PERTH churchgoers, community groups and activists will take to the streets on Palm Sunday to lobby for a “humane approach to asylum seeker policy”. Now in it’s fourth year, the Walk for Justice for Refugees usually attracts around a thousand participants. Perth Uniting Church is heading up the rally, along with 36 other church and…

THUNDEROUS chants of “Stand Up, Fight Back” echoed throughout Forrest Place on Monday as protesters mobilised an emotionally-charged demonstration against penalty rate cuts and casualisation of the workforce. Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, captivated the boisterous crowd with a passionate speech that described big corporations as “criminal” for underpaying workers…

A COUPLE undertaking a citizens’ science project have discovered three mini-versions of the Great Pacific garbage patch off WA’s coast. The worst-affected area is in the fragile and remote Ningaloo Reef, where Jamie and Base Van Jones collected 13 pieces of micro-plastic from a square metre of beach. Another hotspot at the Monte Bello Islands…

MAYLANDS MP Lisa Baker will speak at a rally opposing greyhound racing in Victoria Park  on Sunday (April 9). The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds and animal welfare group “Shut it Down” are organising a national day of action with rallies across the country. When Victorian premier Mike Baird almost banned greyhound racing in…

WA POLICE has sent letters to residents in East, West and central Perth warning them about a spate of secure garage break-ins. Officer Jason Savage says a lot of people might not be as diligent locking their vehicle when parking it in a “secure” carpark, but crooks have cottoned on to slipping in when the…

AFTER an environmental stand-off, controversial earthworks next to Bayswater wetlands are about to restart. Many locals were distraught when bulldozers rolled in last year to start preliminary works on the Skipper’s Row housing subdivision, owned by the family of late Bayswater mayor John D’Orazio. That site had almost no greenery but the preliminary works, approved…

VINCENT mayor Emma Cole has sought to clarify “inaccuracies” in a widely disseminated letter opposing Rosewood’s upgrade of its Cleaver Street aged home. The letter by the Cleaver Precinct Action Group states: “The Rosewood Aged Care Group is on the verge of gaining approval for a monstrously high building in your neighbourhood” and urges locals…