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Thanks for joining us today.
Before we leave you, there has been some late breaking news on the death of the Baldivis man yesterday.
A 44-year-old woman has been charged with murder. You can read more here.
Here’s a recap of some of today’s headlines.
See you tomorrow.
Opposition leader Basil Zempilas has accused the Cook government of being dragged kicking and screaming over lead being found four times above national standards in water at the Perth Children’s Hospital.
The government tabled advice from the WA Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson in parliament late on Wednesday where he provided more details about the five lead findings from tests on August 5 and September 5.
The new findings were relayed to the Cook government on Friday, shortly after Premier Roger Cook suggested the lead issue at the hospital was a historical one.
Robertson’s letter does not include mention of which water outlets the testing was conducted on, only that they occured in two locations, one accessible by staff and one accessible by hospital visitors.
He said the outlets were decommissioned after the lead was found and were being flushed, but even though they exceeded national standards, there was no danger to the public.
Leader of the opposition of Western Australia, Basil Zempilas.Credit: AAPIMAGE
“I have reviewed the five new exceedances recorded in August and September 2025 and can assure the community that the water at Perth Children’s Hospital is safe to drink,” he said.
Zempilas said the letter was embarrassing for the government but did not question Roberston’s determination that there was no risk to the public.
“How embarrassing for the premier, how embarrassing for this government to continue to deflect and to deny and to try and distract it’s there. It’s a real issue,” he said.
“There is lead in the water at PCH and yet the government will not tell us where in the hospital it is or when it occurred and what levels it is at now. That is inexcusable.
“I’m not arguing any of the points that the Chief Health Officer would make, but what I would say on behalf of the people of Western Australia, if there are outbreaks of lead in the water at any of our hospitals, please tell us when they happen. Please tell us when they happened. Please tell us the levels and please tell us where in the hospital they have occurred.“
Zempilas questioned Health Minister Meredith Hammat over the lead levels and the letter in parliament on Thursday afternoon.
She denied the government had not been transparent about the issue and highlighted Robertson’s advice that the lead levels were safe.
“We have been transparent, that’s why we tabled the advice from the Chief Health Officer so that people could see information and see his consideration of those important factors in terms of the ongoing management of water testing at that site and also managing where there are exceedances identified,” she said.
“He is the Chief Health Officer. He is the expert in relation to these matters, and we will be guided by his opinion.“
Labor has berated Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas during question time today over the Liberal fundraiser featuring Coalition Senator Jacinta Price and WA
Upper House MP Nick Goiran being held at the Indian Community Centre in Willetton this evening.
Cook criticised Price for her comments last week that Indian migrants were targeted by Labor because they voted for her party.
“The Liberal Party claims that Senator Price says what needs to be said, but her comments last week have incited division and anxiety across Australia,” he said.
“These have been carefully chosen words by Senator price, words designed to spread misinformation, fear, and division.
“For the Liberal party to promote the event … at an Indian Community centre just a week after she made these comments is deeply, deeply offensive.“
Cook then reiterated calls made by his deputy Rita Saffioti and Housing Minister John Carey earlier this morning for Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas to step in and cancel the event.
Saffioti continued the attack in a later response directly asking Zempilas whether he would step in and cancel the event.
Zempilas remained silent until his colleague Liam Staltari called a point of order.
Carey later said the entire party should be ashamed of “profiting off the misery” of the Indian community by proceeding with the event.
Zempilas has written to ISWA to express regret at Price’s comments, but he did not have an issue with the event occurring and he would not step in to stop it.
WA Police are looking for a man they say may be able to assist with an investigation into the sexual assault of a teenager in Perth’s CBD in July.
WA Police are looking for this man to assist with a child sex assault investigation.Credit: WA Police
Police released a photo of the man this afternoon, stating that he “may have information to assist” with the investigation after he was seen near the intersection of Pier and Edward Streets between 1pm and 6pm on July 18.
The search is in relation to the arrest of a 49-year-old Bennett Springs man who has been charged with the sexual assault of a teenager.
The Bennett Springs man is due to appear in court in relation to the charges in December.
Anyone with information relating to
this incident or the man pictured is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au
A Cloverdale day care centre has been fined after two toddlers managed to leave a supervised area, with one found in the car park by another parent.
Great Beginnings Cloverdale was fined $65,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal after disciplinary action was taken against them by the Department of Communities.
In documents lodged online this week, details of the incident from July last year were revealed, including that the toddlers, aged one year and seven months and two years and four months, managed to leave the toddlers room “unnoticed and unsupervised”.
They were in a room with 11 other children under the supervision of four employees.
Great Beginnings Cloverdale.
Both children managed to escape through a door being held open by one of the staff as she was handing shoes to a parent.
One of the toddlers remained in the unmanned foyer, while the other walked through automatic doors, through a gate that was not fully closed and then into the day care’s car park.
It was the parent of another child that took her back into the centre.
Disciplinary action was taken against the staff members, the court documents state and a review and reinforcement of door safety procedures and transition supervision protocols were implemented.
Flights to Bali are taking off as usual from Perth Airport today, but travellers are being warned to be on alert after the holiday island experienced widespread flooding which has claimed the lives of at least 15 people.
Perth tourist Jacquie Dymock told 9News Perth she was evacuated from her hotel and had to wade through waist-deep water to get to alternative accommodation in Legian.
A building on the edge of the Badung River in Denpasar City collapses after being hit by the floods.Credit: Amilia Rosa
Flash flooding, combined with rubbish-blocked drains, transformed small creeks and channels into raging torrents which collapsed buildings and led to traffic gridlock.
