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  • A graceful entry

    A graceful entry

    • Grace breaks through to the Bayswater dive structure, face first.

    ‘GRACE’ has come to Bayswater.

    The Metronet tunnel boring machine nicknamed ‘Grace’ on Tuesday (February 18) emerged face first from a 7.4km subterranean crawl that started in July 2017.

    Grace and another machine dubbed Sandy have been boring twin tunnels from Forrestfield to link Bayswater with the airport, dipping as low as 27 metres underground to duck under the river.

    The machines have also installed thousands of concrete rings along the way to shore up the tunnels.

    Grace had a head-start on their snail-paced race, which is the longest rail tunnel ever attempted in WA, and Sandy is due to finish in May.

    The first trains are set to run through in the second half of 2021, and take 20 minutes to make the trip between the eastern foothills, Perth airport and the CBD.

    “Where once there was dirt, sand, rocks and tree roots, now sits the foundation for our new railway,” premier Mark McGowan announced on February 18.

    Grace and Sandy were designed in Germany for the Metronet project. Grace was named after Edney primary school girl Grace McPhee, whose resilience while undergoing leukaemia treatment led her friends to describe her as the toughest kid they knew.

  • Letters 22.2.20

    Letters 22.2.20

    Retreat, regroup … charge
    SOME 104 years ago on a hot Sunday in February 1916, 200 men came together to construct a little brick-and-tile cottage in Mt Hawthorn.
    Its purpose was two-fold: as a memorial to those involved in the Gallipoli landing and as a home for a returned wounded soldier.
    As these men, fortified by refreshments from the Ladies Patriotic Guild, toiled in the hot sun to build ANZAC Cottage, they also built another legacy – community spirit.
    The Friends of ANZAC Cottage, over its 14 years of service, has always honoured and nurtured this sense of community spirit while remembering the horrific circumstances that lead to its construction.
    In recent weeks the Friends has chosen, with heavy hearts, to leave their beloved “home”, ANZAC Cottage, because of ongoing tensions with the current lessor, the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (WA).
    We believe these tensions were hindering the group’s core role of promoting the Cottage and telling its fascinating story, including the personal insight into private John Porter and his surviving descendants, daughter Marjorie Williams, who was born in the front room of ANZAC Cottage 99 years ago, and granddaughter Anne Chapple, who has been a devoted Friends member.
    Since this news became public, there has been the outpouring of sadness and disappointment from a range of community stakeholders who have appreciated the Friends’ work and activities.
    This strong community encouragement has prompted the Friends to consider continuing their work, albeit with some change to the mode of delivery.
    The Friends would like to take this opportunity to thank all of their loyal supporters, friends, members, neighbours and volunteers who have brought the Cottage alive, enriched its story and ensured that its history and its heritage will endure.
    Peter Ramsay BEM(Mil)
    1st Battalion Royal New Zealand
    Infantry Regiment 6RAR/NZ
    ANZAC Battalion – Vietnam
    1969-1970
    President, Friends of ANZAC Cottage

    The grass was definitely greener
    CITY of Stirling staff had been asked to identify the best location for a clubroom in Hamer Park for the Junior AFL and Senior Cricket Clubs.
    In May 2019 they recommended building the clubroom directly across Woodsome Street from Mt Lawley Senior High School.
    The building was to be 20m from the road and required a 12-bay car park in Hamer Park.
    This location is the best because the school could use the clubhouse building and extra parking during school hours.
    The clubs, which only operate outside school hours, would use all the parking and drop-off facilities built for the school.
    The clubhouse would face away from the sun, have shady mature trees nearby and be 200m from the nearest residence.
    At Stirling council on Tuesday, the elected members voted to build the clubhouse on the other side of Hamer Park.
    This location is an intrusive 75m into Hamer Park and requires a 59-bay car park to be built in Hamer Park 10m from residences.
    It will be built on the root system of one of the two large lemon-scented gum trees.
    The building will face the sun and there are few shady trees nearby.
    I think the staff at the city of Stirling got it right in the first place and then our elected representatives got it wrong.
    Myles Harmer
    Mount Lawley

