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The Reserve Bank has lifted the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent after expressing concern about the risk of inflation rising again over the medium term.

The head of Australia's competition watchdog has taken a veiled swipe at Australia's big banks, declaring "price signalling" in public statements was a growing concern and should be subject to more stringent policing powers.

West Perth-based Bass Metals has announced it has raised $3.55 million through a placement to European institutional investors.

THE latest Commonwealth Bank – CCI Survey of Business Expectations has found that businesses are employing a variety of measure

Booming resources companies are putting Perth on the consultants' map

PERTH being Perth, it's difficult to avoid the strong historic connections between the key players at the top end of the management consulting market.

INDUSTRIAL estates across the metropolitan area are evolving into highly specialised industry-specific precincts, with an increased focus on office space and general amenity, according to state government agency LandCorp.

WHEN Craig Mason bought a Sign A Rama franchise in 1999, there were only two stores in Western Australia and the brand was relatively unrecognised.

IT was 2007 when Hancock Prospecting chairman and director Gina Rinehart read a harrowing story about Cambodian prostitution and sex slavery.

Although it's surrounded by the chaotic redevelopment of William Street, the Herdsman's new city store has already made an impression. Aimée Sargent reports.

The growing influence of the Greens must be sending shivers through Labor ranks.

Skilled labour shortages will continue to have an impact on the state's future growth and development prospects, especially in the minerals and energy industry.

The planned merger of the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges highlights a global trend to which Perth businesses need to adapt.

The Aussie dollar may be enjoying rare strength against world currencies, but beware the downside.

The cost of state-funded health care is simply unsustainable. We need a new model.

Being seen to be tough on crime was an assured vote winner in the past, but recent setbacks to the government's stop and search powers have shifted the debate.

Premier Colin Barnett has announced the release of a large-scale development opportunity to revitalise Karratha's city centre as well as a plans to construct a new 2,500 home coastal community.

Pindan has been chosen to develop more than 300 houses on land next to LandCorp's existing Nickol estate in Karratha, while the state government has today also told local businesses they will be given priority at a different estate in the town.

The boom is back with all the same issues as before, and a few new challenges thrown in.

WA may be riding on the back of growth in Asia, but local economists warn the ride will not always be smooth.

THE continued reticence of Australia's major financial institutions to lend on property is providing opportunities for the syndicated funds sector to become a source of capital, fund managers and developers say.

THERE may be many advantages in Western Australia's isolation, but the state's distance from a pool of available labour is not one of them.

New fit-outs for Downer EDI Engineering and BDO are pushing the boundaries in office interior design. Dan Wilkie reports.

OFFICE property analysts have noted a two-speed market emerging in Perth's central business district, with vacancy rates spiking in the city's eastern end and supply becoming tight along St Georges Terrace.

PERTH'S rapidly developing north eastern corridor has been officially recognised, with new industry research revealing Australia's fastest growing suburb is the Swan Valley's Aveley.

FOR parents of young children the names, and the soundtracks, are ubiquitous – Dora the Explorer, The Wiggles, Bob the Builder are but a few.

THE Australian dollar may have reached parity with its American counterpart, but the levels of philanthropy in Australia are not in the same ballpark as those in the US.

The family that operated the Hillarys tavern for 20 years has created something very different at The Breakwater. Aimée Sargent reports.

Inaction on fuel self-sufficiency poses a threat to our way of life, and sustenance.

Rather than something to be feared by business, social media presents a wealth of opportunities.

The real gem in the prime minister's economic reform speech was her commentary on social media.

Artificial market manipulation most often leads to blowback, thanks to the immutable laws of supply and demand.