Category Archives: Western Australia

Embattled Greens senator Jordon Steele-John confirms leave from parliament after allegations against him made public

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WA politician says he considered attending Senate estimates virtually but was told it would be ‘unacceptable’

Jordon Steele-John has confirmed he will not attend parliament next week as the embattled Greens senator apologises for publicly releasing the letter outlining the claims against him.

On Saturday afternoon, Steele-John removed a social media post containing a three-page letter marked as “confidential” sent to the Greens leader, David Shoebridge, earlier this month. The letter urged an investigation into allegations he had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.

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Jordon Steele-John’s position remains in limbo as Greens prepare for moment in spotlight

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David Shoebridge’s newly-minted leadership under pressure over handling of misconduct allegations as Senate estimates looms

More than a week after allegations that Greens senator Jordon Steele-John had behaved inappropriately towards women made headlines, his position in the party remains in limbo and its new leader’s handling of the issue in question.

David Shoebridge’s first major challenge at the helm of the federal Greens came earlier this month when the Nine newspapers reported a three-page letter had been sent to him urging an independent investigation into Steele-John.

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Ellie Goulding admits error over promoting diamonds from controversial Australian mine

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Singer ‘mortified’ about wearing diamonds from Argyle mine at centre of environmental concerns about Indigenous land

The singer Ellie Goulding has admitted her error at having promoted diamonds at the centre of environmental concerns about Indigenous land in Australia, despite having spent years campaigning on environmental issues – including the effects of mining on ancestral lands.

She appeared at a event in London earlier this month for the jewellery brand Boodles, modelling some of its newly acquired pink diamonds, some of which came from a controversial mine in Western Australia.

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Greens leader denies knowledge of ‘secret dossier’ on how to handle Jordon Steele-John misconduct allegations

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David Shoebridge says 47-page document not ‘made by, used by, or seen by’ his office as matter referred to parliamentary standards commission

Greens leader David Shoebridge has denied knowledge of the existence of an alleged crisis management document on how to deal with allegations against Jordon Steele-John being made public.

The Nine newspapers reported on Friday afternoon the existence of a “secret dossier”, first drafted in 2016, which contained misconduct allegations against the Western Australian Greens senator and how to suppress their media coverage.

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Woman charged after allegedly poisoning colleague’s curry lunch with snail pellets

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Western Australian police say woman ‘experienced numbness to her tongue’ after tasting the curry at her workplace in Perth

A woman has been charged after allegedly poisoning a co-worker’s lunch curry with snail pellets.

Western Australian police say a 58-year-old woman brought a container of curry to share with colleagues at her workplace in Perth’s southern suburbs in February.

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Former bishop sentenced to more than six years in prison for sexually abusing young Aboriginal men

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Christopher Alan Saunders becomes highest-ranked Catholic in Australia convicted of sexual abuse over his time as member of clergy

A former high-ranking Catholic known for hosting boozy parties will spend at least four and a half years behind bars for sexually abusing two young Aboriginal men.

The ex-bishop of Broome Christopher Alan Saunders, 76, was found guilty of 13 sex offences after a jury trial in the West Australian district court.

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After a dead whale washed up at a Perth beach, some took selfies. Others held their nose from the stench

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Local authorities have closed the beach for several kilometres and multiple sharks have been spotted in the area

Multiple sharks have been spotted swimming near a large, smelly whale carcass that has washed ashore at a popular capital city beach, drawing hundreds of onlookers.

Surf lifesavers found the dead animal at Perth’s City beach at about 7.30am on Monday and raised the alarm.

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‘It’s hell’: father of slain Australian surfers tells Mexico homicide trial about identifying sons’ bodies

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Three men are on trial over the death of brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their friend, US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad, in Ensenada

The father of two Australian surfers killed in Mexico two years ago testified in court on Tuesday that his life had been turned into hell, as the high-profile trial continued into its second day.

Three men are charged in the killing of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson, aged 30 and 33, respectively, and their 30-year-old American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, who were on a surfing trip to Mexico’s Pacific coast in April 2024.

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British YouTuber Yung Filly describes night he met fan in Australian nightclub before allegedly raping her

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Performer on trial on six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent

A British YouTuber and musician accused of violently raping a fan after a gig never asked his alleged victim if she wanted sex, a court has been told.

Rapper Yung Filly, whose real name is Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, is fighting six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

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Telstra blames ‘software defect’ for major outage that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero calls

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Telco said outage was not due to a cyber-attack but warned of scammers calling people claiming to be from Telstra

Telstra has blamed a “software defect” that changed the time servers for a major outage in which thousands of mobile customers were unable to make calls or access data on the country’s largest network on Wednesday morning.

The telco, which powers about 25m mobile services nationwide, confirmed the outage on Wednesday, with all services restored by 4pm AEST.

