Perth Voice Interactive

OVER the WA Day long weekend, while their home suburb sang with the sizzle of snags, Kim Epton and fellow Cockburn 4WD Club members found themselves in more rugged surrounds working to save a historic well.  

Kodjerning Well is one of 26 reliable year-round water sources established by explorer Charles Cook Hunt, along with a team of probationary convicts, between 1864-1866. 

The wells stretch from York to Kalgoorlie and beyond along a route now known as Hunt’s Track, with many owing credit to First Nations knowledge of their sources.

The watering holes have been quiet but vital companions to some of WA’s seminal events. They slaked the thirst of workers on the first section of the Transcontinental Railroad and filled the water bags of early gold miners like Arthur Bayley and Paddy Hannon on their way to strike it rich in the interior.

In September 1866, the list of Hunt’s Track hopefuls expanded to include Moondyne Joe, WA’s infamous and colourful bush ranger, convict, and escape artist. 

After another of his legendary getaways from custody, Moondyne headed towards South Australia along Hunt’s Track, hoping to come upon the explorer’s party by surprise so he could steal their horses and rations. 

But the plot fell apart when he was spotted by a sandalwood cutter, leading to Hunt and police recapturing the slippery bushranger and returning him to Fremantle Prison. Perhaps Hunt’s convict labourers secretly harboured hope for the miscreant’s freedom.

According to Mr Epton, who quite literally wrote the book on Hunt (C.C. Hunt’s Koolyanobbing Expedition, Hesperian Press 1996), the water sources are spaced about 30 kilometres apart because “that’s about how far a horse could walk in a day”.

Goldfields

Mr Epton’s fascination with Hunt’s Track began in 1988 when he worked on the York to Goldfields Heritage Trail, part of a WA Bicentennial Project. The work included researching the wells and writing plaques.

The Cockburn 4WD Club worked with assistance from the Mitsubishi 4WD Owners Club as part of the Explorers’ Wells and Tracks Project.

The group fixed the fence around Kodjerning Well and built bunding to save it from further water damage.

According to Mr Epton, the state of the dry stone wall (constructed without mortar) is a testament to early stonemasonry. The 4WD club stresses the importance of preservation as few living masons understand the craft well enough to save the walls once they deteriorate.

“We try to make sure we’re always doing something that makes a difference when we go out bush,” Mr Epton said.

by CARSON BODIE

IN exploring one of history’s darkest chapters, local director Aron Attiwell’s upcoming film Fading Numbers highlights why issues of anti-Semitism and white supremacism in Australia are as relevant today as they were 75 years ago. 

Attiwell told the Voice the WA-made film “comprises multiple survivor stories [combined] into one overarching narrative”. 

This narrative was the result of extensive collaboration with the Holocaust Institute of WA, as well as real Holocaust survivors, to ensure the film reflected an accurate portrayal of historical events. 

When asked about how the film related to an Australian audience, Attiwell spoke of the mass emigration to Australia after the Second World War. 

“When people think of the Holocaust, they think European history,” he said. 

“But a huge number of survivors actually left Europe to live in Australia.” 

Despite this, there is currently a distinct lack of Holocaust education, both in school curriculums and the greater community, according to Attiwell. 

This is something he hopes the release of his film can help fix, through screenings at schools and museums around Australia, opening the door for renewed discussion on both historical and modern-day oppression. 

Fading

In reference to the film’s title, Attiwell said how the memories and stories of the Holocaust have been “fading” as the number of survivors has slowly decreased. 

This, combined with the current lack of education, has led to an increase in anti-Semitic views, where “there have been swastikas promoted on the streets”. 

Attiwell was referring to a recent incident in Gosnells where a man with a swastika on his forehead attacked a mother and daughter with a flame thrower. 

The Voice’s sister paper the Fremantle Herald also reported last year on an anti-semitic attack on Hilton academic and author Felicity Newman after the council cut down an ailing tree in front of her house (“Racism takes root,” Herald, June 20, 2020).

Federal Labor MP Anne Aly has expressed similar concerns over the rise in white supremacism in Australia, particularly the recent attempts of US-based terrorist groups to gain a local foothold. 

“While these groups and ideologies have always been present in Australia, we are seeing a more coordinated effort to recruit and influence,” Dr Aly said.  

Neo-Nazi

The attempts of one such group, known as The Base, whose Neo-Nazi posters have been displayed in Perth’s Hyde Park, even included the recruitment of a Perth man who once ran for Federal Parliament as a member of One Nation.

Dr Aly also spoke of the “huge role” that education played in reducing the influence of these groups, especially in regard to young people, whose extensive use of social media has made them “particularly vulnerable” to radicalisation and recruitment. 

While she agreed that specific programs, including films, are a crucial part of this education, Dr Aly also expressed her desire for broader education strategies “across all disciplines”.

This would include the teaching of critical thinking and research skills that would help make students more scrupulous and less susceptible to extremist groups and their hateful views.   

Fading Numbers received patronage from Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and WA Minister of Education Sue Ellery, highlighting that support for the use of educational programs as a tool to combat extremism has been bipartisan. 

Red Digital Cinema have also pledged to support the production, to help generate increased global awareness of the film after its scheduled release later this year. 

by PRENTICE SHEPHERD

AN entertaining video series shot in Bull Creek, Melville and Fremantle aims to get more youngsters reading books.

Reading for the Heart and Mind features some of the best children’s authors and illustrators in WA talking about the mental health benefits to kids and young adults from reading.

The five part series is targeted at parents, teachers and librarians, giving them strategies to get more children picking up books.

Featured authors include Josh Langley, whose books help to foster self-worth and resilience in kids, and Kris Williams who lives in Bull Creek and is WA secretary of The Children’s Book Council of Australia.

