The standoff between public sector unions and the McGowan Labor government is set to escalate after unions decided to continue their campaign for better pay in a rejection of the government’s latest wage offer.
Key points:
The WA government has offered a 3 per cent pay rise this year and next
Unions say this does not offset rises in inflation and cost of living
They want a wage rise of at least 5 per cent a year
They described the latest offer as inadequate and said it did not offset inflation, declaring they would go ahead with a mass rally outside state parliament on August 17.
Unions WA Secretary Owen Whittle warned the government it had “entrenched industrial strife through the rest of their term of government.”
A joint meeting of public sector unions representing police, firefighters, prison officers, teachers, child protection, health and other public sector workers decided to press on for a “fair pay” deal for the public sector workforce.
Police are among the workers represented by the unions fighting for a better deal.(ABC News: Kenith Png)
Mr Whittle said the government’s revised offer was an acknowledgment the workers deserved a pay rise but it was not good enough, as interest rates and cost of living soared.
Unions want at least 5 per cent a year
The McGowan government has offered a three per cent increase in salaries this year and next, plus a $2,500 one-off payment. The unions wanted the government to come to the table with an offer of at least five per cent a year.
“The three per cent is a low wage offer in the current economic environment, it doesn’t recognize the hard work of the public sector through the pandemic and doesn’t recognize the extremely high cost of living pressures that workers are currently facing,” Mr Whittle said.
Owen Whittle says the offer does not offset the skyrocketing cost of living. (ABC News: Tabarak Al Jrood)
“The new policy does not adequately offset inflation over the two years it covers.
“Further, it comes off the back of pay going backwards in real terms for most over the past five years.”
The government upped its pay offer to public sector employees on Sunday following the ongoing campaign by unions and in acknowledgment of rising cost of living pressures.
Premier Mark McGowan said the $2,500 payment was to reflect current pressures, which he expected to ease over the next year.
Mark McGowan says the payment would help workers cope with the “temporary” spike in inflation.(ABC News: Keane Bourke)
Perth currently tops all capital cities with a whopping 7.4 per cent inflation rate.
Unions also said the one-off bonus was just that, a one-off, and would be gone in a year. What was needed instead, the union argued, was a further percentage increase to base salaries.
Mr Whittle today granted the revised offer may be approved by some groups of union members “as the one-off payment does deliver benefits to low wage public sector workers”.
But for others, he said, real wage cuts will continue in the second year of the agreement.
“There is a serious problem in the second year when the one-off payment that is not on the base wage is long gone and the three per cent rise fails to keep pace with inflation.”
The times they are a-changin’ at Woolworths stores across the nation, and if you’re a fan of the fresh service counters, then you’ll probably want to double-check the new hours before you run in to grab a salmon fillet or sliced cacciatore salami.
The grocery giant has made a change to the trading hours of its fresh service counters across Australia, “due to a shift in customer shopping behaviour”.
The initiative was trialled in a handful of NSW stores in May 2022 and kicked off across stores in WA yesterday, August 1.
As a result, Woolies shoppers will now have a little less time to purchase fresh items from the meat, seafood, and deli counters.
From now on, the fresh service deli will trade from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week and the seafood and meat counters will be staffed from 9.30am to 7pm on weekdays and 9am to 7pm on weekends.
A handful of stores will operate longer fresh service counter hours, if there’s still high customer demand in those stores.
However, a Woolworths spokesperson told Perth Now that customers can still purchase similar products, such as chicken breast fillets and salmon, within the packed fresh convenience range in-stores.
“We’ve also moved to standardize our overall operating hours so we can offer a consistent customer experience across our store network,” they said, but this change doesn’t affect West Aussies all too much.
“Select stores across the country will open one hour later or close one hour earlier to align with other stores and better match customer shopping patterns.”
The only store in WA to be impacted by changing opening times will be Eaton Fair, as the majority of WA’s Woolies already open at 8am.
The spokesperson said the changes will be monitored over the coming months, and customer and team member feedback would be taken on board.
In-store signage has been placed at the fresh service counters and at the front of stores to inform customers of the altered trading hours.
If you want to know a little more about the deli meats on offer, a Woolworths worker caused quite a fuss last month when she gave a scathing review of the supermarket’s most popular meats.
