The Nationals have revealed ambitious plans to build a new pipeline between Esperance and the Goldfields town. Meanwhile, an escalating marine heatwave has been identified as the likely cause of more than 30,000 fish washing up dead in the Pilbara. Follow our live coverage here.
The Nationals have revealed ambitious plans to build a new pipeline between Esperance and the Goldfields town. Meanwhile, an escalating marine heatwave has been identified as the likely cause of more than 30,000 fish washing up dead in the Pilbara. Follow our live coverage here.
Back to the power outages issue now, and Premier Roger Cook has responded to the opposition’s comments reported in our 8.40am post, that outages represented a systemic failure to invest in critical power infrastructure.
Cook said occasional power outages were regrettable but not always avoidable.
They were averted wherever possible through measures including the underground power program, with about 50,000 homes taking part in the latest program, and the cleaning and maintenance of the system’s roughly 1 million poles and wires.
He blamed the “strange set of weather patterns” over the past week for the 130 pole-top fires.
“We apologise, and thank people for their patience while our Western Power crews are working around the clock to ensure that we can rectify this situation as quickly as possible,” he said.
“We know what the opposition wants to do. They want to privatise the system … rip profits out of people’s pockets for their power bills. We own our poles and wires. Why? Because WA Labor kept our poles and wires in public hands, and as a result of that, we have some of the most competitive power prices in the country.”
He acknowledged this was a struggle for people, particularly small businesses, even if they had insurance for such situations, and encouraged everyone eligible to apply for compensation payments.
He said the timeline for the phase-out of coal was still realistic and the state’s renewable energy investments, including in big batteries, were building the resilience and capacity of the system.
WA is the country’s best-performing economy for the second quarter in a row, shows the latest CommSec State of the States report.
The report tracks eight economic indicators and compares the latest data with decade averages (or the “normal”).
WA led the national performance rankings for the second time in a decade, ranked first on five of the eight indicators: retail spending, relative unemployment, relative population growth, housing finance and dwelling starts.
“What this report shows is what every West Australian knows,” Premier Roger Cook said in a press conference this morning.
“That WA has the strongest economy in the nation. The report also talks to the strongest jobs market in the nation and a strong housing market in the nation. Importantly, we’re top ranked for dwelling starts, which is the strongest sign yet that our housing plan is starting to work, and my WA Labor team has turned the finances around. We have restored the AAA credit rating. We have overseen the creation of more than 340,000 jobs. We’ve put WA in its rightful place as the engine room of the nation’s economy.”
Queensland moved up from third spot, joining South Australia in second spot. Victoria remains in fourth place, with Tasmania steady in fifth.
NSW leapfrogged the ACT into sixth from seventh place, with the nation’s capital slipping back to seventh. The Northern Territory remains eighth.
Chief CommSec Economist Ryan Felsman said overall, economies had slowed in response to higher interest rates and inflation, but were proving resilient due to a strong job market and solid population growth.
As consumers responded to higher borrowing costs and price pressures, the future path would depend whether the job market could hold up as well as the trajectory of interest rates over coming months.
The report also compares annual growth rates of the eight indicators, enabling comparisons of more recent economic momentum. It showed resources-focused Queensland and WA both have the strongest annual economic momentum, and Queensland was now in first spot with Western Australia slipping to second.
More than 3000 WA households remain without power this morning after extreme weather at the long weekend led to pole top fires and bushfires.
Twelve hundred are in Perth (in Stirling, Gwelup, Balcatta, Thornlie, Bassendean and Lesmurdie) and a further 1834 are in the region.
Western Power’s website warns fault levels across the network may result in extended outages. They are prioritising making hazards safe and are providing restoration times by SMS and online when possible.
Over the long weekend, extreme weather – high humidity, some rainfall, heat and wind – caused bushfires that destroyed four homes in the state’s south. More than 30 homes were also damaged by a tornado and thunderstorm in Marble Bar on Thursday night.
Separately, firefighters responded to 100 pole top fires in less than 24 hours between Friday and Saturday, leading to power outages at nearly 40,000 homes.
