As it happened: WA news on Thursday, April 10

A man accused of murdering an Indigenous teenager after his car windows were smashed has admitted attempting to frame an innocent man for the killing.

Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after prosecutors say he was chased, knocked to the ground and “deliberately struck to the head with a metal pole” in Perth’s eastern suburbs 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

Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, her boyfriend Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and his mates Brodie Lee Palmer, 29 and Mitchell Colin Forth, 26, are on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for Cassius’ murder.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Ben Stanwix, Brearley agreed on Thursday he told police he spotted a neighbour near the alleged murder scene with a weapon that could have been a piece of pipe or a machete.

Brearley knew that Cassius was dead when police interviewed him and that he was implicating an innocent man in the murder of a child, the jury heard.

Stanwix: So you tried to frame an innocent man for the murder of a child?

Brearley: Yeah.

Stanwix: Isn’t the case you will tell any lie imaginable if it gives you a prospect of getting away with what you did?

Brearley: No.

Brearley said he did it to protect himself, Palmer and Gilmore before agreeing he previously said Palmer threatened to kill him if he was implicated in the alleged incident.

Stanwix asked Brearley if he agreed it was despicable and reprehensible to frame an innocent man.

“I don’t even know what those words mean,” Brearley said.

Stanwix explained they meant it was a disgusting thing to do.

Brearley said he didn’t agree.

Stanwix also accused Brearley of choosing the man because he was of a similar height and build, and had been in the area on the day Cassius was allegedly attacked.

Brearley agreed he looked similar but denied that it was why he named the man.

Stanwix: You knew you had to give someone to police that may be mistaken for you and that’s why you named (the man)?

Brearley: No.

Brearley agreed that he and Palmer re-enacted the attack on Cassius a day after the alleged incident, which was recorded on CCTV at Palmer’s home.

But he has denied he was the one who swung the fatal blows, saying it was Palmer and that he only punched Cassius after the teen slashed him with a knife.

The trial continues.

We leave you tonight with mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s take on Trump.

Forrest says he believes US President Donald Trump has two years to prove his overhaul of the government and economy will pay dividends that would offset the “destruction”.

The Fortescue founder had been speaking at an ocean protection forum when he was quizzed about the US government’s withdrawal from negotiations being held by the International Maritime Organisation, which is mulling an emissions fee in its bid to decarbonise the shipping industry.

Andrew Forrest. Credit: Ross Swanborough.

“I think [Trump has] about two years to demonstrate that wholesale, massive economic growth will return a dividend which could compensate for the destruction,” Forrest told the forum.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m a serious business person, quite serious compared to him, I reckon, and he’s made some very poor calls.

“Americans are not blind - they know international trade supports their lifestyle.”

The remarks come almost one week after the Trump administration announced sweeping tariffs he has since paused which wiped trillions of dollars off global markets and sparked fears of a recession.

The mining magnate made the comments at a two-day Indian Ocean Forum his family charity Minderoo is hosting in Perth alongside the French Embassy and the country’s ambassador to Australia ahead of the national conference in Nice in June.

Forrest welcomed news the Albanese government would ink the High Seas Treaty if re-elected next month, a United Nations pact to protect oceans deemed critical to meeting the globally-agreed target of preserving 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030.

Forrest warned global warming exacerbated by the burning of fossil fuels posed the biggest threat to the ocean ecosystem, something his resources-dependent home state of Western Australia found particularly difficult to move away.

Thanks for reading, and please join us again tomorrow.

Sticking with question time and John Carey has launched a furious attack over ‘NIMBYism’ on the Liberals new shadow minister for deregulation, Nedlands MP Jonathan Huston.

Huston railed against planning laws resulting in skyscrapers in his electorate during the election campaign and supported giving local government’s back planning controls.

Minister John Carey during question time.

Carey lashed his position in response to a question about boosting housing supply in the state.