Ms Williams says it’s important to start reading to kids as young as possible.

“You need to start very, very young; a lot of people read to kids while they’re still in the womb,” she says.

“It’s really important because they get to know sounds, they get to know words, they get to know language. Later on it sparks imagination and curiosity.” 

Mr Langley says it creates a deep bond between parent and child.

“When reading to kids it’s the connection you make,” he says.

“When you ask someone what was the most important time they had as a kid? They always say ‘When my parents read to me.’”

Mr Langley is a mental health advocate and wrote the award-winning Being You is Enough, while Ms Williams has more than 20 years experience working with authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult books.

She says supporting young people’s mental health has never been more important in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic.

An initiative by the WA branch of The Children’s Book Council of Australia, Reading for the Heart and Mind covers reading to children, imagination, curiosity, resilience and self-acceptance. 

There’s also a link to featured books by WA authors and a reading list where people can learn more about the topics discussed. 

To watch the videos go to wa.cbca.org.au/reading-heart-mind.html

Too scared to pitch a tent

THE Department of Communities says it has reached the “due diligence” stage of securing a new crisis shelter for Perth’s rough sleepers.

It comes as around a dozen homeless people, some former residents of Lord Street’s “tent city”, have returned to the Beaufort Street footpath opposite Weld Square to seek shelter from the winter rains.

But Noongar woman Eileen Jones said they were so fearful of police reacting badly to the sight of tents, they had been trying to make do with nothing more than a couple of tarpaulins to keep out the wind and rain.

The tarpaulins weren’t much chop, Ms Jones said, while a complaint from neighbours about blocking the footpath had already seen a couple confiscated by council rangers.

Ms Jones said after Tent City she’d been put up in a hotel funded by Wungening Aboriginal Corporation and Uniting WA, but when the money ran dry she was shown the front door without any support.

Now she tries to fill the days with fellow campers like Brendan Jones by doing artworks and simply trying to survive.

Mr Jones said with theft rife on the streets, he no longer had a phone and it was virtually impossible to keep track of appointments and communicate with support services.

He has a heart condition and says living on the streets makes him fearful for his longterm health.

“Where’s this hostel they promised us,” he says with obvious frustration.

Communities executive Lindsay Hale said they’re working on it.

“Once a site is secured, the $3.8 million for the Lord Street bridge homelessness prevention will be directed to providing support services at the facility, in partnership with an Aboriginal community controlled organisation.

The department said that along with support organisations it had helped get 41 people from the East Perth and Fremantle tent cities into long-term accommodation. A further eight people were helped return to country.

“Through Communities’ response, ongoing support is also offered to individuals who are no longer occupying hotel accommodation and case management is continuing for those willing to engage,” Mr Hale said.

St Patrick’s Community Support Centre in Fremantle is heading a consortium that’s been given $2.3 million for wraparound supports for the Tent City residents. Mr Hale says about 40 people are “actively being supported through this process”.

VINCENT council staff appear intent on selling a Barlee Street carpark despite hundreds of nearby business owners and workers complaining it’ll create a parking shortage nightmare.

The 300 people who signed a petition opposing the sell-off have been mushed down into just one submission among 144 in the council report.

The council’s been pondering whether to keep central third of the carpark it owns, or either sell or swap it. 

Developer Palassis owns the outer thirds and the landswap would trade Vincent’s middle bit for one of Palassis’ end pieces, allowing the council set up a public space that would rope in some of the Barlee Street road reserve as well.

But it’s a costly plan: The public space would need anywhere between $500,000 and $1 million, and businesses are concerned the strip already lacks parking.

The 300-signature petition also contests: “Parking in Mount Lawley has always been limited in availabilities. Removing the Barlee Street Public Car Park would further exacerbate the pre-existing limited availabilities,” resulting in fewer visitors, loss of business, and cars cramming surrounding streets and carparks.

The council report’s text acknowledges the petition’s existence but doesn’t include it in the consultation table. That table says 85 respondants liked the landswap deal, 41 wanted the carpark kept, and 17 favoured just selling the land.

Despite the feedback staff reckon selling the land is “the most viable option” given the uncertainties and years-long process involved with a landswap. 

The report says Palassis doesn’t want to run the carpark past 2023 anyway. 

The carpark also runs at a loss, while selling would net near $1million that could be used for street repairs and improvements.

Council will mull over the staff recommendation to sell at the June council meeting.

by DAVID BELL

VINCENT council’s admin building has a new Covid-inspired artwork that is, funnily enough, probably the last place you’d find the insidious virus.

Mayor Emma Cole unveiled the installation Connections last week, saying North Perth artist Liz Gray had created it after successfully applying for one of the council’s Covid arts relief grants in 2020.

Ms Cole described the artwork as beautiful, saying it shared “the characters of Vincent – the people, the pets, our local fauna – connected during a tough year”.

In another nod to its emergence out of the pandemic, sections marked “1.5 metres” remind the viewer that while the community stayed very much connected during the pandemic, they were physically separated from all but their closest lkin.

Gray created the artwork by painting directly onto copper sheets cut by a waterjet.

Apart from being a medium favoured by Renaissance painters for its durability and luminescence, Gray said copper had a disinfectant quality and resists certain coronaviruses.

“According to scientists, where active Covid-19 droplets will remain alive on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for days, they will only survive on copper for hours,” Gray said.

The artist said various Vincent residents posed for the work including well-known Noongar Radio presenter Jeff Michael.

“During a very trying time in the world, I wanted to depict the positive connections we have in our lives, which help maintain our mental health and wellbeing,” Gray said.

Ms Cole said 16 projects were funded through the $15,000 arts relief grants, which would help transform Vincent into “an even more vibrant place to live and visit”.