Matt Mckenzie

Crayfishermen will consider paying more in royalties to the state government as an alternative to Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly’s planned takeover of new licences, while concerns continue about the fragility of price premiums in the Chinese export market.

Shares in Bentley-based Quantify Technology were up as much as 14.3 per cent today after the business signed a deal with Taiwanese company Foxconn Technology to progress towards manufacturing of its intelligent building management gadgets.

Proponents of a $400 million waste to energy facility to be built in East Rockingham are hoping to get construction under way within months after finalising a waste supply deal with utilities giant Suez.

Opponents continue to blast government changes to lobster licensing arrangements as it emerges that, despite the state potentially pocketing nearly $70 million annually from the moves, a cost benefit analysis of the major policy shift unveiled in December was not undertaken.

Western Australia exported its highest ever value of goods in a single month in November, as the nation posted another trade surplus.

The final months of 2018 hit investors in Western Australian stocks hard, with the Business News index of 30 local ASX-listed companies falling 13.3 per cent.

Western Australian grain growers have had one of their best ever years, with 16 million tonnes moving through cooperative handler CBH Group’s network, about 400,000 tonnes above August estimates.

The state’s financial outlook has improved since the May budget by about $3 billion across the next four years, with iron ore royalties and federal grants doing the heavy lifting, but the domestic economy will again shrink this year.

The state government’s Koolyanobbing mine bail out will cost $182 million, according to budget details released today.

Woodside Petroleum’s Browse and Scarborough LNG developments are the biggest of $95 billion of major projects under way or likely in Western Australia, with 96 ongoing and a further 68 probable.

A Chinese banking crisis that leads to a significant economic downturn might considerably delay Fremantle harbour reaching its container capacity, while other scenarios might accelerate traffic, according to previously unpublished economic modelling by Deloitte.

Andrew Forrest’s agribusiness portfolio is set for a big expansion, with his Harvest Road Group planning a 60,000 head per year cattle development worth up to $50 million in the wheatbelt.

Reform to cut the government’s dependence on income and company taxes remains a high priority for Australia, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, while contingency plans are urgently needed in case of a sustained fall in house prices.

Domestic gas has started flowing from Woodside Petroleum’s Pluto plant near Karratha today, around six years after LNG exports from the facility got under way.

Opinion: Los Angeles and Miami should inspire Western Australians hoping to ignite tourist attention, but our state needs to consider how to generate the most value from the industry.

Perth startup Humm is setting its course for the next year after participating in Berkeley’s eminent Skydeck accelerator program.

Front end engineering and design work for Woodside Petroleum’s SNE oil development in Senegal has been awarded to Subsea Integration Alliance, with a final investment decision penciled in for mid-2019, after a long dispute among the project’s partners.

SPECIAL REPORT: Three businessmen will have more impact than most on the state’s economic future, with Peter Coleman leading an oil and gas revival, Chris Ellison building a lithium empire, and Rob Scott reshaping Wesfarmers.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mathias Cormann has been deeply entwined in the federal government’s fortunes this year, while a win on GST distribution has boosted standing for Mark McGowan and Ben Wyatt.

Older coal fired power stations such as Synergy’s Muja C&D could begin closing in 2023, driven by changing market dynamics, while harsher carbon policies would accelerate shutdowns, according to a recent report by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

PODCAST: Mark Beyer and Matt Mckenzie discuss Stan Perron, our update on major WA projects — some going ahead, some not — Westport, the space agency, lobster quotas, and our person of the year feature.

GE subsidiary Baker Hughes and McDermott International have been picked for front end engineering and design work on Western Gas’s Equus project, under a contract arrangement whereby they will see the project through to commissioning.

Fremantle’s port has room to grow container trade, possibly for three decades, according to a new report by the state government’s Westport taskforce, but freight infrastructure improvements are needed in the short term at Fremantle, Bunbury and Kwinana.

Alumina producer Alcoa of Australia has signed three supply deals with BHP Group, Woodside Petroleum and Chevron to provide about 23 petajoules of gas between them annually from 2020 for its Western Australian refineries.

The state government has assured fishing industry representatives it has no plans to change how it determines catch limits across the sector after a surprise move last week to create, and take control of, new licences for local lobsters.

The state budget will be in surplus in 2019/20, according to Premier Mark McGowan, while a $421 million expansion of the Keystart program for first homebuyers and a move to reduce red tape will be two new policies to support the local economy.

A collaboration led by Curtin University and including local blockchain business Power Ledger has started its latest peer-to-peer trading trial in Fremantle, funded by the federal government's Smart Cities Initiative, while DigitalX has launched a new incubator for blockchain technology in Kings Park.

A 10 per cent surge in the level of business investment in machinery and equipment has helped Western Australia’s state final demand grow 0.4 per cent in the September quarter, as national economic data surprised on the downside.

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Foreign investment, free trade and a skilled workforce have helped WA tap its enormous oil and gas reserves, to the benefit of the entire country. This article is part of a special series to mark Business News' 25-year anniversary.

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The growth in household disposable income provides a graphic illustration of the effect of 25 years of technological change and investment in WA. This article is part of a special series to mark Business News' 25-year anniversary.

SPECIAL REPORT: A new, more aggressive fund and the international expansion of its existing conservative strategy will be key to the growth of boutique investment manager NWQ.

SPECIAL REPORT: West Perth-based fund Ibaera Capital is hoping to plug a funding gap for metals juniors with big projects.