Subiaco's Mother's Day flower festival, Subi Blooms, will return in 2027 after the City of Subiaco council unanimously appointed Fox and Rabbit Premium Flowers, trading as Gather, to run it under a $265,800 contract. The company ran the event in 2025 and 2026, and the deal includes options for two further one-year extensions. Now in its 10th year, the walkable trail draws more than 35,000 visitors annually. Officers estimate the festival generates about $1.46 million in economic benefits. The total cost is expected to be around $400,000, with extra funding sought from Lotterywest.
PerthNow Pulse has shortlisted five bakeries for its 'Best Bakery' award, following a high number of nominations. The finalists are Kilo Bakery in Padbury, Honey’s Patisserie in Byford, Last Crumb Cake Co in Bassendean, Dough Street in Balcatta, and Layers Bakery in Subiaco. Voters can choose their favourite until 5pm Tuesday, with options ranging from sweet pastries to savoury pies. The competition follows previous PerthNow Pulse awards for best parma and footy pub. This is the third category in the series, with readers encouraged to participate before the deadline.
A diverse range of properties captured Australian homebuyers' attention in September, with listings spanning coastal retreats, suburban estates, and heritage restorations. Courtney Adamo's Byron Bay-inspired holiday home near Coffs Harbour topped the list, while a sprawling Perth residence and a Phillip Island property from The Block 2024 also drew significant interest. The late architect Iwan Iwanoff's distinctive family home in Perth's Floreat suburb was another standout. Victoria led the most-viewed properties, followed by New South Wales and Western Australia. With housing prices declining and borrowing capacity constrained, buyers appear to be seeking properties that combine character, space, and value.
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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.
WA Police is expanding its automated drone fleet, which launches from Perth to emergency scenes within seconds. Police say the drones respond to emergency calls rather than patrol. Civil liberties advocates warn the rollout could outpace laws protecting individual privacy. Similar trials are underway in regional New South Wales, where advocates question the lack of published results. Critics say there are no clear legal protections governing how police use drone footage, and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulates only aviation safety.
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.
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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.
A Loch Ness Monster expert has written a guide on how to spot the creature. Adrian Shine, who founded the Loch Ness Project, says the monster exists and has explained how it can be seen in his new book. He believes Loch Ness lacks enough nutrients to support a large beast. He argues most sightings are wakes from large boats, which he links to the Caledonian Canal, built in the early nineteenth century. Broadcaster Robson Green said the expedition could neither prove nor disprove a creature's existence.
Paranormal investigator Colin Browen has described the most frightening moment of his 11-year ghost-hunting career. While inside the basement of a former asylum, he saw a woman's hand appear beside a pillar, then slowly withdraw and disappear behind it, prompting his team to leave quickly. Browen, who hosts the Murder In America podcast and The Paranormal Files on YouTube, said many spirits he has encountered are not hostile. He said some are cheerful, and that most seem to want acknowledgement or help with a task.
Jamie Lee Curtis says she is grieving privately over the deaths of her longtime friends Rob and Michele Reiner, who were killed at their Los Angeles home last December. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she described a close bond stretching back decades, including Rob Reiner serving as best man at her 1984 wedding and being godfather to her daughter. Curtis said she paid tribute to the couple at the September Emmy Awards, a moment harder than she expected.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman has called for laws to be changed so assessors can override decisions made by an aged care algorithm. The watchdog found the system had produced unfair outcomes for residents and weakened public confidence. Ombudsman Iain Anderson said many outcomes were inappropriate and that the department did not fully understand the legal framework it created. The government says an independent review will be released in the first half of 2027. Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the findings showed lessons from robodebt had been ignored.
Creative Australia has opened nominations for a new award named after the late Rhoda Roberts AO, a First Nations cultural leader, broadcaster and festival director. The Rhoda Roberts Trailblazer Award is valued at $80,000 and will be presented for the first time in 2027. It recognises leadership and lasting contribution to the First Nations arts and culture sector. Eligible nominees must identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, be at least 18, be based in Australia and have worked in the sector for at least 25 years. Nominations close on December 1 at 3pm AEDT.
