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Optus chief executive Stephen Rue is addressing the media right now, and says 600 customers were “potentially impacted” in a Triple Zero call failure.
The failure affected customers in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Three welfare checks were conducted as a result of the failure.
“I have been advised that during the process of conducting welfare checks, three of the 000 calls involved households where a person tragically passed away,” Rue said.
Mr Rue said three households were affected leading to one death in WA and two deaths in SA.
Mr Rue said: “What has happened is completely unacceptable. We have completely let you down.”
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For more information on our late-breaking news about the three deaths that occurred during Optus’ triple-zero failure, including one death in Western Australia, please click here.
We will see you next week with more live coverage.
Optus chief executive Stephen Rue is addressing the media right now, and says 600 customers were “potentially impacted” in a Triple Zero call failure.
The failure affected customers in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Three welfare checks were conducted as a result of the failure.
“I have been advised that during the process of conducting welfare checks, three of the 000 calls involved households where a person tragically passed away,” Rue said.
Mr Rue said three households were affected leading to one death in WA and two deaths in SA.
Mr Rue said: “What has happened is completely unacceptable. We have completely let you down.”
West Coast coach Daisy Pearce has launched a playful dig at Melbourne as she prepares to front up against the club she captained to AFLW premiership glory.
Pearce is considered one of the greatest trailblazers of women’s football, with the three-time All-Australian leading the Demons to the 2022 flag during her decorated playing career.
Her success has continued into the coaching realm, with Pearce leading West Coast to a club-best four wins last year, and the Eagles posting three wins from five games in a solid start to the current season.
Pearce didn’t have the chance to coach against Melbourne last year but will relish her opportunity on Sunday when the Eagles travel to Casey Fields.
Melbourne (4-1) are still considered one of the flag favourites despite a shock two-point loss to Port Adelaide last week.
The Demons have built a reputation for being perennial contenders, while West Coast are considered to be a rising power under Pearce’s leadership.
Eagles star Ella Roberts said having Pearce on board meant West Coast would know some of Melbourne’s “secrets” heading into Sunday’s game.
Pearce couldn’t help herself when asked what those secrets were.
“They play a bit like us for some reason. I think they’re copying,” Pearce joked.
“It will be a really good challenge.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who respects (Demons coach) Mick (Stinear) and (captain) Kate (Hore) and their team more than me, having been able to see them up close;
“But one of the biggest things that both Mick and I and Kate and I bonded over was our competitiveness and our will to win, so that will be no different when we face each other on the weekend.”
The last time West Coast played the Demons – in round seven, 2023 – it was a disaster on and off the field.
Melbourne won by 70 points, but it was what then-Eagles coach Michael Prior said afterwards that raised all sorts of eyebrows.
Prior complained that West Coast, who finished third from bottom the previous season, shouldn’t have been fixtured to take on the reigning premiers given the gulf between the two teams.
“Eighteen teams in the comp and only 10 games, how we play that team is beyond me. That’s what you get when you get fixturing like that,” Prior said at the time.
He later apologised for those comments but stood down as coach less than two weeks later.
AAP
At 14 years old, Ben Gregory has already faced more than most adults could imagine.
Ben’s story began with a routine eye test when, at the age of 12, he began to experience pressure headaches.
The test revealed something behind his eye, which was eventually diagnosed as a rare brain tumour in the middle of his brain.
He had surgery at Perth Children’s Hospital to drain fluid to relieve the pressure, followed by a high-risk, eight-hour operation to remove the tumour.
But Ben wasn’t out of the woods yet. After the surgery, he suffered a stroke which left him paralysed down his left side.
His mother, Kate Gregory, said she almost collapsed on the floor on hearing the news.
“It was the last thing I was expecting,” she said.
However, the Nedlands local has since made a remarkable recovery, and is back running and playing sports, despite also enduring six weeks of radiotherapy and four months of chemotherapy.
“Being separated from school and sport was pretty tough,” Ben said.
“I spent almost a year in hospital. I was pretty weak, but I always thought that if I hung in there, I’d come out the other end fine.”
Ben is sharing his story on Friday for the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation’s first-ever Give For Kids fundraising day.
The foundation aims to raise more than $450,000 for equipment, research and expertise at the hospital, with the amount raised to be doubled by a host of donors.
Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation chief executive Carrick Robinson said Ben’s journey was a powerful reminder that, for many children, recovery doesn’t end when treatment finishes.
“ Every dollar raised this Friday will double the care, double the support, and double the impact for WA kids like Ben,” he said.
Do you remember buying 1¢ and 2¢ lollies at the corner shop? Or what pie and baked goods doyenne Mrs Mac’s name was before she got married?
Or how about when West Perth, circa the late 1960s, housed Italian institutions such as D’Orsogna and the Re Store, and how these institutions had to relocate when most of the suburb was bulldozed to make way for the Mitchell Freeway?