    Waste of energy
    JUST read your article about the complaining strata neighbour whose opinion was enough to force someone to remove their solar panels (“Solar flare-up”, Voice, February 15, 2020).
    In this day where the vast majority of Australians want more action on the climate emergency, where this situation is thrown in stark relief against a backdrop of many losing their homes altogether in devastating bush fires, the neighbour ought to be ashamed of themselves.
    Glad the government has realised this is an issue, and is putting rules in place to prevent someone’s misguided ‘opinion’ about other’s business being able to force other’s time and energy having to go into deconstructing steps towards a greener future.
    Rachael Hughes
    Perth

    Thar she blows
    IT was appalling to see on the TV news recently the CEO of the WA Museum waxing lyrical about the humungous whale skeleton now suspended in the heritage-listed Hackett Hall in Northbridge.
    One only has to read the Heritage Act (2018) WA to see that this act of vandalism contradicts many clauses of the Act and the both the WA minister for the arts and the heritage council should be ashamed of their decision to approve this desecration of Hackett Hall, a unique item of library heritage in Perth’s CBD.
    A more appropriate home would have been the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle where they already exhibit a whaling harpoon and a whaleboat – an area where the whale skeleton should have been positioned, in keeping with the theme of that part of the WAMM.
    Roy Stall
    Rochdale Rd, Mt Claremont

    Flamin’ heck!
    SPOTTED by chance on commercial TV.
    “Authorised by the State Government, Perth: ‘Fire has a plan….’”
    Really? Yet who am I to question the State?
    As always, best regards,
    Winsley Hurst
    St Georges Terrace, Perth

  • A dog’s best friend

    A dog’s best friend

    NEW legislation is about to go before parliament to control the trading and welfare of dogs. Coincidentally, COLIN NICHOL had been looking around for a four-legged companion and discovered some disturbing facts about the canine breeding industry during his search. 

    THERE’S a sad little story on a dog-selling website.

    In part it says: “My best friend’s puppy was stolen on Sunday 9 February…” It was taken from their home. “There have been reports that an ad was placed for a quick sale (as they needed cash) for $550. If you or anyone you know has purchased this puppy or if you know where she is, please get in touch with me urgently on…”

    It was a beautiful little black Chihuahua and such pets are valuable, but that’s only part of the story. A loved pet, a family member, has been snatched, probably to pay for drugs.

    The word amongst dog owners is to never leave unwatched an attractive puppy or any small dog.

    They’re too easily dog-napped. Shockingly in our oblivious world, there have been far worse tales.

    In the light of recent revelations about horse and dog racing, it’s timely to look more deeply into another aspect of our close animal world – the dark side of the pet dog industry.

    The state government’s proposed Dog Amendment (Stop Puppy Farming) Bill 2019 is long overdue.

    RSPCA WA welcomed the reforms to prevent cruelty, neglect and dogs being abandoned and left to fend for themselves. There will also be more control over the iniquitous interstate trade.

    The RSPCA urges “Adopt, don’t shop”, meaning don’t buy from backyard breeders in a car park or deceptive advertisers online.

    Adopt from a rescue service but wherever you get it, always make sure you know as much as possible about its health, upbringing, behaviour and genetic inheritance before it becomes a member of your household.

    Dog breeding is unregulated and anyone can breed as many puppies as they want.

    Dams are whelped until exhausted, then sold. It’s a big earn earner.

    Rescue and shelter organisations in WA take in approximately 3200 dogs each year.

    A healthy “bitzer” from a registered refuge will bring more reward than one from a top level (read expensive) vanity pet dealer. Puppy love is a commodity.

    About 35 per cent of us include dogs as part of our families. The opportunity to adopt will soon come closer to home with the licensing of local pet shops.

    Medical insurance is recommended, although only about 7 per cent of dogs are currently covered.

    Cost is the concern, surely a family policy can be created that includes pets.

    Happens here

    It happens here: dogs obtained for free, cheaply or stolen, may well be destined for dog baiting (don’t look that up) or fighting.

    Also, dogs are bred for that and these covert horrors are difficult to discover.

    Stories of dogs slaughtered for human consumption in other parts of the world are too horrific to repeat. But bringing it close to home in just one instance, the Bali Animal Welfare Association believes that every year up to 100,000 dogs, including their beautiful heritage ones, are slaughtered to be sold in dog meat restaurants.

