Perth Voice Interactive

THE big blue head sculpture in Vincent has shed his winter gear, but the hat and scarf have been remade into blankets for the kitties at Cat Haven.

North Perth Knit, Natter, Crochet and Craft spent thousands of hours making the giant clothes for the Ken Sealey sculpture, formally known as “Beseech”, and dressed him up in June last year.

Head knitter Dianne Birt says they didn’t want any of the material to go to waste, so they’ve recycled and repurposed the winter clothes into blankets for Cat Haven.

The clothes were stained with bore water, but after a clean, they were good as new.

Ms Birt says “the blankets have proved to be cat magnets, as all group members with cats who worked on making the blankets said they could not keep their cats off the works in progress”.

The knitting group donated the blankets on Tuesday and Ms Birt says “both the staff and the cats were delighted to receive them.

“The Cat Haven is such a worthy cause and we were very pleased to be able to help out to a small extent with all the wonderful work they do”.

Cat Haven has hundreds of cats, from playful kittens to sedate old-timers, and they’re always looking for people to give them a loving home.

They’ve got a gallery of kitters at http://www.cathaven.com.au/adopt/, or pop down to 23 Lemnos Street in Shenton Park for a look.

North Perth Knit and Natter group have also made soft octopuses to donate to Fiona Stanley and St John of God Hospital to comfort premature babies, and they’re knitting poppies for the centenary of the end of World War I.

The knitting group meets every second Friday afternoon at the Vincent library in Leederville, and their next catchup will be a poppy crafting workshop on February 16.

by DAVID BELL

DEAD and moribund pigeons greeted city-goers in Forrest Place on Monday morning.

The Voice contacted Perth city council, the WA Health Department and Department of Parks and Wildlife, but they didn’t know if the birds have been poisoned.

In a widely-shared Facebook post, city worker Eisha-Marie Stone said she was “absolutely heartbroken walking through Forrest chase today, as all the pigeons have been baited. I understand they need to control the population, but fuck, I actually feel sick coming into work.

“You think you find a sick bird so you grab him a box and when you turn around there’s another seven writhing around on the pavement.”

A Perth council spokesperson said they weren’t responsible for Monday’s poisoning, were investigating the incident, and had sent out rangers to collect the dead birds because passersby were getting distressed.

Ms Stone’s video shows the pigeons struggling and shaking in a manner that matches online footage we viewed of them being poisoned by nerve-affecting toxin, Avitrol.

Common poisons like rat bait or strychnine can also have a similar effect.

Perth council has tried pigeon baiting in the past: in 2005 former deputy mayor Bert Tudori was quoted in The Monthly as saying, “pigeons are all right in their place. I’m just not sure what that place is…they’re full of lice and germs, they poo everywhere. They shouldn’t be encouraged.”

Mr Tudori talked up the baiting program at the time, which involved feeding them poisoned seed, saying “the pigeons would be flying along and they’d just drop out of the air”.

Humane charity Animal Aid claims that pigeons in Perth were given sedatives in 1999 to make them easier to catch.

“Narcotics have been used to stupefy pigeons and make them easier to catch,” states the AA website.

“However, this culling method can have disastrous consequences, with drugged birds disrupting traffic and smashing into buildings.

“This happened in Perth, Australia in 1999. Narcotics and poison are both very inhumane as the pigeons taking the bait will die slowly and may suffer dehydration and hypothermia.”

The Voice did some investigation, but weren’t able to independently verify this account.

by DAVID BELL

EIGHTH AVENUE in Maylands is set to become greener and more pedestrian friendly.

The local business association is finishing off a study on how other suburbs have spruced up their town centres, and chair Luke Dimasi says that priority items are “making it pedestrian friendly: greenery is at the top of the list, parklets and places where people can sit and enjoy themselves”.

“We’re doing a bit of a survey of other regions like Claremont and Cottesloe, to see when they did a bit of revitalisation and how it went”.

Lonely Planet named Maylands as one of Australia’s three coolest neighbourhoods, but it still has a few snags with low foot traffic during the day, a bit of antisocial behaviour and a lack of greenery.

As part of the Eighth Avenue revitalisation plan, Maylands MP Lisa Baker’s secured a $10,000 grant through the ‘Local projects, local jobs’ program to pay for a streetscape consultant.

