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Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey.

State PoliticsCommentsPremiumHospital maintenance fix not guaranteed by September

Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey will not commit to more funding or staff to rein in a maintenance backlog at Perth hospitals after a report partly blamed ‘resourcing constraints’ for delays.

Jessica Page and Oliver Lane

Mr Anderson made the announcement on Facebook. NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

NewsPremium‘Unforeseen’: Leader struck by family tragedy

A prominent politician has been forced to step back from public commitments in the wake of a “tragic family loss”.

Nathan Schmidt

Roger Cook, right, has not hit the ground running in 2026, writes opposition leader Basil Zempilas.

opinion
opinion
Basil ZempilasComments
opinion
Will someone die before Cook cracks down on tobacco trade?

Welcome back Premier. Rested, refreshed? Good. Judging by the seriousness of the issues waiting for you on your return this week, the people of WA are going to need you at your very best.

Basil Zempilas

Alex and Larisa Kleytman met each other in 1968 and were married nearly 60 years when Mr Kleytman was killed. 9News

newsPremiumBondi terror widow’s brutal call on Albo

A widow who received support from King Charles but not the PM has delivered a stinging rebuke of Anthony Albanese’s response to terror.

Phoebe Griffiths

WA is desperately behind the rest of Australia in inclusive anti-hate laws, writes Brian Greig.

opinion
opinion
Brian Greig
opinion
WA desperately behind Australia in inclusive anti-hate laws

It’s not just WA. The rising tide of hate speech and assaults on LGBTIQA+ people around Australia is alarming, and WA needs to catch up to prevent it.

Brian Greig

Roger Cook announced the Health Asset Maintenance Fund in August to prioritise maintenance works at Sir Charles Gairdner, Royal Perth and Armadale Hospitals. More than $6m has been spent, with a further $14m committed towards works that are under way. 

State PoliticsCommentsPremiumShameful pace of ‘urgent blitz’ to fix crumbling hospitals

Less than half of the Cook Government’s $50 million blitz to fix crumbling WA hospitals has been spent, months after the urgent action was unveiled.

Charlton Hart

Hundreds of leaks are reported at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital every year putting patient and staff safety at risk.

analysis
analysis
Jessica PageComments
analysis
Diagnosis delivered, now for the cure after hospital audit

Whether it was blissfully, or deliberately, ignorant of disrepair in some of Perth’s hospitals, the government has now been forced into action.

Jessica Page

Jessica Page

Not Supplied

NEWSPremium‘Too soon’: Mayor’s call on Bondi footbridge

A local mayor has made a call on the future of the footbridge where the Bondi shooting took place, as three heroes are given Keys to the City.

Pamela Rontziokos and Cydonee Mardon

Rottnest seaplane crash survivors Jeremy and Patricia Connor thanked first responders and members of the public one year on from the tragedy.

WA NEWSPremiumRottnest plane crash survivors finding closure one year on

Two survivors of the tragic Rottnest seaplane crash have spoken of their journey one year on from the incident, unveiling a plaque to mark their gratitude to first responders.

Oliver Lane

Minister John Carey talks to media outside Parliament house, regarding the governments response to the health assest maintenance audit. Sandra Jackson

updated
updated
state politics CommentsPremium
updated
Carey concedes report reveals shambolic maintenance system

A blistering report has revealed how Perth’s hospitals have been shackled by a maintenance system that is under-developed, too reactive and has ‘limited’ oversight. 

Jessica Page and Charlton Hart

Breathtaking arrogance is required to stand before the cameras, vow to “crush and destroy” a criminal underworld, and then watch as that very underworld put a lit match to your rhetoric, writes Charlton Hart.

opinion
opinion
Charlton HartCommentsPremium
opinion
Cook’s tobacco war excuses won’t stop the shops burning down

Breathtaking arrogance is required to stand before the cameras, vow to “crush and destroy” a criminal underworld, and then watch as that very underworld put a lit match to your rhetoric, says Charlton Hart.

Charlton Hart

Charlton Hart

Phil Clark- chairman of Fish for all and commercial fish license leaser Anthony Heslewood.

Fishing banCommentsPremium Demand for review of fish numbers as anger grows over ban

Fishing industry members have demanded the Government pause its demersal fishing ban, reopen shark fishing and independently review WA’s fish stocks, amid growing opposition to the controversial move.

