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Kalgoorlie International Speedway president Dean Shore, Member for Kalgoorlie Ali Kent, WA premier Roger Cook, Minister for Sport and Recreation Rita Saffioti and Kalgoorlie-Boulder mayor Glenn Wilson.

opinion
opinion
State PoliticsPremium
opinion
Visit to vibrant Kal shows off the fruits of our Labor

This week, the Cook Labor Government Cabinet headed to Kalgoorlie as part of our ongoing program of engaging with communities across the State.

Rita Saffioti

Roger Cook said locking in the first five companies was key to allowing WA’s economy to diversify.

DefencePremiumFirst companies to form WA defence and weapons hub revealed

The first five companies slated to be part of a defence and weapons manufacturing hub in WA have been announced, but a location for the hub is yet to be locked in.

Oliver Lane

Community Legal WA CEO Chelsea Mckinney and "Kelly".

State PoliticsPremiumWA legal centres welcome $2m funding but warn more needed

WA’s community legal services have welcomed a $2 million investment into the sector, but have warned more support is needed for long-term security.

Oliver Lane

Premier Roger Cook has backed in the under-fire Jessica Stojkovski.

state politics PremiumRoger Cook not ashamed of Minister’s ‘hell house’ management

Roger Cook has refused to commit to going to Port Hedland himself to take charge of a child protection crisis and see the conditions that have been dubbed a national shame.

Jessica Page

Premier Roger Cook speaks at the Chamber of Minerals and Energy Industry Lunch on Wednesday.

state politicsPremiumHands off WA gas, says Cook amid scary Canberra prospects

Roger Cook has issued a stern warning to Canberra over plans for a national gas reservation, and the ‘scary’ prospect of a potential One Nation Government being put in charge of it. 

Jessica Page

Federal Defence Minister Richard Marles addresses the media at the Land Forces event in Perth

Federal PoliticsPremium‘WA is Australia’s geostrategic ground zero’: Richard Marles

WA is Australia’s ‘geostrategic ground zero’ according to Federal Defence Minister Richard Marles as he reiterated the State as the centre of Australia’s defence efforts.

Oliver Lane

Anthony Albanese with Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka at a welcome ceremony in Suva, Fiji. NewsWire / Nathan Schmidt

NewsPremiumPlea as PM departs Fiji, snubs media

Pacific leaders have demanded follow-through on climate action as Anthony Albanese leaves a key summit without a press conference.

Nathan Schmidt

Mines Minister Daniel Pastorelli pictured outside Parliament.

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exclusive
MiningPremium
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Minister silent as iron ore miners miss royalty payments

Three iron ore producers that collectively sustain about 1000 WA jobs are in financial distress but WA Mines Minister Daniel Pastorelli is kicking the can down the road.

Adrian Rauso

Sharks at City Beach after a whale carcass washed ashore.

opinion
opinion
SharksPremium
opinion
Why WA’s $5m shark funding is a band-aid over a gaping wound

The Cook Government has been left scrambling to find cash to double shark tagging efforts and increase beach safety writes Charlton Hart.

Charlton Hart

Attorney General Tony Buti blamed legal advice for not stepping in to prevent the deaths of four children.

opinion
opinion
State PoliticsPremium
opinion
Stop waiting for advice and step in to fix child protection

Expert advice is important, but is not an excuse to go slow. Not when the welfare of children is in any doubt. 

Jessica Page

The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA have issued a wish list of demands to the Cook Government (pictured: CME CEO Aaron Morey).

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exclusive
state politicsPremium
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The ‘existential threat’ that could blow up WA’s mining boom

The State’s peak industry body has warned the rising cost of energy could force miners - big and small - to move overseas and take WA jobs with them.

Jessica Page

WA’s Commissioner for Children Jacqueline McGowan-Jones.

state politicsPremiumCommissioner calls for overhaul amid WA child safety crisis

WA’s Commissioner for Children and Young People is calling for an overhaul of the State’s juvenile protection backed by a funding injection in the wake of claims of neglect of vulnerable kids in the Pilbara.

