June 2024
Long walk to treaty resumes in a fractured federation
The Albanese government has backed away from a promise to strike a treaty with Indigenous Australians. In a federal policy vacuum, some states are picking up the baton.
- Peter Ker and Tom McIlroy
Heritage ‘price gouging’ strains miners and native title groups
Archaeologists and anthropologists have been accused of “ripping off” native title groups and miners, and driving a sharp rise in the cost of heritage surveys
- Peter Ker
November 2023
Shrinking APM sent directors (and Mark McGowan) to Melbourne Cup
In the week of its AGM, which erased 20 per cent off its share price, APM’s directors enjoyed the Melbourne Cup and partied on a private yacht.
- Myriam Robin
September 2023
Protester targets home of Woodside board member Ben Wyatt
WA Premier Roger Cook said he was disgusted by the protest and warned that people’s homes should not be the targets of ongoing campaigns.
- Tom Rabe
May 2023
- Opinion
- Political leadership
‘Exhausted’ McGowan, a true convert to WA, goes out on top
Mark McGowan’s decision to quit as Western Australian Premier is even more of a shock than his radical slamming shut of state borders to counter COVID-19.
- Jennifer Hewett
The Voice is on the agenda in boardrooms. Here’s what they’re thinking
Prominent Perth-based director and former WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt predicts many Australian companies will eventually publicly back the Indigenous referendum.
- Sally Patten
April 2023
Ben Wyatt and Stuart Ayres top BCA chief executive shortlist
Australia’s first Indigenous treasurer and the former NSW Coalition minister are said to be the final two candidates to replace Jennifer Westacott.
- Tom McIlroy
September 2021
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
WA’s GST deal creates reform incentives
Those who want to go back to the old system ignore evidence it discourages states from removing barriers to growing their economies in the national interest.
- Aaron Morey
June 2021
BHP blasted by Indigenous elder amid WA impasse
Banjima elder Slim Parker says there must be a power of Indigenous veto on new projects in resources-rich Western Australia.
- Brad Thompson
Rio’s Wyatt appointment disappoints native title group
A native title group whose lands host six Rio Tinto iron ore mines was disappointed by Rio Tinto’s decision to make Ben Wyatt a director.
- Peter Ker
Rio’s Indigenous trailblazer accuses green groups of exploitation
Former WA treasurer Ben Wyatt has blasted conservationists and activist investor groups he says are trying to exploit Aboriginal culture for their own agendas.
- Brad Thompson
Ben Wyatt to become Rio’s first Aboriginal director
Former WA treasurer Ben Wyatt will join Rio Tinto board as it heeds calls for indigenous representation in the state where it makes the lion’s share of earnings and is in damage control a year on from the destruction of Juukan Gorge.
- Brad Thompson
Former WA treasurer Ben Wyatt joins Woodside board
‘I didn’t retire from politics to head to the golf course,’ says Wyatt, who will help the company tackle carbon emissions and Indigenous heritage issues.
- Brad Thompson
March 2021
- Analysis
- GST
WA’s ‘fair go’ doesn’t look very fair for everyone else
A new GST carve-up means the rest of Australia is subsidising Western Australia, one of the most financially secure governments in the world.
- Aaron Patrick
WA Liberals in last-ditch pitch to save seats
Zak Kirkup has put the spotlight on the McGowan government’s financial management, just days after a global rating agency hailed the state’s economy as the best in the world.
- Brad Thompson
February 2021
WA launches investigation into Fortescue heritage bungle
The investigation is probing whether Fortescue Metals breached the state’s Aboriginal Heritage Act earlier this month.
- Peter Ker
December 2020
Juukan project freeze could hit iron ore exports next year
Calls for tougher approvals processes in WA and a moratorium on mining near Juukan Gorge could hamper production of Australia's top export commodity.
- Peter Ker
November 2020
Ben Wyatt quits politics with Aboriginal heritage laws in limbo
WA treasurer and Aboriginal affairs minister Ben Wyatt has quit politics for a second time as a cloud hangs over the future of crucial heritage laws that affect the mining industry.
- Brad Thompson
October 2020
Iron ore prices drive WA budget surplus
West Australian premier Mark McGowan credited his hard border strategy for the rebound in the state’s economic fortunes. But it was the booming iron ore price that pumped an extra $2.3 billion into Treasury coffers.
- Julie-anne Sprague
Winners and losers from the WA budget
The McGowan Labor government is splashing plenty of cash around in its last budget before the March election.
- Julie-anne Sprague