Customers are encouraged to check the opening and closing hours of their local Woolworths.
Power has been restored to Perth Airport after a major outage sparked by severe weather caused widespread flight cancellations and overnight delays.
Key points:
Thousands of properties are still without power amid ongoing storms
Perth Airport has asked passengers for patience as flights get back underway
Heavy showers and thunderstorms are set to persist throughout the day
The severe weather, brought about by an once-in-a-year triple storm front hitting Western Australia, saw all outbound services scheduled to depart before 8:30pm on Tuesday grounded.
Check-ins, security screening and car park access were also affected.
Passengers were reportedly told to go home for the night and to contact their travel agents.
“Perth Airport is working to activate all systems across its terminals in order to become fully operational,” Perth Airport said in a statement.
The power outage at the airport left passengers delayed and in many cases sent home.(Supplied: Night News)
“We ask passengers for their continued patience as our team and our airline partners work to get flights underway.”
The airport has apologized for the inconvenience, saying the safety of everyone who worked in or was traveling through Perth Airport remained its highest priority.
Thousands still without power
The airport was one of thousands of properties left without power across Perth as the first of three powerful cold fronts battered the state.
The ceiling of a Joondalup home in Perth’s north collapsed overnight as the wild weather continued.(Supplied: Night News)
At the peak of the storm yesterday morning, Western Power said 35,000 customers were without electricity, but it has since been restored to more than 25,000 properties.
The wild weather is set to continue, with damaging winds averaging 65 kilometers per hour and peak gusts in excess of 100 kph likely along the west coast and Perth this morning, before conditions ease during the late afternoon.
Heavy showers and thunderstorms are also expected to persist throughout the day.
Emergency services were called to a Port Kennedy home after it suffered damage to its roof and fence.(Supplied: Night News)
A severe weather warning for damaging surf is also in place, with significant wave heights exceeding 7 meters already occurring in exposed locations.
Swell forecasts of over 9.5 meters are predicted to hit Rottnest Island and Cape Naturaliste today.
Large swathes of South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia were battered by wild winds overnight on Tuesday, leveling trees and leaving homes without power, with no reprieve expected until Sunday.
Potentially destructive winds have been forecast for much of southern Australia as a series of cold fronts moves across the country.
Severe weather warnings are current for parts of WA, SA, NSW and Victoria, as several locations gear up for a trifecta of damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flooding.
Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>
In NSW the BOM is warning of damaging winds and heavy rainfall across the Illawarra, South Coast, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes, Snowy Mountains and Australian Capital Territory forecast districts.
Blizzard conditions are possible in Alpine areas above 1900m, and the BOM is also warning of damaging wind gusts up to 90km/h in the state’s west.
The Victorian SES received 216 calls for assistance in the 24 hours to 6am Wednesday, mainly over fallen trees.
The busiest volunteer units were Emerald (24 calls), Pakenham (19) and Upper Yarra (15), with about 17,000 households in the Emerald and Pakenham areas without power.
VIC SES chief officer of operations Tim Wiebusch told Sunrise only a small percentage of trees had fallen onto structures.
“The problem has been trees across the road, and so I can’t emphasize enough this morning, be cautious, be alert to conditions when driving to work,” he said.
Trees down in Victoria. Credit: 7NEWSSES crew clear up trees that have fallen near properties and on roads in Victoria. Credit: 7NEWS
Watch and act warnings have been declared for The Great Dividing range, with residents in the area urged to prepare to take shelter.
However, the severe weather warning for Central Highlands and Mount Dandenong has now been cancelled.
Gusts in the Grampians reached almost 110km/h overnight, with Melbourne’s northern suburbs expected to be hit with wild winds later today.
Damaging winds averaging 65km/h with peak gusts up to 110km/h are occurring over elevated areas of Victoria’s eastern ranges, which are expected to ease on Wednesday afternoon.
However destructive gusts are expected to re-develop in the southwest of Victoria during Wednesday evening, with wind speeds averaging 50-60km/h expected and peak gusts of 90km/h.
