Mark Pownall

Is Perth a good place to base an online business?

Government involvement in the promotion of online business development should go beyond funding and reach more deeply into society, panellists at the WA Business News Online Business forum found.

There are many who say the end of the Olympics in Beijing will signal the culmination of the long global growth phase driven by China.

Jan Kolbusz is the kind of technology professional manager who admits he would most likely have seen out his days in senior management if he didn't live in Perth.

At the height of the tech boom almost a decade ago it would have been laughable to suggest that one of Western Australia's most successful internet entrepreneurs would offer local weather information to fishermen.

For years, Charlie Gunningham has been suggesting we have an online business list in our WA Business News Book of Lists, and he took the opportunity at our recent forum to plug the idea again.

Western Australia might be home to the nation's richest man and awash with riches amassed from property and mining booms, but that doesn't necessarily translate into funding for online businesses.

The iron ore sector has changed remarkably in the past few years.

After an eventful year, the Australian business of UK-based industrial services group Cape plc has been restructured under a new leadership group.

Wesfarmers and Rio Tinto have cemented their positions as corporate citizens in Western Australia after both companies last week revealed separate philanthropic partnerships totalling $15.

Cutbacks and asset sell-offs at the Houghton and Goundrey wine operations have been announced by US-based owner Constellation Brands as part of major changes at its Australian operations.

Former academic Tim Atterton believes Australia's tax system sets up small business for failure in times like these by discouraging the retention of profits, distracting management and undermining strong balance sheets.

Business has asked for temporary tax relief and sought a bigger role for the Small Business Development Corporation as the key elements of an assistance package in the wake of the Varanus Island gas crisis.

It's hardly news that business is under-represented in the City of Perth; we've run a number of stories to that effect in recent years.

Accountant Rami Brass received a shock last week while helping a newsagency client raise some money to buy the neighbouring business.

While the short-term macro-economic picture looks increasingly bleak, many still believe in the Western Australian story, driven by an insatiable demand for raw materials from China and other developing nations.

I've spent an interesting few days examining the views of a number of business people to understand just where our economy is heading.

Ken Court left behind his chance to add large-scale steelmaking to Western Australia's repertoire in the late 1990s, but the enthusiasm for the Mid West story is still evident as he mulls over his attempt to create a value-adding resources empire.

IT emerged from Western Australia in the 1980s to become one of the giants of national financial services wizardry, but the Asgard operation in Perth is slowly being whittled away, with owner St George Bank Ltd sending jobs to India.

Despite record prices, the gold sector has failed to glitter like other commodities, with the failure of marginal producers having a knock-on effect in the service sector.

A tug of war is being fought over a Perth-registered company within the Firepower fuel technology group as different forces scramble to grab assets they believe have value.

The concerns of one of Australia's leading actuaries regarding the transfer from the state of about $330 million in assets may have stopped the mutualisation of $9 billion fund manager GESB, which claims about one quarter of Western Australia's workforce

A booming economy creating staff shortages while young people leave the state for more interesting places.

Wilson Parking has denied it is weighing up plans to publicly list, as a battle with consumers over the use of number plates to obtain personal addresses rages for a second week.

Sharing premises could lead to more than just rubbing shoulders for Western Australia's two leading theatre companies, though no-one wants to write the 'm' word into the script, just yet.

There are plenty of potential losers in the story surrounding fuel technology group, which traded under the high profile banner of Firepower.

The proposal for an emissions trading scheme has already provoked some sharp responses from business, especially Woodside Petroleum Ltd, which operates the country's single biggest CO2 emission site.

The Royal Automobile Club of WA has bought Suncorp-Metway Ltd's 50 per cent stake in RAC Insurance, which it originally sold for almost $100 million in 2001.

Firepower founder Tim Johnston has called in the administrators to one of his companies, amid claims of a new bid to rescue the stricken fuel technology enterprise.

Australia's corporate watchdog has launched civil Federal Court proceedings against several companies and individuals linked to Firepower Holdings Group Ltd, claiming shares in the fuel technology group were sold without a prospectus.

A long term plan to put Wanneroo back on the map is close to completion as the city's town centre undergoes a $50-plus million redevelopment.

As much as the resources boom may be drawing in talent from around the globe, Western Australia's brain drain continues in industries like technology where Silicon Valley remains the drawcard.