Jack McGinn

The state’s energy market regulator has pushed back on a request for almost $100 million in additional funds from energy market participants to run the state’s wholesale electricity market.

WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam has defended the state’s resources industry, after federal opposition treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor lashed critical minerals production tax subsidies.

Oil and gas play Santos has revealed it will chop 200 mostly-Perth based jobs, as part of a cost-cutting measure undertaken in response to slow project approvals.

The state government has moved to play down a dramatic decline in the level of funding allocated to state roads across the forward estimates in last night’s federal budget.

The Federal Government has unveiled a $22.7 billion price tag for its Future Made in Australia initiative, including a production tax incentive for critical minerals – starting in 2027.

Western Power customers will pay an extra 9.5 per cent on average for services in the coming financial year, after the utility’s proposed price structure got a conditional regulatory tick.

Rio Tinto says it is investigating after an autonomous train derailed 80km out of Karratha overnight.

A demand uptick has prompted energy industry service provider Baker Hughes to revive its local offshore oil and gas drilling service offering for the first time in more than five years.

Treasurer Rita Saffioti has defended the state’s Metronet investment and gone into bat for business on Nature Positive law reform in her first post-budget breakfast address.

The Liberal Party WA has accused the state government of squandering the “largest fiscal boom in state history”, in response to Rita Saffioti’s first budget as treasurer released today.

Resources royalty reliance and a lack of action on payroll tax were among the key observations from business groups digesting today’s state budget – the first from Treasurer Rita Saffioti.

A record $12.1 billion will be spent through the state’s asset investment program in 2024-25, part of a $42.2 billion outlay forecast over the four years to the end of 2028.

The state government has made an upward revision to its long-term iron ore price forecast, as lower-than-forecast critical mineral royalties highlight the volatility challenges facing the economy.

A Mineral Resources plan to purchase Poseidon Nickel’s Lake Johnston nickel plant and convert it to treat lithium mined in the area will not go ahead.

The federal government has formalised its view of gas as an energy transition fuel, committing to new projects as a means of maintaining reliable and affordable supply beyond 2050.

Jack McGinn and Nadia Budihardjo discuss the delivery of the state's major mining projects.

ANALYSIS: The cumulative value of the WA government’s pre-budget spending announcements is nearing $3 billion – a day out from Treasurer Rita Saffioti’s first official budget release.

Project closures and scale backs in early 2024 presented a stark contrast to the recent era of project delivery in WA.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says delays to environmental policy reform show he is listening to WA businesses, but has brushed off questions on whether a draft will be ready before the next election.

A plan to deliver transmission infrastructure connecting Woodside’s Pluto LNG plant and Maitland solar farm to the state’s North West Interconnected System will cost $166.3 million.

Payroll tax relief has unsurprisingly topped the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA’s state budget wish-list, ahead of the state’s unveiling of its 2024-25 books on Thursday.

The WA government's move to roll out a second trade commissioner for the South-East Asian region is a concession that its current model is not working, a former commissioner to Indonesia claims.

More than 6,000 residents and businesses in Broome will finally be able to install rooftop solar, after more than two years of capacity limits which ruled out new installations in the town.

Premier Roger Cook has defended his government’s decision to give Alcoa the go-ahead to mine in the South West, despite concerns from its own departments around potential environmental impact.

Jack McGinn and Tom Zaunmayr discuss the state of the iron ore market.

Poseidon Nickel says it is disappointed by a move from Mineral Resources to renegotiate the terms of its purchase of the Lake Johnston project, and will consider legal avenues.

Tom Zaunmayr and Jack McGinn discuss a push to attract superyachts to WA - and the state's readiness to host them.

The Foreign Investment Review Board has given its tick to a move from a joint venture between Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Chilean lithium giant SQM for Azure Minerals.

Lithium and nickel miner IGO reported a 110 per cent quarter on quarter drop in underlying earnings during the three months to March, leading it to a pre-tax loss of $15 million.

The state government says its energy load reduction scheme has had no ramifications for water supply, despite summer supply scalebacks at the Water Corp’s Binningup desalination plant.

Canadian-listed First Quantum Minerals will fully wind down its Ravensthorpe nickel operations and cut 330 on-site jobs, as part of its response to depressed market conditions.

The state government will allocate $410 million to build and upgrade school infrastructure across Western Australia in the upcoming budget.