This Month
- Opinion
- Mining
Critical minerals manufacturing dream tempered by harsh reality
Falling prices mean Australia’s ambitions to develop the industry and downstream processing are on pause. Is this a waiting game, or is it all over?
- Jennifer Hewett
Mining rivals join forces on green iron project
BHP, Rio Tinto and BlueScope have all agreed to develop Australia’s largest iron-making electric smelting furnace, the NeoSmelt pilot facility, in Western Australia.
- Tom Rabe and Peter Ker
WA government green lights Woodside’s North West Shelf extension
The West Australian government has given Woodside the green light to extend the life of its North West Shelf gas processing facility.
- Tom Rabe
Plibersek’s EPA a threat to mining, claims WA premier
An unapologetic Roger Cook said: “We’ve made our position in relation Nature Positive absolutely clear.”
- Tom Rabe and Phillip Coorey
- Exclusive
- WA Parliament
Govt has helped pay for more than 100k flights to one FIFO town in WA
A West Australian government scheme designed to subsidise regional flights to Perth for country residents has ballooned to quadruple its original cost.
- Updated
- Tom Rabe
November
- Analysis
- Biodiversity
Why Albanese kneecapped Plibersek
The PM, pushed by WA’s Roger Cook, made a captain’s call to deny Peter Dutton the chance to paint Labor as anti-WA or anti-mining.
- Andrew Tillett
Macquarie slumps; Trump’s dubious ‘secrets’; 10 Melbourne legends
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
- Exclusive
- Federal election
How the WA premier became Labor’s top influencer
Roger Cook is not the same grenade thrower as his predecessor, but the WA premier is quietly going about getting his state exactly what it wants.
- Tom Rabe
October
Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton gather in the court of Kerry Stokes
The Telethon Ball held in Perth on Saturday was the annual pilgrimage for politicians and business figures.
- Mark Di Stefano
Woodside boss urges states to join WA in ending emissions regulation
State governments should consider leaving the policing of greenhouse emissions to Canberra, Meg O’Neill says.
- Tom Rabe and Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Opinion
- Political leadership
Why there’s no free lunch in government
The Albanese government is still struggling to break out of a post-Voice gloom, with new policies failing to stop the lingering sense of drift permeating Canberra.
- Jennifer Hewett
Name and shame plan to speed housing approvals won’t work, states say
Victoria, Queensland, WA and SA have rejected the idea of publishing the housing approval records of local authorities.
- Michael Bleby, Tom Rabe and James Hall
Fund sees riches in the ‘Abu Dhabi of Australia’
Investors searching for “favourable tailwinds” should be looking west, according to Anthony Healy, the chief executive of a $500 million, government-backed fund.
- Tom Rabe
September
Chris Ellison defends nepotism at MinRes
The Mineral Resources boss has given a “rare media interview”, outlining his company’s zeal for hiring the children of employees.
- Mark Di Stefano
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Not pulling the climate trigger shows needle Labor must thread
Anthony Albanese has overruled Tanya Plibersek on a deal with the Greens because he doesn’t want to hang a lantern over what a Labor-Greens minority government might entail for the mining industry, especially in WA.
- The AFR View
WA vows to keep heat on PM over green laws
WA Premier Roger Cook says his state won’t stop lobbying Canberra to water down environmental protection laws.
- Tom Rabe
Perth Bears: WA premier’s personal push for NRL in Aussie rules state
Roger Cook grew up as a West Australian in love with rugby league, so is intent on a top-flight team landing west of the Nullarbor.
- Tom Rabe and Zoe Samios
PM’s secret dinner at mining HQ
Anthony Albanese dined with Chris Ellison and Meg O’Neill on Sunday after the former won a charity prize.
- Mark Di Stefano
AUKUS jobs and Korean carbon planned for Labor’s big week in WA
Anthony Albanese’s bid to woo Western Australia includes a cabinet meeting and a swathe of events and announcements throughout the week.
- Ronald Mizen
August
- Updated
- Gas
Woodside’s $30b Browse LNG project faces EPA knockback threat
The recommendation is not final and could be reversed after further negotiations, but a final rejection would be a blow to Labor’s long-term gas strategy.
- Updated
- Ben Potter, Tom Rabe and Brad Thompson