As it happened: WA news on Friday, May 30

Good afternoon, readers, and thank you for following along this afternoon.

In case you miss it on the homepage, here’s a fresh piece just published, by our political reporter Hamish Hastie.

He’s also been reporting this afternoon on the continuing political fight over whether the government will allow a bare-knuckle fighting event at RAC Arena, something the government, while somewhat guardedly, is calling a legitimate proposal, while the opposition is calling it “morally repugnant” and the peak doctors’ lobby “human dogfighting”.

Have a great long weekend; the live blog will be back on Tuesday.

Readers, some better news.

Police have found the missing two-year-old from our previous post safe and well, and have also recovered the vehicle.

WA Police Force officers are urgently seeking the public’s assistance for information to locate a car stolen from a hotel in Redcliffe about 2pm with a two-year-old inside.

The car, a later-model dark-blue Hyundai i30 hatchback with WA registration plate 1GWQ301, was last seen in the Bayswater area near Guildford Road.

Police urge anyone who sights the vehicle or has any information relating to its whereabouts to contact police immediately on 131 444.

The vehicle in question. Credit: WA Police

New West Coast recruit Tom McCarthy has gone from stacking shelves at Woolworths to being on an AFL list, but there’s some old fanboy messages that are already coming back to haunt him.

McCarthy was one of the feel-good stories of the AFL’s mid-season rookie draft, the 24-year-old selected at pick No.1 by the Eagles to cap a meteoric rise over the past few years.

Richmond VFL footballer Tom McCarthy has landed at the Eagles.Credit: AFL Photos

The speedy half-back had never been a part of an elite junior pathway, and until two years ago was playing division two football for Highett in the Southern Football Netball League.

McCarthy joined Richmond’s VFL program last year, and his progression was so rapid the Eagles had no hesitation in pouncing on him with their prized No.1 pick.

The Victorian had never even visited Perth before, and he was welcomed with open arms by his new Eagles teammates when he flew in on Thursday.

But a bonding dinner that night with Eagles players uncovered something slightly embarrassing – McCarthy’s old fan messages to new teammate Jayden Hunt.

“There’s a few photos and messages that I sent him back in the day as a fan,” McCarthy said with a laugh.

“I can’t remember what I texted him, but I used to love he had his headband ... and he used to love his choccie milk. He made it a big thing, so it would have been about that.”

AAP

Barry Cable, former WA football legend, has won his bid to have his child sex abuse trial heard by a judge only, instead of a jury.

Barry Cable.

Cable, 81, is alleged to have sexually abused a young girl in the 1960s.

He was charged by police last May with seven offences dating back to 1967, including five counts of indecent dealing with a girl under 13 and two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 years.

Police said the girl was aged between nine and 10 years old at the time.

Cable pleaded not guilty to the allegations at his first appearance in Perth Magistrates Court, paving the way for a trial.

Yesterday his legal team argued in defence of a judge only trial, claiming he would not get a fair hearing of his matter in front of a jury due to his high-profile and media coverage.

Today, that request was granted.

To more crime news now and two people who were driving recklessly in Kalgoorlie this week have been arrested and charged – one who allegedly tried to mow down a police officer in an ATV while they were arresting the other.

Around 8am, WA Police spotted a stolen white Toyota Landcruiser – towing a trailer with a small crane – travelling recklessly through bushland areas in Karlkurla.

An hour later police intercepted the Landcruiser, which was no longer towing the trailer, and arrested a 19-year-old woman.

During the arrest, a Polaris ATV being driven by a 29-year-old man was directed to stop by police.

The man allegedly refused and instead drove the ATV directly at the officer who was arresting the woman, who was forced to take evasive action.

He and the woman were not injured, and the 29-year-old accelerated away from police.

About 10.20am, police located the ATV in a laneway in West Lamington, where the driver allegedly drove the ATV at speed directly towards police.

The ATV rolled and caused significant damage to the police vehicle, with two officers inside. Neither were injured.

They exited the vehicle and quickly arrested the man, who was allegedly in possession of methylamphetamine.

A search warrant at a nearby residence revealed a stolen trailer and a Bobcat, alongside hazardous material (mercury) and a paintball gun.

Goldfields-Esperance District acting inspector Shayne Knox said it was reckless behaviour which could have caused “catastrophic outcomes” for the public and officers involved.

In case you missed the wash-up from Thursday’s AFL draft, West Coast’s mid-season reinforcements could be thrust into action in the coming weeks and they’re also being encouraged to let loose on the waves in Perth.

The Eagles used pick No.1 in the mid-season rookie draft to snare late bloomer Tom McCarthy, who was playing division-two football for Highett in the Southern Football Netball League before joining Richmond’s VFL program last year.

West Coast were initially planning on having only one pick in the draft, but Jake Waterman’s season-ending shoulder injury meant they were able to add South Australian Jacob Newton as well.

McCarthy will line up for West Coast’s WAFL side this Saturday and a strong performance there could land him a senior call-up as early as next week.

