It’s a serious matter when the State’s economic watchdog accuses its biggest energy retailer of corporate skulduggery.
Daniel Mercer
WA businesses may soon be in line for tax relief after Treasurer Ben Wyatt hinted he could lower payroll duties once the State Budget was further in surplus.
Ben Wyatt stands to reap more than $2 billion in windfall gains from the sale of State-owned assets and a dispute over allegedly unpaid royalties by mining giant BHP.
Households will pay almost $130 a year extra for a raft of services including power and water but Treasurer Ben Wyatt has defended the increase as the lowest for more than a decade.
Since his wealth peaked four years ago at the height of efforts to list his privately run car dealership on the stock exchange, the car magnate’s net worth has fallen dramatically.
Ben Wyatt has vowed to stare down public sector unions pushing for a relaxation of the State’s tough wages policy but hinted workers from police to teachers could get bigger pay rises from 2021.
Daniel Mercer and Nick Butterly
Much of the hard work has been done by the Treasurer’s hard-line wages policy, which limits pay rises for the public sector to $1000 a worker, writes Daniel Mercer.
Mark McGowan has launched a stunning assault on mining magnate Clive Palmer, labelling the federal political aspirant a “greedy hypocrite” who was risking WA jobs while selfishly enriching himself.
For the year ahead, a quarter of businesses expected trading conditions to deteriorate, up 9 per cent from December.
Fremantle could be able to handle three million containers a year ... but capacity at the port and the capacity of the freight network are two very different issues.
Unions representing school teachers and prison officers last week joined doctors, police and public servants in saying they would reject the Government’s standing offer.
Daniel Mercer and Malcolm Quekett
Low-level offenders are likely to be spared jail and put into community service work under a shake-up of the justice system aimed at slashing spiralling remand costs.