Rita Saffioti: Never underestimate the amazing generosity of West Aussies, exemplified during Telethon

1. The Ashes. United Cup. State of Origin. Perth is gearing up for a massive summer of sport, but there’s one competition my household is focused on right now – the return of my daughter’s six-a-side football team, the mighty Smurfs. Looking forward to coaching the girls again this season.

2. Our State’s incredible generosity reached new heights at Telethon this year, raising a whopping $90 million. As always, one of the best parts was seeing kids supporting kids, from running challenges to bake sales. Thank you to everyone who did their part.

3. Just five months after the appointment of a managing contractor, construction on the new women and babies hospital is officially underway. This facility will service generations of West Australians and generate more than 1400 local jobs during construction. We’re also expanding parking capacity in the Fiona Stanley Hospital precinct with two new multi-deck car parks.

4. On Wednesday, we opened the expression of interest process for the delivery of a new advanced manufacturing facility to boost housing supply in WA. This facility would accelerate the delivery of medium and high-density housing developments by bringing streamlined design and pre-fabrication of key housing components under one roof.

5. In case you missed it, WA footy legend Dean Cox will coach WA when State of Origin is held in Perth in February. Looking forward to the six-time All Australian leading our State to victory against Victoria.

6. While we work towards announcing a formal closure date for the Fremantle Traffic Bridge, we’ve been working closely with the community to ensure we can keep Fremantle moving. We’ll have a full suite of measures in place for the start of the 2026 school year, including more trains and buses, a free transit zone along South Terrace and more car bays.

7. Over the past few years, we have been actively building the resilience of our supply chains by collaborating with industry to increase storage capacity within WA. It was great to visit Woolworths’ Perth distribution centre this week where they’re delivering a $100m expansion of their warehouse to better support our State in the event of disruptions.

8. Rain didn’t stop a massive turnout for the ODI at Optus Stadium on Sunday which saw the Aussies triumph over India. Great to see more than 42,400 punters at the ground — the biggest crowd ever for an Australia v India clash in Perth.

9. The signing of an historic multi-billion-dollar critical minerals and rare earth deal between Australia and the US this week further solidifies the importance of WA to not just our national economy but the world. This deal, and the US’s backing of AUKUS will create more WA jobs so we can continue to power the nation.

10. We’re supporting the delivery of 1500 new apartments close to public transport across Perth through the latest round of the Infrastructure Development Fund. This fund is continuing to support the delivery of more housing choice for West Australians.

Rita Saffioti is the Deputy Premier