MOST Voiceland suburbs will benefit from National Broadband Network upgrades that will bypass the old copper wires and finally give homeowners access to the full fibre experience. Eight years after the Voice reported former federal Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan holding a public meeting to try and drum up support for fibre-to-the-home in the region (it…

FLORAL foam will be under the microscope this month as part of an effort to reduce its toxic impact on the environment.  Floral foam is popular amongst florists for providing a structure for flowers to stand in and a source of hydration so the arrangements won’t wilt.  It contains phenol formaldehyde, a plastic considered hazardous…

IF you have ever burned with rage about the behaviour of the fossil fuel corporations doing as little as they are forced to do and as much as they can get away with in the face of mounting atmospheric carbon pollution and global warming, then Juice is for you. Tim Winton’s latest novel, a dystopian…

OVER the years the colour, spectacle and history of the Blessing of the Fleet has been captured by a myriad of photographers. So much so that the organising committee found themselves with dozens of stunning images propped up and stacked around their office; but they weren’t sure what to do with them. Some show the…

THIS year marks the 70th time the Madonna di Capo D’Orlando will be part of the Blessing of the Fleet. And like the appearance of the original Madonna many centuries earlier, there’s an element of mystery and legend about how the silver  statue came to be in Fremantle. No one’s quite sure who brought the…

FOR this year’s Blessing of the Fleet Queen, the honour also came with an opportunity to share some of the tradition with her young friends. Viviana De Bari’s family has had a long association with the Blessing; her great grandmother Susanna arrived in Australia from Capo D’Orlando in the early 1900s and was on some…

OVER the years the colour, spectacle and history of the Blessing of the Fleet has been captured by a myriad of photographers. So much so that the organising committee found themselves with dozens of stunning images propped up and stacked around their office; but they weren’t sure what to do with them. Some show the…