Mark Pownall

IT seems stockmarket analyst David Franklyn always has smile on his face.

AS the key ingredient to capitalism, there are good reasons why the role of competition should be vigorously debated.

LOGISTICS giant TNT is considering redeveloping its Kewdale site after recording strong growth in the WA market.

WESTERN Power’s move into telecommunications is likely to stir up a hornet’s nest, mainly because of the issue of government involvement in business.

WESFARMERS chief Michael Chaney is basking in the warm glow of success.There is little he can do wrong and, if he lives up to his forecasts, there is another year of pleasant headlines and generally positive devotion.

WHILE the directors of Australian Liquor Group remain tied down with legal action from the Coles-Myer takeover, one of the group’s earliest proponents is setting a new course with a WA export business.

THE corporatisation of medicine is developing momentum, with advertising restrictions likely to simply be the next tradition to be pared away.Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, is matter of conjecture.

WA’S hotels have placed extended trading hours at the top of their wish list as they move to resist being squeezed at both ends of the market.

FUTURIS Corp has been forced to make special arrangements for several hundred WA shareholders who missed out on a special allocation in fancied float Australian Agricultural Co.

LAST year WA’s politicians started to grasp the importance of the environment among voters.The forest debate became very public and it wasn’t just people who preferred communal living who were getting agitated by logging in the South West.

IF ever there was an example of the branch economy at work it occurred this week when listed debt collection agency RMG decided to shut down its Perth back office and run the WA operation with just a sales force.

ANYONE caught up in last year’s tech wreck might be excused for indulging in a bit of soul searching, but Tim Wise claims to have long been into the search for the inner self under the direction of spiritual guide Brendan Nichols.

A HEARTY welcome to the concept of an underground railway in Perth from its friends here at Business News.

THE issue of privacy has long confronted the media and the high profile people it has targeted.

MEMBERS of the Fremantle Fishermen’s Cooperative Society have voted for sweeping changes to the 53-year-old lobster processor, agreeing to a proposal to corporatise the business and rename it.

IT’S not often you hear about an industry with too much money to spend.With almost $5 billion burning a hole in Australia’s venture capitalists pockets, it is surprising to discover the structural issues that have led to such a situation.

WA-BASED recruitment firm Beilby has dismantled its intricate corporate structure, consolidating its various holdings into one company to position itself for expansion.

NEW Perth-based seed capital fund Add Venture Capital claims to be on its own in the Australian market as a fund that truly devotes itself to investing in start-ups offering amounts as low as $50,000.

THE stoush between Tuart Resources and shareholders Dean Scook and Carol Hardie has escalated, with the mining-turned-wine company suing the pair for $14.6 million.

THE Fremantle Fishermen’s Cooperative is considering changing its 53-year old name as part of sweeping reforms being put to the vote tomorrow.

IT was an interesting experiment to undertake – determining how many days of the year you work for the tax man.

WEST Australian Newspapers Holdings has started its formal search for a new chief executive.

AFTER an experimentation period 20 years ago, the screw top wine bottle is back in WA.

A TAX-EFFECTIVE vineyard developer with close links to Australian wine giant Orlando Wyndham is planning to expand its Margaret River holdings as part of $10 million fund raising effort.

THE Fremantle Fishermen’s Coopera-tive Society has moved a step closer to a corporate restructure, airing a formal proposal to members to become an unlisted public company.

TWO WA attempts to use the Internet to revolutionise the WA liquor industry have fallen foul of poor investor sentiment.

CONCERNS about WA becoming a branch economy have been around for a long time, but the issue has gained more currency with the drama of Shell’s bid for Woodside.

THE new management of two Kimberley cattle stations has refused to identify the investors who have bought the remote properties which are littered with priceless Aboriginal art.

AUSTRALIA’S providers of financial advice are set to see a quiet revolution in the way they are licensed, with a new regime likely to be in place by October governing the way they do business.

TUART Resources has moved to enforce an agreement with WA businessman Dean Scooks, his business partner Carol Hardie and their associates indemnifying the company against net liabilities of almost $5 million stemming from the takeover

IT was billed as a showdown but there ended up being a surprising amount of common ground between those chosen to debate Tax Effective Investments: Are they Worth the Risk?

GENETICALLY modified crop research has been scaled back in WA to a fraction of the area trialled during the 2000 season.