Author: Sarah O’Brien

Troubled Perth builder Nicheliving has launched a new property business under the name Australian Property Alliance (APA). The rebranding comes as Nicheliving fights to keep its building registration which was revoked by the Building Services Board in July due to financial concerns. A stay order from the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) has allowed Nicheliving to continue operating until November when a full review will be held. In the meantime the company has shifted most of its building and property work to APA. The new entity offers house and land developments, property management and finance advice but doesn’t mention Nicheliving or…

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Western Australia’s low housing availability continues to contribute to rising property prices, and the people are not happy. The scarcity of Perth homes to meet the demand from growing families and incoming residents from different territories has created a huge demand while the housing supply remains limited. PopTrack Economic Researcher, Cameron Kusher, predicts an 8% to 11% jump in property prices on average for the next 12 months. This is only after following the 18.9% increase from last year, and by far the largest in the country. Nationally, prices are projected to grow by 5%. As of lately, there are…

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26 new species of “exquisite” marine animals have been discovered by researchers off the Kimberly coast of Western Australia. The micromolluscs, as they’re better known live in some of the world’s tiniest shells and about the size of a grain of sand.  Little is known about the small creatures due to their microscopic nature but they are reported to be living in large numbers in our oceans.  New research published in the Records and Supplements of the WA Museum was conducted off the Kimberly coast and outlines the diversity of the north-western Australian marine animals.   The research begins the process…

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The State Government has announced a new plan to upgrade over 60 public schools across Western Australia. The plan has allocated $500 million to upgrade aging facilities to help public schools cope with a growing number of enrolments.  At least half of the schools in WA are over 50 years old, Education Minister Sue Ellery said. The money will be allocated to 46 schools in Perth and 17 across regional Western Australia.  Ellery states that the money will be targeted towards upgrading schools by boosting their capacity as the rates of enrolment had taken in increase, with some schools unable…

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Tropical Cyclone Damien shattered the Pilbara in February of this year, and the clean up is still taking place. The category-3 tropical cyclone clean up at present has costed the City of Karratha $5 million, but local authorities have reported that there is still work to be done.  Local suppliers have received about $4 million of the money to date, after areas such as Port Hedland, Dampier and Karratha felt the brunt of the cyclone.  Mayor of Karratha, Peter Long has confirmed that clean-up costs could get to $6 million dollars. As the authorizer of emergency funds, Long has commented…

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Western Australia’s tourism sector looks to be suffering despite a busy July school holiday period. According to a survey conducted by the Tourism Council, the industry has taken a significant drop in activity amongst the national impact of the coronavirus pandemic.  It is reported that tourism business activity is down 73 percent in the state’s North West, in comparison to the June-July period last year.  The drop is being felt across the majority of the state, with Perth reporting a drop of 62 percent, the Golden Outback 48 percent, and Coral Coast 24 percent.  Not all sections of the state…

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