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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Samantha Goerling |Kate Forrester |Paul Cook
Western Australia's regional voters have showed they prefer the National Party as the state's opposition, with two of its candidates claiming victory in the latest results. The seats of Albany and Warren-Blackwood had been held by WA Labor before the March 8 state election. Albany had been a Labor seat for 21 years and was last held by the Nationals (then the Country Party) 69 years ago. The Nationals reclaimed Warren-Blackwood after it was lost in the Mark McGowan "red wave" in 2021.
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1 month ago | 
abc.net.au | Bridget McArthur |Kate Forrester
In a year when West Australian voters will go to the polls twice, no town in the state represents the intersection of federal and state issues quite as much as Collie. The coal mining town, 200 kilometres south of Perth, sits at the centre of WA's main electricity grid. It faces a duelling pitch for its future.
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2 months ago | 
abc.net.au | Kate Forrester |Belinda Varischetti
Small-scale meat producers in southern Western Australia say they are delighted but puzzled by a key butchering service's move to keep slaughtering and processing their stock. For months the Dardanup Butchering Company (DBC) had planned to cease offering so-called "service kills" for small-scale and independent producers. "Service killing" is the practice of slaughtering and processing livestock on behalf of a farmer who retains ownership over the meat.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Kate Forrester
In 1991, two Albany locals drove to a farm on the outskirts of the city, 400 kilometres south of Perth, for a 21st birthday. In the boot of their 1964 Beetle were two guitars and a small speaker. The sisters went on to become members of one of Australia's most-loved bands, The Waifs. Donna and Vikki Simpson were in their early days of performing together, picking up gigs and trying to make a name for themselves, when they played that birthday show.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Andrew Williams |Kate Forrester
A boy has been flown to Perth in a critical condition after an incident in Western Australia's largest regional city. Paramedics were called to the scene in the Bunbury CBD just after 10:30am on Wednesday. Locals have told the ABC a decommissioned parking machine fell on top of the child, but the exact cause of his injuries are yet to be confirmed.
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Jan 11, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Kate Forrester |Mark Bennett
A program that trains working dogs and auctions them off to raise much-needed money for children's health is set to expand after a record-breaking first year. Kelpies for Kids pairs working dogs with a trainer before the animals are auctioned, with money raised going towards landmark WA fundraiser Telethon. Starting last year, the program brings together each pup with one of the "Telethon kids", who are the face of fundraising efforts. The inaugural program raised more than $50,000.
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Jan 3, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Jacqueline Lynch |Andrew Chounding |Kate Forrester
Fire-damaged powerlines hindered communication for firefighters and locals battling an emergency level fire near Albany on Western Australia's southern coast yesterday. More than 1,500 hectares were burnt after lightning sparked a fire in the Green Range area, north-east of Albany. The fire flared up to emergency level around the same time the state's fire crews were battling simultaneous fires in Perth's east and Yarloop in the state's south-west.
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Dec 21, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Kate Forrester |Mark Bennett
People power has succeeded in the WA farming town of Boyup Brook with the harvest of its first community crop. Farmers Simon Purse and Charles Caldwell donated land to the project, with funds from the canola and barley crops going to rebuilding and upgrading decades-old sport facilities. Mr Caldwell, who helped plant the crop earlier in the year, said the quality of the barley harvested earlier this month was exceeding expectations.
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Dec 13, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Kate Forrester
Dick and Pixie von Hofe are celebrating 70 years of marriage. The farming couple from Western Australia's South West believes the secret to a long marriage is hard work, dedication and, of course, love. After meeting in 1952 at a local ball, Pixie and Dick married two years later in the South West town of Busselton. Pixie joined Dick on the von Hofe family farm in Manjimup, 300 kilometres south of Perth.
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Nov 24, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Kate Forrester
'Tis the season to be merry and enjoy a cherry, or two, or three. But tough seasonal conditions in the South West of Western Australia have meant the local festive fruit may not be as plentiful this year. The Southern Forest Food Council, which represents growers in the Manjimup region, say some orchards in the South West are experiencing crop losses of more than 90 per cent. Josh Cusato grows cherries on his 20-hectare property near Donnybrook, 200 kilometres south of Perth.
