As it happened: WA news on Monday, June 30

WA Premier Roger Cook and Defence Industries Minister Paul Papalia remain confident the AUKUS deal will survive a US review headed by a critic of the submarine and defence pact.

Cook and Papalia have returned from a five-day mission to the UK where they met with UK Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle and the UK trade envoy to Australia John Spellar to offer WA’s services to build the country’s industrial base and help it speed up production of 12 additional nuclear-powered submarines.

Defence Industries Minister Paul Papalia.Credit: Trevor Collens

“What’s very clear from these meetings is the British government have set incredibly ambitious targets for more submarines in a very quick time frame that probably exceed their current capacity in their industrial base and we can help,” Papalia said.

Papalia was confident the UK was committed to AUKUS, which will see nuclear submarines stationed at HMAS Stirling as well as maintenance of the craft take place in Henderson.

The US review of the pact is being led by Elbridge Colby, who has been critical of the AUKUS pact for its sharing of nuclear technology outside of his country.

Papalia said reviews of major agreements like AUKUS were standard for new administrations to undertake.

He also downplayed Colby’s involvement in the US’ review.

“[Colby is] one part of the administration, there’s a whole range of people we’ve met with, people in Congress and defence and industry from the US, all of whom are very focused on the benefit that AUKUS provides,” Papalia said.

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

Here’s some of the stories that made headlines today:

• A WA Police officer killed in the line of duty more than three decades ago has been remembered with a new memorial in Kalamunda.

• The 45-year-old man who died after he was struck by a bus outside Perth’s RAC Arena on Friday evening has been identified as Praveen Matcha.

• The couple of sunny winter days we had are well and truly in the rearview mirror for Perth this week with seven days of showers predicted.

• After quite the response from Australian fans to last week’s news of AC/DC’s Power Up Australian tour, the promoter has this morning announced a final show to be added in Perth on December 8 at Optus Stadium.

• WA businesses have reported a sharp increase in concern about global trade uncertainty, driving a slip in business confidence.

• The first of multiple public meetings across Perth and WA runs tonight over Alcoa’s planned major expansion of its bauxite mining operations in WA’s northern jarrah forest.

• WA Premier Roger Cook and Defence Industries Minister Paul Papalia remain confident the AUKUS deal will survive a US review headed by a critic of the submarine and defence pact.

• An Indigenous teenager who fatally self-harmed in the troubled youth wing of a West Australian adult prison was subjected to “barbarous and criminal” neglect, his mother says.

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

The tactical response group was deployed as police put an end to a car chase in Yokine overnight.

Police attempted to stop a gold Toyota Camry on Collier Road in Embleton just after midnight, but the driver instead allegedly took off, leading officers on a chase through Perth’s inner-north as it was tracked by the air wing.

At one point, the driver allegedly stopped and got out of the car before threatening police while armed with a kitchen knife, with reports of the knife leading to the TRG being called in.

A car with its tyres deflated by a spike strip lurches to a halt in Yokine, Perth, in the early hours of Monday, June 30. Credit: WA Police

The chase came to an end on Charles Street when police deployed a tyre deflation device and took the driver into custody.

Police allege the man was involved two more unrelated traffic incidents on Sunday, including one where a motorbike rider was struck on Lake Monger Drive in Wembley.

The 44-year-old Joondanna man has been charged with several offences including reckless driving to escape pursuit by police; no authority to drive; being armed in a way that may cause fear; and drug possession.

He is set to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday, July 7.

An Indigenous teenager who fatally self-harmed in the troubled youth wing of a West Australian adult prison was subjected to “barbarous and criminal” neglect, his mother says.

Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive inside a cell in Unit 18, a youth wing of the high-security Casuarina Prison facility for adults in Perth, in the early hours of October 12, 2023.

Cleveland Dodd, 16, (inset) died after self-harming in his cell at the youth Unit 18 wing of Perth’s maximum-security Casuarina Prison.

The 16-year-old was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died a week later, causing outrage and grief in the community.

A lawyer for Cleveland’s mother Nadene Dodd was scathing of the care provided to the teenager by justice department staff during his submissions to the WA Coroners Court on Monday.

“Cleveland was subjected to institutional abuse, cruel and inhumane treatment,” Steven Penglis told the inquest.

The teen spent more than 22 hours a day in his cell for 74 of the 86 days he spent in Unit 18 before he self-harmed, he said.

Over that period, he had four hours of recreation time, equating to about three minutes a day.

His cell had no running water and in the hours before he was fatally injured he asked for water six times, Penglis said as he recapped the evidence heard during the long-running inquest that started in April 2024.

Cleveland also threatened to self-harm eight times and requested medical attention.

