Perth Voice Interactive

NAIDOC celebrations this year are more important than ever following a shattering No vote in the recent Referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition, says a former chair of the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council. 

Brendan Moore, who is also the City of Fremantle’s Aboriginal engagement officer, says NAIDOC Week from July 7 – 14 will be an opportunity to reset the journey towards reconciliation. 

“Not only is it more important, but fact checking – particularly around the No campaign – has provided an excellent base to begin truth telling,” Mr Moore said. 

Each year the national NAIDOC committee chooses a theme to represent issues or concerns significant to Indigenous people and have chosen “Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud” for 2024. 

According to the official NAIDOC webpage this theme will “honour the enduring strength and vitality of First Nations culture”. 

Despite nearly 75 per cent of voting Australians rejecting constitutional change, NAIDOC committee co-chair Aunty Lynette Riley was also pushing the reconciliation message. 

“This year’s theme is a clarion call to continued unity and solidarity for all Australians to come together and celebrate,” Dr Riley said. 

The City of Bayswater will have a traditional smoking ceremony, rock painting, community planting days and documentary screenings with elder Noel Nannup as part of its NAIDOC activities. 

The City of Perth is putting on an art exhibition representing the 2024 theme in the Council House foyer with works from renowned Indigenous artists. 

There will also be a NAIDOC week opening with indigenous customs such as a smoking ceremony, while Trafalgar Bridge, Council House and the Adelaide Street pedestrian bridge will be illuminated with the Aboriginal Flag. 

For those who like hands-on activities the City of Vincent has several workshops such as making message sticks, as well as Yirra Yaakin performing Boodjar Kaatjin Theatre which introduces Noongar language and cultural stories to younger audiences. 

For more information head to vincent. wa.gov.au/events/naidoc-week-2024/3073 or perth.wa.gov.au/news-and-updates/all-news/ celebrating-naidoc-week-2024 

by SIENNA DALY

RESEARCH by Murdoch Uni scientists to map a plant’s ‘superfamily tree’ will help crop adaptability in the face of climate change. 

Mapping a crop species’ family tree helps uncover wild relatives who have become accustomed to harsh conditions, and may have some tricks that their cultivated cousins could acquire. 

The Murdoch scientists offered an example: that if a wild relative of a crop has adapted to conserve water, this can be incorporated into crops in “drought-prone” regions. 

Murdoch Centre for Crop and Food Innovation lecturer Vanika Garg worked on the super-pangenome research and says mapping the wild relatives of crops is akin to creating a “superfamily album” which can give researchers a “much broader perspective” about crops vital to human survival. 

“When farmers or scientists are faced with challenges, like a new disease affecting crops or changing weather patterns due to climate change, they can look to these wild relatives for solutions,” Dr Garg said. 

“In simple terms, crop wild relatives are like the tough and resourceful distant cousins in a family who can teach our regular crops a few survival tricks.” 

Dr Garg says the identification of a crop’s wild relatives provides “crucial extra context” about a plant’s traits which can be crossbred with their domesticated relatives, making them “stronger and more adaptable”. 

A computational biologist, Dr Garg is currently looking at the genomics of horticultural, chickpea, and wheat crops, the latter of which is the third-most consumed crop globally. 

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER

FORMER Fremantle milliner and author Miranda Green has launched a new book exploring the interaction between feminine and masculine energies, yin and yang, and how the imbalance between each has had a global impact. 

Insights from the Big Picture Narrative of a Sewing Machine Activist is Ms Green’s second book and is a meticulously crafted collection of musings, activism, and observations about society through the lens of feminine and masculine energy. 

Throughout the book, Ms Green analyses the role of feminine and masculine “energetic patterns” that live in everything, including ourselves. 

“People don’t have a real sense of all the wonderful aspects of feminine energy,” Ms Green said. 

“My sense with the feminine is that uploading the feminine is about bringing balance and empathy into our society.

“It’s about bringing all the things that are missing from our business world, and all the things that are missing from our institutions.”

According to Ms Green, this dynamic does not refer to men and women, “it’s yin and yang” between the left and right hemispheres of our brains. 

Nervous

“Some people are nervous about the ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’,” Ms Green said. 

“I’m was really keen throughout the book to make sure that people know I’m not taking a side, I was actually talking as a citizen who has both feminine and masculine qualities.”

Through her title of the “Sewing Machine Activist”, Ms Green addresses the impact patriarchal corporation structure has had on global society, which she labels as “the root cause of global crises” including catastrophic climate change. 

“The problem is we have very powerful, polar masculine people in charge of our worlds.

“The ‘corporation’ was once an actually wonderful institution, a wonderful entity in the 1800s it was only the last 100 and 150 years that it’s actually become like a psychopathic entity.”