Jessica Page

WA’s AUKUS trailblazer Paul Papalia has revealed his new job four months after he quit politics.

state politicsPremiumREVEALED: Papalia’s new job months after quitting politics

WA’s AUKUS trailblazer Paul Papalia has revealed his new job four months after he quit politics.

Jessica Page

Up to 35 of the little penguins will be vaccinated against H5 bird flu on Wednesday.

State PoliticsPremiumWA’s little penguins to be vaccinated as bird flu fears rise

The iconic little penguins of Perth’s Penguin Island will soon receive vaccinations against the deadly H5 bird flu strain as the disease wreaks havoc on the East Coast.

Oliver Lane

Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis backed the Government’s response ahead of the summer season.

State PoliticsPremiumSLSWA to look into shark-finding AI drones ahead of summer

WA’s Surf Life Saving will look into implementing AI drones to more efficiently search for sharks after the State Government announced more funding to boost mitigation strategies.

Oliver Lane

A new AI-generated One Nation ad is causing a stir online after using a barrage of stereotypes to push the party’s latest culture war message. X

POLITICSPremium‘Coming out’: Pauline’s AI ad divides

A bizarre AI-generated One Nation ad is causing a stir online, after using a barrage of crude stereotypes to target Victorian voters.

News Corp Australia

The NSW state government will invest $7.2m in an early intervention allied health pilot aimed at helping elderly patients recover safely at home. Supplied

EXCLUSIVEPremiumLabor’s $7m cash splash as elderly stranded

One state government will splash $7.2m to keep elderly patients out of hospitals, despite more than 1300 already left stranded and waiting for care that isn’t coming.

Nathan Schmidt

Boral maintenance planner Jess Larcombe and concrete truck driver Karma Phuntsho.

DefencePremiumNaval base construction threatens WA’s mining workforce

WA is facing an unprecedented shortage of tradies as the monster naval rearmament project at Henderson sucks up workers and triggers a bidding war between defence contractors and resources giants.

Ben Harvey

WA Premier Roger Cook.

analysis
analysis
State PoliticsPremium
analysis
How Roger Cook lost his voice on Indigenous rights

Premier Roger Cook has flatly rejected calls for action on the state’s child protection crises, aggressively defending the same systemic failures he once vowed to fight.

Charlton Hart

WA Premier Roger Cook launched an extraordinary attack on the Federal Government over illegal tobacco on Monday.

State PoliticsPremiumCook’s pointed response to Feds’ advice on illegal tobacco

A verbal stoush has broken out between Roger Cook and the Federal Government after the WA Premier laid the blame for the illicit tobacco trade at the feet of his colleagues in Canberra.

Oliver Lane

Malcolm McCusker has urged the WA Government to pursue an inquest into the Hawke children’s murder, citing ‘extraordinarily high public interest’.

state politicsPremiumFormer governor blasts Buti’s inaction on Hawke inquest plea

Two of the State’s brightest legal minds are adding their names to calls for an inquest into the Hawke children’s murder and missed opportunities to save them, as pressure mounts on Roger Cook’s Government. 

Jessica Page

Minister for Child Protection Jessica Stojkovski denied allegations for weeks before Labor finally admitted its failures.

State PoliticsPremiumState Govt consider overhaul of WA’s child protection system

Western Australia’s child protection system may be on the cusp of an overhaul as the government reportedly weighs up options for an inquiry, The Australian reports. 

Brooke Rolfe

Tourism WA’s latest annual report has sparked fresh scrutiny of Labor’s big-spending events strategy, a week after Premier Roger Cook hailed a record visitor spend of $19.2 billion and 11 million overnight visitors.

state politicsPremiumCook under fire as tourism numbers drop despite $75m splurge

Numbers do lie, according to the Cook Government which has blamed what looks like a slump in overnight visitors and tourism jobs on Canberra’s new way of counting them.

Jessica Page

Tourism Council WA boss Evan Hall spent last week in Canberra for urgent briefings on the Albanese Government’s overhaul, and came out of the talks even more worried. 

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state politicsPremium
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Why country WA pubs could soon have no staff to pull beers

The Albanese Government’s plan to cap longer backpacker stays and target overstayers has sent a shiver through WA’s tourism industry, which claims it could gut the State’s regional holiday workforce.

Jessica Page