Perth Voice Interactive

TUCKED away in West Perth’s warehouse district is a confronting art collection examining Australia’s wellbeing – and it’s not a pretty picture.

The exhibition at the Holmes à Court Gallery is called Australiyaniality, with the word “liyan” taken from the Yawuru people.

“Liyan” relates to Aboriginal people’s view of their wellbeing, and the way they feel about themselves and their relationship with their community.

A total of 25 artists from diverse backgrounds have works in the show, from re-appropriated pop-culture through a revolutionary lens, to pieces confronting Captain James Stirling’s little-known role leading the Pinjarra Massacre.

Curator Sharon Tassicker said the catalyst for the exhibition was a group of artists discussing what needed to be addressed to allow Australia to move forward.

Prejudice

“We didn’t think we’d faced up to the history, and a lot of people didn’t actually know what had gone down in terms of the history of Australia and WA post-settlement, and people didn’t know pre-settlement, pre-white arrival, what the history was,” she said.

Some works catalogue historic and contemporary prejudice, from the high-profile racism experienced by footballer Adam Goodes—called an ape and conspicuously booed—to the everyday slurs Aboriginal people and others routinely hear.

A couple of pieces examine Stirling’s role in Pinjarra, as well as surveyor general John Septimus Roe who was part of a contingent ordered to prevent anyone escaping.

Roe wrote in his journal that wounded Noongars “took to hiding themselves among the bushes and dead logs of the river banks, and were picked off by the party on either shore”.

There’s a series of parallel events as part of Australiyaniality including the Smiths Lake Wishing Tree at the lake off Kayle Street, North Perth, where people can make a wish for Australia’s future.

It’s from 12.30pm-5.30pm on November 18, and Australiyaniality runs at 10 Douglas Street until November 25, noon to 6pm, Tues to Fri, and also Sun.

STIRLING council’s attempts to improve its relationship with the Aboriginal community don’t appear to have paid off.

The results of an “inclusion survey” included in the council’s latest annual report showed Aborigines at the bottom of the table.

The very elderly rated highest in the survey (7.2), followed by people with disabilities (6.9), recent immigrants (6.7), teenagers and young adults (6.6) and Aboriginal people (6.2).

But that does represent an improvement since 2013, when the score was a very lowly 5.7.

Up until a few years ago Stirling council had a poor relationship with its Aboriginal community; in 2011 on the eve of NAIDOC week, then-mayor David Boothman conceded relations were strained, saying “we need to do more work on this at a council level”.

It was only in November 2010 that the council voted to permit the Aboriginal flag to fly during NAIDOC and Reconciliation Week.

But since then there have been a number of initiatives to improve the relationship and mayor Mark Irwin says the city will be launching a second reconciliation action plan on November 21

“Our updated plan will allow us to build on the positive work we have already begun through our first RAP and foster even more positive outcomes for the community,” Mr Irwin said.

Already the city has agreed to the daily flying of the Aboriginal flag outside its admin building.

“The city’s RAP 2018-2020 includes new areas of focus including strategies to improve recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and exploring and promoting opportunities for cultural tourism,” Mr Irwin said.

Partnerships

The council also has a number of partnerships in place with community groups like the Wadjak Northside Aboriginal Resource Centre, and at the start of every council meeting now conduct an acknowledgement of country.

“[It] plays an important part in the city’s reconciliation journey,” says councillor Bianca Sandri.

“In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, the meaning of ‘country’ is more than just ownership, it’s their connection to land.

“So, not only will we be showing respect and recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of land, we will be promoting an ongoing connection to place.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

VINCENT Community Kitchen saved 100kg of fruit, vegetables and bread destined for landfill on the weekend, creating a scrumptious feast to boot.

The Kitchen aims to share healthy affordable meals and build community spirit, while diverting food from the dump where it can contribute to global warming.

The food is donated by local shops and cafes who would otherwise throw it out at the end of the day.

Kitchen founder Theresa Youngs-Lachmund said she had been inspired by a volunteer community feast she stumbled across in London.

“There’s something about cooking together, and sharing food, that brings people together like nothing else,” Ms Youngs-Lachmund said.

“To say I was inspired is an understatement. I’m so thrilled to be bringing this idea back to the City of Vincent.”

Held at North Perth town hall, the event is supported by the not-for-profit Befriend, Transition Town Vincent and a raft of local shops like Della Fresh, Tedesco Growers and Hawthorn Fresh, who donate food.

Kitchen crew member Jessica Kennedy said they were blown away by how enthusiastically local business embraced the project.

“The team at Dejaxo bakery in Mount Hawthorn gave us bread, but they also said how much they would have loved to have come and joined us for the event, if only they weren’t at work themselves.”

The next community fest is Sunday January 13 with the location to be determined, so keep an eye on http://www.facebook.com/vincentcommunitykitchen or email vincentcommunitykitchen@gmail.com.

VINCENT is set to get more parks, playspaces and public squares under council’s new open space strategy.

