WA news LIVE: Schools back! And so are the WA student assistance payments
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Across the nation and around the world
Here's what's making headlines across the nation and around the world:
Both leaders lost a key point of the final debate of the federal election when a simple question produced two unbelievable answers.
Labor will target millions of younger voters in a final push for power at the federal election this Saturday, ramping up its pitch after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton unveiled a campaign blitz across dozens of key seats.
Eleven people are dead after a driver ploughed through crowds at a Filipino community festival in Vancouver, in a mass casualty event that has rocked Canada just as voters head to the polls to choose their next government.
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Today's weather
9.15am
This morning in Perth
Good morning and welcome to our live blog for Monday, April 28.
Making news this morning, and reporter Jesinta Burton has uncovered the stories behind the century-old home in the path of Gina Rinehart's $250 million West Perth development dream.
The Federation-style home has sheltered a returned soldier, esteemed surgeons and a world-renowned artist.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the fiercely contested new federal seat of Bullwinkel, where a curious collision of suburbs on Perth's eastern fringe and Wheatbelt farming towns has created a political pressure cooker.
From live sheep exports to the fights over Perth Hills developments, the electorate is awash with polarising issues — and now a fresh climate report has upped the stakes.
And a Thai restaurant group's first foray into the Perth street food arena spells promising things for eaters.
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West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Crocodile Hunter's dad fires up over culling proposal
The father of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has hit out at calls for the large reptiles to be culled in popular waterways, describing it as pointless. Bob Irwin took aim at proposed Queensland laws that would result in crocodiles found in populated sites being killed or relocated. Katter's Australian Party put forward the bill under a long-running campaign to enhance crocodile control laws, claiming numbers had "exploded" in the state's north. Queensland's Liberal National government said it would consider the findings of a parliamentary hearing into the bill and decide whether it was "fit for purpose". Mr Irwin says killing or removing crocodiles is not the answer. "Culling crocodiles is a pointless exercise, absolutely pointless," he told the hearing on Wednesday The Katter party renewed calls for crocodile control after a failed bid under the former Labor government. The bill would allow crocodile culls and safari-style hunting trips, amid claims more than 1200 crocodiles had been spotted in 2023 compared to 126 in 2010. Mr Irwin said if a large crocodile that protected a territory was removed or killed, a "juvenile delinquent" moved in and took over. "You're never going to be able to say to the general public you can swim in that river now, because you won't ever know that there are crocodiles still there," he told the hearing. Mr Irwin helped found Australia Zoo where his son grew up and developed a passion for wildlife, later becoming the world famous Crocodile Hunter before the livewire conservationist's tragic 2006 death. His daughter-in-law Terri Irwin had earlier echoed his concerns in a submission to the committee, saying the proposed laws would increase the likelihood of croc attacks due to a false sense of security in culled areas. The Queensland environment department's deputy director general said education was paramount in preventing crocodile attacks, not culling. "No amount of crocodile removal can guarantee the absence of crocodiles in a waterway, nor can it assure that an area is completely safe to swim," Ben Klaassen told the committee on Wednesday. Some community members threw their support behind the bill, with one group suggesting Aboriginal people should assist crocodile culls. Murrandoo Yanner won a landmark 1999 High Court case that ruled Aboriginal people could hunt crocodiles. He said Aboriginal people in Queensland's Gulf Country were hunting crocodiles and maintaining the population, so there was "no greater group" to aid a pilot culling program. "We hunt and eat them, but we're not in that camp that we just want to totally cull them," the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation stakeholder officer told the committee. "But we also know they're of great cultural significance, and they're in good numbers here, so we manage them very well." Recent estimates reveal there are around 20,000 to 30,000 crocodiles across northern Queensland. Mr Yanner hoped to work with the state government, advising how to cull crocodiles without eradicating the species. Two councils in the state's north, Mareeba and Whitsundays, also want the bill become a reality, saying there was a risk to residents and tourists. Mareeba Shire Council deputy mayor Lenore Wyatt said dozens of saltwater crocs in eastern waterways were not native after some escaped from a nearby farm in the 1990s. The area is already zoned to allow the removal of crocodiles, but the council wanted a faster process, saying a farmer had a reptile in his dam for more than six months. The committee report is due in August.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Crocodile Hunter's dad fires up over culling proposal
The father of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has hit out at calls for the large reptiles to be culled in popular waterways, describing it as pointless. Bob Irwin took aim at proposed Queensland laws that would result in crocodiles found in populated sites being killed or relocated. Katter's Australian Party put forward the bill under a long-running campaign to enhance crocodile control laws, claiming numbers had "exploded" in the state's north. Queensland's Liberal National government said it would consider the findings of a parliamentary hearing into the bill and decide whether it was "fit for purpose". Mr Irwin says killing or removing crocodiles is not the answer. "Culling crocodiles is a pointless exercise, absolutely pointless," he told the hearing on Wednesday The Katter party renewed calls for crocodile control after a failed bid under the former Labor government. The bill would allow crocodile culls and safari-style hunting trips, amid claims more than 1200 crocodiles had been spotted in 2023 compared to 126 in 2010. Mr Irwin said if a large crocodile that protected a territory was removed or killed, a "juvenile delinquent" moved in and took over. "You're never going to be able to say to the general public you can swim in that river now, because you won't ever know that there are crocodiles still there," he told the hearing. Mr Irwin helped found Australia Zoo where his son grew up and developed a passion for wildlife, later