Stay updated with breaking news from Jack Beasley. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
The WA government will introduce knife laws it says will be "the toughest in the country", effectively allowing officers to scan people in any public place.
Knife Wanding Areas (KWAs) are zones that have been defined and will be set up permanently in areas like entertainment precincts.
With police in WA poised to get new stop-and-search powers targeting knives, the question is whether that translates to making the community safer, or strays closer to the type of laws the police minister opposed strongly a decade ago.
The young girl brandished the knife in a shopping centre on NSW's Central Coast at about 12:30pm on Monday.
"Wanding" laws already in place in Queensland will be introduced in NSW allowing police to search for knives without a warrant in transport hubs and shopping centres.