Jonathan Barrett

As the University of Western Australia seeks leave to appeal to the High Court over a blow to its intellectual property rights, universities and employers nationwide are wondering what they need to do to avoid a similar fate.

Commissions may be officially on the endangered species list in the financial planning sector, but don’t expect them to go quietly.

Receivers of failed agribusiness company Great Southern today completed the sale of the company's far north Queensland cattle station to Consolidated Pastoral Company for $48 million.

PARTIES are locked in confidential negotiations to sell the defunct Riverside Pier Hotel project on Perth’s foreshore, as out-of-pocket investors await news of any likely return.

MINOR skirmishes targeting Perth corporate raider Farooq Khan during the past three months are escalating into a major offensive aimed at the heart of his power base.

RIPPLES from the fall of Allco Finance Group continue to work through the market, as the 'for sale' sign goes up at one of its investments, the Perth-founded debtor finance company Scottish Pacific Benchmark.

CONTRACTORS awarded maintenance work to upgrade the state's primary schools are still waiting on pricing to be finalised less than six weeks before the scheduled completion of some of the contracts.

They may be at different stages of their careers, but Mark Barnaba and Tony Howarth have had some major challenges of late.

WESTERN Australian-based mortgage broker Australian Finance Group has learned first-hand the difficulties making money from financial planning dealer groups.

Perth-based property funds manager Aspen Group has outlined steps taken to address market pressures, which resulted in a $64.7 million loss for 2008-09 after the financial crisis severely hurt property valuations, management fees and transaction activity.

Thousands of Great Southern investors who received now-worthless shares in the company in exchange for their woodlots have received the backing of litigation funder IMF to pursue a claim.

Many of the pioneers of private education in WA still cast a long shadow over one of the state’s biggest export industries.

AN Indian student approaches an education agent in his home city, after hearing that if he studies in Australia, he can get permanent residency.

Perth-based mortgage aggregator Australian Finance Group has sold its financial planning arm to ING-backed Sentry Financial Group.

The Gordon Martin-backed Pulpwood Plantations is extending its bid for Great Southern timber schemes to include all but one of the flagship plantations.

ONE of Russia's richest men has flexed his considerable muscle at Western Australian-based Strike Resources, resulting in a shake-up of the board.

AS a pack of reporters thrust their dictaphones in front of Troy Buswell late last week, the treasurer remarked that it reminded him of something other than a press conference.

INVESTORS in several failed Great Southern schemes are facing the double indignity of losing control of their assets and receiving a hefty tax bill.

Investors in several Great Southern schemes face having their agribusiness assets seized by third party land-owners, after receivers were unable to secure financing to keep paying the leases.

Great Southern receiver McGrathNicol has indicated the group's horticulture schemes are likely to be wound up, which will leave investors nursing significant losses.

Treasurer Troy Buswell has admitted the state government has no power to unwind a $160,000 pay increase to the chief executive of government superannuation fund GESB, Michele Dolin.

Three investors are seeking legal redress from the now-defunct company that licensed one of the major Firepower promoters.

WESTERN Australian union heavyweight Joe McDonald has been slapped with an injunction barring him from encouraging construction workers to strike at a Perth high-rise building site.

TEACHING is widely regarded as a recession-proof profession.And it appears those companies that turn a profit from private education have also come out largely unaffected by the economic downturn.

The cloud hanging over car dealers has dispersed, as conditions improve.

Groups seeking to take over the assets of failed agribusiness provider Great Southern have been asked if they are prepared to finance the projects from Thursday onwards, as emergency funding runs out.

Fisheries minister Norman Moore has imposed new restrictions on the rock lobster industry in a bid to halve the annual harvest from its long-term average of 11,000 tonnes to 5,500 tonnes.

AT the end of the month, the remaining sales and marketing staff at failed agribusiness provider Great Southern will be made redundant; but the battle for control of its assets is just getting started.

Ros Worthington says she is the richest person in the world, without a worldly possession.

WRITER Guy de Maupassant dabs his napkin on his not-inconsiderable moustache to lift the remains of the restaurant's plat du jour.

A MOVE by The Washington Post Company to expand its operations in Perth might at first glance unsettle the state's media powerbrokers.

The city of lights tends to rank highly in global surveys, but what does that mean?