As it happened: WA news on Tuesday, June 24

Hamilton Road in Spearwood, which has been closed since the start of the month as authorities work to repair a burst sewerage pipe, has partially reopened as crews finish the clean-up from the spill in Perth’s south.

Water Corporation on Tuesday announced the northbound lane of the road had reopened, while the southbound lane was expected to reopen on Friday morning following restoration of nearby boundary walls, garden beds and lawn.

Sanitation of barbecues and playground and exercise equipment continues at the nearby Watsonia Park, which was inundated by the spill, while contaminated soil was removed at the weekend before gardens will be replanted.

The turf is stripped at Bruce Lee Reserve in Beaconsfield following a sewage spill earlier this month. Credit: Water Corporation

The park will be fully open to the public on Friday, but some replanting will have to wait until spring.

Meanwhile, in Beaconsfield, Bruce Lee Reserve is having its turf stripped by diggers, before new grass is laid.

The park will be fully open to visitors again by Friday, but fencing will remain around the affected areas of the reserve, which usually hosts the popular Freo Farmers Market.

The sewer main in Spearwood burst on June 6, leading to spills in the nearby area and throughout the southern suburbs system, including at Bruce Lee Reserve, with wastewater even leaking into the Swan River via Alfred Cove and the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour.

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

Here’s what made headlines today:

• Qantas flights from Perth to Europe were diverted following the closure of Qatar’s airspace after Iran launched missiles at a US base there.

• Weary travellers landed back in Perth Airport at 11am on Tuesday, 15 hours after they left the night before, and told media they didn’t know about the Iranian missiles until they landed.

• The WA Labor state executive last night unanimously elected Mark Reed as the new party leader.

• Despite WA’s new big batteries, investment in storage alone is insufficient and WA needs more energy generation as the end of coal approaches and hot summer days increasingly turn into hot summer nights, says the latest review of our state’s electricity supply.

• Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting will tip in US$1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) to develop a new iron ore project in the Pilbara.

• Fremantle Press and CircusWA have together jointly purchased their first permanent home: the historic SEC Substation on Fremantle’s Parry Street, with the support of prominent Perth property developer Adrian Fini.

• In parliament, Treasurer Rita Saffioti has had a crack at her counterpart in New South Wales Daniel Mookhey, who delivered his budget today and sent a few barbs WA’s way, likening the state to the Enhanced Games.

• Hamilton Road in Spearwood, which has been closed since the start of the month as authorities work to repair a burst sewerage pipe, has partially reopened as crews finish the clean-up from the spill in Perth’s south.

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

Hamilton Road in Spearwood, which has been closed since the start of the month as authorities work to repair a burst sewerage pipe, has partially reopened as crews finish the clean-up from the spill in Perth’s south.

Water Corporation on Tuesday announced the northbound lane of the road had reopened, while the southbound lane was expected to reopen on Friday morning following restoration of nearby boundary walls, garden beds and lawn.

Sanitation of barbecues and playground and exercise equipment continues at the nearby Watsonia Park, which was inundated by the spill, while contaminated soil was removed at the weekend before gardens will be replanted.

The turf is stripped at Bruce Lee Reserve in Beaconsfield following a sewage spill earlier this month. Credit: Water Corporation

The park will be fully open to the public on Friday, but some replanting will have to wait until spring.

Meanwhile, in Beaconsfield, Bruce Lee Reserve is having its turf stripped by diggers, before new grass is laid.

The park will be fully open to visitors again by Friday, but fencing will remain around the affected areas of the reserve, which usually hosts the popular Freo Farmers Market.

The sewer main in Spearwood burst on June 6, leading to spills in the nearby area and throughout the southern suburbs system, including at Bruce Lee Reserve, with wastewater even leaking into the Swan River via Alfred Cove and the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour.

Sticking with Question Time Treasurer Rita Saffioti has had a crack at her counterpart in New South Wales Daniel Mookhey, who delivered his budget today.

Mookhey’s budget contained record revenue of $124 billion, but net debt was expected to hit $134 billion by 2029.

This contrasts to the WA budget which will see debt rise to $42 billion by 2029 and revenue of $50 billion.

The Daily Telegraph reported Mookey as talking up the state of the NSW economy, which was the second-best state in the country – after WA.

But “I don’t really count WA”, he reportedly told journalists.

Before him, NSW Treasury Secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter reportedly offered a swimming analogy about the differences between the states – suggesting WA was the Enhanced Games hopeful James Magnussen while NSW was Kyle Chalmers.

Saffioti fired back, saying WA was too far ahead of any state to be included in their analysis.

“We are too far ahead, the envy of the nation,” she said.

