Mark Beyer

Four long-running takeover battles targeting Western Australian companies have moved closer to resolution this week while a fifth takeover saga involving winemaker Evans & Tate Ltd has become even more convoluted.

Mining entrepreneur Michael Kiernan last week outlined to WA Business News his plan plan to bring together his non-gold companies under the joint ownership of iron ore miner, Territory Resources Ltd.

At a time when the state government is reviewing several contentious resource projects, one of its top business advisers has questioned whether the mining industry can be trusted.

The future ownership of four Western Australian companies hangs in the balance this week following new takeover offers for Consolidated Minerals Ltd, OmegaCorp Ltd, Evans & Tate Ltd and Vietnam Industrial Investments Ltd.

The state government's $8.8 billion superannuation fund will for the first time face compettion following the introduction of legislation that also allows the fund to compete for members outside the public sector.

The Simon Lee-chaired Vietnam Industrial Investments Ltd cancelled today's shareholders meeting after being told that investment group Prudential has teamed up with the company's managing director to make a $17.6 million takeover offer.

Canadian mining software company Gemcom Software International Inc has reported strong growth in sales and profits, helped by its July 2006 acquisition of Perth-based competitor Surpac Minex Group Pty Ltd.

John Akehurst may not have rated a mention in WA Business News’ annual ranking of WA's most influential people a year ago, but during the past six months he has played a central role in deciding the fate of Alinta.

The state government employs thousands of public servants, yet real influence on public policy in Western Australia rests just with a handful of key advisers working in ministerial offices.

The state government currently employs about 5,000 people to provide corporate services, such as finance, procurement and payroll services, at a cost of $315 million every year.

Former premier and political lobbyist Brian Burke heads the group of people who have fallen off the list of Western Australia’s most influential in the past year.

Newspaper editors are meant to focus on writing headlines, but the editor of Western Australia’s only daily newspaper, Paul Armstrong, has actually generated more than his fair share over the past couple of years.

This year’s most influential lists include some new faces and even more familiar names, but politics and the big end of town still dominate.

If the amount of money invested in Western Australia is a measure of influence, then the top executives at a handful of big resource companies are among the most influential people in the state.

Tony Howarth is one of Western Australia’s most highly regarded company directors, yet he is becoming as well known for his philanthropic activities as his commercial achievements.

The Carpenter ministry has experienced extraordinary turnover in the past year with several ministers sacked or demoted, leaving the same handful of senior campaigners in charge.

Western Australia’s main public universities have some of the state’s most influential people serving on their governing councils and among their senior staff.

Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has become the most influential Western Australian on the national political stage during the past year.

Perth is home to some of Australia’s biggest private fortunes, but having a lot of money does not always equate to having influence.

Rival iron ore miners in the Mid West region have formed up in two competing camps, with Murchison Metals Ltd today signing a deal with Japan's Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd to develop mining and infrastructure businesses at a cost of up to $3 billion.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has laid fraud charges against Perth property developer Kevin Pollock and two of his business associates, four years after National Australia Bank appointed receivers to 14 of Mr Pollock's companies.

The State Government has delayed making a decision on the expansion of the Ord River irrigation area, despite calls for a quick decision to help avert the collapse of the region's sugar industry.

The Economic Regulation Authority has added to concerns about the supply of gas to the domestic market in WA, concluding that problems are likely to arise over the next five to seven years.

The Auditor General has delivered a highly critical assessment of the state government's shared services project, which has experienced major cost blow-outs and failed to lift the efficiency of back-office services.

The Fremantle port authority is planning to more than double the size of its Rous Head industrial estate, as part of a $194 million port deepening project.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd is fast approaching decision time on its giant Pluto gas project, which, if it proceeds, will be the single largest investment in a resource project in Australia’s history.

The former Western Power, long derided as a tired government monopoly in need of a shake-up, has emerged as the preferred training ground for directors and executives at many of Western Australia’s new energy companies after the group’s break up.

The state government has questioned the validity of a 34-year old state agreement that Midwest Corporation Ltd and Yilgarn Infrastructure Ltd are relying on for a $2 billion railway and port project in the Mid West region.

Woodside is expected to record a small decline in net profit this year, primarily because the company’s fortunes are closely tied to changes in the oil price.

Listed company Pacific Energy Ltd has become the newest entrant to Western Australia’s renewable energy sector, which is underpinned by a state government policy of quadrupling the state’s use of ‘green’ energy.

In 1974, farmers in the Ord River Irrigation Area gave up trying to grow cotton. In 1985, they gave up trying to grow rice. Could 2007 be the year they give up trying to grow sugar?

The Federal Court has delivered a warning to company office holders about the high governance standards they need to maintain, after stripping the former company secretary of Perth-based Biodiesel Producers Ltd of his entitlement to performance shares.