Follow our live coverage here.
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Nine Perth has been named as the official media partner of the iconic South32 Rottnest Channel Swim.
The open-water event, which sees swimmers cross 19.7 kilometres from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island, will celebrate its 36th anniversary on February 21.
Nine, which is also the owner of this masthead, previously sponsored the swim in the 1990s.
9News Perth presenter Michael Thomson said he was excited to be involved with the swim again.
“It’s such an iconic event and we would always have at least two teams swimming each year,” he said.
“It was a special time and made us realise just how tough the course was, even in a team of four.”
Nine Perth managing director Clive Bingwa said the swim was “an iconic event that is a cultural highlight of WA with both national and global appeal”.
Rottnest Channel Swim Association executive director Addy Wetzler said the association was thrilled to welcome Nine as its new media partner.
“The South32 Rottnest Channel Swim is one of Western Australia’s most iconic sporting events, and this partnership will help us share the incredible stories of our swimmers, volunteers and community with an even broader audience,” he said.
Association president Will Rollo said Nine’s “enthusiasm, professionalism and community commitment” would bring new energy to the event.
The swim was first held in 1991, with almost 4000 swimmers having crossed the channel solo in the decades since.
Thousands more have joined in duos or teams of four, while at the same time raising millions of dollars for WA-based charities.
Registrations for the 2026 swim will open soon.
We’re bringing our live blog to a close for the day, thank you for joining us.
Here’s a recap of what made headlines today:
Thank you again for tuning in today. We’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news you need to know.
Nine Perth has been named as the official media partner of the iconic South32 Rottnest Channel Swim.
The open-water event, which sees swimmers cross 19.7 kilometres from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island, will celebrate its 36th anniversary on February 21.
Nine, which is also the owner of this masthead, previously sponsored the swim in the 1990s.
9News Perth presenter Michael Thomson said he was excited to be involved with the swim again.
“It’s such an iconic event and we would always have at least two teams swimming each year,” he said.
“It was a special time and made us realise just how tough the course was, even in a team of four.”
Nine Perth managing director Clive Bingwa said the swim was “an iconic event that is a cultural highlight of WA with both national and global appeal”.
Rottnest Channel Swim Association executive director Addy Wetzler said the association was thrilled to welcome Nine as its new media partner.
“The South32 Rottnest Channel Swim is one of Western Australia’s most iconic sporting events, and this partnership will help us share the incredible stories of our swimmers, volunteers and community with an even broader audience,” he said.
Association president Will Rollo said Nine’s “enthusiasm, professionalism and community commitment” would bring new energy to the event.
The swim was first held in 1991, with almost 4000 swimmers having crossed the channel solo in the decades since.
Thousands more have joined in duos or teams of four, while at the same time raising millions of dollars for WA-based charities.
Registrations for the 2026 swim will open soon.
A man has been arrested after allegedly shooting a bow and arrow near a primary school on Friday afternoon.
A WA Police spokesman responded to multiple calls from the community about a barefooted man wearing a green tactical uniform, armed with a compound bow and arrow walking down a Byford street around 1.50pm.
“The man was seen on Kardan Boulevard discharging arrows at trees near a school oval,” he said.
A 31-year-old man has been charged with endangering the life, health or safety of a person, and being armed in a way that may cause fear.
He is due to appear in court later this month.
Professor Fiona Stanley says she considered asking for her name to be removed from her namesake hospital after its executive cancelled a planned event with two high-profile Palestinian Australian doctors last September.
Stanley told the Guardian Australia she felt sick to her stomach when she found out the ‘Grand Round’ event with Dr Lama Al Ramahi and Dr Mohammed Mustafa was cancelled by the South Metro Health Service over concerns about the content of their presentations.
“I was even thinking at the time of saying, ‘take the name away’. I mean, what do I stand for? I stand for humanity, particularly for children,” she said.
Stanley said she contacted the hospital, saying: “This is totally unacceptable. I am very angry about this and I want you to reinstate the Grand Round.”
“I’m just deeply, deeply sad. And I’m ashamed.”
The Grand Round is a weekly educational and professional development event at the hospital and the two doctors were invited to discuss the challenges faced by medical staff in Gaza.
A South Metro Health Service spokesperson told the Guardian the hospital executive considered the content of the presentation went beyond what was intended for the Grand Round’s purpose.
The board of Australia’s “toughest” rehabilitation centre has asked its founder to re-consider his potential resignation, after the chief executive posted on social media earlier this week he was quitting due to being “muzzled” over his opinions.
Peter Lyndon-James first issued an apology on Sunday for sharing clips that were allegedly anti-mass migration, and later tendered his resignation to the board.
He said he wanted to be able to speak publicly on his views, and felt the board had muzzled him.
Lyndon-James’ fate was to be decided at a board meeting on Monday.
