Basil Zempilas has needed to draw on his renowned reserves of energy and enthusiasm in a tough 18 months as City of Perth lord mayor, while questions swirl about his political future.
An 8,028 square metre lot of land on the border of Cottesloe and Mosman Park could be in the hands of private developers this year after years of planning.
The state government has slashed environmental reporting rules for low-risk industry licences, promising less red tape and a more risk-based assessment approach.
The opposition has criticised the state budget, claiming the promise for 530 hospital beds is a band-aid solution and the one-off power credit is "pocket change" amid rising living costs.
Union figureheads have decried the state government's public sector wages policy despite the premier insisting it will deliver wage growth in line with inflation.
Fiscal discipline may be Mark McGowan's bread and butter, but today's budget announcement was packed with new spending commitments for the state's health, education and tourism sectors.
ANALYSIS: With close to a dozen industrial agreements under negotiation and a forecasted salaries bill of $16.2 billion, the state government is holding firm on its public sector wages policy.
A $5.7 billion surplus, lower net debt than forecast and an unemployment rate six per cent below the national level. It’s enough, said Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan, to make the other states and territory treasurers “green with envy”.
Western Australia has recorded another 16,670 COVID cases overnight, sending the number of active infections in the state beyond 75,000 for the first time since the pandemic began.
Fremantle’s Victoria Quay is set for a transformation with the government investing in other opportunities while flagging the relocation of the livestock and motor vehicle trade.
Minister Simone McGurk has remained tight-lipped about the settlement that ended her lawsuit with psychologist Tracy Westerman, revealing only that the state paid $16,500 in costs.
The opposition has slammed the state government's rush to revive the SDAU, labelling the deferral of its permanent replacement an admission it is flawed.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese effectively put a figure on Labor's position, supporting a wage increase of 5.1 per cent, in line with the highest inflation spike in two decades.
The state government has unveiled plans to push through an extension of its controversial COVID-19 development pathway and defer plans to make it permanent.
The state government will allocate nearly $60 million in the upcoming state budget to prepare for the "rapid uptake" of electric or hydrogen fuel vehicles, including $36.5 million for rebates.
More than half-a-billion dollars of COVID-related government expenses were incurred in the year to June 2021, according to the state's auditor general.
Anthony Albanese has lashed out at the prime minister's leaders' debate performance as nothing but smirk and smears, as pre-poll voting gets under way across the country.
The state’s largest timber manufacturer will close its 70-year-old Greenbushes mill and stand down 50 employees after investing $54 million as the state’s native logging ban looms.
