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Minister John Carey talks to media outside Parliament house, regarding the governments response to the health assest maintenance audit. Sandra Jackson

opinion
opinion
EditorialCommentsPremium
opinion
Now for a ‘world class’ system WA deserves

It’s taken months, hundreds of thousands of dollars and a chorus of pleas from health professionals and patients, but the Government says it’s finally got the message that something must drastically change.

Editorial

Sussan Ley relentlessly pursued Anthony Albanese over his reluctance to set up the high-level inquiry into anti-Semitism.

opinion
opinion
Andrew GreeneCommentsPremium
opinion
Why Ley's criticism of Albanese may come back to bite her

Liberal insiders give Sussan Ley credit for harnessing the anger of the Jewish community and deploying it against the PM, but they fear it has done little to lift the party’s electoral fortunes.

Andrew Greene

Lara Jensen's children lay flowers for their uncle, who was killed at a level crossing near Jennacubbine in 2000.

Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor: Rural level crossings still unsafe

The government needs to pay attention to decades of research and multiple tragic deaths at rural railway level crossings, writes Mt Magnet resident Lara Jensen. 

Lara Jensen

australian word or concept represented by wooden letter tiles on a wooden table with glasses and a book

opinion
opinion
Gary MartinCommentsPremium
opinion
Without a bit of hard yakka, our Aussie slang will be cactus

Tell a teenager that their best friend is ‘as mad as a cut snake’ you’ll likely be met with a blank stare that tells you our Australianisms are fast disappearing.

Gary Martin

Transport Minister Rita Saffioti tests out the new 100% electric Transperth buses at the Malaga bus on Sunday. Kelsey Reid

opinion
opinion
Rita Saffioti CommentsPremium
opinion
Cheaper fares are already helping WA commuters save big

Our cheaper Go Anywhere Fare for public transport launched on January 1 and in the first few days of service, there were more than 220,000 bus and train journeys where people saved money.

Rita Saffioti

Mourners gather to pay tribute at a memorial that has recently been cleared at the Bondi pavilion at Bondi Beach on December 22, 2025 in Sydney, Australia.

opinion
opinion
Opinion
opinion
Bondi horrors haven’t faded a month on from deadly attack

In the aftermath of December 14, Australia felt like a stranger wearing its own face. Familiar streets, familiar sky, yet everything inside had shifted, says Dvir Abramovich.

Dvir Abramovich

Breathtaking arrogance is required to stand before the cameras, vow to “crush and destroy” a criminal underworld, and then watch as that very underworld put a lit match to your rhetoric, writes Charlton Hart.

opinion
opinion
Charlton HartCommentsPremium
opinion
Cook’s tobacco war excuses won’t stop the shops burning down

Breathtaking arrogance is required to stand before the cameras, vow to “crush and destroy” a criminal underworld, and then watch as that very underworld put a lit match to your rhetoric, says Charlton Hart.

Charlton Hart

Charlton Hart

Health Minister Meredith Hammat.

opinion
opinion
EditorialCommentsPremium
opinion
Stop the spin and fix WA’s ailing hospitals

Why the secrecy? Why not simply be upfront with West Aussies that sorting out the problems in health was going to come at a higher than anticipated cost? 

Editorial

‘Gen Zs aren’t reacting against Australia Day ‘wokeness’, writes Emma Garlett.

opinion
opinion
Emma GarlettPremium
opinion
Gen Zs aren’t reacting against Australia Day ‘wokeness’

January 26 is not a day of unification. That is a modern myth, and there is a powerful shift in the younger generation.

Emma Garlett

‘Labor did learn a lesson out of the election. It learnt that it can ride-out this fish ban backlash.  But the Government’s not off the hook,’ writes Jessica Page.

opinion
opinion
Jessica PageCommentsPremium
opinion
Roger Cook’s Made in WA plan did not include frozen fish

Labor did learn a lesson out of the election. It learnt that it can ride out this fish ban backlash. But the Government’s not off the hook.

Jessica Page

Jessica Page

‘Dementia rehabilitation is not a one-size-fits-all program. It looks different for every person,’ writes Naomi Moylan.

opinion
opinion
Naomi MoylanCommentsPremium
opinion
A dementia diagnosis shouldn’t spell the end of personhood

Why shouldn’t people living with dementia be routinely offered rehabilitation, just as someone would be after a stroke or heart attack? 

Naomi Moylan

‘I have often asked why, in a State as vast as WA — with abundant land and some of the best natural resources in the world — we are funnelling almost all future growth into Perth?’ writes Julie Freeman.

opinion
opinion
Julie Freeman CommentsPremium
opinion
WA needs to tap into potential for growth outside of Perth

Western Australia has just been told it will lead the nation in population growth through to 2066. On the surface, that sounds like great news — but where that growth goes is what really matters.

