Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
To federal politics now where the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has just announced a second West Australian will enter his cabinet.
Cowan MP Anne Aly was in the outer ministry last term but now joins fellow West Australian Madeleine King on the inner ministry as Minister for Small Business, International Development and Multicultural Affairs.
King will remain Minister for Resources and Northern Australia.
Aly’s promotion comes after significant agitation within WA Labor for more representation in Albanese’s cabinet after the 2022 election result that secured the party government and the extra two MPs added to caucus from the latest election.
There was a concern in the party internally that Labor’s strong result on the east coast would dilute WA’s sway in caucus.
Speaking after their election victory King said she always wanted to see more West Australians in the cabinet.
Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh remains in the outer ministry with those portfolios while Perth MP Patrick Gorman and Fremantle MP Josh Wilson remain assistant ministers.
The architect of the live sheep export ban, Murray Watt’s appointment to Environment Minister has ruffled feathers out west.
Shadow attorney general Michaelia Cash said Watt needed to approve the North West Shelf extension as soon as possible.
“Murray Watt has let Western Australia down in the past by killing the live sheep export industry,” she said.
“He should not do more damage to Western Australia by delaying this decision any further.”
Armadale and Byford commuters can rejoice, sort of, after Transport Minister Rita Saffioti offered a vague timeline that the Armadale to Byford rail extension would be open before the end of the year.
While vague, it is Saffioti’s clearest indication yet of an opening date.
The Armadale line was shut in November 2023 and was originally promised to reopen 18 months later, while the line was elevated through Victoria Park, Cannington and Armadale.
The Victoria Park to Cannington project will open in June, marking just under 19 months since the line was shut down.
The remainder of the line from Kenwick to Byford, however, will not reopen for another few months prompting accusations that the government has broken its promise.
Saffioti said an announcement about the Byford extension opening, which would also mark the reopening of the Australind route which uses that rail line, would happen “very soon”.
When asked how confident Saffioti was that the line would open by the end of the year Saffioti said: “Yes, we’re confident.”
A WA woman has been accused of murdering a man in a domestic violence incident in the state’s north.
WA Police said a 26-year-old woman allegedly assaulted a 28-year-old man on Friday night just minutes before police arrived at the scene on Koolama Street in Wyndham around midnight.
The man was conveyed to Kununurra Hospital, and then flown by Royal Flying Doctor’s Service to Royal Darwin Hospital, but later died.
The woman was arrested at the scene and has been charged with murder and breaching protective bail conditions.
She is due to appear in court this morning.
Diversified miner South32 has announced its chief executive Graham Kerr will step down after more than a decade at the helm.
In a statement released to the market on Monday, South32 confirmed London-based Anglo American executive Matthew Daley would join the company as deputy chief executive in February 2026 before taking the reins later that year.
Daley, who joined Anglo American in 2017, is tipped to be paid $2 million a year in the role and take home multimillion-dollar bonuses.
South32 chair Karen Wood praised Kerr for his outstanding contribution over the past decade of service, which began as the company spun off from mining giant BHP in 2015, and said the board was confident Daley was the right successor.
The Perth-headquartered miner operates the Worsley Alumina bauxite mine and alumina refinery in the state’s South West, one of the largest refineries of its kind in the world.
The global miner also runs a lead-silver-zinc mine in north west Queensland and manganese operation in the Northern Territory.
South32’s share price was up 2.5 per cent on Monday to trade at $2.86.
To overnight news now, and a woman has been charged after allegedly crashing a car into the wall of a house in Balga.
WA Police said the woman, 29, was behind the wheel of a white Subaru Forester when it crashed into a wall on Walderton Avenue around 10.50pm.
The force of the crash demolished the wall.
The woman has been charged with careless driving, failing to provide a sample of breath, failing to comply with the requirement of a police office and failing to carry overseas official documentation of driving authorisation.
She is due to appear in court next month.
The Australian women’s soccer team, the Matildas, will be returning to Western Australia in June and July to play four international matches.
Three of the ‘friendly’ games will be played in Perth, with the fourth to be played in Bunbury, marking the first-ever Matildas fixture to be played in regional WA.
The two visiting international teams will be Slovenia and Panama, with tickets going on sale from tomorrow.
It’s unclear if captain Sam Kerr will play in the matches as the Perth local continues to recover from an ACL injury, while also welcoming her first child.
Tourism minister Reece Whitby said the matches will mark the first time the Matildas have played in Perth since the Olympic Qualifiers in October 2023.
“Western Australians love the Matildas, and it’s fantastic to welcome them back to Perth for
another international series, building on the momentum of 2023’s unforgettable Olympic
qualifiers and FIFA Women’s World Cup,” he said.
“These matches are not only exciting for local fans, but they’ll also drive WA residents and out-
of-state visitors into Perth and the South West, supporting tourism and hospitality businesses
across the State during the winter period.”
Here’s what’s making national and international headlines today:
Morning all, and welcome to our WAtoday live blog on this Monday, May 12.
Making headlines locally this morning, vegan activist Tash Peterson and her partner have relinquished their passports and declared bankruptcy in a series of videos posted on her Instagram account, following their unsuccessful legal battle with a Perth veterinarian.
Meanwhile, reporter Sarah Brookes writes on the incredible story of Alexey and the ground-breaking WA medical interventions that brought him from barely clinging to life to breaking records in the pool.
In AFL news, it was a day off cliffhangers, with the lead changing 15 times at the MCG before the Tigers triumphed over West Coast.
And, after divorce and disability struck her household, Laura lives way below the WA poverty line. Here’s what she says is the hardest part for her and her kids.
Stay with us throughout the day as we bring you the news as it happens in WA.