Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
A man and woman have been arrested by police after allegedly being involved in a high-speed chase which ended in Forrestfield.
WA Police said the pair, from Queensland, were allegedly spotted speeding in a stolen vehicle around 5pm yesterday in Meckering, and refused to stop.
A brief chase was terminated by police due to safety concerns, but a police helicopter continued to monitor the Kia Cerrato hatchback from the sky as the vehicle travelled through Midland.
Nearly two hours later, the car crashed into a Toyota Kluger in Forrestfield and the two occupants fled on foot.
They were arrested nearby and charged with a string of offences including stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving and no authority to drive.
The 31-year-old man and 47-year-old woman will face court today.
More information is coming through about the tragedy unfolding at a beach near Esperance.
Beachgoers have told police they saw a male surfer being attacked by a huge shark at Wharton Beach around midday today.
It’s understood the victim was in chest deep water.
The man’s surfboard was found floating in the water, but two hours on, the surfer remains missing.
Ambulance crews are rushing to the scene of a suspected shark attack east of Esperance along the state’s southern coast.
A St John WA spokeswoman said two crews had been dispatched to the scene at Wharton Beach in Condingup – about an hour’s drive east of the holiday town – after receiving a call for help just after midday.
WAtoday understands a surfer is still missing. A police spokeswoman said a surfboard has been found in the water “but no surfer has been sighted”.
“A shark was sighted in the area a short time prior, and beachgoers left the water,” she said.
“At this time, it is unclear what has occurred and if a surfer is missing.”
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development confirmed it was investigating a “shark bite incident” at Duke of Orleans Bay after being alerted about 12.25pm.
We’ll bring you more on this story as it develops.
A body has been found floating in the water at Hillarys Boat Harbour this morning.
The grim discovery was made by members of the public at around 7am just several metres from a number of moored boats.
A WA Police spokeswoman said the death was not being treated as suspicious.
The deceased was aged 86. His next of kin have been notified.
The tragedy comes a month after a schoolgirl was rushed to hospital after a near drowning in the same area.
She had been participating in a school swimming activity around 10.30am when she got into trouble and had to be resuscitated in front of shocked staff and students.
Opposition leader Shane Love has called for the Western Australian Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy to be suspended, and a Parliamentary inquiry launched over Saturday’s state election conduct concerns.
He said there were growing reports of irregularities after the WAEC outsourced the election to a private company based in Singapore.
“It’s not sufficient to allow the Electoral Commission itself to review this matter, that would be like asking a fox to review the security of a hen house,” he said.
“We actually need to ensure that the West Australian public has confidence in their electoral process, and I think many West Australians would be surprised to know that a private company had been involved in the conduct of their election, and they would also be very concerned to know that voters had been turned away from polling booths after having been instructed that they would be ticked off as if they had voted.
“It’s not a matter of whether or not someone is ticked off the roll, it’s whether they have had a right to have a democratic expression through their vote, and not allowing that to happen is an abject failure of the commission.”
Love also claimed he had heard stories of election staff not being trained in their roles, some voters being asked for identification which is not required, and ballot boxes not being secured.
Sticking with the wash-up from Saturday’s state election, predicted outgoing opposition leader Shane Love is about to hold a press conference.
It’s likely his party, the Nationals, will lose their opposition status once all the seats have been declared, with the Liberals currently looking like they will reclaim the title.
Watch the conference live below:
Returning to the seat of Fremantle, which is embroiled in a neck-and-neck election contest between sitting Labor MP Simone McGurk and Independent ‘teal’ Kate Hulett.
The Electoral Commission, which is under fire for under resourcing polling day, has requested a recount of the vote, with a new focus on the preferencing for the Labor and Independent candidates.
“This alternative two candidate preferred [count] will not have impact on the final distribution of preference count which determines the result of the election, and does not invalidate the counting that has already occurred in Fremantle,” the commission said.
The fresh count will get underway by 10am.
Meanwhile, Hulett has written to the commission expressing her concern about the recount of preferences following reports of ballots running out in Fremantle and voters being turned away from polling booths.
“At 5.30pm on Sunday evening, I received communication from the WA Electoral Commission that a partial recount of preferences in the Fremantle electorate would commence at 9am this morning,” she said.
“This was only three hours after I had received a direct undertaking from the WAEC that no recount would occur until next Tuesday once 100 per cent of Fremantle ballots had been received.
“We have registered our concern about a recount commencing today with only 60 per cent of Fremantle ballots so far received by the WAEC.
“I firmly believe that every vote should be counted in a clear, transparent process to ensure that Fremantle’s voice is heard.”
According to ABC’s tracker, with 60 per cent of the vote counted, Hulett is narrowly in front with 50.6 per cent of the vote, compared to McGurk on 49.4 per cent.
Hulett said the counting would not be complete until March 18.
The medical licence of a Perth obstetrician accused of killing a young woman during a high speed, drunken car crash in Dalkeith last month has been suspended.
Rhys Bellinge, 45, has been one of Perth’s leading fertility doctors for the past decade and worked at Concept Obstetrics and Gynaecology before he was charged with manslaughter.
However, an Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency spokeswoman has confirmed he is no longer able to practice medicine in Australia.
“Mr Bellinge was suspended under the Medical Board of Australia’s immediate action powers,” she said.
Last month, Bellinge was accused of driving his Jaguar up to 130km/h in a 50 zone when he lost control of his car and crashed head-on into an Uber vehicle, killing passenger Elizabeth Pearce, 24, and critically injuring the driver, Muhammad Usman, 25.
He claimed he was distressed from a recent separation from his wife and had tears in his eyes, preventing him from being able to see clearly.
He is currently behind bars after a failed attempt to be bailed to his father’s riverside mansion.
Counting continues this morning to determine the winners of nine WA seats which are still too close to call following Saturday’s state election.
The biggest upset is shaping up to be the seat of Fremantle, which could be won by independent Kate Hulett at the expense of sitting Labor member Simone McGurk, who, if ousted, would be the only minister to lose their seat after an emphatic Labor victory.
A Hulett victory would also make her the only independent in WA’s lower house, however, the seat will be recounted today, likely further delaying the outcome and the announcement of Labor’s new cabinet.
The ABC has the count at 49.4% McGurk, 50.6% Hulett, with 60 per cent of votes counted.
The count so far is; Labor: 41 seats, Liberals: 5 seats, Nationals: 4 seats.
According to the ABC election tracker, there are still nine seats in doubt. It looks likely the Liberals will win a further three seats in Albany, Kalamunda and Murray-Wellington and the nationals will win a fifth seat in Warren Blackwood.
South Perth, which many tipped would swing back to the Liberals, looks likely to be retained by Labor, along with Dawesville, Kalgoorlie and the Pilbara.
Here’s what’s making news this morning.
- South East Queensland and northern NSW continue to experience rain and flooding in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred. Follow our ongoing coverage here.
- Donald Trump’s top economic adviser has downplayed the prospect of any exemptions to the US president’s steel and aluminium tariffs.
- Russian special forces walked inside a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear in the Kursk region, Ukraine’s military and Russian war bloggers reported, as Moscow claimed fresh gains in its push to recapture parts of the border province that Kyiv seized in a shock offensive.