WA news LIVE: Suspected arsonists caught cheering as flare thrown into Woodvale wetlands

We’re bringing our blog to a close for today, thank you for joining us.

Here’s a recap of some of the headlines we covered today:

• US aluminium producer Alcoa has been fined $400,000 over an incident at its Kwinana refinery in 2022, when a caustic solution burnt workers and students on a work experience placement.

• WA has recorded its first criminal conviction of a person identified using genealogy techniques.

• A politically sensitive decision on the future of Woodside’s North West Shelf project has been delayed until after the federal election.

• Western Australia will receive just 2 per cent, or $350 million, of the $17.1 billion new infrastructure funding contained in the federal budget handed down last night. But Treasurer Rita Saffioti says she received reassurance last night that WA would get an additional $650 million for projects planned from 2029 onwards.

• A search is under way in WA’s remote north after a tourist fell out of his kayak in fast-moving waters two days ago.

• Police believe a bushfire that tore through 25 hectares on Sunday and came dangerously close to homes was deliberately lit.

Thank you again for tuning in today, we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news you need to know.

A police blitz on Perth roads this weekend has resulted in 501 people being issued fines and two people having their cars impounded for driving nearly twice the speed limit in 60km/h residential zones.

Road Policing Command Acting Inspector Steve Walters said another targeted operation in Rockingham, where 6000 vehicles were stopped, resulted in 34 drivers being caught drink-driving, and eight with illicit drugs in their system.

“These numbers and these attitudes towards road user behaviour are unacceptable,” he said.

“Our operation aims to influence road user behaviour and prevent fatal and serious crashes on our roads.

“Every death on our roads, that impacts so many people within the community, not just that person’s family but their friends and their associates.”

WA’s road toll for 2025 stands at 45. A total of 188 people lost their lives on WA roads last year.

Police believe a bushfire that tore through 25 hectares on Sunday and came dangerously close to homes was deliberately lit.

Investigators have just released footage of a group of people walking along Springwood Way and Duffy Terrace in Woodvale around 12.30am shortly before a flare is thrown high into the air, landing in bushland.

People can be heard hollering on the CCTV as the flare falls from the sky.

Anyone with information about the identity of the group members is asked to contact Crime Stoppers, with a reward of up to $25,000 available for information that leads to the identification and conviction of an arsonist.

A search is underway in WA’s remote north after a tourist fell out of his kayak in fast-moving waters two days ago.

WA Police confirmed the 79-year-old was with a tour group enjoying the Drysdale River near Wyndham around 1pm on Monday when the incident occurred.

Another man who jumped into the water to try and save him also succumbed to the fast-moving rapids and was later found by rescuers clinging to a tree.

Both men were part of a group of five people and several tour guides on a multi-day tour. The area is not far from the popular Gibb River Road track.

Kimberley District Detective Superintendent John Hutchinson said serious weather conditions and difficult terrain were making the search and rescue operation difficult.

“The search area is inaccessible by road, and rising water levels due to overnight rainfall only adds to the complexities,” he said.

“WA Police are committed to the task with officers remaining on scene overnight. The operation is ongoing, and we are using every resource at our disposal to bolster search efforts.”

Treasurer Rita Saffioti has labelled the actions of boys from Shenton College, who were loudly discussing sexually abusing women and girls while on the bus home from school, as “shocking”.

This masthead understands the school this morning called in everyone who caught the bus service to question them over the allegations, and that those involved have been identified.

At a press conference today, Saffioti confirmed the school was investigating.

“I’ll make sure my agency provides all information and all evidence it can to support any investigation,” she said.

Saffioti said it was “disturbing” that teenagers were being exposed to extremist views online, which may have fuelled the ideologies being expressed by the group on the bus.

“I hear it a bit from my children about what is being put out there. It’s very, very disturbing,” she said.

“It’s just humanless. People disassociate what’s happening on their phones to what is actual real life, and they don’t understand the difference.

“It’s a challenge for parents, it’s a challenge for schools, it’s a challenge for the entire community.”

To politics now, and Treasurer Rita Saffioti has just held a press conference where she fielded questions from journalists asking if WA has been neglected in the Federal government’s budget allocation for major road infrastructure.