The suburb’s population is growing, backyards are getting rarer and publicly-owned sports grounds are bursting at the seams.

Vincent mayor Emma Cole said the city’s draft public open space strategy includes an independent audit “which confirmed much of what we already knew.

“The city needs more public open spaces in Vincent, and to improve what we already have to support our growing and diverse population into the future,” Ms Cole said.

“Over the next 18 years, our population is expected to grow by almost 37 per cent, with a trend towards a younger demographic. We need to plan for this population increase and make sure our open spaces are the best they can be to meet our needs now and in 2036”.

The 32 proposals to get more space include:

• Establishing shared-use agreements with the department of education to enable community access to school ovals.

• Asking private land owners with empty blocks if they can be used as public open space until they’re ready to develop;

• Improving the health and biodiversity of natural spaces; and,

• Investigating an urban wetland stream within the Claisebrook drain.

“We have made some good steps forward over the past 18 months,” Ms Cole said.

“We created a new park from a sump in North Perth, doubled the size of Hyde Street Reserve, developed a concept plan for Axford Park, built a new toilet block at Braithwaite Park and developed a draft Master Plan for Banks Reserve. “

The draft public open space strategy is at imagine.vincent.wa.gov.au for comment, until November 28.

by DAVID BELL

BAYSWATER council made a little history on Tuesday, when an item was voted through entirely by women.

Previously the council’s never had enough women to form a quorum—the minimum number of councillors needed to hold a vote.

But on Tuesday night councillor Chris Cornish was on leave, Elli Petersen-Pik was an apology, and mayor Dan Bull and Barry McKenna had to step out of the room after declaring an interest in an item about a proposed health studio in Morley.

That left councillors Lorna Clarke, Giorgia Johnson, Catherine Ehrhardt, Filomena Piffaretti, Stephanie Gray, Sally Palmer and Michelle Sutherland to vote.

Cr Piffaretti, who chaired the item in Cr Bull’s absence, posted on Facebook the next morning: “I am very honoured to represent the city of Bayswater community, a community which is progressive, inclusive and which values women.

“In just over 12 months, female representation on the Bayswater council has more than doubled, with seven out of the 11 councillors being women, a noticeable majority. In fact, since 1897, only 14 women have represented the city of Bayswater, compared to 212 males.”

Cr Piffaretti said it was a historic moment for the city.

“At a time where the Labor party is still working towards their aspiration of 50 per cent women representation in parliament and where the Liberal party insist their dismal number of women representatives is due to ‘merit’ principles, I think our female majority is something the people in the city of Bayswater should be proud of.  We are leading the way,” she posted.

“I’d also like to highlight how the two state MPs which represent the majority of the City of Bayswater area are also women; Amber-Jade Sanderson MLA and Lisa Baker MLA. Coincidence? I think not.”

“So watch out blokes, cause in the words of Beyoncé, “Girls Run the World! “

South Ward’s Cr Ehrhardt told the Voice: “Since south ward became a part of the City of Bayswater in 1998, I have watched our council steadily grow from just one female member to now seven.

“Whilst it is a long step from a truly diverse council, it is a major step in a positive direction for women in leadership roles,” Cr Ehrhardt said.

by DAVID BELL

THE son of a former minister in Sir Charles Court’s government has been selected as the Liberal candidate for the federal seat of Perth.

Jim Grayden was selected unopposed at a Liberal party meeting last Thursday following lawyer Tamahra Dempsey’s decision to withdraw from the contest.

Mr Grayden had contested the July by-election for the seat as an independent following a decision by the party’s state executive not to field a candidate.

Describing by-election winner Patrick Gorman’s campaign as “aggressive and arrogant”, Mr Grayden contrasted his background in business and school teaching with his Labor opponent’s political trajectory.

“…a career politician with single-minded determination, working his entire adult life in the Labor Party, unions and as a political staffer with no real-world experience,” Mr Grayden told the party faithful during his pre-selection pitch.

Mr Grayden is the son of distinguished politician Bill Grayden, whose two terms in WA’s Legislative Assembly bookended a stint in Federal parliament representing the seat of Swan.

Grayden snr, 98, was a veteran of the Kokoda Track, Syria and several other World War II campaigns, and is one of only two living Liberals to have held office in 1949.

Mr Grayden says he wants to continue his father’s good work.

“A key issue for the people in Perth is Labor’s housing tax, which includes changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, which will hurt mum and dad investors in Perth, as well as hitting home values, increasing rents and hurting the WA economy,” he told the Voice.

“I look forward to working with the WA Liberal team that have delivered a real long-term fix to the GST distribution that ensures funding for infrastructure, hospitals, schools and other vital services.”

Mr Grayden, 57, lives outside the Perth electorate in South Perth, but he says it won’t be an issue.

“My family and I have had close connections with the Perth electorate for over 120 years,” he says.

