WA news LIVE: Perth fuel prices skyrocket above $2 a litre again

The average price of unleaded fuel across Perth has jumped by 18 cents a litre this morning to an average of $2.30 a litre.

Drivers are urged to shop around and compare prices on the Fuel Watch website, but are being discouraged from stockpiling if they find cheaper prices.

The cheapest unleaded across the metropolitan area will be in Vibe Kwinana, at $2.02 a litre, followed by Vibe Kalamunda in the east ($2.05), and Vibe Wanneroo in the north ($2.03).

The average price of diesel has also jumped to $2.66 today.

The increases come after temporary fuel excise cuts provided by the federal and WA governments expired on August 2, and have not been extended, despite spikes in global oil prices. The cuts were reducing the cost of fuel by around 53 cents per litre.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog for this Wednesday, the 16th of September.

Making headlines today, Fremantle residents have had their say on the two dozen trees earmarked for removal to make way for a playing field expansion in Beaconsfield – and they didn’t hold back.

About 300 residents crammed into the Fremantle Town Hall for a special electors’ meeting on Tuesday night with two opposing goals in mind: halt all tree removals across the port city, or rip the trees out to make another oval as originally planned.

Meanwhile, Western Australia’s Mid West has recorded the best wildflower season in almost two decades, with early winter rains contributing to ideal conditions for seeds that had been lying dormant for years to finally sprout.

And in the lead up to Friday’s preliminary final, we take a look at how former Fremantle great turned Sydney Swans chief executive, Matthew Pavlich, created ‘Wharfie Time’. Now the Swans have to put a stop to it.