What's happening in Perth

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Barry Podmore told his daughters in December 2024 he was interested in examining a quartz line near Karroun Hill Reserve on a day trip in the hope of finding gold.

Jayson Joseph Michaels applied for bail in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday, with the court told how he wrote about “preparing for the day of justice”.

A controversial ban that has left West Australian fish eaters without their favourite fillets was politically motivated, unreasonable and not based on science, a court has been told.

As WA’s State Emergency Coordinator, Col Blanch’s powers are not yet needed.

More than 20,000 votes came in during the first year. Ampersand Estate’s Pinot Noir took the crown. And now Top Up Wines is back, asking WA wine lovers to do it all over again.

Voting is open at topupwines.com, with wineries from across the state competing to land a spot in the Top Up Wines Top 100 — and ultimately, to be named Western Australia’s favourite wine. No judges, no panels, no points system. It’s all voted on by people like you, picking what you actually drink and enjoy on the weekly (or daily).

Founder Jamie Burnett started Top Up as a direct alternative to the traditional wine competition format. “Instead of a wine judge telling you what you should like, it’s over to the people to share what they love,” he says. “Whether it’s the mid-week bottle with dinner, the special occasion wine or a hidden gem winery you find on holiday, we want to know from WA wine lovers.”

What last year’s vote revealed

The inaugural vote revealed some interesting data on where WA wine drinkers actually live and what they spend. Churchlands, Bicton, Duncraig, Atwell, and Bibra Lake were the highest-voting Perth suburbs — a mix of inner and outer city suburbs that suggest the vote cut across the city fairly broadly.

Chardonnay came out on top as the most voted style, ahead of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Pinot Noir. Bottles in the $30.00 to $49.00 range attracted the most votes, and Margaret River, Great Southern, and Pemberton were the regions getting the most love.

Burnett says the flow-on effects for wineries were tangible. “Hands down the best thing about last year was speaking to wineries who told me that the vote and results led to increased sales and drove cellar door visits.”

What’s on offer for voters

Beyond bragging rights, there are prizes. One voter will win the $10,000 Top Up Ultimate Wine Getaway. It’s two nights for four people at Ampersand Estate’s Homestead Residence, plus exclusive wine experiences and tastings. Runners-up can take home wine for a year, along with 12-month gym memberships to Revo Fitness.The Top 100 will be revealed at the Top Up Wines Top 100 Party on Thursday, May 21st, at Urban Winery Freo. Tickets are available through the Top Up Wines website.

The post WA’s Favourite Wine Is Up for Grabs Again as Top Up Wines Returns for Year Two appeared first on So Perth

Barry James Calverley, 70, was arrested at Sydney Airport after he arrived on a flight from Vietnam in January 2024.

If the trend continues, Perth is on track to overtake Brisbane ($1.1 million), and become the second most expensive city in the nation to buy a house, after Sydney ($1.29 million).

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Regulators were warned twice about an NDIS linked operator now embroiled in liquidations, litigation and claims of missing money.

WA’s Environmental Protection Authority has come under siege from local governments and conservation groups over recent decisions.

Young George owners Melissa Palinkas and Susan Whelan will shut the doors to their beloved East Fremantle venue for the final time after 10 years on Thursday.

Australian jewellery brand By Charlotte has opened its first Western Australian boutiques this week, with three locations across Perth’s premium shopping centres marking the brand’s long-awaited arrival in its founder’s home state.

Charlotte Blakeney, who grew up in Perth before founding the brand in 2012, opened the Claremont Quarter boutique on Saturday, with Karrinyup Shopping Centre following today, and a third location at Westfield Booragoon opening tomorrow. 

The three boutiques sit on Level 1 at each centre: opposite Mecca at Karrinyup, opposite Camilla & Marc at Claremont Quarter, and opposite Kookai at Booragoon.

Credit: By Charlotte

By Charlotte started with a single piece, the Lotus Necklace, which became something of a signature for the brand. The brand has since grown into a nationally recognised label with a following that stretches well beyond Australia. Blakeney has spoken about Western Australia’s coastline, light, and pace of living as early influences on the brand’s design sensibility, which leans calm and considered rather than trend-driven.

“Perth is where my journey began, and so much of the spirit of the brand was shaped by growing up here,” Blakeney said. “To now bring By Charlotte home and share it with the community that first inspired me feels like a beautiful full-circle moment.”

Each piece is designed in-house by Blakeney and her team and made through manufacturers certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council.

The boutiques follow an open, 360-degree layout; a format the brand has rolled out across its national locations rather than a traditional enclosed shopfront. Customers can expect personalised styling appointments and gifting guidance alongside the full collection.

The WA expansion follows By Charlotte’s Victorian rollout last year, when four boutiques — at Emporium, Chadstone, Highpoint, and Doncaster — opened within days of each other. Executive Chairwoman Jane McNally described those openings as a nerve-wracking but ultimately rewarding experience, and said the brand is eager to build a similar community presence in Perth.

