PERTH councillor Jemma Green wants Perth council to help fund a plan to rejuvenate the “Historic Heart” of the east end CBD. On August 12, 1829, a tree was felled next to where the town hall now sits, marking the beginning of the colony’s history. “The city first grew out of this area, between Barrack…

VINCENT councillors have voted to slash their IT allowance by $1000, but former councillor Dudley Maier says the $2,500 they will now get is still too high. Councillors are given the yearly allowance upfront to cover phones, computers and data bills. They have the option to return cash that they don’t spend, but when Mr…

LABOR MP John Carey has lambasted Perth city council for sending three burley security guards to watch over a group of seniors protesting against cuts to the Rod Evans Senior Citizens Centre. “This shows just how averse the City of Perth is to bad publicity,” Mr Carey told the greying crowd of 15, who’d obediently…

SENIORS were given just a few days’ notice about the cancellation of fitness, food and social services at the Rod Evans Senior Citizens Centre in East Perth. After the abrupt cancellation less than two weeks before Christmas, services were shifted to the Citiplace centre at the Perth train station. But Irene Peart, who’s taken her…

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…