Prime Minister in Perth to announce cut to red tape, Westport funding

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog for Wednesday, April 29.

Making headlines today, a plan to inject more than 500 new houses into Western Australia’s Government Regional Officer Housing Program using money from the state’s biggest miners has been panned as an admission Labor had dropped the ball on regional development over the past decade.

Premier Roger Cook made the announcement at a Chamber of Minerals and Energy breakfast on Tuesday, where he also announced the “Seven Cities” initiative aimed at improving infrastructure and housing in the regional centres of Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Port Hedland, Broome, Geraldton and Albany.

And in case you missed it, a medial student has gone on trial, accused of driving from Queensland to Perth and killing his elderly father during a psychotic episode.

David Moussa, 32, has pleaded not guilty due to unsoundness of mind over the January 2025 knife attack at the family’s Clarkson home.

Stay with us as we bring you the news of the day, as it happens.