Newton is nursing a minor quad injury that will keep him out of action this week, but there’s hope he will be able to replenish West Coast’s battered stocks in the near future.

The Eagles have been hit hard by injuries recently.

Jeremy McGovern’s career could be over due to concussion, Waterman will undergo season-ending surgery this week while Jamie Cripps (knee) and Matt Owies (calf) will be sidelined for at least three more weeks.

Star midfielder Elliot Yeo, who is yet to play this season due to a serious ankle injury that required surgery, is still 5-6 weeks away from resuming, while Dom Sheed suffered a season-ending knee injury during the summer.

Newton loves surfing – a sport that comes with huge risks for professional athletes.

But McQualter doesn’t want his players to live in a bubble and is encouraging Newton – or anyone else for that matter – to jump on a surfboard.

“We encourage that, it’s good,” McQualter said.

“I was speaking to Crippa yesterday, he told me he used to surf a lot when he was younger, and it was the fittest he’d ever been.

“So we might have to get a few more of our boys to start surfing.”

West Coast were interested in snaring Newton during last year’s national draft, but they decided against it after the 18-year-old was struck down by a foot injury.

McQualter is flagging a role up forward for Newton with a possible move into the midfield down the track.

West Coast (1-10) are back in action on Sunday when they host Geelong.

AAP

The WACA redevelopment has been hit with another $15 million cost blowout that will be picked up by the state, taking the total of the project to $182.5 million and the state’s contribution to $105 million.

The WACA redevelopment includes a community pool with waterslides, gym, cafe, playground and new cricket museum.Credit: WACA

The extra money, described as “post-construction costs” will be included in the upcoming state budget.

It is the latest escalation in building costs that have plagued many state government projects since COVID-19.

Construction of the redevelopment reached its highest point on Friday and lead contractor ADCO said it believed the facility would be open by November this year.

The redevelopment includes new high-performance cricket training facilities, a community pool with waterslides, gym, cafe, playground and new cricket museum.

The federal government tipped in $30 million for the project, while the City of Perth is spending $25 million and the WACA has raised $14.5 million.

Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said the project would be an incredible hub for East Perth.

“You’re looking at what is a reinvigorated East Perth. You’re looking at the Boorloo Bridge, which is just incredible just a few 100 meters away, you’re looking at new apartments being built, and you’re looking at a whole new community hub,” she said.

The project has been the cause for controversy and was one of the earliest issues that Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas locked horns with the government on when he was City of Perth Mayor.

Zempilas managed to avoid the City of Perth taking on any ongoing maintenance and operational costs for the aquatic centre and only pay for its construction.

The state government will underwrite the aquatic centre and Saffioti revealed the reason the huge slides and gym were included in the redevelopment were to help the centre break even.

“One of the reasons the slides have been included to make sure it has the best opportunity to break even over time,” she said.

“The lessons we have learned is having things like slides brings family in and also the gymnasium.”

A man who fled to New Zealand from Perth nine years ago after allegedly attacking people with meat cleaver, and then proceeded to taunt detectives by calling and telling them “catch me if you can”, has finally been arrested.

The now 26-year-old man was extradited from Auckland on Thursday night.

The man arrived in Perth on Thursday night. Credit: WA Police

In September 2016, he allegedly entered a fast food outlet along Walter Road East in Morley around 11.50pm, armed with a large meat cleaver.

He then allegedly threatened the two staff members with the meat cleaver, demanding money, and was given a sum of cash before fleeing the area in a Honda CRV station wagon.

During the armed robbery, the staff members received lacerations allegedly from the meat cleaver, which required medical treatment.

Detectives from the Regional Investigations Unit spoke to the then 18-year-old, and a day later he boarded a flight to Auckland.

He allegedly continued to taunt investigating detectives, phoning them from New Zealand and saying, “catch me if you can”.

Well, they finally did.

He has been charged with armed robbery over the attack and will appear in court today.

He also has an outstanding return to prison warrant for charges of aggravated armed robbery, armed robbery, attempted aggravated armed robbery and assault occasioning bodily harm, which relate to incidents that occurred in 2014 and 2015.

The accolades keep on coming for Brother Thomas Oliver Pickett, who last night was crowned Western Australian of the Year.

Pickett was also crowned WA Senior Australian of the Year for 2025 earlier this year for his nearly 30 years of work with his charity Wheelchair for Kids Australia.

Brother Thomas Oliver Pickett.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Since 1996 Pickett, a former metalwork teacher, has been making wheelchairs for children in developing countries free of charge.

Since then, he and his team of volunteers have built more than 61,000 wheelchairs for children all over the world.

Pickett also won the community award.

A full list of the winners in other categories can be seen below:

Aboriginal Award: Dr Mara West

Arts and Culture Award: Lucy Durack

Business Award: Nigel Satterley

Professions Award: Sue Fletcher

Sport Award: Nina Kennedy

Youth Award: Kennedy Lay