Latest news with #Bunbury
ABC News
18-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Calls to revitalise Bunbury and Albany CBDs as struggling retail leaves empty shops
The main streets in two of Western Australia's largest regional cities were once bustling hives of activity but are now lined with empty shops. Retailers throughout Australia are struggling to compete with online markets and battling to attract customers at a time when many people are unable to make ends meet. The situation has prompted calls from locals in Albany and Bunbury to make each city's CBD cool again. While Bunbury, 170km south of Perth, is WA's largest regional city, the population has not helped local businesses escape the slump. Former restaurateur Calum Murphy found it particularly difficult to keep afloat, closing his burger shop in 2023 after just two years operation. "The price of rent in town is really high at the moment," he said "And everything from food to energy all started to go up after the pandemic. A further 330km south, empty shops and "for lease" signs are a similarly regular sight in Albany. Jeweller Vivian Cann is set to retire and close her Middleton Loop shop after more than 20 years in business. "Retail has been hard," she said. "People don't have the time to go shopping when they've got kids and school, and they're working full time. "And the cost of living has had a huge impact." Genevieve Mardon's clothing store in Bunbury also struggled, opening in 2020 but shutting two years later. The long-term resident remembered Bunbury "thriving" in the 1980s. "People just don't come into the CBD anymore like they used to," she said. But while big money had been spent bringing sporting stars to Bunbury, Ms Mardon said the city had little else to offer. Other businesses have raised concerns about theft and threatening behaviour, which some say had become commonplace in the Bunbury city centre. Geraldton, 400km north of Perth and WA's second-largest regional city, faced similar problems in its CBD six months ago. They turned to the Town Team Movement, a social enterprise set up to foster active citizenship and development from within smaller communities. Spokesperson Julian Canny said it took some simple steps to turn things around. "We had pavement art that went onto arcades that have been needing a bit of love," he said. "We had kids cutting up stickers and putting them all over the [empty] windows. Now, he said, business owners were keen to invest. "We have a cafe strip that used to be one shop on the east end of Marine Terrace that now runs the whole length of our mall, and you cannot walk through without seeing people from end to end," Mr Canny said. He urged other areas to explore similar initiatives. "Who is already doing great things? And how do we build on their stuff? From there it just slowly snowballs and grows," Mr Canny said. Back in Bunbury the business community believes tourism and hospitality will provide the spark the city centre needs. The head of the Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sean McKeown, said businesses were keen to embrace new opportunities. "There are plans for a bigger hotel in town … and we have seen recently new owners for one of the hotels bringing in live music and entertainment."
West Australian
15-07-2025
- Health
- West Australian
BreastScreen WA marks three million mammograms with rise in women with symptoms reaching out to the service
The BreastScreen WA director has urged women with breast cancer symptoms to visit their GP after an influx of women attending the free service with pain or a lump. BreastScreen WA has reached its three millionth free mammogram since opening in 1989 with an average of 135,000 screenings given to women over 40 every year. BreastScreen WA director Emmeline Lee said she was excited the service had reached so many women across the State. 'The ethos of BreastScreen WA is that we can find it early while it's confined to the breast and the earlier we find the cancer the better we can treat it,' she said. However, the milestone prompted Dr Lee to urge women with symptoms to see their GP after a rise in patients experiencing pain or having a lump visiting the service. BreastScreen WA is a preventative screening clinic, offering free mammograms to those that are experiencing no breast cancer symptoms. 'We are finding that more and more women are actually coming in with symptoms, which complicates the pathway somewhat,' she said. 'Women really should not be coming to us if they have symptoms they should be going to see their GP, in which case they go down a different pathway, because they may need other investigations such as ultrasound and other enhanced scans like contrast enhanced mammography and MRI. 'Women should be coming to us as a well person. They should be totally asymptomatic meaning they don't have any lumps or pain.' For those, who are over 40 and asymptomatic, they are urged to book in their screening every two years. BreastScreen WA are currently experiencing long wait times with the website having a notice stating 'due to heavy demand of the service, results may take up to 3-4 weeks'. Waits for a mammogram have also blown out with the earliest appointment, as of July 15, being available on July 22 in East Perth. Most clinics have availability in August but Bunbury and the Rose Clinic in the Perth CBD don't have screening appointments available until late October. The Joondalup clinic had no screening appointments available. Dr Lee admitted wait times were long but urged women over 40 to still book in their free screening. 'There's a huge demand on our service with an ageing population and also an exploding population,' she said. 'We've had a huge population increase in Western Australia. 'I really encourage women to persist in trying to get that appointment in.'