The teen’s actions were the conclusion of a series of events, including being denied bail, a failed attempt to call his mother on her birthday and severe, untreated dental issues, he said.

Plagued by staff shortages and under-resourced, Unit 18 officers failed to take Cleveland’s calls and threats seriously on the night, Penglis said.

“Cleveland’s death was preventable and predictable,” he said.

Ms Dodd described her son’s treatment as “horrific neglect” and inhumane.

“It was both barbarous and criminal,” she said outside the court.

“If people are not held to lawful account, then justice will have been denied.”

Coroner Philip Urquhart previously said Unit 18 should be closed “as a matter of urgency” when he delivered his provisional recommendations in December.

Aboriginal Legal Service lawyer Julian McMahon said the inquest had revealed there was a readiness across all levels of the justice department to accept the unacceptable.

The inquest previously heard Cleveland self-harmed about 1.35am.

At 1.51am, an officer opened his cell door and at 1.54am a red alert was issued as staff tried to revive the teen.

Paramedics arrived at 2.06am, but did not get access to Cleveland, who was found to be in cardiac arrest, for nine minutes.

The teen was partially revived and taken to hospital but suffered a brain injury due to a lack of oxygen.

Cleveland died, surrounded by his family, on October 19, 2023.

AAP

For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76). Support is available from Lifeline 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636.

WA Premier Roger Cook and Defence Industries Minister Paul Papalia remain confident the AUKUS deal will survive a US review headed by a critic of the submarine and defence pact.

Cook and Papalia have returned from a five-day mission to the UK where they met with UK Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle and the UK trade envoy to Australia John Spellar to offer WA’s services to build the country’s industrial base and help it speed up production of 12 additional nuclear-powered submarines.

Defence Industries Minister Paul Papalia.Credit: Trevor Collens

“What’s very clear from these meetings is the British government have set incredibly ambitious targets for more submarines in a very quick time frame that probably exceed their current capacity in their industrial base and we can help,” Papalia said.

Papalia was confident the UK was committed to AUKUS, which will see nuclear submarines stationed at HMAS Stirling as well as maintenance of the craft take place in Henderson.

The US review of the pact is being led by Elbridge Colby, who has been critical of the AUKUS pact for its sharing of nuclear technology outside of his country.

Papalia said reviews of major agreements like AUKUS were standard for new administrations to undertake.

He also downplayed Colby’s involvement in the US’ review.

“[Colby is] one part of the administration, there’s a whole range of people we’ve met with, people in Congress and defence and industry from the US, all of whom are very focused on the benefit that AUKUS provides,” Papalia said.

Taking you back to a story we ran this morning, and WA Premier Roger Cook has answered questions on whether it’s fair that private donations and other income streams are not considered by the state and federal government when deciding how much funding should be dished out to wealthier private schools.

WA Premier Roger Cook.Credit: Trevor Collens

During a press conference this afternoon, Cook said he wanted to continue to make sure WA kids “get access to quality education” before touting the newly signed agreement, which resulted in increased funding for schools.

“That’s going to see around about an extra $4 billion come into the system over the coming years,” he said.

But when pressed further on whether donations and other income streams should be considered when deciding the level of funding, Cook answered a little more directly.

“I’d support the principle that we should have equity access to education funding, and that goes to both the federal government processes and the state,” he said.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has expressed concerns about the state of the SCG turf, saying he is worried his players will be put at an elevated risk of injury if they are forced to play there on Sunday.

AFL bosses are weighing up the option of moving Sunday’s Fremantle-Sydney game away from the SCG after players continually slipped at the venue in the Western Bulldogs’ win over the Swans on Friday night.

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir talks with Luke Jackson during the Dockers’ win over St Kilda on Sunday.Credit: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos

The surface has been below its best since a concert at the venue by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in April.

Particular concern during the Swans-Dogs clash centred on the Paddington end of the ground.

Between 35mm to 90mm of rain is forecast for Sydney on Tuesday in what will further hamper the hopes of having the SCG turf up to scratch.

Fremantle’s finals hopes last year were torpedoed by a series of injuries to key players late in the season, and Longmuir fears his team will be at risk if they have to play at the SCG on Sunday.

“I watched the game on Friday night, and we’ll be led by the AFL, but the moment my brain goes to, ‘That’s unsafe for players’, I have a concern,” Longmuir said.

“And I went there on Friday night. I thought it was a bit unsafe, especially down the left hand side.”

Longmuir made mention of an incident in which Bulldog Bailey Williams’ foot was caught in the turf.

“I think the Bailey Williams one - we just can’t put players out there and risk their safety if the ground’s not right,” he said.

