LABOR was a no-show at a forum organised by Perth Modern School parents to oppose the party’s plan to move gifted students to a new school in the CBD. Under Labor’s Education Central plan the academically select student body would be moved next to the Perth train station, and the Perth Mod campus would become…

THE Paddington Alehouse has been flayed by customers over its plans to host an evening with Pauline Hanson on Thursday March 9. “Pots & Pizza With Pauline” offered pizza and the first 100 drinks on Ms Hanson’s tab. The event attracted swift criticism as soon as it was advertised. Hundreds of people descended on the…

THE major parties are asking Western Australians to cast their vote in Saturday’s state election without basic information on two key policy issues. The election ‘campaign’ has been a farce. The Labor Party easily won the race for the dubious honour of lavishing ‘sweeteners’ on voters in an attempt to win the uniform swing of…

IT’S been a fierce fight for the state seat of Perth: front yards are peppered with six-foot high signs of Labor candidate John Carey’s noggin and Perth Liberal MP Eleni Evangel’s glossy brochures fill letterboxes — sometimes several at a time. Ms Evangel won the Perth seat with a big 12 per cent swing in…

MT LAWLEY Liberal MP Michael Sutherland knows he faces a fight to retain his seat this election. In 2008 he managed one of the biggest swings in the state to wrest it from Labor and gained more ground in 2013, but that margin’s dwindled a little to 8.9 per cent. In his typical colourful turn…

LABOR’s Lisa Baker holds Maylands with a mere 2.7 per cent but the pundits predict that’ll only be pushed upwards on Saturday. A $1 bet on the animal-loving Ms Baker only returns you a $1.03 if she wins (one of the few bets she’d be okay with, given her stance opposing greyhound racing and calls…

PERTH council has rejected an application from lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi and her husband Joe to erect a digital billboard outside a CBD hotel they own. Ms Scaffidi and developer husband Joe Scaffidi are shareholders in Central City, which applied to erect the $700,000 sign outside their Akara Hotel on Wellington Street. Planning committee presiding…

BEES are being brought to Bayswater in a new 12-month trial to support healthy bee populations and show people that the fuzzy fliers aren’t scary. Following a motion tabled by Cr Michelle Sutherland, the first of the trial beehives has been set up at Maylands Brickworks by Bayswater council and the WA Apiarist’s Society. Dean…

PICCADILLY Theatre’s future is looking bleak after Perth council’s sponsorship committee refused to grant developers funds at a meeting on Thursday night. The iconic art deco cinema building, located in Hay Street mall,  opened in 1938. Mellen Events were seeking $1.7 million over 10 years in city sponsorship to proceed with a $3 million-plus redevelopment.…

FOLLOWING intense public interest and a packed-out meeting over the Meltham Station Precinct Structure Plan, the deadline for public comment has been extended to March 14. There’s been fierce debate back and forth over the merits of the plan which would bring up to six storeys to the area around the train station. The structure…