WA news LIVE: Spooked passengers abandon Perth flight on tarmac; Thousands attend Kings Park service

A group of whales has become stranded a beach in our South West near Marybrook.

Locals have entered the water and are trying to keep the mammals immersed.

The Department of Parks and Wildlife is mobilising a team to the area.

It comes after around 50 pilot whales died off Cheynes Beach in Albany last year, despite desperate efforts from volunteers who brave the cold water for days as they tried to usher the whales into deeper water.

WA Police Minister Paul Papalia has moved to reassure the community that the state’s threat level remains unchanged after five young people were arrested in Sydney yesterday, accused of planning a terrorist attack.

The alleged terror cell was uncovered after police began investigating the stabbing of a Sydney church leader earlier this month, that led to rioting in the street.

But Papalia said he didn’t believe the threat extended west.

“There’s no indication that Western Australia confronts a higher threat than in recent times,” he said.

“Our police are in constant communication with other jurisdictions and other agencies at national and international level and always monitoring potential threats.”

Read the full story here.

Police have growing concerns for an elderly man with dementia who has not been seen since leaving Royal Perth Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

John Stavferr, 84, was last seen around 2.30pm at the hospital.

He may become easily confused, with police asking anyone who sees Stavreff to contact them immediately on 131 444.

He was last seen wearing grey/khaki trousers, a black crew neck jumper and black shoes.

Passengers on board an Air Asia flight have told 9 News Perth a power failure has led to panic on board while the plane was still on the tarmac at Perth Airport this morning.

Photos showed a blackout on board flight QZ533 to Jakarta, with one passenger telling 9 News some people had been crying and struggling to breathe.

Around 17 passengers have been offloaded from the aircraft.

A Perth Airport spokeswoman said the aircraft departed this morning around 3am.

“A technical issue was detected on an Indonesia Air Asia aircraft while it was on the tarmac,” she said.

“As a result, 17 passengers made the decision to off load themselves and not fly on the aircraft.”

A stunning sunrise was the perfect backdrop as thousands of people paid their respects to current and former service people in Kings Park this morning at the state’s largest Anzac Day dawn service.

Veterans, dignitaries and families filled the grass banks in front of the state war memorial and were treated to an RAAF flyover after the service.

Former SAS commander James McMahon gave the keynote address, highlighting the findings of the recent Royal Commission into veterans suicides and the need to continue to help support struggling veterans.

Premier Roger Cook, WA Governor Chris Dawson, Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas and defence personnel were among those who laid wreaths at the memorial.

Later this morning thousands more will line Perth city streets for the Anzac Day parade.

RSL WA president Vince Connelly told our reporter Hamish Hastie, who was at the service, that Anzac Day is a day of unity for all Australians.

“We’re very grateful for the turnout today but also more so the adoption of the Anzac spirit which means a lot to veterans and to their families, but really to the whole community,” he said.

• with Jake Battrick

It was a chilly start for those who got up early to pay their respect at Anzac Day dawn services, with temperatures dropping to a low of 13 degrees overnight, but it felt more like 11 degrees at 6am. We’ll see a top of 25 degrees today, with cloud cover expected for much of the day.

Good morning and welcome to WAtoday’s daily news blog this Anzac Day public holiday.

If you’re just joining us, there has been a huge turnout of people at the Kings Park dawn service this morning as well as other war memorial services across the country. We’ll bring you all the updates and photos from the day as commemorations continue.

And a reminder that some roads will be closed to accommodate the Anzac Day march through Perth’s CBD starting at 9am, including St Georges Terrace, Victoria Avenue and Terrace Road.

In other news, Perth’s density is in the spotlight on the back of new research which charts how the city has grown over the past two decades. Use the interactive graphic in Sarah Brookes’ article to see how dense your suburb was in 2003 – and how that changed by 2023.

Meanwhile, in food news, big things are coming to Bicton and the suburban shopping hub many Perth foodies wish was their local. Check out Max Veenhuyzen’s report for the latest from south of the river.

I’m Heather McNeill, reporting from our 9 newsroom.