Ms Green stresses the book is not intended to ostracise men when writing about the pitfalls of an asymmetrical system, saying feminine traits do not “belong to one gender,” she said. 

“I don’t want it to be divisive. 

“The feminine is about the ‘we’, about ‘us’, and I want people to unite and find our commonality and support each other.

“I want men to step back and take time and let their hearts open, because they’ve been forced to shut them off from feeling emotion,” she said.

Ms Green, a milliner by trade, says her most “startling” ideas often come while she’s working

“My pen and paper is ready for me to write it down,” she said. 

“That’s why I call myself an activist, because, in a way, my writing is my activism.

“I’ve been writing every day since 1989 and I’ve used that as a tool to help me move through life as well.” 

Uploaded

The hope, Ms Green says, is that the feminine energetic patterns are “uploaded into all of our institutions of power” so human-caused catastrophes like climate change can balance and reverse. 

“Then, the unhealthy masculine will start to dissipate, and the healthy masculine will come and sit beside the feminine and between the two of them and their set of healthy values, will have a much better world in so many ways,” Ms Green said. 

Insights from the Big Picture is available to purchase from most online portals such as Booktopia and Angus & Robertson.

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER

PERTH’S Safe Night Space for women finally reopened on Monday evening, ending a month-long stand-off between the City of Perth and the Cook government.

The SNS is now based in Ruah’s James Street “engagement hub” and will be open 7pm to 7am each night.

One a social media post, Ruah described the reopening as “a pivotal moment” for its female clients and sector colleagues.

“We are so grateful to welcome clients into a safe space once again and provide the Ruah singled out planning minister John Carey, his Cabinet colleague Amber-Jade Sanderson and the Department of Communities for their efforts getting the centre re-opened, as well as thanking its team and service leaders and the “entire community and sector who supported us”.

A glaring omission was anyone from the City of Perth, which had forced the closure of the first SNS at the Rod Evans Community Centre after deciding not to extend its funding to cover the service because it said the community wanted the building for other purposes.

That triggered a war of words between lord mayor Basil Zempilas and the Cook government.

The letter offered $3.1 million to keep the service running, but the council knocked it back because the centre had already been committed to other groups. It suggested Uniting WA could take over the service but that was rejected by the state.

That left only Ruah, which applied to use the James Street hub, but the council imposed conditions such as posting a security guard outside the building every night which the service said were too onerous.

When it appealed the conditions Mr Carey decided to call the decision in, but handed to his colleague Ms Sanderson to avoid any suggestions of a conflict of interest.

Late last week she sided with Ruah and removed the need for the security guard, while sidelining the council from having much of a say in how the centre runs – it can only advise her if it’s unhappy, but she gets the final say.

Despite the snub from Ruah and Mr Sanderson’s decision, Mr Zempilas told the council meeting on Tuesday the City was pleased to finally see the service up and running.

He had another dig at the government over the 118 days it took to reopen, saying it was a long time to sit on a decision to move a security guard.

“The City of Perth supports the Safe Night Space and despite the 118 days that have elapsed since this council voted unanimously for its reopening, we are very pleased to see the service has begun operating again,” he said.

by STEVE GRANT

HAY and Murray Streets are set to become 30kmh zones through West Perth under an updated Bike Plan adopted by Perth council this week.

The plan also includes an extensive expansion of bike routes through the city, with Thomas Street between Kings Park Road and Wellington Street a priority project; and other measures that will need an extra $200,000 annually to implement.

The 30kmh limit is in line with a 2021 World Health Organisation campaign to reduce speeds in cities throughout the world, which has already been adopted by London, Paris and Barcelona.

It was one of the key themes raised by cyclists during consultation last year, while they also wanted more direct routes through the city and separating bikes from cars where possible.

A report to the council notes there were concerns raised by councillors during the consultation that lowering the speed limit could increase congestion.

“Perth naturally has many streets that are crucial for efficient traffic flow, and a pedestrian-centric approach could lead to congestion and delays for motorists and that frustration does not lend itself towards safety,” one of the submissions said.

But the City team behind the plan, who among them have a PhD in urban planning, a couple of masters of urban design or landscape architecture, and a variety of degrees in traffic management, don’t believe that will be the case.

The majority of delays to motorists in the CBD occur at intersections,” their report said.

“Reducing speed limits will not have an adverse impact on intersection delays.

“The City already has a fairly wide 40kmh speed zone in the CBD which was first introduced in 2010 and has since been expanded.

The council will also continue to implement its Two-way Streets program to reduce the number of one-way streets in the CBD, such as the stretch along Hay Street between Victoria Avenue and Bennet Street which is due to start in the next 12 months.