Heavy rainfall is predicted in coming days across much of southern Australia. Credit: BoM
WA SES was called to 345 jobs in the past 24 hours to 6:30am Wednesday morning, 300 of those in the metro area.
Damage has occurred from Butler in the north of Perth to Mandurah on the southwest coast.
Most calls were related to fallen trees on roofs, damaged power lines, with some reports of patios and verandahs being ripped from homes.
There has also been one report of a roof that has collapsed in Joondalup.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, a series of vigorous cold fronts will continue to cross the south of WA through to early Thursday.
Gusty showers and thunderstorms are likely along these fronts, as well as in the westerly flow in their wake.
Those in the Goldfields-Midlands, Midwest-Gascoyne, Perth Metropolitan, South West, Lower South West, Great Southern have been warned to take action.
South Australia’s SES received 51 call outs in the 24 hours up until Tuesday night, with another 10 received on Wednesday morning.
Most were pertaining to fallen trees, however none have created any significant damages to property.
SA SES told 7NEWS.com.au the state was not hit as hard as it was initially forecast.
SA Minister for Human Services Nat Cook has announced a code Blue has been introduced from Wednesday across the metro Adelaide due to the weather, meaning homelessness services will visit known rough sleeper locations to make people are aware of available support.
“Code Blue continues in regional centers until 9 August in the Riverland, Limestone Coast, Victor Harbor, Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln, Clare, and Kadina,” she wrote on Twitter.
Strong to damaging northwesterly winds averaging 50-65 kilometers per hour with peak gusts of around 90km/h, are still possible across parts of the warning area during Wednesday afternoon and early evening.
The risk of severe winds will ease Wednesday evening, but conditions will remain comfortable near some coastal areas throughout the night.
Conditions are expected to ease across southern Australia this Sunday.
Carlton’s loss to Adelaide has been compounded by a string of injuries.
Plus the latest on a star Richmond duo.
Get the latest AFL injury news in our Round 20 Casualty Ward!
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CARLTON has suffered some significant injury blows after the loss to Adelaide.
corey durdin is set to miss a week with a shoulder injury he suffered during the game, while George Hewett’s back issue will see him miss a second straight game, which this one being a crunch clash against Brisbane at the Gabba.
Nick Newman is set to miss the rest of the regular season after sustaining a shocking cut to his knee.
Newman was injured by his opponent’s footy boots which dragged across his leg as he attempted to lay a tackle.
late in the contest matt kennedy was assisted from the field after a head knock, with scans revealing he suffered a fractured jaw, which will see him sidelined for at least a fortnight.
Crows surprise Blues at Adelaide Oval | 01:31
RICHMOND admits it is “doubtful” star defender Dylan Grimes will play again in the home-and-away season after his latest hamstring injury.
Grimes suffered the injury in the second half of Sunday’s thrilling win over Brisbane, adding to a streak of soft tissue injuries for the 31-year-old.
Tigers fitness boss Peter Burge said on Tuesday that Grimes’ injury required “further investigation”.
“At this stage it’s probably looking doubtful that he’s going to play in the last three home and away games of the season.
“So, we’re going to need to have a look at what lies beyond that. We’ll gather some information over the next couple of days and we’ll give everyone an update.“
Meanwhile, Dustin Martin remains in a “holding pattern” with his hamstring injury.
The club says it’s “hopeful” a round 23 return is still on the cards, but admits, “if we’re not able to progress significantly in the next week or so, that starts to become a little less clear.”
The Lions Also Lost Zack Bailey in the first half of Sunday’s contest, with the mid-forward taken to hospital with a chest issue after a collision with Richmond’s Marlion Pickett.
Remarkably, despite Bailey spending Sunday night in hospital as his teammates returned home without him, the Lions are yet to rule him out of Round 21.
Scans cleared the 22-year-old of any serious injury and he was able to be discharged.
“Bailey spent the night in hospital in Melbourne after receiving a knock to his sternum in Sunday’s match with Richmond at the MCG,” the Lions said in a statement.
“Bailey was released from hospital on Monday and cleared to fly home to Brisbane.
“He will be further assessed to determine his availability for Sunday’s match against Carlton at the Gabba.”
COLLINGWOOD will be without star taylor adams for the remainder of the home and away season after he limped off in the win over Port Adelaide.
