As it happened: WA news on Tuesday, February 11

We’re wrapping up our live blog for the day, thank you for joining us.

Here are some of the headlines we covered today:

• Perth’s spectacular Kings Park has beaten Sydney’s Hyde Park in a list of the most reviewed public open spaces in pocket atlas Google Maps.

• WA’s most dangerous road locations have been revealed as in Baldivis, Melville, West Perth and Carlisle.

• WA Labor has announced a $17 million funding commitment for women’s health over the next four years if it is re-elected in March...
• …and the Liberals announced that if elected they will spend $140 million on supporting the provision of primary healthcare in WA.

• The man accused of murdering Indigenous Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey claims he was stabbed first and lashed out in retaliation, but not with a metal pole.

• In-demand Fremantle star Andrew Brayshaw wants the ink dried on a new contract extension before the Dockers kick off their AFL season.

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

In-demand Fremantle star Andrew Brayshaw wants the ink dried on a new contract extension before the Dockers kick off their AFL season.

Brayshaw is a restricted free agent and would have a queue of suitors if he opted to test the market, with St Kilda among those linked to a potential move for the Victorian.

But the 25-year-old appears set to follow midfield partner-in-crime Hayden Young in committing long-term to the Dockers.

Andrew Brayshaw wants to stay at Fremantle long-term.Credit: Getty Images

“The update surrounding my contract is that my management is working through that with the footy club at the moment,” Brayshaw told SEN radio.

“Ideally, that would be awesome if we can get it done before round one.

“I do love the footy club and I really want to be a part of what I think’s gonna be an awesome future.

“To those people that have written in and the many people that are asking me out and about, yes we are working towards something definitely.”

Brayshaw was asked out of 10 what his chances were of signing a new deal and playing for Fremantle beyond 2025.

“Out of 10, 10 being yes, I’m definitely re-signing? Well yes, in my mind, it’s a 10, 100 per cent,” he said.

The Dockers have lured West Australians back home in recent years, targeting Luke Jackson and Shai Bolton with success.

Sydney star Chad Warner is on their hit-list this year while Melbourne dynamo Kysaiah Pickett has been consistently linked to the Dockers.

“I do know ‘Kozzy’ and we would love – if he’s listening to this – we would love to have him next year,” Brayshaw said.

He joked he would have to engage brother Angus, a premiership teammate of Pickett, as a middleman.

“I think Kozzy knows how good it would be over here. So if he’s ever considering it we would definitely have him,” he said.

Fremantle, who face the Indigenous All-Stars on Saturday at Optus Stadium, missed out on finals last year, but expectations are high.

“Everyone’s just hungry to try and get into that round-one side because we really believe we can go far this year, so everyone’s really excited,” Brayshaw said.

The man accused of murdering Indigenous Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey claims he was stabbed first and lashed out in retaliation, but not with a metal pole.

Jack Brearley, now 23, is at the centre of the state’s case in the murder trial over the 15-year-old’s death in October 2022.

Cassius’ death sparked a national outrcy.

Cassius died 10 days after he was allegedly bashed with the metal handle of a shopping trolley in a creek in the north-east suburb of Middle Swan.

In the second day of the trial on Tuesday, Brearley’s legal team, led by barrister Simon Watters, told the jury the state had the wrong man, and alleged it was Brearley’s co-accused Brodie Palmer, 29, who bashed Cassius with the trolley handle, leaving him with bleeding on his brain that led to his death.

“For two long years, Jack Brearley has waited for a jury to listen to his account of what happened on the afternoon of October 13, 2022,” Watters said.

“You will hear on behalf of Jack Brearley that over the course of those days, he, like a lot of members of our community, had concerns for the welfare of others, concerns for his property, and concerns for his home.”

Read Rebecca Peppiatt’s report from the WA Supreme Court here.

Interested in climate change and protecting WA’s northern jarrah forests, but also in employment and the economy? A series of free public lectures next week might be up your alley.

This masthead has extensively covered controversy about the clearing of forests in south-west WA for bauxite mining.

The 280 square kilometres of jarrah forest cleared by Alcoa to date makes its WA operation one of the biggest mines in the world.Credit: Nine News Perth

Enter Curtin University academic Professor Ross Taplin, who had a conversation with a local environmentalist who believed the people of WA were largely uninformed about the extent of the clearing and would be deeply concerned if they knew more.

Taplin is a trained statistician who switched to the social sciences halfway through his career, and has spent years surveying people on their opinions and attitudes on everything from tourism to sustainability to trust in government.

“I am interested in empirical evidence and I thought I would find out,” he said.

“It doesn’t cost that much so I thought I would self-fund it – in academia now we get rewarded for doing work people are willing to pay for, but I still believe in doing things for the common good.”

He said there was additional value in keeping the work free of any accusation of bias through funding by any particular interest group.

