Perth Voice Interactive

Record crowds
ATTENDANCE of this year’s AICE Israeli Film Festival was very strong with record crowds attending the 12-day event at Cinema Paradiso.
Both opening and closing night events were sold out. Thursday August 28’s opening night screening saw guests treated to pre-screening catering courtesy of Shak Shuka as well as a performance from Sounds of Israel prior to a screening of “Self Made”. In total we had 1541 patrons attending various sessions, which is an increase of 28 per cent on the previous year.
Luna Palace Cinemas
Collins St, Yokine

People have the right to…
I THINK it has to be said and repeated infinitum, Islam is [NEXT 12 SENTENCES CENSORED].
I always get a bite from the editor on here. So over to you for your jab.
Raymond N Conder
Central Ave, Inglewood
Ed’s note: This letter was edited as its content probably contravenes Section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act. We left in what we could, Raymond.

Presidential priority
I CANNOT see how our prime ministers have the right to form Government.
They are not popularly elected and as such are merely leaders of a majority party or coalition of parties in federal parliament.
It’s not enough they are blessed by ceremonial Head of State, our Queen of Australia, represented by her parliament-appointed Governor-General.
Consider this, there has not been a prime minister from Western Australia for a long time. We deserve an elected national executive with a representative from every state.
Gordon Westwood
Coode St, Maylands

DAPs and DACs are DUDs for democracy
I NOTE with interest your story about the performance of the Vincent development assessment panel (Voice, September 6, 2014).
There is no doubt the DAPs have benefitted property developers and given them an almost free reign to do what they want. Conversely, the ability for members of the community to be a part of the decision-making process has been removed—an unfortunate outcome in an alleged first world democracy.
Also unfortunate is that the development application assessment process at Vincent has similar characteristics. Large development applications—those that have the most impact on the community—are required to go through Vincent’s own design advisory committee prior to consideration by the council.
This committee meets behind closed doors and members of the public are not able to attend. Minutes of discussions at the meetings are similarly not available for inspection.
Once applications go through this process the community is then given the opportunity to make comment. However, by this stage the proposals are essentially final and little change, if any, results from comments made by members of the public.
If Mayor John Carey is concerned about the DAP and its impact on the community, he should also look at the operation of his DAC and demonstrate a commitment to community engagement by allowing members of the community affected by developments to attend DAC meetings and be involved in discussions that take place.
Andrew Main
Alfonso St, North Perth

Debacle not over yet
SO Vincent city council’s Budget woes are all now solved. No new increases in rates. Programs just slightly deferred and plenty of fat found to trim off without affecting services (Voice, August 29, 2014). OK. Nothing to see here folks, just keep moving along.
All mayors (current and previous) and all councillors have proven they all never read nor understood their own Budget, for years on end….and no-one picked up a thing. Ignorance is bliss.
Outsiders from state government departments who were reading Vincent’s multiple Budgets picked up the errors straight away, but I guess if you’re elected to Vincent council, unless some outsider specifically tells you there is a $6.4 million hole in your own Budget you couldn’t possibly know and can’t be held accountable for what is in your own Budget that you signed off.
All those pamphlets distributed to residents every year with their rates notices with how much revenue was collected and where the money was spent, all signed off by mayors for years on end—complete hogwash, the lot of it.
I guess all the auditors hired to review and sign off on the Vincent city accounts over the years just happened to miss the $6.4 million hole as well.
Anyone who swallows the line the mayor and councillors weren’t informed about their very own Budget position is in la-la-land. The mayor and councillors should have been doing the informing…it was their Budget after all. This debacle will no doubt highlight many things, most of which haven’t even surfaced as yet.
Darryl Moore
Federal Liberal candidate for
Perth, 2013
Beaufort St, Bedford