Perth Voice Interactive

NORANDA resident Michael Sutherland has been awarded an OAM in the Queens Honours list for services to local government and parliament.

Mr Sutherland has been involved in WA politics for more than 23 years and is best known for being the Liberal Mt Lawley MP from 2008-17 and Parliamentary Speaker from 2013-17.

His WA political career started in 1995 when he was elected to Perth council. He helped introduce the free CAT bus service in 1996 and went on to become deputy lord mayor.

During his 14 years at the City of Perth he helped foster links with international cities including Seocho-Korea, Nanjing-China and Taipei-Taiwan.

The South African ex-pat said when he was elected Speaker he strived to be “cosmopolitan” and make government a more welcoming place for international visitors and students.

“Having immigrated to Australia in 1987, I have found Australia to be a very welcoming country,” Mr Sutherland said.

“If newcomers try to become a part of the society they will succeed.

“Immigrants are given opportunities in Australia and should seize it with both hands.

“I encourage people to run for local councils or parliament, make a contribution and put something back into the community.”

Over the years he got under the skin of the political left, who thought he represented a brand of old-school conservatism that was antiquated and irrelevant.

But hidden beneath the political bluster there were progressive social views and he often went against the conservative party line.

While he was an MP he assisted various immigrant groups and fostered relations with overseas countries, prompting the Perth Convention Bureau to make him “a tourism ambassador”.

In 2009 Perth council made him a Freeman of the city.

Prior to immigrating to Australia, Mr Sutherland served on Johannesburg council from 1982-87.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

FORMER Perth deputy mayor Michael Sutherland was deeply saddened to hear about the death of entertainer Max Kay. They served together on Perth city council from 2004-2008. Mr Sutherland gave The Voice an affectionate account of “Max in the City”.

BEING a people’s person who was full of ideas and energy, Max added life, vigour and verve to the council.

Marketing and “razzmatazz” were his strongpoints, he was always interested in exploring ways to add vitality to the city.

Max was different to the run-of-the-mill local government representative, he was well suited to represent our capital city.

He didn’t just talk-the-talk; he did the work.

He ran the “Speakers Forum” on Sunday afternoons in Forrest Place, an initiative which unfortunately did not continue after he left.

As you can imagine he had many interesting stories to tell about the more colourful participants.

Together with the Lord Mayor at the time, Dr Peter Nattrass, he stood in the Hay Street Mall day-after-day to stoke up public opposition to the state government’s plan to build a huge office building smack-bang against the newly refurbished Town Hall.

They won, the plan was scrapped!

As someone who understood the entertainment industry Max was one of the council representatives on the Perth Theatre Trust, he wanted theatre and the arts to flourish.

Some functions that councillors need to attend are not all glitz and glamour,  they can sometimes be “borrrring”.

Not so when Max was around. We always hoped that we would be seated with Max and Norma as the night would pass quickly and be filled with jokes and laughs. 

Skirmishes

When Max and I both stood for Lord Mayor in 2008 I found it hard to say negative things about him.

This is unusual in competitive politics. Despite some minor skirmishes, we remained friends.

Although I was his opponent, and did not think so at the time, he would have made a very good Lord Mayor, he would have been different.

Unfortunately Max bowed out of city politics after losing the mayoral election. During his time as a councillor, Max made the City of Perth a better place.

After his stint on council, Max maintained his interest in the arts and in the  various activities in the city. I saw him and Norma  around the traps often.

On a personal level, Max was unselfish with his time and helped me whenever I asked.

I found him to be a down-to-earth person who could mix with kings and paupers alike.

Max called a spade a spade and importantly was not politically correct.

There were no airs and graces about him, people could expect a friendly greeting and a chat.

He was a person who endeared himself to those he met.

I wish Norma and her family all the very best.

FORMER Vincent council CEO John Giorgi has been appointed the CEO for the Town of Cambridge.

He’s been working as a senior employee at the town since 2015, and has been acting CEO since June last year, when the town suspended then-CEO Jason Buckley.

Mr Buckley, whose package was $313,000 a year, was sacked in November.

He alleged he was mistreated and bullied, and threatened legal action according to the town’s media release.

Councillors voted 6-3 to appoint Mr Giorgi, an old school public servant, as CEO.

Late last year Ms Shannon publicly thanked Mr Giorgi for the extra work done by his temporary administration to “right the ship” after a difficult year.

Mr Giorgi was CEO at Vincent from the town’s inception in 1994, until 2014.

by DAVID BELL

MORE than 50 Mt Lawley locals attended a public meeting about improving safety at the Second Avenue-Carrington Street intersection.

Stirling council presented two potential solutions at the June 6 meeting at Mt Lawley Bowling Club: One was a plateau intersection to slow cars down, which the city says has been successful at other traffic black spots.

The second was to install traffic islands on both sides of Second heading into Carrington Street, to remind people that traffic on Carrington has right of way.

Stirling council had originally wanted to make the intersection a right-turn only from Second Avenue to improve safety, but there was a huge community backlash with locals saying it’d just shift the problem and create rat runs on neighbouring streets.

At the meeting council staff said a roundabout – touted by some locals – wouldn’t work because there’s not enough space, and a mini-roundabout wouldn’t be effective in stopping crashes or reducing speeds.

Community consultation has been extended to June 28 at yoursay.stirling.wa.gov.au

by DAVID BELL

LIFE-SAVING surgery, driverless cars, health concerns, insomnia and now even Russian hackers – the new 5G broadband technology about to be rolled out through Perth is certainly a mixed bag.

Optus is planning to cover the CBD before the end of the year to match Telstra, which recently released the 5G-compatible Samsung Galaxy S10 smart phone into the market.

The new 5G network is not just a level up from 4G, but also a couple of steps ahead, allowing smartphones to connect more easily with other devices and boosting healthcare with better imaging, diagnostics and treatment.

Its super-fast speed is expected to make driverless cars safer, turning a split-second decision to avoid collisions into micro-seconds.

But there are some who argue that the proliferation of “cells” to transmit the technology is putting people’s health at risk, with a rally planned in Perth’s Supreme Court Gardens on June 22 as part of a national campaign.

And then, just to muddy that water a little further, last month the New York Times reported that a Kremlin-owned television station linked to the hacking scandal in the last US presidential election had been stoking those health fears as part of a political plan to destabilise America’s 5G rollout.

Kremlin

Perth environmental scientist and electromagnetic field consultant Una Phelan is a member of Stop 5G Perth and is concerned the jump from 4G to 5G may cause serious long-term health issues, particularly in women and children.

“There will be these small cells basically like mobile cell towers shrunk down into small transmitters, placed outside our homes without our consent,” Ms Phelan recently told supporters at a Living Well expo in Claremont.

“There is going to be no getting away from 5G, you walk to the shops, the park, you are going to be zapped by these small cells.”

Stop 5G Perth has been operating since May and has gathered around 600 members.

South Fremantle resident Bobby Wilson is a seasoned campaigner on public health risks and says being hyper-sensitive to electromagnetic fields, the rollout of 5G could have a big impact on her life.

Ms Wilson said 4G already hinders her sleep and claimed the launch of 5G would make it worse.

However, the industry points out that while 5G is higher up the radiation spectrum than its predecessor, it’s still well below levels considered harmful to human health, such as ultraviolet light or x-rays. In fact, its radiation is lower in the spectrum than the average remote control for a telly.

by SHREYA PILO