As it happened: WA news on Tuesday, April 22

In case you missed it, the entirety of last week’s $30 million Powerball jackpot was scooped up by a single ticket purchased in Perth.

After patiently waiting the long weekend, the LotteryWest headquarters confirmed the winners this afternoon as three friends from the eastern suburbs who regularly buy lotto tickets together.

WA has a new millionaire after Saturday’s lotto draw.

The winning six game ticket was purchased for $8.05 from The Village News in High Wycombe.

When one of the trio returned to the store the next day to check, they had no idea they had won.

“I had a few tickets to check but when I got to this one the retailer quietly took me to one side,” they said.

“There was a huge queue with everybody getting organised for Easter, and I wondered what on earth he was doing.

“I didn’t even know there was a win in Perth, when he told me I had won $30 million I was completely baffled.

“He told me to go straight home, take a few deep breaths and enjoy the moment.”

The three friends attended various family events across the weekend, not letting on they’d won a life-changing prize, while coming to terms with the great news.

“I could barely think straight while chatting with family on Easter Sunday,” one winner said.

“It feels like an out-of-body experience.

“We’d like to work towards a three-day workweek and early retirement, but we want to stay active, and we like our work.”

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

It’s been a quiet day on the federal election campaign trail as Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton hit pause as a mark of respect while the world mourned the death of Pope Francis.

However, the leaders’ debate is still on tonight, so will it be “gloves off” once the cameras start rolling?

The debate is scheduled to air on Channel Nine at 5.30pm (7.30pm AEST) – you can follow our live coverage of all the action here.

And we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news you need to know from around Perth and across WA.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is urging his players to regain their defensive identity as the fallout from the upset 10-point loss to Melbourne continues to reverberate.

Melbourne’s score of 16.11 (107) marked the second time Fremantle have conceded 100 points or more this season, after Geelong piled on 147 points in round one.

Justin Longmuir is keen to get on top of the Dockers’ defence woes.Credit: Getty Images

The Dockers only conceded triple-figure scores on three occasions across all of last season.

When Fremantle last made the finals - in 2022 - the highest score they conceded all season was 91 points.

Longmuir is taking part of the blame for his team’s backward step in defence, hinting the outside criticism urging them to be more attacking may have played a role.

“We get criticised for being a defensive team at times, and I think our fans would have liked us to have been a little bit more defensive on the weekend and keep a low scoring team to under 100 points,” Longmuir told reporters on Tuesday.

“Twice this year we’ve conceded 100 points. Last year, it was three times across the year.

“We’ve lost our defensive identity at times, and we need to make sure we get a balance right with what we’re coaching.”

The lack of forward-line pressure against Melbourne was evident, but Longmuir said it was a whole-team mentality that hurt them.

“It’s not just the forwards. We’ve been inconsistent with our team defence all year,” Longmuir said.

Fremantle boast one of the most talented young squads in the AFL.

Longmuir is happy with the personnel at his disposal, but believes the mindset needs addressing.

He said defender Heath Chapman (illness) was on track to return for Friday night’s clash with Adelaide in Perth, but Jaeger O’Meara (hamstring) appears set to miss.

Ruckman Luke Jackson is still one week away from resuming from his hamstring injury.

AAP

Construction has just started on a new business park that will be home to the largest surf park of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The $40 million Jandakot Business Park officially went vertical this week with the first tilt panel lifted into place at the industrial development.

Artist’s impression of the Aventuur wave park in the City of Cockburn.Credit: Aventuur

The controversial $100 million surf park includes a 2.2 hectare open-water lagoon for up to 84 surfers at a time, alongside a high-performance surfing academy, short-term accommodation, bars and restaurants, shops, function centre, surf-skate bowl, and a health and fitness centre.

Perth Surf Park would be the equal largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere according to proponent Adventuur which anticipates more than one million people per year will use the facility.

Clearing land to build the surf park has sparked concern it would result in the loss of wetlands and Banksia habitat, used by endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoos and quendas.

Last year The Beeliar Group member Dr Megan Jaceglav described the surf park as “a travesty from start to finish”, not just for wildlife but also Perth’s drinking water supply, with plans to use more than 100 million litres of water for the park.

The surf park is expected to start construction in mid-2025, produce first waves in mid-2027, and open to the public in late 2027.

Brownes, the state’s oldest dairy, has been placed on the market after its overseas owner fell behind on a $200 million loan.

Receivers from specialist advisory firm McGrathNicol were handed the reins to Brownes Dairy’s ultimate holding company Australian Zhiran Co over the debt at the request of lender China Mengniu Dairy Company.

Brownes Dairy. Credit: File

McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford said receivers would now oversee the sale of the company, which has been a household name since it was established in the mid-1880s.

The sale is not expected to impact Brownes’ day-to-day operations.

Brownes chief executive Natalie Sarich-Dayton insisted it was business as usual and customers, farmers, and suppliers would not be affected by the sales process, which she framed as a “rare opportunity” for parties interested in acquiring the dairy.

“Brownes is an incredible Australian success story … and we are ramping up exports into new markets including Singapore, Malaysia and the United Kingdom,” she said.

“Our dedicated team continues to operate with the same commitment to producing high-quality dairy products using milk sourced from our trusted local farmers in the southwest region of WA.

“Our relationships with our local farmers and suppliers remain strong, and our focus on
delivering fresh, delicious dairy to Western Australian families is unwavering.

“We are confident in the continued success of our business and appreciate the ongoing support of our community.”

