Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
To some breaking news from Perth’s east now, and a man has died after the Holden Commodore utility he was driving collided with another vehicle on Albany Highway in Gosnells.
Authorities were called to the scene shortly after 10.30am on Monday morning amid reports the silver Holden had collided with a Toyota Landcruiser tray-top at the intersection of Albany and Tonkin Highway.
The male driver of the Commodore sustained critical injuries and died at the scene.
The driver of the Landcruiser was taken to Armadale Hospital with minor injuries.
Albany Highway remains closed between the Tonkin Highway northbound entry ramp and Page Road, with drivers urged to avoid the area.
Major crash investigation section officers remain at the scene, which is littered with debris.
In more protest news, a lively 150-odd people were out exercising their democratic rights yesterday to protest against the government’s handling of Perth’s plummeting little penguin population.
We’ve just got these photos in of the colourful Rocko’s Rally, which called for action to bring Penguin Island’s little penguin colony back from the brink.
The colony is considered the canary in the coalmine for the Shoalwater Islands Park and has experienced a 94 per cent decline between 2007 and 2023, with protesters pointing to climate change, boat collisions and tourism impacts as contributing factors.
There are just 114 little penguins remaining on Penguin Island in the population estimate published last year.
Protesters were not shy in criticising Environment Minister Reece Whitby’s comments to media last month that “sustainable” tourism had been occurring on Penguin Island for decades.
Dawn Jecks, rally leader, Save Rockingham’s Little Penguins convenor and local councillor, said: “We need updating of expired management plans, funding to enforce marine park rules and stop the penguin-killing hooning, and a plan to bring penguins back from the brink of extinction that is actually executed. And we need the WA environment minister to back and implement the interventions the experts are advocating for, before it is too late.“
Building works on the island were criticised for their timing this summer.
A spokesperson said the state government was committed to supporting this “iconic” location and its penguins.
A tropical low off the WA coast could strengthen to a tropical cyclone by Wednesday, bringing with it damaging winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the strong gusts could occur near the Kimberley coast between Cape Leveque and Bidyadanga from Wednesday morning.
A watch zone has been established between Cape Levelque to De Grey, including Broome.
“The system is then forecast to move further towards the Pilbara coast but be slow moving on Thursday and Friday while strengthening further,” a BOM alert read.
“There is high variability in location and intensity of the system by landfall.”
Heavy rains and abnormal tides are also possible in the north this week from today until Wednesday.
Sticking with the Premier’s press conference this morning, he has also addressed US President Donald Trump’s plan to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports.
Well, obviously, you know the Trump administration is going to be focusing on disruptive announcements which makes the world stand up and take notice, but I’m not particularly concerned in relation to their most recent announcement, obviously, in terms of aluminum and steel exports to the US, they are next to zero from Australia.
But in terms of China’s steel exports to the US, I just want to provide you this information. 90 per cent of China’s steel production is consumed by their local markets, their domestic markets.
Of that 10% that they export, 6.2% of that goes to the US. So you see that their exports to the US of raw steel based products, is very small.
I spoke with the Chinese ambassador just the other day, where I asked what the impact of any tariff arrangements were. He says the experience that we had with the last Trump administration, when they ramped up tariffs on Chinese imports, was that simply people continued to buy their products, the US citizen just paid more for them, so I’m expecting minimal disruption as a result of this announcement.
WA Premier Roger Cook has just held a press conference to announce a $105 million expansion to Midland Hospital’s emergency department if elected.
During questions, however, he has been asked about the infamous fat berg that blocked a main sewerage line in Perth’s CBD last night and forced the last-minute cancellation of a Bryan Adams concert at RAC Arena.
“I absolutely apologise to all those people who have been disappointed because they have they didn’t get an opportunity to see Brian Adams last night,” he said.
“I appreciate it’s incredibly inconvenient and disappointing for them.
“At the end of the day, we are focused on public safety, and of course, we stand by the decision that was taken last night to make sure that we didn’t have a public health incident as a result of this fatberg.”
After a few snickers from the press pack and the Premier, he then continued to offer some sound advice.
“The fatberg has been flushed, and we are very pleased that we are now seeing that situation has been addressed.
“This is the important message for everyone, there’s only three P’s that should go down the toilet, your pee, your poo and your toilet paper.
“Do not stick other items into the toilet, because that’s what leads to the creation of fatbergs, they are essentially a combination of wipes and other things and organic matter.”
Turning to breaking news from Perth Magistrates Court now, and three climate protesters who targeted the home of Woodside boss Meg O’Neill have been slapped with more than $6500 in fines after pleading guilty to attempted trespass and attempted unlawful damage over the incident, which was filmed by an ABC crew.
Jesse Noakes, 36, Gerard Mazza 33, and Matilda Lane-Rose, 20, arrived at O’Neill’s western suburbs home at 6.45am on August 1, 2023, intending to throw paint at the house and chain themselves to a gate to prevent O’Neill from being able to leave in opposition to the energy giant’s plans on the Burrup Peninsula.
