Perth Voice Interactive

KICKED out as WA went into Covid-19 lockdown, Sharra Roberts’ fate is one that could be facing more state housing tenants if a moratorium on evictions is lifted, advocates fear.

After thumping a neighbour she claims made inappropriate comments to her young kids, Ms Roberts was given her marching orders by WA’s housing department in early April, despite not being charged by police. She missed 

a crucial court hearing, believing it was about the dispute, and found herself without a roof over her head just as the WA government was telling everyone to stay at home.

Since then it’s been a heartbreaking spiral.

Ms Roberts and her three-year-old daughter Alice found shelter sharing a caravan with her mother Susan, but there wasn’t enough room for a 14-year-old girl she was caring for whose mother is doing time.

The teen’s now ended up on the street where the prospects seem grim: “I try telling her that boys will respect her more if she doesn’t put herself out for sex, but she’s going her own way, she’s not hearing,” Ms Roberts said.

One of the issues in her previous tenancy had been the troubled kids she’d allow to use her house as a safe haven, but in a cruel twist of fate, her mum’s caravan was burnt to the ground in what’s suspected was an arson attack by a bunch of kids she didn’t even know.

“We were out the back having a cup of tea and we didn’t even smell the smoke because it was blowing the other way; I felt the heat,” Ms Roberts said.

In minutes, the pair lost everything.

The only option to keep her young daughter from sleeping in a park was moving into an older daughter’s house.

It’s got two bedrooms and nine people living there, so Ms Roberts and her mother are sleeping on sofas and floors; their beloved dogs rotated just to get time for a wee outside.

Her biggest concern is young Alice’s health, as she was only just recovering from a bought of pneumonia 18 months ago and recent health checks show her lungs have stopped developing.

“Usually I would take her in and warm her up but I can’t do that now,” she says.

“She is stressed because she keeps saying ‘mum, when can we go home to your place’.

“I keep crying, I keep breaking down all the time.”

Alice’s case also has social workers at Fiona Stanley Hospital worried; in correspondence seen by the Voice they’ve urged the housing department to put her back on a priority list.

“Appropriate housing with a proper heating system will help her to manage her condition better,” one worker noted of Alice’s persistent bronchitis.

But Alice’s health isn’t the only problems her eviction has created: she earned a $25,000 bill for repairs and “rubbish removal” after her eviction, which she believes has been overly-inflated by opportunistic contractors.

There’s no doubting Ms Roberts contributed to her next looming disaster; she’s facing an assault charge and expects a stretch in prison after attacking a relative she believes was trying to steal her puppies. But she says it’s almost impossible protecting your possessions while homeless, and if she had her own place she wouldn’t have been put in such a difficult situation.

Ms Roberts and her mother say one of the problems with WA’s state housing model 

is its inflexibility, believing things could have worked out differently if they were allowed to get a house together to support each other. A few years back the older woman was kicked out of her own Homeswest unit when the department discovered she’d put her daughter up against the rules.

Unless that changes, they’re running out of options; in a month’s time her daughter has another woman moving into the house and the sofa her mum is currently sleeping on won’t be available any more.

by STEVE GRANT

A FORMER City of Perth councillor has pulled out of the running for October’s elections after getting caught out by red tape.  

Steve Hasluck served from October 2017 until the council was suspended in March 2018 and had flagged his intention to run again this year, but a day before nominations opened he revealed he’d been advised he was not qualified to stand.

“There was a form I omitted to complete by a critical date; this was my fault and I blame only myself for this error. We live and learn as they say,” Mr Hasluck said.

“There is nothing I can do for 2020 but I will be standing for council in October of 2021.”

Mr Hasluck ran at the last election as a resident, but he’s since bought another house in Mt Lawley and was unaware changing his primary residence automatically took him off the City of Perth roll.

He still owns the home within the City of Perth boundary, but needed to sign a separate form 50 days before the election to qualify to run as a property owner. 

The Voice understands at least one other person who’d wanted to nominate is in the same predicament. 

Rules

Mr Hasluck said he thought electoral officers might have raised that issue with him when he wrote to them about his nomination, but says he’s not about to start pointing the finger.

“The rules are the rules. They’re rules I’ve followed in my, so far, very short local government career. They’re there for a reason.

“I had come out of that inquiry clean as a whistle, there were no adverse findings against me,” he said of the Power inquiry into the City of Perth.

Mr Hasluck and two other sources told the Voice there were several candidates for this year’s election who had only signed leases in the last couple of days.

