WA news LIVE: WA Police turn confiscated Maserati into patrol car​on April 2, 2025 at 4:21 am

A truck fire is causing traffic chaos on the Kwinana Freeway northbound this afternoon.

The blaze has forced authorities to close both lanes, forcing motorists to seek an alternative route.

A tow truck driver allegedly speeding through a school zone to get to a job has had the tables turned on him, with his truck ending up on the back of a larger tow truck after police confiscated it.

The 38-year-old Dianella man was allegedly clocked doing 97km/h in a 40km/h school zone on Loftus Street in Leederville on Monday morning.

He has since been charged with one count of reckless driving exceeding the speed limit by 45km/h in a confiscation zone.

He will appear in court at a later date.

Embattled miner Mineral Resources and its managing director Chris Ellison have vowed to vigorously defend a class action over an offshore tax scandal that is now the subject of a probe by the corporate watchdog.

In an announcement to the market this morning, the iron ore miner confirmed it had been served with a class action filed in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday tied to revelations Ellison and four other executives had profited from an alleged offshore tax scheme that ran for a decade.

“MinRes intends to strongly defend the matter and will update the market in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations,” the statement read.

According to the Australian Financial Review, the claim was filed on behalf of the self-managed superannuation fund of two shareholders who claim the company engaged in misleading conduct and failed to disclose material information which ultimately cost investors.

The company’s share price has been in freefall, plummeting more than 67 per cent in the past year amid on the back of falling lithium prices, debt woes and the uncertainty created by the governance scandal.

The Osborne Park-headquartered miner embarked on a governance overhaul in November after the AFR exposed the 2003 scheme, which involved using the entities to acquire mining equipment and parts to import and on-sell in Australia.

The board found two further payments were made by MinRes after the $6.6 billion diversified mining services company’s initial public offering in 2006 to extinguish the liability.

The revenue generated by the overseas entities benefiting was not disclosed to the Australian Taxation Office until 2021 when Ellison made a voluntary disclosure.

A board-ordered probe concluded Ellison used company resources for personal gain, from rent paid to entities in which he had an interest, staff directed to work on his personal property — including his boat — and relief afforded to entities tied to his daughter Kristy-Lee Craker.

Ellison, who remains the largest shareholder with an 11.5 per cent stake in the $4.6 billion company, has paid a $3.8 million penalty and is set to forfeit up to $9.6 million in bonuses and donate $5 million to charity before stepping down within the next 12 months.

Shares were down 1.89 per cent following the announcement to trade at $23.33.

WA Police are sporting a new patrol car that has heads turning – a $100,000 Maserati Quattroporte.

The vehicle was confiscated from a repeat offender after police saw the luxury car failing to give way in Fremantle last year. Further investigations revealed the driver was required to have an interlock breathalyser system installed in the vehicle, which he didn’t.

Now the car has a new purpose, driving around Perth bubble-wrapped with police road safety messages about the consequences of speeding and drink-driving and the number plate ‘forfeited’.

And while police announced the news of their newly acquired vehicle on April 1, the forfeiture was no joke, with top traffic cop Mike Bell arriving to an ABC Perth Radio interview in the car this morning.

“As a police officer, I never thought I’d be driving a Maserati, but here I am,” he said.

“I thought it was an opportunity to highlight to people that losing your vehicle is a thing, it is possible … we’ll be using it to really push the road safety message.”

Last year WA Police seized 8,883 vehicles, mainly for licensing issues, or hooning.

Inspired Homes has become the latest WA home builder to collapse, with the company calling in administrators yesterday.

It’s understood there are around 70 unfinished homes tied to the builder, with some customers waiting nearly four years for their homes to be completed.

Those owners will now be able to access insurance claims to finish their stalled builds.

It comes after the state government, last month, promised to look into the struggling builder’s finances, and try to help those homeowners still in limbo.

The company blamed increased labour costs and shortages in trades and materials for the collapse.

To overnight news now, and a pedestrian has been rushed to hospital after being hit by a car which came off the road and slammed into a building.

The incident occurred around 9.40pm at the intersection of Berwick Street and Canning Highway in Victoria Park.

A woman, 30, behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta mounted the footpath, hit the pedestrian, and then crashed her car into a vacant shopfront, the vehicle coming to a stop seven metres inside the building.

Emergency crews attended the scene.

The 36-year-old male pedestrian was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital with serious injuries.

Anyone with information or dashcam footage of the incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

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