THE NEWS WRAP: Report says West Australian economy leads the country

Western Australia continues to have the strongest economy in the country, with NSW, Queensland and Tasmania struggling, according to a new report.

 

The latest Commonwealth Bank State of the States report shows that WA is reaping the rewards of the mining boom, putting it well clear in terms of growth and retail spending of the other states.

 

“Western Australia’s out in front by a very clear margin, then you have basically a gap to three states and territories – they’re the ACT, South Australia and Victoria,” said report author Craig James.

 

“And then you’ve got another grouping which is towards the bottom end of the pack.”

 

“I think it is fairly clear that performance can be broken up or divided up into those three different groupings.” 

 

 

Lawyer warns over ASIC cuts

 

A cut in the numbers of investigative staff at Australia’s corporate regulator will allow misconduct to go unpunished, a memo has warned.

 

The Australian Financial Review reports that an internal memo by an Australian Securities and Investments Commission lawyer highlights the risk of slashing ‘deterrence’ staff from 259 to 205.

 

The memo warns that the budget cuts could undermine the public’s confidence in ASIC. 

 

 

Jobs threatened Android “war”

 

Steve Jobs threatened “thermonuclear war” on Google over its Android operating system and regretted delaying his cancer treatment, according to extracts from a new biography.

 

The Apple CEO told the book’s author Walter Isaacson that he saw Android’s similarity to iOS as “grand theft” and that he wanted to “destroy” it.

 

 

Markets

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 267.01 points, or 2.3%, to 11,808.79 on Friday. The Australian dollar was up to 103.23 US cents this morning.