Perth Voice Interactive

THE legacy of Perth’s Moorditj Bridyas (Solid Bosses) is commemorated in portraits in a new exhibition at the ground floor of Perth Council House, and their oral histories stories have been recorded for a new podcast.

The portraits by photographer Eva Fernández were commissioned by Perth council as part of its reconciliation commitment. They depict 10 elders from the council’s Elders Advisory Group, who’ve guided the city on projects like the Wellington Square redevelopment, the town hall centenary celebration, artwork commissions and Noongar names for places.

One of the elders, Uncle Farley Garlett, said it was important that elders were recognised for the progress they’d made with the City of Perth. 

“The elders’ portraits recognise the hard work we have done – to document and leave a legacy of the elders that have worked here,” he said. 

“The portraits tell our people and other people that there was a relationship going on between City of Perth and Whadjuk elders.”

Aunty Margaret Culbong said: “It is all about telling our stories and leaving a legacy behind. My elders have been around for many years and they’ve taught me many things.

“Working with my elders has given me the confidence to go forward, to set a pathway for generations to come so that our lore and culture can last another 40,000 to 50,000 years.”

The Moorditj Bridyas portraits launch at Council House in Naidoc week, running 8am to 5pm on weekdays from November 10 to January 29, and will be on the big screens at Perth library, Northbridge Piazza and Yagan Square.

The elders’ stories “Wongi mi bardup” (Doing it Our Way) are recorded in the November 10 episode of “Untold Stories of Perth” podcast via any of the podcast apps.

The photographed elders are Aunty Theresa Walley, Aunty Doolan Eatts, Uncle Ben Taylor, Aunty Margaret Culbong, Aunty Muriel Bowie, Uncle Walter Eatts, Uncle Farley Garlett, Aunty Irene McNamara, Uncle Albert McNamara and Uncle Noel Nannup.

WEEKEND parking will be free for three hours in off-street Perth city council carparks in December and January.

Lord mayor Basil Zempilas proposed the motion, which he says is aimed at  “reinvigorating the city by supporting businesses, increasing accessibility, and supporting Western Australians who may be experiencing financial hardship during the holiday period”.

When free parking was trialled last December and January it resulted in a net gain of 16,500 parkers in council carparks. 

But a report by council staff warns it’s hard to validate whether they were people who wouldn’t have otherwise parked in a private carpark, since they don’t have 

data on who’s parking in Wilsons or Secure Parking complexes. It’s possible a chunk of the 16,500 were people who would’ve come to the city anyway and just nabbed the free parking instead of paying at a private park.

It’ll cost an estimated $685,000 in lost parking revenue, but the council has enough to cover that in its Covid-19 rebound reserve. 

Mr Zempilas said: “During our campaigns one of the issues that many people raised with us was a need to help stimulate as much foot traffic and indeed as much traffic as possible through the CBD.

“It’s been a tough year for those operating retail outlets and businesses in the city, and this is an opportunity for us early on in our tenure to show those ratepayers that we listen to them and we understand it’s been a difficult year.

“I’m also very keen to promote to the wider community the City of Perth being the home of Christmas in 2020 and the holiday period in 2021, and I think three hours free parking is a good way to demonstrate we’re serious about that.

“We know that many of the shopping centres offer free parking and a lot of it. And to our retailers to have an opportunity to compete they need some assistance in that area, and I think this is a good start.”

THE old Rod Evans community centre at 160 Hay Street will be transformed into a “safe night space” for homeless women for a two year trial – but they won’t be provided with a bed.

Perth city council will spend $575,000 to refit the building and is requesting $4.5 million of state funding to help run the centre and another planned for the future. 

It’ll open by February 2021 but is only intended to be a short-term solution until more state government accommodation is ready. Beds aren’t provided under the safe night space model – just kitchen, laundry, toilets, a tv area and a quiet space.

“Safe Night Spaces are not a long-term solution,” a council report states. “They are an interim solution which providse basic shelter and safety for people who are sleeping rough and decrease the risk of further trauma that may be experienced with sleeping rough. They also assist people to become more ‘service ready’ for permanent housing solutions and support services.”

Thin band-aid

House the Homeless WA, an advocacy group which has been working with the rough sleepers at Lord Street’s “Tent City” released a statement saying the plan’s not enough.

“Without stable, secure accommodation and a supported transition into housing, this proposal is a thin band-aid that fails to address the immediate crisis.

“One thousand people will sleep on the streets of Perth tonight. Some 50 people currently seek shelter at Tent City in East Perth, where they have been stranded throughout the election campaign and are now abandoned. 

“Assaults, abuse and violence from predators are increasing. Despite many proposed solutions during the lord mayor campaign, vulnerable people are still sleeping in tents without basic security.

“Meanwhile, an empty backpackers’ hostel with 50 beds sits ready and vacant in the heart of the city. Identified as a potential solution during the election campaign, it is available now as a supported, transitional accommodation solution to the problem blowing up at Tent City.”

Mayoral candidate Mark Gibson proposed that idea, saying he’d pursue it whether he won or lost, but it needs an estimated $50,000 in start up costs and ongoing funding for rent, staff and provisions.

