Perth police shoot man during crime crackdown

A 27-year-old man armed with a knife has been shot by police patrolling the streets in Perth during a crackdown on drunkenness and violence.

Two officers, on duty as part of Operation Unite, had stopped to speak to a man in Applecross just before 11pm on Friday when he produced the weapon, police said.

Operation Unite is a two-night campaign across Australia and New Zealand in which police target alcohol misuse, violence and anti-social behaviour.

Police said the man threatened the officers, ignored their demands to put down the knife and a shot from a Taser stun gun failed to stop him.

The man was expected to make a full recovery after being shot in the stomach and thigh, police said.

The first night of the trans-Tasman crackdown on alcohol-fuelled crime saw 227 people charged in Western Australia.

They were charged with offences ranging from assault, disorderly behaviour, drug possession and assaulting a public officer.

Meanwhile, in New South Wales, two police officers were assaulted while arresting a man and a woman at a licensed premises on the far south coast, with a senior constable suffering a broken nose.

The NSW operation has seen 251 people arrested so far.

From those arrests, there were more than 400 charges laid for offences including robbery, drink-driving, and drug supply and possession.

"The purpose of this operation is to ram home the message that police and the wider community have had enough of alcohol-related violence," operation commander Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said in a statement on Saturday.

In Queensland, 137 people have been charged with 356 offences since Operation Unite started at 6pm (AEST) on Friday.

More than 430 uniformed and plain-clothed police officers had flooded 'hot-spots' across the state, including bars.

They conducted about 5032 random breath tests with 74 drivers detected drink-driving.

Victoria Police arrested 44 people on the first night of its blitz.

There were 14 arrests for drunkenness in the city and 15 in the other regional centres targeted by the campaign.

Five people were arrested for assault, police visited 334 licensed venues, officers detected 18 liquor licensing offences and 12 drink-drivers were caught.

Tasmania Police reported a very quiet night for their officers patrolling the streets.

Commander Geoffrey Smith said nine of the 22 offenders detected on Friday night were arrested. The remainder are expected to be dealt with at a later date.

"Despite the fact that the weather around the state last night was, perhaps, not conducive to going out and visiting our entertainment areas, those people that did were well behaved," he said.

However, he expressed concern about the level of drink-driving detected.

There were five arrests for drink-driving in Hobart and two in Launceston. The other two arrests were for public annoyance.

An ACT Policing spokesman said five people had been taken into custody in the ACT on Friday night but no charges had been laid.

Operation Unite continues on Saturday night and finishes at 6am on Sunday.

- AAP