BAYSWATER’S citizenship ceremonies and barbecue breakfast may be shifted off Australia Day. Following councils like Fremantle, Vincent, and Cambridge who moved their events out of respect for Indigenous people opposed to January 26 celebration, Bayswater councillors voted at their May 23 meeting to put a change out for public comment.  The ceremonies would be held within…

AN East Perth street has been renamed “Sailani Avenue” to honour the contribution of Indian Anzacs in World War I. Private Nain Singh Sailani was a Hindu Gurkha from northern India who arrived in Asutralia in 1895 and enlisted in 1916. He was one of 12 known Indian Anzacs and was buried in Belgium. Pte…

“MORONS” are vandalising trees and costing Perth ratepayers tens of thousands to replace them, but lord mayor Basil Zempilas says vandals won’t win. Speaking about the city’s Urban Greening Strategy that outlines the tree planting plan for the next decade, Mr Zempilas was aghast at the number of trees needing replacement. In the last year…

FIVE conservation groups will be holding a “black umbrella” protest and presenting thousands of postcards to WA environment minister Reece Whitby this coming week calling on him to help save black cockatoos. Paddy Cullen from Save the Black Cockatoos said the black umbrellas would be used to construct a giant cockatoo for the protest. He…

A WA government MP has urged Bayswater councillors not to accept a parliamentary committee’s rejection of a draft policy to ban cats from bush and wetlands. Bassendean MP Dave Kelly, whose electorate covers part of Bayswater, said “I don’t often make deputations to local government,” having done so just once before.  He made a second…

A PERTH bike shop filled with high-end gear has been told to remove security shutters installed to prevent thefts. Evolution Bikes is at the corner of Beaufort and Bulwer Streets, and owner Anthony Hart says he’s had his windows broken several times since opening five years ago, but Vincent council has told him his shutters…

GERRY WESTENBERG has been hand-crafting scale model ships for more than half a century, and now has 120 in his exquisitely detailed fleet. Mr Westenberg’s models are now on display at the WA Shipwrecks Museum on Cliff Street, Fremantle. The Naval Sea Power in Miniature exhibition was opened by WA defence industry minister Paul Papalia earlier…

FIRST-time voters and other young people wanting to know more about the Voice to Parliament are invited to ask hard questions and have honest conversations in a safe space hosted by Reconciliation WA. On May 27 they’re holding an afternoon of “yarning” with WA Uluru Youth Dialogue members Sophie Coffin who’s a Nyangumarta Yindjibarndi woman, Ngarluma …

FENCES have gone up around a chunk of Hyde Park to cordon off trees affected by the invasive polyphagous shothole borer as a new emergency chemical trial aims to eradicate the pest.  Several trees have already had limbs removed as they were compromised by the tiny beetles. The borer excavates extensive tunnels through trees to…

THE unpopular diagonal diversion cutting a North Perth neighbourhood in half will be removed early after it pushed traffic into quiet streets and nearby laneways. Vincent council installed the road block in February for a six-month trial to stop traffic diagonally at the Alma Road and Leake Street intersection, following requests from nearby residents to…