As it happened: WA news on Monday, February 9

Updated February 9, 2026 — 8:03pm,first published February 9, 2026 — 10:30am

8.03pm on Feb 9, 2026

Today’s headlines

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:

The section of Mitchell Freeway in Butler where two people died in a crash after a ute travelled the wrong way on Sunday night is near where a beloved Perth grandfather died in a similar crash in October.
Homicide detectives are investigating after a woman was found dead inside an Albany home yesterday.
WA Premier Roger Cook has backed people’s right to protest but rejected the premise of a rally in Forrest Place held in protest of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia.
A storm advice has been issued for the Mid West Gascoyne and Goldfields Midlands as Tropical Cyclone Mitchell continues to track south.
Sports, arcade and restaurant chain Dave & Busters will be the latest US chain to set up shop in Australia with the first venue set to open in Clarkson north of Perth in April.
A Victoria Park man has faced court this morning accused of making a Nazi gesture towards his neighbour.
WA Police utilised the closure of Fremantle’s old traffic bridge and the subsequent funnelling of traffic along Stirling Highway to carry out a “lockdown” targeting drink and drug-affected drivers in the area at the weekend.

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

6.55pm on Feb 9, 2026

Dozens of drunk drivers nabbed in police ‘lockdown’

WA Police utilised the closure of Fremantle’s old traffic bridge and the subsequent funnelling of traffic along Stirling Highway to carry out a “lockdown” targeting drink and drug-affected drivers in the area at the weekend.

The first operation of its kind this year, set up in Mosman Park on Saturday, saw almost 5000 drivers undergo drug and alcohol testing, with 24 found to be driving with a blood alcohol reading above the legal limit and five testing positive to drugs.

Police targeted drink and drug-affected drivers in a “lockdown” operation on the weekend.WA Police

Five drivers were fined for speeding, six were fined for using a mobile phone while driving, and one was not wearing a seatbelt.

Police carried out nine lockdown operations last year, which caught 276 people driving under the influence of alcohol, 49 with illicit substances in their system, and saw 29 vehicles impounded.

The operations – accompanied by a police bus to test drivers – routinely target entertainment precincts in a bid to catch drivers impaired by alcohol and drugs.

Road Policing Command Superintendent Michael Dalla-Costa said police’s message could not be clearer: “If you choose to drive while affected by alcohol or drugs, you are deliberately putting other people at risk.”

“You will be stopped. You will be tested. And if you break the law, you will be held fully accountable,” he said.

Police Minister Reece Whitby warned those who disregarded the law and drove while drunk or on drugs would be caught.

6.23pm on Feb 9, 2026

Man arrested for allegedly making Nazi gesture to neighbour

A Victoria Park man has faced court this morning accused of making a Nazi gesture towards his neighbour.

The 42-year-old man was remanded in custody yesterday afternoon after allegedly approaching a person on Leonard Street while in possession of a canister.

It will be further alleged he made a Nazi gesture and committed an obscene act in public.

Police responded and arrested the man.

He is next due to appear in court on February 16.

WA Police, in a statement, said the force had a zero tolerance towards this type of offensive behaviour.

“Police will continue to take firm action against any individual or group who seeks to incite hatred or division through public displays of extremist ideology,” it said.

5.10pm on Feb 9, 2026

US arcade chain arrives in Perth

By Hamish Hastie

Sports, arcade and restaurant chain Dave & Busters will be the latest US chain to set up shop in Australia with the first venue set to open in Clarkson north of Perth in April.

NightOwl entertainment, the hospitality company behind venues like Print Hall, the Lookout and Flight Club are behind the venture.

Dave and Busters has between 150 and 200 location in the states where it operates as part sports bar and part arcade.

The Clarkson venue will include a 12-metre screen and “mega arcade”.

“Clarkson gives us the space to do this properly — from the scale of the screens to the energy of the arcade and the quality of the food. This venue is truly next level, and we can’t wait to open the doors and show Perth what we’ve been working on,” NightOwl Entertainment chief executive David Heaton said.

Dave and Busters entry to Australia comes after another popular American chain of children’s play centres, Chuck E. Cheese, opened in Joondalup last year.

4.16pm on Feb 9, 2026

More weather warnings issued as Cyclone Mitchell expected to turn inland

A storm advice has been issued for the Mid West Gascoyne and Goldfields Midlands as Tropical Cyclone Mitchell continues to track south.