Longmuir says he will abide by the AFL’s decision.

“If the AFL deem it safe to play, we’ll play, and I won’t speak another moment of it,” Longmuir said.

Fremantle (10-5) are just percentage adrift of third spot following a six-match winning run.

But their thrilling 11.15 (81) to 9.15 (69) win over St Kilda on Sunday came with an injury cost, and in a bizarre manner.

Fremantle veteran Nat Fyfe was the sub, but he felt tightness in his calf while warming up at half-time and the Dockers decided against sending him on.

Fyfe was set to feature in his fourth match back after recovering from a hamstring injury, and the Dockers will be hoping his latest setback isn’t serious.

AAP

The first of multiple public meetings across Perth and WA runs tonight over Alcoa’s planned major expansion of its bauxite mining operations in WA’s northern jarrah forest.

The US mining giant’s two proposals before the WA Environmental Protection Authority are to expand its Huntly mine around Serpentine Dam to feed its Pinjarra alumina refinery until 2045, and secondly the detail of its current mining plan to 2027, representing the first opportunity for public scrutiny in 60 years of Alcoa’s mining operations in WA.

Both proposals are now open for public comment on the EPA’s website until August 21.

The meeting is being organised by the Conservation Council of WA, WA Forest Alliance, Wilderness Society, Dwellingup Discovery Forest Defenders and Peel Environmental Protection Alliance.

There will be speakers from the WA Forest Alliance, HikeWest, Peel Environmental Protection Alliance and Jarrahdale Forest Protectors.

The meeting will be at 6pm Lesser Hall at the Pinjarra Civic Centre. Further such meetings will be held at the University of WA, Walyalup/Fremantle, Mundijong and Kalamunda, as well as an online forum (more details here).

WA businesses have reported a sharp increase in concern about global trade uncertainty, driving a slip in business confidence.

CCIWA’s Business Confidence report for the June quarter surveyed 473 WA businesses, finding 19 per cent were concerned about international tensions harming their business, up from 9 per cent six months ago.

The high cost of doing business remains the biggest barrier to growth, with 70 per cent reporting it as a concern, and 64 per cent reported skills shortages as a barrier to growth.

Short-term business confidence has dropped six percentage points since the last quarter, with just over a third of WA businesses expecting better conditions, while one quarter expect conditions to improve in the long term, down two percentage points.

CCIWA Acting Co-CEO, Aaron Morey, said uncertainty about where the US tariffs would land, and the escalating conflict in the Middle East, was dampening confidence across a wide range of sectors.

“WA is a trading economy and the knock-on effect of the US tariffs and retaliatory tariffs have the potential to weigh on our economy,” he said.

“Coupled with the Israel-Iran war, the impact on supply chains is a major concern for many businesses, with three in five WA businesses saying they expect their supply chains to be impacted by the tariffs.

“This shows that even those businesses that are not trade exposed are bracing for impacts.”

After quite the response from Australian fans to last week’s news of AC/DC’s Power Up Australian tour, the promoter has this morning announced a final show to be added in Perth on December 8 at Optus Stadium, going on sale at 11am today.

They also announced the band has reclaimed the record for the largest single-day concert sale in Ticketek’s history, surpassing their own milestone set in 2009.

When tickets went on sale last week, they sold at an average rate of 1200 per minute, prompting the addition of second shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and now Perth.

“This second Perth show will definitely be the final show that will be added to the Australian tour. We can confirm that absolutely no further shows will be added to the Australian leg,” promoter Christo Van Egmond said.

Amyl and the Sniffers are the support act for the band’s first Australian tour in a decade.

Last year Power Up sold 2 million tickets for 24 shows in Europe. The band just concluded 10 sold-out shows in North America and has 15 additional shows scheduled across Europe before returning to Australia.

AC/DC plays Optus Stadium on December 4 and 8.

The 45-year-old man who died after he was struck by a bus outside Perth’s RAC Arena on Friday evening has been identified as Praveen Matcha.

Praveen Matcha.Credit: GoFundMe

Police said a Transperth bus was turning right from Milligan Street onto Wellington Street and struck Matcha who was crossing the road at about 6.15pm.

The Western Power employee died at the scene.

His colleagues are now fundraising to support his family.

“He was a light in every room, known for his infectious smile, laughter, and the way he always encouraged us to be more and achieve more,” one said on a GoFundMe page.

“Whether you’ve known him for 15 years, 9 months or 10 days, you know how deeply he cared for us.

“If you had the same privilege as me to work alongside him, to be motivated by him, to learn from him, or even became his friend, your life has been fortunate.”

The bus driver, 37, has been charged with careless driving causing death and will appear in court next month.