Julie Freeman

Whoever is next to step into the world of Rose Garden luncheons and Washington fairways will need a hefty dose of tact and charm.

opinion
opinion
EDITORIALCommentsPremium
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Kevin Rudd’s departure a chance for a mulligan

Whoever is next to step into the world of Rose Garden luncheons and Washington fairways will need a hefty dose of tact and charm. A single-digit handicap wouldn’t hurt either.

In 2026, Australian politics feels one press conference away from descending into a full-blown culture war, while American politics feels like a post-apocalyptic Hollywood movie, only with less convincing performances.

opinion
opinion
Ben O’SheaComments
opinion
2026 could be gloomy amid chaotic politics, climate change

Two weeks into the year and it’s fair to say 2026 might not be a huge improvement on last year, which was, in technical terms, a dumpster fire.

Ben O’Shea

It was a burnt tea towel that really brought the message home that some things really are irreplaceable amid the devastation of the Victorian bushfires.

opinion
opinion
Bethany HiattComments
opinion
Familiarity of bushfire season breeds complacency

It was a burnt tea towel that really brought the message home that some things really are irreplaceable amid the devastation of the Victorian bushfires.

Bethany Hiatt

Bethany Hiatt

We must disrupt this pattern by intervening to stamp out hate speech before it has a chance to distort into violence. 

opinion
opinion
EDITORIALCommentsPremium
opinion
Anti-Semitism laws must disrupt vile hate cycle

We must disrupt the terrible pattern of anti-Semitism by intervening to stamp out hate speech before it has a chance to distort into violence.

WAFarmers CEO Trevor Whittington. Mogens Johansen,

opinion
opinion
Trevor WhittingtonPremium
opinion
WA’s Freight Rail: All Promise, No Progress

The WA Labor Government has a curious habit when it comes to big decisions. When it wants something badly enough, it moves at speed.

Trevor Whittington

A national survey of 2,000 parents conducted late last year revealed that more than half relied on some form of grandparent care.

opinion
opinion
Gary MartinCommentsPremium
opinion
Recognise grandparents for keeping the economy ticking

They act as part-time chauffeurs, after-school supervisors and emergency carers who step in when life goes south. Grandparents are increasingly the quiet backbone of modern family life.

Gary Martin

Commercial demersal fishers from Kalbarri to Augusta have been shut out of their industry permanently. Fishers in other areas have had their ability to fish cut by 50 per cent.

opinion
opinion
Phil ClarkCommentsPremium
opinion
Compromise needed on a fishing policy that works for all

The Minister has been spending big tax dollars selling her message. But as fishers, our experience doesn’t align with her message.

Phi Clark

“Books are safe entry points to talk about difference, fairness, belonging and antiracism,” says Helen Adam.

opinion
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Helen AdamCommentsPremium
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After Bondi, antiracist education can not wait

The terrorist attack at Bondi Beach was a brutal reminder that unchecked prejudice can spill into violence. It demands we look squarely at how we teach respect, safety and dignity to the next generation.

Helen Adam

Apparently, computers still cannot reliably identify traffic lights and crosswalks, but if you believe half the AI hype, soon the Homo sapiens will be obsolete.

opinion
opinion
Andrew MillerCommentsPremium
opinion
Society’s relentless march towards AI fraught with danger

One in four people aged under 30 get their medical advice mostly from LLMs — large language models, like ChatGPT-5. 

Andrew Miller

In October in Parliament, Roger Cook said that he “is committed to strengthening our tobacco control laws” but wouldn’t say when. 

opinion
opinion
EditorialCommentsPremium
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Cook’s tobacco claims are a total puff piece

Politicians in WA are quick to boast when their laws are the ‘toughest in the country,’ but the Cook Government has been unusually quiet about vaping. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holds a press conference at Parliament House, calling a Federal royal commission into the Bondi terror attack.

opinion
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Opinion
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What comes next could be uncomfortable for PM

Albanese saw out the first 11 days and endured another two weeks before he folded and called a royal commission into the Bondi massacre.

Ben Harvey

Ben Harvey

Opinion: Albo got his redemption moment by finally calling a Royal Commission into the Bondi massacres and rise of anti-Semitism in Australia. What about his faithful lieutenants who supported his previous position that a Royal Commission wasn’t warranted?

opinion
opinion
Joe SpagnoloCommentsPremium
opinion
Standing by Anthony Albanese could cost Roger Cook

Privately, I just wonder whether Cook is regretting not calling for a Commonwealth royal commission prior to Albanese’s light bulb moment.

Joe Spagnolo