    Can’t happen here? It did.

    Dogs have been our companions for 40,000 years. Does human-kind have a closer friend?

    Still dogs, as all pets until now, have no legal status. After so long, shouldn’t we acknowledge their special place in our lives and care for them as loyally as they will protect us?

    We need only look into a dog’s eyes to see the best in ourselves.

  • News Clips 22.2.20

    News Clips 22.2.20

    • STIRLING could soon have its own Australia Day and New Year’s Eve celebrations after councillor Keith Sargent successfully moved for an officer’s report on council holding its own events. Aside from the Stirling citizenship ceremony and a few small events, the city does not hold or sponsor any events on Australia Day, or on New Year’s Eve. In recent years some Australian councils have stopped hosting Australia Day celebrations on January 26 because it was deemed offensive to Indigenous people, who often label it “Invasion Day”.

    • THE speed limit on the Inglewood stretch of Beaufort Street is to be reduced to 40kmh between Central Avenue and Crawford Road for two years. The trial follows complaints to Stirling council over the years about pedestrian safety on the busy thoroughfare. Traffic volumes in local streets, and traffic delays will be monitored as part of the trial.

    • STIRLING will look into having more electric vehicle charging stations in the city as part of its Community Energy Plan 2020-2030. Councillor Elizabeth Re wants charging stations at public libraries: “The city already has in place libraries in strategic locations throughout the municipal area, has ample onsite car parking, city staff on site, security cameras and flexible operational hours,” Cr Re said.

    • MORE artwork could line the walls of Stirling council next year with a doubling of its $10,000 art acquisition budget being considered. “The city’s art collection represents a cultural and financial investment for the city,” noted officers. The collection includes art from the biennial acquisitive award and commissioned portraits of honorary freemen.

    • A BUG collector, the developer of Fringe World and the state’s most active frog counter are amongst the recipients of the WA Citizens of the Year awards.Perth council’s top citizen was Marcus Canning. Now involved in The Rechabite in Northbridge, Mr Canning  developed the Fringe World Festival, Rooftop Movies and the Bakery live music venue. Bayswater’s citizen of the year went to Nestor Jongko, a leader in the Filipino-Australian community since 1985 and has been directing and fundraising for several charities. Vincent’s last awards were in 2014.

  • Cookie heaven

    Cookie heaven

    • Get Chunky staffer Rohan Bay with a box of cookies. Photos by Jenny D’Anger.

    GET CHUNKY sells freshly baked New York-style biscuits, so I was keen to check it out.

    When I’ve driven by the Mt Lawley bakery on a Tuesday it’s always been closed, but last week I spotted chairs outside and signs of life, so I screeched to a halt.

    My work colleague is always raving about the peanut butter biscuit ice cream sandwich ($11), so I got one.

    The warm cookie was packed with two generous scoops of salted caramel ice cream.

    It was a match made in heaven, with the gooeyness of the dough blending magnificently with the ice cream.

    The environmentally friendly bakery even had wooden spoons.

    I bought a dozen assorted cookies ($72) to take back to Voice HQ, where staff flocked around me like hungry toddlers.

    The massive cookies were all delicious – crisp on the outside and moist and doughy on the inside.

    “They are fantastic,” said Matt, going back for thirds.

    “It’s like a warm apple pie,” said Julie as she bit into an apple crumble cookie.

    Megan was munching on a rocky road with milk and white chocolate, peanuts, raspberry jellies and marshmallows.

    “It tastes like real rocky road. It’s got a nice texture with the crunchiness of peanuts and the chewiness of the jelly.”

    There’s a gluten-free version with chocolate buttons, which is so rich and sweet it would be difficult to finish.

    But most of the cookies had just the right level of sweetness, without being cloying.

    Get Chunky is owned by Kyra and Dave Xo, who have a passion for gourmet cookies.

    “Everything tastes better when it’s home made…which is why we don’t cut corners and we don’t skimp on the good stuff,” their webpage says.

    All the cookies are made with locally sourced ingredients with no additives or preservatives.

    “Every single cookie is hand-made, hand-weighed and hand-rolled, and baked fresh on site all day, every day.”