But the protest was foiled by 10 WA Police officers who were lying in wait, intervening after the group arrived and arresting them as an ABC documentary crew’s cameras rolled.
The entire incident was caught on camera by the crew of ABC’s flagship investigative program Four Corners, who had accompanied the trio as part of a story on the growing environmental movement.
A fourth co-accused, Emil Davey, was arrested at his home a short time later.
The court previously heard the activists had been captured on CCTV scoping out the premises 72 hours before the planned protest, and had purchased four litres of yellow paint to pour into balloons, two buckets and three yellow spray cans.
And Davey had a run-in with undercover cops while driving by the home 24 hours before the protest, with the court previously told he had been held up at gun point.
O’Neill later took out violence restraining orders against all four defendants, branding the incident “extreme”.
The long-awaited trial of the four people accused of murdering Indigenous schoolboy Cassius Turvey in 2022 gets underway today in the Supreme Court of WA.
Jack Brearley, Mitchell Forth, Aleesha Gilmore and Brodie Palmer are accused of killing the 15-year-old who was walking home from school in Middle Swan.
A fifth person, Ethan Mackenzie, is also on trial for a related matter.
The group is alleged to have bashed Turvey with the handle of a shopping trolley after chasing a group of children in school uniforms through a reserve, with Cassius picked off for being the slowest.
He died in hospital 10 days later from bleeding on the brain.
His death sparked a national outcry.
Turvey’s mother, Mechelle, is expected to attend the trial, which will be conducted before a jury.
It is due to take two months to complete with 30 child witnesses giving evidence.
Our court reporter Rebecca Peppiatt will bring readers regular updates throughout the trial.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, West Australians are being warned to be wary of romance scams after con-artists stole nearly $5 million in 2024.
Consumer Protection said deepfake video technology was increasingly being used to deceive people, with 57 West Australians reporting financial losses from romance scams last year, up nearly 35 per cent from 2023.
In one case, a WA woman was tragically scammed twice over five years, losing around $780,000.
Her losses included the proceeds from selling her house, her superannuation, and the cost of two trips to the Netherlands, which she believed was paying for her scammer’s release from prison.
Despite the higher 2024 losses, the number of reports to Consumer Protection from WA victims of romance scams declined slightly from the previous year in which 71 reports were received.
Commissioner for Consumer Protection Trish Blake welcomed the news but expressed concern over the significantly higher total losses.
“An average loss of over $87,000 and in one case nearly $800,000 – that’s the devastating reality of romance scams in 2024. These staggering figures represent a lifetime of savings for many and can be financially crippling,” she said.
“We must remain vigilant as scammers are constantly adapting their tactics and using a wider range of channels to target their victims, including dating sites, gaming apps and social media.”
Blake highlighted the emergence of artificial intelligence as a significant challenge for both consumers and authorities in the fight against scams.
“Deepfake technology is allowing scammers to create highly realistic videos, impersonating fabricated love interests and exploiting the images of real people in the process,” she said.
“That’s why our advice remains that unless you can meet in person, you should proceed with extreme caution, as you can’t always trust what you see in video calls or hear over the phone.”
It seems the RAC Arena is not the only building in Perth experiencing significant plumbing problems; Hollywood Private Hospital has had a blocked sewer main located in Nedlands spew effluent into some areas of the facility.
In a statement released this morning, the hospital reassured patients the flooding had occurred in non-inpatient areas of the site.
“The hospital continues to operate as normal and there is no impact on inpatient care or visitor access to the site,” it read.
“Thorough cleaning and remediation was commenced immediately, but it will take several days to remediate the damage to the Hollywood Specialist Centre.
“Patients who have upcoming appointments scheduled in the Hollywood Specialist Centre are being contacted by their specialist’s administration team and advised of alternative arrangements.”
Royal Perth Hospital will get an innovative emergency department as part of a key $104 million Cook Labor election promise to modernise the hospital.
Premier Roger Cook and Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson announced the policy yesterday, saying $97.3 million would go to the ED redevelopment and a further $7 million to create a blueprint for a broader redevelopment of the wider hospital.
The project is part of Labor’s plan to fix ambulance ramping, improve wait times for patients and conditions for hospital staff in the state.
“This project will revolutionise emergency care in RPH,” Cook said.
“It includes more than 50 new treatment bays, a new CT scanner space, eight extra ambulance triage bays, more triage rooms and specialised mental health early treatment zone.
“We’ll do it by expanding the footprint of the current ED with a new building to the north of the existing Q block here at RPH.”
On Sunday, the WA Liberals made an election promise of $73.2 million to expand St John WA’s urgent-care clinic model with three new fully equipped clinics.
An additional pledge of $18 million to purchase 60,000 episodes of care (periods of time patients spend in hospital) at urgent-care clinics would reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments, party leader and opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam said.
“St John’s urgent care clinics are specifically designed and equipped to provide immediate
treatment for injuries and illnesses such as fractures, sprains, and minor infections and other
lower-acuity cases that do not require the resources of a full emergency department,” she said.
“As well as being a win for hospitals and patients, this initiative is also a win for our
ambulance service.”
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