As it happened: WA news on Wednesday, March 19

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

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

• A WA security guard was among 17 people to be recognised for their bravery by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, receiving a commendation for brave conduct.

• Opposition leader Peter Dutton has just announced that, if elected, a Coalition government would assess Woodside’s North West Shelf extension proposal “within 30 days”.

• Mineral Resources has suspended its iron ore road train operations in Onslow after being issued a notice from Worksafe relating to the risks the private road posed.

• WA Premier Roger Cook and his new ministry have just been sworn in during a ceremony at Government House.

• WA’s top cop says a children’s court decision to allow a teenager who assaulted a police officer to walk free last week was “extremely upsetting” to his officers.

• A Perth obstetrician due to front court over the western suburbs crash that killed a 24-year-old woman and left her ride-share driver seriously injured has had his matter adjourned.
• Former AFL player Shannon Cox has pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter over a horror crash that killed two elderly women in the state’s Wheatbelt.
• A West Australian mother whose twin seven-year-old daughters died when the car she was driving crashed into a tree has been jailed over the tragedy which left her “drowning in emptiness”.

Thank you for tuning in today. We’ll see you again tomorrow for more news you need to know.

Crown Perth patrons will soon be forced to set their own spend and time limits for the casino’s poker and electronic gaming machines as part of a push to tackle problem gambling.

The casino giant will begin advising the new rules from next month, with the changes to officially come into effect from December 1.

Crown Perth is preparing to introduce poker machine spend and time limits. Credit: Reuters

The move was a key recommendation of the Perth Casino Royal Commission report, published three years ago.

The report found patrons should be able to set their own spend and time limits for electronic gaming machine use to reduce their risk of gambling-related harm.

“As Perth Casino is a monopoly supplier of electronic gaming machines in Western Australia, the scheme does not face many of the barriers to its implementation that exist in other Australian states and territories,” the report foreward read.

“We consider that every effort should be made to implement the scheme as soon as possible.”

Crown Perth patrons will soon be required to be a member of the casino to play on the machines, and will receive player activity statements each month.

Crown Casino Melbourne introduced similar restrictions in 2022 following their own Royal Commission.

A West Australian mother whose twin seven-year-old daughters died when the car she was driving crashed into a tree has been jailed over the tragedy which left her “drowning in emptiness”.

Macey and Riley were travelling with their mother, Rachel van Oyen, from Kalgoorlie to Perth in February 2024 when the family’s Toyota Camry sedan veered off the road on Great Eastern Highway in Carrabin.

Rachel van Oyen with her twin daughters, Macey and Riley, who died in a crash last year. Credit: Facebook

The 32-year-old mother survived, and later wrote that she held her two daughters helplessly in her arms as they “grew wings” and died.

Van Oyen was later charged with two counts of careless driving causing death. She pleaded guilty to those charges in Northam Magistrates Court in December, and was sentenced in that same court this afternoon.

The magistrate sentenced her to eight months behind bars, suspending the sentence for six months – meaning van Oyen will serve an immediate prison sentence of two months.

The court was told she was charged with careless driving because she closed her eyes briefly while behind the wheel, and when she opened them again, she had drifted and overcorrected the car into the path of a tree.

Sticking with the Everybody’s Home’s forum now, and Member for Curtin Kate Chaney has revealed her constituents have not emerged unscathed when it comes to the nation’s housing crisis and addressed the electorate’s “anti-infill” reputation.

The teal independent told the debate that housing was still the number one issue raised with her, even in her “relatively wealthy electorate”.

Curtin MP Kate Chaney.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

She said home owners had expressed concern about how difficult it would be for their children and grandchildren to enter the property market considering the gulf between the growth in property prices when compared with wages.

Chaney said increasing supply was essential in improving housing affordability, and she acknowledged the role of density in making that happen – a topic that has caused much consternation in her electorate, but a conversation she has been at pains to broaden.

“We have a reputation as ‘anti-infill’, but I think it’s about addressing how we can do that while retaining the existing tree canopy and ensuring we have walkable streets,” she told the forum.

While conceding there was “no silver bullet” on the issue of housing, she called for all three tiers of government to work together to increase supply, support sustainable infill, attract more workers to the residential construction industry and improve security of tenure and assistance for renters.

The federal seat of Curtin extends from Trigg down the coast to North Fremantle and takes in the city’s affluent western suburbs, including Peppermint Grove, Cottesloe and Dalkeith – which each boast a median house price in excess of $3.5 million.

Chaney has held the seat since the 2022 federal election, when she wrestled the formerly safe blue-ribbon electorate from the Liberal Party in a teal wave that swept the nation.

There is expected to be a tight contest in Curtin at the upcoming federal election, with Chaney taking on Liberal candidate and former Uber executive Tom White.

Labor Member for Perth Patrick Gorman has called for an end to the “raids on super”, lambasting the Coalition over a policy that would allow first-buyers to use up to $50,000 from their superannuation to enter the property market.

Gorman told a forum hosted by campaign group Everybody’s Home that housing affordability would worsen under the super-for-housing scheme, pointing to industry analysis that found the move could drive up property prices across the nation’s capital cities by up to $75,000.

Assistant Public Service Minister Patrick Gorman.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Gorman said he was disappointed by the policy, which former prime minister Scott Morrison also took to the last election and which he did not believe stood up to scrutiny.

“You have a policy that is going to make the problem we face even worse ... and which the nation’s best economists have described as one of the worst policy decisions of the 21st century,” he told the forum.

