Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)  The Daily News, historically a successor of "The Inquirer" and "The Inquirer and Commercial News", was an afternoon daily English language newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, from 1882 to 1990, though its origin is traceable from 1840. One of the early newspapers of the Western Australian colony was "The Inquirer", established by Francis Lochee and William Tanner on 5 August 1840. Lochee became sole proprietor and editor in 1843 until May 1847 when he sold the operation to the paper's former compositor Edmund Stirling. In July 1855, "The Inquirer" merged with the recently established "Commercial News and Shipping Gazette", owned by Robert John Sholl, as "The Inquirer & Commercial News". It ran under the joint ownership of Stirling and Sholl. Sholl departed and, from April 1873, the paper was produced by Stirling and his three sons, trading as Stirling & Sons. Edmund Stirling retired five years later and his three sons took control as Stirling Bros and Co, Ltd.  Stirling Bros launched the "Daily News" on 26 July 1882. After 28 June 1901 "The Inquirer & Commercial News" was incorporated into the "Daily News". Competition from television evening news resulted in losses in circulation and eventual cessation of most Australian afternoon newspapers. The "Daily News" came to be a wholly owned subsidiary of West Australian Newspapers (WAN), formerly itself a subsidiary of the Melbourne-based Herald and Weekly Times organisation. In the late 1980s, WAN was acquired by the ill-fated Bond Corporation's subsidiary the Bell Group. In 1986, Holmes à Court sold the "Daily News" to a small company headed by businessman Simon Hadfield. The newspaper moved to a renovated pie factory on the outskirts of the CBD. Its last issue was on 11 September 1990. Former staff hold 5-yearly reunions. On 2 May 1990, British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell's UK-based Mirror Group bought 14.9 per cent of Bell from the group's managing director, David Aspinall. However, the deal did not proceed, being opposed by the federal government under its media foreign ownership policy. The Government of Western Australia legislated to retrospectively place the "Daily News" beyond the jurisdiction of the (federal) Trade Practices Commission—a move which the Liberal Opposition condemned as prejudicial to Commonwealth-State relations. The paper was then defunct and in receivership, owing over $15 million, mainly to "The West Australian" for production costs.