If that trip down memory lane has triggered a bout of nostalgia – or a rumbling stomach – you may be interested in a new exhibition opening at the State Library of WA this weekend.
A Recipe For Life: The Food That Shapes Us opens tomorrow and will run until March 22 next year.
It’s a deep-dive into the diverse, surprising and, at times, unusual food history of Western Australia.
Compiled using materials retrieved from the library’s Aladdin’s Cave of menus, photos, books and other printed materials, it offers a snapshot of the past 60,000 years, as seen through the lens of how and what we eat.
The rates of boat capsizing and on-water deaths are rising at an alarming rate, prompting the Department of Transport to launch a new boating safety campaign highlighting the risks of bad weather.
The average number of on-water deaths per year increased to 7.3 in the past decade, up from the previous 10-year average of 4.6.
The number of capsize incidents has grown from 15 in 2022-23 to 31 in 2024-25, with four involving a fatality.
The majority of those incidents happened in northern metro areas.
Department analysis of incident investigation data showed weather was a key contributing factor to the increase in fatalities.
“Every time a skipper heads to open water the forecast waves, seas and swell should be considered along with current warnings, wind direction and speed and changing tides,” the department’s waterways safety management director Graeme Meinema said.
“On the water they should also be aware that wave height can vary in every set, with some waves being considerably larger, so a good lookout is essential, especially near reefs.
“To make it easier for skippers and provide clear guidelines about the appropriate seas and swell for different craft sizes, we have created a table that tells them if conditions are safe for their vessel.
“It is a simple, easy to use tool that has the potential to save lives on the water.”
The Weather or Not safety campaign will run for five years.
Brittany Higgins’ husband David Sharaz faces paying as much as $220,000 to former West Australian senator Linda Reynolds in the wake of her high-profile defamation win.
A court order published late on Thursday held Sharaz liable for $85,000 in damages for tweets, an Instagram post and a Facebook comment that were defamatory of the former cabinet minister.
Sharaz and Higgins were also found to be jointly liable for $135,000 in damages over a tweet in which he falsely accused Reynolds of having involvement in pressuring Higgins not to continue with a police complaint after she was allegedly raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann in Reynolds’ ministerial office.
Reynolds may recover that payout from Sharaz or Higgins – or both – but cannot get more than $135,000.
Sharaz chose to bow out of the defamation fight last year, saying he could no longer afford to fight the action, which centred on several social media posts he made in 2022.
In those posts, outlined in Thursday’s damages order, Sharaz accused Reynolds of “bullying” Higgins and interfering in Lehrmann’s criminal trial.
An Armadale man has been charged after allegedly attacking a 64-year-old woman in a supermarket in the south-eastern suburb on Thursday morning.
Police allege the man “forcefully pushed the victim into a shopping trolley and shelving” about 9.15am on Thurdsay in the Haynes shops.
The attack caused the woman to hit her head and fall to the ground. Bystanders and supermarket staff helped the woman until St John paramedics arrived and took her to Armadale Hospital with serious head injuries.
She remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The 41-year-old man allegedly fled the scene on foot, but police arrested him at his home later and charged him with causing bodily harm and unlawful damage.
He was refused bail and is set to appear before Armadale Magistrates Court on Friday.
A new report has confirmed what many West Australians have been saying for years: the western capital is a great place to live – better, in fact, than the nation’s cultural hub of Melbourne.
Don’t believe us? Check out the Living in Australia 2025 report from research firm Informed Decisions.
The report, published on Thursday, corralled a team of geographers, demographers, economists, urban planners and social researchers to measure 16 attributes “that reflect community values and lived experiences”.
Canberra and Sydney came in first and second, respectively, with “liveability” scores of 64.2 and 64.1 out of a possible 100.
But it was the battle for third that piqued your blogger’s interest.
There, Perth and Adelaide tied on scores of 62.9 – well ahead of Melbourne, in fourth, with 60.6.
Out of the metro areas, regional WA was the most attractive place to live, with a score of 61 putting it at the top of the list.
The major values that respondents to the report ranked as important were “feeling safe”, “affordable decent housing”, “access to the natural environment” and “high quality health services”.
“In 2025, Perth has solidified its position as one of Australia’s most liveable cities,” the report read.
“The city’s most valued factor was feeling safe, with 67 per cent of residents identifying it as a key contributor to their quality of life.
“Other standout strengths include access to the natural environment and reliable, efficient public transport, and the community’s belief that Perth has a prosperous economy.
“While affordable decent housing was the second most valued factor (56 per cent), it also presents a clear opportunity for improvement.
“Additionally, Perth’s lifestyle offerings remain strong, with sports and recreation scoring 7.0 out of 10, reflecting the city’s active and outdoors-oriented culture.”
And if you surveyed the WAtoday newsroom, we’d say the coffee’s better too.
Here’s what is making headlines elsewhere today.