“We want to bring more people and vibrancy to the strip and keep developing the fabulous food and shopping precinct,” she says.

“The plan will be aligned to what we found in the Maylands crime prevention through environmental design report—finding creative ways to ‘design out crime’ and also keeping our title as one of Australia’s coolest suburbs.”

Mr Dimasi says they’re wrapping up the study and will have a committee meeting in the next few months to devise a plan.

by DAVID BELL

THERE is still no resolution on the long-running Lisa Scaffidi/State Administrative Tribunal saga as we go to print this Wednesday.

The lord mayor was back at the SAT this Tuesday and Wednesday for the final penalty hearing.

Ms Scaffidi was initially given an 18-month disqualification from office over 45 breaches of the local government act, stemming from failure to declare gift and travel contributions, but she successfully had 26 of them overturned by the court of appeal.

She took a four-month break during that appeal, returning to her job on January 8, and this week chaired her first council meeting of 2018.

The SAT now has to come up with a new (likely lesser) penalty to reflect the smaller number of breaches.

In court on Tuesday, the ABC reports the hearing had to be halted as Ms Scaffidi had “broken down in tears” saying this had been “the worst time of my life”.

by DAVID BELL

PERTH city council will take a more comprehensive approach to homelessness under a new 18-month plan adopted by councillors on Tuesday.

Previously the council’s approach to homelessness has been a little ad hoc, and often focused on stopping homeless people from begging, attracting criticism from support agencies.

Under the new plan the city will have a “housing first” strategy, in partnership with the WA Alliance to End Homelessness, starting in March.

And from June the council will evaluate properties to find potential places to expand affordable accommodation.

They’ll also connect with service providers, as there’s a lot of groups doing good work but without much coordination so there’s overlap and wastage, so the new “interagency forum” launching in April will help make services more efficient.

City of Perth staff will also undergo cultural awareness training over the next six months (relationships between some Aboriginal groups and the City of Perth have been strained in recent years. They hit an all time low in 2013 when the council was trying to shift Aboriginal activists off Matagarup/Heirisson Island and council staff confiscated a sacred stone used in women’s ceremonies, not realising what it was. It was eventually returned with an apology).

Community education is also planned from June, to help “change community perceptions of homelessness and focus efforts to ending homelessness in WA”.

Lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi says; “It is a significant start in creating a higher level of understanding of the homelessness issue, and provides a proposed direction in developing effective agency partnerships to establish long-term strategies to tackle homelessness.

“A raft of diverse support services and accommodation options are required, as well as a coordinated approach across the human services delivery sector to meet the individual needs of those experiencing homelessness.

“However, it is important to recognise that homelessness is a complicated issue that cannot simply be remedied at a local government level, and requires support from the state and Commonwealth.”

Part of the new plan also involves working more closely with the state government. Perth state MP John Carey welcomed the new policy: Homelessness had been one of the top issues raised at his Perth City Summit forum last year, and he said the issue needed greater cooperation and coordination.

“I strongly welcome this… this is a great start and the next stage will be calling together a key group of those not-for-profit providers that work in the city, the City of Perth, and the state government.”

Mr Carey said coordinating the many groups would be key: “Part of the problem is we are seeing a proliferation of new, smaller groups,” he says, and while they have “good intentions, it’s not addressing long-term issues” and it can duplicate and even confound the work of larger established agencies with more experience in the field. He says if people want to help, they’re best off donating or volunteering for one of the existing service providers.

The full cost of the city’s new homeless policy will be in the 2017/2018 budget, but it’s already committed to one full-time “community development officer” dedicated to homelessness, and budgeted $97,800 for staff cultural awareness training and a study on crisis and transitional accommodations.

by DAVID BELL

TOURISTS, after-work drinkers and restaurants look set to benefit from new liquor reforms proposed by the McGowan government.

Under the existing legislation, when someone applies for a liquor licence, the Chief Health Officer and the Commissioner of Police’s representative have input.

Previously they have often recommended harm-reduction measures be attached to licences (like a “no double shots” rule, or “no dumb drinks promotions” that could promote harmful drinking), and on some occasions they’ve recommended against licences being approved.

