Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
To big breaking news now, and a 17-year-old boy who was driving at high speeds when his car crashed in July last year, killing his mate Nick Campo, has pleaded guilty.
The teenager, who cannot be named due to his age, has just pleaded guilty to manslaughter and dangerous driving charges in Perth’s Children Court.
Nick Campo, a promising South Fremantle Football Club player, died on July 13 after the ute he was a passenger in crashed, rolled and collided with an SUV on Farrington Road.
Campo died at the scene, while the driver and three other male passengers of the ute (17, 18, 18) were rushed to hospital with various injuries.
The male driver (26) and female passenger (27) of the SUV were also taken to hospital, with minor injuries.
Campo’s parents, Daniel and Bianca, have since campaigned on his behalf, launching Call Out for Nick to help educate young drivers and their parents on road risks.
The couple, who have two other children, said they were living “the worst nightmare that you could imagine” after the death of their son, an Aquinas College student.
The driver, who is currently in custody, will be sentenced on May 5.
Star Dockers midfielder Andrew Brayshaw has penned a six-year contract extension with Fremantle, tying him to the Dockers until at least 2031.
Victorian-raised Brayshaw was recruited by Fremantle in the 2017 draft, but says he never planned to return to his home state.
“I’ve always wanted to be a one-club player, and now I can finally say that it’s going to happen,” Brayshaw said.
“I love the footy club, I love WA and Perth, my partner Lizzie and I have fallen in love with the joint, so we are really excited to be here for at least another six years.
“I feel like I’ve put so much work into the footy club, and they trusted me by taking me really early in the draft.
“The first couple of years were really tough, but I’m just starting to see some of the success that we can have, and I wouldn’t want to miss out on any of that, so I think the next six years are going to be an amazing time to be a part of the footy club.”
Brayshaw has played 146 games for the Dockers since being taken with pick two in the draft eight years ago.
The 25-year-old enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, named All-Australian, winning Fremantle’s best-and-fairest, and being crowned the AFL Players Association MVP.
Brayshaw’s signature adds to the list of 16 players signed with Fremantle until 2027 or beyond.
Expectations are high at the Dockers this year, despite missing finals for the past two seasons.
AAP
Back to some more crime news and a 25-year-old man has been charged after taking police on a high-speed chase through Perth’s southern suburbs over the long weekend.
About 9.15am on Monday, a blue Mercedes Benz SUV was being driven recklessly around the Rockingham area.
Police Air Wing was deployed, tracking the vehicle through various suburbs. The Mercedes blew a tyre and was later abandoned in a cul-de-sac in Secret Harbour.
The driver and passenger both tried to run, but were caught by police on Warnbro Sound Avenue and taken into custody.
Rapid Apprehension Squad Detectives charged the driver, a 25-year-old Warnbro man, with no authority to drive, aggravated failure to stop and reckless driving to escape pursuit by police.
Police will further allege the man had a homemade firearm, ammunition and a meat cleaver inside the vehicle during the chase.
As a result of this and other outstanding matters, the man was further charged with aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm, stealing, carrying an article to cause fear, and two counts of possessing a firearm and ammunition without a licence.
The man’s bail was refused and will face the Rockingham Magistrates Court this morning.
The passenger in the vehicle, a 25-year-old man from Shoalwater, was released without charge.
Rounding out our coverage of the breakfast with Premier Roger Cook this morning – he just called US Vice President JD Vance a “knob”.
Moderator Jess Page asked Cook to finish the sentence: “JD Vance is a…”
“Knob,” Cook responded quickly.
“Sorry, you’ve got to have one unprofessional moment don’t you? That was it.”
Page then asked Cook whether he still thought Trump represented a “dark road”, regarding a comment he made at in November last year.
“Well, I certainly think he represents an uncertain one. So again, let me just say, at times of uncertainty, you need a steady hand, experienced hand at the wheel,” he said.
Former Premier Mark McGowan held an impromptu doorstop straight after Cook’s comments, where he was asked about his view.
“I thought Roger was entirely accurate,” McGowan said before rubbishing a question over whether it was “loose lips.”
“How politically correct are you? I just think answer the question honestly. He is.”
Sticking with the breakfast at Crown and the premier has been grilled by moderator Jess Page over the state of the hospital system and who is responsible for the record ramping hours that have plagued it since COVID.
“Ultimately, the premier or the leader of the day is responsible for the record of the team,” Premier Roger Cook said.
“I stand by the record of growing our health system by over 800 beds in the last four years, growing our workforce by 30 per cent in a time global workforce shortage, including 1800 doctors and 4400 nurses.”
Cook was then asked about his comments while he was shadow health minister, criticising the former government for reaching 1500 hours of ambulance ramping and whether it was easier to judge from afar.
