Mark Beyer

WA Business News’ health forum elicited a wide range of views on whether healthcare should be considered a business.

RAMS Home Loans Group and Wizard Home Loans have added to the rapid growth in mortgage brokers, opening shopfront branches across suburban Perth.

IT’S an age-old saying that prevention is better than cure – yet it seems that one obvious place where this adage has not been applied is our struggling health system.

BUSINESS software company MYOB has partnered with credit management firm D&B to launch a range of account management tools for small and medium sized businesses.

IF there were an award for the company that provides the best disclosure on executive remuneration, Tap Oil would be a clear winner.

THE business lobby has roundly criticised the Liberal Party’s decision this week to oppose the full break up of Western Power.

AN estimated 75 Western Australian businesses are being forced to change their superannuation manager after US finance giant Mellon decided to focus on its big clients.

FINANCIAL planning group Associated Planners has taken an industry lead by refusing to accept ‘soft-dollar’ benefits from fund managers.

EIGHT Western Australian companies paid their chief executives $1 million or more last financial year, WA Business News’ annual salary survey has found.

Million-dollar salaries are becoming more common in WA. Mark Beyer takes a close look at WA’s top 50 chief executives to find out who earned their keep.

BUSINESS borrowers should review their cash flow projections to assess the impact of higher interest rates, accountants and finance brokers have recommended.

A DECADE ago Australia had 15 major grain handling and marketing organisations.

UK company GTL Resources is seeking to raise $US105 million ($A150 million) from Australian investors to support its planned methanol project on the Burrup Peninsula.

ACCOUNTING bodies have called on the Australian Tax Office to be more lenient with small and mid sized businesses that breach their GST obligations.

THREE Western Australian companies have been given a five-star rating in a national survey of corporate governance practices.

FLEETWOOD is expanding its manufacturing operations in Perth and Melbourne to cope with record demand for its caravans and park homes.

MULTIPLEX has recently completed its board of directors by recruiting a former adviser to Prime Minister Paul Keating.

The listing of Multiplex looms as one of the largest deals in WA this year. Mark Beyer takes a closer look at the mechanics of the listing.

MULTIPLEX’S core construction business in Australia and New Zealand suffered a net loss of $2.8 million in 2003, the company’s prospectus has revealed.

THE State Government could be forced to keep the controversial Brookdale waste treatment plant open next year because alternative facilities will not be completed on time.

COMMERCIAL lawyer Neal Fearis believes the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has tightened its scrutiny of schemes of arrangement during the past year.

TAX accountant Mark Ceglinski has established his own specialist practice in West Perth after leaving Ernst & Young earlier this month.

A MAJORITY of chief financial officers is yet to identify the impact of the planned introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Australia, according to a new survey.

ONE year after leaving Westpac Banking Corporation, Tony Howarth has returned to the finance sector as chairman of Home Building Society.

THE receiver of struggling nickel producer Bulong Nickel has commenced closing down its Goldfields plant, despite flickering hopes of a sale.

COATES Hire has quietly spent nearly $10 million in the Goldfields region, acquiring two major industrial hire businesses.

ST John Ambulance WA has outsourced its $45 million superannuation fund to Acumen Super.

WORLDWIDE Online Printing capped off nine years of growth by holding its first national convention for its 53 franchisees in Perth last weekend.

TOURISM Council Western Australia has entered into negotiations with Bendigo Bank to establish a ‘tourism bank’ to service the industry.

TWENTY-ONE years after establishing Sons of Gwalia, Peter and Chris Lalor are starting to prepare for a final departure.

THE State Government has warned that it may prosecute employers who repeatedly fail to pay the correct award wages to their staff.

ONE month after completing the sale of its 50 per cent shareholding in Plan B Financial Services, BankWest has launched its own financial planning business.