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WATCH LIVE: WA Premier to provide update as Omicron outbreak grows
Exposure sites have been added as far south as Margaret River and health professional associations are calling for immediate restrictions to slow the spread of the virus.
Last major Australian airport to open: Perth braces for influx of travellers from February 5
Melbourne nurse Sarah McDonald, 24, said the wait to be reunited with her fiance in Perth had been riddled with anxiety and she didn’t want to get her hopes up in case her February 5 arrival in WA didn’t go ahead.
Volunteer firefighter accused of lighting nine bushfires to apply for bail
Jude Craig Wright, 19, was charged by officers attached to Strike Force Vulcan over nine bushfires lit in several suburbs between December 23 and January 15.
Analysis
Gas
Offshore oil and gas may finally have to cough up for its $56b clean-up bill
A WA oil and gas giant’s attempt to save cash on an ageing vessel has proved eye-wateringly costly for it and fellow players – a classic shot in the foot.
‘Critical shortage’: Miners face talent crunch
Australia’s biggest miners are struggling to find specialist workers as border restrictions and a collapse in skilled migration exacerbate a labour squeeze.
Live
Australian Open
Osaka through to next round; Vukic soaks up first grand slam win
Naomi Osaka was tested but came up trumps claiming a 6-3, 6-3 win over a feisty Camila Orosio to open her Australian Open campaign on Monday.
Latest live posts
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Novak Djokovic
Djokovic has lost his fight to stay in Australia. What happens now?
A visa battle between the world number one and the Australian government has reached its climax. How did it play out in court? And what does it mean for the Open?
Serbian leaders accuse Australia of ‘torturing and tormenting’ Djokovic in ‘scandalous’ decision
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said his nation could not understand Australia’s treatment of the unvaccinated world tennis number one.
Anxious wait for Australia’s Tongan community after volcano
The last time Sikahema Aholelei spoke to his family in Tonga was on Saturday night at the very moment the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted.
Opinion
Tonga
‘The equivalent of 1000 Hiroshima bombs’: World watched tremendous explosion in Tonga
The people of Tonga witnessed a catastrophic event. We must hope there are no further eruptions.
Unvaxxed teen at same risk of hospitalisation as triple-vaxxed person in 80s, Victorian CHO says
Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the Omicron variant had changed the landscape of the pandemic and highlighted the importance of vaccination.
Victoria Beckham: It’s time to bring back sexy
The designer is embracing body-con for the first time in a decade.
‘COVID knocked me around’: Kyrgios determined to rebound
Nick Kyrgios’s preparations have been hindered, but he’s determined to bolster the Australian Open as it emerges from the shadows of the Novak Djokovic visa saga.
Analysis
The Ashes
Heroes and zeroes: How every player rated in the Ashes series
No player received a 10 but two Australians went within a whisker in the dominant series win, while there was a dismal set of numbers for England.
Andrew Wu
covid in the community
Opinion
Avoiding the post-holiday blues as we return home to an uncertain year
For those of us returning from beach holidays and camping trips, I sense our collective mental health and wellbeing is about to be tested.
Marisa Black
Contributor
Experts warn mandate overreach may see anti-vaxxers ‘dig in’, but McGowan says ‘life will be sweet’ once jabbed
Premier Mark McGowan believes most anti-vaxxers will get the jab once Western Australia’s new proof-of-vaccination requirements are in effect.
Western Australia
Man charged with giving false ID and vaccination proof at Crown Perth
It will be alleged that the man presented another person’s driver’s licence and vaccination certificate to the security staff at Crown, who called the police.
‘Richard was wandering the bush, lost and alone’: WA’s dementia rescue service
Terrified the person you love, who has dementia, might wander off and put themselves in danger? Read this – it might save their life one day.
Exclusive
Prisons
Refusal to put airconditioning in Pilbara prison where temperature hit 50.5C is racist: ALS
As Roebourne hit 50.5 degrees on Thursday, inmates at the town’s prison were sweltering in an aged facility recommended for closure by the WA government in 2003.
