Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
Police say they’ve launched a land and air search in the Wheatbelt as they hunt for missing German backpacker, Carolina Wilga.
The 26-year-old last made contact with friends on Sunday June 29, and police say they believe she was in the Beacon area, about 330 kilometres from Perth, at the time.
She has not been seen or heard from since, and concerns are held for her welfare.
A WA Police spokeswoman said they were using “significant land and air resources” to search the area where she went missing.
“WA Police urge anyone with any information, or footage in the area of Beacon, WA, and the surrounding north-east Wheatbelt area between June 29, 2025 and July 4, 2025, to contact Crime Stoppers,” she said.
Wilga could be travelling in a black and silver 1995 Mitsubishi van with the registration 1HDS 330.
She has a slim build, frizzy or curly long dark blonde hair, brown eyes and several tattoos.
She has been backpacking and staying at motels, which police say she often funded through her work on mine sites.
Commissioner Col Blanch told ABC Perth radio police air wing was searching bushland around the Beacon town site.
“Her mobile phone is not currently on [and] we are very concerned,” he said.
Her mother posted to social media about her daughter’s disappearance, which has also been covered by German media.
“I’m her mother and need her [sic] help, as I can’t do much from Germany,” she wrote.
“Carolina is still sorely missed.
“If anyone has any information, please contact the police … please keep your eyes open!”
The Major Crime Squad is investigating, which includes WA Police’s missing persons unit.
We’re bringing our live blog to a close for the day, thank you for joining us.
Here’s 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.
To some education news now and a team of researchers from Curtin University has analysed the learning outcomes for almost 60,000 WA kids.
They found that those from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds are disadvantaged before they even start school.
Those children faced a 23 per cent higher risk of being behind in at least one “developmental domain” – including social, emotional, physical, cognitive and language.
Lead author and PhD student Kendalem Atalell, from the Curtin School of Population Health, said the findings highlight a critical gap in early education and the urgent need for inclusive and targeted support.
“We know that people from these backgrounds experience significant language barriers, economic hardship, housing instability and limited access to essential resources – all of which could be negatively associated with a child’s early development and wellbeing,” he said.
“Our research shows these children are falling behind before they even walk into a classroom.”
To the courts now and a 15-year-old boy who “coward punched” a 14-year-old at an Ellenbrook shopping centre, breaking his jaw, has had his sentencing pushed back.
The boy from Aveley Secondary College, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in the Perth Children’s Court today but the state prosecutor said they were still waiting on a victim impact statement, written by the 14-year-old’s father.
The 15-year-old was remanded on bail to appear again in August.
The prosecutor said they intended to push for a term of imprisonment at the next date.
Meanwhile, in another court hearing across town, a man accused of ordering a hit on his father-in-law in India has requested an interpreter for his future proceedings.
Shiv Sheetal has been charged with attempted murder, after his father-in-law in India was shot and attacked with a machete in Kahlon Village in Punjab in February.
He survived the attack, and three other men have been arrested over the incident.
Sheetal appeared in Stirling Garden’s Magistrates Court via video link from Casuarina Prison this afternoon and requested an adjournment to a later date to apply for bail.
John Hawkins KC is acting for Sheetal, and said he was yet to make his way through disclosure provided by the state’s prosecution.
A home detention report has been prepared but is yet to be considered.
Police say they’ve launched a land and air search in the Wheatbelt as they hunt for missing German backpacker, Carolina Wilga.
The 26-year-old last made contact with friends on Sunday June 29, and police say they believe she was in the Beacon area, about 330 kilometres from Perth, at the time.
She has not been seen or heard from since, and concerns are held for her welfare.
A WA Police spokeswoman said they were using “significant land and air resources” to search the area where she went missing.
“WA Police urge anyone with any information, or footage in the area of Beacon, WA, and the surrounding north-east Wheatbelt area between June 29, 2025 and July 4, 2025, to contact Crime Stoppers,” she said.
Wilga could be travelling in a black and silver 1995 Mitsubishi van with the registration 1HDS 330.
She has a slim build, frizzy or curly long dark blonde hair, brown eyes and several tattoos.
She has been backpacking and staying at motels, which police say she often funded through her work on mine sites.
Commissioner Col Blanch told ABC Perth radio police air wing was searching bushland around the Beacon town site.
“Her mobile phone is not currently on [and] we are very concerned,” he said.
Her mother posted to social media about her daughter’s disappearance, which has also been covered by German media.
