$28m plan to halt WA cane toad invasion

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Remember how shocking it was when we first discovered those dastardly cane toads had somehow made it into WA all the way from bloody Cairns?! Well, a certain team of scientists you can meet below definitely remember, and their plan to keep the toxic little buggers away from our native wildlife is deceptively simple.

Learn all about it below, where you’ll also find some tasty activities to get amongst this weekend, details on Midland’s new shelter helping tackle Perth’s growing youth homelessness crisis, and a delightful duo from Margaret River roasting some serious coffee in their garden shed!

And with that — stick a fork in me, it’s almost time for the freakin’ weekend.

^{Troy Mutton, Editor-In-Chief, Perth is OK!}

Keep it simple. That’s the approach a team of scientists are hoping will stop the invasion of cane toads across northern Western Australia.

A new $28 million project has been given the green light to establish a “waterless barrier” across WA’s Pilbara.

The premise makes sense: cane toads need water. Most water sources between the Kimberley and Pilbara are human-made. If you stop toads accessing that water, they won’t survive.

“We like to say it’s not rocket science but plumbing,” says Curtin University ecologist Judy Dunlop.

Good coffee isn’t hard to come by in Margaret River – the region is home to some very good coffee roasteries supplying many of the local cafes and restaurants.

But for Resident Coffee, there’s a point of difference that goes beyond the quality of their beans.

First of all, they’re roasted out of a garden shed. Second, the business is centred heavily around supporting local community initiatives.

When Emma and Kieran Weir moved to Australia for their day jobs – gaming and communications respectively – the idea of a coffee roastery was just a pipe dream. The duo had relocated from Brighton in the UK, where an Australian roaster ignited a passion in Kieran with great cups of coffee at a local roastery.

Fast forward to a move to Margaret River after travelling the breadth of Australia via campervan, and the Resident Coffee dream was ultimately realised as a family, value-driven operation.