Category Archives: Western Australia

Labor governments push for national road-user charging after Victorian EV decision

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Treasurer Tim Pallas says refunds being considered after high court ruled charge was unconstitutional

Labor governments in three states are pressing the commonwealth to consider national road-user charging, after the high court struck down Victoria’s electric vehicle tax.

On Thursday the Victorian treasurer, Tim Pallas, said the government will consider refunding a tax paid by electric vehicle owners after the high court deemed it invalid, but suggests registration costs could rise or a national levy could be implemented in its place.

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Mark McGowan phone call allegation puts fossil fuel influence in WA under new spotlight

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Carmen Lawrence says former premier’s behaviour, if true, is ‘certainly improper’ and ‘ethically questionable’ and shows power of oil and gas interests

Claims that the former Western Australia premier Mark McGowan directly put pressure on the independent Environmental Protection Authority to withdraw climate guidelines opposed by gas companies are evidence of the fossil fuel industry’s “ownership” of the state, senior figures say.

Carmen Lawrence, another former Labor premier, said McGowan’s alleged behaviour four years ago, if true, was “certainly improper”, “ethically questionable” and “illustrated the power that fossil fuels have to influence the government” in the state.

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Australia’s emu war: John Cleese outrun in race to shoot movie of how flightless birds thwarted army’s machine guns

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An Australian take on how the emu won the 1932 battle premieres this month, before shooting on the UK comedian’s film has begun

A troupe of Australian comedians appears to have gazumped John Cleese to bring the bizarre story of the great emu war to the big screen.

In 1932, soldiers armed with machine guns were deployed in Western Australia to battle huge flocks of the giant native birds. Their annual migration from the arid interior to the coast had increasingly met the rapidly expanding wheat belt, to the delight of the emus and the horror of the farmers.

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WA police condemned for ‘shocking’ demand for ABC to hand over footage of climate protesters

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Civil society groups call on broadcaster not to comply with order they say is an ‘alarming overreach’ and ‘undermines press freedom’

Civil society groups have accused Western Australia police of undermining press freedom by demanding the ABC hand over Four Corners footage of climate protesters, and urged the broadcaster to protect its journalists’ sources.

In response to the police demand the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, has said the broadcaster would never reveal its sources, but he did not rule out handing over the vision.

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World’s tallest wooden building to be built in Perth after developers win approval

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Developers say South Perth’s C6 building will be made up of 42% timber and be carbon negative

Western Australia is set to become home to the world’s tallest timber building, a “revolutionary” 50-storey hybrid design reaching a height of 191.2 metres.

Timber will make up 42% of South Perth’s C6 building, including the tower’s beams, floor panels, studs, joinery and linings.

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Meta fights Andrew Forrest for documents in battle over alleged crypto scam

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Facebook owner issues summons to demand files as it prepares defence over accusations it allowed bogus ads to use billionaire’s image

Facebook’s parent company Meta has issued a summons for billionaire Andrew Forrest to hand over sensitive documents amid a legal battle over an alleged cryptocurrency clickbait advertising scam.

Lawyers for the tech giant took the unusual step of issuing a summons to demand 20 categories of documents, alleging the mining magnate’s lawyers had failed to hand over papers relevant to the legal battle.

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Voice to parliament referendum: early voting opens as yes and no campaigners hit the hustings

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Early polling locations open in Victoria, Tasmania, WA and NT with other states to follow on Tuesday

Campaigners for both sides of the Indigenous voice referendum have hit the hustings as early voting opens across the country.

The yes and no campaigns have less than two weeks to make their case over whether to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution.

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Confused cows and more time after work: the pros and cons of daylight saving across Australia

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At 2am on Sunday the clocks roll forward an hour in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT. So why aren’t Queensland, WA and the NT onboard?

Depending on who you ask, it’s either the most wonderful time of the year or the bane of their existence.

As most Australians sleep through Saturday night and into Sunday morning, time will skip ahead one hour – but only in some states and territories.

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Qantas pilots in Western Australia to strike for 24 hours over pay deal

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Industrial action could affect more than 50 flights including routes from Perth to regional towns and mine sites

Qantas pilots who operate passenger, charter and fly-in-fly-out (Fifo) services in Western Australia will stop work for 24 hours next week, as workers negotiating a new pay deal complain of wages “significantly lower” compared to other airlines.

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (Afap), which represents pilots employed by Network Aviation – a subsidiary of Qantas Group which operates Qantas Link, Fifo and charter services for the airline in Western Australia – said it notified Qantas management on Thursday afternoon about the stop work action.

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Hundreds of Aboriginal children likely buried in unmarked graves at three WA missions

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Exclusive: More than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, are believed to have been buried with no record at Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia

As many as 400 Aboriginal children and babies are likely to have been buried in unmarked graves at three former Western Australian missions, the vast majority of them interred after dying when five or under, a Guardian Australia investigation can reveal.

