Brendon Grylls

The proposal from Nationals WA leader Brendon Grylls to increase the royalties paid by Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton is not as ‘out there’ as it sounds. I say this not as a socialist, but as a capitalist who, as a resident of Western Australia, is an indirect part owner of the state’s iron ore reserves.

ANALYSIS: Green shoots are popping up in WA as improved conditions for iron ore and gold, and strong prospects for the upcoming crop harvest, offer sources for optimism.

The state government has used its latest cabinet meeting in Midland today to announce four deals worth $67 million to support future medical, university and residential projects in the former railway workshops area.

Australia could become the epicentre of global mining if it had more ambition and more competitive tax policies, says the chief executive of mining giant Rio Tinto.

For evidence that success can sometimes damage a business we need look no further than the political games playing out ahead of next year’s state election, with the very real chance Western Australia’s biggest iron ore miners will be hit by a $5 per tonne penalty tax because they’re too successful.

SPECIAL REPORT: Many politicians, including senior government ministers, go through their careers as ‘grey’ men or women, barely getting noticed and having little impact; the same could never be said of Brendon Grylls.

OPINION: The WA branch of Queenslander Pauline Hanson’s protest party appears set to influence the state election. 

OPINION: Expect Brendon Grylls to go hard at BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto over his tax plan ahead of the March state election.

State Treasurer Mike Nahan has put his neck on the line to stop the Nationals WA's proposed mining tax, saying he will resign from the portfolio if a post-election Liberal government does a deal to lift royalties.

The Nationals WA have preferenced the Greens ahead of their Liberal alliance partners on the ticket for two upper house regions in next month's state election, including Liberal Agriculture & Food Minister Mark Lewis.

ANALYSIS: Nationals WA leader Brendon Grylls has attacked the debt reduction strategies of both the Liberal and Labor parties as unrealistic. However, he confirmed that, in the event of a hung parliament after the March 11 election, his party would only work with the Liberals to form a new government.

Demanding WA Labor submit election promises to Treasury for scrutiny has proved a potent line of attack for the Liberals this week, as the government tried to change the topic from its preference deal with Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

Relations between the Western Australian government's alliance partners have hit rock bottom, after the Nationals WA attacked the Liberals over plans to cut $800 million out of its prized Royalties for Regions program, calling it a "final betrayal".

WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls, who was the target of a $2 million mining industry advertising campaign, today conceded he's lost his seat of Pilbara to Labor's Kevin Michel.

Labor has won a landslide 41 seats in the Western Australian election, while the Liberals and the Nationals fight it out for the last undecided seat.

Mike Nahan has been voted in unopposed as leader of the WA Liberals after two-term premier Colin Barnett stepped down, while former sports and recreation minister Mia Davies has been voted in as leader of the WA Nationals.

OPINION: There is no denying that Brendon Grylls has left his mark on Western Australian politics.

Investment plans for BHP Billiton’s South Flank project can proceed with greater certainty following the defeat of the Nationals WA's proposed iron ore levy hike at the ballot box earlier this month, according to the company’s asset president of WA iron ore, Edgar Basto.

Alexium International Group has appointed Dr Paul Stenson as non-executive director. Dr  Stenson has over 25 years of experience in polymer-related industries.

Our weekly appointments wrap includes Yaya Ouattara, Caigen Wang, Maree Arnason, Derek La Ferla, Ben Morton, Darryl Cuzzubbo, Gavin Lockyer, Niamh O'Connor, Anna Shave, Brendon Grylls and Martina Mariano.