“That really is a flawed system that has to change. You can’t have people signing a lease on a Thursday and then qualifying to run for council on the Friday,” he said.

The Local Government Act requires those renters to have a right to occupy the rental properties “for at least the next three months”, but doesn’t set a minimum time for how long they’ve had to be there.

The Power inquiry criticised former councillors Keith Jong and Rob Butler for signing “sham leases” on offices they never intended to occupy but which entitled them to run for office. The council has since tightened up the rules to ensure it views all leases from prospective candidates.

by DAVID BELL

Skaters lose out to cars

THE hunt’s on for a new spot to replace the Wotton Reserve Skate Park, which will soon be demolished for a carpark for the new Morley train station.

Bayswater council opened the skate, scooter and BMX park in 2002, but now the McGowan government’s told them it’ll be knocked over as early as the start of 2021 as part of the Metronet public transport push.

A Facebook group “Bayswater Skatepark Community” has since sprung up to advocate for a fast replacement.

Group member Josh Eveson points to the situation in Adelaide where its skate park was demolished five years ago and still hasn’t been replaced. 

Mr Eveson says he doesn’t want local kids missing out on years of social interaction and physical activity.

The group’s numbers include pro BMXer Todd Meyn, who attended August’s council briefing to implore urgency.

“It’s truly important that there is a new location set in stone before the original one is taken down,” he said.

Scarce

He said most people wouldn’t dream of knocking over a soccer field or a football oval, and skate parks are even more scarce.

“I’m 28 years old, and I’ve grown up at the skate park since I was 10.”

After learning the ropes at the skatepark he was able to pursue a pro career in action sports in the United States. 

“I wouldn’t be in the position where I am today, to be doing what I’m doing, if I didn’t have the skate park down the road from me.”

At the August 25 meeting Bayswater council reformed its old skate and bike committee, bringing on board members from BSC and with Mr Meyn in an advisory capacity, and their priority is to find a new spot for a Wotton-park style facility.

In the meantime BSC’s running a survey asking what people would like to see in a new facility at http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BayswaterSkatePark

by DAVID BELL

NOBODY alerted authorities while a woman in her 50s was being allegedly indecently assaulted on a nightmare train journey last week, it has been revealed.

White Gum Valley resident Jamie Hansen (31) has since been charged with indecent assault, brandishing a weapon and threatening to kill train-goers, but the incident has prompted a victims’ advocate to call for more security guards on trains.

Mr Hansen was travelling on a city-bound Thornlie line train at around 7am on August 5 when police allege he became “erratic, shouted abuse and banged on windows before removing a 30cm knife from a bag”.  The alleged victim was sitting in a corner seat, trapped by Mr Hansen when he indecently assaulted her.

“The man allegedly took the knife from his waistband and waved it at other passengers threatening to kill them before going back to the woman and indecently assaulting her again,” a police media release reports.

Mr Hansen jumped on and off two city-bound trains before being arrested after a chase.

A spokesperson for the Perth Transport Authority confirmed no one on the train attempted to alert authorities as the situation unfolding in the carriage, but advocate Nicki Hide says bystanders might simply have been in shock.

Shock 

“Fear for their own safety and vulnerability is compounded by the realisation they are not trained in negotiating with hostile offenders, especially those threatening or using a weapon during an assault,” she told the Voice. 

Only once Mr Hansen got off at Victoria Park were WA Police informed by a ticketing officer who had witnessed him abuse a security guard and threaten other members of the public. 

The PTA told the Voice the incident could have been de-escalated more efficiently if witnesses on the train had alerted authorities as it was happening. 

“We would encourage anyone who witnesses violent or antisocial behaviour to tell a staff member, press one of the emergency buttons on the platform, or alert the train driver by pressing the intercom button if it is safe to do so. Passengers are also able to call the PTA’s emergency incident number (9220 9999), which is monitored 24/7,” the department said in a statement to the Herald.

But Ms Hide says Transperth should step up its security game. 

“There must be a minimum of three highly trained security officers on every single train,” she said.

“They must be able to actively monitor all carriages on that train, and proceed immediately to whichever carriage they are required.” 

The PTA argues its security system – including 366 security staff – is “the envy of the nation’s public transport providers”.

ANZAC COTTAGE may be transferred from Vincent council to the National Trust of WA.

The move would see it opened up to the public more often but with an entry fee attached.

The transfer plan has in-principle support from both main groups associated with the cottage – the leaseholders Vietnam Veterans Association WA, and the Friends of Anzac Cottage who are now back holding events there after disagreements led to them taking a six-month breather. 

