Opinion

I hate to repeat myself week in and week out, but the skills shortage in Western Australia is looming as a major issue for this State.

As the past two State Scene columns have considered the forthcoming State election – predicting Labor will win in the legislative assembly, thereby forming the next government, and the conservatives will re-gain control of the legislative council – this w

Overshadowed by some clever politicking by Labor leader Mark Latham on the US Free Trade Agreement, the Federal Opposition’s industrial relations policy has failed to get the scrutiny it deserves.

Last week State Scene outlined the likely outcome of the forthcoming State election, which Premier Geoff Gallop will call for sometime between October 2004 and February 2005.

I write with regard to the article “Council ad deal queried” (WA Business News, July 22).

As the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre begins the process of opening its doors to the public, the foreshore building has attracted a fresh round of analysis/criticism.

The economic implications of an ageing Australia are of such concern to the Federal Government that it has recently asked the Productivity Commission to undertake an enquiry into

I did try to slip away quietly for a couple of weeks but my colleagues let it be known that I was “on assignment” in the US, so I’d best deliver a few pearls of wisdom on that front, otherwise some of you might be disappointed.

The feature on Western Australia’s top brands (WA Business News, July 22) was intriguing and I readily concede I concurred with most of the results.

Goeff Gallop-led Labor is now scanning the horizon of spring 2004 and summer 2004-05 in search of a date that best suits Labor for a State election.

During the past few weeks the words ‘dirt’ and ‘dirt unit’ have been used rather liberally, most especially by Labor leader Mark Latham, a man who never hesitates publicly insulting anyone, from an American president to dissenting journalists.

Tim Treadgold’s article on hot fractured rock geothermal power (WA Business News, July 15) is not only cynical and highly factually incorrect, but is without a clear understa

Branding is a concept that, although not widely understood, attracts enormous attention.

Western Australia’s rapid economic growth and falling unemployment have created a rare opportunity for the State to rethink its industry policy.

The Gallop Government’s recent reluctant admission that it won’t continue pressing for fixed-term parliaments comes hard on the heels of its reneging on the proposed one-vote-one-value legislation.

I write to you having taken great offence at our omission from your recent two-page article featuring Western Australian diamond companies (WA Business News July 1).

I have been dwelling on the remarkable news of a couple of weeks ago that unemployment in Western Australia had dropped to 5 per cent in May – the lowest level since seasonally adjusted monthly data was produced in 1978.

Those who attended the University of Western Australia or even just toured its northern grounds probably know that the creation and initial development of that campus was primarily due to the efforts and funds of Irish-born Perth newspaper proprietor, Sir

One thing we can be confident about if the next, or second, Gallop-led Government is sworn in is that the 14 chauffeur-driven politicians who’ll attend Government House won’t be the same as those now in cabinet.

In your editorial of June 24, rightly paying tribute to Michael Chaney’s great achievement, you remind us that in 1994 Western Australia was an international joke and viewed as corporately corrupt.

Anyone noticed the sudden burst of major resource news at State level?

Geoff Gallop-led Labor goes into the coming State election fully aware that it gained power in February 2001 largely because of one Liberal minister’s mismanagement, as well as misfortune in the case of the Nationals.

Swell prediction for surfers’ site 

Imagine how many people would have laughed 10 years ago at the suggestion that, not only was a CEO from Western Australia lauded as the nation’s best, heading a company that was a market darling,

I am writing with regard to Tim Treadgold’s column ‘Shieldliner piping for ASX listing’ (WA Business News, May 13).

Down here at WA Business News we thrive on the fact that national media generally forget Western Australia exists, leaving a convenient vacuum for us to fill – but even so I sometimes get amazed at what is missed by our peers in Sydney and Melbourne.

If ever you walk past a group of politicians and, by chance, overhear them uttering the phrase ‘collateral damage’ you can be fairly confident they’re not discussing military affairs.

LAST week’s introduction of full contestability in the retail gas market arrived with more of a muted whimper than any sort of big bang.

STATE Scene first raised the prospect of an upper house Liberal MP resigning from his party, and paving the way for the re-introduction and successful passage of Attorney-General Jim McGinty’s one-vote-one-value draft legislation through that chamber, on