Fremantle Shark Attack: Search for Missing Man Off Port Beach

THE GUARDIAN: WA police say actions of witnesses were ‘heroic’ after incident reportedly involving tiger shark and great white shark

Search and rescue vessels patrol off Port Beach in North Fremantle, Western Australia. A man is missing after a shark attack. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP
Emergency services are searching for a man who is believed to have been attacked by a shark off Port Beach in North Fremantle, Western Australia, on Saturday morning.

WA police said that water police, police air wing, Surf Life Saving and the Surf Rescue helicopter responded to reports of a shark attack off Port Beach at 10.10am Saturday morning.

Water police were co-ordinating a marine search for the missing man, whose age had not yet been confirmed.

A spokesperson for St John’s Ambulance WA said they had received a call at 10.03am of a shark bite and sent three crew to the scene.

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Department of Transport (Marine) and Department of Transport (Marine) authorities also attended the scene.

Local councils have closed Port Beach and all beaches from Leighton Dog beach to Sand Tracks beach. » | Justine Landis-Hanley | Saturday, November 6, 2021

Much of Western Australia Goes into Five-day Lockdown after Hotel Guard Tests Positive to UK Covid Variant

THE GUARDIAN: Restrictions imposed in Perth, Peel and South West, with schools suspended and residents only allowed to leave home for essential reasons

Western Australia has imposed a five-day lockdown in metropolitan Perth, the Peel region and the state’s South West amid fears a hotel quarantine worker who has tested positive to Covid-19 has contracted the highly contagious UK variant.

The state premier, Mark McGowan, said the “full lockdown” would begin at 6pm on Sunday, meaning residents could only leave their homes for essential grocery shopping, medical reasons, to care for the vulnerable or exercise within their neighbourhood.

Schools were due to return on Monday but will now remain closed; masks will become mandatory during the lockdown’; and venues including bars, pubs, clubs, gyms and places of worship will need to close. Restaurants and cafes will be limited to takeaway service. Elective surgery has also been suspended. » | Luke Henriques-Gomes | Sunday, January 31, 2021

Geert Wilders Calls Anti-Islamic ALA 'Australia's First Freedom Party'

The far-right Dutch MP launches the Australian Liberty Alliance modelled on his own outfit, the Party for Freedom. Wilders was granted an Australian visa to attend the event but he has been banned from entering other countries because of his anti-Islamic stance. The launch’s location in Perth, Western Australia, was kept secret to avoid protests by anti-racism groups

WA Parliament Passes New Burqa Law

Two women wearing niqab veils

WA TODAY: A new law requiring Muslim women to remove a burqa or niqab to prove their identity to West Australian police has been passed by the state's parliament.

The legislation was drafted in response to public outcry about the case of niqab-wearing mother-of-seven Carnita Matthews, who had a conviction of knowingly making a false statement quashed.

Ms Matthews was originally given a six-month jail sentence after being found guilty of falsely accusing a senior constable of forcibly trying to remove her niqab when she was pulled over while driving in Woodbine in Sydney's southwest in June 2010.

She was later acquitted on appeal after the prosecution could not prove she was the woman who signed the statement while wearing the garment. » | AAP | Friday, November 01, 2013

Barnett Not Wilders About Controversial Dutch Pollie

WA TODAY: Barnett not Wilders about controversial Dutch pollie » | AAP | Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Related »

Barnett Says Anti-Islam Wilders Not Welcome in WA

ABC NEWS: The Premier Colin Barnett says the right wing Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, is not welcome in Western Australia.

The Federal Government has approved a visa for the anti-Islam campaigner who could speak in Perth as part of a national tour next year.

Mr Barnett says Mr Wilders' views could stir violent tensions.

"He's got a right to say it but I do not want to see tensions between the Islamic community and the wider community stirred up, potentially into demonstrations or even violence, because a Dutch politician wants to come here and promote himself," he said.

Mr Barnett says the politician will not be offered Government venues. » | Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Bushfires in Western Australia Force Residents onto Beach
Residents of the Margaret River region of Western Australia were forced to take shelter on the local beach as bushfires swept the area destroying over 30 homes.

Read short article here | Friday, November 25, 2011

Australian Charged over Anti-Semitic YouTube Video
HAARETZ: Police charged a man who allegedly posted a video on YouTube with inciting racism under a so-far untested Australian state law, officials said Thursday. A newspaper report said the video targeted Jews.

The 38-year-old man from the west coast city of Perth could become the first person convicted under Western Australia state's racial vilification laws enacted four years ago.

The laws were introduced in response to a series of violent attacks by white supremacists around Perth. The only person previously charged under the law was a 16-year-old Aboriginal girl, but a magistrate said the case involved petty name-calling and dismissed it.

State police spokeswoman Susan Usher said the suspect will appear in court next Tuesday charged with conduct likely to incite animosity or racist harassment. He cannot be identified under Australian law until his first court appearance.

If convicted, he faces a possible maximum penalty of 14 years in prison plus a fine of $18,000. >>> Associated Press | Thursday, May 14, 2009

HAARETZ: Anti-Semitism Is Rearing Its Head in Tel Aviv

Anti-Semitism is raising its head. Not in Warsaw, Munich or Paris, and there's no need for the Anti-Defamation League to wave the evidence around. It's right here, in our own home, in verdant Ramat Aviv, the most enlightened suburb of Tel Aviv, our most enlightened city. The entry of a handful of ultra-Orthodox Jews to this lovely, modest and tranquil neighborhood has provoked an unlovely wave of racism, tearing the thin veil of openness and liberality from this seemingly left-wing community. If anyone were to behave this way toward Israeli Arabs, the residents might raise a hue and cry, but when it comes to Haredim the gloves are off because attacking the "blacks" is the fashion. >>> By Gideon Levy | Thursday, May 14, 2009