As it happened: WA news on Tuesday, June 3

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged WA regulators to consider the issue of concussion as a bare-knuckle boxing league vies to hold a fight at RAC Arena next month.

The state’s Combat Sports Commission is currently assessing an application by the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship – partially owned by former UFC fighter Conor McGregor – to stage its event on July 19.

Anthony Albanese visited Perth this week as part of a national cabinet meeting in WA.Credit: Getty Images

A brawl over the issue has seen the sport labelled “morally reprehensible” in WA parliament, as the government distanced itself from the planned event.

Former sports minister David Templeman, who opened the door to the event in February when he amended regulations to recognise the BKFC as a sanctioning body, declined to discuss the topic when WAtoday contacted him on Tuesday.

Responding in parliament to the opposition’s demands that he “show some leadership” and stop the “morally repugnant event” last week, Premier Roger Cook said the league was “not his cup of tea”, but trusted the Combat Sports Commission to provide advice on how to run the event safely

The government continues to delegate responsibility for the fight to the Combat Sports Commission – but current Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti does have powers to veto the event.

At a press conference earlier on Tuesday, Cook stood firmly behind the Combat Sports Commission, despite admitting sports like mixed martial arts left him “a bit cold”.

“But look, I’m not here to lecture people about what they should and shouldn’t do,” he said, noting it was the commission’s job to ensure that, where combat sports take place, “they do so with appropriate supervision, particularly medical supervision, and in an appropriate manner”.

Saffioti, at a separate press conference today, said: “If you don’t regulate, if you don’t actually have rules in place, it goes underground, and that poses a far greater risk to everyone involved.”

But speaking to 6PR’s Oliver Peterson ahead of a cabinet meeting in Perth on Tuesday afternoon, Albanese raised concerns about concussion, revealing he had met last week with NRL legend Mark Carroll, who has said his time playing at the highest levels of rugby left him with chronic traumatic encephalopathy – also known as CTE.

“I think health advice is pretty important when it comes to all of these issues. And I’d be hopeful that whoever it is who’s making the decision bears that in mind,” Albanese said.

“It’s not really my responsibility as PM, but I do think that we need to be really cognisant about health advice when it comes to these issues, because they are really prevalent, and then in years past, there wasn’t as much concern about it.

“And I know of a number of footballers, a couple of whom I’m friends with, who are really doing it tough in their post-football life as well.

“And we’ve seen, certainly in across a range of football codes, but particularly rugby league and AFL, we’ve seen early retirements in order to protect people’s long-term health interests.

“I’ve never actually heard of bare knuckle boxing taking place.

“It’s pretty obvious what it is ... and there’s a reason why boxers wear gloves and wear appropriate protection, where it is appropriate, certainly in amateur boxing they wear headgear and all of that.

“You know, I do think that we need to have a bit of common sense here.”

We’re bringing our blog to a close for the day, thank you for joining us. We will be back soon with more live news coverage, so please join us then.

Here’s a recap of what we covered today:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in town with ministers to hold a special cabinet meeting, heralding WA as an integral part of his election success.

• New ambulance ramping figures released today show they have reached a May record.

• A 39-year-old man has been arrested and charged with numerous offences after allegedly leading police on a car chase across Perth on Monday.

• A statue has been erected in Mexico to honour Perth brothers Callum and Jake Robinson, who were shot dead during a surfing trip in Mexico last year along with an American friend.

• A 51-year-old man who was allegedly hit by an e-scooter in Perth’s CBD on Saturday night has died from his injuries.

• WA’s Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has revealed she wants to do a “compliance blitz” on modified e-scooters.

• Motorists have been warned of flooding on the Kwinana Freeway as a storm front soaked Perth on Tuesday morning.

• WA Police have launched a new campaign aimed at finding 364 “long-term” missing people who have vanished over the years with no explanation as to why.

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged WA regulators to consider the issue of concussion as a bare-knuckle boxing league vies to hold a fight at RAC Arena next month.

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

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged WA regulators to consider the issue of concussion as a bare-knuckle boxing league vies to hold a fight at RAC Arena next month.

The state’s Combat Sports Commission is currently assessing an application by the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship – partially owned by former UFC fighter Conor McGregor – to stage its event on July 19.

Anthony Albanese visited Perth this week as part of a national cabinet meeting in WA.Credit: Getty Images

A brawl over the issue has seen the sport labelled “morally reprehensible” in WA parliament, as the government distanced itself from the planned event.

Former sports minister David Templeman, who opened the door to the event in February when he amended regulations to recognise the BKFC as a sanctioning body, declined to discuss the topic when WAtoday contacted him on Tuesday.