The Balcatta-based company, founded by Edward Browne, employs more than 270 staff and collects more than 150 million litres of milk annually from dozens of dairy farms across the state’s South West.

The news comes just weeks after Brownes reported a 10 per cent increase in annual revenue, which hit almost $270 million in 2024.

After ten weeks of evidence, the jury in the Cassius Turvey murder trial has begun hearing closing submissions from the prosecution.

The 15-year-old died 10 days after allegedly being attacked by a metal pole on October 13, 2022.

CCTV footage of Cassius Turvey on a bus on the day of his assault in October 2022.Credit: Supreme Court of WA

Prosecutor Ben Stanwix said the accused group, Jack Brearley, Brodie Palmer, Aleesha Gilmore and Mitchell Forth had a shared purpose he referred to as “collective stupidity” to hunt down and threaten a group of school children in a vigilante-style attack over some smashed car windows.

“It was a group of aggressive boofheads egging one another on that culminated in the high level intentional violence of a child,” he said.

“Groups can provide a warm comfortable space where really dumb ideas can seem reasonable … and that’s what we have here.”

Brearley has denied hitting Cassius with a pole, claiming he only punched him after the teen knifed him and Palmer struck the fatal blows, which he also denies.

The trial continues.

In case you missed it, the entirety of last week’s $30 million Powerball jackpot was scooped up by a single ticket purchased in Perth.

After patiently waiting the long weekend, the LotteryWest headquarters confirmed the winners this afternoon as three friends from the eastern suburbs who regularly buy lotto tickets together.

WA has a new millionaire after Saturday’s lotto draw.

The winning six game ticket was purchased for $8.05 from The Village News in High Wycombe.

When one of the trio returned to the store the next day to check, they had no idea they had won.

“I had a few tickets to check but when I got to this one the retailer quietly took me to one side,” they said.

“There was a huge queue with everybody getting organised for Easter, and I wondered what on earth he was doing.

“I didn’t even know there was a win in Perth, when he told me I had won $30 million I was completely baffled.

“He told me to go straight home, take a few deep breaths and enjoy the moment.”

The three friends attended various family events across the weekend, not letting on they’d won a life-changing prize, while coming to terms with the great news.

“I could barely think straight while chatting with family on Easter Sunday,” one winner said.

“It feels like an out-of-body experience.

“We’d like to work towards a three-day workweek and early retirement, but we want to stay active, and we like our work.”

Premier Roger Cook isn’t budging against growing opposition to his government’s planned street racing circuit on the Burswood peninsula.

Momentum is growing behind a campaign aimed at stopping Labor’s flagship $217 million election commitment with a Change.org online petition started in January gaining 7500 signatures and an online Upper House petition started by Greens leader Brad Pettitt collecting 1456 signatures as of today.

A concept design of the Motorsports Street Circuit in Burswood pledged by WA Labor.

The park has united some unlikely political foes with both Pettitt’s Greens and Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas opposing the project.

Speaking at a press conference in Bentley this morning Cook said his government was completely transparent with the public about the circuit.

“I will say that this was one of the very first election commitments we made in the campaign,” he said.

“We were completely transparent with the people of Western Australia about our plans for the Burswood Peninsula, and that is to provide an entertainment precinct between the casino and Optus Stadium, an entertainment precinct which will include outdoor events, will include sporting events such as cycling and for a very limited point in the year, street-based motor sports.”

Preliminary drilling work started at the site last week which enraged members of Save Burswood Park who said the government was pressing ahead without proper consultation.

“We also said that we’d consult with the community, and that’s what we’ll do,” Cook said.

A Derby man has been charged with murdering a woman in a suspected domestic violence incident.

WA Police said emergency services were called to Mowanjum Aboriginal Community around 7.45am on Sunday where a woman, 39, was discovered unresponsive. She was rushed to hospital but died a short time later.

It’s alleged the woman was assaulted by a man, 38, who was known to her in the early hours of the morning.

The man allegedly breached a 72-hour police order issued the day prior, and protective bail conditions.

He has been charged with murder, breaching a police order and breaching protective bail conditions.

Early voting for the federal election starts today with booths to open progressively until polling day on May 3.

The Australian Electoral Commission estimates up to half of WA’s voting population will vote early.

“What we would like to see is people still turning up to vote on polling day itself, so on Saturday, May 3 we will have 700 polling places open across the state,” Australian Electoral Commission WA spokeswoman Anita Ratcliffe told 9 News Perth.

More than 200,000 West Australians have already applied to vote via the post.

A tightly held block of land in Perth’s southern suburbs, which had an entire suburb built around it, has sold to an overseas developer for a staggering $4 million.

After four decades of holding out selling to developers, the family listed the six-acre Wattleup Road property in Hammond Park for sale last September.

The cash sale price is believed to be a record for the area.

This large property stands out among a sea of new builds in Hammond Park.Credit: Effective Property Solutions

Effective Property Solutions head of property investment Ollie Salimi said the sale received eight offers from established developers.

“The successful buyer is an overseas-based vertically integrated building and development company,” he said.

“The plan is to use the site for residential development to meet strong demand for homes in this flourishing southern Perth suburb that’s a major growth corridor.”

Salimi said the family was thrilled to finally secure a sale of the prime urban infill site after a number of unsuccessful efforts.

“This family had fielded many approaches by developers over a decade and had listed the land on this prominent road twice before, however, it was only on this third attempt that the sale got over the line with all parties,” he said.

“It proved worth the wait with the price exceeding the sellers’ expectations by 20 per cent.”

The property includes a double-brick home with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a semi-detached two-bedroom granny flat.