Latest Headlines

Mining contractor Macmahon Holdings has downgraded its annual growth forecast for 2009 to between 10 per cent to 20 per cent growth as the economic crisis delays projects.

ASX-listed Po Valley Energy Limited has been granted six-year gas exploration licences for its La Prospera and Terra del Sole prospects near Bologna in northern Italy.

Burke charged with corruption; State projects get the axe as cash dries up; Receivers refuse to guarantee ABC child-care centres will stay open; ASIC won't intervene in Incremental bid; Rudd goes local with $1bn spend

The Water Corporation has named Sue Murphy as its new chief executive, replacing Jim Gill who retires at the end of the year after a 12-year reign.

iiNet managing director Michael Malone has warned a Senate Committee that the federal government's national broadband network is doomed to be a huge monumental failure and a waste of $5 billion of taxpayers money.

Shareholders in Jupiter Mines will decide whether to hand control of the company to the Brian Gilbertson-led Pallinghurst Resources, which intends to spend $50 million to advance Jupiter's projects.

Global miner Xstrata has boosted its interest in West Perth-based Pioneer Nickel and has agreed to provide over $1 million to the company to explore the Acra project in Western Australia.

Bentley-based waste recycling company AnaeCo has teamed up with a private firm to explore the feasibility of expanding its DiCOM waste processing facility to the eastern states.

International Goldfields says it will step up merger discussions with Nkwe Platinum after it received an independent report that valued its South African assets at up to $64 million.

Dragon Mining has become the latest victim of falling commodity prices, with the Perth-based company announcing it has suspended activities at its nickel mine in Finland.

Cooper Energy is today urging Incremental Petroleum shareholders to accept its takeover offer as the corporate watchdog says it will not apply on Cooper's behalf for an extension of the bid.

Western Australia's jobless rate for October has been described as "sensational" as the figures tumbled towards record lows while the national rate held steady.

Nedlands-based Tox Free Solutions has successfully completed a $13 million capital raising and revealed it will acquire a Victorian waste management company for $1.5 million.

Engineering firm Monadelphous Group has secured a $76 million contract from Ports Corporation of Queensland for expansion works at the Abbot Point coal terminal.

Global crisis blows $40bn hole in budget; Warning of 9pc jobless rate; Banks' patience running out; Guarantee in need of tweaking; Chinalco regains hold on Rio blocking stake

EUROPEAN companies Metso Minerals and Royston have added to the large number of international acquisitions of local mining and industrial services companies in Western Australia.

AN Osborne Park-based mining services company has won the top prize at Western Australia's Industry and Export Awards.

THE Reserve Bank of Australia has cut the official cash rate by 75 basis points to 5.25 per cent, its lowest level since March 2005.

SMALL business owners in Perth are seeking to remain positive, despite the uncertainty lingering in the global financial markets and access to finance, according to business advisers.

INDEPENDENT property valuers, Christie Whyte Moore and Valuation Partners, have merged to form what they claim is Western Australia's biggest property valuation company.

DOWN here at Noteville we like a business leader who can always see a silver lining, even as the dark clouds of global turmoil continue to roll across our once bright blue corporate skies.

THE past and the future combined in the present to hit stockbroker Patersons Securities' profitability.

AS the credit crunch hits real estate investment trusts, the spotlight has turned to the strength of Victorian-based Becton Property Group, which has a number of holdings in the central business district - including a stake in 111 St Georges Terrace.

Work to start on Victoria Quay A START will be made in the first half of 2009 on one of Perth's most controversial construction projects, the commercial precinct at Victoria Quay overlooking the Frema

One year after Wesfarmers secured Australia's largest takeover, the investment market is unsure of the company's prospects.

WE do indeed live in a land of confusion. As the dust begins to settle, through the smoke and destruction of the great credit crunch of 2007/08, we can begin to observe the debris that unfettered and under-regulated consumer capitalism has wrought on th

CHURCHLANDS gourmet food store The Herdsman has shelved a $3.7 million expansion plan in Claremont because of the current economic crisis.

ONE of the recurring criticisms of Western Australia is that the state is little more than a quarry for the rest of the world and that our small, one-dimensional economy drives bright, young talent to cities like Melbourne, London and Sydney.

BUSINESSES in Western Australia spend proportionately more on research and development than their counterparts in any other state, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has found.

New WESTERN Australian Fisheries Minister Norman Moore has had to deal with a heated lobster fishing industry after new plans to restrict the commercial and recreational catch of western rock lobster

AS someone who prefers small perfectly formed objects as opposed to monolithic structures, when it comes to business, the government's decision to carve up two Labor-created super departments is something I'd generally welcome.

AUCTIONING homes is emerging as a popular vehicle for cash-strapped not-for-profit organisations to raise much needed funds.