Latest news with #WestAustralian
West Australian
21 hours ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Geraldton Buccaneer Alex Ducas is one step closer to an NBA championship ring with Oklahoma City Thunder
Former Geraldton Buccaneer Alex Ducas is one step closer to an NBA championship ring with Oklahoma City Thunder. Thunder have stormed into the NBA finals for the first time since 2012, dominating in the regular season and booking the finals berth after a 4-1 semifinal series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ducas messaged his dad Aaron after the game on Thursday, telling him the team felt confident in their play and that they're looking forward to the finals. When asked about having an NBA championship ring in the house, Aaron Ducas told the Geraldton Guardian on Friday: 'Yeah, it's huge, slightly better than the SBL title, it would be amazing.' 'He's put all the hard yards in, done all the little things to get him where he is, and he deserves every accolade he can get.' While Ducas hasn't had game time since mid-April he is still on the roster as a two-way player and could get some minutes on the court should the Thunder roll deep into the finals series. Competition is fierce within the squad, with teammate Jalen Williams combining with NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren to score 170 points in games four and five against the Timberwolves. Luc Longley is the only West Australian basketballer to have won an NBA championship. In fact, he has won three. Ducas debuted in 2016, playing 51 games over four seasons for the Buccs, including the SBL championship in 2019, the same year he was named NBL1 youth player of the year. He played a full five years of college basketball in the US, for St Mary's Gaels in California. The 24-year-old signed with the Thunder mid-2024 and has played 21 games in the 2024-25 season, averaging six minutes and 1.7 points a game. Oklahoma will face either the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers in a best-of-seven series, starting June 6.
Sydney Morning Herald
21 hours ago
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
Rock art expert breaks silence over Burrup emissions study controversy
A leading statistician on an emissions study into an ancient West Australian rock art site has spoken supporting an 800-page report, days after blasting WA bureaucrats for 'unacceptable interference' by altering a graph in a separate summary of that report. The report on monitoring of industrial emissions near the site on the Burrup Peninsula in the state's north-west was released last Friday, and lauded by industry and the Cook government as proof that modern industrial emissions were not currently impacting the ancient petroglyph images carved into the site's striking rock landforms. That conclusion was rubbished by world-renowned rock art expert Ben Smith, who said the 800-page report showed the opposite. The Murujuga rock art monitoring program is a $27 million joint effort between Curtin University scientists, Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Its release came days before Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt approved a 40-year extension to the life of Woodside's North West Shelf assets – among which are a gas plant releasing some of the emissions being monitored. The report was published alongside an eight-page summary featuring graphs showing benchmark levels for acceptable pollution on the Burrup. The ABC reported Curtin University Emeritus Professor Adrian Baddeley, who was the report's chief statistician, complained in an email to DWER on Tuesday that one of those graphs had been altered on the summary. The alteration removed a line showed in the main report, showing an early warning threshold of pollution on the Burrup. Baddeley, who told a pro-Palestine rally at Curtin last May universities had become 'more corporate, much more authoritarian, much more coercive' wrote to the government department:
The Age
21 hours ago
- Science
- The Age
Rock art expert breaks silence over Burrup emissions study controversy
A leading statistician on an emissions study into an ancient West Australian rock art site has spoken supporting an 800-page report, days after blasting WA bureaucrats for 'unacceptable interference' by altering a graph in a separate summary of that report. The report on monitoring of industrial emissions near the site on the Burrup Peninsula in the state's north-west was released last Friday, and lauded by industry and the Cook government as proof that modern industrial emissions were not currently impacting the ancient petroglyph images carved into the site's striking rock landforms. That conclusion was rubbished by world-renowned rock art expert Ben Smith, who said the 800-page report showed the opposite. The Murujuga rock art monitoring program is a $27 million joint effort between Curtin University scientists, Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Its release came days before Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt approved a 40-year extension to the life of Woodside's North West Shelf assets – among which are a gas plant releasing some of the emissions being monitored. The report was published alongside an eight-page summary featuring graphs showing benchmark levels for acceptable pollution on the Burrup. The ABC reported Curtin University Emeritus Professor Adrian Baddeley, who was the report's chief statistician, complained in an email to DWER on Tuesday that one of those graphs had been altered on the summary. The alteration removed a line showed in the main report, showing an early warning threshold of pollution on the Burrup. Baddeley, who told a pro-Palestine rally at Curtin last May universities had become 'more corporate, much more authoritarian, much more coercive' wrote to the government department:
West Australian
a day ago
- Sport
- West Australian
WACA Ground redevelopment: WA Cricket want venue to be hub for country's women's team
WA Cricket is making a push for its redeveloped ground to become the heart of women's cricket in Australia. The $170 million redevelopment of the historic WACA Ground — which is now set for completion in November — will host a day-night Test match between Australia and India's women's teams in March next season. It will be the first international match played at the venue after its facelift and just the second Test at the ground since a men's Ashes match in 2017. Sports minister Rita Saffioti was on hand to celebrate the 'topping out' of the ground's new northern pavilion on Friday morning. The project had originally been slated for completion in the middle of the year, but that has now been pushed back to beyond the start of the domestic season. It is likely the ground will be opened in line with Perth's Ashes Test from November 21. That could open the door for England's touring side to use the facility Australian stars Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Ash Gardner and Western Australia's own Beth Mooney and Alana King are set to star in the Test from March 6. That match will be the WACA Ground's first-ever pink-ball Test. There had been strong momentum when Australia played South Africa at the venue early last year around the prospect of the WACA becoming a regular venue for the national team. The size of the venue, the family-friendly nature of the grass bank, the soon-to-be upgraded facilities make it a strong option for women's internationals, while the fast and bouncy wickets make for entertaining cricket and the timezone means matches are beamed into the east coast in primetime. WA Cricket chief executive John Stephenson said the ground was well placed to host more women's matches. 'I think the WACA Ground 2.0 is going to be the perfect place for women's cricket and Cricket Australia definitely acknowledge that by allocating us a women's Test match,' he said. 'It will be our first pink-ball Test match, day-night women's Test match, which is an incredible thing us historically to be staging. 'One of our priorities is developing women's cricket, so everything we do here benefits Cricket Australia. The West Australian understands Cricket Australia had been keen to host the clash with India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground — after the success of last year's Ashes match there — but the schedule meant the match would be played too close to the start of the AFL season. Perry — Australia's highest-profile women's cricketer — is among the top players that have pushed for more matches to be played in Perth. The redevelopment of the facility includes the public pool and gymnasium, the nation-leading indoor cricket nets, function space and new public viewing areas.
Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Car stolen from Perth hotel with two-year-old child inside
Police said the vehicle was last seen in the Bayswater area near Guildford Road. Credit: Simon Santi / The West Australian Caleb Runciman The West Australian Police are urgently searching for a stolen car containing a two-year-old child after it was taken from a hotel in Redcliffe. The two-year-old child was inside the car when it was stolen from the hotel about 2pm on Friday. An urgent alert has been sent out by WA Police to locate the car — a later model dark blue Hyundai i30 hatchback. Police said the vehicle was last seen in the Bayswater area near Guildford Road. Anyone who sights the vehicle is asked to call police immediately on 131 444.
