WA news as it happened: Tornado hammers Bunbury; Carousel locked down

Former premier and treasurer Mark McGowan established the tradition of kicking our east coast counterparts in the guts while delivering WA’s budget, and it is a tradition Saffioti has continued with.

At the post-budget breakfast this morning, Saffioti used an F1 analogy to argue her point, and warned other states not to push for a change to the GST formula, saying WA wasn’t like the Ferrari racing team – more like Red Bull:

We’re respected but not loved by our counterparts and I think jealousy is at an all-time high.

Western Australia seems to be the favourite topic of other state treasurers and eastern states commentators.

I would have hoped they would all would be grateful for the role Western Australia is playing in the national economic performance and supporting their finances. It doesn’t seem to be the case.

Saffioti also took aim at Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, who complained about the 2018 GST changes after handing down his debt-laden budget earlier this week.

I think he claimed that somehow that Western Australia’s contribution hasn’t been significant.

Again, I point out to all other treasures and the eastern states commentators, the facts are the facts.

Over the next five years, even with the 75 per cent floor we will distribute $13 billion [above] our population share of GST.

As one of my favourite Warner Brothers cartoons characters Foghorn Leghorn says, ‘That’s mathematic son. You can argue with me, but you can’t argue with the figures’.

Hamish Hastie is reporting live from the post-budget breakfast at Crown this morning, where Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti are spruiking their first budget and the Labor government’s last in this term of parliament.

In the audience is Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes, as well as former WA treasurers Mark McGowan and Ben Wyatt.

Cook joked that they were two treasures who learnt to read a budget thanks to Rita.

He said this budget was the perfect time to reflect on how far WA had come.

“What was once the nation’s weakest economy is now the strongest,” he said.

Saffioti took to the stage and said she had spent more time with Cook than her own children in recent days.

She said her son recently asked her how the budget preparation was going before offering some advice of his own.

“He said, ‘I know what you should do. You should give everyone $10,000 then they will like you’,” she said.

“I couldn’t argue with his political instincts but when I tried to explain the sustainability of his policy measure, he lost interest and went back to watching the Dockers-Richmond replay.”

We ended yesterday’s blog on a stormy note – literally. The Bureau of Meteorology weather boffins were warning Perth to batten down the hatches as a series of troughs swept across the state’s south-west.

That warning has now shifted further south, with residents from Bunbury to Dunsborough in the firing line.

Here’s what the Department of Fire and Emergency Services has to say:

If you live in parts of the South West district you should take action and stay safe with severe thunderstorms to come.

Locations which may be affected include Bunbury and Busselton.

This weather is not unusual for this time of year, but could damage homes and make travel dangerous.

Bunbury and Busselton readers: have you got pictures of the storm as it rolls across Geographe Bay? Send them through, we’d love to share them in the blog! Send pictures to news@watoday.com.au.

For up-to-date emergency advice, check emergency.wa.gov.au. 

To breaking news now, and you may recall earlier this week we brought you news of a man stabbed to death in Safety Bay.

Emergency services were called to a house on Port Royal Drive around 11.45pm on Tuesday, May 7, where they found a 30-year-old man with serious injuries.

St John Ambulance took him to Rockingham General Hospital, but he died a short time later.

Now, homicide squad detectives have charged a 46-year-old Rockingham man with murder.

He is due to appear in Rockingham Magistrates Court today.

It’s not quite Peter Costello’s “one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country”, but Treasurer Jim Chalmers wants Australians to have more children.

Chalmers – himself a father of three – said the government wanted to give people support if they wanted to have children, but ruled out a Costello-style baby bonus. He reckons there are better ways to go about it.

“It would be better if birth rates were higher,” he said in an interview with this masthead’s podcast The Morning Edition.

“I think people are leaving it later. And sometimes that means you get timed out. But there are a whole range of reasons people’s preferences are changing. It’s expensive to raise kids.”

(Speaking as a father of two, you’re not wrong on that last point, Jim.)

Meanwhile, social media giants will be called before a parliamentary inquiry into the societal damage done by Facebook, TikTok and other platforms as Elon Musk expands his legal challenge against Australia’s online watchdog.

Musk’s company X, formerly known as Twitter, this week launched a case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal testing the merits of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s order to remove videos of the April stabbing of a Sydney priest.

X Corp will use its case to argue Musk’s view that by blocking the video to all Australians – including those using networks that obscure their location – the watchdog is effectively seeking a global ban outside its jurisdiction and that Inman Grant’s decision was made without a proper basis.

And, in Victoria, former pilot Gregory Lynn has pleaded not guilty to the murders of campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay as opening statements are set to be outlined to the Supreme Court jury today.

Overseas, US correspondent Farrah Tomazin is reporting on Donald Trump’s hush money trial, where, in a combative few hours of cross-examination, the former president’s lawyers sought to portray porn star Stormy Daniels as a promiscuous extortionist.

A bit stormy out there – your blog correspondent witnessed a few licks of lightning flashing in the deep-grey clouds while driving along the freeway and up to the Terrace this morning – and that’s forecast to continue today. Top of 25 degrees after an overnight minimum of 17.

Good morning readers, and welcome to another day of news you need to know from across the city and around WA.

We start today with the wash-up from yesterday’s state budget. Have you had time to digest the numbers yet? Political reporter Hamish Hastie has, and he reckons the WA government has a spending problem.

Meanwhile, Gary Adshead turns his attention to a horrible domestic violence case we reported on earlier this week, and writes:

If you’re thinking none of the above seems fathomable at a time when the nation’s leaders from the prime minister down have condemned violence against women – and promised to end the cowardly scourge – then you’re not alone.

Read his full opinion piece here.

And on a lighter note: does Perth deserve its “Dullsville” tag? Not if you ask those who know where to go. Mark Naglazas hits the streets to deliver you inspiration for this Mother’s Day weekend.

Speaking of inspiration – specifically, of the dining out kind – check out Max Veenhuyzen’s review of the brilliant Hey Hawker, hidden in plain sight in St James. Perhaps make a point of booking ahead if you’re bringing a group.

I’m Cameron Myles, and thanks for joining me as I bring you the day’s headlines.