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  • Crude awakening

    Crude awakening

    EIGHT YEARS to the day after the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea, a new doco by East Freo journalist Jane Hammond shines a light on the “forgotten” disaster.

    Many Australians are unaware of the widespread devastation that occurred in 2009 when a wellhead blew out and spewed oil into Australian waters, halfway between WA and Indonesia, for 70 days.

    The Australian government was involved in the cleanup, but Ms Hammond describes the dispersants used to break up the oil slick as “toxic”.

    “The fate of the oil and the dispersants remains in dispute,” Ms Hammond she says.

    “But in West Timor seaweed farmers and fishermen say the pollution reached their shores, smothered their seaweed and killed their fish stocks.”

    Fined

    Ms Hammond was a print journo at the West Australian reporting on the Montara oil spill and grew frustrated that PTTEP, the Thai-government owned-company that owned Montara, was fined only $510,000, while ten months later BP was forced to pay $20billion in compensation for the smaller spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Ms Hammond went back to uni to learn video journalism, then travelled to West Timor in 2015 and 2016 to interview people affected by the spill for her documentary, A Crude Injustice.

    The film will be shown Monday (August 21) at Luna Leederville and includes a talk by Ferdi Tanoni from the West Timor Care Foundation.

    At the screening they’ll launch a campaign to get the Australian government to get proper justice for West Timor fishermen and seaweed farmers, asking people to lobby federal MP Julie Bishop to pressure the Indonesian government.

    Tix $10 from tinyurl.com/acrudeinjusticetickets

  • Kids find amazing creativity

    Kids find amazing creativity

    HIGHGATE Primary School kids got a masterclass in creative writing when A Maze of Story popped in for book week.

    Gae Oaten founded the not-for-profit group three years ago and says teaching kids how to write creatively improves their confidence and school work.

    They often work with children who speak English as a second language or Aboriginal kids, and Ms Oaten says, “we want to tap into their creativity through writing, through storytelling, and it really encourages the children and gives them confidence.”

    • Hasti Lotfi, Benyamin Mohseni and Amy Khumendi at A Maze of Story’s workshops this week. Photo by Steve Grant

    “Once they can feel okay about their writing their work improves across the board. We’ve had feedback from schools that their work has improved, that they’re more willing to participate in class, and that they want to do more writing.”

    They usually run five-week workshops in schools, culminating in a printed book that goes in the library, so kids could see their work published.

    But for Book Week they gave the Highgate primary students a crash course, telling them the start of a story and then leaving it up to the students’ imaginations as to where the tale goes from there. “I told them a story about two crows…they made a nest, and then the female, Camilla, started laying her eggs,” Ms Oaten says.

    But when the unusually large egg hatched they discovered their baby was a chicken.

    The pair of crows went off to find food for their unusual baby, but when they came back the baby had disappeared.

    That’s where they invited the children to come up with their own ideas.

    “They came up with some very imaginative stories!” Ms Oaten says

    Year 5 student Hasti Lotfi’s chick finds a variety of foods but is warned off by well-meaning animals because they’re inappropriate, till she eventually finds her mother and some yummy grubs.

    Hasti says the Maze program has been good for helping to develop her English skills. She was born in Australia the raised in Iran, but is happy to be back because of the choking pollution in Tehran.

    Helping her along has been volunteer Amy Khumendi, a student at Morley high school who says she chose Highgate because of her own struggles in picking up English.

    Ms Oaten says they’re “always looking for volunteers” to help run the workshops. Head to http://www.amazeofstory.org.au to register.

    by DAVID BELL

  • Verge surge

    Verge surge

    A FREE event in Maylands teaching locals how to turn their verges into food-producing micro-farms has attracted massive interest, booking out in 24 hours.

    The Urban Food Street Story will be hosted by Caroline Kemp and Duncan McNaught, a Queensland couple that popularised the food-on-public-land concept eight years ago.

    • Caroline Kemp and Duncan McNaught.

