More than five million cigarettes and a literal tonne of loose tobacco has been seized in a two-week crackdown on black market smoke shops across Perth.

On Wednesday, WA Health quantified the results of its blitz, which also saw almost 50 stores forced to close since strict new laws came into effect in May.

A convenience store in Hamilton Hill is closed under new laws aimed at halting the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes.

More than 50,000 vapes and hundreds of “vaping accessories” were also seized under Operation Claudere, as well as 85 kilograms of shisha tobacco and 4420 cigars.

WA Health’s director of tobacco and vape regulation Shane Giblett said the new laws had “significantly enhanced our ability to investigate and take enforcement action against non-compliant operators”.

“This is ultimately about protecting public health, and every illicit tobacco and nicotine product removed from the market, is one less opportunity for addiction,” he said.

Today’s headlines

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:

More than five million cigarettes and a literal tonne of loose tobacco has been seized in a two-week crackdown on black market smoke shops across Perth.
WA Health Minister Meredith Hammatt has come under fire following the release of a report into the ministerial taskforce investigating the tragic death of 13-year-old Kate Savage in 2020.
Alex Pearce is Fremantle’s captain courageous, and Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is glad the rest of the AFL is finally catching up to how good a leader the 31-year-old is.
Federal Defence Minister Richard Marles claims One Nation leader Pauline Hanson had been “notably absent” on critical issues impacting Australians, and was instead focusing on “culture wars”.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has almost immediately gone off script at her National Press Club address to take a swipe at Channel Nine.
WA travellers were slugged the biggest increase in domestic airfares last month, a new Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report has revealed.
WA’s spearfishing community is lobbying the state government to do more to protect ocean users after two spearfishers were killed by sharks within weeks of each other.
Hundreds of jobs have been slashed at Hancock Iron Ore’s Pilbara operations amid rising tensions with the unions and industry rivals.

Thank you again for tuning in today. We’ll see you back here tomorrow for all the news you need to know.

More than five million cigarettes and a literal tonne of loose tobacco has been seized in a two-week crackdown on black market smoke shops across Perth.

On Wednesday, WA Health quantified the results of its blitz, which also saw almost 50 stores forced to close since strict new laws came into effect in May.

A convenience store in Hamilton Hill is closed under new laws aimed at halting the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes.

More than 50,000 vapes and hundreds of “vaping accessories” were also seized under Operation Claudere, as well as 85 kilograms of shisha tobacco and 4420 cigars.

WA Health’s director of tobacco and vape regulation Shane Giblett said the new laws had “significantly enhanced our ability to investigate and take enforcement action against non-compliant operators”.

“This is ultimately about protecting public health, and every illicit tobacco and nicotine product removed from the market, is one less opportunity for addiction,” he said.

WA Health Minister Meredith Hammatt has come under fire following the release of a report into the ministerial taskforce investigating the tragic death of 13-year-old Kate Savage in 2020.

The report shows that of the 32 recommendations identified by the taskforce four years ago, only one is completed, 26 remain in progress and five are yet to be started.

State opposition leader Basil Zempilas took the opportunity during Question Time this afternoon to ask the health minister on the recommendations of the report, which criticised the Mental Health Commission for failing to adequately address workforce, infrastructure and funding challenges identified as critical to delivering reform.

Hammat said the government had invested $235 million since 2022 in additional funding for infant, child and adolescent mental health.

“And we’re delivering important programs with that funding,” she said.

“This is reform that was started under this government, this is reform that our government is committed to delivering, and we will accept in full the recommendation of the auditor general.”

Alex Pearce is Fremantle’s captain courageous, and Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir is glad the rest of the AFL is finally catching up to how good a leader the 31-year-old is.

Pearce will notch his 150-game milestone when he lines up in Thursday night’s heavyweight blockbuster against Geelong at Optus Stadium.

The path has been an arduous one for Pearce, who suffered a series of career-threatening leg and ankle fractures earlier in his career.

Pearce has also been open and honest about the anxiety battles he has faced throughout his career, both in regards to injuries and his personal performance.

It is through those struggles Pearce has built up a huge amount of resilience, and his leadership has grown immensely year-on-year since being appointed captain for the first time ahead of the 2023 campaign.

At this morning’s press conference Defence and Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia, despite not being included on the media alert, was also in attendance and was questioned on a report into the issue of overcrowding in WA’s prisons.

