A local dads group in Nedlands, NedsLads, will hold a billy cart race at Nedlands Primary School on November 22. Families will race custom carts on two courses, one running down the Viewway hill and another winding through the school grounds. Winners will be judged on speed and cart design. Organisers say the event brings fathers and father figures together with their children. Tickets for one adult and one child cost $50, with extra children $10 each, and funds go back into school events.
The Nedlands council rejected a request from developers to reduce their public art contribution for the $456 million Nedlands Reserve project. Under the updated local planning policy, projects over $2 million must include public artwork valued at 1% of the total development cost. Human Urban proposed a 0.75% contribution, citing rising costs and a precinct-wide approach. The council voted unanimously to uphold the 1% requirement, with Cr Rachel Kristensen emphasising the importance of public art for community amenity. The policy will be reviewed next April, and artwork costs for higher-value projects may receive leniency.
A six-storey apartment building has been approved for the former Hollywood Village site in Nedlands, Western Australia. The $44 million complex, part of the Nedlands Reserve redevelopment, will include 48 units and 102 carparking bays. The development is being undertaken by Human Urban, a spin-off from Hesperia Group, and is aimed primarily at retirees. The City of Nedlands' report supported the approval, citing the project's high-quality design and adequate parking.
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A $4.49 million safety upgrade to Old Yanchep Road in Wanneroo is moving ahead after government funding was approved. The City of Wanneroo accepted the money last month, and work is expected to begin this financial year. Plans include widening and sealing the road shoulders and installing audible edge and centre lines. Between 2021 and 2025, 35 crashes were reported along the road, four of them causing hospitalisation. The city expects to finish the project across the 2026-27 and 2027-28 financial years.
A multi-vehicle collision on Stirling Highway in Nedlands, Perth, has left a woman in her 20s hospitalised. The crash, reported just after 6:50am, prompted emergency services to close the westbound lanes between Webster and Stanley Streets during peak-hour traffic. The injured woman was transported to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Main Roads WA reopened the highway by 8:10am, restoring normal traffic flow. The incident occurred amid heavy rainfall across the metropolitan area, following recent warnings from Main Roads.
A heart attack occurs every 10 minutes in Australia, with one in four people showing no prior risk factors. Professor Gemma Figtree, a leading cardiologist, will discuss her research on early detection and treatment of heart disease in a free talk in Nedlands on November 11. The event, hosted by the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, will explore her work on identifying individuals at risk before a heart attack occurs.
A popular walking trail in Swanbourne will remain closed until March 2027 as the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation (PCHF) develops adjacent parkland. The project, approved by the City of Nedlands, aims to transform 20 years of vacant land into a community space with pathways, gardens, and increased canopy. Funded by PCHF through donations, the $3.4 million project includes five years of maintenance. The new park will serve Sandcastles Children’s Hospice visitors and the wider community, with PCHF covering maintenance costs for 40 years.
Varsity, a Perth-based sports bar chain, will open its tenth Western Australian venue in Midland on October 30. The new location, housed in a heritage-listed building, will feature a large sports bar with 52 taps and 20 screens, including a wall of five mega screens. Additionally, it will house a 300sqm arcade precinct with 45 games and a prize shop. The chain, known for its experience-led hospitality, aims to create a venue where guests can spend an entire day or night. This expansion follows the 2025 launch of Varsity Whitfords, with existing locations in various Perth suburbs.
Perth beaches have reopened after being closed due to unsafe bacteria levels from a decomposing whale. The 13-metre humpback whale washed up at South City Beach, attracting large crowds and sharks. Recent tests showed E. coli levels were within acceptable limits, allowing the council to reopen City Beach and Floreat Beach. Swanbourne Beach remains closed, and sharks have been spotted along the coastline.
A Kalgoorlie player and a Perth southern suburbs player each won $1.5 million division one prizes in the Saturday Lotto draw. The Kalgoorlie ticket was sold at Kalgoorlie Newsagency, the first division one jackpot from the city this year. The Perth-area ticket was bought at Wattleup News and Post, the first major win for owner Lien Nguyen since she took over five years ago. Lotterywest congratulated both stores and wished the winners well. The winning numbers were 32, 44, 40, 13, 18 and 42, with supplementary numbers 37 and 27.
A popular bowling alley in Perth's north has closed indefinitely after a fire broke out on Monday evening. Rosemount Bowl on Fitzgerald Street in North Perth was evacuated, along with the nearby Pot Black and Bloodlines venues. The business said at about 10pm that everyone had left safely and no one was hurt. The fire is not believed to be suspicious and is being managed by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. A witness claims the blaze started in the kitchen, but this has not been officially confirmed.
A Western Australian country town is giving 16 per cent of its annual rates income to keep a local doctor. The Shire of Narembeen pays the local medical practice $370,000 a year and also provides a building, a car and a house. Shire President Holly Cusack says the arrangement is financially unsustainable but that losing the GP would mean a 120-kilometre round trip to the nearest doctor. In Kalbarri, a community group crowdfunded more than $70,000 to set up a not-for-profit, bulk-billing clinic after the town's only GP closed in June.