However, a letter sent by Mike Price on behalf of the board of directors asked the founder to re-consider his resignation, and pushed back on Lyndon-James’ claim he had been forced to censor himself.
“We wish to make it clear that at no time has the board sought to silence or restrict your personal opinions,” it reads.
“You are entitled to share personal views on your own platforms.
While your position as founder gives your words influence, we respect our right to speak in a personal capacity, separate from your professional duties.
“We therefore ask that, before any decision is finalised, you take time to reconsider and continue working with the board on the organisation’s future direction.”
Lyndon-James publicly thanked the board, and said he would be more mindful of how and where he shared his personal opinion.
He did not confirm whether he had rescinded his resignation.
A contract manager at WA’s medical supplies agency helped his friends secure a contract for biodegradable hospital aprons over its competitors, the state’s corruption watchdog has found.
The Corruption and Crime Commission found that Rohit Jain committed serious misconduct in his role at Health Support Services after helping his friends Prateek Jain and wife Shweta gain an edge by disclosing information about their competitors in 2023.
The commission said Jain also delayed the competitor’s apron tender application to give his friends time to establish their business Medsaa and become a supplier to HSS.
The commission found Jain later received a fuel card, debit card and mobile phone from Medsaa and tried to conceal his relationship with its owners.
“The Commission found that Rohit was given the cards and phone because of the assistance he had provided in establishing Medsaa and in facilitating the company…becoming a supplier under the Protective Apparel Contract,” the report said.
The commission found about $567,000 worth of aprons were sold, netting Medsaa between $100,000 to $120,000 in profit.
In response to the CCC investigation HSS said it was reviewing its procurement policies.
CCC deputy commissioner Michael Corboy said the investigation highlighted the ongoing need for government agencies to remain vigilant against procurement conduct.
“Procurement misconduct remains the most common form of misconduct investigated by the Commission,” he said.
“Government agencies need to ensure that their procurement policies and procedures are appropriate for their particular operational activities and that they are rigorously applied.”
A Kalgoorlie man has been charged with murder after another man was discovered unconscious on a street in the early hours of Sunday morning.
WA Police have confirmed a 29-year-old man is due to appear in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court today, accused of deliberately striking a 42-year-old man on Hawkins Street in West Lamington around 1.35am.
The incident was reported to police around three hours later, with the victim declared dead at the scene by emergency services.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch has warned teens riding around on high-powered e-bikes that their devices are not legal and will be confiscated and crushed if they are in public.
It comes after callers to Radio 6PR yesterday reported a large group of teens riding bikes in North Beach causing havoc at the weekend, with some having their bikes destroyed by police.
“When they don’t meet the criteria of an erideable … they are purely an unregistered motorcycle, and I think a lot of people purchasing these things think they are legal, and they are eridables, but unless they are quite slow … these are unregistered motorcyclists,” he told Radio 6PR this morning.
“They are going to be seized and destroyed every single time, there is no giving them back, they are always heading to the crusher because they are not able to meet the registration requirements of state vehicles.”
Blanch said some families were spending up to $15,000 on the bikes, which was a “huge loss”.
An update now on the seven additional Optus customers that were identified as having tried to call triple zero on Thursday during a network outage.
Four of the customers were from Western Australia, with three accounted for yesterday.
WA Police have confirmed the welfare request to check on a fourth person from the west has this morning been ‘resolved’.
“In relation to the Optus outage, the second call referred to WA Police from Optus on Monday, 22 September 2025 has been resolved,” a spokesman said.
More than 600 customers tried to contact emergency services during the 13-hour outage, with around 150 of those from WA.
WA Police have now carried out welfare checks on everyone – with two local deaths linked to the outage.
Fremantle young gun Murphy Reid has been crowned the AFL’s Rising Star of 2025, becoming the fourth Docker to claim the prestigious award.
Taken for pick 17 in the 2024 national draft, the Victorian made an immediate impact after relocating west, scoring four goals in four minutes in his debut in Round 1 against Geelong.
The 19-year-old then went on to feature in all 24 games of the season, with Fremantle finishing sixth on the ladder.
“[The draft process is] definitely interesting, it all happens pretty quick, you sort of get two days to wrap your head around it, and then you’re off straight away,” he said.
“I was grateful to be drafted to such a successful club, and they really wrapped their arms around me and my family and made it so easy.”
Reid finished with 48 votes in the AFL’s Rising Star count last night, ahead of Adelaide’s Daniel Curtin in second place (35 votes) and Brisbane’s Levi Ashcroft (26 votes) in third.
He follows in the footsteps of club greats to have also won the award including Luke Jackson (2021 while at Melbourne), co-vice captain Caleb Serong (2020), Jaeger O’Meara (2013 while at Gold Coast), Rhys Palmer (2008) and Paul Hasleby (2000).
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