Coach Craig McRae confirmed Adams’ suffered a groin injury.
After scans, the club released a statement confirming the extent of the injury layoff.
“Collingwood vice-captain Taylor Adams will miss the remainder of the AFL home and away season after scans revealed a strain to his groin,” the statement read.
“The 28-year-old will be assessed further in the coming weeks.”
But there is good news for defending Jeremy Howeafter he suffered a heavy knock.
“Howey just got a knee in the backside and unfortunately just couldn’t function,” McRae said.
“He’ll be fine but he just couldn’t get back on the ground.”
Howe was able to complete a pool recovery session with teammates on Monday.
“He is expected to complete limited training on Tuesday before being assessed on Thursday,” the club said.
Brodie Grundy is no certainty to receive an AFL call up for Round 21, while Brody Mihocek is in a race to provide his fitness after missing Round 20 with a hip injury.
Grundy made his return in the VFL last weekend after 13 weeks on the sidelines with a PCL injury.
“Grundy played into the fourth term and collected the typical bumps and bruises sustained during a first game back,” the club said.
“He will also be assessed on Thursday.”
GEELONG are set to be without Gary Rohan for the clash with St Kilda after he was subbed out with a head knock.
Coach Chris Scott was unsure if Rohan was officially concussed, but said he was told Rohan “couldn’t go back on”.
“He said to me he’s perfectly fine, so that’s a good sign,” Scott said post-match.
“You never know how these guys are going to pull up.
“You know when it’s bad… but this isn’t one of those if appearances are anything to go by.”
Feet pip Port to the points at the MCG | 02:20
HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell is counting the cost of the loss to St Kilda.
The Hawks gallantly fought back in the final term, despite being down to three on the bench.
mitch lewis injured his knee early in the contest but tried to run it out, Josh Morris suffered a shoulder injury while Jacob Koschitzke suffered a cork.
“We lost three today,” Mitchell said.
“Tank Morris, he was going really well. I was sad for him – he finally got his chance. He’s put together a really good month of footy.
“He popped his shoulder, it came back in but obviously wasn’t going to come back on the field.”
Mitchell said the club wasn’t going to risk Lewis even though he tried to play on with his knee injury.
“Mitch Lewis has had a little bit of a sore knee for a while and just landed on it awkwardly,” he explained.
“It wasn’t OK to keep going.
“It’s one of those injuries where there’s a small amount of risk to it… the game was put away so we weren’t going to risk an important player like him.”
Mitchell praised Koschitzke’s ability to play on despite being clearly hampered by injury.
Saints survive fast-finishing Hawks | 01:00
“Kossie really worked hard. He has got a really nasty corky – he could hardly walk even to half time but we were already three on the bench so we needed him to soldier on,” he said.
“I have committed to that and gave us what I could. He couldn’t run or lead very much but he gave us a reply.
“Sometimes as a young player having to fight through when your body is nowhere near its best is an important lesson to learn.”
MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin says young ruckman Luke Jackson will be right to go against Collingwood after passing his concussion test in Perth.
Jackson came from the ground in the win over Fremantle appearing to be dazed but was given the all clear.
“He just had a little knock late in the game. He was checked by the docs and got the all clear,” Goodwin said.
“There’s nothing wrong with him, he’ll be fine. He’ll be ready to go next week.
“He got checked and passed his test.”
Goodwin also said Christian Salem would be able to back up after a blow to his face left him bleeding from the nose.
“Salem had a bit of a cut to his face, but we’ve come through unscathed,” Goodwin said.
james hames (concussion) and ben brown (knee soreness) will both need to provide their fitness to face the Pies on Friday night.
“Brown, following two weeks on the sidelines due to knee soreness, has ramped up his training program this past week and will also look to be available for selection,” the club said.
Joel Smith played his first VFL minutes since suffering a serious ankle injury back in Round 7.
the WESTERN BULLDOGS are sweating on star Adam Treloar‘s fitness ahead of this weekend’s must-win game against Fremantle.
Treloar has been battling a calf complaint and finished his past two matches early.
“Adam suffered some calf tightness in the game against Melbourne,” Dogs head of sports medicine Chris Bell said.
