Shane Wright
-
Great fear of reform will hold back the nation
While travelling with Julia Gillard through South Korea and Japan recently, a discussion erupted in the media bus about the annual Press Gallery dinner.It was at one of these dinners in the early 1990s that then treasurer Paul Keating gave what was...
Mon, November 22, 2010, 3:27 pm WST -
Fight GFC fatigue and get us out of the mess
It's not just Australian politicians who are suffering reform fatigue. After a week chasing Julia Gillard through the G20 and Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders' meetings, held in South Korea and Japan, it's obvious that a lack of reform courage...
Mon, November 15, 2010, 8:35 am WST -
Reserve picks high-risk strategy
In the week the Reserve Bank decided to lift official interest rates, two high-profile purveyors of high-quality junk food went into voluntary administration.The two are not unrelated and together suggest the economic road ahead is getting bumpier.The...
Mon, November 8, 2010, 8:25 am WST -
Crocodile Henry sure took his job seriously
You remember the scene from Crocodile Dundee with Paul Hogan and his knife?"That's not a knife," he says, before unveiling something akin to a sugar cane scythe and adding "this is a knife".Well, the 1000 pages or so of documents...
Mon, November 1, 2010, 8:29 am WST -
Government bungles tax reform
Colin Barnett could scarcely believe what he was hearing.It was the April meeting of the Council of Australian Governments when prime minister Kevin Rudd, knee deep in efforts to win support for his ambitious health and hospitals reforms, put up a...
Mon, October 25, 2010, 11:42 am WST -
Like it or not - a Big Australia is coming
Broome has been made the centre of a national study on Australia's future - and the findings are unsettling. The town was used as part of a recent report by research firm Ipsos and KPMG that looked at the public reaction to two very different scenarios...
Mon, October 18, 2010, 10:56 am WST -
Dangers of a currency war
Listening to some of the incessant 24-hour news cycle chatter over the Australian dollar you could be forgiven for thinking it's all a bit of a game.The dollar flirting with parity with the US dollar has some not-so-bright commentators talking about how...
Mon, October 11, 2010, 12:06 pm WST -
Reserve team playing in rates cliffhanger
Gary Ablett Sr should get a gig at tomorrow's Reserve Bank board meeting. The man who single-handedly almost won a grand final may not know his way around macroeconomics and monetary policy settings, but in advice he gave his son he showed a great...
Mon, October 4, 2010, 12:11 pm WST -
Mine boom spells doom for factory sector in WA
In the next few months, the workforce of WA will undergo a fundamental change. The number of people in the manufacturing sector is likely to be eclipsed by the number directly employed in mining.Perhaps not since the gold rushes of the 19th century have...
Mon, September 27, 2010, 11:05 am WST -
Bush myths ignore urban reality
Listening to Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott or Bob Katter you could be forgiven for thinking that rural and regional Australia is some sort of idyllic wonderland. It seems to be a place of ardent individualists - often wearing an Akubra, a wry smile and a...
Mon, September 20, 2010, 10:53 am WST -
And the tax debate did go forth and multiply
And so the Henry review begat the Henry summit.Of all the horse trading, enticements and outright bribes offered over the past two weeks (by both sides of the political spectrum) to come up with a Federal Government, the tax summit that forms part of...
Mon, September 13, 2010, 11:33 am WST -
National debt least of our troubles
You might be surprised to learn that the Commonwealth of Australia is carrying $35 billion in debt that was issued by John Howard and Peter Costello. You'd be even more surprised to learn that some of that debt won't be paid until 2021.In all the...
Mon, September 6, 2010, 11:09 am WST -
One thing is certain ... market won't like uncertainty
If there's one thing financial markets don't like, it's the unknown. And this morning, when markets open they'll get a great big bucket of unknown.The failure of Australians to embrace either side of the political spectrum, or how that washed out in the...
Mon, August 23, 2010, 10:46 am WST -
A crying need for budget honesty
If there's one positive thing that comes out of the Federal election campaign it will be the pressure on the party which wins to update the Charter of Budget Honesty.The debate that continues to rage over the costings of ALP or coalition policies may...
Mon, August 16, 2010, 11:41 am WST -
Productivity missing in action
Something's missing from this election campaign. No, it's not a debate on the economy, or a bloke dressed in a chicken suit or even Kevin Rudd and John Howard (because they've now made re-appearances).The thing that is missing is productivity.You could...
Mon, August 9, 2010, 8:38 am WST
Our choice
Opinion
-
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...
-
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...
-
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 ...
ALSO ON THE WEST
'The West Australian' is a trademark of West Australian Newspapers Limited 2012.
All rights reserved.