Source : the age
WA Police are asking for the public’s help to solve the mystery of how a man came to be found unconscious and lying next to his car with significant head injuries near Armadale last week.
The 53-year-old was last seen in the car park adjacent to the Settlers’ Common Environmental Centre in Bedfordale around 7.45pm on Thursday.
He was discovered by a member of the public 15 hours later around midday on Friday and rushed to hospital, where he remains in a serious condition, and is yet to regain consciousness to speak with detectives.
“That 15-hour timeframe is what we’re looking for,” Armadale Detective Matt Warne said.
“He has broken ribs and serious head injuries.
“We believe there is somebody out there that holds valuable information about how this man received these injuries.”
Warne said police were unsure what the man was doing in the area at the time.
“He had been at the car park for several hours, there had been meetings going on [at the environment centre], we don’t know if he was part of those meetings are not, they were open to the public,” he said.
The injured man’s family are also at a loss to explain what could have happened.
With Anzac Day approaching, our colleagues over at Radio 6PR this morning spoke to RSLWA president Duncan Anderson about a recent survey that suggested only one in four members of Gen Z feel strongly connected to Anzac Day.
“For a lot of people, I suppose it is out of sight out of mind and that’s what we’re really trying to do in and around Anzac day is bring it into people’s minds so they can understand that people out there do serve this great country” he said.
Listen to the full interview below:
Watch Peter Dutton’s Perth press conference live below:
Peter Dutton is about to arrive at a defence manufacturing business in Belmont to spruik his military spending plan.
The contingent travelling with the opposition leader is at Blacktree Technologies in the Labor-held seat of Swan.
Swan is one of four seats in WA that Labor snatched off the Liberal Party in 2022.
Speaking of the election campaign, nearly 60,000 West Australians have already placed their vote for their preferred prime minister after the federal election pre-polling booths opening yesterday.
The busiest booths were in the seat of Canning, currently held by opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie, with more than 5,500 people in Mandurah and Byford casting their votes on day one.
Bunbury and Busselton voting centres were also busy, with more than 3000 residents in the electorate of Forrest casting their votes.
Nearly two million West Australians are eligible to vote at the May 3 election, with up to half excepted to place their vote early.
Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will be in Perth today as part of their election campaigns.
Dutton will be joined by WA Liberal MP and opposition defence spokesman, Andrew Hastie, as the pair announce a $21 billion defence spending pledge over the next decade.
Peter Dutton and Andrew Hastie will make the announcement in Perth today.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The Coalition will promise to significantly outspend Labor by increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 and to 3 per cent over the next 10 years, matching the ambitious target called for by the Trump administration.
A group of defence experts last week warned that the AUKUS submarine program, to be based in WA, is growing so dramatically that it is approaching the size of a standalone branch of the Defence Force, draining funding for other military equipment.
The authors, from the Strategic Analysis Australia think tank, called for defence spending to be put on a rapid trajectory to reach 3 per cent of gross domestic product within the next term of government, taking defence spending from the current $56 billion annually to $84 billion a year.
Here’s what’s making news across the country and around the world:
- Donald Trump’s global tariff war and the uncertainty he has unleashed on the world will cost the Australian economy more than $13 billion this year and put upward pressure on inflation, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
- Meanwhile, Trump says he will substantially lower his unprecedented 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods and “won’t play hardball” in recognition the current trade war between the world’s two largest economies cannot last.
- And Pope Francis raised a hand in farewell to his nurse before slipping into a coma and dying of a stroke, the Vatican revealed, in the first detailed account of the 88-year-old pontiff’s final moments.
A nun holds a rosary and a picture of Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square on Tuesday.Credit: AP
Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Wednesday, April 23.
Making headlines this morning is new data revealing the Perth suburbs where buying a home is tough work – because the current residents aren’t leaving any time soon.
Which suburb tops the list for property hold-outs? You’ll have to read Sarah Brookes’ article to find out.
Meanwhile, in case you missed it yesterday, Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas has issued a mea culpa for breaching local government rules after using his council-linked social media profile in his campaign for state government.
Perth lord mayor-turned-WA Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas.Credit: Hamish Hastie
Zempilas stepped down as lord mayor as soon as his tight victory in Churchlands for the WA Liberals was confirmed in March, which complicated a Local Government Standards Panel ruling that he provide a public apology for the minor breach.
His apology was published on the City of Perth’s Facebook page late Tuesday afternoon.
Read Hamish Hastie’s full story here.
And finally, did you catch the leaders’ debate on Nine last night? We won’t blame you if you didn’t – it was airing during peak hour in WA, after all.
But if you want a wrap of the night’s proceedings, which took place after a pause in campaigning to mourn the death of Pope Francis, you can read a wrap of the debate here.
Thanks for joining us today, stay tuned as we bring you more news you need to know.
