Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH has a great opportunity to diversify its economy by giving arts businesses a helping hand, says the latest report from the Committee for Perth.

While comparing and analysing Perth’s economic base, CfP research manager Lisa Kazalac identified the arts and recreation industry as one of the “bright lights” of the metropolitan area.

“Whilst the arts and recreation services industry only employs 1.81 per cent of the total working population in greater Perth, its employment grew by more than 26 per cent since 2011,” her report found.

During that period, the sector overtook professional, scientific and technical services in terms of its contribution to the city’s economy; an indication of the mining downturn.

Ms Kazalac says that’s an indication that the city’s economic base has been changing and diversifying.

“The future growth possibilities in this industry’s contribution to greater Perth’s economic base will need to be secured by policies that encourage start-up businesses, growing those businesses and creating a vibrant state where arts and cultural appreciation and activity is part of everyday life for all Western Australians,” she found.

But her report showed that despite the slowdown in mining, it continues to be the city’s most dominant economic driver, along with associated construction.

Because mining attracted research facilities, that made research and development another area that should be explored.

Niche manufacturing was another opportunity for policy-makers to explore, Ms Kazalac said, as tradition manufacturing had essentially flatlined because of globalisation and competition.

“Increasingly significant is niche, specialised and high-value manufacturing, where Perth appears well placed with existing capacity and new opportunities for food and beverage processing, defence and the [mining equipment technology services] sector.

“Developing and expanding the greater Perth economy to be more knowledge-based will be an important aspect to driving future diversity in the regional economy,” she said, while noting Melbourne is leaps ahead in this area.

Her report found that despite facing many technological challenges and changing customer behaviour, retail trade was proving a relatively resilient sector.

by STEVE GRANT

THE City of Perth has warned people not to be duped by an email demanding payment for a fake parking infringement.

A city spokesperson said they’d been “notified that several people have received a fraudulent email that appears to be an infringement notice from ‘City Council’.”

The scam email claims the infringement is in relation to the Road Safety Road Rules 2009, but that legislation is from Victoria and is about overtaking bicycles not parking.

The phoney notice gives people five days to make an online payment of $87.37 for parking over time.

The city are a bit more forgiving and give you 28 days to pay $60 if you park over time, though some of their offences have far steeper penalties: On Anzac Day council rangers issued $200 fines to hundreds of people attending the dawn service in King’s Park for parking “during a period prohibited by a sign”.

After much complaint, the council announced the fines wouldn’t be enforced.

The city’s reported the scam email to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network.

If you receive one notify WA ScamNet.

BAYSWATER police are investigating why two dump trucks emptied their trailers of construction rubble onto the driveway of a home in Wyatt Street.

The incident happened on Wednesday, May 30 at around 7.30pm and left the driveway and a wall damaged.

There’s a big, empty wasteland just up Wyatt Road with little more than a rickety wire fence protecting it, so why the dumpers chose someone’s driveway for the night-time caper is something the police would love to solve.

If you spotted anything, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

PERTH-based Greens senator Rachel Siewert will submit a bill to federal parliament in August backing Fremantle council’s call for the Newstart allowance to be increased.

Two weeks ago the southern suburbs council showed it hadn’t been silenced by the ticking off it got from the Turnbull government over shelving Australia Day celebrations, delving back into federal politics to tell the PM people the dole wasn’t delivering basic standards of living.

“Please consider this letter to be formal acknowledgement that the council of the City of Fremantle recognises that the current rate of Newstart allowance is exacerbating poverty and homelessness,” mayor Brad Pettitt wrote to relevant ministers and state MPs and senators last week.

The motion was accompanied by a 385-signature petition calling for the council to advocate on behalf of the city’s downtrodden.

Liveable rate

“There has not been a significant increase to Newstart in over 20 years, despite the cost of living continuing to rise,” the petition read.

“Recent research showed that Newstart and Commonwealth rent assistance are $96 short of meeting a basic standard of living for a single person.”

Senator Siewert praised Fremantle for its bold gesture.

“Alongside economists, social services organisations and even John Howard, the City of Fremantle has stood up for Australians looking for work and called for Newstart to be increased to a liveable rate,” she said.

“The payment has stagnated for years and right now the payment is not enough to get by, people are living in poverty and expected to find a job at the same time.

“I urge the government to support my bill that would increase the payment by $75 a week.

“As it stands, $40 a day is not enough to pay for basic necessities and people trying to find work deserve dignity and quality of life.”

A NEW gallery in the old Bon Marche arcade due to open in August will help plug the gap for local emerging artists created by the closure of Moana gallery last November.

Cool Change Contemporary is an artist-run initiative which will run a monthly program of  exhibitions as well as performances, screenings, workshops and events.

It will also offer a studio residency program.

The team behind Cool Change, which includes people from Moana, Polizia, Success and Paper Mountain, are calling for proposals from artists, curators, producers and collectives for its new program.

Applications are on their website http://www.coolchange.net.au

BRENDON HANSON was wonderfully repellent as special prosecutor Kenneth Starr in Clinton the Musical in 2016.

And the WAAPA graduate is just as memorable in his latest role, John Wilkes Booth, in the musical Assassins.

The show won a Tony Award and ponders what motivated people down the ages to try and assassinate American presidents.

Hanson was at WAAPA when he first saw Assassins in 1991 and it left a big impression.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to play in it …they are fascinating characters, complex human beings,” he says.

Presidents Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F Kennedy went down in a blaze of  gunfire, while Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford (two attempts a couple of weeks apart) and Ronald Regan were near misses.

Written by John Weidman and with music by Stephen Sondheim, Assassins opens with the ditty Everybody’s Got the Right – the right to commit murder, to grab the headlines and to get five minutes of fame.

Disenfranchised

“Most of these assassins are disappointed, disenfranchised and angry that life hasn’t provided them with what they expected,” Assassins’s director Roger Hodgman says

“Which you could say is the same for people who voted for Trump to be honest.

“It says a great deal I think about the malaise of American society in the late 21st century.”

“It’s macabre in one way, but it’s very funny…it’s highly entertaining but at the same time the undertones are quite dark.

Most of the assassins have been all but forgotten, including Charles Guiteau (played by Will O’Mahony), who murdered president James Garfield to promote sales of his book in 1881.

And Samuel Byck, who tried to hijack a plane in 1974 so he could fly it into the White House and kill Nixon.

He shot the pilots before take off, which rather ruined the plan.

Assassins is paired with UK play The Events, starring Catherine McClements (Water Rats, Rush) and directed by Black Swan artistic director Clare Watson.

Loosely based on the 2011 Norway massacre, it looks at community healing in the wake of the tragedy.

The Events will feature a different Perth community choir at each performance.

Both shows are on at the WA State Theatre from June 16 to July 8.

For session times and tickets go to http://www.bsstc.com.au

by JENNY D’ANGER