“He still wasn’t 100% during his fitness test last Thursday, so was unavailable for selection.
“We will again assess Adam as this week progresses and make a call on his availability towards the back end of the week.”
Anthony Scott (concussion) and hayden crozier (ankle) remain in the hunt for selection.
Scott was now “symptom-free” after being convicted in the clash with Sydney in Round 17, while Crozier has made steady progress since his ankle injury suffered in the VFL a month ago.
“We couldn’t be happier with how he has progressed over the last two weeks since coming out of the CAM boot,” Bell said.
“He will start to integrate back into training this week and we will determine if he returns to playing this weekend or next.”
Jarrod Brander‘s first season with GWS is over after the utility injured his hamstring playing the VFL.
Jacob Wehr is also unavailable for selection this weekend through injury.
Wehr suffered a calf strain against the Swans, ending his run of 10 straight game since debuting in Round 10.
Matt Flynn (ankle) and Conor Stone (hamstring) will have to provide themselves fit to face Essendon on Saturday.
In some good news for the club, Bobby Hill has been medically cleared to return after undergoing surgery for testicular cancer.
Hill hasn’t played since his shock diagnosis back in May.
PORT ADELAIDE are confident Travis Boak may back up against Richmond, despite fracturing his hand in the loss to Collingwood.
The 34-year-old was able to play out the match, after suffering the injury in the second term.
“He will be monitored throughout the week with an expectation that he will be able to take on the Tigers,” the club said in a statement.
Darcy Byrne-Jones will need to pass a fitness test after spraining his ankle early in the clash with the Pies.
The club expects Riley Bonner to be available for selection after he clears the AFL’s Health and Safety protocols, while dan houston could come into the mix after serving his 12-day concussion break.
FREMANTLE will be without skipper Nat Fyfe until at least Round 23 as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Fyfe hasn’t played since the Round 19 draw with the Tigers and remains no guarantee to play before finals.
“We’ve got a target of round 23 for Nat, obviously there’s a bit of work to do before we get there but that’s our target,” Dockers footy boss Peter Bell said.
Sam Switkowski is another Docker pushing to return before finals, as he recovers from a serious back injury.
“Sam’s a really important player for us, so if he is to come back it will be really positive,” Bell said.
The club it was still to put a line through Jye Amiss despite the rookie’s kidney injury landing him in hospital.
“Jye is going pretty well, we’ll be in constant dialogue with the specialist,” Bell said.
“Every day he’s getting better, it’s great to have him back out there. We haven’t put a line through him for the season, that’s for sure, so he’s training well.”
All flights out of Perth Airport have been canceled after a power outage sparked chaos.
All flights scheduled to depart after 7.30pm were initially delayed, but passengers have now been told to go home for the night.
Plans that were already on the way to Perth were able to land.
Footage taken at the airport showed the terminal plunged into darkness as the lights failed.
Some passengers reported being stuck on planes that had landed, because air bridges could not work without electricity.
Others who had landed were having trouble collecting the luggage, with disgruntled travelers complaining of “massive crowds”.
Some people appeared to be locked out of the airport altogether.
The outage was caused by wild weather which lashed Perth on Tuesday. Winds with speeds of up to 70km/h battered the west coast on Tuesday, and the Bureau of Meteorology expects the turbulent weather to continue until Thursday.
It is not known how long the damage will take to fix.
“Perth Airport will be delaying all outbound services scheduled to depart before 7.30pm,” the airport tweeted.
“All inbound flights currently in the air will be able to arrive safely. All scheduled flights into Perth which have not yet departed will be delayed until further notice.
“Passengers should expect delays/cancellations. The safety of everyone who works in or is traveling through our airport remains our highest priority. We apologize to passengers and customers for any inconvenience.”
Losing her leg to cancer was a traumatic enough experience for Anthea Corbett — but having no home to recover in made things much worse from a psychological and emotional perspective.
Key points:
The StayWitch’s program offers beds for homeless people leaving hospital
It aims to ensure they don’t end up back in hospital soon after being discharged
StayWitch is based on a program having some success in Boston
“It was hard because, you know, the same time, when you’re homeless, you just want to stay alive,” she said.
