Opinion

I refer to your article on Manny Papadoulis (WA Business News, March 10).

Western Australia’s Liberals have emerged in far worse shape from the February 26 election – at which they attracted 35.6 per cent statewide voter support – than after the February 2001 election when they scored only 34 per cent.

If Len Buckeridge needed another reason for not floating his BGC Group on the stock exchange then John Roberts has just given him one.

We never like to go patting ourselves on the back but there are times when its worth giving ourselves credit – mainly because no-one else will.

The English had Richard the Lion Heart, the Macedonians Alexander the Great, the Poles Boleslaw the Bold and even a Boleslaw the Brave.

Big bets have been placed on the assumption that a new bidder will emerge in the battle for control of Portman, the iron ore miner with a split board and widely differing valuations.

Premier Geoff Gallop has won his second election, his parliamentary majority is intact, and he has refreshed his ministry with a modest reshuffle and five new faces.

Prince Charles and Andrew Roberts do not, on the surface, appear to have much in common.

There are two things I think we can be sure of from this election campaign – we won’t be getting a canal and we won’t see any significant deregulation of shopping hours for the next decade.

Colin Barnett’s tactically motivated promise to build a $2 billion-plus Kimberley-to-Perth aqueduct wasn’t the most far-reaching conservative promise of the election campaign.

Third time lucky? That is the kindest comment that can be offered to yet another attempt to revive the dream of WA having its own vanadium industry.

Right, it’s the pointy end of this election campaign – the time when most minds are made up.

With Western Australia’s second election of the 21st century just days away it’s worth recapping some of the campaign’s stand-out points and to also consider something that never eventuated.

High oil prices are doing wonders for the share prices of oil producers, which makes just about every stock in that sector worth a look.

Our 40under40 Awards have been announced and yet another group of worthy people have been recognised for their achievements – not only in business but across many other fields where entrepreneurialism and innovation thrives.

Now that Labor’s all-powerful Sydney-based rightist faction, with which Kim Beazley is associated, has again made him leader it’s worth considering the likelihood of him being successful in his third tilt at the nation’s top job.

The boom, which we are all enjoying immensely, appears to be entering a new phase – or is it?

Having bemoaned the lack of vision in our politicians, I can hardly complain about Colin Barnett springing the Kimberley canal project on us.

Last week's comment piece from Professor Nick Forster wrongly listed the date he will be speaking a the WA Club

Liberal leader Colin Barnett has aspired since at least 1990, the year he entered state parliament, to become premier.

What would a WA election be without a big ticket prize for the people. So far, we haven’t seen anything to rival past elections. There have been higher wages promised for nurses, and more police on the beat.

Just a few weeks before going into hospital and, as it turns out, sealing his fate as Federal Opposition leader, Mark Latham was in Perth seeking answers to one of Labor’s great challenges – how to win over the small business vote.

Despite the Latham imbroglio and State Labor’s dismal scores in several opinion polls held late in 2004, a surprisingly large number of senior Liberals – MPs and rank-and-file – believe Gallop-led Labor is still likely to sneak home in the coming election

The headline of a story reporting Premier Geoff Gallop’s recent address to the WA Media Club read: ‘Gallop sorry on taxes as poll looms’.

It’s not often that a business says thanks to government. Duncan Stone and his crew at solar energy specialist Solco are doing that – in stereo.

I struggle to come to terms with the way political parties deal with the election process and I am not looking forward to the next few weeks.

JUST as the Federal Labor party rues its attempt to innovate with its leadership during the past year, we mustn’t lose sight of the need to experiment from time to time. Innovation is the key to survival and there must always be room to try new ways of t

TIM Treadgold is correct when he states that Xstrata’s primary corporate goal is to improve shareholder returns (WA Business News, December 9 2004).

WITH a State election imminent letterboxes will be increasingly stuffed with more unwelcome advertising bumph from parties to convince voters they and their candidates are working for their electorates.

IT was once said in New York that when the bell hops start giving share tips it’s time to sell.

YOUR correspondent Tim Treadgold has put forward some interesting hypotheses to explain the delay in getting AEC’s prospectus over the line (Briefcase,