Ambulance ramping continues to spiral as one in 10 patients wait more than 12 hours in emergency department
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Ambulance ramping continues to spiral as one in 10 patients wait more than 12 hours in emergency department
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Perth Now
32 minutes ago
- Perth Now
‘Worst' of Bali bombings victims in unforgettable pictures
Five months pregnant, armed with just her camera and a steady hand, young photojournalist Sandra Jackson stood at Royal Perth Hospital, unsure of what was about to happen. While she couldn't prepare for what was about to happen she was ready to capture history as it passed across the lens. 'I was a young photographer . . . I was working on a normal shift,' Jackson recalled. 'We heard that the plane was coming back in with survivors. '(I) didn't know what was going to come out of that plane, what was going to come out of the ambulance, I just knew they were the worst of worst, and they were coming.' The year was 2002. The victims of the Bali bombings — Australia's worst-ever terror attack — were being flown home. 'Seeing that some were not conscious, some were conscious, and just seeing the actual, you know, trauma,' she said. 'Horrific.' Today, Jackson is the visual editor of The West Australian. Watch each video of The West Australian's Worth A Thousand Words series here. But back then, she was a young photographer on one of the most confronting assignments of her life. And yet, when it came time to raise the camera, instinct took over. 'It is part of the job,' she said. 'We're used to confronting things and seeing horrid things. We see people on their worst days, and we see people on their best days. A victim of the Bali bombings arriving in Perth. Credit: Sandra Jackson / WA News 'When you're taking it, you're doing your job, and you just, you're in automatic mode. It's usually when you drop your camera that you then are part of it. Jackson's story is one of many being brought to light in Worth a Thousand Words, a powerful new video series produced by Natalie Bonjolo, which peels back the curtain on some of the most unforgettable images in WA news history — and the unsung heroes behind the lens. 'Behind every photograph there's drama, pressure and passion to get it right, Bonjolo said. Bali bombings victims arriving in Perth. Credit: Sandra Jackson / WA News 'The West's pictorial collection is a living historical record, any event you can think of has been photographed, catalogued and filed, it's an absolute treasure trove.' From the chaos of crime scenes to the euphoria of sporting parades, Bonjolo's series digs into the emotional and often unpredictable reality of news photography. 'We wanted to highlight some of the defining images in West Australian history and hear from the photographers who took them,' she said. 'The videos feel very intimate and raw, the photographers featured open up about how they felt in the moment, whether it's sadness, triumph, or something else.' The idea for the series was born while Bonjolo was doing a little treasure hunting of her own in The West's photo archive — a rabbit hole of negatives, film rolls and forgotten frames. Stuart Henderson arrived at Royal Perth Hospital. Credit: Sandra Jackson / WA News 'We all know the famous photo of Alan Bond holding up the America's Cup during a street parade through Perth in 1983 as thousands of West Aussies lined St Georges Terrace to welcome the yachting heroes,' she said. 'But the librarian handed me dozens of packets of old film negatives, and I was sitting there over a lit-up desk with JUa magnifying glass seeing hundreds of frames, some which had never been published. 'It was wild, there were images of John Bertrand, the skipper of Australia II and Ben Lexcen the designer, pushing the car because it had broken down in the middle of the parade. 'In another, Alan Bond is leaning out of an open-top Rolls-Royce to grab a can of coke from a spectator, because it was a warm day. 'Worth a Thousand Words speaks with photographer Nic Ellis who reveals how he captured these candid shots,' Bonjolo said. One of the victim's of the 2002 Bali bombings arriving on the tarmac at Perth Airport. Credit: Sandra Jackson / WA News
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Kalgoorlie remembers 'maverick' federal MP Graeme Campbell
Former member for the West Australian federal seat of Kalgoorlie Graeme Campbell has died, aged 86. His family posted on social media that he died early Saturday morning at Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital. Mr Campbell entered politics as a member of the Labor Party after a career as a pastoralist on the remote Nullarbor Plain. He went on to serve as the member for Kalgoorlie for 18 years, and is remembered by contemporaries as a "colourful" political maverick. Originally from Oxfordshire in England, Mr Campbell's family emigrated to Australia when he was a child. He grew up in South Australia and went on to establish Kybo Station, a remote pastoral property on the sparse Nullarbor, with his brother Rod Campbell. It was at Kybo he met his wife Michele Lelievre, now Campbell, a French woman who had stopped at the station while on a trip around Australia. Ms Campbell told the ABC in 2018 she had heard about the Campbell brothers long before heading towards the Nullarbor Plain. "I looked at him and thought, 'Definitely, I will stay,' so that was how I met him." The couple later married and moved to Kalgoorlie, where Mr Campbell worked in mining before turning his attention to politics. Mr Campbell joined the Labor Party in 1980, and was elected as the federal member for Kalgoorlie, a position he held for 17 years and 11 months. He was known for his pro-mining and anti-immigration views. In 1988, he challenged then prime minister Paul Keating and crossed the floor in opposition to the government's plan to remove company tax exemptions from gold miners. Former member for O'Connor, Tony Crook, said the move cemented Mr Campbell as a man of the people. Mr Campbell was disendorsed by the Labor Party for his outspoken views, and resigned from the party just prior to the 1996 election. He went on to run as an independent and won, retaining his seat for another two years. In a statement to the ABC, Mr Campbell's family said winning the 1996 election as an independent was one of his proudest moments. "Graeme found special connection to the people of regional