ABC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Bunbury mayor backs amalgamations to reduce WA's 139 councils
The mayor of Western Australia's largest regional city says the state has too many local governments and is backing mergers as the way to reduce council numbers. With local government elections approaching and controversies engulfing the Nedlands, Coolgardie and Port Hedland councils, issues with the state's third tier of government have been in the spotlight in recent months. WA has 139 local governments, more than New South Wales (128) and Queensland (77), despite their larger populations. Bunbury Mayor Jaysen Miguel said it was an issue that required closer examination. "There are 139 local governments in WA. It's just too many," Mr Miguel told local podcast BLXCK INK. While emphasising the position was his view, not his council's, he said Bunbury's smaller neighbours, the shires of Capel, Dardanup and Harvey, should consider merging with Bunbury. All four councils have hiked rates in their latest budgets, with Bunbury, Dardanup and Harvey all raising their fees by more than 6 per cent. Mr Miguel said Bunbury ratepayers were copping a bad deal, as people from surrounding shires used their facilities. "We've got the sports centre, the entertainment centre, the art gallery, the museum … they're regional facilities, but our ratepayers, our 30,000 people, pick up the cost of that for 100,000 people," he said. While conceding there was no appetite for amalgamation, he told the ABC it was important to start conversations about the idea, before it was "inevitably forced upon local governments anyway". Dardanup Shire President Tyrrell Gardiner said local decision-making remained the best possible model. "Dardanup, Capel and Harvey are all experiencing rapid growth, and within a few years each will have populations comparable or exceeding Bunbury's," Cr Gardiner said. "Smaller communities like Burekup, Dardanup, Capel, Harvey and Brunswick will lose [their] voice in an amalgamated structure, where city politics often dominate conversations." He said further collaboration remained key to managing the region's growing population. "The mayor's focus on amalgamation appears more like an attempt to retain influence than a solution grounded in community benefit," Cr Gardiner said. As both a former Bunbury mayor and former local government minister, it is a familiar debate for John Castrilli, who oversaw the last round of attempted forced council mergers by then-premier Colin Barnett. While believing any amalgamation would eventually be led by the state government, he said councils should look at opportunities to unite and share resources. "If there's going to be any amalgamation at all, it'll be done by government, [who will] mandate it, full stop," he said. "How do we make things more efficient? How do we optimise opportunities? "If you had one council and 100,000 people [making it] straight away the greater Bunbury council, instead of the 27th largest council, it becomes the 19th largest council." Mr Castrilli also said previous studies he had facilitated between Subiaco and Nedlands councils in Perth showed amalgamation could lead to a reduction in rates. "That was just an administration [efficiency] that could save up to $4 million a year. Savings of a couple of hundred bucks a year to each individual household," he said. In 2008, the Shire of Douglas in Far North Queensland was forced by the Queensland government to amalgamate with Cairns City Council, as part of a statewide reorganisation that substantially reduced the number of councils in the state. The merger was widely unpopular with Douglas residents, who eventually voted to split from Cairns Regional Council in 2013. Former Douglas Mayor Julia Leu said the community's interests were often overlooked in the amalgamated Cairns Regional Council. "Rates went through the roof and services went down," Ms Leu said. She said any merger in the South West had to acknowledge the interests of the outlying towns. "[Mr Miguel] has to ensure the local characteristics of those other communities are respected in terms of any newly amalgamated council," Ms Leu said. "And if the other shires oppose amalgamation they just need to fight it." Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley said the Cook government wanted councils to work out potential mergers themselves. It is a position echoed by WA Local Government Association (WALGA) president Karen Chappel. "WALGA's position is that any structural reform of local government, including amalgamations, should only be undertaken on a voluntary basis, consistent with the state government's policy," she said. "Any forced amalgamation or boundary change is not necessarily an effective way to address individual challenges faced by local governments."