Saffioti predicted the dire state of other state budgets would reignite the GST debate.

“That GST agreement is fundamental to our continued success, and our ability to continue to drive economic growth is something we will fight for, and we’ll continue to make sure that WA gets its fair share,” she said.

To parliament now – and the first question time since last week’s budget, where Shadow Treasurer Sandra Brewer has taken aim at the government’s cost-of-living package.

Brewer asked whether cost of living was still his government’s priority, given it had shaved $200 off the $500 Kidsport vouchers, decided against continuing free summer Vacswim programs and increased power and water bills by 2.5 per cent.

Cook said this budget contained $963 million worth of cost of living support, particularly next year’s $2.80 Transperth flare fare and the $337 million residential battery rebate scheme.

The premier went on to criticise the Liberals for raising power prices by 90 per cent while it was in power.

In return, Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas goaded Cook, yelling that “it wasn’t the History Channel”.

The opposition homed in on the cuts to the Kidsport payment in a later question, with education spokesman Peter Rundle questioning why the government was prioritising the Burswood racetrack over “practical” cost-of-living support.

Cook said the average spend of the vouchers was $250.

He said his government had doubled the voucher scheme above pre-2020 levels.

A nice little bit of breaking news for you now: an exclusive on how Fremantle Press and CircusWA have together jointly purchased their first permanent home, the historic SEC Substation on Fremantle’s Parry Street, with the support of prominent Perth property developer Adrian Fini.

The state government will also soon announce $500,000 funding for the two organisations to secure their much-needed permanent home near the intersection of Parry, Quarry and Adelaide streets.

Known arts supporters Adrian and Michela Fini are making the ambitious plan possible with a low-interest loan to the organisations. Adrian Fini is also behind the Wool Stores project, which is touted as WA’s biggest heritage redevelopment since the State Buildings were completed in Perth more than a decade ago and is likely to inject significant residential population and commercial activity into the area.

Press chief executive Alex Allan says the Press has been looking for a permanent home for years with their current cramped office unable to facilitate any visitors or events. She says this will be a game-changer.

Read more in the related article.

An update now on the post we brought you earlier, where passengers on a flight from Perth to Paris were turned around midair after Iran launched a series of missiles at a US base in Qatar.

Weary travellers landed back in Perth Airport at 11am on Tuesday, 15 hours after they left the night before.

Queensland residents Naomi Nettleton and her daughter Isobel Nettleton-Hart were passengers on Qantas flight QF33.Credit: Hamish Hastie

And it has emerged the passengers didn’t know about the missile attack until they arrived back to where they had taken off.

Most passengers this masthead spoke to were full of praise for the flight crew, but said they were only told the flight was turning back because airspace over Qatar had closed.

Will Berline, who was heading to France, said the flight didn’t have Wi-Fi, so passengers didn’t know about the Iranian attack until they landed. But he understood why the call was made.

Read Hamish Hastie’s full report here.

Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting will tip in US$1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) to develop a new iron ore project in the Pilbara.

Hope Downs 2 will mine two deposits – Hope Downs 2 and Bedded Hilltop – about 80 kilometres north-west of Newman.

In a statement today, Rio Tinto said the deposits would have a combined total annual production capacity of 31 million tonnes, and ore mined would be transported to Hope Downs 1 for processing.

The Hope Downs complex in the Pilbara is a sprawling network of iron ore mines.Credit: Reuters

The miner predicted the first ore would come in 2027, and the venture would create about 950 jobs during construction and help sustain a workforce of about 1000 full-time equivalent roles at Greater Hope Downs.

Rio and Hancock are splitting the bill 50-50, each putting forward US$800 million ($1.2 billion).

Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Simon Trott described the project’s state and federal government approvals as a “key milestone” as it invested in the “next generation” of Pilbara iron ore mines.

Hope Downs 2 forms part of Rio’s tranche of replacement projects, which the company said it was expected to invest more than US$13 billion ($20 billion) in over the next three years, and which will have a combined total capacity of about 130 million tonnes per annum.

The Hope Downs joint venture between Hancock and Rio was established in 2006, to take advantage of tenements pegged out by Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock.

The companies developed a series of mines in a complex that stretches between Tom Price and Newman.

The relationship was thrust into the spotlight as part of court proceedings among the warring descendants of Pilbara pioneers Lang Hancock, Peter Wright, and Don Rhodes, who were fighting for their share of royalties that flowed from the lucrative mines.

More news following from our 7.56am post now, and passengers on a Qantas Perth-Paris flight, turned back this morning because of Iran’s missile strikes in Qatar, will have spent more than 14 hours on their flight to nowhere.