Western Australia. "He was deeply honoured to be able to represent his people as the federal member for the seat of Kalgoorlie." Mr Crook said Mr Campbell's "maverick" style left an incredible legacy in Kalgoorlie politics. "For Graeme to leave [the Labor Party] and win the federal seat as an independent was huge," he said. "That was why I crossed the floor as many times as I did [in my own career]." Member for Kalgoorlie Ali Kent agreed Mr Campbell's "maverick" label was warranted. "He liked not ever conforming, he always liked to have his own way of doing things." Ms Kent said Mr Campbell's passion for local issues continued after he left politics. "Right to the end, he would be at the voting booths … he would always want to have a conversation with you," she said. Boulder resident and former chair of the Goldfields Transport Board, Doug Daws, first met Mr Campbell when he was in the Transport Workers Union and the pair came to loggerheads. Mr Daws said despite their disagreements, they went on to become good friends. "Graham was a great arguer for better things for the Goldfields … and sometimes it wasn't easy for him to do that," he said. He remembered fondly when Mr Campbell was meant to be promoting a prospective emu leather and meat farm near Wiluna. "He came to a meeting with a pair of these [emu leather] shoes on and he told everybody … they were the most uncomfortable shoes he's ever worn in his life," Mr Daws said. Mr Daws said Mr Campbell would be remembered for his tenacity and passion for the Goldfields. "He picked up causes and fought for them valiantly, sometimes against overwhelming odds … and his efforts are well recorded in the Hansard of federal parliament," he said. "He was a very able representative of this district [and] he was a hell of a good bloke. "He'll be sadly missed." Mr Campbell leaves behind his wife Michele and two sons, Ainsley and Leyland, who said they were overwhelmed with the outpouring of community sentiment. "We are honoured and thankful to have had him as our husband and father," the family statement read.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Authorities want more powers to deal with WA's illegal tobacco industry
From the outside, this shop looks like any typical convenience store. On closer inspection, it has little stock of any kind nor advertising of products posted in the windows. Recently, police charged two people with selling tobacco without a licence from this Katanning shop in Western Australia's Great Southern region. It is a serious concern for WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch, who is dealing with similar stores popping up across the state, and not just because they are potentially selling illegal tobacco. "There are convenience stores that are funded by and set up by organised crime on the east coast of Australia, right here in WA," he told ABC Radio Perth. Illegal tobacco sales have been in the spotlight in recent weeks, with two tobacco shops targeted in what police believe were firebomb attacks in Perth. "Organised crime have seen an opportunity where they're seeing people sell illicit tobacco through convenience stores or other means and they want the biggest cut of that pie," Commissioner Blanch said. "The best way to get the biggest cut is to take out their competitors and that's exactly what we're seeing." WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said incidents like the arson attacks presented an unacceptable risk to the community. "I'm aware WA Police are working with Australian Federal Police and other interstate police forces to get to the 'Mr Bigs' of this, to get at the outlaw gangs that are behind this," he said. "I'm aware there are, if you like, FIFO [fly-in fly-out] gangsters coming to Perth, shooting up the place, dropping fire bombs outside smoke shops. That is unacceptable." In WA, the sale of tobacco products is regulated under the Tobacco Products Control Act 2006, with the Department of Health responsible for compliance and carrying out inspections. Commissioner Blanch said the penalties that could be imposed were too low. "Remembering most of that law was drafted to stop young people from buying smokes in shops," he said. "The advent of organised crime infiltrating this market and doing standover tactics and fire bombings and shooting wasn't considered, so the penalties have to be far more significant." Currently in WA, the maximum penalty for an individual selling illicit tobacco for a first offence is a $10,000 fine and $40,000 for a body corporate. In Queensland, those prosecuted for similar offending could receive a fine of up to $322,600 or two years' imprisonment. For a corporation, the fine can be up to $1.6 million. Commissioner Blanch wants WA to follow the lead of South Australia and allow authorities to issue interim closure orders. "I think what we're seeing is a national problem and other states are introducing these laws, South Australia already have and the east coast are drafting their bills," he said. "Organised crime will look for an area of displacement where it is easier for them to operate and obviously no West Australian wants organised crime to operate in our state if the laws aren't equivalent to what's happening in other states." Mr Whitby said potential changes to the legislation were being considered. "I'm aware of other interstate legislation. I'd like to look at all of that legislation and make sure we can come up with the best and the toughest," he said. "But in the meantime, you can be assured police are taking action." Since the start of 2024, the Department of Health has received 304 complaints relating to 119 premises and inspected more than 1,600 tobacconists. Over that period, more than 190,000 vapes, 460,000 cigarettes, and more than 85 kilograms of loose tobacco have been seized, and infringements totalling about $60,000 have been issued for tobacco-related non-compliance. A bag of illegal tobacco can be purchased for about half the cost of going through a legal tobacconist. Australian Council of Smoking and Health chief executive Laura Hunter said access to cheap illegal tobacco was too easy. "Illicit cigarettes sold without health warnings or graphic packaging undermined decades of Australia's progress in tobacco control," she said. "Price has been one of our most effective deterrents and the illicit trade wipes that out by making cigarettes cheaper and easier to get, and it's a serious and growing concern in WA."