“I’m her mother and need her [sic] help, as I can’t do much from Germany,” she wrote.
“Carolina is still sorely missed.
“If anyone has any information, please contact the police … please keep your eyes open!”
The Major Crime Squad is investigating, which includes WA Police’s missing persons unit.
WA’s road toll is sitting at a ten-year-high, with 11 people dying on our roads in the past week.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch spoke to eight of the deaths earlier this morning, before three more fatalities on regional roads were confirmed.
“It’s not just the eight people who have died, it’s their families, the first responders and witnesses to those accidents,” he told ABC Perth radio.
“I look at each of those deaths and the causes, and they’re very wide and varied and in different locations, but a lot of them come down to attention inside the car, paying attention to the road condition and driving to the conditions.
“People pulling out at the wrong time, drifting on to the wrong side of the road.”
Blanch also commented many of the state’s recent serious crashes had involved trucks.
It’s understood a man has died near Irishtown today after his car collided head-on with a road train.
The annual road toll currently sits at 112.
The foster mother of a 10-year-old girl who died of a brain bleed in August last year has succeeded in a fight to have the coroner investigate her death.
Sharyn Morris had been pushing for a coronial inquest after she claimed her foster daughter Jane* was denied repeated requests for a CT scan on the day of her death that may have identified the bleed earlier.
Morris also told this masthead in June there were several missed opportunities in the years leading up to her care where a blood vessel deformity in her head that may have been the cause of her bleed could have been found and treated.
Morris was grateful that the inquest was happening but argued it should have happened automatically given Jane was still under a child protection order.
The young girl suffered from significant genetic disorders that impacted her ability to walk and talk.
Despite obtaining permission from Morris to share Jane’s story, this masthead cannot reveal the child’s real name nor show pictures of her because the Department of Communities retains control over publication of information about her.
The department refused to allow the publication of her name or images of her on the request of her biological family for cultural reasons.
Premier Roger Cook, who used Jane’s real name in a press conference on Wednesday morning, said he welcomed the coronial inquest.
*Not her real name.
Premier Roger Cook has just held a press conference in Midvale where he has denied media reports that his government targeted the ‘bogan’ vote at the March election.
It follows the state government’s recent projects, including a promise to build a new racetrack at Burswood and the announcement of a new rugby league team in WA.
“There was no polling done to understand what the bogans of Western Australia are thinking,” Cook said.
“We simply, in the Labor party, believe doing things which are popular is a good thing to do during the time of an election.
“We actually happen to believe that sports plays an important role in the lives of people in Western Australia and that’s why we’ve got our policies that we have.”
Asked if he was a bogan himself, he replied: ‘I’m Roger, I’m just who I am’.
He also reminded reporters of the state government’s promises to build a new art gallery and upgrade the Perth Cultural Centre and Perth Concert Hall as other [perhaps less bogany] examples of investing in WA’s entertainment precincts.
In case you missed it, a shopper in the city has narrowly avoided death after a huge sheet of glass shattered above her head in Perth’s CBD.
9 News Perth aired vision last night of the woman walking along Hay Street on Monday afternoon before looking up just in time to see the glass falling, diverting her path and covering her head with her hands.
The glass was smashed by tiles falling from an older building above.
An interim protective netting will be installed while the building is inspected.
Meanwhile, the mystery pedestrian is yet to come forward.
We’re off to a chilly start this morning, with the temperature dipping to 3.4 degrees in Perth’s CBD at 7.30am, while Jandakot recorded 1.8 degrees at the same time, with a ‘feels like’ reading of 0 degrees.
For those headed to the airport, the mercury dropped to 1.7 degrees at 7.30am, with a ‘feels like’ temperature of -0.5 degrees.
It’s the coldest morning in two years, with calm winds also causing some fog and frost.
One wrong move behind the wheel saw thousands of homes in Perth’s south plunged into darkness last night after a car smashed into a power transformer.
The incident occurred around 8pm after a Honda Accord travelling along Leach Highway in Rossmoyne veered off the road, hitting a fixed power transmission box.
The crash cut power to more than 11,000 homes.
It also forced a local IGA to shut up shop and for traffic light signals in the surrounding suburbs of Booragoon, Willetton and Mount Pleasant to also be cut.
Despite the transmission box being extensively damaged, Western Power were able to reconnect homes to power within two hours.
The driver of the car, a man in his 20s was uninjured.
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