Rebecca Turner joined ABC News in 2015 and has worked for the Australian Financial Review and the Australian. You can follow her on Twitter at @rebeccasturner
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| UpdatedUnlikely activist Keith Parsons claims the retirement village system, from its contracts to management rules, is so complex that it tips the balance in favour of developers over residents.
Topics: community-and-society, aged-care, perth-6000
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| UpdatedWA Attorney-General Michael Mischin indicates he has the support of the Premier over his plan to expunge all historical homosexual convictions, as gay rights activists herald the move a "step towards equality".
Topics: gays-and-lesbians, laws, law-crime-and-justice, community-and-society, discrimination, state-parliament, perth-6000
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Authorities scramble to determine the extent of contamination by toxic firefighting chemicals in WA airports, firefighting training facilities and defence sites.
Topics: land-pollution, water-pollution, defence-forces, environmental-impact, perth-6000, wa
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Union influence on the WA Labor party will be a key target for the Liberals in the state election campaign, Premier Colin Barnett signals.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, unions, wa
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WA companies welcome the Government's decision to allow doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis, calling it the final hurdle to setting up a homegrown industry.
Topics: wa
Posted
| UpdatedDonald Trump masks are proving to be a surprise hit in Australia in the lead-up to Halloween, with many costume suppliers running out of stock.
Topics: carnivals-and-festivals, us-elections, wa, australia, united-states
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| UpdatedWA's environmental regulator is questioned why it is using the speed at which it issues environmental approvals to measure its effectiveness at protecting public health and the environment.
Topics: environment, public-sector, wa
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| UpdatedWestern Australia is still struggling to adjust to the end of the mining boom as job insecurity rises, but household incomes remain high, a new economics report finds.
Topics: economic-trends, mining-industry, business-economics-and-finance, unemployment, wa
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| UpdatedThe Department of Fire and Emergency Services confirms chemicals from toxic firefighting foam used at its Forrestfield training academy have leached into the bore of a nearby property.
Topics: environmental-impact, water, defence-and-national-security, forrestfield-6058
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As the West Australian Government finalises its plans for Western Power, Premier Colin Barnett reveals an option to sell its $8 billion debt to superannuation funds is on the table.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, states-and-territories, perth-6000, wa
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Road congestion is shaping up as a hot-button issue in the lead up to the West Australian election in March next year — so where are the Perth traffic hotspots in need of fixing?
Topics: states-and-territories, perth-6000, wa
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| UpdatedPeople living near the RAAF Pearce air base in Bullsbrook in Perth are drinking bottled water while the Department of Defence investigates whether chemicals have contaminated nearby water sources.
Topics: defence-forces, community-organisations, environmental-health, bullsbrook-6084
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| UpdatedWest Australian Premier Colin Barnett admits the developers of the Ritz-Carlton hotel at Elizabeth Quay got a good deal in buying the riverfront land for $25 million, after a similarly sized parcel of land was sold for more than three times that amount.
Topics: states-and-territories, perth-6000, wa
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West Australian Premier Colin Barnett again rejects the push for the installation of Queensland-style shark nets at Western Australian beaches, labelling the nets "killing machines" for marine life.
Topics: shark, government-and-politics, perth-6000
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The announcement of a new high school at City Beach highlights the shift away from private education and towards public schools in Perth's western suburbs.
Topics: education, secondary-schools, public-schools, city-beach-6015
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| UpdatedThere are cheers in the suburbs of Perth where the US FDA's decision to approve the first drug to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy - a treatment designed locally - could change lives.
Topics: diseases-and-disorders, bones-and-muscles, health, science-and-technology, science, research, medical-research, wa, perth-6000
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A veteran media analyst slams the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's decision not to block Seven West Media's purchase of the Sunday Times.
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| UpdatedWestern Australia's peak local government body will use the coming state election to push all sides of politics to give communities and councils a bigger say on how multi-million dollars developments are approved.
Topics: local-government, wa
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| UpdatedBillionaire Kerry Stokes' private investment company is one of five being considered to develop the East Perth power station site for the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority.
Topics: privatisation-and-deregulation, urban-development-and-planning, east-perth-6004
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A five-year review of the WA Government's development assessment panels, known as DAPs, claims the controversial boards are not living up to their hype in the Perth metropolitan area.
Topics: local-government, urban-development-and-planning, wa, perth-6000
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Arts Minister John Day has approved film funding worth around $1.7 million over the past three years for production companies owned by members of the WA government's film funding and development agency board, annual reports show.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, film, wa
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A residents' group against a Kwinana development buffer launches an online campaign saying the Government will lose the State election if it goes ahead.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, state-parliament, mandogalup-6167
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WALGA members vote down a motion to abolish development assessment panels, or DAPS, but call for a review into the state's planning system.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, local-government, perth-6000, wa
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The architect of the Barnett Government's controversial development approvals panels calls the growing movement to abolish them a "cause célèbre".
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, perth-6000, fremantle-6160
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| UpdatedSubiaco councillor Julie Matheson is creating WA's newest political party, fuelled by anger over the Government's controversial development assessment panels.
Topics: government-and-politics, perth-6000