As it happened: WA news on Wednesday, February 12​on February 12, 2025 at 7:34 am

Emergency authorities are warning Pilbara residents to brace for an intense and unpredictable cyclone which is expected to make landfall as a category three system between Thursday and Friday.

Listen to the press conference with the Department of Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm and Bureau of Meteorology spokesman James Ashley below:

Read more here.

Back to the election summit where Liberal leader Libby Mettam has been asked to explain her previous commitment to remove the Aboriginal flag from press conferences at Dumas House if elected next month.

The question has come from audience member Claire, an Indigenous student from Presbyterian Ladies College.

Mettam said that controversy emerged after she was asked about her position following federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s decision to dump the Aboriginal flag.

“I recognise that as Western Australians, there are two flags that bind us all,” she said.

“That is no disrespect to the Aboriginal flag, but we are all Western Australians and Australians, and it is simply about [not being] divided by race – there is no disrespect for our oldest continuing, culture.

“My policies…will all be pointing to lifting people up.”

That question did not wash with Claire who said standing in front of the flag was a show of respect for the long history of Aboriginal people in Australia.

“While we understand, yes, we are all Western Australians, regardless of where we come from, who we are I think it’s a show of respect that this was indigenous land, that it still is indigenous land, and that Australia does have a black history,” she said.

Mettam also used her time on stage to hit back at Premier Roger Cook’s comment that a vote for the Liberals would put the state “economy back on its arse.”

“What a garbage comment from a premier who is just trying to distract and deflect away from his own record,” she said.

“Let’s not forget the Labor government…promising to pay down debt like a mortgage and during that period of time, we’ve seen record royalties to the state.

“I will not be lectured by Roger Cook about mismanagement when he has completely mismanaged his government services, essential services and has not even been able to deliver on what he has promised.”

The size of the average home loan has jumped to an all-time in Western Australia, with the typical mortgage just shy of $600,000 for the first time.

That figure is almost $100,000 more than at the same time last year according to fresh data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this morning.

Nationally the average value of Australian home loans climbed by $25,000 in the December quarter to $666,000.

NSW led the pack, with the value of an average home loan reaching an all-time high of $811,000. In Victoria, the average value climbed to $632,000 but remained below the peak of $639,000 in June 2022.

The number of new home loan commitments rose 2.2 per cent in the December quarter nationally, along with a 4.2 per cent increase in the value of mortgages, indicating demand from home buyers remains robust despite interest rates being held at 4.35 per cent for more than two years.

However, demand from investors dropped off, with the number of new loan commitments among that cohort sliding 4.5 per cent in the quarter, and the value of loans falling by 2.9 per cent.

Sticking with the ABC’s election forum and Premier Roger Cook has defended his government’s broad approach to cost of living support for West Australians.

Audience member Ian Carter asked Cook why the government was flooding the state with support like the student assistance payment and not offering more targeted programs for the state’s most struggling families.

“We need targeted assistance, and we need it now because communities are collapsing,” Carter said.

Cook said state governments didn’t have access to tax data which made it hard to means test support, but promised to offer targeted support.

He pointed to election promises of the $2.80 flat suburban fare and extending the hardship utility grants scheme to social housing water bills.

He said the government had already launched $1 billion in cost-of-living support before launching into a tirade on the former Liberal National government.

“The risk that we run here is that a vote on the Liberals and Nationals is a vote to that runs a risk of damaging our state’s finances again and putting our economy back on its arse,” he said.

Opposition and WA Nationals leader Shane Love then took the hot seat and tried to downplay the rifts that have emerged over the past term between his alliance partners the Liberals.

The Nationals have decided to open up three-way contests by running candidates in metro seats this election.

When asked why he was running candidates against his own alliance partners he revealed both parties would preference each other directly on their how-to-vote cards for the March 8 poll.

He also said negotiations were under way for preference deals in the upper house.

Love said the Nationals were not running a presidential-style campaign focused on him as leader but rather on a candidate by candidate level.

To the WA Museum now, where Premier Roger Cook has told an ABC state election forum he supports the Sam Kerr Football Centre keeping its name following the Matildas star’s not guilty verdict in London overnight.

