ABC Goldfields-Esperance

10/06/2026

Nearly 300 young people have hit the roads in the Goldfields over the last five years thanks to the work of the McGovern foundation, which is celebrating putting 1000 drivers behind the wheel across the state.

Set up by father son duo Andrew and Jeremy McGovern the non-profit aims to help young people obtain their licences through free driving lessons for those who struggle to access traditional driving instruction, can't afford lessons, or don't have access to a car.

Andrew McGovern says he came to appreciate how important licences were for regional communities after working and living in the remote Goldfields town of Wiluna.

"Smaller regional centres don't have consistent public transport, so you've either got to walk ... or you bum a lift, so that's what the mob in the wheat belt say," he said.

"There's self-confidence that you gain from obtaining a driver's licence it is so overwhelming for the person that achieves it,

"The benefits are clear and we see them all every day with our participants when they do obtain a licence."

In the last five years the foundation has helped over 1000 young people across the state get licenced, Andrew describes it as a great achievement and wants to continue the foundations work into the future.

One recent graduate, 23-year-old Emma Schimanski who is now on her green P plates, said her instructor was crucial in helping her overcoming her worries around driving.

"For me, it was really beneficial because I was dealing with a lot of anxiety and a lot of mental health issues so having someone who's very, cool, calm, collected just to be next to me and helping me gain that confidence was the best thing I could have ever asked for," she said.

A young driver still in the program 17-year-old Peter Wiliams has been getting through his hours as quick as possible, so he can get his licence as soon as he can, he admitted getting behind the wheel can be intimidating though.

"Driving behind the wheel, it's one of the scariest things for people," he said.

"It's pretty dangerous too, once you get in the wheel, you've got to have that set of mind of blocking people out while you're with people in the car."

📸 Nicholas R Ward, ABC Goldfields-Esperance

09/06/2026

"There's only been eight to 10 records in Australia before and all of those have been in the northern part of Australia; this is the first one in the southern part."

Birdwatchers from across Western Australia and even interstate have flocked to the state's Mid West region after the sighting of a rare black-headed gull.

📝🎥🎞️ Chris Lewis via ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt

08/06/2026

Fremantle's massive win over North Melbourne in Bunbury over the weekend has fans thinking the same thing: Can the Dockers win the flag this year?

🎥/Gabrielle Becerra Mellet via ABC South West

08/06/2026

Police have renewed an appeal for information about a missing 24-year-old woman in a remote part of the Goldfields, as search efforts resume today.

Crystal Johnston was last seen near Jeedamya, 40 kilometres north of Menzies, just after 6PM on Friday evening.

Police say Ms Johnston became separated from a vehicle she was travelling in, when it stopped on Goldfields Highway.

She is described as being 165 centimetres tall, of medium build, with brown shoulder‑length hair, and has a tattoo of a green love heart on the right side of her face.

She was last seen wearing grey pants and a black shirt.

On Saturday June 6, Leonora and Laverton Police coordinated a multi-agency land search.

An Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) rescue jet was deployed from Perth to assist with the search last night.

Police say additional resources were deployed from Kalgoorlie today, including a police drone and a police observer onboard an aircraft.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police immediately on 131 444.

08/06/2026

The WA opposition will this week introduce a bill to strengthen minimum lighting requirements on trains.

It follows decades of campaigning from rail safety advocates, who have been calling for flashing beacons, side lighting and reflectors to be mandatory.

Advocates welcome a WA opposition bill enforcing better train lighting, after decades of campaigning.

07/06/2026

A private medical imaging provider has been billing Medicare for some services that are not eligible for bulk billing, according to an internal memo obtained by the ABC.

A private medical imaging provider operating in a public hospital has been billing Medicare for some services that are not eligible for bulk billing, according to an internal memo obtained by the ABC.

04/06/2026

UPDATE: The extension was extended a further 10 years, not 15 years as originally reported.

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The State Government's Regional Development Assessment Panel has overruled a recommendation by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and extended temporary approvals for a 122-bed workforce accommodation facility for another 10 years.

The $14 million Jagcor Village on Great Eastern Highway was approved in August 2022 and is currently leased to the owner of Kalgoorlie's Super Pit gold mine, Northern Star Resources.

The temporary approvals were granted for five years from the date of occupancy.

Once the approvals expire, local planning laws require the 61 transportable buildings, each with two accommodation units, be removed from the site and all other works demolished.

The City's policy was introduced to promote the construction of permanent housing, rather than FIFO camps.

But with no sign of accommodation shortages easing and multi-year tenancy contracts with mining companies, civil construction provider Jagcor applied in February this year to extend the approvals for a further 10 years.

The City recommended only a five-year extension on top of the existing approvals.

At a hearing on Thursday, the panel voted 3-1 to approve a 10-year extension after an alternate motion was moved.

City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Councillor Kirsty Dellar was the sole vote in opposition - and told the panel the decision would likely lead to new mining camps being built in the city.

"Moving forward this sets a precedent for a number of other camps popping up across our city... and I'd like to see constraints around these so that we do encourage permanent housing," she said.

The City's manager of development and growth, Paul Lees, said the council previously increased the duration of approvals from five years to 10 years for two mining camps on Hopkins Street and Vivian Street in South Boulder, which provide accommodation for more than 450 workers.

Those camps known as Goldfields Villages are jointly owned by a consortium of three companies - MLG, Topdrill and Rangecon.

"We think any development beyond a 10-year timeframe should be permanent housing," Mr Lees told the panel.

Planning Solutions, acting on behalf of Jagcor, pointed out in its application that rental vacancy rates in Kalgoorlie-Boulder hit a record low of 0.4 per cent in May 2022 - the year the village was approved.

Since then, it said vacancies have fluctuated between 1.9 per cent in January 2024 and 0.5 per cent in January 2025.

Jagcor's application said the rental vacancy rate of 1.1 per cent in November 2025 represented just 35 vacant dwellings across Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

At Thursday's hearing, Jagcor director Jason Rogers told the panel there is ongoing demand for workforce accommodation in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

"We are not property investors ... we built this out of a genuine need when we struggled to find accommodation for more than 100 workers who were working on the Lynas refinery," he said.

"Unfortunately this problem has not gone away for us.

"We currently have 80 workers working on Northern Star Resources' KCGM project.

"Those 80 workers are scattered across five different accommodation complexes... motels, hotels, whatever we can get ... it has made us reluctant to tender for future works."

The assessment panel's presiding member Francesca Lefante said any future applications for workforce accommodation in Kalgoorlie-Boulder would be "assessed on their merits".

03/06/2026

"There are Olympic-sized swimming pools of water being lost daily. It's phenomenal."

A Southern Cross resident says a rusty water tank, supplied by the historic Goldfields water pipeline, has been leaking for two years.

For two years, residents in one of the driest parts of Western Australia have watched thousands of litres of water leaking from a Water Corp-owned tank.

03/06/2026

Kelly's son and ex-husband died during a prospecting trip in the remote Australian outback. She's on a mission to make sure no more lives are lost.

"The heartbreaking thing is that if the boys had a PLB (personal locator beacon) with them, they could have set it off and had help. And my son would still be here with me today."

📝 Erin Parke for ABC Landline
🎥🎞️Chris Lewis
🎬 Tim Carrier

03/06/2026

An ongoing exploration campaign beneath Kalgoorlie's Super Pit is starting to pay off, with significant new ore reserves set to extend the life of the iconic gold mine.

A big exploration push by Australia's biggest gold miner, Northern Star Resources, has grown the reserves at the Super Pit by 54 per cent in the past six years.