WA news LIVE: Hundreds of thousands of early votes cast in WA election

Good morning readers, and welcome to our live news blog for Thursday, March 6.

Making headlines today is another instalment in WAtoday’s analysis of police crime statistics, revealing which suburbs have seen a jump in crime of more than 50 per cent in the last year.

Those suburbs include Glen Forrest, Harrisdale, Hilbert, Oakford, Parkerville and Stoneville, which all saw crime rise by more than 80 per cent.

Read Rebecca Peppiatt’s full report here.

Meanwhile, WA Premier Roger Cook has hinted that Labor’s long-held vision to build a circle route train line around the city could be acted on during the next term of his government.

Labor’s original vision for Metronet in December 2012 included north and south circle routes, while its 2017 election pledge included a vague large circle route connecting the Yanchep line to Fremantle, cutting through the city’s other rail lines.

Apart from the Thornlie to Cockburn link, the circle route has always been deemed “stage two” of Metronet and was never fully costed or put to the voting public.

Read Hamish Hastie’s report here.

And finally, football season is almost upon us – so, who’s going to lift the cup this year, and will it finally be Fremantle?

We’ve pulled together a panel of WA experts to look into their crystal balls and make some bold predictions about the season ahead.

You can read all about it here.

Thank you for joining us this morning, stay tuned as we bring you more news you need to know.