“Basically, you’ve got to protect yourself and you got to be careful, because some people are rough, especially guys, when it comes to a woman being homeless.”
A new Perth program is offering respite for homeless people who have just come out of hospital, addressing the “revolving door” issue that sees them struggle to recover on the streets.
The respite center caters for homeless people leaving hospital.(ABC News: David Weber )
Inspired by how the US city of Boston, Massachusetts tackles health care for the homeless, an old backpacker accommodation in Northbridge has been transformed into a short-stay facility for homeless people who have been discharged from hospital.
The Medical Respite Center is funded by the Department of Health with philanthropic support and offers 20 medical and 10 non-medical beds, providing a safe place to sleep and recover and helping connect people with health care services and support to get housing and accommodation.
homeless people die younger
Homeless Healthcare chief executive Andrew Davies, who initiated the set up of the StayWitch’s service, said the interaction between health and homelessness was “huge.”
“We’re finding that the average age of death is about 48 years old, which is incredibly poor when you compare it to the mainstream community,” he said.
“Being homeless is the biggest factor.
“It’s very hard when you’re living a chaotic life on the streets to manage your chronic illnesses and so they get neglected and people gradually deteriorate and don’t do so well.”
Dr Davies said the pilot program’s success had exceeded expectations.
“Basically, it really seemed to fill that need that I saw amongst my patients, where people were being discharged from hospital too early for them to be managing on the streets, which, of course, then ended up with them going back to hospital even sicker than they were the first time,” he said.
Homeless Healthcare’s Zoe Thebaud and Dr Andrew Davies at the Northbridge home that is a respite center for people just released from hospital.(ABC News: David Weber)
Respite center director of residential services Zoe Thebaud said the program had already made inroads.
“The point of this place is to kind of slow down the care, let people come, rest, recover from the hospital admission first,” she said.
Zoe Thebaud says people often end up back in hospital soon after being discharged. (ABC News: Kate Leaver)
“We’ve had people return to work. We’ve supported people into NDIS packages, supported people into accommodation with things set up so that they can actually stay out of hospitals.”
Boston originator welcomes Perth initiative
Dr Davies was inspired by Boston’s Dr Jim O’Connell, who is the keynote speaker at a Housing and Health Symposium in Perth during ShelterWA’s Homelessness Week.
Dr O’Connell — who is president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program — said the concept rose out of a desire to integrate the care of homeless people within the mainstream health system.
Dr O’Connell established the USA’s first medical respite program in 1985.(Facebook: Chronicle on WCVB Channel 5)
He said patients had wanted better respite care, instead of being left to return to the streets. Once that was provided, hospital readmission rates went down.
“We have a real problem in Boston with a lack of affordable housing,” he said.
“Rents are very high, vacancies are almost non-existent, and then we’ve also been struggling with both COVID and an opioid and other drug epidemic.”
Connecting with art
It was a chance conversation with someone from a Christian group in Northbridge that led to Ms Corbett getting and keeping her own unit.
Anthea Corbett’s cancer led to the amputation of part of her leg.(ABC News: Dave Weber)
Her life was now about staying off the streets and keeping connected with her support network, her family — and her art.
“This is my chance to do what was instilled in me as a child and I’m still alive and I can make something of myself,” she said.
Anthea Corbett says homeless people need to build a network of positive influences. (ABC News: David Weber)
She has started voluntary work to assist and advise others who find themselves on the streets.
Perth drivers are being encouraged to fill up their tanks on Tuesday night, with petrol prices set to rise by more than 40 cents per liter at some metropolitan petrol stations on Wednesday.
FuelWatch has alerted motorists that Coles Express sites across the metro area are hiking their unleaded petrol prices by up to 46c/litre, with prices set to hit as high as 199.9 c/litre on August 3.
By getting ahead of the game, you could save yourself some serious pain at the bowser and up to $27.60-a-tank.
BP petrol station prices will also increase to up to 195.9 c/litre and some 7-Eleven sites will hit 189.9 c/litre.
However, FuelWatch says tomorrow’s metropolitan average price for unleaded fuel will be 170.8 c/litre, only up to 10.3 c/litre, and there will be over 30 sites selling unleaded for below 156 c/litre.