“This robs people of their future rather than building it.

“There have been a lot of different ideas for superannuation, including its use for housing and medical care, but it is time for the raids on superannuation to stop. It’s for retirement.”

The sentiments were echoed by fellow panelist and Member for Curtin Kate Chaney, who claimed it would throw more “fuel on the fire” and exacerbate intergenerational inequity.

She also pointed out that the measly average superannuation balance of those aged 25-34 meant young people were unlikely to derive any material benefit.

The coalition, which did not nominate a representative to participate in the forum, have previously claimed that any impact on housing prices would be offset by its plans to increase supply, including by investing $5 billion in an infrastructure fund to unlock 500,000 homes.

New data has revealed nearly three quarters of all parents who send their children to an independent school in WA would need to rethink their household budget if fees increased by a further 15 per cent.

And more than a quarter would be forced to cut back on essentials like groceries, medicine, and transport just to keep their child in school.

Student Victoria Hill says her family sacrifices a lot to afford her education.

The new figures were revealed at a press conference at St Stephen’s School in Duncraig today, during the state launch of a new national campaign, School Choice Counts, in the leadup to the federal election.

The campaign is aiming to stop funding cuts and end the “blame game” that “pits school sectors against each other”.

Independent Schools Australia chief-executive Graham Catt said the cost-of-living crisis was pushing many parents from all school sectors to the limit.

“Government policy that hurts schools, that leaves schools with no choice but to increase fees, not only hurts schools, it hurts families and ultimately, it hurts our children. It hurts their future, and it hurts our education system,” he said.

“The messaging that we’re hearing from politicians and others over the past few years has been really upsetting – to be labelled as privileged, be labelled as elite, for schools to be labelled as over funded, just simply doesn’t align with the facts.”

St Stephen’s School principal Donella Beare said the narrative around independent education could be misleading and harmful to families.

“Like most independent schools, we’re concerned about federal funding instability because it directly impacts our families, some of whom have made major sacrifices to send their children to an independent school,” she said.

Student Victoria Hill said there was an assumption that all parents of students at private schools were wealthy.

“I don’t think it’s fair to vilify families like that. Both my parents are public servants. We do make sacrifices. We forgo holidays, we forgo renovations, and it’s just about choice and priorities,” she said.

Mineral Resources has suspended its iron ore road train operations in Onslow after being issued a notice from Worksafe yesterday relating to the risks the private road posed.

It comes after two rear trailers of a road train tipped onto their side on Monday, sparking an internal investigation into what went wrong. The incident was the sixth rollover on the 147-kilometre stretch of haulage road since August.

MinRes’ private haul road in the Pilbara

The plagued passage links MinRes’ mining operations to port; however, the miner said haulage is continuing via contractor vehicles using alternative routes.

In an ASX announcement to shareholders, it said it expected to resume normal operations soon.

“MinRes has strengthened controls and traffic management on the haul road and currently expects to resume haul road operations without impacting FY25 Onslow Iron volume guidance,” it read.

WA Premier Roger Cook and his new ministry have just been sworn in during a ceremony at Government House this morning.

“We will never stop working towards ensuring every Western Australian has a home, that we live in the healthiest state in Australia, and that no matter where you live – in our suburbs, in our regions and towns or rural communities – all West Australians have access to local job opportunities,” Cook said, as he encouraged his cabinet to always listen and remain humble.

The new ministry included a significant reshuffle of portfolios, and the introduction of three new MPs.

WA Governor Chris Dawson with the state’s new ministry. Credit: Radio 6PR

WA’s top cop says a children’s court decision to allow a teenager who assaulted a police officer to walk free last week was “extremely upsetting” to his officers.

Police Commissioner Col Blanch told ABC Radio Perth that he had written to the Director of Public Prosecutions in the wake of Friday’s decision to not punish the 14-year-old.

“I think the community see an assault on a police officer, as an assault on our community,” he said.

“In my view I don’t see general deterrence from this outcome in that kids think they can assault police officers, which I would say the whole community would be outraged against and I am too.

“I have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions and said I am not happy about this outcome and I would like you to review it to see if we have any avenues of appeal.”

The teenager was one of four charged over an incident at Optus Stadium in December, where a motorcycle patrol officer was set upon by a group of four and bashed.

He was later hospitalised for his injuries.

The Perth Children’s Court magistrate – in deciding not to punish the teen after he pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting a public officer – said she believed he was genuinely sorry and had learnt his lesson.

Staying with the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court, and a Perth obstetrician due to front court over the western suburbs crash that killed a 24-year-old woman and left her ride-share driver seriously injured has had his matter adjourned.

Rhys Bellinge is facing three charges, including manslaughter and aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, after the Jaguar he was driving ploughed into an Uber in Dalkeith, killing UWA student Elizabeth Pearce and leaving her driver with two broken legs and a broken arm.

Perth doctor Rhys Bellinge.Credit: Facebook

The 45-year-old is also accused of being under the influence before the crash, with prosecutors claiming he blew a blood alcohol reading of 0.183 at the scene.

Bellinge had been due to appear in court via video-link from Casuarina Prison this morning, but the matter was adjourned to allow state prosecutors more time to gather evidence.

The appearance was set to be his first since being moved to prison from hospital, where he was being treated for the spine fracture he sustained in the crash.

The obstetrician, who hails from a well-known family in Perth’s affluent western suburbs, had unsuccessfully fought to be released on bail and placed in home detention, offering surety of $1 million.

He is next due to appear in court on May 28.