Matt Mckenzie

Domestic violence leave and a capacity for court-made equal remuneration orders look more likely after an interim report of the state government’s industrial relations review recommended some significant changes to the current workplace relations system.

A costly problem that dramatically shortens the life of subsea equipment used offshore of Western Australia is the focus of a collaborative project backed by some of the state’s biggest energy producers.

Batteries and solar panels will be rolled out at 60 locations on the edge of the state’s electricity grid throughout the Wheatbelt and Goldfields as part of a plan to improve reliability and cut capital costs across the Western Power network.

Technology, maintenance and education will be the key areas of focus for a new state government taskforce targeting job opportunities in the LNG sector.

Next month will mark 20 years since stevedoring business Patrick dismissed its workforce at the apex of what became one of the most significant, and contentious, industrial relations battles in a generation.

Woodside Petroleum has taken a small step on the potential Scarborough LNG project, signing an agreement with co-owner BHP Billiton to become the operator of any future development and granting the miner an option to increase its share of the project by 10 per cent.

A move that could dramatically reduce power bills for Perth residents is on the backburner, despite a similar process taking place in other parts of the state, so the government can appease unions, according to shadow energy minister Dean Nalder.

SPECIAL REPORT: Hundreds of oil and gas fields to be decommissioned in the next decade across the Asia-Pacific region will create billions of dollars of opportunities for contractors, with a number of initiatives already under way.

SPECIAL REPORT: A maintenance hub for LNG vessels in WA is one of numerous opportunities for oil and gas services businesses.

SPECIAL REPORT: China’s rising LNG demand has coincided with a flurry of deals, highlighting potential for a turnaround in WA’s oil and gas sector.

Australia was one of 11 nations that signed on to the successor to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal in Chile last night, just more than a year after the United States pulled out of the original deal.

PODCAST: In this Business News podcast Mark Pownall and Matt Mckenzie discuss 40under40, international student market, road infrastructure, rich list, US steel and aluminium tariffs, Yagan Square, rugby union, and our special report on oil and gas.

40under40: Richard Devlin’s business is poised to ride a new wave of development in agricultural research tech.

Modelling by the Curtin University’s Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has proposed a capped rental deduction for investors using negative gearing, arguing it will be a a budget saver that will have minimal impact on the less well off.

Renewables, railways, and a pick-up in the resources sector are providing work for local environmental services businesses, which have become increasingly optimistic after taking a hit amid the slowdown in mining construction projects.

Concerns over the issue of native title were most keenly felt in the nation’s west and north in the late 1990s.

Shipbuilder Austal reported a big jump in profit for the first half of the financial year, while it is still unsure of what its exact role will be in the upcoming $3 billion offshore patrol vessel build program.

The Woodside Petroleum-led Greater Sunrise gas project is a step closer to going ahead, with the federal government to ink an agreement with Timor Leste about revenue sharing, more than 40 years after it was originally discovered.

Local contractors have expressed concern that work on the next two Metronet rail projects, worth about $1 billion, could be packaged together for tendering purposes.

Marine logistics business MMA Offshore has cut its net loss in the half year to December as conditions in the oil and gas market stabilised.

Barnaby Joyce will step down as deputy prime minister and from cabinet on Monday, three weeks after it was revealed he had had an affair with a former media adviser.

Hundreds of occupational licences and permits are to be reviewed by the state government’s key economic regulator, with the potential to save consumers tens of millions of dollars.

Clamping down on the governance of state-owned enterprises such as Synergy is just one major promise the McGowan government has made in response to the Langoulant special inquiry into government projects in the Barnett era, released yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister and National Party leader Barnaby Joyce’s position has been further weakened today after the Western Australian branch of his party called for his resignation.

Almost $100 million could be saved through a merger of health insurance mutuals HBF and HCF, while Western Australian customers would benefit from better services in dental and optometry, according to HBF managing director John van der Wielen.

Opportunities will grow in the environmental protection and energy efficiency space for Australian exporters as China looks to go greener, according to Chinese deputy consul general Anlin Sun.

Cutting red tape for wineries, breweries and distilleries, and changes to procurement laws to favour local businesses were two measures to support economic recovery highlighted by Premier Mark McGowan at a Business News Success & Leadership breakfast this morning.

Lithium hopeful Tawana Resources has commenced commissioning of the Bald Hill mine.

Sydney-based Origin Energy has signed up close to 5,000 Western Australian retail gas customers since launching in the Perth market in October.

Western Australian senator Mathias Cormann will be Acting Prime Minister next week, with Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop overseas and the embattled Barnaby Joyce to take leave.

Waste management company Tox Free Solutions has reported a 20 per cent increase in profit in the half year to December, to $7 million, as the company works through an acquisition by Cleanaway.

Brisbane-based gold hopeful Explaurum has raised $8.3 million to progress its Tampia gold project in Western Australia's Wheatbelt.