    Cookies are $6.50 each or $6 for six or more.

    By JENNY D’ANGER

    Get Chunky
    81 Walcott Street, Mt Lawley

  • Brutal bard

    Brutal bard

    BRON BATEMAN’S graphic and emotionally raw poems belie her gentle manner and warm smile.

    I expected the Northbridge author to be loud and aggressive, but I was sitting across from a polite 56-year-old blonde in a lacy red top.

    It’s a birthday gift from her wife of 16 years, she says.

    As the interview unfolds, I can see that Bateman’s arms are riddled with tiny white scars, partially hidden by tattoos.

    She began self-mutilating as a teen; a reaction to the fear and self-loathing triggered by years of sexual abuse from her father.

    “They [the tattoos] are all there for a reason,” the Murdoch academic says. “They are a reclamation of my skin.”

    Bateman’s slender book of chronological poems Of Memory and Furniture touches on her childhood, her first marriage to a bloke and their seven children, and her second marriage and another daughter.

    “I always wanted a big family,” she says.

    Her poems explores female embodiment, sexuality and relationships with family, lovers and institutions.

    Some are gentle and tender, while others are erotic-bordering-on-pornographic.

    There’s a brutality and hard edge to many of the poems, while others are tender and poignant.

    In 2017 her poem The Lemon Picker won Columbia University’s winter poetry contest.

    It’s a liberating account of seeing but not speaking to her abuser, after many years. He’s picking lemons and Bateman observes him from a distance.

    He turns his head and stares

    at me

    without recognition,

    and from this distance, he is an

    old man

    and I am not afraid.

    Of Memory and Furniture is published by Fremantle Press and available in bookstores across the metro area.

  • Leaping from the lab to the gallery

    Leaping from the lab to the gallery

    BLOOD, silk and heart muscle have gone into Bricolage, a confronting installation by Nathan Thompson, Guy Ben-Ary and Sebastian Diecke.

    Part of the Perth Festival, it’s on at the Fremantle Art Centre, but don’t expect buckets of gore.

    “Blood cells have been reverse engineered back to stem cells,” Thompson, says.

    They have been used to create delicate, pulsating heart muscles.

    “A prototype biobot… living entities we have bio-engineered.”

    Science fact

    It uses “ground breaking” technology created in Japan some years ago.

    “Everyone thinks it’s science fiction but it’s science fact,” Thompson says.

    The instillation is a space-ship like craft suspended from the ceiling in a dimly lit gallery.

    “Portholes” allow visitors to see the delicate biobots inside.

    “It’s a vessel of care, able to support life outside the human body,” the artist says.

    It’s part of the University of WA’s SymbioticA, bringing scientists and artists together, in order to make science more accessible to the general public.

    “We are taking it out of the laboratory and putting it into the gallery,” Thompson says.

    “This technology exists so we need to talk about it in the public sphere. At the moment the only ones talking about it are scientists and pharmaceutical corporations.”

    Also exhibiting is John Prince Siddon’s All Mixed Up, and Butcher Cherel Janangoo’s work simply titled Janangoo.

    Mixed Up is a major solo exhibition with newly commissioned paintings, sculpture and installations.

    Siddon, a Walmajarri man based in Fitzroy Crossing, spent his early years working on cattle stations, until losing a leg in a riding accident.

    His art combines diverse influences drawn from television, traditional Kimberley boab nut carving, desert iconography and epic dreamtime characters.

    Janagoo, who died in 2009, was a key Gooniyandi elder, also in the Kimberley.

    Curated by Lynley Nargoodah it’s a glimpse into the artists’ cultural and physical environment.

    Exhibitions run till March 22.

    By JENNY D’ANGER

  • Cool home

    Cool home

    THE tranquility and bird life are the best things about living at this Mt Lawley home, the owner says.

    There’s a delightful park with a lake just a few houses away, and finding the odd duck in your swimming pool is always a delight, she says.

    Tranquil

    On the other side of the park is Edith Cowan University, and Mt Lawley High and Primary Schools are a stone’s throw away, making this a great family home.

