Nicolas Perpitch has worked as a broadcast and print journalist at The Australian, SBS and AAP in Perth and Sydney. He joined ABC News in Perth in 2014.
Follow Nic on Twitter @NicPerpitch
Posted
| UpdatedWA's Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan promises to "put the hammer down" on the private operator of Melaleuca women's prison, which has been fined three times for breach of contract since it opened in December.
Topics: prisons-and-punishment, law-crime-and-justice, states-and-territories, judges-and-legal-profession, perth-6000, canning-vale-6155, wa
Posted
| UpdatedLawyers say drug-fuelled disputes are rife at the new Melaleuca women's prison, leading to assaults and a decision to ban Legal Aid staff from the facility over safety concerns.
Topics: prisons-and-punishment, judges-and-legal-profession, ellenbrook-6069, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedLord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi retains the support of the vast majority of Perth City councillors in the wake of State Administrative Tribunal findings against her, at least for now.
Topics: local-government, perth-6000
Posted
Lisa Scaffidi may have made it clear she has no intention of standing down as Lord Mayor in the wake of a damning report, but her options are narrowing fast.
Topics: local-government, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedAn "authoritarian regime" with "far harsher" penalties is being introduced at Perth's juvenile detention centre, with the WA Government accusing detainees of "wanton" violence against staff.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, prisons-and-punishment, perth-6000, canning-vale-6155
Posted
| UpdatedDetainees in the punishment and isolation unit at Perth's Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre climbed on roofs and threw concrete pavers at staff overnight in the second disturbance in as many days, authorities say.
Topics: prisons-and-punishment, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedA bushfire warning is downgraded for a fire burning in Pink Lake, just outside the West Australia town of Esperance.
Topics: bushfire, pink-lake-6450
Posted
| UpdatedWest Australian surfers are offered free training in first aid and board rescue skills to help in emergencies at West Australian beaches and remote locations when life guards are not on hand.
Topics: community-organisations, lifestyle-and-leisure, wa
Posted
| UpdatedA 28-year-old man appears in court with the murder of father-of-two Ian Baz Bosch at a bus stop in November.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, courts-and-trials, coolbellup-6163, wa
Posted
Citic Pacific says the Federal Court's dismissal of Clive Palmer's attempt to gain control of a Pilbara iron ore port ends a distraction to getting its operations on a more stable footing.
Topics: mining-rural, courts-and-trials, karratha-6714, wa
Posted
The Australian Medical Association warns the health of Western Australians could be at risk because of the "anti-health agendas" of some new state Upper House MPs.
Topics: health-policy, vaccines-and-immunity, government-and-politics, one-nation, wa
Posted
The West Australian Liberal Party's decimation at the state election means they will struggle to find enough MPs to sit on parliamentary committees, making it harder to scrutinise the Labor Government, analysts say.
Topics: elections, government-and-politics, liberals, wa
Posted
The Christian Youth Camps organisation is fined $13,000 after accidentally leaving a young boy alone on a bus for half an hour on a hot day in Perth.
Topics: courts-and-trials, child-care, baldivis-6171, perth-6000, rockingham-6168
Posted
| UpdatedWestern Australia's new Sport Minister Mick Murray suggests it would be a good idea for Perth to step in and bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but admits the state's dire finances may not allow it.
Topics: commonwealth-games, sport, perth-6000, wa
Posted
| UpdatedThe parents of an Aboriginal man on life support in a Perth hospital reject claims by authorities that he tried to kill himself in Hakea remand prison.
Topics: black-deaths-in-custody, prisons-and-punishment, suicide, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedThe City of Perth announces it will conduct a $500,000 audit of its operations to reassure concerned ratepayers, although Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi denies it is in response to Premier Mark McGowan's threat to sack the council.
Topics: local-government, government-and-politics, wa, perth-6000
Posted
| UpdatedA man charged with stealing a car from a Perth home with a three-year-old boy asleep in the back seat is remanded in custody while he finds a lawyer.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, perth-6000, wa
Posted
| UpdatedThe Maritime Union of Australia says Mark McGowan owes unions for their support, and needs to deliver on his anti-privatisation election promises and push for Australian jobs.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, wa
Posted
| UpdatedThe ABC is denied entry to One Nation's Western Australian election night headquarters after being told it was a private function, despite other media being accepted.
Topics: elections, minor-parties, wa
Posted
| UpdatedHigh-profile WA One Nation candidate Margaret Dodd pulls out of the party less than 24 hours before polls open.
Topics: elections, one-nation, cannington-6107
Posted
A record number of West Australians intend to lodge postal votes for this Saturday's election, but some voters say they have not received their ballot papers despite applying for them weeks ago.
Posted
| UpdatedPauline Hanson tells concerned voters on the WA election campaign trail One Nation's preference deal with the Liberals is only a recommendation and can be ignored.
Topics: elections, one-nation, wa, mandurah-6210
Posted
| UpdatedOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson says there is a "sheer hatred" of Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett among voters, but defends a preference deal with the state's Liberals as a necessity to win seats in the upcoming state election.
Topics: pauline-hanson, elections, state-parliament, states-and-territories, perth-6000, wa
Posted
| UpdatedTropical Cyclone Blanche is expected to cross the north Kimberley coast tomorrow afternoon between Wyndham and Kalumburu.
Topics: cyclone, wyndham-6740
Posted
| UpdatedA man who killed a woman in a head-on crash and injured her two young children while over the legal blood alcohol limit is jailed for four and a half years.
Topics: courts-and-trials, road, landsdale-6065