Opinion

LAST week’s state budget was exactly what you’d expect from a pre-election government in a very strong electoral position, picking a few winners and hoping to make positive headlines.

BRIEFCASE, having recently returned from a visit to the land of the free, has identified the source of a possible new financial scandal in the US, which holds the potential to rock the market in th

I WAS in Houston last week at the annual Offshore Technology Conference, touted as the world’s largest gathering of oil and gas professionals.

Watching state Liberal leader Troy Buswell become enmeshed in a scandal of his own making made me question what it is we really want from our political leaders.

I’ve been on the road this week but still managed to keep up with the news.

Some key power brokers in both major political parties have apparently been heard using the term ‘new chums’.

Well, it’s happened – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has begun using that ‘M’ word, proof positive he’s heading down a well-worn road.

Last week’s WA Newspapers Holdings Ltd extraordinary general meeting was one of those great occasions few get to see until retirement age, if a quick scan of the 800 or so attendees was anything to go by.

The biggest talking point in Australia during the past week has, not surprisingly, been Kevin Rudd’s talkfest, the Australia 2020 summit in Canberra.

WORLD War I commenced during the first week of August 1914, nearly nine months before an Australian and New Zealand amphibious force landed on an isolated Turkish beach.

Are the energy market issues of Western Australia about to be solved by the market?

The Rudd government hasn’t exactly gotten off to flash start in the foreign relations area.

Banks now are a lot different than the bad old days, when heavy regulation made the practice of lending money a very one-sided affair.

A question the Liberal Party’s national leadership – Brendan Nelson and Julie Bishop, primarily – should promptly ask is, what they hope to accomplish by merging with the Nationals, as some have suggested.

The collapse of Melbourne stockbroking outfit, Opes Prime, and its ripple effect this week in Western Australia will no doubt have repercussions.

Managing risk in the financial sector  

The wife of Kevin Rudd’s chief of staff, David Epstein, is to run the Canberra office of major lobbying concern, Government Relations Australia (GRA), which also operates in Western Australia.

You don’t have to be born here to be accepted.

Look local for ideas

The impending mutualisation of GESB, the Government Employees Superannuation Board, has allowed me to dig into a few areas that I haven’t touched before.

Those  unfamiliar with the Slavic languages will need to have the phrase; “Kto Kogo?” translated and explained.

With most in-the-know political pundits confident the next state election will be held this December, it’s time to begin considering some possible outcomes.

A couple of weeks ago, a leading Perth business person rang me with some views on the WA Newspapers Holdings Ltd stoush between the existing board and Kerry Stokes’ Seven Network Ltd.

There are times when I appreciate having been around a bit longer than your average Western Australian business journalist, and the Palandri story that erupted last week is one of those occasions

It’s evident we’re well into a period best described as the ‘era of Liberal demise’. Although it started at least as early as 1996 – when then prime minister John Howard shamelessly dumped his party’s longstanding federalist commitment and adopted Labor’

The times they are a-changin’

It’s surprising that the ongoing revelations of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s close contacts with former Premier Brian Burke have sparked so little media attention

Canberra hoteliers and restaurateurs are undoubtedly looking forward to Kevin Rudd’s Australia 2020 Summit in late April, but State Scene certainly isn’t

This week’s big economic and commercial news has highlighted the increasing importance of China to Western Australia’s future prosperity, and the relative decline of the US.

The Stephenson Highway is a name that sends shivers up the spines of many residents in Perth’s western suburbs.

The increased iron ore price is great news for WA exporters but it does have a downside. It will quickly flow back in the form of higher steel prices, which will make future expansion projects more expensive.

In a comment piece last September, I raised the issue of foreign investment in Australian assets.