Ben Harvey
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Union boss wrong on big pay for labourers
If Kevin Reynolds doesn't ring the newspaper with a tirade of abuse after he reads this column then the union hard nut has clearly lost his edge.The likely source of Mr Reynolds' anger will be the suggestion that there is no way labourers should be...
Tue, December 27, 2011, 11:38 am WST -
Party's over but headaches remain
As Colin Barnett contemplates life after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, State Political Editor Ben Harvey imagines how the Premier is reflecting on the event and the challenges aheadDear Diary ...Well, CHOGM is over. I think it went...
Thu, November 3, 2011, 11:52 am WST -
The shocking truth about your bill
It's an inconvenient financial truth, but if you think your electricity bill is big at present you are, pardon the pun, in for a shock.And it's an inconvenient political truth that there is no white knight waiting to save you - we are going to get...
Thu, October 27, 2011, 12:28 pm WST -
Grylls flirts for political suitors over royalties
A political harlot who will jump into bed with whoever drops the most shekels into the Royalties for Regions fund? Or, a man so committed to the bush he will do anything to ensure country WA has a voice in Parliament?MPs have different takes on Brendon...
Thu, October 20, 2011, 12:12 pm WST -
Reform to help us age with dignity
The Department of Finance is a pretty dry old place to work. The agency's website seems to be trying to engineer a sense of excitement and urgency about what goes on in the organisation but the beige reality of the place means Chaucer would struggle to...
Thu, September 15, 2011, 12:30 pm WST -
In the race for Johnson's hot seat
Colin Barnett: Nothing would signal the Government's seriousness about the process of reforming FESA more than making the Premier responsible for it.And Mr Barnett would do it better than anyone else. His experience in public service is without peer in...
Tue, September 6, 2011, 12:13 pm WST -
Leaders eye frontbench match-ups
The Cabinet shake-up announced last December, in which which Troy Buswell was promoted to the frontbench and Water Minister Graham Jacobs kicked off it, was meant to be the reshuffle to end all reshuffles.The changes were designed to create a team that...
Thu, September 1, 2011, 11:58 am WST -
Forget that carbon stuff, just let gay partners get hitched
If there is one lesson Julia Gillard can take away from last night's meeting it is that West Australians don't seem that interested in putting a price on industrial emissions.We are, however, keen to marry our lesbian or homosexual life partners, smoke...
Fri, August 12, 2011, 6:27 am WST -
Battle for the last great wilderness
Spend a few seconds looking at the map on this page and you will see why environmental groups are taking the issue of the gas processing facility near Broome so seriously.The shaded areas of the Kimberley show, according to the Wilderness Society, the...
Thu, August 11, 2011, 12:56 pm WST -
Put simply, our teachers do OK
Inside State has grown accustomed to weathering a deluge of email and phone abuse about the content of this column.And that's just from the editor ...But the statement at the heart of today's offering is guaranteed to generate such a violent flood of...
Thu, July 28, 2011, 12:05 pm WST -
Some promises made to be broken
You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose. This pithy observation by US politician Mario Cuomo about the nature of public office has been validated a few times in Australian politics over the past year or so.Julia Gillard's carbon tax backflip is a...
Thu, July 21, 2011, 1:26 pm WST -
Purely speculation, of course ...
The winter recess at State Parliament is a breeding time for political conspiracy theories. It must be because too many political staffers have too much time on their hands.Sooner or later, some of these theories, from the harebrained to the seemingly...
Thu, July 14, 2011, 1:03 pm WST -
Education winner starved of funds
It's a pretty tough gig being a teacher at Challis Primary School.The Braemore Street school is in the middle of what politicians like to call a battler suburb - Armadale.Each day, staff at the school have to contend with the problems that are thrown up...
Thu, June 30, 2011, 12:51 pm WST -
Commander Colin lays it on the line
Monday 10am. The WA ministry files into the Cabinet room. An agitated Premier is waiting.Colin Barnett: Right, everyone knows I like a good footy analogy so here's the drum. It's coming into the third quarter of this Government and I don't want to get...
Thu, June 23, 2011, 1:37 pm WST -
Power of the people may help rein in energy costs
Decisions are made by those who show up. Unfortunately, most of us are too busy, too cynical or too apathetic to show up more than once every few years to cast a ballot in a State or Federal election.Which means decisions that affect our lives are made...
Thu, June 16, 2011, 12:39 pm WST -
Answer not on tap in war on booze
A few years ago, before the last royal commission into police corruption prompted their pre-emptive destruction, the filing cabinets of some of WA's veteran publicans contained yellowing pieces of card which were covered in columns of numbers.At the top...
Thu, June 2, 2011, 2:18 pm WST -
The Budget was poultry in motion
Every politician likes to have a "political narrative" when they hand down a Budget.Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan's theme was about getting people back to work.Colin Barnett wanted his Budget narrative to be about the social dividend from the...
Thu, May 26, 2011, 12:10 pm WST -
Tables have turned on debt distaste
The year is 2001. Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink are storming to the top of the charts with their hit Lady Marmalade. Russell Crowe is at his beefy best and wowing audiences in the film Gladiator.And in the WA Parliament a moustachioed,...
Thu, May 19, 2011, 11:46 am WST -
Courage must drive stemcell law
"I think that we as a society should use our talents and take the benefits that research can potentially offer, particularly in the areas of health where we are talking about some hope of preventing debilitating disease, perhaps repairing damage...
Thu, May 5, 2011, 12:48 pm WST -
Seconds out ... or knocked out?
It seems the WA Labor Party can't go more than a few weeks without giving itself an uppercut.For the first time since that disastrous leadership fight earlier this year, which took the spotlight off the Government's mishandling of the Magellan Metals...
Thu, April 21, 2011, 11:25 am WST
Our choice
Opinion
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Gary Adshead
May 24, 11:57 amA question of trust and clarityConstruction company boss Gerry Hanssen was quick to shoot the messenger when a report appeared on the front page of The West Australian yesterday ab...
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Andrew Probyn
May 25, 12:31 pmThomson inquiry in contemptDown in the bowels of Parliament there are remnant reminders of how seriously it takes punishment. In the southern end of the basement there were onc...
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Ben O'Shea
May 24, 12:32 pmSpam filterFrom: William DouglasSent: Wednesday, 16 May 2012 7:35 PMTo: Ben O’SheaSubject: Attention: Ben O’Shea, Please contact meAttention: Ben O’Shea,I’m Mr ...
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