It’s every landlord’s worst nightmare – receiving a call from the police with the news their investment property has been turned into a hydroponic cannabis farm. Unfortunately that’s the reality for a growing number of Western Australian landlords recently, following further raids by the Organised Crime Squad, which continues investigating networks of Vietnamese crime gangs posing as tenants to...

Fake websites pretending to sell farm machinery are increasing in number as the number of victims and their losses also increase. WA ScamNet at Consumer Protection has now received reports from nine people losing a total of $142,975 after they paid for tractors and other farm machinery that were advertised at greatly discounted prices on fake websites, but the goods never turned up. Originally,...

The State Government has approved extended trading hours for general retail stores in the Perth metropolitan area for the next two public holidays on Monday 1 June 2020 (Western Australia Day) and Monday 28 September 2020 (Queen’s Birthday). These stores will be allowed to open from 8am to 6pm. Normal trading hours for these public holidays are 11am to 5pm. Retailers holding small shop...

Jobseekers wanting to work in the WA construction industry may be misled by a company offering “introductory” online safety training courses. It is a requirement for people working on a construction site in Australia to have what is known as a “white card” which indicates they have undertaken and passed a safety induction course delivered by a registered training provider. Consumer Protection and...

Jobseekers wanting to work in the WA construction industry may be misled by a company offering “introductory” online safety training courses. It is a requirement for people working on a construction site in Australia to have what is known as a “white card” which indicates they have undertaken and passed a safety induction course delivered by a registered training provider. Consumer Protection and...

A Perth tradesman has pleaded guilty to carrying out work that requires builder registration when he undertook a $40,000 roof and patio project, which also resulted in workmanship issues and months of delays. At Midland Magistrates Court on 11 May 2020, Ross Zedric Newbold of Alfresco Living WA was fined $5,000 and ordered to pay costs of $953.50 for breaching WA’s building registration laws...

The average price of regular unleaded petrol (ULP) is set to increase by over 24 cents per litre (cpl) to 118.3 cpl tomorrow, so FuelWatch is encouraging Perth drivers, if they can, to fill up today to save money. FuelWatch advises that on Wednesday 20 May 2020, most branded retailers are hiking their ULP price: Coles Express hiking by 34 cpl up to 127.9 cpl; 7-Eleven up to 126.9 cpl; Caltex,...

Heating appliances will soon be emerging from hibernation as cooler weather sets in, particularly with many of us working from home this winter. If you are using a gas heater, our colleagues at Building and Energy have issued a timely warning about the dangers of exposure to carbon monoxide, which can leak from faulty, poorly maintained or misused gas appliances. Carbon monoxide is known as the ‘...

The average price of regular unleaded petrol (ULP) is set to increase by over 25 cents per litre (cpl) to 115.8 cpl tomorrow, so FuelWatch is encouraging Perth drivers, if they can, to fill up today to save money. FuelWatch advises that on Wednesday 13 May 2020, most branded retailers are hiking their ULP price: Coles Express hiking by 34 cpl up to 125.9 cpl; Puma up to 125.7 cpl; Caltex...

A Palmyra electrician has been fined $20,000 for a potentially deadly wiring error that caused objects at a Connolly home to become live with dangerous levels of electricity, resulting in $3,700 damage to appliances. Licensed electrical worker Dryden Peter Adams (EW150729) was sentenced on 28 April 2020 at Joondalup Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to breaching WA’s electricity licensing...

If you’re a tenant who’s lost their job in the coronavirus crunch, you may be wondering how to afford what’s likely the household’s biggest weekly expense – the rent. To relieve some of the burden, the State Government has announced a $30 million residential rental relief scheme, which will see payments equivalent of four weeks’ rent up to a maximum of $2000 granted to landlords on behalf of...