Special Reports

Amidst environmental concerns, increasing petrol prices, and predictions by some industry experts that Australia’s oil reserves will be near exhaustion by 2012, biofuels have emerged from relative obscurity to take centre stage on the renewable energy age

The West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers produced strong profit results last year but a close analysis of their annual accounts shows that West Coast is much stronger financially than its cross-town rival.

The biofuels sector’s growing mainstream attraction may be a relatively recent phenomenon, but local company Blue Diesel’s involvement in the business can be traced back to well before the current debate over alternative fuels began.

Australian Renewable Fuels Ltd is carrying the Western Australian biofuels banner into a rapidly expanding, multi-billion dollar international market.

The move to biofuels may not be the silver bullet resolution to our energy problems, but WA is in the thick of research, development and increasing production of these new greenhouse neutral options.

The growing awareness of the need for alternative fuel sources has focused attention on a wide range of options.

The federal government’s Fuel Tax Bill 2006 provides one of the most pressing issues currently facing the biodiesel industry.

While native title is increasingly delivering on its promises for all parties, there remain those who aren’t convinced.

Native title agreements reached in Western Australia during the past year have a major focus on providing employment and business opportunities for Aboriginal people.

The federal government provides just more than $50 million each year to native title representative bodies (NTRB), yet both business and Aboriginal groups agree this is grossly inadequate.

The mercantile industry in Western Australia has emerged from a period of rationalisation and consolidation, and insiders predict there’s more to come.

Legal action against nickel miner Minara Resources has provided a stark reminder that negotiating a native title agreement is not the end of the matter for mining companies.

A quick statistical snapshot neatly sums up the legal difficulties associated with native title. Presently, there are 606 native title applications awaiting resolution and most have been before the Federal Court for a matter of years.

Western Areas NL’s push to become Australia’s next mid-tier nickel producer is expected to begin in the second half of this year, with production from its Flying Fox project at Forrestania rising to 13,500 tonnes a year in 2010.

In the air

Mortgage brokers could double their share of housing loans with the biggest winners likely to be the industry’s big players such as Perth-based Australian Finance Group, a conference in Perth was told last week.

As the cold weather descends on the southern parts of the state, many of us dream of a holiday in the tropics. But you don’t have to go overseas to enjoy the warmer weather.

As well as a total cabin makeover, Air New Zealand has developed new menus and wine lists that reflect the “relaxed luxury” theme.

Pilbara copper and nickel producer Fox Resources Ltd’s major shareholder, Terry Streeter, has dropped a further $400,000 into the company’s Whundo prospects following some spectacular zinc drilling results there.

From a cheap early 1990s entry into a struggling gold explorer, Terry Streeter has built a $100 million base from which to launch a major international resources exploration and production house.

Options for getting into the Kimberley have never been better. Qantas, Skywest Airlines and Virgin Blue all offer differing flight and pricing packages that cover all budgets.

The Kimberley coast is one of the most rugged and beautiful wilderness areas in the world. There are remote inlets, isolated beaches set beside earthy red rock, majestic waterfalls, intriguing tidal pools, unexplored islands and hundreds of rivers and cre

Air New Zealand has the package and attitude to redefine its place in the market.

Australia’s longest civil trial is scheduled to sit for a further four months after reaching an unprecedented 400 sitting days in early May.

It took Anastasia Brotherson and her sisters, Tara and Sian, just five weeks to turn a concept for a women’s wear label into a registered brand and retail store in Subiaco. That’s not to say Aura Pregnant Sexy Motherwear hasn’t presented a range of challe

A recent study has gone some way towards clarifying what makes the ‘typical’ businesswoman in Australia as well as uncovering some of the potential barriers they face due to their gender.

The high and open-ended cost of legal services is a perennial issue for companies and individuals alike.

For some professional women in Perth, motherhood has been the catalyst for them to start their own businesses.

Stretch marks are the bane of all women unlucky enough to develop them, but Fariba Fanaian has turned hers into a successful enterprise, marketing the natural stretch mark oil her mother and grandmother specially formulated for her, through the family bus

Perth company Arafura Resources NL is to spin-off its Northern Territory uranium projects into a new, as yet unnamed, company. The move will leave Arafura as a gold and rare earths company based on its substantial Nolans Bore rare earths, phosphate and ur

The rapid expansion of Western Australia’s iron ore industry and the emergence of several aspiring producers have prompted the negotiation of an increasing number of joint venture agreements.

The pressure on the Australian Labor Party at a state and federal level to allow expanded uranium mining is building as fast as the uranium price is rising and new explorers are pouring into the market.