Oliver Lane

Minister John Carey, at a housing developement in fremantle being built by Bethanie.

HealthCommentsPremiumDevelopers selected for two major WA public hospitals

The Cook Government has taken another step towards building two hospitals, having selected developers for begin both projects, which are expected to begin construction this year. 

Claire Sadler

WA tobacco war

State PoliticsCommentsPremium‘Mate, do your job’: Premier cops a serve on tobacco terror

Not even 24 hours after Roger Cook vowed to ‘crush and destroy’ the illicit trade and committed to new legislation, Ashtar tobacconist in Huntingdale was gutted by fire at 3.19am. 

Charlton Hart

Shadow minister for agriculture and food Lachlan Hunter and Albany MLA Scott Leary with local fishing stakeholders Adam and George Soumelidis.

Albany AdvertiserCommentsPremiumHAVE YOUR SAY: Locals urged to attend fishing ban forum

The Nationals WA will host a community forum in Albany on the demersal fishing ban imposed by the State Government, with Albany MLA Scott Leary urging people impacted to attend. 

Jacki Elezovich

Roger Cook has defended his government’s decision not to tell the public about the long-running contamination.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
State PoliticsCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Toxic lead found again in Perth Children’s Hospital water

Officials at Perth Children’s Hospital do not know why dangerous amounts of lead have returned to drinking water facilities that were supposedly cleansed of the toxic metal.

Adrian Rauso

Not Supplied

NEWSPremiumTowns in firing line as devastation laid bare

Queenslanders have begun to clean up the colossal mess left in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji - but the danger is not yet over for some.

Eli Green

‘Labor did learn a lesson out of the election. It learnt that it can ride-out this fish ban backlash.  But the Government’s not off the hook,’ writes Jessica Page.

opinion
opinion
Jessica PageCommentsPremium
opinion
Roger Cook’s Made in WA plan did not include frozen fish

Labor did learn a lesson out of the election. It learnt that it can ride out this fish ban backlash. But the Government’s not off the hook.

Jessica Page

Jessica Page

The audit followed weeks of damaging reporting by The West which exposed the backlog of more than 1000 work orders inundating maintenance staff at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. 

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
State PoliticsCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
‘Hospital of Horrors’ snap audit hits $400k

The cost to audit the rundown conditions of WA’s hospitals has blown out to more than $400,000 after the Cook Government secretly paid an external consulting firm to assist with the review.

Charlton Hart

Moore MP Tom French.

State PoliticsCommentsPremiumCommunity happy with hospital situation as plans stall: MP

A local Labor MP has talked down the need for a new hospital in Perth’s growing northern suburbs, insisting that residents haven’t asked him for one.

Oliver Lane

MP Rebecca White was in Joondalup to visit a soon-to-be opened an endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic in which will be third in WA and the first north of the river.

Federal PoliticsPremiumAssistant minister sorry for ‘shoot, shag, marry’ incident

A Federal Assistant Minister caught playing a game of “shoot, shag or marry” in public with fellow MPs has refused to give more information on the fallout of the incident.

Oliver Lane

Premier Roger Cook has publicly defended the demersal fishing ban for the first time since it began.

State PoliticsCommentsPremiumPremier defends demersal fish ban as industry still seethes

Roger Cook has publicly defended the demersal fishing ban for the first time since it began as anger remains white hot within the industry and questions remain over compensation payments.

Oliver Lane and Sally Davies

Premier Roger Cook, Health Minister Meredith Hammat and Planning and Lands Minister John Carey toured the site of WA’s first Children’s Hospice in Swanborne today before speaking to the media. Michael Wilson

State PoliticsPremiumWestern suburbs children’s hospice to finally open this year

Taxpayers will foot the operating costs for a children’s hospice finally set to open in Swanbourne, five years after it was promised. 

Jessica Page

Flags of the pre-Islamic Iranian state were being flown at the protest which stood in unity with the anti-government rallies currently being held in Iran. Gaye Gerard /NewsWire

NewsPremium‘Your voice’: Protesters swarm US outpost

More than 100 protesters have rallied outside the US consulate in Sydney, demanding an end to Iran’s oppressive regime as the crackdown intensifies.

Aris Schuler-Shah