HtHWA’s statement said “at a fraction of the cost of ‘safer nights’, Tent City could be solved tomorrow as part of a culturally appropriate and comprehensive program that could subsequently be applied more widely to rough sleeping in Perth. Wraparound supports, funding and a viable, available site are ready to roll out tomorrow – a solution to a problem that is set to explode in the heart of the city, unless we act now.”

Cr Liam Gobbert wanted to defer the safe night space idea. He’d recently walked the streets as part of the rough sleeper count along with councillors Clyde Bevan, Viktor Ko and Brent Fleeton to observe the issue first hand, and said they should carry out consultation before embarking on this. 

Cr Fleeton also backed deferral because there was no assurance they’d secure money from the McGowan government to run the place, and he wanted more information about getting people to and from the site and security measures. 

“I don’t want to rush into doing something for perception’s sake only,” he said. “It’s a very complex issue and it’s a state government issue.”

“Are we really getting value for money for a safe night space which is not a housing option? These people will not be sleeping there,” he said.

But the deferral was outvoted 7-2. 

Mr Zempilas said the city could afford to fund the centre for one year if the state government didn’t come through.

The women’s space is meant to open by February 2021 and is considered the most urgent of four safe night space categories needed. 

The next priority is for an all-genders space by mid-2021, and the other identified needs are for a youth centre (16-25) and one that is focussed on cultural needs of Aboriginal people.

by DAVID BELL

IF you’ve ever wondered what the artists are toiling away on in the old building in the middle of Robertson Park’s lawn, their work’s on display in a group exhibition Out of the Park at Stala Contemporary Gallery.

Robertson Park Artists Studio has been a mainstay of the Perth fine art community for more than 20 years and they used to hold the annual group exhibitions there, but ventured out last year while renovating and have decided it’s a change worth keeping.

The exhibition’s at 12 Cleaver Street from November 11-21, open 10am-4pm Wednesday-Friday and 2pm Saturday. 

VOTERS will continue to be denied a role in electing Bayswater’s mayor.

The council has stuck with its in-house method of councillors choosing their leader, with fears a popularly elected mayor will usher in party politics and expensive campaigns.

Mayor Dan Bull, elected to the spot by a majority of fellow councillors after both the 2017 and then 2019 election, suggested they switch to a popularly elected mayor at the October 27 council meeting.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that it is more democratic to have a directly elected mayor, a publicly elected mayor, than to have a mayor that’s elected by council,” he said.

His desire to switch was prompted by observing other local governments and by a recent review of the “ward” system: He brought it up as they discussed resident feedback about wards, which divide the city into several electorates (that will stay).

He said candidates were rarely asked during elections who they’d support as mayor, and that means “the public have very minimal ability to influence the outcome of who the spokesperson and the face of their local government is”. He said letting them elect a mayor puts “more power, more democratic power into the hands of the people that we represent”.

Cr Elli Petersen-Pik is not a fan of a popularly-elected mayor and didn’t think they should switch without consulting the public. “It sounds good, it sounds very democratic,” he told colleagues, but then said “after being on council for three years now I can see the many disadvantages.”

He was concerned a popularly-elected mayoral process “would be highly political. There’s already involvement of political parties in the local government elections. As an independent candidate I felt it, I experienced it. It was not fun. Connections were used, money was there, MPs were involved. Lists of members of political parties were used as well to influence elections. That will be nothing compared to the involvement of political parties if the mayor would be directly elected. Only people with money and political power and donations will have the chance to be mayor and I’m against that.”

He said councillors are democratically elected and choosing a mayor is one of their tasks as representatives, “so from my perspective the current system is democratic and sufficient”.

He says councillors know “who will be the mayor who’ll listen to the needs of the community and not just focus mainly on promoting themselves for personal gains or in preparation for the next mayoral election”.

Fellow south ward councillor Catherine Ehrhardt, while supporting the concept of a directly-elected mayor, voted against the making the switch now because they hadn’t yet asked for community input.

She commenced her speech against the motion saying “I’d like to start by congratulating lord mayor Basil Zempilas,” who was popularly elected, prompting a light chuckle from the room.

“What I am really struggling with here is the lack of consultation with our community as to how their mayor is elected… The changes being presented here with no notice, no prior discussion, and no consultation, have the potential to directly impact on the democratic representation of all residents and ratepayers in the whole City of Bayswater. Before we embark on such a course, we need to be very careful to consult with those most affected.”

by DAVID BELL

PERTH’S next statue should be of WA’s first female federal MP Dorothy Tangney, federal Perth Labor MP Patrick Gorman says.

Mr Gorman’s written to the federal government requesting funding for a Tangney statue to mark the 80th anniversary of her election in 2023.

“The election of Dame Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney was an historic occasion,” Mr Gorman wrote to PM Scott Morrison. “The first women to be members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“Tasmania has a bust of Dame Enid Lyons, however no statue exists anywhere in Australia for Dorothy Tangney.

“Dorothy Tangney was born in North Perth and lived most of her life in the Perth electorate. The Perth electorate is already home to a fitting memorial to Edith Cowan adjacent to Kings Park.”