Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has rubbished suggestions that his state colleagues’ poor results at the March 8 election bode poorly for his own federal campaign.
Dutton flew into Perth this afternoon to attend a fundraiser for the Liberal candidate for Swan, Mic Fels, and held a press conference in Mindarie in the seat of Pearce with the candidate there, Jan Norberger.
The WA Liberals performed much poorer than expected at the state election, with only 7 per cent of Labor’s 18.3 per cent swing going toward them.
But Dutton said a similar swing would return his party to government.
“If we can get an 8 per cent swing across WA in the federal election, Jan [Norberger] will be elected, and many other candidates elected and that will be a great day for our country because we’ll be able to form a majority government,” he said.
Dutton praised WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam’s leadership during her campaign, and said West Australians knew the difference between Roger Cook and Anthony Albanese.
“People know that Anthony Albanese is no Mark McGowan, let alone Roger Cook,” he said.
“Anthony Albanese has done a lot of harm to WA. He’s done a lot of harm to the Australian economy, and we need to get the WA economy back on track, and really build and strengthen it into the future.”
Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton is in Perth and will speak to the media at 2pm.
A 36-year-old woman who was walking in the southbound lanes of Tonkin Highway in the early hours of this morning is critically injured in hospital after being hit by a car, police say.
At about 4.10am, the woman was hit by a Ford Falcon utility. The driver was not injured.
Major Crash investigators are appealing for any witnesses to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report the information online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.
A new report out today finds Perth’s new land prices increased 34 per cent last year, with the median now at $329,000.
Adelaide is now cheapest for new lot prices, at a median of $307,000.
UDIA’s annual State of the Land Report said the rise came down to supply issues.
CEO Tanya Steinbeck said demand for housing in WA continued to escalate as our population increased, while economic conditions remained strong and unemployment was low.
“It is critical that private industry is supported in getting on with the important job of delivering more land to the market, where it is needed,” Steinbeck said.
“While the new land market has been able to ramp up in the last couple of years, it is becoming more complex to bring large swathes of developable land to the market across the Perth Metro region.”
Our top stories from around the nation and the world today:
Stay with us as we bring you the news you need to know.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has staunchly defended the government’s handling of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension proposal, indicating any delay was the responsibility of the WA government.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek deferred a ruling on the 50-year extension to the mega-project last month despite mounting pressure from business lobby groups to make a decision before the upcoming federal election.
The delay also saw the minister field criticism from her WA counterparts, with Environment Minister Reece Whitby pinning the blame on “nerdy little bureaucrats in Canberra”.
But Wong pointed out the federal government had the application for all of seven weeks, while the WA government had it for six years — a fact she revealed she had double-checked in preparation for this morning’s interview at Crown Perth.
She reiterated the government understood how important the resources sector was to WA, but said that the application had to navigate the appropriate process.
Wong refused to be drawn on whether a decision on the hub off the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s north-west would be made before the federal election, which must be held on or before May 17.
She also downplayed suggestions sections of the press, including media mogul Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media, wielded significant power when it came to placing pressure on the government to take action.
“I think ministers should exercise their statutory roles in a principled, considered way,” she said.
“And I’m sure Minister Plibersek will do that.”
The project, which is expected to generate 4.3 billion tonnes of emissions over its lifespan, would clear the way for its contentious $30 billion Browse gas project.
The comments come just months after the Albanese government held off on executing its promised overhaul of environment laws amid persistent opposition from the state’s mining industry, which received the backing of Premier Roger Cook.
Sticking with the announcement of WA Premier Roger Cook’s cabinet this morning, and the state’s leading public school body has welcomed the announcement of a new education minister.
State School Teachers’ Union WA president Matt Jarman said the union had been pleased to see public education receive considerable attention in the state election campaign, and welcomed the announcement Sabine Winton would take charge of the portfolio.
“Minister Winton is someone with extensive experience in the classroom as a teacher and as Minister for Early Childhood Education and in other portfolios,” he said.
“At a time when public education is in need of considerable and wide-ranging reform, we look forward to working cooperatively to deliver the solutions identified in the Facing the Facts report, the Department of Education’s own red tape review and the State Government’s agency review.”
Winton was a teacher for 27 years before entering politics.
Jarman said the union was also looking forward to working with former Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson to improve the TAFE system.
He acknowledged the work done by outgoing Education Minister Tony Buti (now the Attorney General) and the departing TAFE Minister Simone McGurk, wishing them well in their new portfolios.
Premier Roger Cook has just announced his new ministry.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has criticised Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s proposal for a referendum on deporting criminals with dual citizenship, branding it evidence the coalition had not “done the work”.
Responding to news yesterday that Dutton was mulling an election pledge to hold a referendum on deporting dual citizens that have committed crimes under the coalition’s plan to tighten Australian citizenship requirements, the senator said: “Do you know what you do when you’re a person who wants to be Prime Minister in opposition before an election, when you haven’t done the work on any single, credible, coherent, costed policy?
“You come up with a whole bunch of stuff to take people’s attention.
“I think it demonstrates, really, that he has nothing to say about the cost of living, nothing of any weight to say in terms of the strategic circumstances Australia faces, the foreign policy and national security issues that Australia faces or, frankly, the economic challenges we face.”
The comments come after Nine Publishing revealed Dutton was contemplating changes to the Constitution which would empower ministers to void the citizenship of those convicted of criminal offences.
If held, the referendum could cost up to $450 million and would be the second in as many terms of parliament.
Staying with the breakfast now, and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has doubled down on the government’s commitment to AUKUS, dismissing persistent claims it needed a “back up plan” for the trilateral defence pact.
The senator said the program, which is tipped to cost up to $386 billion, was the largest undertaking the nation had ever engaged in and was critical for its defence and industrial capability.
“We are proceeding ahead with AUKUS, and we can’t just flinch every time there’s an issue,” she said.
“AUKUS is a multi-decade, multi-government commitment, and a multi-generational commitment.
“If you look at both construction and sustainment and what it will mean for our workforce and our industrial capacity, it is our largest undertaking ever, so we can’t be deterred, and we’re not going to.”
The comments come amid debate about the future of the pact with the US and UK under the Trump administration.
It also comes just days after former PM Malcolm Turnbull branded the deal “really bad” for Australia, stoking fear the nation may be left empty-handed.
The arrangement would see the US supply Australia with three to five Virginia-class submarines and boost the nation’s shipbuilding capacity.
The pact will see the federal government hand over $20 billion to establish a defence precinct at Henderson in Perth’s south to deliver continuous naval shipbuilding and maintenance for future nuclear-powered submarines.