Perth Voice Interactive

CROWDFUNDED documentary Black Cockatoo Crisis screens at Luna Leederville December 1 to 7, laying out a roadmap of how to save WA’s iconic cockies.

Filmmaker Jane Hammond teamed up with West Perth’s Ian Hale from Halo, along with 342 supporters who donated $135,000 to bring the project to fruition.

From loss of habitat for the Carnaby’s black cockatoos to the Baudin’s black cockatoos being shot out of the sky in a battle with fruit growers in Perth’s hills, the film warns three species could be extinct within 20 years.

The film premiere sold out at Backlot Studios and screens three times daily at Luna until December 7.

A fresh threat to cockatoo habitat popped up this week, with surf park operators looking at clearing three hectares of banksia woodland at a government-chosen site in Jandakot.

BAYSWATER mayor Filomena Piffaretti has cancelled an appearance at a state Labor membership drive, while a fellow councillor has raised concerns about ongoing ‘politicisation’ of the mayoral role.

Cr Piffaretti, a Labor party member, was featured in a flyer advertising “A Dinner Dance for Marino Salinas’ WA Labor Membership Drive” held November 27 at the Filipino Australian Club of Perth, an effort to get member numbers up to support Mr Salinas’ bid to enter state politics.

VIP speakers were state Labor MPs Michelle Roberts, Margaret Quirk, and Cr Piffaretti, billed as “Filomena Pfaretti [sic], mayor, City of Bayswater”. 

Cr Elli Petersen-Pik raised concerns in a social media post on November 23, writing: “It is my general view that the mayor’s position, as well as all councillors’ positions, should not be used 

for party-political purpose. The position of mayor is a public role, paid for by the ratepayers, and its permitted functions are clear in the Local Government Act.

“I’ve been speaking about the politicisation of local governments and the involvement of state politics for several years now, which can sometimes include the promotion of state and federal politicians via municipal channels. 

“Most residents might not even notice it. 

“As an independent councillor, this concerns me a lot as I can see the possible influence on decision making (which is always something very hard to prove).”

Cr Piffaretti told the Voice via email: “Of course I get invited to Labor party events, I’m a member of the Labor party. 

“I didn’t attend the function – however, I always encourage everyone in our community, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, to participate fully in our civic, cultural and political life and I hope all my council colleagues would do the same.” 

Cr Piffaretti wouldn’t say why she pulled out or whether it was in response to Cr Petersen-Pik’s post. 

However internal correspond-ence obtained by the Voice shows Cr Piffaretti claiming “that event was misrepresented to me and as a result I am not attending”.

The cancelled event isn’t the first time Cr Piffaretti has been billed as mayor at a Labor event. In August she was listed as a VIP speaker at the launch of Mr Salinas’ campaign, again listed as “mayor of Bayswater city council” and speaking alongside Ms Roberts.

Cr Petersen-Pik said a member of the public had first raised concern with him over the mayor speaking at the membership drive, and he’s informally referred it to the council CEO for consideration.

by DAVID BELL

STIRLING has a new councillor with Michael Dudek handily winning the November 25 extraordinary election to fill a vacant Balga Ward spot.

The seat was empty after long-serving councillor Keith Sargent resigned in September, following his arrest on charges of possessing child exploitation material.

After an especially active two-month campaign touring the ward Cr Dudek romped in the win garnering 1842 of a total 5019 valid votes (36.7 per cent). He doubled the result of the next nearest contender Amy Blitvich with 906 votes. Also running were Bellamore Ndayikeze, Wayne Evans, Ram Tin Thei, Dianela Ion and Leonie Getty. 

Stirling mayor Mark Irwin announced the result on Friday evening, saying “on behalf of the city I welcome councillor Dudek, and thank the unsuccessful candidates for their contribution to this process, especially given the unexpected nature of a by-election.

“Each of the seven candidates represented the diversity of the local community, and I am pleased that the people of Balga Ward had such a high-quality field of candidates to choose from.”

Cr Dudek works for a bookkeeping firm and has won awards at the state level as a goalkeeper in both soccer and futsal. 