WA police will use a new drone program to gather real-time intelligence before officers reach emergencies. Drones will launch from docking stations in Kwinana, Rockingham and Baldivis and can operate beyond line of sight. They will be dispatched from a command centre in Perth. Police Minister Reece Whitby says the program is an Australian first. Targeted uses include family and domestic violence matters, missing persons, crimes in progress and stolen vehicles.
Year 11 Homestead Senior Secondary College student Chucky Mercer has qualified to compete in the 200m at the All Schools National Finals in Perth this December. Mercer has an intellectual disability and competes in the T20 para-athletics classification. He has won gold in the 200m and 1500m at the Victorian All Schools Championships and the 3000m at the Western Metropolitan Region Championships. Mercer trains four times a week alongside his studies and family commitments. He hopes to compete at the 2032 Paralympics in Brisbane, his birth city.
Australian shares fell on Tuesday, with the S&P/ASX200 index down 0.25 per cent and the All Ordinaries down 0.19 per cent. Investors are cautious ahead of key economic data, interest rate decisions, and US tech earnings. Eight of 11 sectors declined, with financials and consumer staples weighing heavily. Star Entertainment shares surged 20 per cent after a strong earnings update, while SCX.ai joined Elon Musk's SpaceX Super Intelligence Partner Network. The Australian dollar dropped to 70.20 US cents.
Xpeng Motors Australia expects to have 66 retail locations across every state and territory by the end of 2026. The mid-size L03 SUV, priced from $41,900 before on-road costs, is due in showrooms before year's end. The company says it has processed more than 1400 customer enquiries and resolved 250 cases linked to promotional offers from its former distributor, TrueEV. Customers who bought through TrueEV and were promised offers can contact Xpeng ANZ, which says it is backing its vehicles with seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranties.
BYD's premium brand Denza says the Z9 GT electric wagon will not reach Australia until the first half of 2027. A spokesperson said the company is juggling priorities and does not want to launch simply to meet a date. Denza had earlier planned a launch in the third quarter of 2026. The Z9 GT has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 2.7 seconds and a 1036km electric range under the CLTC cycle. Pricing for the Australian market has yet to be announced.
Porsche Cars Australia is recalling 77 of its 911 and 718 sports cars made in 2023 and 2024. A manufacturing defect in the centre-lock wheel nuts may cause a wheel to loosen and detach while driving. The recall covers several 911 and 718 models from the 992 and 982 generations. Porsche will contact owners and ask them to book a free repair at an authorised Porsche Centre. The 911 was previously recalled in March 2025 over a seatbelt issue.
Complaints about the Australian Taxation Office have risen sharply as the agency ramps up debt collection. The Tax Ombudsman received 2376 complaints in the six months to September, up 74 per cent on the same period last year. The office said it received 1358 complaints over that period, because the ombudsman's figures also included matters not involving the tax office. The ombudsman found the tax office acted reasonably in 63 per cent of debt collection complaints it investigated. Outstanding tax debt stood at $54.2 billion in 2024/25, with $35.9 billion owed by small businesses.
Lotus Australia has issued a nationwide safety recall for 114 Lotus Elise sports cars made between 2014 and 2021. A manufacturing defect may deform the low-pressure fuel pump impeller, causing the fuel pump to fail and the engine to stall. The company warns that a sudden loss of power while driving may increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death. Owners will be contacted by their Lotus dealer to book a free repair appointment. The Elise was last recalled in 2020 over a fuel rail issue.
US stocks closed higher on Monday after two weeks of declines, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lifted by optimism around AI companies. Anthropic disclosed steep losses and rapid revenue growth in its filing for a US initial public offering. Semiconductor firms helped drive the gains, while Meta plans to raise up to $US95 billion in equity to fund its AI expansion. Investors are watching the Federal Reserve's policy statement on Wednesday and a busy week of earnings reports.
The cost of abandoning Snowy 2.0, Australia's largest renewable energy project, is still unknown. Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes told a Senate estimates committee that the cost of ending the project has not been modelled. The company estimates completion will now cost between $22.2 billion and $25 billion, up from $12 billion in 2023. Barnes said replacing the project with batteries was modelled at $80 billion. Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said abandoning the project would be immensely costly and that the government would see it through.
Outdated technology and weak digital safety skills are the biggest threats to national cybersecurity, according to the latest Cyber Threat Report from the Australian Signals Directorate. The public sector recorded nearly half of the 1500 incidents reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre in the past financial year. Director-general Abigail Bradshaw warned that service outages will likely become normal and urged companies to put security ahead of access. Medium-sized businesses reported a 45 per cent rise in cybercrime losses, with an average cost of $141,300.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has criticised the government for failing to support thousands of people who lost savings in the $1.1bn collapse of the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian. Joyce said he gave his ex-wife $400,000 as part of their divorce settlement, and that money is now gone. He urged the government to pay victims their super so they can retire, rather than a partial compensation payment. A Choice podcast investigation says about 11,000 Australians lost retirement savings, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has 14 ongoing court actions against 31 people.