They’d both keep access to the cottage after the transfer.

The 104 year-old Kalgoorlie Street Cottage was built by locals almost entirely in one day for wounded Gallipoli veteran Cuthbert John Porter. 

It’s currently open to the public when FOAC runs their open days on the first Sunday of each month and on significant war remembrance days (entry’s free, or a gold coin donation gets you afternoon tea). 

Under the National Trust’s ownership it’ll likely be open much more often, but a $10 entry fee will be attached those days, or $5 for kids. 

The trust is a registered charity and says the money is “used to offset maintenance and capital expenses in the future” and “such a fee can be moderated for community and education groups”.

Vincent council staff support the transfer as it’ll save on maintenance costs and councillors will make the decision after a consultation period.

Mayor Emma Cole says: “We think that the National Trust is in a strong position to preserve and enhance Anzac Cottage’s historic status and place within our community, but want to hear from as many Vincent residents as possible before we make a decision.”

Consultation runs til September 22 at imagine.vincent.wa.gov.au or give them your thoughts on 9273 6000.

by DAVID BELL

A MERCEDES BENZ SUV which spent a week clogging up the sole accessible parking bay out front of the City of Perth library clocked up $2500 in fines.

Taxi driver Terence Watts called the Voice on Monday to let us know it’s been there “for the last six days… this is so selfish”.

“I have an ACROD sticker issued to me, I’m an operator of a wheelchair-carrying taxi, so I use that [bay] quite often when I have clients who want to use the library, who want to go to the Malcolm McCusker Law Centre, who want to go into town.”

The situation’s exacerbated because the street’s further cramped by construction for the council’s Hay Street revitalisation upgrades.

“When you have a customer who says ‘that’s where I want to go’ and you can’t drop them off there, it’s very frustrating for them,” Mr Watts said. 

“And it’s frustrating for me that I can’t drop a client exactly where they want to go, and I have to drop them off in an area that’s dangerous”. 

Mr Watts says cars parked in clearways get swiftly towed, and since this is even more of an inconvenience than just having to merge “I can’t see why this vehicle cannot be towed away”.

The council says it first pinged the driver last Wednesday, and by Monday five $500 infringements had been issued while it appeared the car hadn’t moved.

But oddly, the fines and chalk marks left by parking inspectors were removed on three occasions, meaning the owner was aware of what was happening.

Mr Watts has a theory: “If you can afford a $100,000 car, what’s five or six parking tickets?”

On Monday the council’s rangers left a note saying the car would be towed if it wasn’t gone in 24 hours; that threat was enough to get the owner’s attention and the parking spot is now free for those who rightfully deserve it.

by DAVID BELL

WITH fears of a surge in homelessness if the McGowan government’s moratorium on evictions is lifted at the end of this month, the WA Greens are trying to get ahead of the game and hear from worried renters directly.

East Metro MLC Tim Clifford has launched an online Covid-19 rental health check survey, and expects the results will show the need for ongoing government support will need to be extended – including rental assistance for those who lost jobs.

“It’s a real issue, and we have asked questions in parliament if the government is looking at an extended moratorium, but their response has been ‘it’s an ongoing thing we are monitoring,” Mr Clifford told the Voice.

Snapshot

“It’s not done much to quell people’s anxiety.”

Mr Clifford said they were hoping to hear from 1000 voters across a range of demographics to develop a “real-time” snapshot of the rental market.

“We know that when Covid hit, thousands of people lost their jobs, and there’s a large cohort who are renters.

“I think it was yesterday I read an article about people accessing payday lenders just to meet the basic needs in life to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, and we know there’s been concerns about predatory behaviour and extremely high interest rates.”

Mr Clifford said it was concerning that some real estate agents had been encouraging “rent bidding” where people offered to pay more than the asking price for a home just to get in. It was being fuelled by people returning to WA from overseas.

“Even before the pandemic there were a lot of issues underlying the rental market that people don’t know about in terms of rental stress and the fact we have 14,000 people on the social housing waiting list and an average wait of 95 weeks.”

Mr Clifford urged the McGowan government to listen to housing and advocacy groups rather than industry lobbyists, though he acknowledged that a depressed property market meant there was “stress at all levels”.

“It comes down to what is the role of the government which is to protect people and to look after the community,” Mr Clifford said.

The Voice contacted the premier’s office and the housing minister’s office to see if a decision has been made on the moratorium and rental assistance scheme.

Mr Clifford’s survey can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/59WY5XV