“I have worked with local family-owned businesses in Perth for the last 20 years and as a teacher have worked at several local schools.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

ONE of the major installations in the City of Perth’s Christmas lights trail, the Light Labyrinth, was installed this week. Shipped over from Spain, it took 10 staff 140 hours to install the 36 etched glass panels in Hibernian Place, and once assembled the LED neon lights create a kaleidoscope of colour. The labyrinth is one of 18 installations on the Christmas lights trail, which runs until December 24. You can check out the trail map at visitperth.com.au

DRONE operators who want to film services at war memorials will be told to buzz off, says RSL WA chief John McCourt.

A drone with a flashing light hovered above Fremantle’s Anzac Day service earlier this year, sparking concerns last Sunday’s Remembrance Day service at Kings Park could also be marred, but Mr McCourt said thankfully there were none.

“The use of drones above or near memorials and places of commemoration is not only distracting and noisy but is highly disrespectful,” he says.

“The RSLWA is strongly opposed to the use of drones above commemorative services of any kind, not least the ANZAC Day services and Remembrance Day services.”

Mr McCourt added that the stance was shared by the King’s Park Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, which consults RSL WA in all requests for filming at the state war memorial.

Both DGPA and RSL WA reject any request for drones, he said.

Earlier this month the RSL WA was indignant after a rapper filmed a music video showing people dancing and drinking on the steps of the state war memorial.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

MAYLANDS MP LISA BAKER watched a close friend die from a terminal illness.

She supports the proposed legislation, but says her experience made her realise on a practical level just how hard it would be for someone to make the call.

“I had a very dear friend who was diagnosed with what they thought was rapid onset of dementia.

“He was fit and healthy like you and me…he went away on a trip and came back and had this diagnosis given to him. I watched him over a period of six months before he died. And it was terrifying to me, because I’d always thought to myself personally, if I was sick, I’d find a way of opting out, rather than getting to a point where I wasn’t able to make a decision.”

But she says the rapidity with which the illness overcame him didn’t leave much time for contemplating euthanasia.

“It took most of his time to acknowledge the fact that he was ill and would probably not recover.

“I am fully supportive of being able to give people the right to make a decision when they have the competency and are in a position to make that decision. But for me, it was demonstrated in cold reality how difficult that will actually be for me.”

She says “at the moment I’m fully supportive of having the option,” but she’ll need to see how the legislation deals with the complicated issues. “I’ll be listening to the community; I won’t just listen to the polarised views, I just really want to talk with people.”

PERTH MP JOHN CAREY has personal experience watching a loved one die a painful, protracted death, but he says he’s still undecided about voluntary assisted dying.

Labor MPs are allowed a conscience vote on this issue once the draft legislation hits parliament next year.

Having watched his mother die from brain cancer, he says he’s leaning towards supporting the government’s bill to allow voluntary euthanasia, but won’t commit to voting one way or the other yet.

Mr Carey says “I’ve already had people email me in the lead-up saying ‘clarify your position, right now’. I’m sorry, I’m not going to. I have an inclination one way from my own experience but I still need to do thorough research, take the time to read all the information in front of me, so I make no apology…I don’t want to commit to legislation I haven’t seen yet.

Terrible death

“In the meantime I am happy to take in information from the community.”

He says “I witnessed my mother die a terrible death, and it was shocking. In the last two months she starved to death, it was effectively starvation. I witnessed my mum, who was my best friend and the most beautiful person in the world to me, die a very terrible death. It’s very emotional, for people on both sides of the debate.”

A SPECIAL REPORT BY David Bell

MT LAWLEY MP SIMON MILLMAN sat on the parliamentary “End of Life Choices” committee, which recommended legalising voluntary assisted dying to lessen “unnecessary suffering at end of life”.

The committee also recommended several other changes to health and palliative care, which Mr Millman says will promote choice and alleviate suffering.

But the proposals will require “safeguards and rigorous processes…ensuring individual decision-making capacity and the absence of coercion”.

The committee also recommended that to be eligible for assisted dying, the person must be experiencing “grievous and irremediable suffering” relating to an advanced and progressive terminal, chronic or neurodegenerative condition, “that cannot be alleviated in a manner acceptable to that person, where death is a reasonably foreseeable outcome of the condition”.

No compulsion

The committee also urged that “there should be no compulsion for individual health professionals to participate”. However professional bodies like the Australian Medical Association WA are against physician-assisted suicide, urging improvements to palliative care so people don’t want to end their lives.

Several of the report’s recommendations focus on improving palliative care: It calls for a specialist palliative care hospice in the northern suburbs, and for a review to determine the unmet demand for palliative care.

Part of the committee’s work involved visiting hospices and meeting with healthcare providers and patients.

Mr Millman says ‘I was fortunate, as a first term MP, to sit on the committee. People let us into their lives to share their most personal, distressing stories. We are elected to shoulder the responsibility of making decisions about life and death. I will support legislation that gives effect to the well-informed, balanced recommendations contained in our report, promoting choice and alleviating suffering.’

Former governor Malcolm McCusker will head an 11-member expert panel to draft the legislation based on the recommendations.