As it happened: WA news on Wednesday, June 25

An update now on a story state political reporter Hamish Hastie brought you earlier today, where the Green and opposition were due to unite to force Labor to respond to a two-year-old report on housing and homelessness in WA.

Greens homelessness spokesman Tim Clifford was set to move a motion in parliament this afternoon calling on the Cook government to report back on the recommendations of the Funding of Homelessness Services in Western Australia report handed down by an upper house committee in June 2023.

Greens MPs Tim Clifford, Jess Beckerling and Sophie McNeill with Greens leader Brad Pettit (second from left) on their first day in the new parliament.Credit: Hamish Hastie

Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, Liberal MLC Nick Gorian, confirmed his team would support the Greens’ motion, which would give it the numbers to pass after Labor lost its majority in the house at the March 8 poll.

Well, the motion was moved and passed without division. It’s not quite the upper house defeat Labor had been staring down – which would have been its first in parliament since taking a whopping majority in both houses in 2021 – but now the government will have to table a response on September 18 detailing its progress on passing the report’s recommendations.

Clifford said the motion sent a clear message to the Cook government: “You will be held to account for the homelessness crisis you’ve helped to create.”

The unanimous support in the Legislative Council for our motion this afternoon speaks volumes not only to the urgency of the homelessness crisis in WA, but the government’s failure to meaningfully tackle it

While Premier Cook claims his government is ‘laser focused’ on ensuring everyone in WA has a home, the statistics show otherwise.

Around 2300 Western Australians will sleep rough tonight and more than 35,000 people are represented on the public housing waitlist, yet the government has committed more money to the NRL in their latest budget than they have to homelessness services.

We’ll be sure to keep you update on the government’s progress when the time comes.

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

Here are some of the headlines we covered:

• A passenger in the car crash that killed close friend Nick Campo last year has spoken out, labelling the jail sentence for the driver as “way too short”.

• A woman in her 70s has lost her Coolbellup home overnight and was rushed to hospital for smoke inhalation, after a fire broke out around 3am.

• Electoral Affairs Minister David Michael has confirmed the WA Electoral Commission is actively pursuing talent from over east to plug holes left in the organisation leadership team following the exits of two senior staff members.

• A 22-year-old Heathridge man was due to face court today over a firearms scare in Perth’s CBD earlier this year.

• WA’s Corruption and Crime Commission is launching its own probe into why double-murderer Mark Bombara was allowed to obtain and hold a gun licence and own 13 firearms.

• New photos from Lancelin reveal the further retreat of sand dunes in the popular holiday town over the space of barely a month.

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

An update now on a story state political reporter Hamish Hastie brought you earlier today, where the Green and opposition were due to unite to force Labor to respond to a two-year-old report on housing and homelessness in WA.

Greens homelessness spokesman Tim Clifford was set to move a motion in parliament this afternoon calling on the Cook government to report back on the recommendations of the Funding of Homelessness Services in Western Australia report handed down by an upper house committee in June 2023.

Greens MPs Tim Clifford, Jess Beckerling and Sophie McNeill with Greens leader Brad Pettit (second from left) on their first day in the new parliament.Credit: Hamish Hastie

Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, Liberal MLC Nick Gorian, confirmed his team would support the Greens’ motion, which would give it the numbers to pass after Labor lost its majority in the house at the March 8 poll.

Well, the motion was moved and passed without division. It’s not quite the upper house defeat Labor had been staring down – which would have been its first in parliament since taking a whopping majority in both houses in 2021 – but now the government will have to table a response on September 18 detailing its progress on passing the report’s recommendations.

Clifford said the motion sent a clear message to the Cook government: “You will be held to account for the homelessness crisis you’ve helped to create.”

The unanimous support in the Legislative Council for our motion this afternoon speaks volumes not only to the urgency of the homelessness crisis in WA, but the government’s failure to meaningfully tackle it

While Premier Cook claims his government is ‘laser focused’ on ensuring everyone in WA has a home, the statistics show otherwise.

Around 2300 Western Australians will sleep rough tonight and more than 35,000 people are represented on the public housing waitlist, yet the government has committed more money to the NRL in their latest budget than they have to homelessness services.

We’ll be sure to keep you update on the government’s progress when the time comes.

New photos from Lancelin reveal the further retreat of sand dunes in the popular holiday town over the space of barely a month.

Last month, WAtoday laid bare the erosion emergency faced by the town north of Perth, where about 25 metres of coastal land was lost over the course of five years.

Now, after recent wild weather battered the coast, new photos show a path near the Hinchcliffe Hill lookout has all but disappeared.

Photos from Hinchcliffe Hill lay bare the erosion emergency in Lancelin.Credit: Jimmy Olsen

“Probably we have lost another 5 metres in six weeks,” Jimmy Olsen wrote on Facebook.

“Wish it was as easy as getting a few blokes to return a few bar mats, the ocean won’t be so agreeable!”

(That last line, keen blog readers would know, is a reference to this morning’s post about the larrikins whose “sneaky” theft of several bar mats from the Endeavour Tavern was called out on the pub’s social media.)

West Aussie Shane Stiles was diagnosed with a rare cancer in 2019 – a sarcoma – which includes soft tissue and primary bone tumors.

Now, six surgeries later, and a possible seventh on the horizon, he is hoping to help raise awareness over the “silent killer”.

“(My daughters) had to say goodbye a couple of times last year especially when they discovered a tumour in my ventricle wall in my heart, but I came through,” he said.

“I have lived my life and what a life it has been. Now, it is about helping others.”

He is advocating for Sock it to Sarcoma! – a cause that was the vision of Abbie Basson, who was diagnosed with sarcoma in May 2009 at the age of 17.

