As it happened: WA news on Monday, March 30

Premier Roger Cook says there are no plans to mandate COVID-19 era restrictions on fuel use – yet.

Speaking after a National Cabinet meeting where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a halving of the fuel excise to 23.6 cents per litre Cook said the state was following the national alertness plan which was currently at level two.

“This means that we are taking precautionary measures to shore up fuel supply and encouraging Western Australians to only buy the fuel they need no more, no less,” he said.

“Let me be clear: there is no desire to mandate COVID-era restrictions on Australians and there is no need to at this stage at our current level two settings.

“If we need to move to level three, an approach will be developed by national cabinet that provides incentives and mechanisms to encourage other voluntary measures.

“It would not be until we get to level four that we would consider any mandated demand management responses, and we are all hopeful that we will not get to that point, but if we do, it will be done as part of a plan to be considered by the National Cabinet.”

Albanese also flagged that the GST charged on every litre of fuel was also being looked at.

Cook said he was waiting for modelling to come back to see what measures could be taken.

After talking tough last week urging WA’s big fuel importers to give the state confidential commercial details of fuel stocks and contracts, Cook revealed only one company has told him they would provide the information.

“I can only vouch for one. I was contacted personally by one of the fuel companies to say, ‘Yes, we want to get that information to you’,” he said.

The deadline for that information is tomorrow.

When asked what will happen if the companies don’t play ball, Cook said: “They’ll come through, you watch, and if they don’t, we’ll act.”

“We have powers to compel them to provide information that’s necessary, but we expect to do the right thing.”

We’re bringing our live blog to a close for the day, thank you for joining us.

Here’s a recap of some of the day’s headlines:

• The state and federal governments have activated disaster recovery assistance for people impacted by Cyclone Narelle.
• West Coast Eagle recruit Deven Robertson has been offered a one-match sanction by the Match Review Officer for rough conduct in Sunday’s win over Port Adelaide.
• Alcoa Australia has temporarily reduced process flow rates to two of its alumina refineries in Western Australia in response to domestic gas supply issues caused by Tropical Cyclone Narelle.
• WA’s resources sector contributed the equivalent of $32 million per day in royalties and other payments to the state government over the past financial year, according to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy Western Australia.

• Police say there is no ongoing threat after a report was made of a man, possibly with a firearm, walking along Ocean Drive in Quinns Rocks early this morning.

• LNG giant Woodside says its withdrawal of its Browse carbon capture and storage project from a federal environmental process is procedural, and the company is still pursuing the project.
• Premier Roger Cook says there are no plans to mandate COVID-19 era restrictions on fuel use – yet.
• New rental bond laws, which came into effect at the weekend, will mean tenants won’t have to go to court any more to get their bonds back if homeowners don’t pay up.

Thank you again for tuning in today, we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news you need to know.

West Coast Eagle recruit Deven Robertson has been offered a one-match sanction by the Match Review Officer for rough conduct in Sunday’s win over Port Adelaide.

The midfielder was cited for his tackle on Zak Butters during the third term, with the incident graded careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.

Robertson played 47 games for the Brisbane Lions after being selected at pick 22 in the 2019 draft, but was delisted by the Queensland club at the end of last season.

He was picked up by West Coast in November during the supplementary selection period.

The Eagles have until Tuesday morning to decide whether to challenge the sanction at the AFL Tribunal, with no option for an early plea.

Co-captain Liam Baker has accepted a $1000 fine for engaging in a melee/wrestle, downgraded from $1500 with an early guilty plea.

Police say there is no ongoing threat after a report was made of a man, possibly with a firearm, walking along Ocean Drive in Quinns Rocks early this morning.

Police attended the scene immediately after the 4.50am report and conducted extensive patrols of the area, including the carpark, beach, public toilets and surrounding streets.

However, no person matching the description, or any person with a firearm, was located.

Police also spoke with a number of people who were in the area at the time and none reported seeing anyone matching the description provided or a person with a firearm.

All investigative lines of inquiry have now been completed and police say there is no ongoing threat to community safety. They will, however, continue to monitor the area.

Anyone with further information relating to this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Sticking with the Premier Roger Cook press conference, he has mounted a defence for the greyhound industry in the state after being questioned why it didn’t ban the sport like other states.

“It’s one person’s gambling, its another person’s way of life,” he told media.

An upper house committee is holdings hearings into the industry on Monday, which coincides with an Animals Australia report which found the state would lose $36 million in economic activity if the industry shut down.

Cook said it continued to be a popular pastime despite conceding that not many people physically watched the races any more, which was the nature of modern-day sports betting.

“It continues to support jobs, and obviously it’s not to everyone’s liking, and a lot of people don’t like horse racing as well. So we need to balanceeveryone’s views in this,” he said.