The category 1 system is about to make landfall just north of Carnarvon, and then is expected to move southeast and cross the Gascoyne coast later tonight.

The forecast tracker for Tropical Cyclone Mitchell. BOM

“It will weaken as it moves inland overnight and transitions into am ex-tropical low on Tuesday, bringing heavy rainfall and damaging winds as it tracks inland,” the Bureau said.

3.04pm on Feb 9, 2026

Cook backs Friends of Palestine’s right to protest in Forrest Place

By Hamish Hastie

To state politics now and ahead of a planned protest against the Australian visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Forrest Place this afternoon, Premier Roger Cook has backed their right to protest but rejected the premise of the rally.

Herzog arrived at Sydney Airport this morning to pay tribute to the 15 killed during the terrorist attack at the Hannukah celebration in Bondi on December 14. He will spend the next four days travelling to Canberra and Melbourne.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (centre) and his wife the first lady of Israel Michal Herzog with NSW Premier Chris Minns during their visit to Bondi Pavilion. KATE GERAGHTY

Friends of Palestine WA will join in a nationwide series of protests with a rally this afternoon at Forrest Place.

Organiser Nick Everett said the protests were being staged to demand the Australian Federal Police arrest Herzog after a United Nations commission of inquiry found Herzog and other Israeli officials were “liable to prosecution for incitement to genocide” for comments made after the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.

“The Albanese government has chosen to roll out the red carpet to Isaac Herzog. Inviting Herzog to Australia is a political endorsement of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. It sends a clear message that war crimes will be rewarded rather than held accountable,” he said.

Cook said “obviously” he didn’t think Herzog should be arrested and said that wasn’t the role of the AFP.

“President Herzog has responded to an invitation from Prime Minister Albanese. It’s appropriate that he’s treated with the respect that an overseas dignitary deserves,” he said.

“We have views about the conflict in Gaza, I understand that they’re views that are felt by everyone, and the scenes you see in Gaza are, quite frankly, distressing, and it challenges your sense of humanity.

“But it’s important that everyone do the right thing, express their views respectfully and peacefully. That’s what we do in a democracy.“

The rally comes a fortnight after the Invasion Day rally at Forrest Place, which was evacuated after a man allegedly threw an improvised bomb into the crowd in what has now been deemed a terrorist act.

Cook said police would work closely with organisers to ensure the protest took place safely.

Speaking at Bondi during his visit on Monday morning Herzog said the demonstrations “undermine and delegitimise” his nation’s “mere existence”.

“We did not seek that war on October 7,” he said. “People were butchered, murdered, raped and burnt and abducted. We have here bereaved Israeli families who came from ... Kibbutz Nir Oz and from the war in order to express their condolences here at Bondi.”

1.32pm on Feb 9, 2026

Homicide detectives investigating Albany death

Homicide detectives are investigating after a woman was found dead inside an Albany home yesterday.

WA Police said the officers were called to the Burville Street home, in Spencer Park, around 3.10pm on Sunday.

A woman, 69, was found dead inside the residence.

A man, 50, who is known to the woman, is assisting police with their enquiries.

Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death are ongoing.

11.15am on Feb 9, 2026

Two dead in Mitchell Freeway crash

To overnight news now and two people have died in a three-car crash in Butler overnight.

The vehicles collided on Mitchell Freeway near the Lukin Drive exit around 11.30pm on Sunday.

Two people died in the freeway crash.9 News Perth

Part of the freeway was shut as emergency crews attended the scene.

Police are now trying to investigate what caused the fatal crash.

10.30am on Feb 9, 2026

Across the nation and around the world

Here’s what’s making news across the nation and around the world today:

Jim Chalmers is under growing political pressure over government spending and its role in interest rate movements. But where has spending changed since 2022?
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley insists she will lead her party to the next election and that she has the support of her colleagues, as moderate senator Jane Hume demanded change from Coalition leaders, accusing them of dragging the party towards electoral oblivion.
When Bad Bunny takes to the stage for today’s history-making Super Bowl half-time show, the world will be glued to their televisions to see what he has to say about Donald Trump’s America.

Bad Bunny is widely expected to use his half-time performance to send a blunt political message.Getty Images

10.30am on Feb 9, 2026

Today’s weather

Tropical Cyclone Mitchell is impacting our state’s North West, bringing heavy rain and damaging wind gusts.

Perth will get a shower or two from the remnants of the system on Tuesday.

The rest of the week will be quite mild for February.