Perth Voice Interactive

THE old Witch’s Hat hostel on Palmerston Street has been turned into the state’s first medical respite centre with 20 beds for homeless people recovering after being in hospital.

The current system has been identified by UWA researchers as leading to ‘revolving door’ hospitals where homeless people are discharged back to the poor living conditions that contributed to their health issues, only to quickly return to hospital.

Community services minister Simone McGurk said “people who suffer from chronic homelessness often have complex needs relating to health, mental health, disabilities, abuse and addiction.

“This 24-7 medical respite centre will serve the dual purpose of addressing the health concerns of vulnerable patients experiencing homelessness, while providing an important opportunity for them to link in with a range of funded support services while they are being cared for in a stable environment.”

Health minister Roger Cook said the centre would help people into other transitional or permanent accommodation once they’d recuperated.

In the 90s the Witch’s Hat was a housing and support facility for people recovering from substance abuse. It later became a hostel for backpackers and occasionally homeless people.

Perth state Labor MP John Carey lives a stone’s throw away and tells us the feedback he’s got from neighbours has been positive.

“I am asked by residents sometimes: Why do we put these kinds of services in the city? That’s because we want to provide services close to where homeless people are, [and] close to hospitals and medical services.

“This is not a drop in centre: People attending this accommodation must have a referral from a hospital.”

He said it should have a lower impact on neighbours than previous uses. 

“My understanding is this has been used for temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness. What you will see is better wraparound services now provided.”

He said along with the new 100-bed accommodation opening up on Wellington Street this month, this centre would help while waiting for construction of the more long term ‘Common Ground’ housing hubs. Construction on the first one in East Perth is due to start this financial year.

For now there are still more homeless than beds, with Perth council’s rough sleeper count hitting 191 people in the CBD in March.

FIRE burnt down Future Bayswater’s shedquarters on Beechboro Road last week, but the group’s been flooded by a quick response from locals and businesses offering help.

Future Bayswater, made up of locals and businesses keen on getting development happening in the city’s town centre, leases the shed to store events gear and house a food pantry for people to donate items or take what they need.

The group reported on July 29 the shed had burnt down overnight, with the fire brigade putting it out and investigations now to be undertaken.

As a volunteer group FB’d found the cost of insurance was too high so the contents weren’t insured. 

With offers of help from neighbours, traders and politicians pouring in, the community pantry was back up and running with a day and FB’s Saturday Bayswater Growers’ Market could go ahead as usual.

They’re now taking stock of offers of help and fundraising as they prepare to rebuild.

BAYSWATER council has decided against a formal relationship with a Philippine city notorious for its vigilante death squad, but could the unexpected approach from Davao have been part of a gambit to create a new dynasty centred around controversial president Rodrigo Duterte?

Davao’s death squad allegedly had local government backing in its 10-year campaign of killing suspected criminals and drug users at a time Mr Duterte was the city’s mayor, with reports of mass graves and hundreds of people still missing. When he rose to the presidency, Mr Duterte made international headlines for continuing to advocate for a brutal response to crime, although at home the approach was surprisingly popular.

Davao is now centre stage of an attempt by the International Criminal Court to probe the murders; a fact not picked up in staff report to Bayswater, which only noted the Philippine’s third most populous city was known for its banana, pineapple, coffee and coconut plantations.

However it did note becoming sister cities had a “high” reputation risk. 

While Bayswater knocked back a sister city arrangement involving study trips, student exchanges and tourism and economic links, the council remains “open” to further discussions and may look into a more symbolic “friendship” agreement.

Friendship

The friendship offer came from Davao’s current mayor Sara Duterte – the president’s daughter – dubbed “The Slugger” by local press after repeatedly punching a police officer during a protest against the demolition of a slum.

Ms Duterte wrote to Bayswater mayor Dan Bull calling for a sister city agreement “to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and deeper understanding between the parties, through an exchange of ideas” in fields such as “manufacturing and technology” and “agriculture”.

Davao council’s been working on this for months, having voted to authorise Ms Duterte to cement the agreement in October 2020.

But the letter showing up in May 2021 came out of the blue for Bayswater. It arrived along with a stack of ready-to-sign papers already bearing Ms Duterte’s signature.

It appears Davao has been collecting sister cities at a great rate in recent years, and Bayswater was one of five cities offered sisterhood in its most recent round. A Davao council press statement says its sister city arrangements have been of great help for tourism and industry in prosperous times and also during Covid, when sister cities sent them medical aid donations.

