WA news LIVE: Man charged with murdering his father, wounding stepmother, in brutal attack ; WA election writs issued

Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Wednesday, February 5.
Well, today’s the day. With the issuing of writs, the WA election is formally under way, to culminate on polling day on March 8 (the second Saturday in March – as stipulated by the Electoral Act).
So, what does that mean? Well, the writs guide a bunch of things, like the date the electoral rolls close, the deadline for nominations, and so on.
For Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas, it also means it’s time to take a leave of absence, as promised, so he can ramp up his campaign in Churchlands.
On the topic of elections, dear reader, you may have noticed in these digital pages a flurry of promises over the past few weeks. There have been so many it’s enough to make even our most ardent journalists’ heads spin.
WA Premier Roger Cook and Liberal leader Libby Mettam.Credit: WAtoday
Fear not. Hamish Hastie has been meticulously tracking each pledge made – and how much they’re worth.
He brings it all together in this handy election promise tracker, which you can read all about here.
Meanwhile, WA’s firefighters will coordinate their bushfire attacking efforts from the confines of fortified shipping containers, under a trial to roll out remote incident control centres.
Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said the incident control centres were fortified to be ember-proof and would be stationed at fire-prone hotspots across the state.
Read Connor McGoverne’s report here.
And we have an update from London on the Sam Kerr trial – the police officer accusing her of racism has been challenged over his motives behind the charge.
Thanks for joining us today, stay tuned as we bring you all the news you need to know.