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School holidays plans have been thrown into chaos for dozens of Perth families as flights to Bali were cancelled this afternoon.
Jetstar confirmed it has cancelled its two afternoon flights after Mount Lewotobi volcano in Indonesia erupted, spewing volcanic ash into the sky.
The airline said it would continue to monitor the situation, and that safety was its number one priority.
Meanwhile, there are two other Air Asia flights due to depart from Perth Airport to Denpasar this evening which remain scheduled.
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Here’s a recap of today’s headlines (that weren’t mushroom trial-related):
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Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley is readying herself to sack the rest of Nedlands council and install a commissioner after three councillors left on Monday and a fourth is expected to resign.
With four councillors gone, the trouble-plagued council will no longer have a quorum, allowing Beazley to intervene.
“The City of Nedlands has long been plagued by dysfunction and disunity, and I have made it abundantly clear that they need to clean up their act for the sake of their ratepayers,” Beazley said.
“I implore the full council to do what’s right by their community.
“I am advised that three valid resignations have been received by the city, but that four councillors have made it clear they intend to resign.
“Once the additional resignation is received, the council will lose quorum. I will take immediate action to install a commissioner.”
Councillors Ben Hodson, Noel Youngman and Hengameh Amiry all tendered their resignation this morning. Their resignations follow Councillor Melanie Pollard’s resignation in January.
WAtoday understands Fergus Bennett is also mulling resigning and, without him, the council would not be able to hold meetings.
Hodson let rip in his resignation letter, describing the council as consistently toxic and dysfunctional.
“The constant infighting, lack of productive dialogue, bullying behaviours, weaponising the code of conduct that has been rather vexatious in nature and the unwillingness to address serious concerns have made it impossible to effectively represent the community,” he said.
The council’s website was updated on Monday afternoon to list just four councillors: Mayor Fiona Argyle, Deputy Mayor Kerry Smyth, and councillors Blane Brackenridge and Rebecca Coghlan.
Dance music festival Listen Out has announced it will not return to Perth this year.
In a message posted to its social media accounts the festival announced it was hitting pause on the big festival format in Australia in favour of smaller “carefully curated parties.”
“Okay … deep breath. This one’s tough. Listen Out won’t be going ahead this year,” the post read.
“We’ve always tried to build something special – where the lineup reflects the culture and the energy flows both was between the artists and you … the last few years have been tough.”
Listen Out has brought some of the biggest names in electronic music and rap to our shores including 21 Savage, Diplo and Ice Spice.
School holidays plans have been thrown into chaos for dozens of Perth families as flights to Bali were cancelled this afternoon.
Jetstar confirmed it has cancelled its two afternoon flights after Mount Lewotobi volcano in Indonesia erupted, spewing volcanic ash into the sky.
The airline said it would continue to monitor the situation, and that safety was its number one priority.
Meanwhile, there are two other Air Asia flights due to depart from Perth Airport to Denpasar this evening which remain scheduled.
People studying a one-year postgraduate diploma in education in Western Australia may soon be blocked from working as a teacher in other states.
Most Australian states require postgraduates to complete a two-year diploma, however, WA dropped back to the previous one-year requirement in 2024 to address a teacher shortage.
Despite the WA standard falling short of the minimum qualifications accepted in the rest of the country, a national mutual recognition agreement means teaching regulators in other states are now powerless to prevent one-year diploma of education graduates registering in WA and then using their status as a back door to transfer to their jurisdictions.
The Victorian and New South Wales governments are now trying to close this “loophole” to prevent underqualified teachers being eligible to work over east.
The opposition is calling on the Cook government to conduct a full audit of the state’s wastewater infrastructure to prevent further sewage spills after effluent flowed into the upper section of the Swan River over the weekend.
Water Corporation issued a warning over the weekend for river goers to avoid the river from Guildford Road Bridge to Reg Bond Reserve in Viveash, after a burst wastewater main sent human waste into the river.
Last month Water Corporation was forced to do a massive clean-up of another wastewater spill in Spearwood.
Shadow water minister Peter Rundle said the state needed to audit its sewerage infrastructure.
“It’s completely unacceptable that raw sewage has made its way into the Swan River yet again.
The Cook Labor Government and Water Corporation must provide answers.” Mr Rundle said.
“This isn’t just an infrastructure failure – it’s a serious public health and environmental threat.
“Families and communities have been exposed to human waste, and the public is being told to stay away from one of Perth’s most iconic natural assets.”
On the weekend, acting Premier Rita Saffioti said the spill was not acceptable, and the government would work with the agency to prevent further spills.
Perth‘s newest printing press, the Fair Maiden, has hit a wrinkle in its first week of operation with popular independent Post Newspaper not being delivered on time to its western suburbs readers.
The Fair Maiden is owned by a consortium of businesspeople led by Post newspapers editor Bret Christian and was purchased to fight back at the printing press monopoly held by Seven West Media’s Colourpress.
It began operations last week and successfully printed editions of the Echo and Examiner Newspapers but the Post Newspaper has not been delivered to mailboxes.
Christian was approached for comment.
The Fair Maiden was sourced from a second-hand supplier in the US.
Work began on the plan after the IVE printing facility in Mandurah closed in 2023.
Christian said in May it would take about half a day to print the Post’s 50,000 copies, leaving the rest of the week clear to print other papers.
The printing woes came the same week Fremantle Herald publisher Andrew Smith used the front page of his paper to admonish Seven West Media after negotiations with the media giant over a new printing contract failed.
A West Australian Newspapers spokesman said they had reached new long-term deals with 19 other mastheads, including for News Corporation and that the Herald’s desire for a shorter arrangement was not acceptable.
A Perth tradesman is due to face court today after being accused of ripping off people on social media looking for builders to quote renovation works.
The 30-year-old, from Byford, allegedly responded to advertisements for several jobs across several suburbs, including Balga, Cooloongup, Mindarie, Stirling, Victoria Park, Kardinya, South Perth and Wanneroo, however failed to complete the works.
His arrest comes as WA Police reported an increase in the number of complaints they had received relating to victims allegedly being targeted after engaging tradie services via social media platforms.
Detective Senior Constable Goodgame said, in some instances, it was alleged a small number of unscrupulous operators responded to the adverts and quoted on the job, securing thousands of dollars in deposits, but never carried out the work.
“We are urging West Australians to remember to conduct reference checks on tradies who answer your advertisements and never be pressured into handing over substantial deposits,” he said.
“When it comes to engaging tradespeople, it is wise to do ABN checks, request document insurance,
identification, and have a formal contract drawn up and signed.
“And remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
The WA government has selected the alliance of companies that will design and build the Burswood racetrack and amphitheatre.
An alliance between Seymour Whyte Constructions, Civmec and Aurecon Australasia has been announced to design and build the controversial project on the Burswood Peninsula that the state government has dubbed the Perth Entertainment and Sporting precinct.
The alliance is the same group that built the Boorloo Bridge.
Lewis Capaldi has just announced his Australian and New Zealand tour dates, and Perth fans can rejoice, as we’ve been included on the ticket.
After two years away from the spotlight, the singer-songwriter will tour downunder in November and December, with one Perth show on December 17 at RAC Arena.
For people who purchased tickets to his previously cancelled 2023 tour, they will be granted advanced access to presale tickets on Thursday, with general public tickets to go on sale next Monday.
It will be the first time Australian fans get a chance to see Capaldi since 2019.
He returned to the big stage last month at Glastonbury Festival in the UK, belting out an emotional performance after vocal issues stemming from his Tourette’s syndrome prevented him from being able to complete his set there two years ago.