Taplin surveyed more than 1000 West Australians and intends his seminars to reach a broader audience than the usual journal publication process.

He did a randomised experiment so people experienced different versions of the survey, giving more nuanced questions than just asking if people wanted to protect forests.

He was able to test the causal influence on responses of other factors, such as jobs, and whether people were shown images of the forests and clearing.

“This is something I really feel is in the public interest and there should be a public debate about it … the interaction is as important as the results,” he said.

Monday, February 17, 5pm: Seminar one considers the tourism and recreation potential of the Darling Range, how bauxite mining impacts this potential and the emotional impacts of mining on tourists.

Wednesday, February 19, 5pm: Seminar two considers WA’s knowledge of the biodiversity of the forests and what information can change attitudes both towards mining and towards conservation.

Thursday, February 20, 5pm: Seminar three considers how government transparency concerning bauxite mining can influence West Australians’ trust in government.

You can go to any or all of these free seminars. Register here.

One more campaign announcement: the WA Liberals today announced that if elected they will spend $140 million on supporting the provision of primary healthcare in WA.

They’ve promised:

• $26.4 million for a grant of $40,000 per registrar to resident medical officers to train as GPs, and bridge the pay gap between hospital-based and GP-based registrars. Up to 215 grants would be offered annually, and GP practices that took on registrars would have admin costs covered.
• $1 million for a rollout of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Community Residency Program, facilitating placement of up to 150 resident medical officers into general practices across WA, aiming to reinvigorate the GP pathway by giving resident medical students exposure to this style of medicine. “Currently, only 10 per cent of medical students are considering a career in general practice and that is not nearly enough to meet demand in WA, where we are already well below the national average for GPs per capita,” WA Liberal Leader and health spokesperson Libby Mettam said.
• $10 million to support junior doctors to pursue training in high-demand areas, such as paediatrics, to retain talent in WA and reduce reliance on overseas recruitment. The fund would also provide regional and rural training opportunities, fostering a pipeline of specialists familiar with the unique challenges of delivering healthcare in underserved communities.
• $60 million for free post-discharge GP visits over four years, so patients with clinical recommendations would receive free follow-up appointments within seven days of hospital discharge. Mettam said evidence showed patients who did not visit a GP within seven days of discharge were 20 per cent more likely to be readmitted. The Libs say hospital readmissions cost the system $300 million a year, so this policy would save much more than it cost.
• $5 million for GP upskilling for ADHD co-prescribing, to allow GPs to work with specialists to co-manage the ongoing medication needs of established patients, relieving appointment pressures on paediatricians.

At her press conference covered below, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson criticised the Liberals’ GP training incentive. She said:

It will put money into the pockets of private practice owners … potentially draw doctors out of our hospital system and into private practice. It does not guarantee any more bulk billing, it doesn’t guarantee low fee appointments, and will not guarantee any control over what doctors charge … I also understand that $1000 of each of those grants goes to the peak body. That’s not money going into the health system, that’s money going to the peak body and to the pockets of private practice owners.

To the campaign trail now, and WA Labor has announced a $17 million funding commitment for women’s health over the next four years if it is re-elected in March.

Speaking at the Fremantle Women’s Health Centre in Willagee, Premier Roger Cook committed to an extra $14 million funding boost for the network of approximately women’s health centers that support 30,000 WA women per year around Perth and regional towns including Kalgoorlie, Port Hedland, Bunbury and Geraldton, on top of the $12 million per year already provided in funding for those centres.

He also announced $2.5 million to establish a dedicated women’s health day procedure centre at Cockburn Health Centre, which the government last year returned to public hands. The centre provides specialist women’s mental health services, including addiction support and WA’s first dedicated inpatient mental health facility for women, including the state’s first specialised eating disorder beds.

This new day procedure centre will provide free and affordable abortion care and other women’s reproductive health services to reduce wait times, remove financial barriers for vulnerable women, and provide care including free pre- and post-procedural counselling.

WA women have limited access to free surgical abortions, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said, with private clinics largely undertaking around 98 per cent of abortions in the state, This centre is expected to facilitate about 4500 terminations a year.

The final component of the package is $850,000 towards the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s WA branch to expand its service including for providing 24/7 assistance.

Fremantle Women’s Health Centre’s Jenny Carter said many of the centre’s patients were vulnerable women with complex issues, including facing domestic violence, who nevertheless showed strength, bravery and resilience, but they faced waitlists that currently had to be cut off at two or three months because the demand was limitless.

The Indigenous All Stars side has suffered another injury blow, Alex Pearce the latest star to be ruled out of Saturday night’s clash with Fremantle in Perth.

Pearce injured his left ankle during Fremantle’s intra-club clash on Friday.

Alex Pearce will remain as the Dockers’ captain into a third season.Credit: AFL

It was the second time in as many weeks Pearce had tweaked his ankle, and Fremantle are taking no risks.

