ENVIRONMENTAL protestors have turned their sights towards convincing the Cook government to reinstate a wetland in plans for the Perth Cultural Centre redevelopment. Contractors started draining and removing the existing wetlands on Monday this week, which the local government, sport and cultural industries department says has an un-repairable leak (“Last push to save cultural centre…

LOCAL Tafes have benefited from what the Cook government says is the largest capital works program in the system’s history. The East Perth Tafe was the biggest winner, scoring $1.28 million for 20 global navigation satellite systems and 20 robotic stations used by students to collect spacial data. It also received $474,000 for a reverse…

FORMER US Navy submarine nuclear reactor operator and columnist Jon C Gabriel has published his first novel Sink the Rising Sun, inspired by American submarines secretly stationed in Fremantle and Albany during WWII. Combining his unique naval experience with deep research, it is a rare and humourous historical novel about a US submarine officer at the beginning…

AS summer heats up and schools let out, the WA Museum system is offering free admission to its seven institutions, including the WA Museum Boola Bardip. The initiative, which runs until March 31, invites locals and tourists alike to explore Western Australia’s cultural and natural heritage without the usual entry fees. For visitors unsure where…

WITH an election looming, Carers WA has called for a new state strategy, saying WA is falling behind the rest of the country. Carers WA recently put out its election wish list, which also includes the introduction of a carer card, recurring funding for carers, better support and recognition, and an easier way to navigate…

THE bustling streets of Fremantle in the late 19th century were a crossroads of ambition, opportunity, and adversity.  Among the mix of merchants, sailors, and settlers who shaped the port town was Hee Kee, a draper whose life and business became emblematic of the challenges and resilience of early Chinese immigrants in Western Australia. Born…

A PIECE of Rottnest history was returned after 60 years this week in a touching intersection between a young West Aussie’s boyhood adventure and the role Rottnest Island played during World War II. Back in the 1960s, Warrick Johnson ventured up to the island’s Oliver Hill battery guns with a friend and, using a two-bob…

ST PAT’S appears to have broken its own fundraising records in its Christmas appeal last month, raising “more than double” for the Fremantle-based homelessness support service over the festive season.  According to St Pat’s fundraising manager Annalisa Oxenburgh, the increase in donations allowed for St Pat’s to provide meals, accommodation, and emergency relief over the…

THE quarantine period to combat the Queensland fruit fly or ‘Qfly’ in Melville will extend until at least April, according to the Department of Primary Industries.  At the end of last year, DPIRD announced a quarantine ‘red zone’ would be implemented across Melville after discovery of the Qfly, which is a “significant pest” to industries…

THERE’S a couple of solid locally-made films lighting up The Backlot’s screens this month. Stubbornly Here follows three high school students who run away from home when teenagers start mysteriously vanishing without a trace. Their escape takes them to a secluded motel, where they grapple with the uncertainties of their predicament and the challenges of…