Category Archives: Western Australia

Premier pleads for end to ‘language of division’ in politics after WA police foil alleged mass terror attack

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Roger Cook condemned ‘dog whistling under the guise of immigration policy’ after police lay charges against alleged member of white supremacist group

The West Australian premier, Roger Cook, has urged the community to condemn the emergence of “dog whistling” and the “language of division” in mainstream politics after a 20-year-old man was charged with preparing a terrorist attack.

Jayson Joseph Michaels, from Bindoon, appeared at the Perth magistrates court on Friday, charged with acting in preparation for a terrorist act, possessing a prohibited weapon, two firearms offences and using a carriage service to menace or harass.

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Manifesto planning ‘mass casualties’ allegedly found at home of WA man charged with preparing terror attack

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Prime minister says reports 20-year-old was allegedly going to target mosques, WA police and parliament are ‘distressing’

Police in Western Australia have charged a 20-year-old man with preparing a terrorist attack, with Anthony Albanese describing the allegation as “deeply shocking”.

The man was charged with acting in preparation for a terrorist act, possessing a prohibited weapon, two firearms offences and using a carriage service to menace or harass.

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Manifesto planning ‘mass casualties’ allegedly found at home of WA man charged with terror plot

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Police allege that 20-year-old Jayson Joseph Michaels was going to target mosques, WA police and parliament

Police in Western Australia have charged a 20-year-old man with preparing a terrorist attack, with Anthony Albanese describing the allegation as “deeply shocking”.

Jayson Joseph Michaels, from Bindoon, appeared at Perth magistrates court on Friday charged with acting in preparation for a terrorist act, possessing a prohibited weapon, two firearms offences and using a carriage service to menace or harass.

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Australia-US minerals deal underpinned decision to allow Alcoa to keep clearing WA forest, document reveals

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Document also shows US miner had been unlawfully clearing land for 15 years despite warnings from department

The Australian government’s decision to allow the US mining giant Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of Western Australian jarrah forest despite past illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows.

The document also reveals Alcoa was unlawfully clearing land for its bauxite mining practices in the area south of Perth for 15 years, despite warnings from the federal environment department.

Conservationists have expressed outrage that an “unprecedented” $55m penalty announced by the environment minister was only applied to a six-year period in which the illegal clearing was alleged to have occurred.

Murray Watt said on Wednesday that the penalty – known as an enforceable undertaking – was for clearing that occurred from 2019-2025 in known habitat for nationally protected species without an approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

When announcing the penalty, Watt said he had granted Alcoa a national interest exemption to allow it to continue clearing in the northern jarrah forest for 18 months while the government considered a proposal for an expansion of the company’s Huntly and Willowdale mining operations to 2045.

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Liam Alexander Hall named as man accused of attempted Invasion Day bombing in Perth

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Liam Alexander Hall is the first person to be charged with terrorism offences in Western Australia

A Perth magistrate has lifted a suppression order on the identity of Liam Alexander Hall, a 32-year-old man accused of attempting to bomb an Invasion Day rally in Perth.

Magistrate Lynette Dias told the court on Tuesday that openness of the court is fundamental in the administration of justice.

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Bid by Gina Rinehart’s company to build helipad set to be blocked by City of Perth

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Hancock says facility is ‘modern necessity’ but opponents argue the noise would disrupt local businesses

Gina Rinehart’s company has claimed helicopter pads are a necessity of modern business as it fights to install one at its new headquarters in West Perth.

The City of Perth on Tuesday recommended councillors block the request from Hancock Iron Ore to install a helipad as it redevelops its offices.

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Western Australian farmer dies trying to protect property from fast-moving bushfire

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Man in his 60s was fighting large blaze near Ravensthorpe, about 500km south-east of Perth

A farmer working frantically to protect his property from a fast-moving bushfire has died after his vehicle was engulfed in flames.

The man aged in his 60s was operating a front-end loader as he tried to create a fire break at West River, about 500km drive south-east of Perth on Monday afternoon.

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Virginia Giuffre’s sons deny unsigned document is their mother’s will

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After Jeffrey Epstein abuse victim died intestate, sons reject claim that documents presented by her lawyer and carer represent her final intentions

An unsigned will has emerged as the crux of the battle over the estate of Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Details of the document surfaced on Friday as hearings began in Western Australia’s supreme court, where her sons, her longtime lawyer and her former carer are all vying for control of the assets.

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Exclusive gun club linked to Andrew Hastie awarded almost $20,000 in government grants

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Liberal MP has declared conflict of interest with Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club, of which he is a patron

An exclusive gun club with links to the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie was awarded three government grants worth a total of almost $20,000 after being nominated by his office.

Hastie has declared a conflict of interest with the Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club. He is a patron, and has competed there at least twice.

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Watchdog clears Pauline Hanson’s use of taxpayer funds to attend Gina Rinehart’s birthday party

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Hanson’s office cites meetings with industry representatives and a One Nation party executive who later changed his name to Aussie Trump

Parliament’s expenses watchdog has cleared Pauline Hanson over using taxpayer funds to attend Gina Rinehart’s birthday party, after an eight-month investigation in which Hanson explained she had travelled to Perth to meet a new One Nation MP who later changed his name to “Aussie Trump”.

