Matt Mckenzie

A further reshuffling of state government departments appears likely after Treasurer Ben Wyatt released the government's service priority review today.

Maitri Patel is hoping her Bollywood-inspired fitness regime will match the success of Zumba.

A new accelerator program for startups in the agribusiness sector will get under way next year after securing funding from the state government’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Mineral Resources founder Chris Ellison has raised $36.9 million from the sale of some of his shares in the mining services group, adding to a string of big share sales by WA company directors who have cashed in on strong market rallies.

SPECIAL REPORT: Navitas boss Rod Jones talked to Business News about the next chapter for the $1.8 billion education provider he founded, and his hopes for the technology ventures he’s backing.

SPECIAL REPORT: The five WA people with the largest holdings in listed companies have earned around $1.5 billion in dividends in the past five years, with Andrew Forrest and Kerry Stokes leading the way. Click through for our list of 50 directors and investors with holdings worth more than $11 billion between them.

Shareholders in uranium miner Paladin Energy will end up owning just 2 per cent of the company under a recapitalisation plan that will include a major debt for equity swap and a $US115 million high yield secured note raising.

Belmont-based Zenith Energy has been selected as preferred contractor to build a 62-megawatt power station at Newmont’s Tanami gold mine, edging out incumbent provider Pacific Energy.

Perth companies Austal and Civmec are looking forward to working on the construction of 10 navy vessels at Henderson but the amount and type of work they will undertake is unclear after the federal government selected Germany's Luerssen as its preferred designer and builder.

Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone opened a $10 million facility in Port Hedland last week that will apply remote sensing and big data to detect wear on the mining fleets and conveyors of its Pilbara customers.

Directors of Mineral Resources have survived a motion for a spill meeting after a second strike against their remuneration report today, as managing director Chris Ellison stood firm on mining the Jackson5/Bungalbin iron ore deposit.

Western Australian avocado farmer Jennifer Franceschi has won a category in the national Telstra Businesswoman of the year awards, although News South Wales-based refugee advocate Violet Roumeliotis took out the top prize.

Wasteless Pantry is proving that a sustainable living focus can be commercially viable for a business, as the Mundaring retailer's founders seek to branch out into franchises in other suburbs across Perth.

Curtin University, Murdoch University, Power Ledger and LandCorp are behind an $8 million project that will use blockchain technology to manage water and energy systems in the City of Fremantle.

A local power generator majority owned by Rod Jones’s Hoperidge Capital has refinanced its bank debt through a $44 million bond issue which the company believes will give it more flexibility, including the potential to pursue a 100-megawatt solar farm.

Western Australia’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points in October to be 5.8 per cent in trend terms, while the national number remained unchanged at 5.5 per cent.

US energy investors lining up $11b tilt for Santos, BHP shale sale moves and more.

Western Power plans to reduce spending by nearly $1 billion in the next five years compared to the five years just gone, according to a proposal by the state-owned network operator to the state’s economic regulator.

Horizon Power will roll out a $7.1 million distributed energy pilot project in Carnarvon, while the state government has unveiled a trial to incentivise demand management by users during peak periods in Broome.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt has kept open the possibility of a bank tax in Western Australia, after South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill today quietly dropped his state’s planned tax on the five biggest financial institutions.

A $2.2 million expansion of the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope has been completed, doubling the number of antenna stations at the facility, as design work on the planned Square Kilometre Array continues.

SPECIAL REPORT: Activity in Western Australia’s graphite sector is continuing apace, with local hopefuls seeking to raise more than $70 million this quarter, an amount similar to that raised for the entire financial year just past.

SPECIAL REPORT: Financing opportunities have improved markedly from just two years ago for the state’s junior miners, amid growing demand for drill rigs and skilled workers.

Altura Mining has taken the next step to double capacity at its Pilgangoora project, approving a definitive feasibility study for expansion to 440,000 tonnes per annum of lithium concentrate, while confirming shipments from stage one of the mine are due in the second quarter of 2018.

The competition watchdog has had its first major win enforcing a new franchising code of conduct, with the Federal Court today fining Pastacup franchisor Morild and co-founder Stuart Bernstein $150,000 for a failure to disclose he had been a director of two insolvent entities.

Mineral Resources has acquired Empire Oil & Gas’s Perth Basin assets, including the Red Gully processing plant, just more than a month after the energy junior entered administration.

The board of Kalgoorlie-based bank Goldfields Money has knocked back a fresh takeover bid from Brisbane financial business Firstmac Holdings, which valued the company at $1.27 per share.

Shares in technology business Structural Monitoring Systems were up 18 per cent today after the company announced a $10 million acquisition of Canadian company Aerodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corporation, and completion of a $13 million raising.

Jennifer Franceschi has invested millions preparing for a surge of new avocado production entering the market.

A Cottesloe-based agribusiness is hoping to improve operational productivity by increasing its use of data across the life cycle of its livestock and in its supply chain management.

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Group more than doubled profit to $1.1 billion in the year to June, the highest level since 2011, with the company paying or providing for $767 million in dividends to the family.

Edith Cowan University is hoping to bolster its presence in defence industry research, with the appointment of former air vice-marshal Andrew Dowse as director of defence research and engagement today.