He said all oppositions picked metrics to make their arguments of the day.
Page said he pointed to ramping at the time to which he replied: “I did indeed and that is the cut and thrust of politics.”
When asked whether current Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson had asked to be removed from the health portfolio, Cook deflected.
“I’m really pleased to say that every one of my team say, ‘boss, we’ll take whatever job you give us’, they usually say, so long as it’s not health,” he joked.
“But they’re all ready and highly energised and ready to go.
“Health is a great portfolio – you make such a difference to people’s lives.”
To Crown Perth now where Premier Roger Cook is delivering one of his last election pitches to a business breakfast.
Cook announced, if re-elected on Saturday, his party would pour another $500 million into setting up strategic industrial areas across the state.
It would take the total amount of the Strategic Industries Fund to $1 billion.
He also announced a new round of funding from the Investment Attraction Fund specifically for new energy industries.
The $60 million would be available to companies wanting to establish a green energy business in WA.
Cook also talked up his government’s management of the economy while revising the GST fight.
“We’ve created the strongest economy in the nation, and that’s something we should all be proud of, it’s also something that should be protected, and that’s why I stood up for WA when the so-called Nature positive laws created in Canberra threatened our Western Australian economy,” he said.
“It’s also why I continue to stand up to states or so-called experts on the East Coast seeking to erode our hard fought GST share.
“I believe in team WA because together, we are stronger.
“In some ways, I think outsiders view Western Australia like the younger sibling of the Federation.”
To some crime news now and WA Police are on the hunt for a man who fired a gun at a home in Swan View on Saturday night.
Around 10.45pm, a house on Kurrden Way was shot at multiple times causing significant damage to the two vehicles parked out the front.
A 42-year-old man who was home at the time was not injured. It is believed the victim and offender were known to each other and that there is no ongoing threat to the community.
Midland Detectives have said an off-road trail bike was seen in the area around the time of the incident.
They are appealing for anyone with any information regarding the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has responded to controversial comments made by Midnight Oil’s frontman Peter Garrett at Perth Festival on Friday night.
Garrett told the crowd to pretend they were “dancing on Gina Rinehart’s grave”.
A spokesperson for the WA billionaire slammed event organisers on Tuesday and said Garret was an “attention-seeking activist” who had tried to “trash” Rinehart in front of thousands of people.
“But instead he ended up trashing himself and others who think, as Premier Roger Cook has said, ‘sowing the seeds of hatred’ is okay in the name of ‘art’,” the spokesperson said.
“That being the Perth Festival spokespeople and those mainly government organisations that sponsor it. Plus, a corporate misusing its shareholders’ money for this, and earlier divisive woke causes.”
At a press conference on Monday, Cook urged Garrett to apologise for his comments.
“We know the arts is an important area because it creates conversations in our community, but quite frankly, it has to do that within the boundaries of civil society,” he said.
“To talk about a member of our community in the way that Peter Garrett did was quite frankly disgusting, and it was inappropriate.
“He needs to apologise. Even ageing rockers have to abide by the rules.”
It’s a story that keeps on repeating itself.
Thousands of homes across the Perth metropolitan area are without power this morning after about 30 pole top fires sparked due to damp conditions overnight.
Around 26,000 homes and businesses across suburbs including Girrawheen, Beechboro, Thornlie, The Vines, Duncraig, Noranda and Parkwood have been affected.
Several traffic lights are also out.
Western Power has said it appreciates outages are “inconvenient” and that the outages “resulted from pole damage due to light, drizzly weather causing pole top fires”.
“Each pole change can take between four and eight hours, depending on the type of pole, as such some customers unfortunately may be without power until later in the day,” a spokesperson said.
“Western Power’s network maintenance programs are constantly improving the way assets are managed, including the 860,000 poles in the network.”
Here’s what’s making headlines today:
- Whistleblowers risked their careers to give evidence to a royal commission, but they now fear nothing has changed.
- Northern NSW residents are on alert for major flooding as Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to turn west towards the east coast by Tuesday evening.
- It has fallen to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, just seven months into his reign at Downing Street, to try to hold together a rapidly fraying trans-Atlantic alliance long enough to find a potential breakthrough in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.
- Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is facing calls from the Netanyahu government and local Jewish groups to again recognise West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital if the Coalition wins the federal election.
- Pressure is mounting on Nine and production company Endemol Shine over the reality-TV show Married at First Sight (MAFS) as police investigate an incident in which a “groom” allegedly punched a wall.
- A fat-shaming row has broken out in Indian cricket as captain Rohit Sharma was accused by a politician of being “fat for a sportsperson”.
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