The Australian
09-07-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
Football 2025: Australia's Matildas def Panama 3-2 in second friendly match, score, stats, result, goal scorers, video, highlights, latest news
Australia's Matildas have avoided a second disastrous defeat to lowly Panama, with a stoppage-time winner from Charli Grant giving the hosts a 3-2 win. The central American side, ranked 56th in the world, stunned the World Cup semi-finalists last weekend in Bunbury and were threatening to repeat the feat on Tuesday evening at HBF Park. That was until two goals from veteran forward Michelle Heyman, both assisted by the excellent Hayley Raso, gave the hosts the lead in more promising signs under new coach Joe Montemurro. Watch every game of The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. A clean finish in the 84th minute from Lineth Cedeno saw the Matildas facing the prospect of just one win from their four games in the west against Panama and Slovenia over the last fortnight. But Grant tapped in the winner early in added time to hand Montemurro and his side a confidence boost heading towards a home Asian Cup, to be held next March. The Matildas were without some 19 first-choice players including the likes of Teagan Micah, Mackenzie Arnold, Alanna Kennedy, Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Clare Wheeler, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Katrina Gorry, Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler and Sam Kerr. Absences and injuries forced eight changes from the side that lost 1-0 on Saturday with Chloe Lincoln making her starting debut as goalkeeper with returns for Charli Grant and Amy Sayer. After 34 minutes, a costly turnover from Jessika Nash gave Panama's Ericka Aruaz the chance to send a brilliant strike past Chloe Lincoln for the 1-0 lead. But in the 55th minute Heyman levelled the scores, tapping in her 32nd career goal for the national side off a Raso assist. With the Matildas in the ascendancy it wasn't long until Heyman added her 33rd, again combining with Raso to head home a second goal. Read related topics: FIFA Women's World Cup 2023
Daily Telegraph
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Telegraph
Football 2025: Australia's Matildas def Panama 3-2 in second friendly match, score, stats, result, goal scorers, video, highlights, latest news
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australia's Matildas have avoided a second disastrous defeat to lowly Panama, with a stoppage-time winner from Charli Grant giving the hosts a 3-2 win. The central American side, ranked 56th in the world, stunned the World Cup semi-finalists last weekend in Bunbury and were threatening to repeat the feat on Tuesday evening at HBF Park. That was until two goals from veteran forward Michelle Heyman, both assisted by the excellent Hayley Raso, gave the hosts the lead in more promising signs under new coach Joe Montemurro. Watch every game of The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. A clean finish in the 84th minute from Lineth Cedeno saw the Matildas facing the prospect of just one win from their four games in the west against Panama and Slovenia over the last fortnight. But Grant tapped in the winner early in added time to hand Montemurro and his side a confidence boost heading towards a home Asian Cup, to be held next March. The Matildas were without some 19 first-choice players including the likes of Teagan Micah, Mackenzie Arnold, Alanna Kennedy, Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Clare Wheeler, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Katrina Gorry, Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler and Sam Kerr. Absences and injuries forced eight changes from the side that lost 1-0 on Saturday with Chloe Lincoln making her starting debut as goalkeeper with returns for Charli Grant and Amy Sayer. After 34 minutes, a costly turnover from Jessika Nash gave Panama's Ericka Aruaz the chance to send a brilliant strike past Chloe Lincoln for the 1-0 lead. But in the 55th minute Heyman levelled the scores, tapping in her 32nd career goal for the national side off a Raso assist. With the Matildas in the ascendancy it wasn't long until Heyman added her 33rd, again combining with Raso to head home a second goal. Originally published as Late winner saves understrength Matildas in confidence-boosting win over minnows Panama