The Inspector of Custodial Services found there was a risk of deaths because of riots due to the overcrowding.

WA Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia.

Papalia said the report had characterised the conditions in a way he did not agree with.

“We’ve just had a difference of opinion with respect to the language that he employs. It is true that there has been an unprecedented growth in the prison population, something like 38 per cent in two years – nothing has ever confronted the system in that way before,” he said.

“Now we’re dealing with it. There is $60 million for additional capacity in this year’s budget. There’s hundreds of millions in the forward estimates. We’re recruiting 1200 prison officers in coming years to increase the population of the staff, and there’s a justice reform initiative that is playing out to potentially deal with people coming into remand in a different way, or potentially prevent them from coming into remand.”

When challenged on whether that 38 per cent increase was, in fact, overcrowding, Papalia would only concede it was a “massive increase”.

Hanson is ‘absent’ on critical issues, Marles claims

Sticking with the press conference in Rockingham this morning with federal Defence Minister Richard Marles, and he has claimed One Nation leader Pauline Hanson had been “notably absent” on critical issues impacting Australians, and was instead focusing on “culture wars”.

Hanson spoke at the National Press Club today, where she claimed Australia should be a multiracial but “monocultural” society under one “culturalist umbrella”.

Defence minister defends AUKUS spend while in Perth

Federal Defence Minister Richard Marles is in Perth today and has been asked about his trip to the UK, and the sudden announcement made by British Defence Secretary John Healey that he was quitting.

A media event scheduled between the pair was cancelled just three hours before it was scheduled to start following the news.

Healey and Marles in London on Wednesday.

“I was just curious, the alert for this morning’s event didn’t include Minister [Paul] Papalia [WA’s defence minister]. I wondered if you were just a tad nervous that he might do a John Healey on you,” Marles was jokingly asked by a journalist at a press conference in Rockingham.

“How the alerts go out is above my pay grade, to be honest. But all I can say is I have very much enjoyed my partnership with Paul over a very long period of time,” he replied.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has almost immediately gone off script at her National Press Club address to take a swipe at Channel Nine.

“Just to get things out of way, too, I think it’s important – is Channel Nine here?” she asked.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson in Perth on Wednesday evening.

“I just want to clarify that no, Gina’s jet is not broken, and I didn’t come cattle class, or I did come cattle class, actually. So, anyway, just a few dwelling on that. What question you’re going to ask me, I just want to get that out of the way.”

Hanson was referring to questions she was asked by a Nine journalist last week when she arrived in Perth to speak at a sold-out event.

When asked if she flew to Perth by private jet or in cattle class, Hanson snapped and said the questions were “stupid”, causing the interaction to go viral.

Perth domestic flight increases leading the nation, consumer watchdog report reveals

WA travellers were slugged the biggest increase in domestic airfares last month, a new Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report has revealed.

The lowest available economy airfares increased year-on-year on multiple Perth routes, with passenger demand less price sensitive in the west due to the lack of substitutes and the state’s strong fly-in, fly-out sector.

Qantas’ Perth to Sydney flight increased by 42.3 per cent in the year to May 2026, going from an average price of $363 to $516.

Virgin’s fare for the same route also increased by 19.8 per cent from $257 to $308, and Jetstar’s jumped 3.9 per cent from $266 to $277.

Passenger numbers at Perth Airport fell by 0.8 per cent of the year, with the Melbourne to Sydney route continuing to be the nation’s busiest.

Spearfishers call for WA to tag more great white sharks in wake of tragedies

WA’s spearfishing community is lobbying the state government to do more to protect ocean users after two spearfishers were killed by sharks within weeks of each other.

Daniel Turpin, 35, was mauled by a shark near Albany, and Steven Mattaboni, 38, was fatally bitten on his legs off Rottnest Island.

National Spearfishing Chairman Arnold Piccoli said WA had the highest per capita rate of shark fatalities in the world and called on more to be done to understand great white shark movements off the coast.

“We haven’t got enough data to create a decent heatmap of where these fish are travelling and at what time of year they’re there,” he told 9 News Perth.

“We’ve only tagged 200 in the history of WA, you’d probably find if they focused on it, they could tag 200 more white [sharks] in a year.”

Watch the full story below:

Home

As it happened: WA news on Wednesday, June 17