But could the charm offensive be more about racking up international cred for Ms Duterte ahead of a run for the presidency when her father steps down at the end of his mandated six-year reign?

There are plenty of hard-hitters in her father’s camp who have publicly backed her, though she’s denied having any interest. Some analysts have even suggested that the senior Duterte may run as his daughter’s deputy in order to keep a hand in the country’s politics – and perhaps extend his period of immunity from prosecution.

It wouldn’t be the father/daughter combo’s first time in office together; when Ms Duterte first won office in 2010, Mr Duterte served as her vice mayor, and other Dutertes have also held positions.

One hurdle she’ll face though is her father’s trenchant opposition to women leading the country; he’s on record saying they’d only end up looking a fool if they tried. 

by DAVID BELL and STEVE GRANT

Push to protect ‘non-trees’ falters

A PALM is not a tree, according to Bayswater council, and so can be removed with impunity.

The quibble came up in a motion raised by councillor Sally Palmer for the city to look at placing a ban on removing palms from public spaces unless it was approved by the full council or public utilities were at risk. The city has an urban tree policy designed to protect its canopy, but under much-debated definitions some dendrologists classify palms as “tree-like” plants and not actual trees, since they don’t widen their trunks with new rings.

Bayswater has been using that exclusionary definition for at least five years, meaning their technical services director has been able to remove palms without council approval and can replace them with true trees. 

Canopy

Bayswater staff reckon the palms-aren’t-trees ruling should remain, since the city’s on a mission to improve canopy cover and tall palms with six scraggly fronds provide pretty paltry shade. Staff recommended palms continue to be replaced with true trees at the tech director’s discretion. 

But Cr Palmer questioned this policy, saying her main focus was on preserving the phoenix dactylifera date palms “that we see adorned outside out own civic centre, outside Bayswater waves and places of prominence. 

“I’m not necessary talking about the large Mexican palm trees that wave 60m in the air,” she said.

“These trees take years to grow and of course they do have a status of their very own, they look very suitable where they are they also mingle very nicely with our native fauna.”

Deputy mayor Filomena Piffaretti agreed they should reconsider the rule. “It isn’t something we’ve ever heard from any of our residents in the area, that they don’t want the palm trees there, or that they want to see the palm trees replaced.”

Cr Barry McKenna, while not the biggest fan of palms personally, agreed they were part of the area’s heritage and were intertwined with a prominent Bayswater figure. 

“You all know his name, but you probably don’t know it’s his responsibility that all the trees are down there: Frank Drago.

“Manager of parks and gardens for 30 years, Frank being Italian, love-a-the-palms,” Cr McKenna said.

“A lot of people who’ve grown up in Noranda have grown up with those palm trees.”

Not everyone agreed on preserving palms. 

“Who doesn’t love palm trees?” Cr Catherine Ehrhardt posed. 

“Me. I’ll be quite up front about that, they’re probably up there with Queensland Boxes for me,” another tree with underwhelming branchery.

She noted palms didn’t provide food or habitat for native wildlife and seemed to only attract rats. 

Cr Giorgia Johnson agreed: “They attract rats. We poison the rats. The rats are eaten by owls, and owls die in Lightning Park, so I’m not a big fan of palm trees.”

Crs Ehrhardt and Johnson were joined by Cr Lorna Clarke in voting to keep the current palms-aren’t-tree rules, but a majority of councillors agreed to send staff off to write a report on changing the policy.

Mayor Dan Bull noted it was “probably one of the most bizarre debates” seen in the 30 years Cr McKenna had been on council, but agreed they should investigate protecting the iconic palms. 

Noranda is named for Noranda Park in Florida. Like Bayswater council, Florida features the palm on its logo, but even that palmiest of places is slowly phasing them out.

THE average electric car isn’t yet up to the job of patrolling Stirling’s suburbs, the council’s security staffers reckon.

They want to stick with their beefier partly-petrol powered hybrid vehicles as the rest of the fleet goes electric.

Councillor David Lagan recently proposed a motion to investigate switching the city’s parking and security vehicles to an all-electric fleet as cars come up for regularly scheduled replacement. The passenger fleet is already heading towards 100 per cent electric by 2025. 

But the security team reckon they need to keep using their hybrid Toyota Camrys, which are replaced yearly. 

They cover 345km a day in peak times and get driven for both night and day shifts, leaving no time for a lengthy recharge, and the only electric cars that can handle that are the more expensive $55,000-plus models – out of the council’s price range. 