The cause encourages people to wear a pair of odd socks to start a conversation about the cancer, and raise awareness about the signs and symptoms – including any ache, pain, lump or bump that persists for longer than three weeks.

“This is about shining a light so people know what sarcoma is. They ask questions. They see the socks and start a conversation. That is how we change things together,” Stiles said.

The cause also raises funds for research, support for patients and community awareness, including WA Sarcoma Awareness Week, which will be held from June 30 to July 6 this year.

Landmarks across Perth will light up pink, and Stiles is encouraging people to wear their odd socks too.

The week is also encouraging the community to take on a range of activities for 21 days, or three weeks – a reminder of the maximum time to wait before seeing a doctor.

They include walking three kilometres daily for three weeks, skipping coffee for three weeks and donating those funds to the cause, or wearing odd socks.

To breaking news now, and WA’s Corruption and Crime Commission is launching its own probe into why double-murderer Mark Bombara was allowed to obtain and hold a gun licence and own 13 firearms.

The bombshell announcement was contained in a CCC report tabled in parliament that assessed an internal investigation into WA Police’s actions leading up to Bombara’s shooting of Jennifer Petelczyc and her 18-year-old daughter Gretl in May last year, before he turned his legally owned gun on himself.

The results of that Internal Affairs Unit investigation were released in January and found eight police officers had failed to perform their duties.

The CCC report tabled in parliament on Wednesday said the Internal Affairs investigation was reasonable, as was the findings against the officers.

However, the CCC said early on it became concerned the investigation “may be being improperly influenced by a desire to mitigate the risk of reputational damage to WA Police” and wrote to Commissioner Col Blanch to raise these concerns.

Read Hamish Hastie’s full report here.

Fremantle have moved quickly to lock away Murphy Reid, handing the AFL Rising Star contender a two-year contract extension that ties him to the club until the end of 2029.

Reid announced himself as a star of the future when he kicked four goals in four minutes against Geelong during his AFL debut in round one.

Murphy Reid has signed a two-year contract extension with the Fremantle Dockers.Credit: Janelle St Pierre/AFL Photos

The 18-year-old has kicked 16 goals across 14 games this season, and is among the favourites to take out this year’s Rising Star award, along with Brisbane’s Levi Ashcroft and Essendon’s Archie Roberts.

Reid is from Victoria, and had only made one brief visit to Perth before being snared by Fremantle with pick No.17 in the 2024 national draft.

The sunny Perth lifestyle and the rising optimism at Fremantle have killed off the chance for any Melbourne-based clubs to lure Reid home in the coming years.

“I’m loving my time here in Perth,” Reid said.

“It’s a lot more chill, and the lifestyle is great. The weather’s nice, and I can still go down to the beach in winter.

“Freo has been great for me. They’ve let me be myself and let me be confident.

“I’ve had so many boys wrap their arms around me and taught me the ways.”

Reid’s creativity has been a shining light in his debut season, with the teenager already one of the club’s most potent players in setting up others for goals.

“I guess I like to be a bit outside the box,” Reid said.

“It’s sort of one of my points of differences, I guess.”

So how could a player of his calibre could slip all the way to pick No.17 in the draft?

“It’s not my question to answer,” Reid said with a laugh.

“But everything happens for a reason, and I couldn’t be happier with the way it went.”

AAP

A 22-year-old Heathridge man is due to face court today over a firearms scare in Perth’s CBD earlier this year.

Police were called to a Victoria Avenue apartment complex just after midday on January 24 on reports of a man carrying what appeared to be a firearm.

Officers, including the tactical response group, rushed to the scene and secured what was revealed to be a replica gun, and the 22-year-old man accused of carrying it was also allegedly found with about five grams of meth and drug paraphernalia.

The man has since been charged with possession of a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply; possession of stolen or unlawfully obtained property; and possessing a prohibited weapon.

The Heathridge man is set to face Perth Magistrates Court today.

A new hospital ward block at Joondalup Health Campus opened today.

The 106-bed ward includes 46 individual patient rooms across two new wards and another 60 beds to be completed by the middle of next year.

The hospital block forms part of the $308 million six-year expansion of the hospital.

A new public operating theatre and two interventional catheter laboratories will also open.

Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey said the new theatre and additional interventional catheterisation laboratory would deliver more surgeries and procedures, further expanding access to care.

Electoral Affairs Minister David Michael has confirmed the WA Electoral Commission is actively pursuing talent from over east to plug holes left in the organisation leadership team following the exits of two senior staff members.

The commission has undergone a huge executive shakeup after the calamitous state election which is now the subject of an inquiry by former Governor Malcolm McCusker.

The ABC reported on Tuesday that election operations director Shani Wood had resigned and deputy electoral commissioner Courtney Barron will take leave and will likely not return.

That leaves the commission without key positions in the lead up to the October local government elections.

Senior bureaucrat Dennis O’Reilly took on the role of acting WAEC Commissioner after Commissioner Robert Kennedy went on extended leave following the March 8 poll.

Michael said the commission was actively pursuing east coast talent to fill the gaps.

“I’m confident that the new acting commissioner is very much turned his attention to the local government elections,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to that election process being run in an efficient way.”

A WA country pub has gone viral after capturing a bizarre crime on CCTV and posting the offending to social media.

The Endeavour Tavern, in Lancelin, posted the video of a group of men stealing bar mats and a premiership flag hanging on the wall, before running off with the loot.

They wanted to name and shame them in the local community, but the video has since garnered a whopping 10 million views and counting.

You can hear more about the odd offending below.