Laura Gartry
Laura Gartry is a television, digital and radio reporter for ABC News based in Perth. Prior to this, she worked as a policy analyst in Canberra and in native title mining agreements in the state's Pilbara region. Laura also is a contributor the television current affairs program Australia Wide. Laura has a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University and a Graduate Certificate in Broadcasting from Edith Cowan University.
Follow Laura on Twitter: @LGartry
Who's next? WA election casualties mount (photos)
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Political casualties during the WA election campaign mount as social media posts and inappropriate behaviour continue to land candidates in hot water.
Topics: state-parliament, elections, social-media, perth-6000
Micro parties stitch up WA preference deal; five seats in peril
Posted
Five micro parties strike a preference deal that could deliver as many as five Upper House seats in the WA election, with the pact orchestrated by "preference whisperer" Glenn Druery.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, wa
How the parties are using your Facebook profile to target you
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WA political parties are using Facebook data to target voters like never before using a game-changing strategy straight out of the Donald Trump election handbook.
Topics: government-and-politics, social-media, internet-culture, perth-6000
Judge gives serial paedophile priest two years in jail so as not to 'crush' him
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The Anglican Church expresses surprise and victims' families are outraged as an 85-year-old former priest is sentenced to two years in prison for sexually abusing five boys over a 30-year period in Western Australia.
Topics: child-abuse, sexual-offences, law-crime-and-justice, wa, perth-6000
Social media and WA politics: Fake followers and not so micro-parties
Posted
Health Minister John Day has the highest number of fake Twitter followers among WA politicians, while the minor parties are outperforming the majors on social media, according to digital strategy experts.
Topics: elections, social-media, states-and-territories, political-parties, perth-6000, wa
WA Greens push affordable solar batteries
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The Greens propose a battery rebate scheme aimed at getting more than 100,000 West Australian households to become entirely powered by their own solar energy.
Topics: solar-energy, elections, wa, carlisle-6101
Delay in sentencing serial paedophile priest
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A former West Australian Anglican priest due to be sentenced for sexually abusing five boys has his case adjourned until Friday after he claimed he did not realise his lawyer had dropped him, drawing the ire of a Perth judge.
Topics: child-abuse, sexual-offences, law-crime-and-justice, wa, perth-6000
Study hopes to help WA hemp industry blossom (photos)
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West Australian researchers are developing a genetic breeding program to make hemp a more viable and lucrative option for producers.
Topics: agricultural-crops, drugs-and-substance-abuse, nannup-6275
Let it grow: Hairy campaign working to support female victims of violence
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A campaign to raise funds to stop violence against women is encouraging to women to stop shaving their legs and underarms during February.
Topics: charities, womens-health, domestic-violence, australia
Lead in QEII water above drinking standard: WA health officials
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Health authorities confirm lead levels in the water at Perth's Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre (QEII) were above the Australian drinking standard in early January, but insist there is no risk to public safety.
Topics: government-and-politics, health, wa, perth-6000
Uncertainty for homeowners as BuiltonCorp placed into voluntary administration
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Work stops on about 130 residential home building sites as Perth builder BuiltonCorp is placed into voluntary administration, owing about $16 million to unsecured creditors.
Topics: building-and-construction, wa, perth-6000
Female WWII spies inspire Fringe Festival jazz cabaret (photos)
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A jazz cabaret which pays tribute to female spies who risked their lives during World War II, and is performed by West Australian university students, will feature at Perth's Fringe Festival next month.
Topics: theatre, community-and-multicultural-festivals, perth-6000
Charities, restaurants team up to offer dishes that make a difference
Posted
Consumers are responding in droves to a growing trend of "experience-based" donating, where some of the purchase price of a food item goes to charity.
Topics: food-and-cooking, food-and-beverage, charities, perth-6000
'Trip-wire' injures police horse at controversial Roe 8 site
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A police horse is injured when striking a wire cable placed around trees inside the controversial Roe 8 construction site.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, beeliar-6164
Ningles and Myrtle top names for Ningaloo turtles, competition finds (photos)
Posted
Researchers at CSIRO are encouraging the public to become citizen scientists with a competition allowing them to name turtles at the world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef on the WA coast.
Topics: animal-science, conservation, ningaloo-6701
We will build Perth Freight Link tunnel to Fremantle: WA Liberals
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A 3-kilometre tunnel to Fremantle will be built as part of the next stage of the $1.9 billion Perth Freight Link if the Barnett Government is re-elected in March, but critics say it remains a "road to nowhere".
Topics: states-and-territories, beaconsfield-6162, white-gum-valley-6162, hilton-6163, fremantle-6160, perth-6000, palmyra-6157, wa
Fight to save 'ancient' Wheatbelt trees from road upgrade
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York residents and environmental groups appeal to the West Australian Government for an urgent reprieve to stop more than 600 native trees from being felled as part of a road widening project.
Topics: environmental-impact, states-and-territories, merredin-6415, york-6302, wa
Venues fighting back against the pop-up bars that never seem to leave (photos)
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Perth venue owners say different licensing rules for pop-up bars are giving them an unfair advantage and hurting patronage for established businesses bound by too much red tape.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, food-and-beverage, food-and-cooking, perth-6000
Arsonists cause $200k damage to Perth primary school
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Detectives seek a group of teenagers believed to have lit a fire which caused significant damage to a primary school in Perth's southern suburbs.
Topics: fires, primary-schools, schools, arson, melville-6156
Culleton goes to hospital after being served bankruptcy papers
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Former One Nation senator Rod Culleton is discharged from hospital after a fracas outside a Perth court, as a man attempted to serve him papers.
Topics: assault, government-and-politics, perth-6000
Inmates damage Perth's juvenile detention centre
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There has been more trouble at the Banksia Hill Detention Centre, with three juvenile inmates causing damage to the facility before climbing on the roof and allegedly throwing concrete at officers.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, prisons-and-punishment, youth, canning-vale-6155
WA Minister blames department advice for comments that sparked defamation row
Posted
WA Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis defends comments about a senior public servant which led to a defamation action, claiming he made the criticisms on advice provided by his department.
Topics: government-and-politics, law-crime-and-justice, states-and-territories, perth-6000
State to pay WA Government Minister's defamation settlement (photos)
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The state will pay the legal costs of a confidential defamation settlement involving WA Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis.
Topics: government-and-politics, perth-6000, wa
Minister makes formal apology after defamation settlement
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Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis makes a formal apology to a senior West Australian bureaucrat as part of a defamation case settlement but will not reveal details of the payout.
Topics: state-parliament, public-sector, perth-6000
Whips voluntarily banned from Australian harness racing in world first
Posted | Updated
Australia will become the first country in the world to voluntarily ban the use of whips in harness racing, with the industry's body saying the move aligns with the "high expectations of the community".
Topics: horse-racing, animal-welfare, sport, australia
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