Gidgie One Stop in Gidgeganup will have the most expensive fuel, with unleaded petrol set to rise to 208.9 cents a liter.
If you’re keen to shop around, FuelWatch says tomorrow’s cheapest petrol in the Eastern suburbs can be found at Shell Bullsbrook at 155.0c/litre, north of the river at Shell Alkimos at 150.3c/litre and south of the river at Cost Perth Airport for 151.7c/litre.
THE GOOD NEWS
The news comes amid a worldwide drop in fuel prices due to the fall in crude oil.
Last week, CommSec reported the benchmark Singapore fuel price had fallen to a 22-week low.
And in what will be a relief to those feeling the pinch during the cost-of-living crisis, CommSec chief economist Craig James said there were still considerable savings to come for consumers and transport companies.
“Based on ‘normal’ gross retail margins CommSec would expect the national average price to ease to near $1.75 a liter in the next fortnight,” Mr James said.
“The good news for motorists is that crude oil prices have been falling on concerns that global rate hikes will lead to slower economic activity.”
Wild weather has sparked a power outage at Perth Airport, throwing travellers’ plans into disarray for the third time in 48 hours.
The airport confirmed the outrage on Tuesday afternoon due to damage to power lines caused by severe weather in the Western Australian capital in the last 24 hours.
Western Power crews are scrambling to fix the outage but currently can’t give an estimated restoration time.
The outage has impacted on lighting in the terminal and baggage carousels unable to operate, leaving frustrated passengers left literally in the dark.
Flight information boards are blank while dozens of flights are grounded on the tarmac, delayed and cancelled.
‘Perth Airport will be delaying all outbound services scheduled to depart before 7.30pm,’ the airport tweeted on Tuesday night.
‘All inbound flights currently in the air will be able to arrive safely. All scheduled flights into Perth which have not yet departed will be delayed until further notice.
‘Passengers should expect delays/cancellations. The safety of everyone who works in or is traveling through our airport remains our highest priority. We apologize to passengers and customers for any inconvenience.’
Footage posted online shows the terminal plunged into darkness with arriving passengers relying on phone lights to track their luggage being manually brought into the terminal due to the bag carousels not working.
Departing passengers faced lengthy delays in checking in luggage due to a power chaos (pictured, affected travelers at Perth Airport on Tuesday)
By late Tuesday afternoon, Perth Airport was plunged into darkness with no word on when the outage will be fixed
‘Sitting in the dark cold boarding gate at Perth Airport while starving. An international airport without sufficient back up power,’ one woman tweeted.
Other photos show the arrival and departure flight board blank with no information available.
‘Massive crowd in airport. Departure gate closed and no communication. Been here for three hours,’ one traveler told Daily Mail Australia.
A concerned relative tweeted: ‘My 80 year old mother is on QF943 from Brisbane. It’s in the air but no idea if it can land.’
6PR listeners have told the radio station the outage has impacted on passengers trying to get through security checkpoints and those leaving the car park.
Arriving passengers are stranded on the tarmac as air bridges cannot be deployed for them to exit.
‘They can get stairs to us but no one knows how to open the doors. Looks like there are also other plans that are stuck,’ one woman arriving from Broome told WA Today.
Those departing are also affected as their luggage can’t be loaded onto planes while pilots trying to take off have no communication line with the airport.
The arrival and departure flight boards at Perth Airport were blank as frustrated passengers demanded answers
Western Power is unable to give a time of when power will be restored (pictured, Perth Airport plunged into darkness on Tuesday)
Dozens of other passengers are queued up outside, unable to get inside the airport.
It’s currently unknown how long the airport power outage will last but there are unconfirmed reports it may take 6-8 hours to repair.
Western Power says it’s waiting an estimated restoration time from repair crews and will provide an update on its website when available.
It comes as wild weather continues to batter the city with the chance of a thunderstorm and damaging winds possible with winds westerly 50 to 70 km/h.
‘Strong westerly winds are whipping up heavy surf conditions with swells reaching 8m off Rottnest Island this morning,’ the Bureau of Meteorology said.
‘These winds will continue through until late Wednesday, with sea conditions not set to ease until Thursday.’