“The definition [of deregulation] is the action of removing national or local government controls or rules of a business or activity,” he said.

“Who does [Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas] give the deregulation portfolio? He gives it to the member for Nedlands, the biggest NIMBY in Western Australia.”

Carey then read a transcript of a video of Huston during the campaign where he described members of Development Assessment Panels as stooges.

“They are not DAP stooges, and you should be ashamed of yourself these personal attacks on the DAP system, which is the system which your party established,” he said.

Huston has so far refused to provide details on what his responsibilities are under the deregulation portfolio.

To parliament now where question time has started with a warning from the new Speaker Stephen Price to members of his own party to keep their answers brief.

Price lamented that question time had ballooned out from the traditional 45 minutes to more than an hour by the end of the new parliament, and he intended to enforce more succinct answers.

Premier Roger Cook responding to a question today.

“Certain standards have been clearly set in relation to questions asked by the opposition, including that they do not contain arguments or preamble,” he said.

“I continue to uphold those standards in relation to questions, however, I now advise the house that I will be maintaining similar standards in relation to the answers.”

The statement was an unusual censure toward his own Labor colleagues.

Price said he will begin enforcing more concise answers...from next week.

Just two questions later Premier Roger Cook took more than four minutes to answer a Dorothy Dixer about his government’s own student assistance payment announcement today.

A man accused of murdering an Indigenous teenager after his car windows were smashed has admitted attempting to frame an innocent man for the killing.

Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after prosecutors say he was chased, knocked to the ground and “deliberately struck to the head with a metal pole” in Perth’s eastern suburbs 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

Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, her boyfriend Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and his mates Brodie Lee Palmer, 29 and Mitchell Colin Forth, 26, are on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for Cassius’ murder.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Ben Stanwix, Brearley agreed on Thursday he told police he spotted a neighbour near the alleged murder scene with a weapon that could have been a piece of pipe or a machete.

Brearley knew that Cassius was dead when police interviewed him and that he was implicating an innocent man in the murder of a child, the jury heard.

Stanwix: So you tried to frame an innocent man for the murder of a child?

Brearley: Yeah.

Stanwix: Isn’t the case you will tell any lie imaginable if it gives you a prospect of getting away with what you did?

Brearley: No.

Brearley said he did it to protect himself, Palmer and Gilmore before agreeing he previously said Palmer threatened to kill him if he was implicated in the alleged incident.

Stanwix asked Brearley if he agreed it was despicable and reprehensible to frame an innocent man.

“I don’t even know what those words mean,” Brearley said.

Stanwix explained they meant it was a disgusting thing to do.

Brearley said he didn’t agree.

Stanwix also accused Brearley of choosing the man because he was of a similar height and build, and had been in the area on the day Cassius was allegedly attacked.

Brearley agreed he looked similar but denied that it was why he named the man.

Stanwix: You knew you had to give someone to police that may be mistaken for you and that’s why you named (the man)?

Brearley: No.

Brearley agreed that he and Palmer re-enacted the attack on Cassius a day after the alleged incident, which was recorded on CCTV at Palmer’s home.

But he has denied he was the one who swung the fatal blows, saying it was Palmer and that he only punched Cassius after the teen slashed him with a knife.

The trial continues.

West Coast star Tim Kelly has been dropped ahead of Saturday’s clash with Carlton.

Tim Kelly.Credit: Getty Images

9 News Melbourne’s Tom Morris reported that the Eagles’ winless start to the season and Kelly’s rocky form had culminated in the axe falling on the club’s 2023 best and fairest winner.

The Eagles will be without the 30-year-old midfielder as they go in search of a desperately needed win in Gather Round at Adelaide Oval.

Coach Andrew McQualter said Kelly was disappointed, but understanding of the decision.

“He’s going to go and play in the WAFL this week and really work on the things that we’ve spoken about,” he said.

The former Cat racked up 29 possessions, including 13 contested, against Brisbane in round two, but has not tallied more than 18 touches in any of his other three games this season.