Fremantle say they will assess Pearce’s availability for their next intra-club game on February 23 and the club’s pre-season hit-out against Melbourne on March 2.

The loss of Pearce is a big blow to the Indigenous All Stars, who will also be without Liam Jones after the Bulldogs defender injured his hamstring.

Jones has been ruled out for about two months.

Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was a lock to be selected for the All Stars match, but he wasn’t available due to personal issues.

Ugle-Hagan is currently on a flexible training program and facing a race against time to prove his readiness for round one.

Star Fremantle recruit Shai Bolton is still in doubt to represent the Indigenous All Stars after a minor calf injury in late January.

But teammate Michael Walters, who underwent minor knee surgery in the off-season, has declared himself ready to go.

Walters has been named captain of the side.

Fremantle will be without ruckman Sean Darcy, who has battled an ongoing knee issue over the summer and more recently underwent minor surgery to clear up an infection in his ankle.

Meanwhile, West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern has re-signed for a further season, tying him to the club until the end of 2026.

AAP

Your reporter was among hundreds who turned out last night to the advance screening of Stan original series Invisible Boys ahead of its Thursday premiere.

The screening of the first four episodes at Luna Leederville featured series stars Joseph Zada, Aydan Calafiore, Zach Blampied, Joe Klocek and Pia Miranda alongside executives, crew and Perth’s own Holden Sheppard, writer of the original Fremantle Press novel and on the series itself.

The series is set during the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite, exploring the challenges faced by, and the friendships between, a group of gay teens in Geraldton after one is outed on social media.

The series’ Logie and AACTA award-winning creator/director Nicholas Verso reminisced to the crowd that he’d gone back to the drawing board after running one episode past the producer, who admonished, “I thought you said this would be edgy.”

He said this was a rare thing to be told in the screen industry, and he’d taken the producer at her word and given himself the green light to take risks.

We can confirm the result is definitely edgy.

Asked, ‘Is it like Heartstopper?’ we gave a hard no. While it’s dealing with some similar themes and issues, it’s the antithesis of Heartstopper’s sweet innocence and dancing love-hearts.

Think of the difference between a hardscrabble port town on Western Australia’s stinking hot Mid West coast and the rolling green hills, cobblestone streets and charming pubs of London’s home counties. There’s your answer.

But does that mean Invisible Boys lacks romance? Hell, no. As well as being a perceptive portrait of regional WA it’s romantic to the hilt, funny, touching and raw.

And the pride in the room that this was a WA story, conceived, filmed and edited here – 49-degree sets and all – was palpable.

Get into it on February 13 on Stan (owner of this masthead). You can also read our feature on the series in the related article.

Now for some good news: a Perth woman who served in the Australian Army Corps in World War II, who only moved into her Success aged care home at 97, has celebrated her 100th birthday with cake and a letter from King Charles.

“The secret to living to 100 is being happy, being religious and drinking lots of black tea,” said Hackett, who lives at Southern Cross Care’s Frank Prendergast House with 68-year-old daughter Bernadette, who had a stroke in recent years.

Clockwise: Patricia Hackett and daughter Bernadette; Hackett during her active service; Friday’s birthday party.

Before moving into the residential care home, Patricia lived in Southern Cross Care WA’s co-located retirement village, Success Village and regularly volunteered her time at the aged care facility to connect with residents and share stories about her army service.

“I was reflecting on ‘how did she get to 100 years?’” said her daughter Donna.

“And I think it’s her very strong faith and the fact she’s always surrounded herself with family. She’s always been a very giving person. That and the black tea that she drinks multiple times a day.”

Patricia has four daughters, 14 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. At her birthday party last week, City of Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett presented her with the congratulatory royal letter.

Perth’s spectacular Kings Park has beaten Sydney’s Hyde Park in a list of the most reviewed public open spaces in pocket atlas Google Maps.

To mark two decades of Google Maps helping people navigate bustling streets and explore remote regions it has released a list of Australia’s most reviewed locations – with a handful of Perth and WA hotspots making the list which covers everything from iconic landmarks, museums and restaurants to fish and chip shops.

Perth’s Kings Park and Botanic Garden reigns supreme as Australia’s most reviewed park, boasting 26,100 reviews and a near-perfect 4.79-star rating.

The most reviewed visitor attraction was Darling Harbour (58,300 reviews, 4.64 average rating) with Elizabeth Quay (18,000 reviews, 4.5 average rating) and Busselton Jetty (13,000 reviews, 4.6 average rating) also making the top five.

Simmos Ice Creamery in Dunsborough ranked third in the list of most reviewed ice-cream shops with 2633 reviews and a 4.63-star average rating.

The WA Museum, Boola Bardip failed to make the top list of best museums with the top spot going to the Melbourne Museum and Tasmania’s unconventional MONA following closely behind.