Special Reports

Changing government policy is a tedious process and the ensuing bureaucracy requires patience.

The community sector and the state government are working collaboratively to create major change in the provision of community services.

RETURNING to Perth for a second year after an eight-year hiatus until 2009, the Australia Cup has overcome funding difficulties and secured the support of key sponsors Sunseeker and the City of Perth for its 2010 event, held on the Swan River later this m

THE state’s retail industry is waiting to gauge the success of new retail trading hours that started this week.

Perth’s retail property sector is heading into a new era of extended trading hours, expanded centres and more sophisticated retail offerings.

MAIN street shopping locations and bulky goods centres are emerging as standout performers in the retail property sector, according to leasing agents.

AFTER a decade during which growth of major suburban shopping centres in Perth fell behind that of eastern states operations, new planning regulations have freed-up development investment and provided the impetus for a change in the way centres are develo

Booming resources companies are putting Perth on the consultants’ map

PERTH being Perth, it’s difficult to avoid the strong historic connections between the key players at the top end of the management consulting market.

WA may be riding on the back of growth in Asia, but local economists warn the ride will not always be smooth.

THERE may be many advantages in Western Australia’s isolation, but the state’s distance from a pool of available labour is not one of them.

The boom is back with all the same issues as before, and a few new challenges thrown in.

While climate change is a big issue, not having enough energy is a bigger one, so what are WA businesses doing to marry up the two as part of the state’s renewable energy target?

Perth’s Central Institute of Technology could be the icing on the cake for Northbridge’s reinvigoration. Emily Morgan reports.

The Art Gallery of WA is hosting a Southern Hemisphere exclusive, which it’s hoped will present further opportunities for the arts sector.

EMBRACING renewable energy is not just a matter of plugging solar stations into the existing energy grid, but involves strategic management and requires investment in infrastructure.

THE world’s best renewable energy resource lies largely untouched at the top end of the state, despite Western Australia having the lion’s share of solar radiation in the country, according to the WA Sustainable Energy Association.

TRAVEL TALK with Henry Boston -Australia Business Arts Foundation WA director

THE Western Australian wine industry is under siege.

Northbridge has long suffered an image problem, but with the help of government funding that is about to change with the Perth Cultural Centre at the forefront. Emily Morgan reports.

A PRICE on carbon is garnering elevated support from the Western Australian business community as part of a suite of recommendations to tackle climate change.

GOLD exports from Western Australia last year totalled $13.65 billion, down on the $16.5 billion a year earlier, as a rising Australian dollar wiped off some of the gains of higher production.

JUST as Australia overall once rode on the sheep’s back, the fate of Western Australia arguably now rides in the back of an iron ore haul truck.

TUMBLING Australian-dollar oil and gas prices took the wind out of the sails of Western Australia’s petroleum producers last financial year, despite the state further cementing its title as the nation’s premier petroleum exporter. According to Department

WEAK prices and lower volumes have eroded the value of Western Australia’s largest agricultural commodity, the wheat crop.

The rising Australian dollar took the gloss off another strong performance by WA exporters in the 2009-10 financial year.

Few of the recent successes in the gold sector would be possible without a buoyant gold price to support them.

WA is having a gold renaissance, with exciting new areas in the far reaches of the state being opened up to exploration.

ACCESS to finance for development projects in Western Australia has not yet recovered from the global financial crisis, according to prominent land developers and industry research.

Developers say WA is headed for a land shortage, just as the state government launches its plans to guide residential development in the metropolitan area for the next two decades.

WITH the state government pushing for nearly half of all new Western Australian houses to be constructed in infill areas, the reality of developing in higher densities is building on smaller blocks.

DESPITE the state government’s best efforts to simplify the process, planning and environmental approvals remain a fundamental hurdle in satisfying demand for land.