Cheaper juice

Instead just three of the smaller cars used by parking services will go electric. They’re replaced every two years, and going electric will cost an extra $10,000 per car once the higher purchase price is offset by the cheaper juice. That’ll cut about two tonnes of Co2 per year, since even when the power plant is coal-powered it’s still more efficient than petrol engines. 

$22,500 will also be spent on installing charging infrastructure. 

Cr Lagan noted: “The New South Wales government has announced it will give a $3000 rebate to the first 25,000 EVs sold in NSW under a cost of $68,000.

“I hope this action by councils like the City of Stirling will move the WA government to the same position as the NSW government and we can look at getting rebates for the purchase of vehicles,” especially given our state’s move into the rare earth minerals sector that are used in EVs. 

A big believer in electrics, Cr Lagan declared an impartiality interest stating he holds shares in a company that mines lithium, an element used in EV batteries. 

by DAVID BELL

STIRLING council is still refusing to provide more details on how ratepayer money is spent, but staff have promised they’ll stop reporting payments inaccurately after yet another purchase of new cars was recorded as “parts and repairs”.

Resident Roland Hadley from the Ewen Street Community Group has been on a mission to shed light on the council’s opaque accounts system, which reports monthly outgoings with extremely brief descriptions. Mr Hadley pointed to examples such as two recent listings in the $900,000 range spent on “construction materials and services”. Mr Hadley says the abridged descriptions are unsatisfactory and ratepayers have a right to know what their money is being spent on.

He argues: “The CEO has a legal requirement to ensure full details are provided.”

Narratives

But the council has maintained the brief “narratives” meet the legal requirements and it’d be too much work to give more information on individual invoices.

At the August 3 council meeting Mr Hadley made another attempt at lifting the accounting veil, arguing that 95 per cent of the invoices are self explanatory so they needn’t provide full backstories for a gas or water bill, just the mystery items.

And he noted “if this section is understaffed, surely it is a matter for the CEO to resolve as quickly as possible?”

CEO Stuart Jardine said “we try to be prudent in the number of staff we have in the establishment… currently we’re not understaffed in my opinion”.

But Mr Hadley has secured a promise that misreporting of expenses will cease.

He noted a recent accounting report stated “$32,864 was spent on vehicle parts and repairs”. 

When he inquired he found out they’d actually bought a new Mitsubishi Triton ute.

He said “on May 3, three payments were made of $66,000, $104,000, and $135,000 were paid to John Hughes which were also costed to ‘vehicle parts and repairs’.

“Therefore, can ratepayers assume, presume, or successfully predict that these amounts related to purchase of new vehicles, and not actually parts and repairs?

“This is now the third or fourth time this miscoding, deliberate or otherwise, has occurred and I’m sure the ratepayers would welcome a clear explanation,” he said, to a chorus of “yes” from the chamber.

The council’s corporate services director Ingrid Hawkins said: “That has been recategorised in the accounts payable system, so you’ll see that as ‘new vehicles’ moving forward… that’s a promise.”

STIRLING council’s longest-serving councillor David Boothman has retired after 27 years, effective August 6.

Cr Boothman and his wife have been pondering a move south and their Mirrabooka home has been on the market.

He told the August 3 meeting it’s now sold. Councillors must have a property in the council area they serve in. 

“Under the local government act, either I then have to look at leasing a place to stay in the City of Stirling, or else stand down from council,” Cr Boothman said.

“That’s what I’m announcing tonight: After 27 years and three months – I was elected in May 1994 – I’ll be standing down.

“I’ve enjoyed those 27 years and I very deeply appreciate that I’ve had the confidence of electors in the Balga Ward to continue to support my reelection year after year, and I’ve also during this time been very appreciative of the support of elected members around the table, both the current and the past elected members, and the staff in particular,” thanking CEO Stuart Jardine who started as CEO just before Ms Boothman started serving as mayor from 2007 to 2013.

Current mayor Mark Irwin teared up a bit as he bid the senior councillor a fond farewell. 

“I met councillor Boothman well before I became mayor – even, in fact, a councillor – as a young lifesaver during his term as mayor.

“And I know from the community aspect why he’s so respected and probably loved by the community, and it’s his genuine nature.”

Cr Irwin said Cr Boothman was “a real gentleman in the community … you’re certainly going to be missed by this council and we wish you all the best for the future”. 

Cr Boothman is a former police officer, and on council he focused on community safety and the environment, and led the fight against the Barnett government’s council merger attempts with his 

 “Stay in Stirling” campaign. 

Under the local government act any vacancy that occurs after the first Saturday in February in an election year doesn’t require an extraordinary election, so the council can be one man down until the ordinary elections in October. 

by DAVID BELL