Aldi has the highest average Google rating among WA's three major supermarket chains, based on customer reviews. Woolworths Perth Airport earned the best individual store rating in the state, at 4.46 stars. Shoppers praised clean stores, helpful staff and easy parking. Common complaints included checkout queues, empty shelves and poor service. Woolworths Cottesloe, Coles Kununurra and Aldi Mirrabooka were the lowest-rated stores in their chains.
Aboriginal communities in Broome, Fitzroy Crossing and across the Kimberley are being encouraged to talk about gambling harm. The We Win When We Yarn campaign was launched today in partnership with local communities and Kimberley health services. It aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma and promote free, confidential support through Gambling Help services. Racing and Gaming Minister Don Punch said many people still feel unable to ask for help. Kimberley MLA Divina D’Anna said the campaign was developed by communities for communities.
Two Greenpeace activists have been charged after occupying an offshore gas platform to protest Woodside's planned gas developments. Chris Holden and Scott Mackenzie were charged with interfering with offshore petroleum operations, an offence carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment. They were granted bail with conditions, but must remain in custody for one more night due to a surety issue. Woodside said it halted operations at the platform during the protest and has since restarted them. Greenpeace maintains the protest was peaceful, while the WA Premier called it a dangerous act.
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Kununurra's only major florist has closed, leaving residents of the remote Western Australian town with few places to buy flowers. Owners Diane and Chris Robinson retired after struggling to find a long-term shop assistant. Bianca Brown has started assembling and supplying bouquets alongside her transport business, and says she may scale up next year. Sophie Cooke also lets people pick flowers from her family farm on Saturday mornings during the dry season. Perth resident Gerald Contreras says he is eager to use Ms Brown's service to send flowers to his partner in the town.
The family of Jeremiah Rivers, a 27-year-old Gija man from Warmun, want someone held accountable for his disappearance. He was last seen in October 2021 while on a trip with six other men. A Queensland coroner later found he was likely killed, but could not identify who was responsible. Coroner Donald MacKenzie said shifting accounts from the group delayed police. Rivers's aunts say the family wants a court hearing, and police are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Dingoes in the Great Sandy Desert are hunting feral cats, according to a research project run by Nyangumarta rangers. Scat research over six months shows dingoes now get nearly 30 per cent of their diet from feral cats. Rangers say the cats are killing animals such as the greater bilby and desert mouse. A single feral cat can kill more than 700 small animals a year, according to WA's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. The Wartaji project, begun in 2022 with Central Queensland University, tracks dingo movements using cameras and satellite collars.
The source material provided is almost entirely navigation menus, section headings and site links, with no story body describing Riley Shawcross or the Telethon 2026 appeal. The only substantive information available is the headline itself, which identifies Riley Shawcross as a Western Australian girl described as a one-in-100-million child and frames her story as one of bravery. Beyond that, no details about her condition, treatment, family, fundraising connection or outcomes can be confirmed from the text supplied, so the summary cannot responsibly elaborate on them.
A four-year-old girl, Olive Hay, is living with a rare and debilitating syndrome that leaves her physically exhausted, with her family describing the daily struggle as being like running a marathon. The headline frames her condition as a cruel and relentless battle. The source material provided for this story is largely navigation and section-index content from a news website, with little detail about Olive's diagnosis, treatment or how her family is coping, so the specific clinical circumstances cannot be confirmed from the information available.
The View From The Round House podcast features Martin Drum discussing several political topics. Topics include a proposed merger of UWA, Murdoch and Curtin universities in Western Australia, and a possible fracking ban in the Kimberley. The episode also covers Josh Frydenberg's possible return to politics, challenges facing Jim Chalmers as Treasurer, and Mark Butler's work on private health rebate changes. Editor Michael Barker hosts the discussion.
Five years after Jeremiah 'Jayo' Rivers vanished at Wippo Creek in Queensland, he has still not been found. The State Coroner rejected the first accounts from the six men he was travelling with as lies. He said there was no physical evidence ruling out misadventure or confirming foul play. His family continues to push for a government reward, and no one has been charged over his disappearance or death.
