Convenience stores across WA shut down over illegal vapes, tobacco
Close to 40 stores have been shut down across Perth over the sale of illegal tobacco and vapes under new laws pushed through state parliament last month.
Health authorities now have the power to close down shops for up to 90 days if they were found to be stocking the illegal products.
Health Minister Meredith Hammat revealed that 39 stores had been closed in entertainment hotspots like Fremantle and Northbridge and in the suburbs during question time in parliament on Thursday afternoon.
“The first closure order happened the day after the laws were proclaimed, and that closure order was given effect in Kalgoorlie,” she said.
Across the nation and around the world
Here’s what’s making headlines today:
- President Donald Trump said the US and Iran could sign a peace deal as soon as this weekend that would reopen shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran countered that it had not reached a final decision on an agreement.
- Labor is ramping up its economic argument against Pauline Hanson as it prepares to fight an election within the next two years against both One Nation and the Coalition, as Opposition Leader Angus Taylor scrambles to kill off talk of a partnership with Hanson.
- Australia’s privacy commissioner has placed an extraordinary gag order over her determination into a complaint about American Express, after a sustained campaign by the credit card company to keep the details secret.
- Britain’s defence minister has quit in frustration over cuts to spending on national security in an extraordinary move that has thrown the government into crisis and added to pressure for a leadership challenge to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Today’s weather
Good morning WA
Morning all and welcome to Friday’s live blog.
Making headlines, a state-first trial aimed at saving WA’s prized reefs hit a snag after Cyclone Narelle tore through the north of the state in March.
But scientists focused their efforts further south in Coral Bay, where millions of corals were given a helping hand and placed back onto the reef.
Read more here.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
