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Optus revealed earlier this afternoon that it had discovered an additional seven customers who had tried to call triple zero during its Thursday outage.
The telco was already aware of 600 customer calls, with three of the cases linked to deaths.
The newly revealed failed calls were made between 12.17am and 12.30am.
Three customers have since confirmed they are okay, while two cases from South Australia, and two cases from Western Australia, were referred to police after failed attempts to contact them.
WA Police has just confirmed that they have been able to contact one of the customers, but are still trying to reach the second.
“Inquiries are underway in relation to the second referred call,” a spokeswoman said.
WA Police have already conducted 149 welfare checks as a result of the outage.
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Optus revealed earlier this afternoon that it had discovered an additional seven customers who had tried to call triple zero during its Thursday outage.
The telco was already aware of 600 customer calls, with three of the cases linked to deaths.
The newly revealed failed calls were made between 12.17am and 12.30am.
Three customers have since confirmed they are okay, while two cases from South Australia, and two cases from Western Australia, were referred to police after failed attempts to contact them.
WA Police has just confirmed that they have been able to contact one of the customers, but are still trying to reach the second.
“Inquiries are underway in relation to the second referred call,” a spokeswoman said.
WA Police have already conducted 149 welfare checks as a result of the outage.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch has shed some light on the two West Australian deaths linked to Optus’ outage on Thursday.
The men, a Willetton man, 74, and a Kensington man, 49, were among three Australians to have died amid a 13-hour outage where Optus customers could not get through to triple zero.
Blanch said the men suffered medical episodes, but he did not want to provide details of their conditions.
“I am aware of the circumstances, but I’m cautious at this time because I’m unaware of what members of the family know, and I don’t want to get ahead of a coronial investigation,” he said.
“I believe one did get to hospital and the other didn’t … both of them were medical episodes.
“One of the primary questions of us [from the family members was], ‘What happened to triple zero?’, and like the family, we’re asking the same questions, I think the whole state is, and the whole country is.
“Your heart goes out to these families, it’s tragic.”
WA Police have just released the results of their random drug testing of licensed crowd controllers over the past 12 months.
Of the 144 people tested, 14 returned positive results.
The testing aims to maintain the integrity of security guards who work in Perth’s entertainment precincts.
The guards who tested positive have either had their licences cancelled, or are awaiting further testing of samples.
In one instance, it’s alleged a crowd controller was issued with a notice to present for drug testing, but sent another man in his place to impersonate him.
Both men, aged 26 and 29, are now charged with inducing a person to do an act he is lawfully entitled to abstain from doing.
They are due to appear in court next month.
Ten people involved in one of Australia’s biggest drug busts have pleaded guilty to their roles in attempting to bring 2.4 tonnes of cocaine into the country via Perth beaches in 2023.
The last of the syndicate to admit his part was a 70-year-old man who pleaded guilty to possessing a drug with intent to supply this morning on the first day of his trial in the Perth District Court.
The men were arrested in December 2023 when police observed them trying to bring $1 billion worth of drugs into Western Australia via boat – three on a vessel at Moore River and six at Hillarys Boat Harbour.
The group did not realise the actual drugs had been seized in the US, with the AFP and other law enforcement agencies creating a fake drug haul out of plaster of Paris and dropping the package 40 miles off the coast of Joondalup to see who came to collect it.
A tenth man was later arrested when he arrived at a warehouse to collect some of the drugs.
WA’s P&N Bank is considering merging with another larger Australian bank next year.
The merger with Great Southern Bank would create one of Australia’s biggest 100 per cent customer-owned banks with $30 billion of assets and 620,000 member-customers.
“Nothing changes for our customers right now. You can continue to use your accounts, branches and contact centres as usual. The merger would only proceed if it is approved by regulators and supported by our members via a vote,” P&N said in a statement.
Both banks will conduct due diligence review processes in the coming months, and if both boards recommend a merger, a member vote will take place in late 2026.
Great Southern Bank already has one branch in Perth, but is mostly focused over east.
WA mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has pledged US$1 million ($1.5 million) for frontline aid workers on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Forrest made the pledge and signed the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel on behalf of Minderoo Foundation, the philanthropic organisation he founded with ex-wife Nicola Forrest.
The declaration, which has been spearheaded by the Australian government, seeks to ensure aid workers can deliver lifesaving support safely, and comes on the back of the deadliest year on record for humanitarians, with more than 380 killed in 2024.
Forrest said aid workers were “brave heroes who risk everything in service of humanity”.
“International law protects them, and this declaration reinforces accountability for all parties in conflict,” he said.
“As crises escalate, reform is urgent – we owe it to the 305 million people worldwide in need of humanitarian assistance.”
Government and business figures have converged on New York for the summit, during which Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hopes to secure a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
As the dignitaries were arriving in the Big Apple, Forrest lashed Trump’s energy policies as”gobsmackingly illogical” and accused him of kowtowing to oil and gas donors.
The chief executive of Western Australia’s “toughest” rehabilitation centre has announced his resignation from the organisation he founded, saying in a post on social media he felt muzzled from giving his opinion on issues like mass migration.
Peter Lyndon-James founded Shalom House, a Christian “tough love” rehabilitation centre set up in the Swan Valley in 2012.
The announcement came hours after he offered an apology, also on his Facebook page, for re-posting clips about mass migration.
Lyndon-James said he would resign from his role from January 1.
“I feel that I can no longer operate in the role as CEO due to not being able to speak out on matters that I feel led to,” he wrote.
“I fully understand that as the founder and CEO of Shalom that my words spoken and posts publicly can have an effect on Shalom and on those who support Shalom which I do not want to happen.
“Therefore I can no longer work in the role with a muzzle on me when the passion to speak out is so strong within me.
“By stepping aside it will free me to speak out respectfully as I feel led without impact to Shalom.
“Mass migration is not OK and I feel that I must speak out against it.”
The board is set to meet later today.
Lyndon-James has previously acted as a councillor for the City of Swan, and was WA’s Local Hero in the 2018 Australian of the Year Awards.
Turning to education news now and the number of teachers choosing to resign from their role has increased by over 113 per cent in five years.
New figures, revealed in the Department of Education’s latest annual report, show that 1279 teachers resigned in 2024 – up from 598 in 2020.
In comparison, the number of teachers retiring in 2024 was 636.
Opposition Education Minister Liam Staltari said the loss of mid-career frontline teachers in particular was “a symptom of a sector under enormous pressure”.
“These figures match the firsthand feedback I hear from teachers across Western Australia,” he said.
“Teachers choose to teach because they are passionate about education, but rising violence, burnout, stress and strain are clearly taking their toll.
“It’s clear that staff and students are bearing the brunt of a Labor Government focused on the wrong priorities.”
Education Minister Sabine Winton said supporting teachers was a key priority, but it was important to recognise that the number of resignations had remained steady since 2022.
She also said the teacher workforce had grown by 25,600 over that same time.
As investigations into the telco’s failings continue, attention is turning to the $50 million naming rights contract between Optus and Perth’s flagship stadium.
Analysts warning the city’s reputation as a tourist destination could be at risk.
Watch 9 News Perth’s story below: