As it happened: WA news on Wednesday, June 4

A 20-year-old man has been taken into custody this morning after allegedly leading police on a car chase through Gosnells, before jumping out of the car and attempting to run away.

Police caught up with the Nissan when the 20-year-old driver crashed into a roundabout.Credit: WA Police

Around 3.45am, police attempted to stop a stolen Nissan Pathfinder after spotting the car on Dorothy Street.

The driver allegedly did not stop and instead drove in a reckless manner at excessive speed in an attempt to evade police, before losing control of the vehicle at the intersection of Fremantle Road and Corfield Street, crashing into a roundabout.

The man ran from the scene but after a short foot chase was taken into custody.

The man, from Cannington, has been charged with a string of offending including aggravated burglary and commit, stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving to escape pursuit, and carrying or possessing a prohibited weapon and drug.

His bail was refused and he is due to appear before the Fremantle Magistrates Court today.

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

We leave you with a story from chief political commentator James Massola, who reveals WA Senator Dorinda Cox described Labor as patronising to women and people of colour and claimed the party cared more about its donors than members in her application to join the Greens in 2020.

WA Senator Dorinda Cox.Credit: AAPIMAGE

Cox was a Labor Party member before leaving to join the Greens, becoming a senator in September 2021. She rejoined Labor in a surprise defection from the crossbench this week that infuriated her former colleagues.

When Cox joined the Greens, she filled out an online application form that asked her reasons for leaving any other political party. In her response, seen by this masthead, Cox delivered a withering verdict on the party whose values the senator said she shared on Monday.

Read the full story here.

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

Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati has opened up on the six-hour-a-day efforts he put in to make a swift return from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, saying the hard work was all worth it so he could play against Japan this week.

More than 50,000 fans are set to descend on Optus Stadium on Thursday night to watch Australia’s crunch World Cup qualifier against their arch rivals

Alessandro Circati.Credit: Getty Images

A win for the Socceroos would all but lock in their automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup, but a loss or a draw would mean their fate would likely be decided in a high-stakes clash with Saudi Arabia in Jeddah next Tuesday.

Circati’s hopes of appearing in this international window looked gone when he tore the ACL in his left knee while training with his Serie A side Parma in September last year.

Most soccer players who undergo a knee reconstruction take nine months or more to return.

Sam Kerr’s current recovery is at a whopping 16 months and counting, albeit with another setback along the way.

But Circati was back for Parma by May 18 – just seven-and-a-half months after surgery.

The 21-year-old impressed in back-to-back 90-minute performances for Parma last month, convincing Socceroos coach Tony Popovic that the centre back was ready for another international call-up.

“I was ready to play even earlier, but the club slowed it down rather than sped it up,” Circati said in Perth on Wednesday.

“When you first get your surgery and start your rehab, they ask you, ‘What’s your goal, what are you trying to accomplish?’

“I said, ‘Look there’s two World Cup qualifiers in June, my goal is to be able to go there’.

“I’m lucky enough to be able to do that.”

AAP

Virgin Australia has kicked off its return to the Australian sharemarket after an absence of more than four years, with bankers offering shares in the airline to investors at $2.90 apiece for its much-anticipated listing on the ASX.

Private equity owner Bain Capital will sell close to 30 per cent of Qantas Airways’ biggest rival, expecting to raise $685 million via the initial public offering. The $2.90 price tag for the stock represents a multiple of seven times the airline’s expected earnings this financial year, the firm said in its pitch to sharemarket investors.

Virgin Australia is going public again.Credit: Paul Rovere

Market sources said the joint lead managers of the offering believed demand from domestic and global anchor investors was “well in excess of the offer size prior to opening of the bookbuild”. It’s unclear when the stock will start trading on the ASX.

The IPO represents the culmination of years of waiting for the listing of the airline. Bain Capital bought the then struggling airline in 2020, taking it off the sharemarket after it had been placed in administration, facing soaring costs and the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown on travel.

Read more of the story here.

The number of babies being admitted to hospital with RSV has nearly halved compared to the same time last year, following the nationwide rollout of free maternal and infant immunisations against the virus.

In April 2025, just 84 babies under six months of age were admitted to major Australian hospitals with severe RSV compared to 165 in April 2024.

Intensive care admissions also fell, with just 7.1 per cent of cases requiring ICU support, compared to 11.5 per cent last year.

Infectious disease experts have said while the news is positive, the winter months will be the real test of whether the free vaccinations were having the desired effect.

In WA, the only state where comprehensive RSV immunisation uptake data is already available, more than 10,000 babies have been protected against the respiratory virus this year.

But Immunisation Foundation of Australia founder Catherine Hughes said she had been told some parents were unsure whether their baby was eligible for a free RSV vaccination, and that babies had been hospitalised after missing out on protection and falling through the cracks.

“The maternal RSV vaccine rollout only commenced in late February, while newborn babies only started receiving the infant RSV immunisation from April,” she said.

“This means there may be thousands of infants needing to see an immunisation provider to ‘catch-up’ on RSV immunisation.”

More than 60,000 cases of RSV have already been reported nationally, with more than half occurring in children aged under five years.

A 28-year-old Madora Bay man has been sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison for accessing and sending child abuse material via an online messaging app.

The Madora Bay man during his arrest.Credit: AFP

The WA Police and Australian Federal Police’s joint anti-child exploitation team arrested the man in December 2023 after a tip off from US authorities about an online user from Perth, who had uploaded child abuse material to a group chat.

Local police found the man and searched his home where they seized his phone and found about 370 images of children being sexually abused as well as messages where he discussed child abuse.

He was charged with 12 offences relating to the material and pleaded guilty in December last year.

He was sentenced on Tuesday in the District Court to seven years and nine months with a none parole period of four years and eight months.

AFP Inspector Shona Davis said her message to anyone who accesses, views or shares child abuse material was simple.

“The AFP and our partners are working tirelessly to identify you and prosecute you to the full extent of the law,” she said.

“Children are not commodities to be used for the abhorrent gratification of sexual predators.”

A 20-year-old man has been taken into custody this morning after allegedly leading police on a car chase through Gosnells, before jumping out of the car and attempting to run away.

Police caught up with the Nissan when the 20-year-old driver crashed into a roundabout.Credit: WA Police

Around 3.45am, police attempted to stop a stolen Nissan Pathfinder after spotting the car on Dorothy Street.

The driver allegedly did not stop and instead drove in a reckless manner at excessive speed in an attempt to evade police, before losing control of the vehicle at the intersection of Fremantle Road and Corfield Street, crashing into a roundabout.

The man ran from the scene but after a short foot chase was taken into custody.

The man, from Cannington, has been charged with a string of offending including aggravated burglary and commit, stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving to escape pursuit, and carrying or possessing a prohibited weapon and drug.

His bail was refused and he is due to appear before the Fremantle Magistrates Court today.

A Northbridge warehouse that was once the site of European Foods Wholesalers before the business vacated in 2018 has been earmarked for a $30 million revamp.

Entertainment giant Live Nation today announced a 3000-capacity venue – the Northbridge Music Hall – with plans to open the new space by the Summer of 2026 - 2027.

An architect’s rendering of Northbridge Music Hall, due to open in inner Perth during summer 2026-27.Credit: Arkhefield

The venue is projected to create at least 70 direct employment opportunities and generate positive economic impacts for other local businesses in Perth’s hospitality and live music sectors.

In a joint statement, Live Nation Australasia Director of Touring and Venue Development Paul Piticco and president Alex Klos said the plan was to host 120 shows in the first year of opening.

“Northbridge Music Hall is set to become a cornerstone of Perth’s cultural landscape and a dynamic space for live entertainment,” they said.

“Designed to welcome both rising talent and world-class performers, it’s an investment in the city’s creative future and we’re excited to collaborate with the local arts community to create new opportunities for both performers and fans.”

A vocal opponent of Woodside’s Burrup Peninsula operations has blasted defecting WA Senator Dorinda Cox for joining the Labor Party.

Before her shock move on Monday, Cox was an outspoken critic of the oil and gas industry as a Greens senator, particularly Woodside and its North West Shelf and Browse plans.

Murujuga custodian Raelene Cooper.Credit: Bianca Hall

In the past, Cox accused the government of “colluding with the gas industry” and just last week urged the government to prevent further development near the Murujuga rock art gallery.

Mardathoonera woman and former Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation chair Raelene Cooper released a statement on Wednesday morning claiming Cox had walked away from all the advocacy against Woodside’s North West Shelf extension she was engaged in while with the Greens.

“Senator Dorinda Cox has done nothing for grassroots Aboriginal communities or to help us protect Murujuga except put out lots of media statements that she walked away from as soon as she jumped ship to the government,” she said.

“Senator Cox does not speak for traditional custodians of Murujuga, for Aboriginal people or for Western Australia. She and this government deserve each other – good riddance.”

When asked about her position on Woodside and industrialisation of the Burrup Peninsula on Monday, Cox said it would be inappropriate for her to comment while the company was considering the approval conditions placed on its North West Shelf extension.

A man who was once on the most wanted list for his role in the Bali bombings, which killed more than 200 people, including 88 Australians (16 from WA), has caused outrage again – this time for a different reason.

After nine years on the run, Umar Patek was sentenced to 20 years in jail for creating the car bomb that exploded outside two Kuta nightclubs in 2002, causing widespread destruction and killing hundreds.

Umar Patek was convicted of making the explosives used in the 2002 Bali bombings.Credit: AP

But Patek served just 11 years of his term and, three years after his release, has started a coffee business and told the South China Morning Post he had “chosen a different path”.

The business is located in Surabaya, the capital of East Java.

“Once, I concocted bombs, and now I concoct coffee,” he said.

But for those whose lives were torn apart by Patek’s bombs, the news has caused outrage.

Mother Sandra Thompson, whose son Clint was among the victims, told South China Morning Post she still thought about the terrorist attack daily and questioned Patek’s motives.

“Has this man repented? Does he still think what he did was morally right? Or has he just served a sentence then moved on?” she said.

“Two hundred and two lives plus an unborn baby and survivors still living with the effects of their injuries. Has he paid for that?

“I thought I had forgiven, then another one is allowed to live a normal life. A life he took from all those families. My life has never been the same.”

Multiple police officers and a forensics crew have been scouring a service station in Perth’s northern suburbs for clues following a suspected armed robbery.

9 News Perth have reported that police were called to an Ampol service station on Hamelin Drive in Ballajura around 7.45pm on Tuesday night.

Three people entered the station and threatened a female cashier with an “edged weapon”.

The trio allegedly demanded cigarettes and cash from the worker before fleeing the scene. They are now in police custody and are assisting with inquiries.

Police are investigating the incident and have urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.