Western Australia will receive just 2 per cent, or $350 million, of the $17.1 billion new infrastructure funding contained in the federal budget handed down last night.

Treasurer Rita Saffioti speaking with media today.Credit: Hamish Hastie

The funding will only cover half of the Kwinana Freeway widening project, with the state footing the rest of the bill.

However, Saffioti says she received reassurance last night that WA would get an additional $650 million for projects planned from 2029 onwards.

“We’re very confident as we move forward we’ll continue to have new projects in those years to continue a strong momentum of delivering transport initiatives across the state,” she said.

“Over the next two to three years we have a number of projects we will be delivering in conjunction with the Commonwealth, that includes the Tonkin Highway extension, the new interchanges in particular on Welshpool [Road] and Tonkin [Highway], the Reid Highway interchanges and a number of projects around the state.”

Saffioti acknowledged WA was the only state to have its road funding go down in the forward estimates, but denied the west was being neglected due to it being considered a safe Labor state.

Other state’s, such as Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria – where Labor is trying to sandbag support ahead of the Federal election – received the lion’s share of the infrastructure funding.

Fremantle defender Jordan Clark says he was left heartbroken by the three-point loss to Sydney, but is adamant the players are remaining “positive as hell” as they bid to recover from a 0-2 start.

The Dockers’ knack of losing close games in 2024 reared again on Sunday when Sydney kicked the final two goals of the match to snatch a thrilling win at Optus Stadium.

Fremantle made a series of key mistakes in the last five minutes, leaving the players shattered after the match.

Despite the loss, it was a vastly-improved showing from the 78-point defeat to Geelong a week earlier, but Clark said it was still a result that cut deep and left him feeling “pretty damaged”.

“To be over them all day and to lose like that, it’s pretty heartbreaking,” he said.

“There were just little things that let us down. Defending the lead, we want to try and keep the ball skinny. You want to be able to defend behind it.

“Kicks into the middle of the ground that get turned over – you can’t defend behind those and they scored twice from it, so we let ourselves down in that area.”

A politically sensitive decision on the future of Woodside’s North West Shelf project has been delayed until after the federal election.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek was due to decide on Woodside’s proposal to extend the operating life of its North West Shelf project by March 31.

The assessment deadline was already pushed from February 28, after the WA government was slow to send through reports on industry impact on the Murujuga rock art on Burrup Peninsula, where Woodside’s Karratha Gas Plant operates.

The new deadline of May 31 was uploaded to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water website last night.

The deadline pushes the decision past the expected early May election, but will almost certainly thrust the project into the election campaign.

Read more here.

WA has recorded its first criminal conviction of a person identified using genealogy techniques.

The science, which has led to several cold case arrests so far in WA, allows detectives to identify an offender by placing their mystery DNA into a public database which finds distant relatives and allows researchers to narrow the pool to the culprit.

In 2018, the technology famously led to the identification of the Golden State Killer, who murdered 13 people and raped 50 women in the US in the 1970s and 1980s.

On Tuesday, Perth man Gavin Durbridge, 55, was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to raping a 13-year-old boy who was riding his bike across an oval in Carine when he was forced into bushes at knifepoint in 1991.

The rapist’s DNA was recovered at the time, but who it belonged to remained a mystery until recently, when it was uploaded to a public DNA database.

“Criminals in hiding should be looking over their shoulders. It’s only a matter of time before WA Police come knocking,” a police spokeswoman said.

During his sentencing in Perth District Court, Durbridge, who was married with children, said he had been on drugs at the time of the crime.

“I can only hope my incarceration can bring closure to my victim and his family,” he said.

“I’m sincerely remorseful and sorry for the crime I committed 33 years ago.

“I’ll never forgive myself for my actions. I’ve managed to ruin two family’s lives – my kids have had their lives turned upside down.”

Fire crews were forced to wear toxic smoke prevention masks after flames ripped through a building on Aberdeen Street in Perth overnight.

The cause of the blaze is being investigated.Credit: 9 News Perth

Multiple crews were sent to respond, using ladders to access the roof, as thick black smoke billowed from the Aboriginal Legal Services building.

Two people inside at the time avoided injury.

The arson squad will return to the scene this morning to determine the cause of the blaze.