WA news LIVE: Scarborough security guards accused of assaulting patrons

April 14, 2025 journo

Corporate watchdog drags embattled Wiluna Mining, directors to court over ‘disclosure failure’

By Jesinta Burton

The corporate watchdog has dragged embattled gold producer Wiluna Mining and its former chair Milan Jerkovic to court over allegations it mislead investors.

The Federal Court civil suit centres around a $57.3 million capital raising undertaken by the company in June 2022, which operated a mine in the northern goldfields.

But the Australian Investments and Securities Commission now claims $7 million of those funds were never received, something investors were left in the dark about.

Less than five weeks later, the company was plunged into administration before being de-listed on the ASX in April 2024 for failing to meet its financial reporting obligations.

In a statement released on Monday, ASIC confirmed it had taken legal action against Wiluna and was seeking a declaration of contravention for breaching its continuous disclosure obligations.

Further, the corporate watchdog alleged Jerkovic breached his director duties by failing to detail the amount raised by the company, while former chief commercial officer James Malone has been accused of failing to ensure the statements issued to the market were not false and misleading.

The pair are both being pursued for declarations of contravention and facing the prospect of a financial penalty.

ASIC chair Joe Longo said the company and its two senior officials allegedly engaged in serious contraventions of the Corporations Act by misleading its investors.

“The lack of transparency and subsequent corporate failure have the potential to drive a loss of confidence in our capital markets,” he said.

“Market integrity concerns like this may lead to diminished investor participation in capital raisings in all or sections of Australian equity markets, which ultimately impacts the Australian economy and international standing.

“ASIC will continue to take action to hold directors and officers of publicly listed companies accountable for their misconduct.”

Wiluna remains in the hands of FTI Consulting administrators, who have been working to sell its gold mine.

‘Hands off’: WA Premier reacts to poaching rumour

Just a final quick one from the Cook press conference.

Police Commissioner Col Blanch.Credit: Jesinta Burton.

He has responded to a rumour broadcast this morning by our friends at Radio 6PR on their Rumour File segment that Victoria Police are trying to poach WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch.

Cook didn’t discount the rumour completely.

“Hands off Col,” he said.

“He’s a great police commissioner that’s done an incredible job on behalf of the community, and we would obviously be very, very cranky if anyone thought that they could try to poach him,” he said.

NRL still yet to respond to WA’s latest offer

By Hamish Hastie

Sticking with the Cook press conference, he’s provided some illuminating commentary on his efforts to bring the Western Bears NRL team to WA.

The WA government has submitted its offering to the NRL (see details below) which, according to this masthead last week, the league was not impressed by.

WA’s NRL offer

$20 million for a rugby Centre of Excellence in Malaga
$35 million for grass roots development through schools and Clontarf Foundation
Game day support
No money for an NRL license fee

The NRL has not yet formally rejected the deal, however, and Cook revealed he had spoken to NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo online on Friday night.

“We continue to work with them and those conversations are continuing to be positive,” he said.

“They haven’t formally responded to that offer in writing, but there is a delta, and that’s of course what those conversations are about.”

Cook was stinging in his criticism of the NRL last week after reports his offer was rejected, accusing the NRL of treating WA “like a cash cow”.

Cook said the cash cow comment did not come up in the chat he’d had on Friday.

“It wasn’t raised in the conversation, it was much more polite than that,” he said.

The NRL hosted a double header in WA at Optus stadium on the weekend which was attended by 30,000 people.

WA Housing minister responds to PM’s first homebuyers pledge

By Hamish Hastie

To the Perth CBD now, where Housing Minister John Carey and Premier Roger Cook have held a press conference to mark the opening of the Perth Hub – that glass tower at the edge of the Perth City Link next to the RAC Arena.

Questions immediately moved to the Coalition and Labor’s election pledges for first home buyers announced yesterday.

Peter Dutton promised to allow first home buyers to deduct interest payments from their taxable income for the first five years after purchasing a newly built home.

While in Perth yesterday Anthony Albanese pledged $10 billion to build 100,000 homes for first home buyers and allow first home buyers to purchase a property with just a 5 per cent deposit, with the government to guarantee the remaining 15 per cent.

Plenty of economists have panned both ideas as inflationary to house prices.

When asked about their impact on home prices in WA, Carey skirted to crux of the question and instead said boosting supply was the only way to bring down house prices.

“As the Housing Minister, I’m advised every day or given different advice on strategies about the housing market, but it is fair to say that more housing supply is the best way to drive more affordable homes and provide that certainty for new home buyers,” he said.

Scarborough security guards accused of assaulting patrons

To breaking news now and two Scarborough security guards will front court this morning after being accused of assaulting two patrons outside The Lookout last night.

WA Police allege the guards had a physical altercation with a 39-year-old man, and a woman in her 20s, outside a bar along The Esplanade around 8.15pm.

A Lookout patron filmed the alleged assaults. Credit: Facebook

The male victim had to be treated at Joondalup Health Campus for injuries to his head and face.

A 32-year-old man from Balga has been charged with causing bodily harm, wilfully destroying evidence, stealing and common assault.

A 37-year-old man from Nollamara has been charged with causing bodily harm.

Both are due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court today.

Two cars torched in arson attack at Mirrabooka business

To overnight news now and two cars at the same business in Mirrabooka have been torched over the weekend, one day apart.

WA Police say the incidents occurred outside an office on Chesterfield Road, one at 9pm on Saturday, and one at 7.20pm Sunday.

One of the burnt-out cars. Credit: 9 News Perth

Firefighters extinguished both blazes and the arson squad is at the scene this morning.

The vehicles sustained fire and smoke damage, and had smashed windows.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

Perth father ‘lucky to be alive’ after random bashing

Detectives are this morning searching for a brazen thug who left a Perth father with multiple broken bones in his face after a late night attack.

The victim told 9 News Perth he considers himself lucky to be alive after being set upon around 2am on Saturday morning while walking along Challenger Avenue in Parmelia.

Across the nation and around the world

Here’s what’s making news nationally and around the world:

A policy clash on tax and housing has dramatically reset the federal election campaign after Labor and the Coalition unveiled more than $24 billion in combined pledges that could supercharge house prices.
Australia has been too slow to rule out “faddish but unproven” maths teaching methods in schools despite persistent underperformance and a third of students failing to meet basic maths standards, a new report says.

St Bernard’s Primary School uses a bank of lesson plans and materials which teachers say has cut down the time spent planning classes.Credit: Tamara Dean

Today’s weather

This morning in Perth

Good morning readers, and thank you for joining us on this Monday morning.

Making headlines in Perth, and for the second time in days, the wind was Gout Gout’s friend and foe during the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth yesterday.

The teenager broke 20 seconds for the 200 metres with a tailwind that was just a push too strong for it to legally count.

And local Peter Bol is back in the form of his life after breaking the national 800-metre record in a statement performance that declared he was a contender on the world stage once again.

Meanwhile, the WA government’s new move to crack down on Chevron’s chemical controls in the state’s north-west goes nowhere near far enough, say environmental advocates.

And the BGC fallout continues, with group of frustrated customers taking their fight to the top, firing off a harrowing letter to Premier Roger Cook in a desperate plea for help with endless construction delays.

In business news, West Australian business heavyweight Peter Coleman could return to the helm of embattled hydrogen hopeful Infinite Green Energy under an 11th-hour plan to drag it out of administration.

Stay with us as we bring you the news of the day, as it happens across Perth and WA.