-year multi-million dollar contract to maintain energy giant Chevron's Western Australia gas assets.

The Australian stock market is higher as investors sit on the sidelines awaiting the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's final meeting of 2013.

The architect of the Gillard government's school funding reforms, David Gonski, will take over as chairman of ANZ next year.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is keeping an open mind on further interest rate cuts, but says monetary policy can't do all the heavy lifting in the economy.

US stocks Tuesday closed lower as investors awaited Wednesday's conclusion of a much-anticipated US Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The business sector got the governments it wanted in 2013 but it's unclear what policies they will deliver.

The state's peak business group has hired a former chief of staff to premier Colin Barnett as its new chief executive. Deidre Willmott will succeed James Pearson as CCI chief executive.

The Australian dollar has fallen below 89 US cents for the first time in four months as expectations about an upcoming US Federal Reserve announcement continue to weigh on the currency.

Perth residents can now see how their hometown stacks up against the world's greatest cities via a ground-breaking online project, which compares life in global urban centres.

It is interesting to see who in public life publishes their ideas, and why.

The passing of Nelson Mandela will have significant consequences for South Africa.

Twenty years after being established in controversial circumstances, insurance broking firm Strathearn is eyeing some big potential changes.

The City of Perth has lashed out at the Development Assessment Panel system, saying it creates, rather than reduces, red tape in the planning approvals process.

The Australian share market has finished slightly higher as defensive stocks performed well after the release of the government's budget update.

Perth-based miner Pacifico Minerals has entered an agreement with Miguel Angel Perez Villa to acquire up to a 90 per cent interest over three years of its share of the Berrio gold deposit in Antioquia, Colombia.

Perth-based gold explorer Primary Gold will raise up to $2.4 million for its Toms Gully mine at the Mt Bundy gold project in the Northern Territory with its appointed lead manager Patersons Securities to underwrite up to $1 million to the rights issue.

MULTIMEDIA: Best photos from 2013.

Bulletin Resources has enlisted its major shareholder Matsa Resources to acquire up to a 75 per cent interest for its Halls Creek gold projects in a $4.4 million binding term sheet.

Downer EDI has been awarded an $80 million contract for electrical work at Rio Tinto's Yandicoogina iron ore mine in the Pilbara.

Former agricultural investor AACL Holdings has completed a makeover and become a technology company after acquiring Applabs Technologies for $1.2 million.

Forge Group shares have risen on news it has secured a $40 million contract, helping to repair an 80 per cent single-day nose dive in late November when it announced a $127 million profit writedown on two power stations.

Leighton Holdings subsidiary Thiess has won a $570 million four-year contract extension on a coal mine owned by Wesfarmers.