Under the proposed new rules, the views of the CEO of WA Tourism will also be given “equal consideration”.

Mr McGowan says the changes will reflect a “sensible balance of harm minimisation and transforming the drinking culture in Perth”, by catering for after-work drinkers and tourists.

Under the new rules, licensed restaurants with a capacity of 120 or under would be permitted to serve alcohol without a meal.

During the Alan Carpenter government in 2007, premier Mark McGowan was the minister who introduced major reforms to liquor licensing, including the creation of the “small bar” category. There are now 59 small bars in Perth.

He says these new changes, which have opposition support, continue that “legacy of smart, sensible reforms to liquor laws that support businesses and create local jobs”.

by DAVID BELL

“GOOD intentions” will be turned into “real actions” under Perth city council’s Reconciliation Action Plan.

It aims to improve the council’s relationship with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

The council’s had shaky relations with parts of the Aboriginal community at times, including a long-running and sometimes heavy-handed crackdown on people camping at Heirisson Island/Matagarup, which involved repeated mass-confiscation of camping gear (and on one occasion, a sacred stone).

RAPs, already being adopted by some local governments, aim to go beyond vague mission statements to more practical actions. Perth’s draft RAP lists more than 90 suggested actions, including:

• Creating job opportunities, economic development and education for A+TSI peoples;

• Training city staff to appreciate A+TSI “cultures, histories and achievements”;

• Holding exhibitions at the CoP library to promote oral histories and celebrate Aboriginal culture;

• Includiing Whadjuk Nyoongar histories in the city’s cultural heritage policies; and,

•Having the Aboriginal community install a “bush tucker garden” in the city.

Other measures are more symbolic, from employing an Aboriginal artist to create an artwork which would feature on city uniforms and cars, to changing the names of council meeting rooms to Nyoongar language names.

When our daily paper The West Australian reported on the RAP, the headline and opening paragraph focused on one of the 90+ actions: that “City of Perth staff may have to wear reconciliation pins”.

Lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi said in a media statement this week: “The City has a long history of carrying out projects and activities that recognise Whadjuk Nyoongar history and culture, however until now has had no formal reconciliation framework in place

“The last 12 months have been a long and proud journey filled with learning as the City developed its first RAP. As a capital city council, the City of Perth has a distinct leadership role to ensure Perth continues to develop, embrace, acknowledge and respect Aboriginal culture.”

by DAVID BELL

EN ROUTE to a Fringe show, Voice journo MOLLY SCHMIDT got sidetracked by a mate and found herself helping hundreds of strangers to launch a dance boogie through Northbridge. The infectious rave was part of a social experiment by Liberators International, a group aiming to spread love around the world by encouraging others to get involved in acts of affection.

Founder of Liberators International Peter Sharp stood in the middle of the group and told us the plan—dance wildly, freely and joyously through the streets of the Fringe Festival, past strangers and restaurant goers and people lining up for shows.

We were to encourage onlookers to join in and create one massive, roaming dance party that pushed the boundaries of ‘socially acceptable’ and embraced expression and creativity.

It worked.

“I want to create real life experiences of togetherness for people from the whole community,” says Mr Sharp.

“We forget how free we are sometimes, it’s really strange, you look around at a public space and just see everyone being quiet and not connecting or expressing themselves.”

A video of Mr Sharp’s first event in Barcelona—hugging strangers on a tourist bus to help them forget Spain’s economic woes—went viral, with 100 million views.

People started approaching him and asking how they could facilitate the same kinds of events.

Perth’s street dance party was a stand-alone event, but Mr Sharp says he hopes one day it could be a simultaneous, global dance extravaganza.

Across the night a few hundred people joined in Northbridge’s roaming rave, dancing along to classic party tunes.

“It was just a little jiggle really,” says Mr Sharp.

“But there were maybe 700 people who came and smiled and took photos too. One woman was Skyping her mum and showed her what we were doing.

“Dancing in the street is challenging normal behaviour; it’s about challenging the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.”

The night ended when the sound system gave way to static, and a crowd that had swelled, joined in a sweaty group hug.

Mr Sharp says there is another event planned for Perth in the next few weeks, and if you’re interested you can get in touch via the Liberators of Perth Facebook page.