Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox.
Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox.
An apparent attempt to stir up racial tension on WA's state election day was identified as a dirty trick when the City of Stirling confirmed its letterhead was faked on a notice about a mosque being built on Beaufort Street, Inglewood.
ABC presenter Nadia Mitsopoulos Tweeted the letter after seeing it in her letterbox on Saturday as WA went to the polls.
Colin Barnett is stepping down as the Liberal party leader in WA and says he will quietly return to the backbench as the member for Cottesloe. Vision: Nine News Perth.
Raw footage: Protesters outside the Paddington Ale House on Thursday during a One Nation campaign event.
The letter, which misspells Osborne Park in the City's address, requests public comment about a proposal for a mosque and Islamic community centre on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Beaufort Street, Inglewood.
The site is the subject of a development proposal but it is for a mixed-use development with residential and commercial components, confirmed a City spokesman, who condemned the fake letter and its likely malicious intentions.
The state is already fraught with racial tension, with protests held outside the Paddington Ale House on Thursday evening as far-right groups lent support to One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson's campaign event, and young Muslim women in headscarves questioning Ms Hanson about her beliefs.
Advertisement
"That's not very good," Labor leader Mark McGowan told reporters who asked his opinion on the racial tensions thrown up by the campaign.
This person clearly didn't hear Dumbledore's speech about how we are "only as weak as we are divided". Photo: ABC News/Nadia Mitsopoulous
"I've tried not to be nasty and personal during this campaign.
"I have just tried to campaign on the basis of the ideas and policies that we are putting forward for the state. Others will be able to judge whether anyone else was racist or xenophobic and I can only comment on what we have done, which I think has been very much about a positive future for Western Australia."