Good morning here’s your headlines from around regional Australia and beyond. Scroll down and refresh for weather, road reports and more.
WA: A trial rebate of $200 for 1000 personal shark deterrent devices brought from Friday has been implemented, in an effort to reduce the risk of attacks off the West Australian coast.
The Shark Deterrent Rebate, now on offer, was one of the WA Labor government’s election commitments and part of Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly “multi-faceted shark mitigation strategy”. Read more.
PEEL REGION: Peel Thunder’s Leroy Jetta helped the West Australian Football League make history when they took down the Victorian Football League at North Port Oval on Saturday.
The former Essendon Bomber booted two goals as the WAFL beat the VFL on Victorian soil for the first time in football history with a 10.11 (71) to 20.14 (134) win. Read more.
BUSSELTON: City of Busselton council gave the green light for Central Queensland University to take on the lease at the old visitor centre in Busselton to use as a study hub.
The city will lease the property to the university for a period of five years, almost one year after CQU first opened at the Busselton Community Resource Centre. Read more.
BUNBURY: Minister for Health, Roger Cook and Armadale MLA, Dr Tony Buti, have again rallied cyclists to join them in the 2017 Ride Against Domestic Violence which departed from Busselton on Saturday morning, and made a pitstop in Bunbury on its journey.
“This is the second year of the ride which will take two days and traverse 300km before finishing at McCallum Park, Victoria Park, on Sunday afternoon.” Dr Buti said. Read more.
MARGARET RIVER: Four Margaret River women have conquered the Great Wall of China, completing marathon events along the wall last weekend.
Mandy Carey, Marcelle Egberts, Sarah Kissell and Lynda Jones arrived in China last week ahead of the run and were anticipating a tough battle to overcome the wall. Read more.
NORTHAM: Purslowe Tinetti Funerals held their nineteenth annual Cancer Council fundraiser, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, last Thursday, raising a massive $16,000.
The community came together to raise funds to fight this terrible disease that has touched nearly every person in some way. Read more.
State of the nation
Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.
Regional news
►ILLAWARRA: Hollywood actor John Travolta will be on board the Boeing 707 aircraft he’s donating to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) when it touches down in the Illawarra. Full story.
►BERRY: Two people have been seriously injured in a crash that closed the Princes Highway at Berry for two hours.
A man and a woman were trapped in their respective cars, following a head-on collision about four kilometres north-east of the township, Friday afternoon. Full story.
►BENDIGO: Firefighters from around Bendigo are being put through their paces with a mobile training unit at the Kangaroo Flat Fire Station.
The unit allows firefighters to hone their skills at tackling house fires, with three scenarios available – a gas stove fire, a couch fire and a TV fire. Full story.
►GOULBURN: Two men convicted for the Centrelink fire in Goulburn in June 2016 will serve up to eight- and seven-year jail sentences, respectively. Full story.
►DUBBO: She started dancing at Dubbo Ballet Studio and now Ella Havelka has made it onto the big screen.
Ms Havelka is the star of documentary ‘Ella’. Full story.
►TASMANIA: Legislation to allow for euthanasia to take place in Tasmania has been voted down for the third time in less than a decade. Full story.
►QUEENSLAND: A WOODBERRY family has been left reeling after fire devastated their home on Saturday morning.
Firefighters were called to the blaze on Sophia Jane Avenue shortly after midnight, but they were unable to save the home. Full story.
National news
► BRISBANE: Of Schapelle Corby's 13-year sojourn in Bali, perhaps the most polite thing that can be said is this: the return home was a hell of a lot better planned than the departure. Full story.
►SOUTH AUSTRALIA: A South Australian nursing home has been slapped with serious penalties to protect residents from "an immediate and severe risk" to their "health, safety and wellbeing". Full story.
►VICTORIA: "It was supposed to offer hope, but that's just been trashed".
It's not the way you'd expect the head of one of Victoria's peak disability groups to describe Australia's rapidly growing national scheme for people with disabilities. Full story.
►National weather radar:
World news:
►BANGKOK: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has joked with troops imposing martial law across his country's violence-hit south that they could rape up to three women, provoking online outrage. Full story.
►BEIJING: China has rebuked the powerful G7 group of nations for issuing a communique expressing concern at developments in the South China Sea. Full story.
►WASHINGTON: You've got to hand it to the Saudi princes. There they were last weekend, arming themselves to the teeth by throwing down orders for $US110 billion worth of American weapons, but desperately hoping Donald Trump will tame Iran for them. Full story.
►RIO: On April 21 last year, a torch was lit at the site of the original Olympic Games in Greece to begin its journey to Rio de Janeiro. Hours later, a wave swept away a section of the brand new oceanfront bike path advertised by Rio's mayor, Eduardo Paes, as "the most beautiful in the world", killing two men. Full story.
On this day
1919 Charles Strite files patent for the pop-up toaster.
1951 1st North Pole flight in single engine plane-CF Blair
1960 Everly Brothers "Cathy's Clown" hits #1
1967 Australian Paul McManus water skis barefoot for 1:30:19
1970 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1972 The Official IRA announce a ceasefire
1987 Michael Jackson attempts to buy Elephant Man's remains
1990 Boris Yeltsin is elected President of the Russian Republic
1999 Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station.
FACES OF AUSTRALIA: KEITH DAWSON
KEITH Dawson celebrated his 104th birthday the way he wanted – with family, friends, cake and plenty of story telling.