This was published 9 months ago
Good afternoon readers, and thanks as ever for joining us.
That’s it for the blog for today – we will have more for you in Monday’s coverage of live news.
It’s Friday the 13th, so hope you’ve got a horror movie planned for tonight!
Stay safe and warm and have a lovely weekend.
Minderoo Foundation has announced it will partner with UNESCO to use environmental DNA technology to help survey and protect some of the planet’s most precious World Heritage marine reserves.
The foundation will provide AU$3.5 million to collect data at 25 marine protected areas serving as global reference sites, with a target of collecting 3,000 samples – a significant leap forward in monitoring capabilities.
It will also include a global citizen science campaign led by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.
“Today we are calling on all world leaders who profess to care about our ocean and its biodiversity to embrace the power of DNA technology – it is, quite simply, a game-changer in understanding ocean health,” Minderoo Foundation founder Dr Andrew Forrest AO said.
“By analysing tiny traces of genetic material left behind by marine life, eDNA gives us a non-invasive, accurate, and scalable way to track biodiversity.
“eDNA allows scientists and policymakers to monitor biodiversity and make better decisions – this UNESCO-Minderoo collaboration puts this tool in the hands of people looking after some of the planet’s most precious world heritage marine sites.
“With eDNA, we have a powerful tool to guide bold, science-based action and listen to what the ocean is telling us.”
Construction has officially begun on Somerset East and West, one of the twin-tower developments at Burswood Point in Golden Sedayu’s $3.8 billion master plan.
The DKO Architecture-designed towers will be built by WA-based subsidiary Golden Sedayu Construction, which also built the Ritz-Carlton and the Towers at Elizabeth Quay.
The apartments will have panoramic Swan River and racecourse views and “resort-style wellness amenities” including a 20-metre infinity pool with submerged spa and lounges, a private resident-only dining and lounge, barbecue and observation deck, gym, yoga studio and sauna.
More than 70 per cent of Somerset West is now sold and there is “strong demand” for the newly released Somerset East, the developer says.
Now for a follow-on to our earlier post about the new driver and vehicle service centre for the south-east.
The announcement might not be as warmly welcomed for residents around Kelmscott and Armadale, who already had a DVS in Kelmscott before the then-McGowan government shut it down.
Here are some comments made by former Department of Transport general manager of driver and vehicle services Steve Mitchinson to Examiner Newspapers back in 2018 about the closure of the Kelmscott centre:
It was evident to the department that Success and Cannington were more convenient locations for the majority of customers who visited centres in the southern suburbs.
Postcode analysis of customers using the Kelmscott Driver and Vehicle Services Centre also highlighted that many reside closer to Cannington or the growing suburb of Beeliar and as such would be better serviced by the new Success Service centre and improved Cannington Driver and Vehicle Services Centre.
Time to fire up the DeLorean, as it seems like we’re going back to the future. What are the licensing requirements for a time-travelling sports car, by the way?
To our courts now, where a Perth primary school teacher has been charged with a raft of child sex offences allegedly committed while he was working as a babysitter for three separate families.
Kurt David Charlton, 28, who was employed as a primary school teacher in Perth’s north-east last year, also worked as a babysitter advertising his services online.
In February, he had his teaching registration suspended while police were investigating child sex allegations against him.
Charlton appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday, where prosecutors said he advertised his services as a babysitter online and his charges related to three separate families in various suburbs across Perth.
Some welcome news now for anyone who’s spent what feels like an eternity waiting at one of Perth’s Driver and Vehicle Services centres.
The Transport Department is set to trial extended weekday trading hours at three centres across the metropolitan area for eight weeks from the end of June until August 29.
Cannington, City West and Mirrabooka’s DVS centres will open an hour earlier and say open for an hour later – 7.15am to 5.30pm – which comes on the back of a program of “Saturday blitzes” at the same centres, during which about 12,800 people visited them.
All other metro DVS centres will continue to open between 8.15am and 4.30pm.
British musician Yung Filly’s trial over serious sexual assault allegations has been set down for 10 days next April.
The rapper – real name Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos – is alleged to have raped and choked a woman in her 20s in a hotel room after a concert in Hillarys last year.
Barrientos is on bail with strict conditions and has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual penetration without consent and three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
He also denied impeding the woman’s normal breathing or circulation by applying pressure to her neck.
Barrientos appeared in Perth District Court on Friday morning, where his trial date was set.
The London rapper, who has 1.8 million YouTube subscribers and millions of Instagram and TikTok followers, was arrested in Brisbane and extradited to Perth in October to face the charges.
West Coast premiership defender Jeremy McGovern has opened up on his next steps as an AFL concussion panel meets to determine the veteran Eagle’s playing future.
Speaking to Nova 93.7’s Nathan, Nat and Shaun, McGovern said he believed the panel was doing “everything they can to make sure that I’m all good”, but admitted he was “anxious I might have played my last game”.
McGovern phoned in from Melbourne, having met with the panel on Thursday night.
He said the process involved “answering a lot of questions” as the panel pored over his playing history.
In breaking news, Woodside has been granted an extension to respond to Commonwealth conditions imposed on its North West Shelf extension of life proposal.
The deadline for the company to respond to Environment Minister Murray Watt’s mystery conditions around its impact on ancient nearby Aboriginal rock art was Friday.
You can read Hamish Hastie’s report here. We’ll bring you more on this story as it develops.
Tickets have gone on sale for The West Test, which will open the 2025-26 Ashes series in November.
WA Sports Minister Rita Saffioti confirmed the test would again coincide with the WA Day festival on November 22 and 23, which looks to have found a permanent home in November despite the actual WA Day public holiday falling on the first Monday of June.
Day two of the test coincides with a night game of the WBBL Perth Scorcher’s at the WACA.
“Our government is proud to throw our support behind The West Fest so we can ensure that, as the first stop for cricket fans and the Barmy Army, we start the series on a high that will set the tone for an incredible summer of cricket,” Saffioti said.