Responding in parliament to the opposition’s demands that he “show some leadership” and stop the “morally repugnant event” last week, Premier Roger Cook said the league was “not his cup of tea”, but trusted the Combat Sports Commission to provide advice on how to run the event safely

The government continues to delegate responsibility for the fight to the Combat Sports Commission – but current Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti does have powers to veto the event.

At a press conference earlier on Tuesday, Cook stood firmly behind the Combat Sports Commission, despite admitting sports like mixed martial arts left him “a bit cold”.

“But look, I’m not here to lecture people about what they should and shouldn’t do,” he said, noting it was the commission’s job to ensure that, where combat sports take place, “they do so with appropriate supervision, particularly medical supervision, and in an appropriate manner”.

Saffioti, at a separate press conference today, said: “If you don’t regulate, if you don’t actually have rules in place, it goes underground, and that poses a far greater risk to everyone involved.”

But speaking to 6PR’s Oliver Peterson ahead of a cabinet meeting in Perth on Tuesday afternoon, Albanese raised concerns about concussion, revealing he had met last week with NRL legend Mark Carroll, who has said his time playing at the highest levels of rugby left him with chronic traumatic encephalopathy – also known as CTE.

“I think health advice is pretty important when it comes to all of these issues. And I’d be hopeful that whoever it is who’s making the decision bears that in mind,” Albanese said.

“It’s not really my responsibility as PM, but I do think that we need to be really cognisant about health advice when it comes to these issues, because they are really prevalent, and then in years past, there wasn’t as much concern about it.

“And I know of a number of footballers, a couple of whom I’m friends with, who are really doing it tough in their post-football life as well.

“And we’ve seen, certainly in across a range of football codes, but particularly rugby league and AFL, we’ve seen early retirements in order to protect people’s long-term health interests.

“I’ve never actually heard of bare knuckle boxing taking place.

“It’s pretty obvious what it is ... and there’s a reason why boxers wear gloves and wear appropriate protection, where it is appropriate, certainly in amateur boxing they wear headgear and all of that.

“You know, I do think that we need to have a bit of common sense here.”

Socceroos veteran Milos Degenek wants to see flares back at Australian soccer games, saying travelling teams now have it too easy due to fans being over policed.

Degenek celebrates a win while playing in 2022.Credit: AP

More than 50,000 fans are expected to turn out on Thursday night when Australia host Japan in a crunch World Cup qualifier at Optus Stadium in Perth.

The match will be played less than a week after riot police were called in to control unruly fans walking to the game in the lead up to Melbourne City’s A-League Men grand-final win over arch-rivals Melbourne Victory.

About 20 flares were lit in the crowd, with one police officer taken to hospital after allegedly being kicked.

Football Australia strictly bans flares and other pyrotechnics in and around stadiums, with perpetrators facing hefty bans.

The Socceroos have faced plenty of hostile crowds over the years in various World Cup qualifying campaigns, but Degenek feels Australian fans aren’t given the scope to return the favour due to restrictions being placed on them.

“It would be a lot nicer if when countries come to Australia to play against us, the crowd was a little bit more hostile” Degenek said in Perth on Tuesday.

“Put it this way. I played in Serbia. I played at Red Star Belgrade, in the Eternal Derby where you play Partizan (Belgrade), where flares are thrown onto a pitch, where the city gets shut down on game day.”

Degenek believes more people would attend games if they were policed less.

The Socceroos (13 points) sit second in their qualifying group. A win over Japan (20 points) would almost certainly lock in their place for the 2026 World Cup.

The Aurora Australis lit up the skies in WA early on Monday morning, but you’d be forgiven if you missed it – the rainy and cloudy weather made it difficult for anyone in Perth to see the show.

Matt Woods, from the Perth Observatory, intended to head out to Mount Dale to capture the lights, but the weather forced him further out east to Boyagin Rock near Brookton, about two hours from the city centre.

There, he was able to capture an hour-long time-lapse of the sky before the weather turned.

Returning to our earlier post from 8.07am about ambulance ramping and Premier Roger Cook has defended his government’s investment in the health system and blamed the issue on increased demand.

He rattled off a list of projects completed by the WA government in the health space like the WA virtual ED system, increasing the hospital system by 900 beds since 2021, 1800 new doctors and 4000 new nurses.

“You see record levels of people going through our hospitals, record levels of elective surgery being undertaken,” he said.

“It is an example and a sign of a growing population as part of being the strongest economy in the country, but that means we need to continue to invest.”

WA Police have today launched a new campaign, aimed at finding 364 “long-term” missing people, who have vanished over the years with no explanation as to why.

Crime Stoppers chief executive Vince Hughes said the focus was not on where the person was last seen, but on jogging the memories of anyone who might have information by evoking an emotional response.

