Follow our live coverage here.
Follow our live coverage here.
Back to parliament now where the swearing in of the upper house members is happening.
Before the ceremony members milled about in the chamber shaking hands and joking with each other.
Roger Cook visited the opposition side of the chamber where he embraced shadow treasurer Sandra Brewer and Deputy Liberal Leader Libby Mettam and had a quick conversation with Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas.
The public gallery is packed with friends, family and colleagues of the new MPs.
Each MP swears an Oath or Affirmation of office which they can do using a religious text, and several MPs swore Oaths to King Charles.
Some MPs have brought their own bibles in including new Nationals MP Lachlan Hunter who brought in a bible with impressive golden accents which WAtoday is told has been blessed by Catholic Bishop of Geraldton Michael Morrissey.
After the swearing in the election of the new speaker will take place, which Labor has chosen as Forrestfield MP Stephen Price.
As part of the odd medieval Westminster traditions that are still adhered to in WA’s modern-day democracy Price will then be ‘dragged’ to the Speaker’s chair by Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti and Premier Roger Cook.
And, on a final note from today’s press conference, Rita Saffioti has also been questioned under her role as transport minister over a story which ran in The West Australian claiming there was a lack of patrons making use of the extended Joondalup (now Yanchep) Line during peak hour.
Saffioti hit back at that article, saying “catching one train and making some false accusations, is not what WA is about”.
“When you look at those three new stations, first of all, they’re end of line. The other point, I would say there’s more people catching (the train from) these new stations than many existing stations,” Saffioti said.
“This is nothing more than a WA Liberal Party obsession with attacking Metronet. If they win they’ll probably tear up the lines or close down stations.
“These are stations where there’s housing being built every day. There’s going to be more and more people catching this rail line, because there’s more and more people moving in.”
Saffioti said the Mandurah Line had received the same criticism when it first opened.
“Imagine those southern suburbs today, without the Mandurah rail line, you wouldn’t be able to move on that freeway,” she said.
Sticking with this morning’s press conference and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti has said a working group was being created to address the violent incident at an Ellenbrook shopping centre where a teenage boy had his head “stomped on”.
The victim was left with a broken jaw and potential spinal complications and the 15-year-old alleged attacker has been charged.
“Michelle Maynard as the new local member is creating a working group which has involvement of the school, the shopping centre and the local police,” she said.
“We’re going to be working with the shopping centre management. We’ve asked for more police presence at the shopping centre after school … to try and de-escalate the current issues and tension that’s in there.”
Saffioti said the new Education Minister Sabine Winton was getting across all the issues and, as a former teacher, “really wants to make sure she can work hard and work with school communities to try and address these issues before they escalate in the school and off school grounds”.
An eight-year-old boy was also hospitalised on the same day as the 14-year-old in a separate incident, after a violent attack in the school playground.
Member for Cowan Anne Aly has labelled the Reid Highway and Erindale Road interchange as the worst intersection in her electorate during a press conference discussing a multimillion-dollar plan to upgrade it.
“When I get into my car and put a location into my maps, and it says I have to cross this intersection, a few choice words come out of my mouth involuntarily, I have to say,” she said.
She said if Labor was re-elected the intersection would be upgraded to the tune of $225 million, before taking a shot at the Liberals, claiming they were “yet to promise anything for the people of Cowan”.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King went a step further and labelled it as “Western Australia’s worst” intersection.
She said it had caused 263 crashes in the past five years and $21.3 million was lost in productivity each year due to heavy congestion.
Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said it would be one of the toughest projects to deliver, based on the intersection’s proximity to the freeway and the number of cars which used it daily.
“This will be a complex one to do, but we’re very confident longer term. It will take about two to three years of detailed planning,” she said.
The good news keeps rolling for fans of Australian politics because not only is there a federal election raging but today the 42nd WA parliament begins.
WAtoday is at Parliament House, bringing you all the weird and wonderful action from the day, including 23 new MPs from both sides of the chamber being sworn in and the long-awaited showdown between new opposition leader Basil Zempilas and the rest of the Labor caucus.
Zempilas walked into parliament carrying his late father Anthony’s briefcase and a picture of him.
“He would have absolutely loved this, proud Floreat boy, grew up in Northbridge, the son of Greek parents,” he said.
“I thought it’d be a nice touch in the Leader of the Opposition’s office here, just to set up his briefcase and put the photo on top.”
Zempilas has been granted permission to ask a question in the first question time this afternoon.
“It’ll be a question that demonstrates what we’re about in opposition. I won’t tell you the question right now, but we’re here for a reason. We’re here to hold this government to account. That’s a big part of our job,” he said.
Cook arrived shortly after Zempilas and said the first order of business was to bring in legislation to enact the discounts on stamp duty for first home buyers promised in the election.
With 46 MPs, Labor still has a sizeable majority in the lower house but Cook said they would treat the parliament with respect.
He rubbished Zempilas’ claim his government didn’t have a mandate for the racetrack.
“All those policies were out there. The people of Western Australia voted for them.”
Fremantle are set to call on the services of star duo Sean Darcy and Hayden Young as the club counts the cost of Sunday’s brave 16-point win over the Western Bulldogs.
Luke Jackson (hamstring), Corey Wagner (calf) and Nathan O’Driscoll (ankle) are all set for scans after suffering injuries in the third quarter of the 15.7 (97) to 12.9 (81) win at Optus Stadium.
Jaeger O’Meara could also join them after struggling with “soreness” late in Sunday’s match.
Darcy (ankle/knee) and Hayden Young (hamstring) missed Fremantle’s first four games of the season, but they both made a successful playing return for WAFL side Peel Thunder on the weekend.
Fremantle (2-2) take on lowly Richmond (1-3) in Gather Round on Sunday, and coach Justin Longmuir is keen for Darcy and Young to return.
“Sometimes my plans and everyone else’s plans are different, but I would like them straight back in,” Longmuir said.
“And given we’ve got a few injuries, maybe that’s the way we have to go.
“But we’ll weigh that up during the week.”
AAP
Turning to crime news, a 62-year-old man has been charged over deliberately lighting a fire that destroyed a home in Perth’s northern suburbs on Monday.
Emergency crews were called to a home on Parsons Way in Innaloo around 4.40am. The home was engulfed in flames and the structure was collapsing.
The 62-year-old allegedly started the fire inside the home, before leaving in a car and travelling to a real estate office on Scarborough Beach Road in Doubleview.
There, he allegedly tried to set fire to the office by throwing Molotov cocktails.
He was left with significant burns to his body during the incident and admitted himself to hospital for treatment.
He has been charged with criminal damage by fire, attempting to cause an explosion likely to do serious injury to property and criminal damage and destruction of property.
The man will appear in the Perth Magistrates Court today to face the allegations via a hospital bedside hearing.
Here’s what’s making headlines today:
Morning all and welcome to Tuesday’s live blog.
This morning, property reporter Sarah Brookes has revealed that one of the state’s largest home builders – BCG – has raised eyebrows after it bought vacant blocks of land in popular housing estates and built houses on them in less than 12 months.
This is despite the fact it is facing a class action over thousands of building contracts that have languished for years.
Sarah has also written an opinion piece on the benefits of living in Sydney, after moving there from Perth recently.
In other news, political reporter Hamish Hastie has a story on a multimillion-dollar promise made by the federal government to upgrade one of Perth’s most notorious intersections.
Find out where that is, and how much has been promised, here.
And, in case you missed it on 9 News last night, WA Premier Roger Cook has taken a swipe at Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’Landys for the way he handled negotiations.
Stay with us today as more news breaks.