Sharon Olalia

The National Water Commission (NWC) has called on all parties in Australia to stay the course on water reform and engage constructively with the Murray-Darling Basin planning process.

Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) and Canada's Ivanhoe Mines have ended a long-running dispute between them after signing a new agreement under which Rio Tinto will assume direct management of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia.

Any improvement in Australia's housing finance may be momentary as the impact of the latest rate rises flows through, economists have warned.

Local stocks eased into the red today, as a bout of afternoon selling dragged down financial, mining and energy stocks.

The Australian share market closed in the red after financial stocks fell following the Federal Treasurer's pledge to release banking competition measures within the next week.

Business investment will take off in 2011 as Australian economic growth continues, according to the annual survey of financial and macroeconomic forecasts made by members of the Executive Committee of the Australian Business Economists (ABE).

Export earnings from energy and mineral commodities in the September quarter 2010 were the third-highest on record, at $44 billion, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) said.

Australian entrepreneurs are now using E-business channels to uncork opportunities in China's lucrative wine market.

Housing affordability in Australia posted the largest annual decease since the beginning of the decade, a new report shows.

The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) has announced restrictions to agricultural machinery travelling on the Newell Highway were lifted November 7.

Loan lenders are urging Australians to ditch their debt cycle and become smarter with their holiday spending to avoid financial stress in 2011.

Wholesale telecoms carriers have a significant opportunity for growth by delivering managed services, according to an independent market analyst firm.

Nearly one million Australians say they are likely to dump their current home loan provider in the short term, a new national poll has found.

Doug Campbell has advised that he will be leaving the National Broadband Network team for personal reasons and retiring at the end of the year.

Retailers can breath a sigh of relief as the Reserve Bank of Australia kept official interest rates on hold today.

Leighton Holdings Ltd subsidiary (ASX: LEI) John Holland has snared the contract to deliver works between Glenfield South and Leppington for the South West Rail Link project by the New South Wales Government's Transport Construction Authority (TCA).

Fraud loss on credit cards declined slightly while scams on debit cards increased, the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) Payments Fraud data show.

Wine production in Australia saw another decrease in fiscal 2010, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The Telstra (ASX: TLS) separation may seem attractive but it hides some unpleasant realities, some analysts believe.

The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) merger with the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) will firmly integrate Australia into Asian wealth markets, according to a global market research provider.

Record yields are still expected despite the adverse effect of the recent rain in eastern Australia on the quality of winter crops, according the Australian Crop Report-December Quarter 2010 released today by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).

Persistent weakness in new orders and activity kept the Australian construction industry in negative territory for the sixth consecutive month in November, new data show.

The Australian share market has closed flat, as rising mining stocks offset falls by banks.

Several banks in Australia have taken the opportunity to help people affected by flooding.

Virgin Blue Group of Airlines has signed on as joint major sponsor of the Gold Coast Suns for 2011, three weeks after the airline group was named as the official airline and partner of the Australian Football League's (AFL) from next year.

Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) temporarily suspended operations in its Bonikro mine in Cote d'Ivoire, after contested elections in that country.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals (ASX: SIP) says it expects its annual wholesaling revenues to decrease by approximately 10 to 15 per cent from February next year, as a result of a decision by one of its major suppliers.

The total number of jobs advertised in major metropolitan newspapers and on the Internet rose by 2.9 per cent in November, to an average of 184,580 per week, the ANZ Job Advertisements Series shows.

The popularity of fixed term home loans rose in every state during November this year to hit 10.9 per cent of approvals nationally, according to customer data from Mortgage Choice, Australia's largest independently-owned mortgage broker.