Opposition Leader Shane Love said yesterday the outages represented a systemic failure to invest in critical power infrastructure.
“DFES and Western Power have been overwhelmed,” he said.
“Businesses have been forced to close their doors, farmers have had fresh produce destroyed, and families—including the elderly and unwell—are struggling in stifling conditions.
“The Nationals have long advocated for investment in innovative solutions, such as microgrids for regional areas.”
Opposition energy spokesman Steve Thomas said such outages would become more common in coming years as the energy transition was underfunded and impossible to deliver on current timeframes.
He said Western Power’s maintenance program was failing to keep up and the state was staring down a future in which it could not produce enough electricity or distribute it equitably.
We’ll be asking Premier Roger Cook for a response on this in his press conference shortly.
Perth Zoo’s Permai the elephant has spent her first night on the road on her way to her new home at South Australia’s Monarto Safari Park.
She is almost halfway through the 2749-kilometre journey with her team of carers taking turns at the wheel.
Thanks to their sporadic texts as they go in and out of reception, Perth Zoo have confirmed this morning that Permai is as well as can be expected.
She had a big breakfast of peanut butter sandwiches and watermelon this morning (maybe she ignores the veg, like a 37-year-old child?)
When the team stop for fuel and to check on her, she is apparently quite the sensation for onlookers at the roadhouses.
Her custom-made crate is designed to make her as comfortable as possible with mod cons including air-conditioning.
She’s just passed Cocklebiddy and is on track to reach her forever home tomorrow.
It’s sad to lose Permai following the death of Tricia in 2022, but she has struggled since Tricia’s death and will have a better life with more friends in her new home: female Burma moved there recently from New Zealand, and later in the year, her male Perth roommate Putra Mas will join them, as will two Asian elephants relocating there from Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.
Here’s what’s making headlines today:
- Auschwitz survivors have warned of a global rise in antisemitism at a ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the notorious Nazi death camp, in which several world leaders attended.
- Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has backed the national broadband network in a face-off with tech titan Elon Musk after pledging $3.8 billion on faster speeds to prevent his Starlink satellite company from poaching customers and eroding the network’s revenue.
- Residents in north-western France have used boats to escape their flooded homes after successive storms battered Normandy and Brittany. The national weather service had issued flood and wind warnings as Storm Herminia hit Spain, France and parts of the UK.
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Shares in artificial intelligence powerhouse Nvidia plunged on Wall Street on Monday due to concerns about Chinese artificial-intelligence startup DeepSeek. Nvidia shares tumbled 17 per cent, the biggest drop since March 2020, erasing around $US590 billion ($938 billion) from the company’s market capitalisation. It is the biggest one-day loss by a company in US sharemarket history.
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Israel says a Hamas list shows that eight of the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire are dead. Government spokesman David Mencer has told journalists that Hamas said the other 25 were alive. Israel said it had received a list of information on the status of the hostages from Hamas.
Another week, another heatwave in Perth, with a forecast of 37 today, 41 tomorrow (ouch) and high 30s for the rest of the week.
Spare a thought for the thousands of Perth residents who have been without power since the weekend, when hot weather combined with rain and dust sparked dozens of pole top fires across the metropolitan area. Western Power hopes to have everyone back online by the end of today.
Greetings, readers, and welcome back to our local live news blog – the first for the new year! Be assured we are thoroughly rested, revived and pumped to be restarting the blog for you.
Making news today: paving Perth’s paddocks is one way the state’s planning to accommodate the projected 2050 population. But will the city’s most biodiverse wetland suffer?
At the base of Perth’s Darling Scarp, around 80 rural farmlets have stood for decades, ranging from modest aged homes, sheds and stables, to imposing brick-and-tile retreats on vast lawns.
But this ain’t the country any more. And the looming rezoning of Wattle Grove from rural to urban is hard to countenance for residents.
Meanwhile, roving reporter Mark Naglazas asked Perth people an intriguing question: what is your dream job and are you living it?
Find out how people responded here.
Stay with us throughout the day as we bring you the news as it happens.
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