    Bayswater councillor Chris Cornish got in touch with the pair after the Sunshine Coast council started pulling out plants on their verges, saying they didn’t comply with the city’s strict new insurance requirements.

    While they were chatting, Ms Kemp and Mr McNaught learned that Bayswater council was a bit more public-garden friendly, with Cr Cornish pushing through a measure last year to allow residents to plant verge gardens without city approval, and now he’s invited them over to share their story on how they turned barren, patchy Queensland verges into ickle farms.

    The Urban Food Street Story, on August 31 at the Rise, booked out in 24 hours, but Cr Cornish says they’re looking at streaming the event online.

    by DAVID BELL

  • Green regrowth

    Green regrowth

    THE community garden in Morley shut down by the local council has found a new home at the Bayswater Bowling and Recreation Club.

    Last year volunteers from the Bayswater City Community Safety Watch and Garden Education Inc created the community garden at Brand Place and were granted a peppercorn lease by the city.

    But in June councillors Stephanie Coates, Michelle Sutherland, John Rifici, Brent Fleeton and Catherine Ehrhardt voted not to renew the group’s lease, claiming there was little community involvement and the site could be put to better use.

    • Pat Lim and Bayswater Bowling and Recreation Club president Steve Lay at the new community garden. Photo by Steve Grant

    BBRC president Steve Lay stepped in to save the day and says he’s been wanting to have a community garden at the club for over two years.

    The garden will be located on a disused bowling rink and volunteers have been busy moving over the 60-odd garden beds and planting hibiscus trees.

    When we last spoke to Ms Pat Lim, the 84 year old behind the community garden, she was down in the dumps over being moved out of the Morley site, saying “the dream’s gone down the gurgler”.

    “It’s heartbreaking, it’s nonsensical. I’m hopping mad, but I’m not going to let the anger overwhelm my joy for life”.

    She’s bounced back after finding the new site, saying the bowling club spot’s “a dream come true”.

    They’re holding their opening on August 31, but in the meantime they’re keen for any volunteers to come down any day of the week from 9am and help install garden beds, plant trees and get the site ready. You can follow their progress at the “Baysie Community Garden” Facebook page.

    by DAVID BELL

  • LETTERS 19.8.17

    LETTERS 19.8.17

    Baysy budget blow out
    I AM writing to you in reference to the City of Bayswater’s budget and rate increase this year and in support of your correspondent George Bouzidis (“Baysy Beef”, Voice letters, August 12, 2017).
    The city of Bayswater has increased their rates by a reported 4.9 per cent this year.
    The actual increase to ratepayers is 6.9 per cent (rates raised go from $41.9million in 2016/17 to $44.8m this year, an additional $2.9m dollars).
    The difference is due to changes in the Gross Rental Value of properties, which ratepayers have to wear.
    When incomes after tax are rising at a fraction of this amount this should be of great concern to all ratepayers.
    There are two issues contributing to this excessive increase.
    Firstly, the council is budgeting to pay $2m to purchase the Carter block in response to a campaign run by the ‘No Houses in Wetlands’ group.
    You can argue about the propriety of this decision but a major issue is that this $2m is in the budget and will be compounded on for ever more with each year’s rate increase (I can’t imagine that the council will reduce their rate take next year, once this expenditure is completed).
    The second issue is the fact that employee costs been budgeted to increase from $32m to $34.9m, an increase of 9 per cent.
    Either a lot of staff are getting massive pay increases or there is a lot of empire building taking place.
    In fact, there is enough money for both!
    I wonder if the city is on the list of ‘high risk councils’ identified by the department of local government recently?
    Doug McLennan
    Ivory St, Noranda

