Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
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.
A 48-year-old woman faces more than 400 charges of stealing as a servant, relating to more than $825,000 she allegedly stole while working as a bookkeeper for a Subiaco business.
The woman, from Bertram, in the city’s south, was first charged in August with 338 counts of stealing as a servant relating to unauthorised transactions worth more than $556,000.
Now, financial crimes squad detectives have laid another 96 charges relating to transactions valued at more than $268,000.
“It will be alleged the new charges relate to transactions made between November 2016 and July 2025, while the woman was working at the same Subiaco-based business,” a WA Police spokeswoman said.
The woman is currently on bail and will next face court on Friday.
Following on from the government’s half-billion dollar injection into the health system, which we reported on earlier, the money has been met with praise from the Australian Medical Association WA.
AMAWA President Dr Kyle Hoath said he welcomed clarification from Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey that the now $3.7 billion in infrastructure funding would result in 900 new hospital beds, which was about half of what the system actually needed.
He said it had been a tough winter in WA hospitals and morale was still low.
“I think our hospital staff have been through so much. Our frontline workers are under the pump. I think it will take some time for them to build that trust that the government is listening and is addressing the problem here, but this is a fantastic start today,” he said.
Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said the announcement was a big win for patients and frontline health workers sick of being ignored and let down by the government.
“Make no mistake, this government has been dragged kicking and screaming to acknowledge their failings in health,” Zempilas said.
“There is no new hospital infrastructure announced today. This is a $500m top-up for existing hospital projects, which have not been prioritised.
“This is an admission from the government they have underfunded health for the past nine years. Remember, Labor has not built one new hospital in those nine years.
“And if they want some more money to help our ailing health system, I have a suggestion: axe the [Burswood race]track. There’s another $217 million.”
A shark warning has been issued for the Swan River near Fremantle after multiple reports of a large school of bull sharks being in the area.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development released the alert this afternoon, saying the increased sightings could increase the likelihood of water users encountering a shark.
Swimmers are advised to take additional caution around the old Fremantle traffic bridge, where the school has been sighted several times in recent days.
It is the same area where schoolgirl Stella Berry was killed by a large bull shark in 2023.
Authorities are monitoring the situation.
The WA government is trying to convince parents of students at some of Perth’s wealthiest schools to put their kids on buses during the Fremantle Bridge shutdown as it searches for ways to ease congestion on the already-strained Stirling Highway.
Following a community survey Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has announced three new school bus specials to transport kids along Stirling Highway to Iona Presentation College, Presbyterian Ladies’ College and St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls.
The survey of more than 1200 people found school drop-offs and pick-ups from these schools represented a significant amount of traffic using the Stirling Bridge during morning and afternoon peak hours.
The 12-month closure of the Fremantle traffic bridge is expected to begin some time early next year to make way for the new $430 million bridge.
The closure is expected to put huge strain on the nearby Stirling Bridge, which has prompted major changes to the road layout in Fremantle and North Fremantle.
Saffioti said the new school bus specials will reduce the number of vehicles moving along Stirling Highway.
“To help mitigate the impacts of the shutdown, we will be delivering a comprehensive package of initiatives to keep key roads flowing and reduce the amount of cars using the network during peak hour,” she said.
More school bus specials were expected to be announced later in the year.
According to the survey about a third of people said they planned to utilise public transport more often during the shutdown.
The state government will spend an additional half a billion dollars on health infrastructure projects after Treasurer and Acting Premier Rita Saffioti hinted at a better-than-expected 2024-25 budget surplus than was anticipated in June.
The move comes amid sustained public and opposition pressure over the Cook government for its investment in hospital infrastructure and maintenance.
Speaking at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital this morning Saffioti said the improved surplus would be included in this Friday’s annual report into the state’s finances and was partly a result of the Commonwealth bringing forward some payments to the state.
“That fund will support the roll-out of our existing commitments and also make sure we can move quickly to support new projects,” she said.
The money would be spent on “bolstering” a pipeline of hospital infrastructure projects including stage two of the unfunded Peel Health Campus upgrade and Royal Perth Hospital upgrade.
Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey could not provide updated timeframes on those projects but said he expected to make announcements soon and that a contractor for the RPH redevelopment would be on board by next year.
The Geraldton oncology unit – a $30 million election commitment by Labor made in January – will also be delivered faster.
That oncology unit has jumped $8 million in price to $38 million since initial cost estimates just two months ago.
Carey said he relied on the advice provided to him about project costings and said he would cop the criticism over cost escalations.
“If the criticism is that we’re investing in health, I’ll take it, if the criticism is that we want to deliver this project as quickly as possible, I’ll take it. I’ll cop that criticism,” he said.
Carey also revealed that with all $3.7 billion worth of hospital infrastructure upgrades the system would expand by about 900 beds once the work was complete.
Peter Lyndon-James, founder and chief executive of the drug rehabilitation facility Shalom House, has announced he will return to his role several days after publishing his intention to resign.
His sudden departure came after Lyndon-James said he felt he was unable to speak out on matters he was passionate about, such as anti-mass migration.
He spoke with Radio 6PR this morning, listen to his full interview below:
An update on the long-running cold case of Ray and Jennie Kehlet, who went missing while prospecting with a friend in WA’s outback near Sandstone in 2015.
Ray’s body was eventually found deep down a mine shaft, but Jennie’s body has never been located, with a coroner ruling she is likely dead. No one has been charged in relation to the mystery.
Detectives are taking a fresh look at the case, and spent time earlier this week focusing on the unused mine shaft where Ray’s body was discovered.
It comes not long after police released new information that they were looking for three items in connection to the case: FMG boots, a quad bike key and gloves.
WA Premier Roger Cook has been hosted by a robotic diplomat during his trade tour of China, quite literally.
Cook, yesterday, experienced first-hand some of the technological advances underway in China, as he unveiled a new investment and trade office in Hangzhou, highlighting WA’s deepening bilateral ties.
“This is all part of our relationship with the Zhejiang Province,” he said.
“It’s an important relationship which has underpinned over 35 years of cooperation, starting with iron ore and now moving to the digital economy.”
Cook will next head to Japan as he continues on his trade mission.
A Perth family have escaped a fire that engulfed their home overnight.
The blaze was reported at 1.30am at a property on Bendora Turn in Ellenbrook.
Almost the entire house was gutted, with vehicles out the front also damaged.
The family of five was asleep when the blaze took hold, but managed to escape uninjured. This morning they were trying to see what was salvageable, including looking for important documents such as passports.
The fire was so intense it sparked a smoke alert for residents within a two-kilometre radius.
The cause of the fire is believed to be a lithium-ion battery on charge in the garage.