Matt Mckenzie

The mining sector is still providing abundant work opportunities for law firms, from contract disputes to potential private equity acquisitions.

Treasurer Mike Nahan has said encouraging private investment in the Pilbara electricity grid could reduce its excess capacity and also energy prices in the north west, at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia lunch today.

Moving state government departments out of Perth’s central business district into regional and urban centres will have social benefits, according to Environment Minister Albert Jacob, as the government announced today the shift of 800 staff to a Primewest development in Joondalup.

A credit rating downgrade could cost more than $1 billion in extra interest bills, but higher taxes to balance the budget is not the solution, according to KPMG Economics.

Australia’s enormous LNG investment boom is starting to pay trade dividends, with exports up 18.5 per cent in the month of June to 3.6 million tonnes, largely to Japan and South Korea.

Transerv Energy will be upping its interest in the Perth Basin after it inked a farm-in and drilling agreement with Norwest Energy for the offshore Xanadu Prospect, and will buy a 4.7 per cent stake in the junior for $200,000.

A ramp-up of iron ore exports has lifted annual throughput at Port Hedland to a new record of 460.4 million tonnes, with the combined Pilbara Ports Authority tracking for a figure of 633.5mt per year.

Shares in Tawana Resources were up 84 per cent today as the company moved focus from iron ore to lithium, while three more Western Australian companies announced new moves in the lithium sector as keen market interest in the metal continues.

Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union WA assistant secretary Joe McDonald was among 29 union representatives fined a total of $61,000 for unlawful industrial action at Lakeside Joondalup in 2014.

Malcolm Turnbull will be returned as prime minister, according to renowned election analyst Antony Green, as postal vote flows strongly favour the coalition parties and three lower house independents have offered him supply and confidence.

There’s a one in three chance the Commonwealth government’s credit rating could be downgraded within the next two years, according to Standard & Poor’s, a move which would be expensive for taxpayers and may have flow on effects for other borrowers.

Spanish contractor Duro Felguera has suspended ongoing obligations to Samsung C&T, after the Roy Hill project head contractor refused to pay out on five recent court adjudications.

Standard and Poor's has lowered Australia’s sovereign debt ratings outlook from AAA stable to negative, citing the ambiguous outcome of the recent federal election potentially delaying fiscal consolidation, although it affirmed the strength of the economy broadly.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he accepts full responsibility for the coalition’s poor showing in Saturday’s election, but is increasingly confident of retaining majority government as nearly 3 million absentee and postal votes are still to be counted.

Retail sales were up 0.1 per cent in trend terms in Western Australia in May, to $2.82 billion, about 1 per cent higher than the same month last year.

Perth-based startup Bustle is aiming to simplify the process of doing business in the freight transportation industry via an online marketplace accessible through an app.

Slightly more than 1,000 Western Australian companies had external administrators appointed in the 12 months to May this year, an increase of 29 per cent on the previous period, according to the latest numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Discretionary spending usually takes a hit in a downturn, but some WA retailers and service providers are banking on a bright future.

Lithium hopeful Pilbara Minerals has scored an $18 million equity injection, offtake agreement and downstream processing deal with an unnamed Chinese company.

Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline owner-operator DBP says pricing for the gas transmission line set by the Economic Regulation Authority today won’t be enough to earn a rate of return suitable for prevailing market conditions.

Western Australian companies have outperformed the broader stock market over the six months to June 30, judging by the performance of Business News' BN30 index.

SPECIAL REPORT: Started nearly three decades ago, air-conditioning installation business Ford & Doonan is now a household name in Western Australia and the largest in the sector by market segment.

SPECIAL REPORT: A strong, whole-of-business focus on quality and sustainability has helped Austral Fisheries achieve a significant lift in its turnover during the past four years.

SPECIAL REPORT: Digital marketing company Alyka has backed up its 2013 Rising Stars win by being named among the state’s best-performing businesses in this year’s awards.

In a report released today, Auditor General Colin Murphy has expressed concern that Main Roads still focuses on critical maintenance instead of preventive work, despite a recommendation to change tack in a review seven years ago.

A processing plant to produce 60,000 tonnes of oats per year will be built in Forrestfield as part of CBH Group’s expansion into milling.

Spanish contractor Duro Felguera has won a legal battle with Samsung C&T over the jurisdiction of a contractual dispute for work on the $10 billion Roy Hill project, with the next stage to play out infront of Singaporean arbitrators. 

London's FTSE100 index crashed more than 7 per cent in the first few minutes after markets opened around 4pm AEST, as voters in the UK elected to leave the European Union by a 52-48 margin, prompting Prime Minister David Cameron to flag his resignation.

Maintenance workers at Griffin Coal are set to stop work for 24 hours from 5:30am tomorrow in response to a decision by the Fair Work Commission earlier this month to move them onto an industry award wage.

Chinese steel production was up 1.8 per cent in the month of May compared with the same period last year, although global output was down 0.1 per cent.

New businesses are gearing up to supply drivers in the state’s ridesharing industry, with legalisation of services such as Uber due to start on July 1.

A panel of industry, government, science and communty members will today release its two year marine science implementation strategy, aiming to make the state a global hub in the discipline and to encourage collaboration between industries such as offshore energy and fisheries.