The state government has also pitched in, offering a $500,000 reward for any information which leads to the location of a long-term missing person.

Major Crime Division acting detective superintendent Dave Gordon said the aim was to generate new leads and provide resolutions for those left without answers.

“The profound impact of a loved one disappearing without trace is immeasurable. Unique and ongoing grief can freeze the healing process and there is no certainty,” he said.

“This reward scheme is a crucial tool to encouraging the flow of new information, and it could be the key to resolving painful and prolonged absences.”

One such missing person is Rigby Fielding, who was 53 when he vanished in 2015. His sister, Stephanie Fielding, said he had called their mother after visiting friends and was about to get on the train home. He never made it.

“It’s pretty difficult … holding on to hope for over 10 years to get the answers we need,” she said.

“We need to know what happened to him, and we’re not going to stop looking for him until we have those answers.

“My brother didn’t go missing into thin air. Something dreadful happened to him, and I need to know what that was.

“He was a very much loved brother and uncle and son. He was very close to all his siblings and his friends. He was adored and he’s missed. He’s greatly missed.”

Motorists have been warned of flooding on the Kwinana Freeway as a storm front soaked Perth on Tuesday morning.

Main Roads WA said traffic was heavy on the northbound lanes of the freeway, with the right lanes worst affected by the flooding.

It comes as the Bureau of Meteorology warns of more severe weather predicted to hit the state over the coming days.

Senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said Perth had seen some intense and severe local storms overnight and into the morning.

A low-pressure system off the south-west of the state would bring more storms overnight on Tuesday, Narramore said, with severe thunderstorms likely for Margaret River and the Capes region.

The main trough will impact the state on Wednesday, bringing more “widespread shower and thunderstorm activity right through the day and into Wednesday night”, according to Narramore.

The inundation is predicted to bring 25-50 millimetres of rain for the coast, with some areas in Perth and the South West potentially getting upwards of 100 millimetres.

WA’s Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has revealed she wants to do a “compliance blitz” on modified e-scooters.

“What we have, I think, is this issue of private e-scooters that are modified, so I’ll talk to the minister for road safety on how we can do a joint compliance blitz, in particular in relation to the modification because that seems to be the real issue,” she said at a press conference this morning.

“We have very strict regulations about the speed and power of e-scooters, but it’s obvious that we need to do more in terms of compliance.”

She made that statement just before it was revealed the 51-year-old man who was hit by an e-scooter on Saturday night in Perth’s CBD had died.

The man was left in a critical condition after the incident, which led to the arrest of a 24-year-old British woman who is visiting Australia on a four-month tourist visa.

A 51-year-old man who was allegedly hit by an e-scooter in Perth’s CBD on Saturday night has died from his injuries, a Perth court has just been told.

The man was left in a critical condition after the incident, which led to the arrest of a 24-year-old British woman who is visiting Australia on a four-month tourist visa.

Alicia Kemp will now have her charges upgraded after the man’s death, prosecutors told a magistrate this morning.

Kemp was due to appear back in court to apply for bail this morning, but the upgraded charge has meant her matter will not be dealt with until this afternoon.

Kemp was allegedly riding an e-scooter while intoxicated when it hit the man on Saturday night around 8.40pm.

Another woman was allegedly riding on the back of the scooter at the time and also suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

Kemp has been in custody since her arrest and will appear before the magistrates court again this afternoon for a new attempt at bail.

Sticking with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s press conference and the GST was yet again a hot topic after this masthead revealed a fresh push from eastern states governments to alter the formula.

Albanese again backed the current formula that sees WA’s share sit at 75 cents from every dollar poured into the GST pool.

If the 2018 changes weren’t in place, WA would be receiving less than 30 cents from every dollar given the strength of our other revenue sources like iron ore royalties.

So to placate the other states who would be getting less under these changes there is a system called the no worse off guarantee that sees the Commonwealth top up states on top of their GST share.

It is this guarantee that has angered some of the nation’s top economists given the tens of billions of dollars it costs the federal budget.

When asked whether he had a plan to address this extra money flying out the door every year Albanese doubled down on it, saying it was a good thing the government was extending it.

“I can’t answer it any more clearly than to say that’s something that we supported, that we put in place. We are a government that is doing what we said we would do,” he said.

WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti said those comments would be music to the ears of other states.

“Because every territory and state has that no worse off guarantee. It’s a major commitment that has been given by the Albanese government, and it’s one that we all appreciate,” she said.

Saffioti fired back at the critics of the GST.

“There are some economic commentators over east who seem obsessed with wanting to tear WA down, and I just don’t know why they would,” she said.

“If you’re a true economic commentator, you would realise that WA is driving the national economic agenda.”