As it happened: WA news on Monday, August 26

And in other news, WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis has refuted reports the polyphagous shot-hole borer has been found in the Shire of Harvey, castigating the Liberal Party for what she described as “irresponsible rumour-mongering”.

During a press conference on Monday, Jarvis revealed Shire of Harvey officers appeared to have mistaken the European house borer — a well-known and established pest — for the South East Asian pest responsible for destroying 3000 trees in the Perth metropolitan area.

The rumour is understood to have arisen just over an hour after the state announced millions in funding to combat the shot-hole borer.

It was later republished by The West Australian newspaper.

But Jarvis declined to place blame at the feet of shire officers, instead accusing the Liberal Party of seeking to politicise the matter and creating fear and angst in the process.

Read the full article here.

Upmarket French jeweller Cartier has officially opened the doors to its new store on Murray Street, the latest high-end retailer to join the busy strip.

It has been more than one year since WAtoday revealed real estate investment company Centuria had been given the green light to embark on a $5 million revamp of the two-storey, post-gold boom Fauldings Building to accommodate both Cartier and Italian fashion house Fendi.

City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas said the opening was another sign of the “enormous confidence” in Perth.

The building, purchased by Centuria in 2007 for $12.5 million, had been vacant since the departure of middle-market clothing retailer Country Road in August 2022.

The new store is wedged between international hotelier Mantra and German fashion house Hugo Boss and is adjacent to luxury brands Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton and Chanel, all of which have left King Street over the course of the past three years.

The move comes as new data reveals luxury trade in Australia reached a record $6.2 billion last financial year.

A man and woman have been charged after allegedly fleeing police in a Range Rover on Sunday.

About 2pm, police attempted to stop a green Range Rover on Caledonian Avenue in Maylands.

Police Air Wing officers onboard a police plane monitored the vehicle as it was driven through several streets in Maylands, Bedford, Morley and Embleton and abandoned in McGregor Street.

After a foot chase a 25-year-old man from Lockridge was apprehended. He has been charged with stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving to escape police by pursuit, failing to stop and not having authority to drive.

A 25-year-old woman from Bayswater has been charged with breach of bail, stealing a vehicle and possession of a prohibited drug.

Staff in Seven’s Perth offices have been left scratching their heads after the company organised a performance by four women dressed as “sexy Santas” to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas during a town hall meeting on Friday.

7News Perth news director Ray Kuka addresses staff behind four women dressed up as “sexy Santas”.Credit: AFR

A screen capture from a live stream of the events shows the four women with linked arms, dancing in front of Seven’s Perth news director Ray Kuka standing at a lectern addressing staff.

The image, first published by The Australian Financial Review and since obtained by this masthead, has raised more questions about the culture at Seven, which has been the subject of intense scrutiny for the behaviour of its senior talent and executives this year.

Read the full story here

The boatman authorities have been searching for since early this morning (subject of our post at 11.06am) has arrived back at the Dampier Boat Ramp in the Pilbara.

He experienced issues with his vessel last night and was forced to camp overnight at Rosemary Island, continuing his trip back to Dampier today at a slow speed.

Police at the scene are helping get the boat out of the water.

He (and his dog) are OK.

All search assets have now been stood down.

Police thanked the public for their assistance.

A senate inquiry has just heard from the chief executive of a prominent West Australian Aboriginal corporation that despite members’ opposition to industry, they don’t “have the ability to say no.”

Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula) traditional custodians spoke at a public hearing on the Protecting the Spirit of Sea Country Bill.

Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper (left) and Josie Alec at the senate inquiry.

Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Kim Wood spoke under parliamentary privilege.

“No one is happy with what is happening on the Burrup, but we have limited ability to stop it,” he said.

“Anything we see happening on Murujuga is wrong, but we understand that industry will continue, and we can’t stop that.”

The Burrup Peninsula is home to two Woodside gas export plants – Pluto and North West Shelf – and ammonia and explosive plants owned by Norway’s Yara.

Private company Perdaman is building another ammonia plant and Rio Tinto’s main iron ore export port is nearby.

Woodside is doubling the size of its Pluto plant and is seeking approval to run its North West Shelf plant to the 2070s.

In early 2022, traditional owner Raelene Cooper made an application to protect Murujuga from further industrial expansion under Section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. She is still waiting for a decision.

She told the inquiry:

One year ago I beat Woodside in federal court to stop them blasting the sacred Sea Country and songlines off the coast of Murujuga. Just weeks after my victory NOPSEMA waved through Woodside’s application anyway.