Hanson’s office told the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (Ipea) she held meetings with Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting over environmental legislation during the March 2024 trip, as well as attending the same birthday party and celebration which former opposition leader Peter Dutton reportedly visited for just an hour.

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‘Dreadful wrongs’: WA governor apologises to Noongar people for 1834 Pinjarra massacre

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Between 15 and 80 Binjareb Noongar people were killed in the massacre which was led by the then WA governor, James Stirling

Warning: This article contains historical records that use racist and offensive language, and descriptions of events that will be distressing to some readers. It also contains references to Indigenous Australians who have died

Almost 200 years ago, a state governor led a massacre of at least 15 Aboriginal people.

On Tuesday, Western Australia’s current governor, Chris Dawson, went to the massacre site, south of Perth, with a different intent.

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‘Baudin’s or bauxite?’ Stark warning black cockatoo won’t survive mining expansion

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BirdLife WA calls consequences of Alcoa’s proposals to clear 11,000ha of jarrah forest ‘irreversible and catastrophic’ for endangered bird

The destruction of Western Australia’s northern jarrah forests for bauxite mining will push a threatened black cockatoo “to and beyond the brink of extinction” if governments allowed it to continue, conservationists have warned.

Mark Henryon, a volunteer with Birdlife Western Australia, said there was a clear choice that would decide whether the endangered Baudin’s black cockatoo would survive. “Baudin’s or bauxite – we can’t have both,” he said.

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Clive Palmer ordered to pay $13m after claim of being ‘foreign investor’ in Australian mining project thrown out

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Attorney general says mining magnate is ‘not a foreign investor’ and is ‘not entitled to any benefits under Australia’s free trade and investment agreements’

The Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay more than $13m after his claim of being a “foreign investor” was dismissed by an international tribunal after a dispute lasting more than a decade.

The permanent court of arbitration, established by international treaties, rejected Palmer’s claim as it had no jurisdiction over the dispute between a national government and one of its citizens, the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said on Saturday.

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‘Incompetent’: SA premier slams Optus as eight-week-old baby among three who died when triple zero calls failed

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Peter Malinauskas criticised the telco for its communications after two people in South Australia and one in Western Australia died during the network upgrade

The South Australian premier has said he’s never witnessed “such incompetence” from an Australian communications company after an eight-week-old baby was among three people who died during a botched Optus network upgrade.

Optus chief executive Stephen Rue admitted on Friday that the upgrade, which prevented people from making triple-zero calls the day before, impacted up to 600 households in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

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$12bn downpayment on WA shipyard to help prepare it for Aukus submarine era

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Henderson defence precinct to be used to build surface vessels and maintain submarines

The federal government is making a $12bn “downpayment” on a shipbuilding facility in Western Australia to prepare it for future nuclear-powered submarines.

The Henderson defence precinct will cost $25bn over a decade and will be used to build surface vessels and to dock and sustain submarines including those to be delivered under the Aukus agreement.

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WA museum tells staff ‘almost all of us are guilty’ of burning fossil fuels in email defending Woodside partnership

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Exclusive: Climate advocates reject CEO’s claim he is ‘not qualified’ to comment on risks of gas firm’s plan to extend production to 2070

The head of the Western Australian Museum has told staff that burning fossil fuels is something “almost all of us are guilty of in one way or another” in an email defending the institution’s renewed research partnership with Woodside.

The museum’s chief executive, Alec Coles, sent the email to staff before a Woodside-sponsored August open day at the Maritime Museum – one of WA Museum’s seven locations. It came amid public criticism of the extension of the “longstanding collaboration”, in which the gas company supports the museum’s biodiversity research along the WA coastline.

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Brittany Higgins ordered to pay almost $350,000 in defamation damages to Linda Reynolds

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Former defence minister’s reputation was damaged by social media posts by her former staffer, judge rules

Linda Reynolds has won her defamation case against Brittany Higgins in the Western Australian supreme court, marking the end of a protracted legal battle with her former staffer.

The state supreme court judge Paul Tottle ruled on Wednesday that the former defence minister’s reputation was damaged by social media posts published by Higgins in July 2023.

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Murray Watt advised by own department to declare protection order over ‘significant Aboriginal area’ in WA

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Exclusive: Environment department document states that Burrup peninsula site near Woodside gas plant ‘under threat of injury or desecration’

The environment minister, Murray Watt, has been advised by his department to declare a protection order over part of the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia due to its significance as an Aboriginal site, a government affidavit filed in the federal court shows.

A Murujuga traditional custodian, Raelene Cooper, applied in 2022 to protect the area’s cultural heritage from nearby industrial activities, including Woodside’s planned extension of its North West Shelf processing plant.

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Woman charged with concealing birth of deceased child after infant’s body found in WA drain

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The infant’s mother, in her 30s, had been assisting police with enquiries since Wednesday

A woman has been charged with concealing the birth of a deceased child after the body of a baby boy was found in a storm water drain in Perth.

The woman, in her 30s, had been assisting police with enquiries since Wednesday following the discovery of the infant on Monday afternoon.

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Woman assisting police after infant found dead in Perth storm water drain

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Police say woman in her 30s ‘receiving appropriate care and support’ after workers made confronting discovery on Monday

A woman is assisting police after a baby boy was found dead inside a storm water drain.

Two workers carrying out routine maintenance made the confronting discovery in Alexander Heights in Perth’s northern suburbs on Monday afternoon.

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