WA news LIVE: Nazi symbols, salute to be outlawed in WA; Gun reforms pass through Upper House

We’re on the steps of Parliament House now, where Attorney General John Quigley has just announced serial domestic violence offenders will be fitted with GPS trackers under new laws being introduced to parliament.

The Family Violence Legislation Reform Bill 2024 will strip the courts and the Prisoners Review Board of discretion and mandate the electronic monitoring of repeat offenders out on bail and post-sentencing.

Repeat offenders are defined as those who have committed more than three domestic violence-related offences over the course of 10 years.

Quigley said as many 550 perpetrators would be captured in the first cohort, with the tracking devices to be monitored by Corrective Services officers at WA Police headquarters.

The tracking devices, which did not form part of this year’s state budget, will be leased from a third party at a cost of $20 per day.

Quigley also announced a major overhaul of the Restraining Orders Act to address coercive control, but said its criminalisation may still be several years away.

The Attorney General said the government was taking a staged approach based on the advice of the Office of the Commissioner for Victims of Crime, which stressed the importance of education around what defined coercive control before making it a criminal offence.

WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam said the reforms were long overdue, arguing Western Australia remained the most dangerous state in the country to be a woman.

And in news overnight, City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has taken yet another swipe at the state government over the continued closure of Ruah’s safe night space for women, a situation he said was ‘mind-boggling’.

It’s been three months since Homelessness Minister John Carey called in a row between the city and Ruah before it progressed through the State Administrative Tribunal over operating conditions on its James Street premises that the service provider described as ‘untenable’.

The saga boiled over in November when a city-funded pilot Ruah had been running from the Rod Evans Centre in East Perth ceased amid complaints from residents.

And the political tit-for-tat in the months since has only heightened long-held tensions between the city and state, with the Seven West Media personality now also the Liberal candidate for Churchlands.

Zempilas used his allotted public deputation time at last night’s meeting to highlight it had been 112 days since the council unanimously approved the plan, a situation he said was “impossible to believe”.

He rejected claims the operating conditions were “heavy-handed”, insisting the requirement that a security guard be present and that the service operate to the city’s satisfaction were only logical.

“We still don’t have an outcome, 112 days later… and that is mind-boggling to me, absolutely mind-boggling,” he said.

“It is our jurisdiction, it’s logical those conditions would be in there, but apparently those conditions were untenable.

“So for 112 days, the safe night space, now into the month of June, cold, wet, is not providing the service that we have heard so consistently is so important.

“I find that almost impossible to believe and will continue to update until such time as the safe night space has had a more sensible outcome than the one we have at the moment.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has just unveiled long-awaited detail of his pledge to build nuclear reactors in Australia.

The policy will include seven nuclear plants in total in Collie in Western Australia, Lithgow and the Hunter Valley in NSW, Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Tarong and Callide in Queensland and Port Augusta in South Australia.

The plan would utilise ageing coal power plant sites. Collie’s coal-power stations will be closed by 2030.

Dutton said the plants would form part of an energy mix along with renewables and significant amounts of gas into the system, particularly in the interim period.

“We know the government has renewables only policy which is not fit for purpose. No other country in the world can keep the lights on 24/7 with the renewables only policy,” he said.

But WA Greens MLC Brad Pettitt said Dutton’s plan was nothing more than a fantasy.

“Western Australia has incredible renewable energy potential that can be built much more quickly, and at a fraction of the cost, than nuclear power without any of the risk to our South West communities,” he said.

“We have also just witnessed a summer of intense drought across Western Australia causing native forests to dry out and die off, and farmer’s struggle to seed a crop or feed stock across our premier food-growing regions.

“A typical nuclear reactor uses billions of litres of water every single year; it would spell catastrophefor WA Forests and farmers alike.”

Read more here. 

A pedestrian has been hit by a truck this morning in Perth’s north, with road closures impacting peak hour traffic in Wanneroo.

9 News Perth reporter Sarah Smith is at the scene on Franklin Road, and described the crash as horrific and confronting.

“There are road blocks in place at both ends … and drivers are advised to avoid the area at all costs,” she said.

WA Police also attended a separate crash overnight where a car has ploughed into a tree, then a fence and garage on Herdsman Parade in Wembley around 1.30am.

The driver was taken into custody.

The public display of Nazi symbols and the Nazi salute will soon be banned in Western Australia under new laws being introduced into state parliament today.

It will be a crime to publicly promote the regime, which is associated with antisemitism, genocide and racial hatred.

Offenders will face a fine of up to $24,000 or up to five years in jail.

Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Minister Dr Tony Buti said the display of Nazi symbols and gestures had been increasing in Australia, with most other states already outlawing the acts.

“We will not accept the deliberate use of these symbols to promote fear, division and hatred towards members of our community,” he said.

“We must not allow individuals or groups in our community to be vilified based on their religion, ethnicity, race, gender or sexual orientation.”

Allowances have been made for academics or media reports to publish the symbols for legitimate educational or public interest purposes.

Labor’s proposed forearm laws were passed through the Upper House of parliament late last night after the state government declared the amendments ‘urgent’, triggering a Tuesday night voting deadline which cut off ongoing debate.

The reforms, which include the removal of recreational licences, gun limits and mental health checks, were passed 24 to 5, with three National party members, and two Liberal party members not supporting the bill.

The laws will now return to the Lower House to add further amendments stemming from the double-murder suicide of Jennifer and Gretl Petelcyzc last month.

The additional changes will allow police to confiscate a person’s guns at the first sign of a domestic violence issue.

The Petelcyzc’s were murdered by Mark Bombara, who legally owned 13 guns, despite his estranged wife and daughter alerting police to concerns for their welfare, and a missing firearm weeks earlier.

Here’s what’s making news this morning:

Good morning Western Australia, and thanks for tuning in to our live blog.

This morning, Claire Ottaviano brings you an exclusive interview with an Ellenbrook father whose harrowing story of survival at sea will have you clutching your pearls.

Education reporter Holly Thompson has written on a vital missing piece in the inner-city puzzle: schools. Why is there no public high school in the city? She chats to the city’s federal MP, the education department and the lord mayor to find out.

And in case you missed it, yesterday evening we reported that former PM Scott Morrison will take the stand in the defamation case WA Senator Linda Reynolds is pursuing against former staffer Brittany Higgins.

Our 9 News Perth colleague Michael Stamp also exclusively reported that the brother of an exiled crime kingpin is behind bars in Perth after being arrested at his Mount Pleasant home.