I am heartbroken, devastated and furious that our governments continue to allow Woodside, Perdaman and Yara to destroy our sacred rock art, our songlines and our precious marine sanctuaries.

Perth man Ben O’Connor has defied the odds to increase his lead at the end of the first week of the Vuelta a Espana and remains in pole position to become Australia’s third cycling Grand Tour winner after Cadel Evans and Jai Hindley.

O’Connor looked vulnerable to losing a chunk of time to his nearest pursuer Primoz Roglic in the Sierra Nevada mountains on Sunday after squandering nearly a minute of his lead behind the victorious Slovenian in Saturday’s less-demanding stage.

Yet on a day when Britain’s Adam Yates produced the same sort of race-altering solo win that O’Connor had delivered on stage six, the courageous Australian actually turned the tables on three-time champ Roglic in the brutally hot conditions at the end of the ninth ‘queen’ stage from Motril to Granada.

While Team UAE Emirates ace Yates went it alone to win the stage by one minute 39 seconds from Richard Carapaz, O’Connor showed huge determination to take the group sprint finish for third, 3:45 behind the winner.

“Every second counts,” beamed the 28-year-old O’Connor, Australia’s top-ranked road rider.

“I showed my real capacity, and what I can do. So I’m proud.

“We were all a little bit cooked but I’m super happy with how we were as a team.”

AAP

It’s been a long, long time coming.

But our Premier and Treasurer popped out of the office a little while ago to announce the first train to Ellenbrook has taken to the tracks.

Now testing of the new track is under way, and after that passengers will be able to enjoy a 30-minute commute into the city, which the government says will cut travel time in half for people who live out that way.

“This will be a game changer for Perth’s north-east – bringing affordable public
transport to our suburbs, slashing congestion, supporting jobs and transforming local
communities,” Premier Roger Cook said.

The project required 21 kilometres of new rail line to be constructed, using 150,000
sleepers and 96,000 tonnes of ballast.

Five new stations in Morley, Noranda, Ballajura, Whiteman Park and Ellenbrook have been built or are nearing completion.

Treasurer Rita Saffioti told the media the state government hoped to open the line by the end of the year, two years later than initially anticipated.

The construction of the line was postponed during the pandemic in a bid to smooth out the state government’s project pipeline while supply chains were constrained and the labour pool was restricted by the border closure.

When WA Labor announced the project, promised by both major parties before being canned by the Barnett government, would form part of its flagship Metronet program.

The train line was tipped to cost $863 million ahead of 2017, but has since eclipsed $1.7 billion.

A Qantas 787 Dreamliner has cracks in panels and a flap after tread from a wheel was propelled at high velocity into one of its wings during take-off for a flight to Perth – damage only discovered after it landed.

Photographs show cracks in part of the wing, as well as extensive scuff marks from the wheel’s tread hitting it.

Cracks in the Qantas 787’s wing after it was hit by tread from a wheel during take-off in Rome.

The incident occurred during take-off from Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, Rome’s busiest airport, on Friday at the start of the 16-hour flight. Qantas Flight QF6 was carrying 195 passengers.

Pilots and crew were unaware of the damage. It was discovered when engineers conducted a walk-around when it arrived in Perth on Saturday.

The craft’s scheduled flights are cancelled. It will be flown without passengers to Sydney or Melbourne for further work.

The airline said the tyre remained inflated during the flight from Rome to Perth, and the aircraft operated as normal without any impact to systems or safety. “We apologise to passengers for the inconvenience, and thank them for their understanding,” it said in a statement.

Qantas launched Perth-Rome flights in 2022, the first non-stop service connecting Australia to continental Europe. Last month, the Flying Kangaroo also began 17-hour non-stop flights between Perth and Paris.

More details here.

Authorities are searching for 44-year-old Kevin Cunningham after his boat failed to show up in Dampier last night.

About 7pm he told an associate he was navigating his 5.8-metre black Bar Crusher back from Wandoo, a popular fishing spot in an oil platform region about 67 kilometres north-northwest of Dampier.

Kevin Cunningham and a boat similar to his. Credit: WA Police

Karratha Police were notified this morning that he had not arrived, and they checked it out to find only his vehicle and boat trailer at the Dampier boat ramp.

The Water Police Coordination Centre in North Fremantle is coordinating a search operation with police, Marine Rescue Dampier, Pilbara Ports and the Australian Border force all taking part.

En route to assist are a government fisheries vessel from Port Walcott and the AMSA Challenger Jet from Perth.

Police are appealing to anyone who has heard from him or who saw his vessel overnight; call the Water Police Coordination Centre on [phone] or 131 444.