Western Australia election: Liberals fail to attract swing required as Labor secures third-term victory

WA Labor will hold a third term in office, with the early vote count showing the Liberals failing to gain traction with any significant swing

Western Australia has one story about the gas industry. It won’t accept dissent from ‘over east’

Labor will govern for a third term in Western Australia, with the Liberal Party failing to attract the swing required to threaten Roger Cook’s majority.

Polls predicted a 12-13% swing could put up to 11 seats in reach of the Liberal party.

Continue reading...

WA teenager charged over alleged ‘Christchurch 2.0’ online threat to Sydney mosque

Sixteen-year-old arrested on Tuesday in south-west Western Australia over alleged Instagram comment

A 16-year-old boy has been charged in Western Australia over an alleged online threat, which police claim alluded to a terrorist massacre, against a recently opened Sydney mosque.

The comment on the place of worship’s Instagram page allegedly threatened to “Christchurch 2.0” the mosque at Edmondson Park in the city’s west, an apparent reference to the New Zealand city where an Australian man killed 51 worshippers in 2019.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Premier claims WA a ‘renewable energy powerhouse’ but leaked document shows wind and solar projects have ‘stalled’

Exclusive: Government document confirms electricity from large-scale renewables has flatlined, with one campaigner saying pipeline has ‘little sign of life’

Officials have warned the Western Australian Labor government that work to build wind and solar farms for the state’s main electricity grid has stalled under its leadership, a leaked document shows.

A confidential state government document reveals state bureaucrats advised the government that the “decarbonisation work program” in Perth’s electricity grid had “stalled to date”. It said there were “few new wind developments” advanced enough to be added to the grid before the promised closure of a coal power station in 2027.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Cassius Turvey seen holding his bloody head after chase in bushland, court told

A witness describes how she saw three men arm themselves before seeing a 15-year-old boy covered in blood

An Indigenous teenager was spotted holding his bloody head after being chased into bushland by two men with metal poles, a murder trial has been told.

Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after prosecutors say he was chased, knocked to the ground and “deliberately struck to the head” in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022.

Continue reading...

One of Cassius Turvey’s alleged murderers sent concerned messages after another boy allegedly beaten up by her co-accused, court hears

Sister of another boy allegedly attacked in days before 15-year-old was killed tells jury about Facebook messages checking up on his welfare

A woman accused of murdering an Indigenous teen sent messages inquiring about the welfare of another boy allegedly beaten up by two of her co-accused, a court has been told.

Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after prosecutors say he was chased, knocked to the ground and “deliberately struck to the head with a metal pole” in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Pilbara community evacuated by helicopter over Cyclone Zelia flooding risk

Storm quickly weakened after making landfall east of Port Hedland with strongest parts hitting remote areas

Properties have been damaged and large trees uprooted by an ex-tropical cyclone still wreaking havoc in Western Australia, with record rainfall triggering significant flooding from which people are being evacuated by helicopter.

Tropical Cyclone Zelia made landfall in the north-west of Western Australia on Friday and was quickly weakened as it crossed the coast east of Port Hedland.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘Going to be a big one’: category five Tropical Cyclone Zelia and 320km/h winds headed for Western Australia coast

‘Top of the scale’ winds strong enough to take out complete houses, destroy power lines and cause widespread damage and disruption

Schools, ports and roads have been closed as northern Australia braces for a tropical cyclone that has developed into a destructive category five system bringing ferocious wind gusts up to 320km/h.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia has rapidly intensified since developing off the Western Australian coast and is forecast to be at its most dangerous and powerful when it hits land.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Group was ‘drunk, rowdy’ before WA teenager Cassius Turvey allegedly murdered, court hears

Witness tells trial the group accused of murdering WA boy was ‘a little bit drunk’ and armed themselves with weapons before the incident

An Indigenous teenager’s alleged killers were drunk, rowdy and packing weapons, a witness has said, before admitting he lied under oath at a murder trial.

Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after prosecutors say he was chased down, knocked to the ground and “deliberately struck to the head with a metal pole” in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Gang violence sparked by ‘love triangle’ led to Cassius Turvey killing, court told

Four adults accused of murdering the 15-year-old in Perth after becoming involved in a dispute between two teenage boys over a girl

The girl at the centre of the “love triangle” that allegedly led to the death of Cassius Turvey in a Perth suburb has taken the stand at his murder trial.

The 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy died in hospital 10 days after he was “caught, knocked to the ground and deliberately struck to the head with a metal pole” in Perth’s eastern suburbs on October 13, 2022.

Continue reading...

Indigenous teen Cassius Turvey’s alleged murder ‘not racially motivated’, court hears

Prosecutor tells jury ‘it is not the state’s case’ the alleged murder was racially motivated

A man accused of swinging the weapon that killed an Indigenous teenager says the dead boy stabbed him before a friend allegedly struck the fatal blows, with a court told the attack wasn’t racially motivated.

Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after he was allegedly struck in the head with a metal pole in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October, 2022.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Sewer fatberg of ‘grease and rags’ forces Bryan Adams to postpone Perth concert

Singer was due to perform Sunday night but authorities worried large blockage could cause sewage to back up in venue toilets

An enormous fatberg in central Perth has forced a Bryan Adams concert to be postponed after authorities raised concerns that sewage may back up at the venue’s toilets.

Adams was due to perform at the Western Australian capital’s RAC Arena on Sunday night, but the city’s water corporation said a “large blockage of fat, grease and rags” was causing wastewater overflows at nearby properties, prompting authorities to intervene.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘Intensely hot’ weather continues in south-eastern states as Victoria battles bushfires

Heatwave not expected to end until Tuesday or Wednesday as fires burn in multiple national parks

South-eastern states sweltering in a heatwave may be waiting until late Tuesday or Wednesday for a cool change to bring some relief.

On Monday, temperatures in Melbourne peaked at 37.8C just before 4pm, after a high of 38C on Sunday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Police missed red flags before WA man killed a mother and daughter on hunt for ex-wife, report finds

After Ariel Bombara claimed WA police ignored repeated warnings her father was dangerous and had guns, eight officers now face disciplinary action

Police officers missed red flags and should have seized the guns of a man who went on to kill a mother and daughter in a search for his ex-wife, an internal investigation has found.

Mark Bombara killed Jenny Petelczyc and her 18-year-old daughter, Gretl Petelczyc, in their suburban Perth home, before taking his own life.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732.

Continue reading...

Rain causes power outage for tens of thousands of Perth homes as long weekend brings hot weather

Heat moving east with temperatures over 40C expected in South Australia and Victoria

Light drizzle after a long dry spell is to blame for a series of fires that have cut power to tens of thousands of homes in Western Australia, while extreme heat is set to dominate the remainder of the long weekend in Victoria and South Australia.

A spokesperson from Western Power said dozens of pole top fires had left 38,000 homes in the Perth and midwest regions of WA without power on Saturday morning.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Western Australia bushfires: homes reportedly lost and thousands told it is too late to leave

Three properties lost near Arthur River, about 200km southeast of Perth, while another property near Yellanup destroyed and many homes without power

At least four homes have been burnt down as large bushfires sweep Australia’s west, with thousands of residents told it is too late to leave their properties

Hot weather and strong winds have fuelled several bushfires in Western Australia, including one in the Wheatbelt region that has burnt about 11,000ha.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Wild NSW weather expected to ease as WA’s Pilbara region braces for cyclone

Cleanup continues in parts of NSW as tropical low threatens heavy rain between Port Hedland and Ningaloo

The skies above New South Wales are expected to clear this week, bringing relief to thousands who have been left sitting in the dark as massive storms swept the state and knocked power offline.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast for the NSW capital and parts of the state suggests calmer skies in the week ahead, with light winds and a chance of a thunderstorm over Sydney on Tuesday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

New weather system to strike eastern Australia with strong winds and rain

Eastern NSW, particularly northern rivers, and Gold Coast at high risk for severe thunderstorms and winds on Thursday, BoM forecasts

Persistent rain and strong winds will sweep across New South Wales into the weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts, with parts of Victoria and south-east Queensland also likely to be affected.

Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said Sydney’s weather could shift from storms to a “dreary” mix of wind, rain and cloud. It would be “persistently windy” and “quite chilly”, he said.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Driver in Perth crash that killed four was speeding on wrong side of highway

A taxi driver, 58, a mother and daughter, aged 56 and 81, and an unidentified driver of another car died at the scene

A mother and daughter are among four people dead in a fiery crash after an SUV was driven at high speed on the wrong side of a highway.

A grey Toyota RAV4 and a silver Camry taxi collided about 3.40am on Monday on Leach Highway in Perth near the intersection of Abernethy Road, police said.

Continue reading...

Andrew Forrest fires back at ExxonMobil’s claims of ‘smear campaigns and lawfare’

Iron ore billionaire says he is ‘personally delighted’ at lawsuit as fossil fuel giant has ‘opened themselves up to cross-examination’ in a US court

Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest is among a group accused of orchestrating “smear campaigns and lawfare” against the global oil and gas sector “for politics, publicity, and private gain” in a dramatic defamation claim launched in US courts by fossil fuel company ExxonMobil.

But the iron ore billionaire, who is not himself a defendant in the case, said he is “personally delighted” at the court action and that “Exxon has walked themselves into the court and opened themselves up to cross-examination”.

Continue reading...

Foreign tourists among three dead after Rottnest Island seaplane crash

Privately owned Cessna 208 Caravan 675 plane was carrying seven people when it crashed off Western Australia coast

Three people have died after a seaplane crashed near Western Australia’s popular tourist destination Rottnest Island with seven people on board.

The privately owned Cessna 208 Caravan 675 seaplane is believed to have struck a small limestone outcrop called Phillip Rock while taking off from Rottnest Island, off the coast of Perth, at about 4pm local time on Tuesday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...