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Dec 30, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Jamie Thannoo |Samantha Goerling |Kema Johnson |Andrew Chounding
Colleagues say an Bangladeshi-Australian mother and father who drowned at Conspicuous Cliff will be missed by those who knew them. An advocate for migrant communities is calling for more water safety education suited to Australia's diverse population. The local shire president says safety precautions at the beach will be reassessed following Saturday's deaths.
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Dec 20, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Jamie Thannoo
A man who sexually abused his stepdaughters for almost a decade has been sentenced to 19 years in prison. The ABC can reveal that victims complained to the the Department of Child Protection (DCP) about the continued abuse on more than one occasion. Documents provided to the ABC also show experts warned Family Court officials about the risk of sexual abuse in separate proceedings, but the man and his partner, the children's biological mother, were still given custody.
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Dec 14, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Jamie Thannoo
Police are asking the public for help as investigations continue into the death of a man in WA's Peel region. The 53-year-old man's body was found in a burnt-out car near Youraling State Forest on December 6. Investigators want to identify a dark-coloured four-wheel-drive which was seen in the area the night before the body was found.
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Dec 9, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Andrew Chounding |Stan Shaw |Jamie Thannoo
Emergency service workers across country Western Australia say driver "stupidity" remains a key factor behind the state's highest road toll in nearly a decade. Five fatal crashes occurred on country roads near the towns of Toodyay, Albany, Denmark, Dumbleyung and Bunbury, while two motorcyclists were killed in separate crashes over the weekend in Perth.
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Dec 7, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Jamie Thannoo
Whale researcher Grace Russell recalls in disbelief watching seven drones hover over a humpback whale and its calf off Western Australia's south coast. "Seeing seven drones flying above a humpback cow-calf pair made me realise that people's desire for images comes above the respect of our wildlife, and that is really disconcerting," she said. It's just one example of a crowded sky over whales, which scientists say interferes with important research and risks animal welfare.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Jamie Thannoo |Paul Cook
Travelling a round trip of more than 600 kilometres to check into a residential rehabilitation centre was the only option for Albany's Samuel Turton. It was Mr Turton's only choice because the Great Southern is the only region in Western Australia without a residential rehabilitation centre. Mr Turton, 29, has struggled with addiction for a decade, and 12 months ago he travelled to the South West to enter a facility.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Jamie Thannoo |Andrew Collins
The WA government has revised rules requiring truck drivers to display mandatory safety signage. The rules required vehicles over 27.5m long to display their length and trailer configuration on a visible signMain Roads says it revised plans after feedback from the road transport industryThe WA government has backed down on proposed mandatory signage for road trains after a backlash from the trucking industry.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Samantha Goerling |Jamie Thannoo |Peter Barr
The arrival of an emperor penguin in Denmark on Western Australia's southern coast has been described as the furthest north recording of the Antarctic species. Aaron Fowler spotted the animal when he went to Ocean Beach, 430 kilometres south of Perth, for a surf on Friday afternoon. "It was massive, it was way bigger than a sea bird and we're like, what is that thing coming out of the water? And it kind of had a tail sticking out like a duck," Mr Fowler said.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Peter Barr |Jamie Thannoo
Once hidden pieces of paradise, beaches on the West Australian south coast are becoming social media hotspots and the tourist influx has prompted major upgrades. One idyllic beach in the Great Southern region has recorded almost a 60 per cent visitor increase in two years. Some of the beaches have attained global renown and, for the managers of these places, it is now a question of balancing demand and maintaining the pristine conditions.
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Oct 23, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Jamie Thannoo
In an era when digital photography is ubiquitous, film takes pride of place in an unusual darkroom in southern Western Australia. Interest in the physical medium is booming at Albany's ACE Camera Club, which uses a former hospital morgue to develop its analogue photos. While renewed interest in film photography is slowly growing across Australia, the cost of chemicals, equipment and (above all) film is becoming increasingly expensive.