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Perth man fighting for life after robot vacuum cleaner explosion

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Lachie Perrem suffered life-threatening injuries after the explosion on Thursday destroyed his share house in Brabham

A Perth man has spent five days fighting for his life after a robot vacuum cleaner explosion set fire to his home.

Lachie Perrem, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital on Thursday with life-threatening burns from a blaze that left his fiancee and housemates without their home.

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Accused double murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon’s mother granted bail – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Richard Marles said he doubted China tested the long-range weapon yesterday in response to Anthony Albanese being in the Pacific to sign a new defence alliance with Fiji but said Australia remained deeply concerned by the development. He told ABC News:

At the end of the day, what we’re seeing here is a long-range missile test from China, which China itself has said is nuclear-capable … This is China demonstrating a much greater range in terms of being able to deploy a nuclear weapon.

And ultimately what that is, is deeply destabilising.

Our fundamental issue in relation to China is that we have seen a very dramatic military buildup by China without that strategic reassurance [to our neighbours].

There really isn’t an explanation as to why they are building the capabilities that they are and that is fundamentally destabilising.

I think the system is handling the matter as it should … I think it’s appropriate that the legal process takes its course.

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Western Australian police to review response to Virginia Giuffre domestic violence dispute

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Police will investigate how they interacted with Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent victims, after her family requested the review

Police in Western Australia have agreed to review how they interacted with Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, in the lead-up to her death a year ago by suicide.

Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law, Sky and Amanda Roberts, told ABC radio on Wednesday morning that they had written to both the state coroner and the police requesting an investigation into how police handled a domestic violence dispute she was involved in before she took her life on her WA farm last April at age 41.

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Brown skuas and giant petrels rarely make landfall. When they were found in WA, scientists feared ‘bad news’ for wildlife

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Experts thought H5N1 bird flu would more likely reach Australia’s north. But an arrival from Antarctica had always been possible

Brown skuas and giant petrels are a common sight offshore in southern Australian waters in the winter months, but they will rarely risk venturing on to land.

So when two of these birds were discovered sick – on beaches a few kilometres apart on Western Australia’s southern coastline – it was a sign something might be wrong.

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Anthony Albanese says Australia’s first mainland case of deadly H5N1 bird flu ‘concerning’

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Tests taken in Western Australia suggest a second bird was also infected, but there is no evidence poultry or agriculture systems are affected

The deadly H5N1 bird flu strain has arrived on the Australian mainland with test results confirming a migratory seabird found on the Western Australian coast was positive for the disease.

The agriculture minister, Julie Collins, confirmed a brown skua – found unwell last Sunday at Cape Le Grand national park near Esperance in southern WA had died from H5N1.

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Pakistani police officer arrested over shooting death of ‘happy, bubbly, friendly’ Australian girl Hania Ahmed

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Punjab police said an officer mistakenly opened fire at the Ahmed family, who were victims of a robbery at Chakwal

A Pakistani police officer has been stood down and arrested after mistakenly shooting dead a young Australian girl who was on holiday with her family.

Australian-born Hania Ahmed and her family were visiting a relative at Chakwal, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, when they were robbed while in their rental car late on Wednesday night (local time).

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Australian girl killed in Pakistan after reportedly being shot by police

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Nine-year-old visiting relatives in Punjab province when police opened fire on car, local media report

A nine-year-old Australian girl has been killed and two of her family members injured after reportedly being shot by police in Pakistan.

The family were visiting a relative in Chakwal, in Punjab province, when they were robbed while in their rental car on Wednesday night local time, Pakistani English-language news outlet Dawn reported.

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Documents reveal concerns over US company’s proposed gas fracking in WA’s Kimberley region

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Federal environment department says Black Mountain Energy has provided insufficient data as it seeks to drill 20 gas wells in part of world’s largest tropical savanna

The federal government has repeatedly raised concerns about an American company’s bid to frack for gas in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, part of the world’s largest and most intact tropical savanna.

Texas-based Black Mountain Energy, through its subsidiary Bennett Resources, is seeking federal approval to drill 20 gas wells for its Valhalla project west of Fitzroy Crossing.

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Man dies after shark attack off Western Australia coast near Albany

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Government department says man was in the water around Michaelmas Island, near Albany, when he was bitten by a suspected 4.5-metre shark

A male diver aged in his 30s has died after being bitten by a shark in Western Australia.

The state’s police force confirmed on Saturday afternoon that the 35-year-old man had died, after being treated by paramedics at the scene for more than two hours.

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Thousands without power in Perth as destructive storms hit WA

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Wind gusts up to 125km/h forecast to hit city as residents urged to stay away from windows

Intense storms are lashing the western coast of Australia with an unusually deep low pressure system packing powerful winds and heavy rain.

The extreme weather eventbrought wind gusts of up to 125 km/h to Perth and communities along Western Australia’s coast on Sunday afternoon.

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