It’s the third time in 48 hours travelers across the nation have been affected by outages and delays.
A nationwide computer glitch left thousands of Qantas passengers stranded on tarmacs and in airport lounges
Hours later, hundreds of travelers at Sydney and Melbourne Airports faced long queues, delays and cancellations on Monday morning due to operational reasons.
Perth Airport has confirmed it has been impacted by a power outage which will affect flights
Travelers’ plans were thrown into chaos at Perth Airport on Tuesday afternoon (pictured, passengers at the airport earlier this year)
The Wallabies’ worst fears have been realized, with Samu Kerevi expected to miss the rest of the year due to a knee injury.
It’s understood Kerevi, 28, suffered an ACL injury during Australia’s narrow 7-5 victory over Kenya in their Commonwealth Games pool match over the weekend.
Kerevi took no further part in Australia’s campaign, where John Manenti’s side lost in the semi-finals to South Africa.
Rugby Australia had been cagey about details regarding Kerevi, eager not to let the cat out of the bag.
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Kerevi told reporters he felt “alright” and added “I’m always confident [to be fit to play] but I’ll get a doc on it and see. It was just a big bang but then once it settled down it was fine.”
But the Suntory center is expected to miss the remainder of the year, with sources confirming the 41-Test center is expected to spend at least six months on the sidelines.
Kerevi is said to be devastated, believing he has let his teammates down.
The Wallabies were happy for Kerevi to take part of Australia’s sevens campaign after the former Queensland Reds captain made a promise to his teammates from the Tokyo Olympics that he would try and help them win gold in Birmingham.
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Samu Kerevi was injured at the Commonwealth Games. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“It was a tough decision in the end but I gave my word to these boys, if I was available to be back I’d be back here,” Kerevi told news corp in the lead-up to the Games.
“I’m blessed enough to be in this position and get selected for these Games. I’m pretty ecstatic about that.
“It’s pretty special to be part of this group and to represent Australia. It’s something I’ll always, always remember.
“But more than just participating, we want to be here and do well and win a medal – win a gold medal. That’s our goal and the boys are working hard towards that.”
After featuring in the No.12 jersey in all three Tests against England in July, Kerevi was always set to miss the opening two matches of The Rugby Championship against Michael Cheika’s Argentina because of his Commonwealth Games commitments.
The world class center was to link back with the squad ahead of the home Tests against the Springboks later this month, but that won’t be the case now.
There was an inherent risk about returning to the sevens program, particularly with the added miles in the legs required to succeed in the abbreviated game, but Wallabies coach Dave Rennie would have been sweating on his fitness, such is his importance to the team.
Speaking at the Wallabies’ squad announcement last month, Rennie said Kerevi had his blessing to play at the tournament and added that it would have only changed were they stretched to the limit in the centres.
England down Wallabies at Suncorp | 00:40
“Obviously Samu going away to the sevens, to the Commonwealth Games, we thought that was really important,” Rennie said.
“The initial talks we had a few months ago was if we got injuries maybe we wouldn’t let him go, but it’s important for our country to send away a strong side that’s got a chance of winning a medal – and the sevens boys have been going well of late and Samu will only add to that, so we’re committed to that.
“With Izzy Perese out injured, he’s (Irae Simone) coming in just to fill a role in the Argentinian tour and we’ll get Samu back after that.”
Kerevi’s long-term injury will put extra pressure on Hunter Paisami to perform, with the Reds center likely to wear the No.12 jersey against Los Pumas in Mendoza on Sunday (AEST).
Quade Cooper, meanwhile, is firming for a recall to the starting side, having missed the 2-1 series loss to England after suffering a calf injury during warm-up ahead of the opening Test.
Kerevi’s absence will allow Rennie to see how Cooper operates without his battering ram on the outside.
While Cooper won all five matches he featured in last year for the Wallabies, he benefitted from having Kerevi in the midfield who acted as the great foil on his outside.
Now without the muscle of Kerevi to steady the ship if necessary Cheika’s Pumas will undoubtedly target Cooper and try and take away his space.
Argentina are coming off a thrilling 2-1 series victory against Scotland, in what was Cheika’s first Tests as coach after taking over from Mario Ledesma earlier in the year.