Tourist hotspots appeared to have escaped the worst of the floods, but a few low-lying areas were inundated.
Two people were confirmed to have died in the old area of Denpasar when rushing waters brought down an ageing four-storey building and parts of another, a moment caught on video.
Rescue workers hold grave fears for two more people still trapped in the debris. A further two survived and were being treated at hospital.
Read more about the deadly flash floods here.
with Zach Hope and Amilia Rosa
Opposition home affairs spokesperson and WA MP Andrew Hastie says there is no mood in the Liberal Party room for a change in leader, following the sacking of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price over her failure to back in Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s leadership and a week-long saga that unfolded after she made false claims about Indian migration.
Asked if the “knives are being sharpened”, Hastie told 2GB radio: “No, the knives are not being sharpened. To use your language, they’re not. And what we need now is stability. We actually need to work out who we are and who we’re fighting for, and that’s the fundamental question that we face in the wake of one of the biggest defeats we’ve had last May.”
Opposition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The Canning MP has widely been touted as a future leader of the Liberal Party, and has been heckled by the government in question time this term over his political ambitions.
“I want to fight for everyday Australians. I want a better deal for them economically. I want a stronger country. I want a more competitive country for them, and I want them to wake up every day feeling hopeful about the future for their family, for their small business, and for our country, and that’s who we should be fighting for,” he said.
“People know I have a desire to lead. There isn’t a move. Just to be very clear, I know there’s been feverish speculation over the last 12 hours. There’s certainly none coming from me,” Hastie said.
A new bill introduced to parliament on Wednesday by WA Premier Roger Cook has “the potential for massive abuse of power”, according to the Greens.
Cook – who is also the minister for state development – introduced the State Development Bill 2025 on Wednesday, which he said would be a “pivotal next step” in streamlining the approval of “projects and precincts of the significance to Western Australia”.
WA Premier Roger Cook.Credit: Tony McDonough
The premier was adamant the bill, which he announced at a business breakfast on Monday, would ensure priority projects weren’t delayed.
Under the bill, the state development minister would be empowered to declare “priority” projects and areas, and issue time frame notices, due regard notices and modification orders, among other powers.
On Wednesday, Cook told parliament those powers were “not about bypassing necessary regulation or the need to hold a key regulatory approval”.
“The bill also includes strong protections to ensure the appropriate use of this power,” he said.
But the bill also includes amendments to other acts, including the Environmental Protection Act, which was one of the details which drew the ire of the WA Greens.
Greens environmental protection spokeswoman Jess Beckerling labelled the bill an “extraordinary move to slash environmental and heritage protections for the sake of industry”.
“The EPA is the thin green line tasked with protecting our precious and vulnerable natural environment, but this legislation overrides the Environmental Protection Act and specifically provides for the EPA’s Act to be modified to prioritise industry and for the EPA’s assessment processes to be rushed to meet deadlines imposed by the coordinator general or minister,” she said.
“It is clear that the Cook government is working its way through an industry wishlist to undermine environmental protections in this state, and this is the latest egregious move.”
Tim Clifford, the Greens’ spokesman for open and honest government, said he was “incredibly alarmed by this bill and its implications on our long-besieged democracy”.
“One has to ask: what’s the point of carefully constructing legislation to protect our environment and cultural heritage only to ride roughshod over them when it’s politically expedient?” he said.
A Geraldton man will face court today on multiple child abuse charges, including allegations he sexually abused children in the Philippines.
The 59-year-old man was charged by the Australian Federal Police after a referral from WA Police following the seizure of a computer, hard drives and several devices from the man’s home during an unrelated investigation.
AFP allegedly uncovered child abuse material on the devices, including pictures of the man allegedly sexually abusing children in the Philippines.
It will be alleged the man used social media to communicate with victims and others overseas to solicit child abuse material and meet with minors in the Philippines.
Information provided to Philippines authorities by the AFP has also led to a child being removed from harm in the city of Taguig.
A 26-year-old woman known to the child has also been charged by the Philippine National Police.
AFP Commander Renee Colley said the force and its partners remained committed to the pursuit of anyone involved in the exploitation or abuse of children.
“Investigators work tirelessly to seek justice for any child who has been ruthlessly exploited by a sexual predator, wherever they live around the world,” she said.
“It’s a timely warning to anyone involved in the abuse or exploitation of children; there are no off days for our officers, you will be caught and prosecuted.”
Brigadier General Sheila Portento, the Philippine National Police Chief of the Women and Children’s Protection Centre, said the charges were a “powerful reminder that when nations work together, traffickers and exploiters have nowhere to hide”.
Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Price is still set to appear at a Liberal party fundraiser being held at an Indian community centre this evening in Perth’s southern suburbs.
Internally, the WA Liberal branch is grappling with whether the event should go ahead after Price was dumped from the frontbench by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley over her refusal to back her leadership and comments made last week about Indian migration.
The event is set to feature Price alongside outspoken conservative WA Liberal MLC Nick Goiran and is billed as hearing from “two MPs who are never afraid to say what needs to be said”.
One of the fundraiser’s organisers, upper house Liberal MP Michelle Hofmann confirmed outside WA parliament that Price would still speak at the event.
“We’re expecting to have a great event tonight. We’ve got 500 tickets sold,” she said.
“There’s a lot of people who are really keen to come and see Jacinta speak tonight.”
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