Spanning decades, more than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, were most likely buried with no record at just three church and government-run missions in the state: Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia.

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Australia remains free of lumpy skin disease despite Indonesia blocking cattle imports, officials say

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Indonesia imposes strict testing conditions on cattle from three major export ports after claiming infectious disease detected in eight cattle

The Australian government has denied suggestions that a highly infectious livestock disease has been detected in the country, after the Indonesian government moved to block live exports of cattle from northern Australia.

On Sunday, Indonesian officials notified their Australian counterparts they had detected eight cases of lumpy skin disease in cattle imported from Australia.

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Activists hit with restraining orders lawyer claims will stop them speaking out about Woodside

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Fossil fuel company denies orders granted after incident at CEO’s home are intended to prevent campaigners from speaking out

Four activists have been hit with violence restraining orders that their lawyer says prevents them from making any public reference to Woodside’s CEO and effectively stops them from speaking out about the company.

The interim court orders were issued to activists charged in relation to an incident at the home of Meg O’Neill and “were sought to protect Ms O’Neill’s family’s safety”, a Woodside spokesperson confirmed.

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Western Australian MP admitted alleged child sexual abuse to wife before charges laid, court told

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James Hayward, 53, has pleaded not guilty to the abuse of an eight-year-old girl

A Western Australian MP on trial for child sexual abuse admitted the crimes in an email to his wife before he was charged, a court has been told.

James Dorrin Hayward has pleaded not guilty to four offences relating to the alleged abuse of an eight-year-old girl.

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‘Rise up’: monks urge WA towns to fight minerals exploration in vulnerable Jarrah forests

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After seeing off a bid to explore near the Bodhinyana monastery, the forest monks are encouraging others to ‘keep the pressure on’

Buddhist monks who have sought enlightenment in a globally unique forest in Western Australia are standing defiant after fighting off an attempt to explore their area for minerals.

Conservationists say the northern Jarrah forest in the state’s south-west, already under pressure from climate change, is the target of several mining companies looking to explore for minerals needed for the clean energy transition.

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Woodside faces Indigenous legal challenge to seismic blasting at WA gas site

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Traditional owner alleges company failed to adequately consult on effect of Scarborough project blasting on sea country

A traditional owner has filed a legal challenge to the approval of seismic blasting for Woodside’s Scarborough offshore gas project in Western Australia.

Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper is seeking a judicial review of the offshore petroleum regulator Nopsema’s decision to grant the approval despite concerns consultation with traditional owners had been inadequate.

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ABC clears Four Corners TV crew of wrongdoing during protest at Woodside CEO’s home

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Broadcaster’s managing director says crew did not collude with Perth protesters but corrects earlier claim they had no knowledge of action

An internal ABC inquiry has concluded that a Four Corners TV crew did not collude with or encourage Woodside protesters nor did they trespass on the home of CEO Meg O’Neill.

The ABC managing director, David Anderson, said the Four Corners investigation – about climate protests in Australia – would proceed despite the crew being heavily criticised by the fossil fuel company, the Western Australian government and the West Australian newspaper.

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WA activist charged over Woodside protest says police pointed gun at him day before

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Emil Davey says officer pulled over his car, pointed a gun and shouted at him but after his vehicle was searched he was released without charge

A Western Australian police officer drew his firearm while pulling over the vehicle of an environmental activist in Perth last month.

Emil Davey, 19, was driving in the suburb of City Beach on 31 July when he says an unmarked van overtook his car and then stopped suddenly in front of him.

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WA premier Roger Cook axes Aboriginal cultural heritage laws after outcry by landholders

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Government apologises for new laws it says went too far and placed unnecessary burdens on everyday property owners

The Western Australian government has apologised and scrapped its controversial Indigenous cultural heritage protection laws just weeks after they came into effect.

The premier, Roger Cook, and Aboriginal affairs minister, Tony Buti, made the announcement after days of speculation and months of intense pressure from the state’s farming, mining and pastoralist industries over concerns the new laws were confusing and difficult to implement.

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WA cultural heritage laws: Indigenous group condemns reports of Labor backflip ‘within days’

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Roger Cook’s government foreshadowed about-face with resources companies and Indigenous groups on Friday

An Indigenous group says it is devastated by reports cultural heritage laws that came into effect in Western Australia just over a month ago may be scrapped following a backlash from farmers.

The Labor government foreshadowed the about-face at a briefing with big resources companies and Indigenous groups on Friday, the West Australian reported on Saturday. An announcement is expected “within days”, it added.

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Climate activists target Woodside CEO’s home in protest, company claims

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Meg O’Neill says protesters trespassed at her Perth home on Tuesday amid climate backlash over Burrup Hub expansion

Climate activists have targeted the family home of Woodside Energy’s boss in what the company claimed was the escalation of protests over its gas business.

The firm’s chief executive, Meg O’Neill, said “extremist” protesters accompanied by camera crews trespassed on Tuesday morning at her Perth home in the affluent suburb of City Beach.

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