    Time wasters
    AFTER watching Monday night’s damning Four Corners episode, ‘Trashed’ on ABC TV, I attended last night’s city of Stirling council meeting (August 8).
    I was outraged by the lack of transparency around the council’s proposed burning of municipal solid waste.
    Councillors refused to answer my questions about this secret polluting Waste-to-Energy proposal during public question time.
    WTE facilities emit more pollutants into the air than coal-fired power plants. They pump out more carbon dioxide per megawatt than coal.
    And incinerators are the most expensive source of electricity generation.
    It’s misleading to classify WTE as a renewable energy!
    Let’s make it clear; burning is not recycling.
    Stirling council should promote ways to discourage our throwaway society, such as limiting single use items, getting rid of plastic packaging, and banning plastic bags!
    Many countries around the world are doing this—it’s the least we can do in Stirling.
    WTE plants are a ‘waste-for-profit’ business model that makes for money the more waste it burns.
    If a minimum tonnage is not met, will Stirling council be fined for not supplying enough waste?
    Will this lead to an increase in rates to pay for infringement costs?
    These questions need to be answered.
    It’s a slippery slope when we to come to rely on waste as fuel.
    WTE plants are expensive, create health and environmental problems through increased air pollution, such as toxic dioxins, furans and radioactive alpha emitter Am 241, and this could lead to increased cancer risks.
    Plus, there are additional risks of malfunction, fire, explosion, and the plant not operating at the correct temperatures.
    Financial conflicts of interest must not compromise our decision-making, but secret discussions mean we residents don’t know if any councillors have financial interests in these toxic waste industries.
    Did anyone remove themselves from discussions due to a conflict of interest? The WA state government has implemented a Zero Waste policy—Stirling council should do the same.
    WTE is a step backwards.
    We need to support new local jobs in sorting, recycling and reprocessing waste, not the 8-10 people employed at an incineration plant.
    That’s how to make money from muck!
    Lisa Thornton
    Main Street, Osborne Park

    By George
    GEORGE Bouzidis’ letter “Baysy beef” (Voice, August 12, 2017)  won the ‘letter of the week’ prize and deservedly so.
    However he should have got a medal.
    Now we’ll have to wait for the reaction from the entrenched and smug members of Bayswater council.
    Mr Bouzidis, might expect to be put into the ‘naughty  corner’ along with any other recalcitrant fifth formers, because that is where this critic of council has been placed.
    A matter that had its origins in 2012, was regarded as life-threatening then and still is, was first dealt with by council employees, not the city, and was apparently allowed to be so by a council ignorant of the facts during the period when Cr McKenna was, I believe, deputy mayor.
    Since that time, this writer has tried to get to the bottom of things and for some answers to questions of probity and ratepayer safety.
    At the root of the matter is a process of tree risk assessment, that is claimed to be the best there is, but the UK developers of that system have failed to endorse the city’s tree risk report that is in my possession, despite that same UK agency being twice given the opportunity to do so.
    That same report was accepted and paid for by the city of Bayswater and it can be shown to be absolutely unreliable, lacking in scientific merit, containing an unsubstantiated opinion and is one that allowed risk to my life and well being to continue until I took other action.
    And as the city couldn’t find answers to my questions it took evasive action, telling me that the city would no longer deal with me on the matter.
    But, of interest is the fact that when that motion was voted upon, all except one councillor voted for it.
    Their decision of those in favour was based on allegations that were never challenged or substantiated.
    I was  portrayed as something of a nuisance in the minutes  and that my claims were without merit and the minuted record of that October 2016 meeting is perceived to have been a bullying tactic that was intended to intimidate this writer, even to besmirch my character.
    Perhaps it is time for the minister for local government David Templeman to take a hand.
    Vincent J. McCudden
    Almondbury Street, Bayswater 

    Congratulations, Lisa Thornton! You’ve won our letter of the week competition and a $50 lunch voucher from The Terrace Hotel Restaurant, 237 St Georges Terrace. We hope you leave nothing to waste on your plate! If you would like to be in the running for letter of the week, make sure you email us your ripper at news@perthvoice.com.

  • Vincent needs concrete action

    Vincent needs concrete action

    ALISON XAMON is the Greens MLC for the north metropolitan area. In this week’s SPEAKER’S CORNER she says it’s time concrete plants got their marching orders from East Perth

    JUST a few kilometres from the CBD, sandwiched between the Graham Farmer Freeway and train line, Summer and Lord streets, the Claisebrook Road North forms part of the area earmarked for decades for transformation into the high-density, inner-city precinct of East Perth.