    Built in the late 1950s this three-bedroom house has all the bells and whistle of the late art-deco period, with gorgeous leadlight doors and windows, mellow jarrah floors, decorative ceilings and vintage fireplaces.

    Walls have been removed and the home extended to create a sprawling semi-open plan.

    The original lounge has doors leading to a second sitting area, where you can access the pool.

    The kitchen has a sweep of granite benchtops and solid timber cupboards.

    There’s a large pantry in an alcove off the kitchen, which leads to a second bathroom and laundry.

    Alfresco dining is as simple as stepping out onto an expansive timber deck.

    High fences ensure privacy, so nudie swimming is the go, I’m told.

    Sitting on a huge 782sqm block, there’s grass for the kids to play on, fruit trees and a large powered shed at the rear of the property.

    The bedrooms and a bathroom form a separate wing, closed off by a lovely leadlight door.

    One of the bedrooms has a dressing room, which would make a great study nook.

    The original garage is under the home, with a cellar off to one side.

    Built for a single-car household it’s a tad small for today’s monster motors, but there’s ample parking in either of the two driveways and the car port.

    Situated on Thurston Street, the Beaufort and Fitzgerald Street cafe strips are nearby, and when there’s a big game at Optus Stadium, just jump on the bus and you’re there in no time.

    By JENNY D’ANGER

    7 Thurston Street, Mt Lawley
    low $1millions
    Carlos Lehn 0416 206 736
    Acton Mt Lawley 9272 2488

  • Highgate Hill’s hidden history

    •WA Police in their first Model T Ford circa 1911

    The WA Police Historical Society will hold an open day at their little-known museum on Lincoln Street on February 16.

    Society president and retired copper David MacDonald says many people don’t know of their existence so they’re inviting the public along to have a look and learn about what they do.

    “We’ve got uniforms and artefacts… batons, handcuffs, electronic machinery… we’ve got the big searchlight we used to use from the second world war.”

    And the building itself is a museum piece: Secretary Chris Cassidy tells us “the old Highgate Hill police station dates back to 1897, and then the quarters were built in early 1903”.

    The station was built in 1897 during the gold rush, to respond to a booming population and the booming crime that went with it.

    The station also played a key part in the introduction of WA’s firearm laws. In 1928 the officer in charge was shot dead by a Brisbane Hotel customer, leading to the introduction of the firearms licensing system.

    During WW2 the building was secretly converted to become branch headquarters for police wireless operations, as the police commissioner thought the central police station might be a bombing target. The ventilation tower next door found a new use as a radio mast.

    That use wasn’t made public until 1956, and it’d continue to be their communications hubs until 1975.

    It was placed on the state heritage register in 1999.

    The museum’s at 57 Lincoln Street and the open day runs from 10am to 3pm, entry’s an optional gold coin donation, and there’s a sausage sizzle.

    WA Police Rifle Team 1909

     

  • Solar flare-up

    Solar flare-up

    A West Perth resident ordered to remove his solar panels after a strata stoush says the experience should be a warning to others wanting to do their bit for the environment.

    “How many people are going to be buying [a townhouse] if you can’t have panels on the roof?” Steve Dermott said after the order.

    “You’re letting aesthetics get in the way of progress. When you think about your carbon footprint, the mind boggles.

    “I was unaware that you’d need permission anyway to put things on the bloody roof,” he says of his $4000 array of panels.

    Mr McDermott installed them two years ago, but 18 months later a neighbour took umbrage and sought through strata management to have them removed.

    • Steve McDermott’s solar panels were too conspicuous for his neighbour, but not quite conspicuous enough for a good photo. Photo by David Bell

    Look the same

    Mr McDermott says he was told “everything’s got to look the same in these townhouse we’re in”.

    He and his neighbour attended an emergency general meeting of owners in June last year, but the neighbour stood firm and Mr McDermott was told to remove the panels or find himself in the State Administrative Tribunal.

    “One objection was enough,” he says. “I’m flabbergasted really.”

    He’d asked for a delay in the decision to give the state government time to implement new strata legislation making it harder for neighbours to hold up solar panels and other green-friendly improvements. 

    Under the new rules, expected to come into force in the first half of this year, 50 per cent support from owners is enough for “sustainability infrastructure”.

    by DAVID BELL