Andrew O'Connor is the presenter of 7.30 Western Australia and a reporter for ABC News.
Posted
| UpdatedMain Roads will have the power to charge tolls for heavy transport vehicles operating on "prescribed roads" under new legislation introduced to WA Parliament.
Topics: road-transport, wa
Posted
| UpdatedThe alliance between the Western Australian Liberal and National parties is under strain as a standoff over a FIFO camp lease extension in the Pilbara continues.
Topics: mining-industry, government-and-politics, political-parties, wa
Posted
The WA Attorney-General challenges the State Opposition to make clear if it wants to legislate for dangerous sex offenders to be kept behind bars forever.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, laws, sexual-offences, wa
Posted
Standard and Poor's holds WA's credit rating at a AA+ rating with a negative outlook, suggesting a 30 per cent chance the state faces a further downgrade.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, karratha-6714, perth-6000, wa
Posted
| UpdatedDistracted drivers wearing over-the-ear headphones are warned they could face charges for reckless driving if they are involved in an accident or impede emergency vehicles they cannot hear.
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| UpdatedA delay in posting the photograph of a newly released dangerous sex offender on an online register was a "mistake", WA Premier Colin Barnett says.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, sexual-offences, child-abuse, coolbellup-6163, perth-6000
Posted
Legislation will be introduced before the end of the year to strengthen laws covering the release of dangerous sex offenders into the community, WA Attorney-General Michael Mischin says.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, sexual-offences, wa
Posted
The Western Australian Government defends the police response to a winter crime surge after the Opposition claims it was an exercise in statistics and spin.
Topics: government-and-politics, law-crime-and-justice, wa
Posted
State-owned power generator and retailer Synergy is accused of misusing its dominant position to damage competitors in the WA electricity market.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, wa
Posted
The multi-million-dollar effort to reduce nutrients flowing into the Swan River from the Ellen Brook fails to hit its targets for the fifth year in a row.
Topics: water-pollution, environment, agricultural-chemicals, ellenbrook-6069, perth-6000
Posted
Huge swings in the working-class Perth suburb of Armadale in Saturday's Canning by-election show voters have returned in Labor's heartland, Labor MP Tony Buti says.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, state-parliament, armadale-6112, kelmscott-6111, dwellingup-6213, mandurah-6210, pinjarra-6208
Posted
The outcome of the Canning by-election will become a political prism through which the Liberal and Labor parties will gaze, refract the results, and behold their reflected electoral glories.
Topics: elections, government-and-politics, political-parties, armadale-6112, kelmscott-6111, pinjarra-6208, mandurah-6210, dwellingup-6213
Posted
A push for more oversight of the commission tasked with investigating public service misconduct is rejected by the State Government.
Topics: public-sector, government-and-politics, corruption, states-and-territories, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedThere is still resistance among some frontline police to intervene in domestic disputes, despite a strong policy push from government, the head of WA's peak domestic violence support group believes.
Topics: domestic-violence, wa
Posted
The Liberal candidate for Canning Andrew Hastie dismisses suggestions he is relying on the mystique of the SAS to carry him into office, and believes his military leadership skills will translate successfully into the political arena.
Topics: government-and-politics, defence-forces, political-parties, armadale-6112, byford-6122, mandurah-6210
Posted
| UpdatedThe WA Government makes its first concrete move towards relocating public servants to Fremantle, but the shift will have to be commercially viable, the WA Premier says.
Topics: public-sector, government-and-politics, fremantle-6160
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| UpdatedWA's Department of Agriculture plans to axe hundreds of jobs over the next two years, leaving it with fewer than half the staff it had a decade earlier.
Topics: rural, public-sector, wa, albany-6330, bunbury-6230, geraldton-6530, esperance-6450, kalgoorlie-6430, broome-6725, karratha-6714
Posted
Western Australia's horse racing community is urged by the Government to abandon Belmont race course and consolidate thoroughbred racing at Ascot.
Topics: harness-racing, horse-racing, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedThere is an "urgent" need to create another public secondary school in Perth's affluent western suburbs to cope with demand, the WA Education Minister says.
Topics: secondary-schools, education, perth-6000, city-beach-6015
Posted
| UpdatedThe use of private contractors to transport prisoners is ineffective and inefficient, the Prison Officer's Union tells a West Australian parliamentary committee.
Topics: prisons-and-punishment, law-crime-and-justice, wa
Posted
Perth's Max Light Rail project could be put off for decades if the WA Government proceeds with an alternative plan to use rapid transit buses, Transport Minister Dean Nalder says.
Topics: government-and-politics, state-parliament, states-and-territories, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedPerth needs an urban planning revolution to revitalise suburban centres and stop the city's accelerating urban sprawl, Opposition Leader Mark McGowan says.
Topics: government-and-politics, states-and-territories, alp, perth-6000, wa
Posted
| UpdatedPublic servants are warned against leaking information and playing political games in the lead up to the Western Australian budget in May.
Topics: government-and-politics, public-sector, budget, wa
Posted
| UpdatedAn Indigenous protest against remote community closures in WA is dismissed by the state's Aboriginal Affairs Minister as premature.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, indigenous-culture, government-and-politics, indigenous-policy, wa
Posted
| UpdatedPlans to slash the number of local government authorities in Perth by almost half are on hold for the foreseeable future, WA Premier Colin Barnett concedes.
Topics: local-government, government-and-politics, perth-6000