His election pitch said “as a local leader, getting kids off the street through sport and social clubs is part of Michael’s Four-Point Action Plan to combat drugs, gangs and antisocial behaviour” and he wants to bring back verge collections to cut down on illegal rubbish dumping.

Bid for global enviro conference falls short

A BID for Perth to host the world’s biggest climate change conference has been shot down.

Lord mayor Basil Zempilas says there’s no chance Perth council alone could win hosting rights without state and federal government backing.

At Perth council’s November meeting councillor Brent Fleeton moved an ambitious motion calling for a campaign for Perth to host an upcoming United Nations Climate Conference in 2024 (COP29).

“If we lose this to Adelaide we’re going to look bloody ridiculous,” Cr Fleeton said.

“The conference would be the most important economic development opportunity for our city and our ratepayers since CHOGM in 2011,” he said, referring to the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which brought in thousands of people to Perth from 51 member countries.

“Having this conference in Perth as we debate the future of how we produce and consume energy as a society makes sense as WA is the energy capital of the world.

“This will be a coming together of the best minds in energy climate change tech and public policy, and the benefits to our city, our state and our country are both obvious but too many to list,” including positioning WA as a prime state to lead a clean energy future. 

Cr Fleeton said Mr Zempilas’ high profile and “considerable personal network” could be drawn on to get allies on board to make the bid a success.

He proposed setting aside $250,000 to research the plan and advocate for Perth as host, and said if COP29 wasn’t a goer then they could try to nab a future conference like COP31 which is planned for 2026.

But federal climate change minister Chris Bowen has already indicated Australia wouldn’t bid for COP29 in 2024, and instead announced Australia would seek to co-host COP31 alongside Pacific Island nations. That probably means an eastern states city would get the gig, being closer to those islands.

Mr Zempilas stated: “I absolutely admire the spirit and ambition of Cr Fleeton’s notice of motion,” but then related his experience with the difficulty of trying to get things happening in Perth without state or federal government support.

Mr Zempilas had wanted the 2026 Commonwealth Games to come to Perth but without state government backing it went to Victoria. He then set his sights on Perth hosting the Special Olympics in 2027, but announced at last week’s council meeting “it would appear as though that is not going to happen”.

One bid he did have success on was bringing the 2021 AFL grand final here – it had backing from the McGowan government.

“Without the state government saying ‘we’re in’, it doesn’t matter what the lord mayor or the City of Perth say,” Mr Zempilas said, noting without that backing “it could ultimately prove to be a waste of taxpayer money”.

A narrow majority of councillors agreed with Mr Zempilas and voted down the COP29 idea, three votes to four.

The council instead endorsed Mr Zempilas’ backup plan to spend up to $250,000 on a campaign to try to host the 2023 World Energy Cities Partnership AGM, a smaller, less exciting, but more plausible prospect.

by DAVID BELL

A PLEA to put a mandatory tree on every verge in Bayswater has been deemed too tricky by council staff.

In part, that’s due to the mysterious fates suffered by trees placed outside unwilling properties.

At the Bayswater council AGM on November 7 resident Branka Radanovich, a member of the Bayswater Urban Tree Network, got strong public support for her motion “for the City to mandate (at least) one tree on every residential verge”.

The AGM’s the one time of year when citizens can directly raise a motion, that then has to be considered by councillors at a regular meeting.

But Bayswater Parks & Gardens staff have recommended councillors don’t agree to this mandatory verge tree idea.

Their advice to councillors says: “Current experiences suggest that trees have the best opportunity to thrive if they are planted on a verge where the adjoining owner is supportive of the planting”.

Unspoken is the fate that’s befallen some prominent trees outside a few of those unwilling properties, and every year there’s a scattering of poisonings or severe pruning to cut unwanted trees back to a woody twig.

The Parks & Garden staff advise it’s fine to just continue with their verge tree rollout that lets owners opt out, and that maybe, one day, it is “possible that every (or nearly every verge) will have a tree in the long term”. 

Out of 14 items endorsed by public votes at the AGM, on issues ranging from banning artificial turf on verges to renaming local streets, staff only recommended three for full approval. 

Councillors vote on the recommendations December 6.

by DAVID BELL