    Vincent council envisages the precinct as a residential and commercial transit-orientated hub – exactly the kind of development we need for an area with two train stations. It’s already the gateway to the city’s stadium district and could offer more to those crowds than it already does.

    The city’s vision in its town planning scheme could add 600 residents, 880 jobs and $47 million to the local economy. This is an exciting opportunity for residents and businesses to continue to grow the unique and vibrant culture of the area.

    But the thorn in the council’s side is two concrete batching plants on the district’s edge. The EPA recommends a buffer of between 300 and 500 metres between concrete plants and housing. Most of this precinct falls within 300m and all of the precinct falls within 500m of one or both.

    Despite their best efforts to minimise dust, noise and traffic, the mere presence of the plants has resulted in at least three approved developments being placed on hold. People are not willing to put the time, money and effort into developing this area while they remain. Claisebrook Road North is falling short of its incredible potential.

    From the moment those plants were built, they have only ever operated on time-limited licences and have never been part of the planned future of the area. Five years ago, it was made clear the extension to October 2017 was to allow a number of planning documents to be finalised. Those documents are now complete and they, in line with TPS2, recommend a dense, mixed-use inner-city precinct with no industrial sites.

    Vincent has given the plants a one-year license to finalise their operations and move on. But despite this generous time, nothing has been done. Quite the opposite; both have appealed to SAT to be allowed to operate in East Perth indefinitely. It is now in the hands of the Minister for Planning.

    They say they the need to stay to service the CBD, but they also identify the need to service projects 40km away; by their own reasoning, they could be located anywhere within a 40km ring of the city and still be able to provide concrete to city developments. There are several dedicated industrial areas within that area that would be far better suited than their current location.

    This vision for East Perth has been outlined for decades. Over that time we have seen the rest of Claisebrook and large parts of East Perth develop into the type of inner-city homes and businesses we would expect in any world-class city.  The plants are not only delaying, but warping the considered and orderly development of the area. It is time for them to go, to allow the Claisebrook Road North area allowed to fulfil its potential. It is time to tell the plants there will be no more extensions.

  • Funny flight of fancy

    Funny flight of fancy

    THERE aren’t too many people who have upstaged Jim Carrey.

    But Rhys Darby’s performance in the 2008 comedy Yes Man, was the highlight of a truly underwhelming movie.

    The Kiwi actor/comedian has appeared in numerous films and TV shows, but he’s best known for playing Murray Hewitt, the inept band manager in HBO’s Flight of the Conchords.

    Darby will go back to his stand up roots this month when he performs his new show, Mystic Time Bird, in Perth.

    • Rhys Darby

    “Stand up comedy comes naturally to me,” Darby told the Voice.

    “I guess I have funny bones, so it doesn’t matter what platform I choose, as long as there’s a scope to be funny, I’ll enjoy it.”

    A self-confessed perfectionist, Rhys says he enjoys working in TV and film, but stills enjoys improvisational comedy, “because it’s the rawest form and I find it’s the most likely source for finding gold.”

    When he’s not writing gut-busters, Darby is into cryptozoology, the study of creatures unclassified by science, like Nessie and Bigfoot.

    “I’m definitely a Yeti man myself,” Darby said feverishly.

    “Although it’s thought to be an alpine version of Bigfoot, thus a primate, it makes no sense for it to exist.

    “Local witnesses throughout the centuries however swear by their observations that giant, hairy hominoids loom in the Himalayans.

    “I like the idea that they are smart enough to avoid humans.”

    • Jim and Carrey and Rhys Darby in Yes Man.

    Atavistic energy

    Darby says he has incorporated some of that atavistic energy into Mystic Time Bird.

    “It’s my weirdest, wildest, most physical stand up show to date,” Darby says.

