Legal

Update on Tony Maddox court case

The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision mid-year in the appeal brought by Toodyay farmer Tony Maddox – a case that has become a test of how Western Australia’s Aboriginal Heritage laws are applied to ordinary landholders. Last Friday the Supreme Court heard that the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage did not notify anyone that all the tributaries of the Avon River were being considered for inclusion on the government’s Register

Darren Brown February 26, 2026

Opinion Articles

Train Lights, Train Wrecks, and the State That Never Learns

Only in Western Australia could we reach the year 2026 and suddenly “discover” that trains need lights. Not because someone had a brainstorm in Perth, but because enough people have been killed at level crossings over the years that regulators have finally decided visibility might matter. So now we have a draft standard — AS 7531 — and the public is invited to make submissions, as if the laws of physics are up for consultation.

WA Farmers February 26, 2026