Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
Returning to the bushfire that is raging north of Perth near Ledge Point.
9 News Perth reporter Sarah Smith is at the scene, watch the latest update below:
The horror run of tragedy on our roads continues, with WA Police just confirming two teenage boys, aged 16 and 17, were killed yesterday after the motorcycle they were on collided with a ute.
The incident occurred on North West Coastal Highway in Roebourne around 6am.
The two teenagers were declared dead at the scene.
The 38-year-old driver of the ute was uninjured.
It brings the WA road toll for Sunday to five, after three people aged in their 20s were killed in a crash east of Armadale around 3pm.
Sticking with Labor’s caucus meeting, two high-profile MPs have delivered frank assessments of areas where Labor struggled at the March 8 poll.
Fresh from a close call retaining her seat against teal-style Independent Kate Hullett, a relieved Fremantle MP Simone McGurk said the swing against her was the result of communication of her party’s environmental credentials and the policies themselves.
Hullett ran strongly on housing and climate change to great effect in the electorate.
McGurk said Labor had done a lot in the environment space including stopping logging and in pushing for a clean energy transition, but that there was more to be done.
“There are clearly high expectations, particularly around climate change and the environment more generally,” she said.
“I think people expect that governments can walk and chew gum at the same time, can create and protect jobs as well as look after the environment.”
In the regions Labor’s vote was decimated leading the loss of seats like Murray-Wellington, Warren-Blackwood and Albany.
Retiring Agricultural region MP Darren West said there were two issues that hurt his party in the regions; firearms reform and cultural heritage.
He said letters being sent to firearms owners to surrender recently purchased guns last month did not help nor did Toodyay resident Tony Maddox’s fine handed down by courts for breaching cultural heritage laws on February 17.
Government is slowly grinding back into the swing of things after Labor’s victory last Saturday.
WAtoday is at Parliament House where the Labor caucus is meeting for the first time to decide on which MPs will form the new cabinet as well as other important positions like leaders of each house.
The leader of the upper house position will become vacant after the retirement of Sue Ellery.
The new leader will be in charge of negotiating the passage of laws with a patchy cross bench of MPs including One Nation, Australian Christians, Legalise Cannabis and at least four Greens.
Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson and current deputy leader of the upper house told media he would nominate for the role.
“I’ve really valued working with Sue Ellery over the last eight years as the deputy so I’m ready to stand up today and be counted,” he said.
Dawson said he would approach the role “nicely”.
“My mother always said it’s nice to be nice, and so it’s certainly how I intend to operate,” he said.
Current deputy speaker Stephen Price said he would put his hand up for the role after the retirement of Michelle Roberts.
Three new cabinet members will be confirmed today with Kingsley MP Jessica Stojkovski, Girrawheen MP Meredith Hammat and Upper House MP Matthew Swinbourn tipped to nab spots.
The portfolio allocations will be decided by Premier Roger Cook tomorrow.
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has leapt to the defence of Andrew McQualter after the new Eagles mentor endured a nightmare start to his reign at West Coast.
Ben King kicked a career-high six goals and Jarrod Witts racked up 68 hitouts in the ruck as Gold Coast thumped the Eagles by 87 points – 20.16 (136) to 7.7 (49) – in Perth.
West Coast were thrashed in the contested possession count (145-102), inside 50s (67-34) and clearances (50-33) on a woeful day.
West Coast are still in the midst of the biggest rebuild in the club’s history, with the Eagles posting only a combined 10 wins across the past three seasons.
That horror run led to the exit of premiership coach Adam Simpson, and hopes of a swift lift under McQualter evaporated in the space of three hours on Sunday as Gold Coast’s star-studded midfield ran rampant.
McQualter rued his team’s lack of fight at the contest, but is confident he will be able to find the answers ahead of Sunday’s clash with Brisbane at the Gabba.
“The beauty of footy, and I’ve seen it for a while, is you get opportunity, you go away and watch this tape, and I’m confident in a few days I’ll have really clear answers of how we can improve quickly,” he said.
Hardwick was quick to go in to bat for McQualter after Sunday’s mauling.
“He’s going through the journey that every new coach goes through,” he said.
“What West Coast have got to understand, they’ve got an absolute cracker. This kid’s a star.”
There’s been a triple fatality on our roads this weekend, with WA Police appealing for information to try to determine what happened.
Yesterday, around 3pm, a white Nissan Patrol was driving westbound on Brookton Highway in Lesley, east of Armadale, when it veered off the road and crashed into a tree.
The three occupants, two men aged 26 and 27, and a woman aged 23, died at the scene.
Any witnesses or people who may have dashcam or mobile phone vision of the crash or the vehicle leading up to the crash is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
The search for a missing snorkeler in WA’s south has now been suspended pending new information.
The man, aged in his 60s, disappeared at Greens Pool near Denmark on Friday afternoon.
Poor weather and visibility over the past two days has made search efforts difficult as crews searched the water and along the shore.
William Bay National Park was closed during the search.
Multiple fire warnings are in place north of Perth, including an emergency warning for residents in Ledge Point, with strong gusty winds fanning the fire danger today.
The fire, which started around 1am this morning, is not contained or controlled.
The advice for residents is to leave now if it is safe to do so, with the fire moving in a west-north westerly direction, towards the town site.
An evacuation hub has been set up at the Lancelin Community Sports Centre.
Firefighters have been busy overnight, they were also battling a blaze in nearby Gingin where more than 1000 hectares has been burnt, however that has since been downgraded to a watch and act alert level.
Here’s what’s making news this morning.