The post By Charlotte Opens Its First Perth Boutiques, Starting With Claremont Quarter appeared first on So Perth

Samuel Jingle appeared in WA’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, having pleaded guilty to the murder of his partner in December 2024.

Rather than preparing for the busy long weekend, emergency services said on Tuesday they were working to clear the town of tourists to begin clean-up work.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has today confirmed it will ban card payment surcharges on debit, prepaid, and credit card transactions across the EFTPOS, Mastercard, and Visa networks. The change — one of the most significant reforms to Australia’s payments system in years — takes effect on October 1st, 2026. For anyone who’s stared at a 1.5% surcharge on a $6.00 coffee, or quietly absorbed a $4.00 fee on a domestic flight booked online, the news lands as a straightforward win.

The decision came via the RBA’s Payments System Board, which today published its Conclusions Paper following an extensive review that began with a public consultation in July 2025. The board received 174 submissions from banks, payment processors, small businesses, and consumer groups — and landed on a three-part reform package it says is in the public interest.

Why the surcharge system is being axed

The surcharging framework was introduced more than two decades ago. At the time, the premise was that card payments cost merchants more to process than cash, so a surcharge gave consumers a reason to reach for their cash instead of their card. It was a price signal designed to drive behaviour.

That logic doesn’t hold anymore. Cash now accounts for just 13% of in-person transactions, and the shift to contactless payments — accelerated by the pandemic — has made cards the default for most Australians. When there’s no practical alternative, a surcharge ceases to function as a price signal and becomes a penalty for paying the way almost everyone pays.

Consumers and businesses find the rules complex and confusing, surcharges are often not well disclosed, and most consumers want surcharging to stop. The RBA’s own research found that only 13% of consumers are always told about surcharges at the point of sale — meaning most people discover the fee after they’ve already decided to buy.

What’s actually changing

The surcharge ban is the most visible part of today’s announcement, but the full reform package has three distinct components.

First, the ban itself. From October 1st, 2026, businesses on the EFTPOS, Mastercard, and Visa networks will no longer be permitted to charge customers a surcharge for paying by card — debit, prepaid, or credit.

Second, interchange fees are being cut. These changes are expected to lower businesses’ costs when they accept domestic or overseas card payments, with small businesses expected to benefit the most because they tend to pay fees closer to the existing caps. This is the mechanism designed to stop merchants simply rolling their card processing costs into base prices — by reducing what businesses actually pay, the theory goes that prices won’t need to rise significantly to compensate.

Third, payment networks and large acquirers will be required to publish the fees they charge, giving businesses the information they need to compare providers and negotiate better rates. Currently, the opacity of these fees makes it difficult for merchants, particularly small ones, to know whether they’re paying a fair price.

The introduction of a cap on interchange fees for foreign cards and some changes to payment cost transparency will come into effect on April 1st, 2027, to ensure the payments industry has sufficient time to implement these more complex changes.

What does it mean for Perth businesses and shoppers

For anyone eating out, booking tickets, or shopping at local retailers, the most immediate difference is that from October next year, the line on the EFTPOS screen that used to say “surcharge: $0.38” will be gone. It’s estimated that consumers could collectively save around $1.2 billion annually — roughly $60.00 per year per card-using adult.

For small businesses, the picture is slightly more nuanced. Many Perth hospitality venues, markets, and independent retailers currently absorb card fees rather than passing them on — and those businesses should see some reduction in their processing costs under the new interchange caps. Businesses that currently surcharge will need to restructure their pricing before the October deadline, folding any card costs into their base prices.

One possible side effect worth watching out for is that when interchange revenue falls, the profit available to support reward points earn rates, sign-up bonuses, and premium benefits is also reduced. Frequent flyer credit card holders in particular may find their points schemes quietly reduced in the second half of 2026 as banks reprice their card products.

What’s not covered… yet

The RBA was clear that today’s reforms don’t reach everything. The bank plans to start a public consultation in mid-2026 to assess the public-interest case for regulating areas of the retail payments system not covered by this review, including mobile wallets, three-party card networks (like American Express), buy-now, pay-later services, and e-commerce platforms.

That puts Afterpay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Zip squarely in scope for the next round. BNPL providers currently charge merchants between 3% and 6% per transaction — well above standard card rates — and are contractually prohibited from allowing merchants to pass those fees on to consumers. Whether that arrangement survives the next consultation is now an open question.

The post Card Surcharges Are Being Scrapped in Australia — Here’s What Changes and When appeared first on So Perth

Burk Cannington claimed a typo was behind the servo selling diesel at $3.93 per litre – more than 50 cents a litre more than the next-most expensive fuel, which was being sold in Kununurra.

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A Perth nurse has been struck off after two episodes of aggression towards young patients in the psychiatric ward of Bentley Hospital.

Raymond Reddington was found guilty of the murder of his wife Sharon Fulton, who disappeared without a trace in 1986.