The report also noted that several cities including Sydney and Bogota in Columbia have been temporarily closing some of their streets to traffic (Bogota’s is on Saturdays) and hold events that encourage people to cycle, ride and scoot into the city rather than drive.

by STEVE GRANT

THEATRES across the nation are struggling to put on shows because of a shortage of technical crews; but Perth’s Blue Room Theatre is hoping to close the gap by fundraising $35,000 to train a new generation of technicians.

Blue Room’s annual Giving Campaign, this year celebrating the theatre’s 35th anniversary, is dedicated to supporting their 2024 Tech Training Program which which will address the critical skills shortage by creating a dedicated in-house training program to prepare students for immediate work through mentorship.

Blue Room program and engagement manager Joel Evans said mentorship was an informal way of learning by sharing lived experiences and reinforcing ideas.

“I wouldn’t have a career without mentors,” Mr Evans said.

Live Performance Australia head of public affairs Matt Francis said that the ‘Giving Campaign’ is such an important and worthwhile initiative, especially in WA, for building a career in the industry.

“A great percentage of shows cannot be seen or heard without technical staff, they are critically important,” Mr Francis said.

Mr Evans describes Blue Room as a community hub for local and emerging artists by connecting individuals together to create imaginative presentations.

“I feel [community], it’s in the bones of the place,” Mr Evans said.

All works presented at the theatre are created by independent artists and Blue Room allows them to “realise their dream”.

“With theatre, being passionate is the number one quality for someone to be successful,” Mr Evans said.

Australia isn’t the only place suffering a technician shortage, with theatres across the US and UK reporting difficulties as well.

Theatre was one of the industries most affected by the pandemic, with many technicians in its ‘gig economy’ made redundant and subsequently finding jobs in other areas.

The UK media and entertainment union Bectu surveyed its members and found that when theatres reopened, many technicians had already found work elsewhere, while others were tired of the poor pay and work/life balance prevalent in the industry.

To donate to Blue Room’s campaign, visit blueroom.org.au/support-us/donate, call the office on 9227 7005 or email info@blueroom.org.au

by IMOGEN WALSH

WALKING through Perth is about to get a whole lot better following Tuesday night’s council decision to adopt a “Walking in the City 2025-2035” plan.

According to the plan, “walking is a vital component of city life… [which] allows people to connect with others and to the rich layers of the city environment”.

A major focus of the plan is how the city intends to limit pedestrian-motorist incidents, particularly on William Street where there have been 382 crashes in the past five years, 8.4 per cent involving pedestrians. 

The council has looked to the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 for guidance, as it has a “Vision Zero” aim with the intent of having zero deaths or serious injuries by 2050.

Vision Zero outlines nine priorities to protect pedestrians by implementing safe road environments, promoting alternative transport, developing a national best practice for road speed and education in motorist behaviour.

The development of the Edith Cowan University city campus as part of the Perth Plan is touched on in the plan however it is not discussed how the increase in commuters will be dealt with.

ECU city will bring over 10,000 staff and students upon opening adding to the 200,000 commuters the city already has on a daily basis.

“As we don’t open until 2026 we are still in operational planning,” ECU city director of external communications Carolyn Hamilton said.

A survey was completed in September 2023 by 330 road users which showed that pedestrians have had negative experiences with e-scooters, the time allocated at pedestrian crossings, motorists not giving way, cyclists and the inconvenience of construction work on footpaths.

The city is challenged with an ageing population of one in eight Western Australians aged 65 and older which is expected to increase to 18 per cent by 2050.

“This demographic shift suggests a significant increase in elderly visitors to the city in the coming years,” the plan notes. 

by IMOGEN WALSH

THREE community gardens in Stirling have received a $10,000 funding boost to enhance their spaces and foster community engagement. 

The grants are part of the state’s Community Garden Grants Program 2023-2024, aiming to better connect communities with their environment. 

The Inglewood and Mount Lawley Community Garden will get a weatherproof and sun-safe shelter for its patio activities area with its share of the state government’s Community Garden Grants program.

The garden has also received an extra $15,000 from Lotterywest and $5,000 from Open Gardens WA to co-fund this project. 

Campion Community Garden (Balcatta) will use its funds to enhance the existing garden to promote community engagement, accessibility and inclusivity for individuals of all ages and abilities. 

Coastal Community Garden (North Beach) will continue to develop a new community garden, creating a space for residents to meet, learn, share skills and keep active and healthy. 

The gardens were started with a $20,000 seed funding from the City of Stirling, which also provides the water for the gardens as well as technical support, guidance and education.

Mayor Mark Irwin said the community gardens were vital green spaces that brought the community together.

“The funding will help enhance these gardens, making them even more accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Our gardens are thriving hubs where neighbours can connect and learn.

“The City supports seven active community gardens that promote biodiversity, social connection and  learning, with 239 active members. These gardens have engaged 1,500 participants through various workshops and events,” he said.