Mark Beyer

THE Western Australian Government is finalising a new buy local scheme in partnership with independent supermarkets and WA food producers. The scheme, to be branded Buy WA First, is scheduled to be launched in early May.

OVER the past two years, Western Australian companies have been awarded contracts worth more than $1.7 billion on big mining and resource processing projects.

Our series on business lending this week turns its attention to cash flow lending, or debtor finance as it is also known. Mark Beyer reports.

THE Australian Tax Office has expressed concern about schemes designed to avoid tax by shifting business profits into superannuation.

COMPANIES hoping to win big contracts from the Western Australian Government are now required to prepare Australian Industry Participation (AIP) plans.

IF there was an award for companies achieving high local content on Western Australian projects, BHP Billiton would take line honours, while Woodside would be a contender for handicap winner.

BURRUP Fertilisers has pledged its commitment to maximising local content on its $630 million ammonia project, amid rumours that the company has failed to prepare adequately for local participation.

In the third of a six-part series on business lending, Mark Beyer looks at the equipment finance market. THE equipment finance market has witnessed substantial change over the past couple of years, led by the growing popularity of chattel mortgages.

MORTGAGE originators are targeting business lending for future growth following their success in the housing loans market. From a standing start in the mid 1990s, mort-gage originators now arrange about 30 per cent of all housing loans.