Bikie gang members charged under WA’s tough new prohibited insignia laws after pool party
The group were detained and five outlaw gang members were charged with displaying prohibited insignia.
Updated
Coronavirus pandemic
WA records five new cases as mask mandate reinstated
The mask mandate will return from Sunday night after WA recorded five new COVID-19 cases. Most were infectious while in the community, sparking the state’s exposure site list to grow.
Politics
Exclusive
Australia votes
Albanese’s election pitch to aspirational Australians
The Opposition Leader says he will offer voters an election platform to help create personal wealth for millions of aspirational citizens, while ruling out any new taxes.
Business
Opinion
Work therapy
How to go for a new job without running into trouble with your boss
It may be useful to ask a prospective employer what information they would require from your referees to help you select the most appropriate people from your professional network.
Jonathan Rivett
World
‘Bless them’: Horses jump bonfires for purification
The traditional night-time celebration takes place in San Bartolome de Pinares in Spain.
Opinion
COVID a wild card in efforts to help Tonga
Dr Tess Newton Cain
Pacific analyst, commentator, consultant, journalist
Self-imposed shadow lockdown is crimping consumer spending
Jennifer Duke
Economics correspondent
Novak Djokovic didn’t have to be the biggest news story in the nation this week
Margaret Simons
Journalist, author and academic.
Explore
Property
The double whammy trapping first home buyers
A tenant paying $50 a week more on rent has $50 a week less to save for a home deposit, a double blow to anyone trying to keep up with the extraordinary growth in pandemic-era property prices.
The top 10 places where rents increased most last year
Record rent rises across Australia are being driven by two factors: shore and ore.
Lifestyle
Jurassic Prada hits the right note on the runway
Actors Jeff Goldblum, 69, and Kyle MacLachlan, 62, brought old school glamour to Milan’s menswear shows.
Culture
What to read next: A dazzling look at genius and defending Britney Spears
Book reviewers Lucy Sussex and Fiona Capp consider a mix of fiction and non-fiction releases. Here are their picks from the bunch.
Sport
Live
Australian Open
Australian Open 2022 Live Updates: Vukic claims emotional win, Nadal wins in straight sets, Naomi Osaka takes victory in straight sets,
The action is finally getting underway on the court after a tumultuous lead up to this year’s tournament.
The Barty effect: World No.1 turns footy-mad Indigenous kids on to tennis
Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty’s emergence as a world beater has proven a tonic for Australian tennis, from the Tiwi Islands to Phillip Island.
‘Extremely disappointed’ Novak Djokovic deported after losing visa battle
Novak Djokovic has lost his attempt to bid to overturn his deportation and flew out of Melbourne on Sunday night en route to Dubai.
Updated
Australian Open
‘Lucky loser’ Caruso becomes de facto top seed
Serena Williams’ coach says the Australian Open is the “biggest loser” from the Novak Djokovic saga, as 29-year-old Italian Salvatore Caruso takes the world No.1’s place in the draw.
‘She’s done everything right’: Rafter confident in Barty’s Australian Open preparation
The World No.1 has shut out all distractions this year, opting to stay in a house in Melbourne with her team instead of at the tournament hotel, Crown Towers.
Green fires as Australia crush England after another stunning collapse
Just one wicket in Sydney was the difference between Pat Cummins’ men completing a third Ashes whitewash in 15 years and taking maximum points in the World Test Championship.
Analysis
The Ashes
Heroes and zeroes: How every player rated in the Ashes series
No player received a 10 but two Australians went within a whisker in the dominant series win, while there was a dismal set of numbers for England.
Andrew Wu
Have Your Say
On the face of the ‘happy slam’, a forced smile
The Australian Open is known for being relaxed and hospitable, but in the wake of the Djokovic saga, no one is at their ease as this year’s tournament begins.