becoming the world famous Crocodile Hunter before the livewire conservationist's tragic 2006 death. His daughter-in-law Terri Irwin had earlier echoed his concerns in a submission to the committee, saying the proposed laws would increase the likelihood of croc attacks due to a false sense of security in culled areas. The Queensland environment department's deputy director general said education was paramount in preventing crocodile attacks, not culling. "No amount of crocodile removal can guarantee the absence of crocodiles in a waterway, nor can it assure that an area is completely safe to swim," Ben Klaassen told the committee on Wednesday. Some community members threw their support behind the bill, with one group suggesting Aboriginal people should assist crocodile culls. Murrandoo Yanner won a landmark 1999 High Court case that ruled Aboriginal people could hunt crocodiles. He said Aboriginal people in Queensland's Gulf Country were hunting crocodiles and maintaining the population, so there was "no greater group" to aid a pilot culling program. "We hunt and eat them, but we're not in that camp that we just want to totally cull them," the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation stakeholder officer told the committee. "But we also know they're of great cultural significance, and they're in good numbers here, so we manage them very well." Recent estimates reveal there are around 20,000 to 30,000 crocodiles across northern Queensland. Mr Yanner hoped to work with the state government, advising how to cull crocodiles without eradicating the species. Two councils in the state's north, Mareeba and Whitsundays, also want the bill become a reality, saying there was a risk to residents and tourists. Mareeba Shire Council deputy mayor Lenore Wyatt said dozens of saltwater crocs in eastern waterways were not native after some escaped from a nearby farm in the 1990s. The area is already zoned to allow the removal of crocodiles, but the council wanted a faster process, saying a farmer had a reptile in his dam for more than six months. The committee report is due in August.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Australia's mass migration 'disaster' overwhelming Labor's housing plan, availability going backwards by hundreds of homes every week
Australia is bringing in migrants faster than it can house them, with Labor's mass immigration plans outpacing new home construction and shrinking the housing supply by more than 1000 homes every week. Australia is bringing in migrants faster than it can house them, with Labor's mass immigration plans outpacing new home construction and shrinking the housing supply by more than 1000 homes every week. Despite promising to deliver 1.2 million new homes over five years, new forecasts reveal the country will fall short by 260,000 homes by June 2029. The State of the Housing System 2025 report forecast the country will build only 938,000 new homes by June 2029, short of the 1.2 million promised. Meanwhile, net overseas migration will total about 1.2 million people by 2029-30, according to the federal government's own 2025–26 Budget. That means, by the time the government finishes building the homes, the country will have gone backwards by 200,000 homes. That shortfall translates to a net loss of more than 1,000 homes per week, when matched against population growth and existing shortages. Adding in natural population increases, the shortfall increases even further. In response, Migration Watch Australia Director Jordan Knight has accused the Albanese government of creating a 'total disaster in the making'. 'The Albanese government promised to build more houses, today they're building less. They promised to lower immigration, today they're bringing in more,' he told Sky News. 'The Housing Minister Clare O'Neil herself has said she wants house prices to continue to rise, and the government is using mass immigration to achieve this. 'Homeownership is a core pillar of our society. If we lose it, it will be chaos.' Mr Knight rejected the government's repeated claim that migration is needed to support the construction industry, labelling it a 'lie'. 'The lie that we need migrants to build houses is ridiculous. A minuscule amount of new migrants work in construction—and they need to be housed before they can build housing,' he said. — Migration Watch Australia (@migrationwaus) April 6, 2025 Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced changes in December to 'attract migrants' in specific occupations, including construction. 'The biggest bulk of our migrant intake comes from international students. Frankly, they can study online. We need to fix our problems first before we bring any more people in,' Mr Knight said. Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) President Col Dutton also warned that Labor was falling far behind its commitments, citing new industry data. 'UDIA National analysis has found that Australia will actually undershoot the Housing Accord target by up to 400,000 homes,' Mr Dutton said. 'We simply can't build the houses fast enough … What we need is a sharp focus on skilled migration and coordination of housing supply policy with immigration numbers.' Under the UDIA projections, the net losses in housing increase to more than 1,500 houses every week. Mr Dutton said the industry was being choked by red tape, slow approvals, and infrastructure bottlenecks. 'Supply is being choked by development approvals processes through councils and state governments, lack of funding for enabling infrastructure to service development ready land and cumbersome environmental approval processes lacking a co-ordinated approach between all levels of government," he said. According to ABS dwelling completion data, Australia built only 166,000 homes in 2024, compared to 446,000 net overseas migrants entering the country that same year. With an average of 2.5 people per household, that created a housing shortage of roughly 12,400 dwellings in a single year—even before accounting for the existing shortfall. Rental vacancy rates have remained at near-record level lows of around 1.3 per cent, while the average time to save for a deposit has increased to 10.6 years. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil recently argued that the government has been laying the groundwork for long-term reform. 'It takes time to turn the tide on a housing crisis a generation in the making,' her spokesperson told Sky News last month. 'That's why it's so important the Labor government keeps building on the foundations laid last term." But critics have said the numbers don't add up—and the government's vision is being overwhelmed by its own migration settings. The Property Council of Australia echoed the warnings, saying 'alarm bells' were ringing over national housing supply. Chief Executive Mike Zorbas said the nation's construction and planning systems were still 'not fit for purpose'. 'The sad fact is that many Australians feel that homeownership is out of reach,' he said. 'More than 30 per cent of the cost of a new home is government taxes and charges.'
