As it happened: WA news on Wednesday, May 1

A new pay deal for WA’s public school teachers is imminent, with the Premier confirming today it was likely to come through by the end of the week, if not the end of the day.

The State School Teachers’ Union WA is calling for a 12 per cent pay rise over two years, but the state government has offered 11 per cent over three years.

On April 23, teachers walked off the job in a half-day strike to protest the government’s refusal to offer what they were asking for.

“We want to sit down and negotiate not just about headline numbers, but about conditions,” Cook said.

“I don’t want to break confidentiality in relation to the work we’re doing with the teachers but that work is ongoing on a daily basis and good progress has been made.

“I think [Education] Minister Buti has said by Wednesday this week that they will have the next offer.”

As of 3pm, the union confirmed to this masthead the offer had not yet been sent.

The WA Premier was asked an unusual question at a press conference this morning about whether it was reasonable use of emergency resources for firefighters to help a member of the public get a drone out of a tree.

We’ve done some snooping, and it seems the good people at Claremont Fire Station received a call yesterday from a Cottesloe local who had got a drone stuck up a tree.

Treating the drone not quite as delicately as a cat, the firies decided to spray it down with water.

A DFES spokesman said the call-out took less than 30 minutes, and was requested at a time when there were no fire emergencies occurring.

“On rare occasions, firefighters are asked to help with ‘odd jobs’ such as ring removals, and animals stuck in trees, pipes or wall cavities,” he said.

Premier Roger Cook seemed unfazed upon learning of the unorthodox rescue.

“I hope the owner of the drone bought them a box of chocolates to thank them for their service,” he said.

A new planning framework tipped to draw investment, slash red tape and expedite development has been endorsed by the City of Perth council, as it fights to almost double its residential population in the next decade.

The overhauled local planning scheme unanimously approved on Tuesday night features increased plot ratios along St Georges Terrace and Kings Park Road and planning incentives to bring more residential development and safeguard existing heritage buildings.

But its ultimate goal is to help the city reach its target of 55,000 residents by 2036, one officers conceded had suffered serious setbacks.

Among them Waterbank, the long-mooted $1 billion East Perth housing development that was shelved after the soil was deemed too unstable.

Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas branded the plan the biggest change for the city this century and said it was one that would help Perth compete for investment and encourage existing landowners to reinvest.

It comes amid the release of new population data showing East Perth and areas of the CBD are among the most populated in the state, with close to 4000 residents per square kilometre.

The scheme will now be handed over to the state’s peak planning body for approval before being released for public comment.

If you’re planning to travel to Bali soon, the Department of Health has just issued a warning after a surge in dengue fever cases in the region.

The authority says WA has recorded 138 cases of the virus so far this year, twice as many as this time last year. Most were acquired in Indonesia, which has already reported 60,000 cases in 2024.

The virus is transmitted via mosquito bites. Symptoms include fever, rash, headache, fatigue, and joint and muscle pain.

WA Premier Roger Cook is seeking an explanation from the federal government about why the former detainee accused of a violent Girrawheen home invasion was not wearing a monitoring device at the time.

At a press conference this morning, Cook said his office was also awaiting responses to a question about how many detainees were still in the West Australian community following the landmark High Court decision in November that deemed indefinite detention of some detainees was illegal.

Despite these questions of his federal counterparts, Cook refused to attribute any blame for the debacle on the Albanese government.

Instead, he praised its “swift” response to the High Court decision and suggested the Albanese government was dealing with flawed migration laws introduced by the former Morrison government.

“I think there are a range of people who should be shouldering the burden of blame in terms of the situation, the High Court [and] the federal opposition,” he said.

“Those laws were found to be inadequate – they were laws brought in by the Morrison Liberal National Government - they were found to be flawed by the High Court and so as a result of those flawed laws those … detainees were then released into the community.”

Cook said he was disappointed that Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan was granted bail in February for breaching curfew conditions – a decision that wasn’t opposed lawyers for the Commonwealth at the time.

“That is disappointing, that represented an opportunity to bring him back into custody,” he said.

Read more here.

WA Ombudsman Chris Field, the man at the centre of an expenses probe by the corruption watchdog, has announced he will take extended leave for the sake of his mental health, but has ruled out resigning until the final report into his conduct is handed down.

In a statement penned by Field on Wednesday, he said his nine days in the CCC witness box last month, being grilled over his extensive international travel on the taxpayer dime, had placed “very considerable strain” on him, and he had heeded the advice of the Corruption and Crime Commissioner in taking extended leave.

Field used the statement to reiterate that his decisions to travel during his time as president of the International Ombudsmen Institute – which are at the centre of the probe – were part of his broader duties and never made a secret. He maintains he has not engaged in serious misconduct.

While acknowledging it was likely he will resign regardless of the outcome of the report, he said he wouldn’t formally do so until the Commission’s findings were handed down.

To the courts now where two accused killers have just entered pleas.

Jacob Dwyer, 36, is accused of fatally shooting Jimmy Deering, 32, in the head with a shotgun on the side of a Wooroloo road in November, sending the regional town into lockdown.

He appeared in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court via video link from Casuarina Prison to enter a plea of not guilty to one charge of murder today. His trial dates are yet to be set.

Meanwhile, Evie Butterworth, who is accused of killing Abbey Sheriff in a horror crash on the Kwinana Freeway in January last year has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The 29-year-old was allegedly on a cocktail of drugs and travelling up to 188 kilometres an hour when she collided with Sheriff’s car near Baldivis.

Sheriff’s family were in court to hear the plea.

To the North West now and police believe an international seafarer may have jumped from a bulk carrier last week and swam to shore.

Authorities suspect the 40-year-old, named Huynh, has made it to land near Wickham and is on the run after last being seen a week ago telling a fellow crew member he was going on a break.

Police said they found tracks in the sand and evidence on board the ship that suggested Huynh may have found a way to climb off the ship and into the water.

Anyone who spots him is asked to call police.