Kelly only found the ball 14 times as the Giants thrashed the Eagles by 81 points in Sydney on Sunday.

West Coast is anchored to the bottom of the ladder with a percentage of only 51.9 after four rounds.

A sad update on that crash we told you about earlier this morning on Riverside Drive in East Perth, the pedestrian struck by a car has since died of his injuries.

WA Police have confirmed a Toyota Camry sedan travelling in a westerly direction at around 8.45am struck the 56-year-old man as he was crossing the road.

He was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital but declared dead soon afterwards.

Major Crash investigators remain at the scene and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

The road remains closed.

The Premier has ended his press conference by commenting on the police missing persons case we told you about earlier this morning (see our blog post at 7.56am).

He has given his two cents on the issue, saying he is concerned a 12-year-old boy can buy a ticket and board a flight to Adelaide on their own.

“I think it’s extraordinary that a minor could so easily buy a ticket for a flight across the country,” he said.

“Surely it raises flags for any airline when you have a small child, a 12-year-old in this case, wanting to purchase a ticket.

“We understand unaccompanied minors do travel on flights, that’s a typical and regular thing, but a minor travelling alone, without any parental supervision, or without any guardian or carer oversighting the transaction, strikes me as very unusual,” he said.

The boy went missing from his Leederville home in the early hours of yesterday, and was found safe and well in Adelaide later in the day. His parents had no idea he had boarded a flight.

Premier Roger Cook has been asked if he agrees with comments made by billionaire Andrew Forrest at a business breakfast this morning that the Liberal party’s nuclear power policy was not a viable option for Australia.

Andrew Forrest speaking in Perth this morning at a business breakfast. Credit: Getty Images

Cook said WA’s future was in renewable energy.

“We can’t continue to just dig up rocks and ship them offshore,” he said.

“We can’t simply do what we’ve always done, which is relying on our rocks and our crops to bring prosperity to Western Australia.

“We have to be clever. We have to be innovative, and we have to look to what the opportunities for the future are.

“It’s in manufacturing, manufacturing which is brought alive, catalysed by the access to affordable, reliable renewable energy. And that’s part of our Made in WA plan.”

Premier Roger Cook has just announced new student assistance payments for families of school-aged children.

Families will be eligible for a $250 payment for each secondary school student, and $150 for each primary school and kinder student.

The payments, similar to ones offered by the state government as a cost of living measure last year, will be available from April 28.

New shadow treasurer Sandra Brewer has spoken for the first time since her mauling at the hands of WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti during debate on the Treasurer’s Advance Bill debate in Parliament yesterday.

During the debate, Saffioti seized on the digital footprint of Brewer, taking aim at the praise she lavished on the Labor government while serving in her previous role as chief executive of the state’s Property Council.

Treasurer Rita Saffioti poring over the tweets Brewer posted in 2019.

Before heading in for her third day on the job, Brewer said it was disappointing behaviour.

“I think Western Australians are sick of politicians that are just chasing political point scoring when they should be concentrating on the well-being and welfare of Western Australian families,” she said.

When asked whether she regretted those tweets she said, “not at all”.

“I’m proud of my career. I had a choice. I could have deleted them all, and I chose not to, the reality was, back in 2018, and 2019, there was strong fiscal management, and that contrasts to today.

“Yesterday, the treasurer asked the parliament for a further $2.5 billion in addition to the more than 10 per cent extra that was added to the state budget in government expenses.

“We’re in a totally different scenario where the treasurer is giving herself rivers of cash to spend across all sorts of portfolios, more than was spent in the pandemic.”

Treasurer’s Advance bills give the government authorisation to access funds urgently to pay for government services or projects.

Saffioti’s bill requests $1.9 billion to pay for things like the student assistance payment promised at the election, but the opposition claims it means the government can’t manage its cashflow.