“I’m not going to go to the merits of the case or the issues that were canvassed in that [court case], but I’m very pleased that she’s now being found not guilty, and we’re very happy for her name to continue to be on the Sam Kerr Football Centre,” he said.

“We’re very proud of what Sam’s done, she’s a young Western Australian woman that’s doing incredible things in world football and … I just want to see it back on the pitch.”

Football Australia has also responded to the verdict, shedding light on the star’s future with the Matildas.

While not commenting on her captaincy of Australia’s national team, the statement said FA “look forward to Sam’s return to the pitch and her continued contributions to both her club and the Matildas on the world stage”.

“Sam has been a key figure in Australian football for many years, and we recognise the significant pressures that this matter has brought to Sam, Kristie, her family, and everyone involved, including the impact it’s had on the game,” the statement read.

The Perth Wildcats have advanced to a playoff series after beating the South East Melbourne Phoenix’s in a foul-ridden game labelled boring by the opposing coach.

The NBL finals kicked off in Perth last night; however, the game was unable to be played at RAC Arena due to the venue being hired to Kylie Minogue in the lead up to her concert on Saturday.

Instead, the Perth High Performance Centre hosted the event, with the Wildcats winning 122-105.

Usually such a scoreline would equal an exciting game, but it wasn’t necessarily the case given of the 227 points, 66 came at the foul line with 77 free throws attempted between the two teams.

After Phoenix coach Josh King’s first two games coaching South East Melbourne in Perth, the Wildcats had taken 50 free throws to just 21 from the Phoenix, but this time it was seemingly a whistle on each position.

The ’Cats went 39-of-42 and the Phoenix 27-of-35. King didn’t feel it impacted the result, he just didn’t enjoy being part of it.

“I’m not here to get fined, I’m just here to tell you that there were a lot of fouls called in that game and it wasn’t fun to watch or to be part of,” he said.

“I literally was bored from watching so many free throws being shot, I’m exhausted.

“You’ve gotta let the guys play, man. Every single time down they were shooting free throws and we were shooting free throws.

“It was both sides, it was just foul, foul, foul. I don’t know I’ve ever been part of a playoff game like that.”

Port Hedland has copped an absolute drenching overnight, with 67 millimetres of rain falling within 12 hours to 7am as the Pilbara region prepares for Tropical Cyclone Zelia, expected to make landfall as a category 3 on Friday.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts damaging wind gusts up to 120 kilometres an hour may develop along the coast between Broome and Port Hedland later today, with those gusts increasing to up to 160 kilometres an hour tomorrow between Bidyadanga and Port Hedland.

Heavy rain and flash flooding is also expected, with a flood watch alert already in place.

“Residents between Port Hedland and Bidyadanga are specifically warned of the potential of a dangerous storm tide as the cyclone centre crosses the coast,” the BOM alert read.

“Tides are likely to rise significantly above the normal high tide mark with damaging waves and dangerous flooding.”

The mining town’s port is being cleared.

A cyclone emergency warning on Valentine’s Day could confine residents to their homes, turning a dinner date for two into a night in sheltering from the storm.

Here’s what’s making news this morning:

Mostly sunny today with a top of 26 degrees.

Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Wednesday, February 12.

Making headlines today, property experts are homing in on a particular data point they believe shows the Perth market is cooling.

Cooling, that is, from “a white-hot market to a red-hot market”.

It’s all based on fresh data showing the median time for a home to be on market rising to 15 days over the three months to January.

So what does that mean for buyers – and sellers?

Sarah Brookes has the latest, you can read her report here.

Meanwhile, WA’s Samantha Kerr says she wants to put a “challenging period” behind her after a British jury cleared her of racially aggravated harassment towards a UK police officer in a unanimous verdict last night.

Read more on the verdict and Kerr’s full statement here.

And in case you missed it, here is the wrap from day two of the murder trial against four people accused of killing Perth teenager, Cassius Turvey.

Our reporter Rebecca Peppiatt will be in court again today to bring you the latest updates.

Thank you for joining us and stay tuned as we bring you more news you need to know.