As it happened: WA news on Thursday, March 19

Two students from Northam Senior High School have been arrested over discharging two “chemical devices” that resulted in another student being taken to hospital.

Around 9.15am police received reports of the incident and attended the school, alongside firefighters and crew from St John Ambulance.

Two teenage boys were arrested, while a third student was taken to Northam Hospital as a precautionary measure.

Anyone with any information in relation to the incident is asked to make a report to Crime Stoppers.

There is no ongoing risk to the public.

The school sent out a text message to parents assuring them all students were safe.

“There was an incident at the school today that required a partial evacuation of the quad area for precautionary reasons,” it read.

“The school day returned to normal at 11.30am. We thank our community for their support and appreciate the inconvenience and worry these issues cause.”

One person posted to a local Facebook group saying their children had been told they were not allowed to leave their classrooms this morning as the incident unfolded.

Another person, believed to be a student at the school, said students who felt sick or saw what happened were checked on in the office, while others who were around during the incident were taken onto the oval.

We’re bringing our live blog to a close for the day, thank you for joining us.

Here’s a recap of some of the day’s headlines:

• Two students from Northam Senior High School have been arrested over discharging two “chemical devices” that resulted in another student being taken to hospital.
• The homicide squad has been called in to investigate after a woman was found dead at home in Perth’s north on Thursday.
• Premier Roger Cook has signed off his final question time until May by assuring the public he would be “appropriately transparent” when it came to a secretive deal with Crown to secure a parcel of land from the casino operator crucial to its Burswood racetrack plan.
• A 33-year-old man has been extradited to Australia following an ongoing investigation into the seizure of around 25kg of methylamphetamine in South Perth back in 2022.
• Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Jess Stojkovski has levelled a brutal assessment at the WA Ombudsman’s Review of Family and Domestic Violence in WA report tabled in Parliament today.
• Star West Coast Fever recruit Romelda Aiken-George will face her old side for the first time when the WA team take on the Thunderbirds in Round 2 of the Super Netball league on Saturday.
• Two students from Northam Senior High School have been arrested over discharging two “chemical devices” that resulted in another student being taken to hospital.
• The Fremantle Dockers are set to unveil their first debutant of the season with Chris Scerri named in the side to take on Melbourne at Optus Stadium on Saturday.
• The WA government has appointed its own fuel tsar after the Albanese government named a national fuel coordinator.
• Woodside has continued to add mining expertise to its ranks with the appointment of Mark Cutifani as an independent non-executive director to the company’s board.
• The first radio ratings survey of the year after the national broadcaster made the switch to the FM band saw ABC Perth plateau as AM talkback stalwart 6PR posted a 2.6 percentage point jump to command 7.8 per cent of the audience share.
• Western Australia’s population continues to grow the fastest of any state or territory, with new Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealing a 2.2 per cent growth rate for the year ending September 2025.

Thank you again for tuning in today. We’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news you need to know.

The homicide squad has been called in to investigate after a woman was found dead at home in Perth’s north on Thursday.

Police say they were called to house on Mayali Bend in Banksia Grove about 9am, after reports a woman had been found unresponsive.

Police and St John Ambulance attended, with paramedics conducting emergency first-aid on the 42-year-old.

However, the woman was declared dead at the scene.

A man in his 40s is helping police.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers.

Premier Roger Cook has signed off his final question time until May by assuring the public he would be “appropriately transparent” when it came to a secretive deal with Crown to secure a parcel of land from the casino operator crucial to its Burswood racetrack plan.

The 5.8-hectare parcel of land bought by Crown Perth 12 years ago for $60 million has become a hurdle for the WA government as it pursues its election commitment to build a $217 million racetrack and entertainment precinct on the Burswood peninsula.

Negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy since they began last year and Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas asked Cook in Parliament whether a deal had been struck yet to which he replied: “no”.

When asked whether he would commit to transparency around the deal, Cook said: “We will obviously do all what’s necessary to make sure that ... we are appropriately transparent.”

We’re watching question time again and Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Jess Stojkovski has levelled a brutal assessment at the WA Ombudsman’s Review of Family and Domestic Violence in WA report tabled in Parliament today.

That report was scathing in its assessment of state management of FDV cases, finding only a fraction of the huge number of incidents reviewed were escalated for multi-agency intervention.

Stojkovski said it was a “backwards-looking report”.

“This report is 16 months old, the data was collected in November 2024,” she said.

“We have moved on a long way since then.

“Yes, I am very proud of the investment that we have made in family and domestic violence, including the additional $108 million that we invested during [the 16 days in WA DV campaign] last year.”