Our reporter Hamish Hastie is at Perth Airport where the arrivals board has just changed to show flight QF33R will arrive back at its starting point around 11am local time.

Qantas flight QF33R on the Perth Airport arrivals board after the flight was turned back mid-flight.Credit: Hamish Hastie

The board ironically says the flight is “On time”.

Qatar closed its airspace after Iran launched a flurry of missiles at the Al Udied Airbase south-west of the capital Doha overnight.

The Perth-Paris flight left at 8pm last night but turned back to Perth as it was passing the south-western tip of India about 3.30am Perth time.

There are 216 passengers and 14 crew aboard.

Qantas’ Perth-London flight that left Perth Airport last night was also diverted, this time to Singapore, a spokesperson confirmed.

The direct Perth-Europe flights, destinations including Rome, London and Paris, have proved hugely popular for Qantas, particularly over the European summer.

Passengers on QF33 will be accommodated overnight.

Despite WA’s new big batteries, investment in storage alone is insufficient and WA needs more energy generation as the end of coal approaches and hot summer days increasingly turn into hot summer nights, says the latest review of our state’s electricity supply.

The Australian Energy Market Operator notes impending power shortfalls in the latest of its 10-year outlooks, which advise on what is needed to maintain reliability in WA’s South West Interconnected System grid, which serves most of the state.

The grid is one of the most isolated large power systems in the world, and thus particularly sensitive to changes in technology, generation mix, weather patterns and our consumption behaviours.

Recent years have seen record contributions from renewables, minimum demands, swings in load, and other new challenges.

Extreme heatwaves of the past two summers, one of which was the state’s hottest ever, set “numerous” records for peak air-conditioning demand that exceeded forecasts, including a new all-time maximum demand record of 4486 megawatts, set at 6.30pm on January 20.

It says recent investments in over 500 megawatts of grid-scale battery storage has helped, but with peaks continuing to grow (and extend into summer nights), additional supply available late into the evening would be needed, particularly on hot nights with no wind, or with generator outages.

It’s all rather urgent due to the impending retirement of WA’s coal power stations, and the ability of new power sources to connect to the grid will depend on transmission upgrades, too.

It says additional longer (six-hour-plus) battery storage will help, but alone won’t meet these peaks without additional solar farms, wind farms or gas generators to top them up; next summer, the grid will need at least 50 megawatts more “dispatchable capacity”, available over a longer duration.

The summer after (2027-28), following the closure of Collie Power Station, at least 110 megawatts of new solar, wind or gas sources will be needed to avert more and more energy shortfalls.

The operator particularly identifies shortfalls in the eastern Goldfields and north country.

It notes the changing energy mix coming, with generation from wind, large-scale solar and rooftop solar now accounting for more than 40 per cent of total energy production.

Synergy’s Muja C Unit 6 Power Station was retired in April; Collie, the largest power station in the grid, will close in 2027; Muja D in 2029; and the ageing Pinjar gas turbines will close between 2029 and 2032.

The operator also notes the risk Bluewaters Power Station will not establish a new coal supply arrangement and may not be available past 2028.

But over 1.1 gigawatts of supply will be online before October 2027, including the Merredin big battery and gas-fired generation.

It also notes growth in rooftop solar and the government-subsidised home batteries expected to be installed in up to 100,000 homes over the coming years.

In political news, the WA Labor state executive last night unanimously elected Mark Reed as the new party leader.

Incoming state secretary Reed is a former senior official for the union now known as the United Workers’ Union, and has contributed to every election campaign since 2007. He served for more than five years at a senior level in the McGowan government, including as strategic director to the former premier, during the COVID-19 pandemic and also during the historic 2021 election win with Premier Roger Cook as leader.

Reed said in a statement this morning: “I’ll do everything I can to ensure we are well placed to withstand the increasingly ideological right-wing conservatives that currently make up our opposition.”Credit: Anacta

Since 2022 he has been the director of campaigns and consultancy firm Anacta.

His term officially begins on July 1, upon outgoing secretary Ellie Whiteaker’s election to the Senate. He intends to spend the rest of this year connecting with members, holding a WA Labor state conference, and beginning to craft campaign plans for the 2028 federal and 2029 state elections, saying he is “excited” to begin with the party in an “imperious position”.

“The responsibility now is to continue to grow and reinforce the party, take nothing for granted, and put us in the best possible position for the next elections,” he said in a statement.

“Just as incumbent governments must continually reconnect with voters and prove themselves, so must the Party’s political wing and administrative structures.”

Reed paid tribute to Whiteaker, noting that the March and May state and federal election victories she presided over set a high bar, as two of the greatest wins the party had yet achieved in WA.