    “More than just laughs though, it comes with a message to all humans.

    “We mustn’t fear each other. Look after the planet and love your fellow person.

    “It’s a warning of sorts, for the birds that were here before we arrived will still be here long after we’ve gone!”

    Having previously performed in Perth, Darby remembers a city where the beaches are balmy and the beer flows.

    “Tis a place of bountiful leisure and food with great weather and plenty of room to move!” he says.

    We apologise in advance for the terrible weather you’re in for, Rhys.

    Mystic Time Bird is at the Astor Theatre on August 25.

    Tickets and details at astortheatreperth.com

    by MATTHEW EELES

  • August 19 – August 26, 2017

    August 19 – August 26, 2017

    ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
    As long as the Sun is in Leo, which is for another few days, you are on an easy ride. As soon as it goes into Virgo, on Wednesday, the mood changes. At this point you will have to actually produce something. Advertising your passion is one thing; coming up with the goods is another.

    TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)
    In order to get your feet on the ground, a little aloneness is required. This is to give you space to identify your essential needs and direction. However, with Venus in Cancer, letting go of attachments is the last thing you’d like to entertain right now. Talk gently to your inner child.

    GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)
    Mercury is in pragmatic Virgo. You are also rapidly closing in on a position of responsibility. Rather than fracture into a cacophony of disparate alternating voices, it is important that you find a place of wholeness. Use your logic and your intuition in equal measures. Think and feel.

    CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
    Venus and the Moon are both in Cancer at the beginning of the week. The two most feminine of the planets are paying you a visit, to soften you up. To pretend that you are hard-nosed and anti-dependent simply isn’t going to cut the ice. You are going to have to come out of your castle.

    LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)
    The Sun is with you until Wednesday. If there’s anything you need to get done urgently, now’s the time to do it. After Wednesday it will be a little trickier. You will have a horde of bean-counters on your case, slowing you down and bumping your creativity off track. Watch for reactivity.

    VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22
    The Sun will have arrived in Virgo by Thursday. This should give you the momentum you need to apply your methodology to the problems at hand. Mars will still be in Leo, so there may be a few flare-ups before the road ahead becomes easily navigable. These are testing times. Be flexible.

    LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)
    The desire to be expansive has the ironic effect of bringing all those forces that would like to remain contracted, to the surface. The more you show your colours, the more oppositional ideas jump up and down indignantly. Stay passionate and playful. Your day will most surely come.

    SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)
    Keep it simple. Focus on the intrinsic order of your nature and it will show you the way. This of course implies taking the time to sit and listen. Solitude is precious. It is your ground. Creative options will arise from that still place within, which mirrors Mother Nature. Take it slowly.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
    If you keep dancing and stay playful, you’ll find others taking your hand and dancing with you. If you sit still and become mired in emotion, you will stagnate and have to eventually shake yourself out of it. You might have to put in an effort initially, perhaps even fake it. Soon you will fly.

    CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
    Venus and the Moon are opposing you with their sultry femininity. If you board up your windows and try to block them out, you will invite chaos. The only way to experience wholeness, is to enter the embrace. Turn towards, and welcome in those energies that you think will distract you.

    AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
    Everything that you have learned and that you have experienced, lies within you as a resource. Whatever you put your hand to will be coloured by these things. The more you live, the richer your expression. Uranus is still kicking change along in Aries. Instigate, before it’s time to settle.

    PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
    You are being held to account by Mercury as he travels through Virgo. You are being asked to explain and justify your ‘self’, your moves, your thoughts and your feelings. Though it feels like being under a microscope, there is a positive. Your personal perspective is getting stronger and clearer.

  • To the manor born

    To the manor born

    PERTH architect Harold Boas—the man behind London Court and the old Swan Brewery—only designed a handful of private homes during his illustrious career.

    One of them was a beautiful manor house on Alexander Drive in Menora, built in 1927 for a violin manufacturer.

    The lounge’s stunning vaulted ceiling, punctuated with dainty plaster roses, was designed to have perfect acoustics for chamber music evenings.