A coronial inquest into the deaths of six children at Hillcrest Primary School in northern Tasmania in 2021 is expected to hear evidence from a US dust devil expert. Counsel assisting the coroner, Maree Norton SC, told a Hobart case management hearing that she is looking to engage Dr Ralph Lorenz, a planetary scientist and aerospace engineer. Ms Norton said he would give his opinion on pressure drops and the interaction between the dust devil and the castle structure. The six children died when a wind gust lifted a jumping castle at an end-of-year celebration.
CHOICE and Super Consumers Australia have released an original investigative podcast series. It examines the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds, which the organisations describe as Australia's biggest superannuation scandal. More than 11,000 people across Australia were affected.
Tasmanian Labor says it will introduce a bill to cap how much anyone can spend in a state election. Labor Leader Josh Willie and Shadow Attorney-General Ella Haddad made the announcement. The party says many Tasmanians feel the system is not working for them.
A 37-year-old man from Ravenswood has been charged over the alleged theft of fuel worth more than $74,000 in the state's north. Police allege the fuel was bought using a stolen fuel card. They arrested the man on Friday evening and recovered 4600 litres of stolen fuel. He faces multiple charges, including 60 counts of using a computer with intent to defraud, breach of bail, driving offences, possession of stolen property and minor drug offences. He was detained and is expected to appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court on Saturday.
Farmers in Tasmania's Northern Midlands are benefiting from an irrigation scheme that took almost 10 years to come online. Farmer Richard Burbury said the scheme arrived at a very timely moment, as this year has been exceptionally dry. The network of underground pipelines spans 150 kilometres and will deliver 25 billion litres of water each year. Tasmanian Irrigation says the scheme is expected to support about $54 million a year in economic activity across the region.
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A man in his 60s died on Tasmania's west coast while waiting for an ambulance that took nearly 80 minutes to reach him. He called Triple Zero from the Zeehan area on Saturday, reporting chest pains and breathing problems. The Zeehan ambulance was unstaffed because of an unfilled roster gap, and nearby crews were attending other calls, so an ambulance from Burnie was sent. It arrived about 78 minutes after the call, but the man had already died. The Department of Health offered its condolences and said a comprehensive investigation will be held.
Peter Maloney, who lives with dementia, says spending time in nature has helped him feel more grateful and content. He takes part in a gardening program at the Chigwell Community Garden in Hobart's northern suburbs with his wife, Madeleine. The program is run by the University of Tasmania's Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre and funded by Primary Health Tasmania. Researchers say outdoor activities can help people with dementia stay active, socialise and feel a sense of purpose. The Chigwell lab is funded until June 2027.
Twenty-eight parents of transgender and gender diverse children have written to Tasmanian MPs, urging them to support a Greens bill that would ban conversion practices. Conversion practices are any attempt to change, suppress or eradicate a person's sexual or gender identity. The bill is set to be debated in the House of Assembly tomorrow. It needs 18 votes to pass, and the Greens, Labor and independent Kristie Johnston hold 15. Several Liberal MPs have said they will vote against it, and the Liberals have been granted a conscience vote.
A new exhibition in Hobart explores the stories of ten of Australia's first women to travel south to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic. The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies announced the exhibition in a media release dated 26 October 2026.
Foodbank Tasmania's Hunger Report 2026 has found that more than one in three Tasmanian households are struggling to put food on the table. An estimated 200,000 Tasmanians are living in households experiencing food insecurity, reflecting strong financial pressure across the state.
Tasmania's Labor opposition plans to table a private members' bill this week to introduce election spending caps for the first time. The bill would limit parties to $50,000 per candidate, and independents to $60,000. Leader Josh Willie said the reform would stop elections being decided by who has the biggest bank balance. He expects the Liberal government and One Nation to oppose the bill. An expert warned that caps could greatly favour incumbents.
Tasmania's Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill 2026 is due to be debated in parliament from Wednesday. The Greens bill would ban conduct aimed at changing, suppressing or eradicating a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Consent would not be a defence under the bill. Labor has said it will support the bill, and the Tasmanian Liberals will allow a conscience vote. The bill needs 18 votes to pass. Equality Tasmania's petition closes on Monday, October 26.