    On arriving I hope the guests paused in the vast vestibule to appreciate the gorgeous and intricate parquetry flooring.

    Did a waiter hand them a sherry as they entered the lounge with its wonderfully carved Donnybrook stone fireplace, rich jarrah panelling and stunning leadlight doors and window?

    This home boasts a mouthwatering number of period features, including lovely oak panelling in the formal dining room, a number of decorative and domed ceilings, and intricate lead light french doors and windows.

    Two of the four bedrooms share a games room, or study, in the original section of the house.

    Old melds seamlessly with new in a rear extension, creating a sweeping open plan with a bank of bifold doors to the alfresco area and pool.

    Polished black granite shimmers with silver flecks in the huge kitchen, with its massive island bench and plethora of white drawers and cupboards.

    Sitting on a whopping 943sqm lot, the garden is a generous space with raised beds and high fences.

    An alfresco dining area over looks the pool and an extendable awning offers protection during Perth’s long hot summers.

    The main bedroom, with its walk-in-robe and ensuite, is at the rear of the home, with french doors to the pool for a refreshing dip when the mercury soars.

    This amazing home is walking distance to Mt Lawley High School, Edith Cowan University and the Alexander Park Tennis Club.

    by JENNY D’ANGER

    9 Alexander Drive, Menora
    from $1.375 million
    Pam Herron
    0413 610 660
    Jon Adams
    0413 610 662
    Beaufort Realty
    9227 0887

  • Fair trade blocked

    Fair trade blocked

    SMALL businesses in the Hay Street mall’s Plaza Arcade are threatening to stop paying rent because a prolonged redevelopment of the CBD site has decimated their takings.

    The arcade was bought by Singaporean firm Starhill Global Reit in 2013, and they’ve blocked it off halfway down for a $6 million reno to provide space for Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo.

    When the Voice visited the arcade on a rainy Tuesday arvo, it looked like a dank construction site and rain was leaking through the roof, so most people didn’t go inside.

    Business owners are lobbying the arcade’s property manager Colliers International to give them rent relief or release them from their leases, as construction is expected to rumble on until December.

    Phone Mart owner Keeta Dufall says his takings are down by two thirds.

    “I did, last year, $33,000 in July,” he says.

    “This year I’ve done $10,500, and my rent is $12,800.

    “It’s the equivalent of you hiring a two-storey house and halfway through the lease the landlord says ‘I’m going to be redoing the garage, kitchen and upstairs, and you’re going to be paying full rent and I’m not going to let you out of the lease’.”

    • Keeta Dufall from Phone Mart, Perth Labor MP John Carey, Brad Kirk from Plaza Cameras and 7 Camicie’s Alessandro Prunali. Photo by Steve Grant

    Rent strike

    Mr Dufall says the business owners are going on a rent strike, refusing to pay until something’s done.

    Plaza Cameras has been in the arcade for 32 years.

    Owner Bradley Kirk says that during a previous redevelopment of the arcade in 2006 his trade dropped by about 15 per cent, but this time it’s halved.

    “Everybody in the arcade is suffering exactly the same problems,” he says.

    “There’s no recourse from Colliers, they’re not giving any rent abatements.”

    Both businesses have reduced casual staff hours.

    Labor Perth MP John Carey says the arcade owner “needs a kick up the backside”.

    “It’s absolutely dead here right now,” he says.

    “And quite frankly I am sick and tired of small businesses being screwed over.

    “These are not franchises, these are independent, small businesses whose families rely on an income from these stores and it’s absolutely disgraceful the way they’ve been treated.

    “Colliers needs a kick up the backside [and to be asked] why they’ve not been engaging with the owners.

    “I’m saying to Colliers: get your act together, engage properly. They deserve to be allowed to have their leases terminated, or to be given significant rent relief. These businesses are being screwed over, these businesses are suffering. Colliers needs to be held accountable.”

    We contacted Colliers’ Perth office, but they didn’t get back to us.

    by DAVID BELL