Perth Voice Interactive

THE legendary organ builders of the early colony will be celebrated by St Mary’s cathedral in the first show of their 2017 concert series.

The cathedral houses two pipe organs, one built by famed organman Josiah Eustace Dodd (our first Australia-born organ builder, 1856-1952) and another built by Arthur Hobday (1851-1912).

Both men were trained by the same master, George Fincham, an old world expert who saw the clunky instruments being transported to Australia.

Seeing the obvious demand, he decided to sail to Australia and set up shop in Melbourne.

Generation

He supplied the churches and town halls popping up across the country at a far cheaper rate than the importers, and the homemade organs were far better suited to the hot Australian climate.

He trained a generation of organ builders, but his star apprentices were Dodd and Hobday.

Eventually Dodd set up his own firm in Adelaide (JE Dodd and Sons) and competed with Fincham, building larger, louder and richer-sounding organs.

Dodd expanded his business and opened a branch in Perth in 1903.

In 1910 St Mary’s Cathedral awarded him the commission of building their first organ, the largest one in WA at the time.

The cathedral’s second organ, by Hobday, was built in 1905 for the Newtown Methodist Church in Wellington, New Zealand.

The church was demolished in the 1980s and a new chapel built, but it was too small for Hobday’s instrument, so it sat in storage for 25 years.

In recent years it was dug out, dusted off, shipped to Perth, masterfully restored, and installed in St Mary’s Cathedral.

A century after Hobday’s death, Fincher’s two star apprentices were reunited in a fashion, with their works sitting in the same Perth cathedral.

The history and the music of the era are woven together for the first show in this season’s concert series, “An Afternoon with Mr Dodd and Mr Hobday”, with Perth’s favourite heritage storyteller Richard Offen coming along to tell a few anecdotes about the city during that period. It’s on May 21 at 2pm with tickets from http://www.ticketswa.com/event/afternoon-mr-dodd-and-mr-hobday.

by DAVID BELL

ACTIV has been forced to cancel a bus service which took its disabled workers to their factory jobs and home each day, leaving dozens of families stressed, out of pocket and unhappy.

Many of the organisation’s 30-odd drivers will also be made redundant.

Executive manager operations Mark Furr told the Voice that as part of the National Disability Insurance Scheme rollout, Activ would no longer be given block funding to run the service.

Shortfall

Instead, money would go directly to the workers, with their families told they’ll have to organise their own way to the factories, such as taking public transport, taxis or car pooling.

Barbara Whitmore says she’s done the figures already and her son, who suffers from fragile X syndrome, will face a $60 shortfall each week if he takes public transport. It will have to come out of his disability pension.

“I am 73 years old and to drive my son there every day would be a nightmare,” she told the Voice.

She says apart from the cost, the buses provided a safe and secure environment for the workers.

“The buses are a very important part of their routine,” Ms Whitmore said.

“Some of the people work two or three days a week and it’s a lifeline. It like a family; it’s part of their life.”

Ms Whitmore said there had also been contradictory information from Disability Service Commission co-ordinators about which families would be eligible for a $1500 transport allowance. She says that’s been adding to everyone’s stress, although she’s been told her son will qualify.

“This has affected my asthma and a lot of others say the stress has been affecting their health; one lady who is a teacher has had to take sick leave.

“My son, who is 46 and has fragile X chromosome, can’t walk, he can’t read or write; how is he going to catch a bus?

“Activ has chosen to do this which is exceedingly disappointing.”

Mr Furr said they had no option. Activ looked into a fee-for-service option, but found the costs prohibitive.

He said Activ had been passing on the feedback from families to the Disabilities Services Commission, which is overseeing the NDIS rollout, although it wasn’t its remit to be lobbying.

Mr Furr said the decision would affect about 30 bus drivers, some who’ve been with Activ for decades.

“Our priority is redeploy those we can within the organisation, and we have engaged as transparently with them as we could, but the stark reality for some bus drivers is that are going to be some redundancies.”

Some other drivers had indicated that it was time to retire anyway, he said.

One of the affected drivers the Voice spoke to said the mood amongst his colleagues was grim and some were calling for heads to roll.

New WA disability services minister Stephen Dawson blamed the Barnett government for stopping Activ’s funding.

“My goal is to ensure continuity of service for people with disability, their families and carers, and also to ensure WA’s transition to an NDIS is a success,” Mr Dawson told the Voice.

He said the commission had met with private charter companies and had negotiated a service which would start on July 1.

“The commission is now in the process of communicating this development to Activ employees.”

by STEVE GRANT

THE man whose images inspired a legion of Brits to emigrate to Australia — E.L. Mitchell — is finally getting the credit he deserves, says historian Joanna Sassoon.

Her debut biography, Agents of Empire: How E.L. Mitchell’s Photographs shaped Australia, is a celebration of the photographer, whose work for the immigration department in the early 1900s help define international perceptions of WA and Australia.

“The book does three things,” says Sassoon.

“It tells you the life of Mitchell, the life of his photographs and how they spread across the world, and the history of his archive.”

Sassoon first came across Mitchell’s work when she working as a photographic manager at the WA State Library.

It sparked a fascination with the man and led to 25 years of research for the biography.

“I felt that there was a story to be told that showed that his photographs had an impact on people’s lives, because his photographs were used to advertise Australia and people migrated as a result of that,” she says.

His photography was so sought after and respected that he gained the position of official photographer to the governor of WA.

His work was also displayed on school text books as well as government collections.

“I wanted to tell the story of the impact of his photographs, rather than see them as art”, Sassoon told the Voice.

These days much of Mitchell’s work is kept in private hands, or at the WA Maritime Museum and the State Library, but some of his photographs are still used on iconic WA postcards. Sassoon hopes the book will give people a better understanding of the present, by glimpsing the past.

Agents of Empire is available at New Editions in Fremantle.

by OLIVIA MITCHELL

PERTH lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi is refusing to stand down as opposition leader Mike Nahan joins premier Mark McGowan in calling for her to resign.

Ms Scaffidi released a lengthy statement via Twitter characterising the 45 breaches as an “error of paperwork” that was “inadvertent”.

“As I have maintained from the outset I did nothing dishonestly but I accept I had not disclosed appropriately as it was interpreted as all being in the line of duty.”

Her claims of inadvertent error is at odds with the original Corruption and Crime Commission report and the 103-page finding handed down by the State Administrative Tribunal this week.

The CCC report stated “it is more probably than not that…the failure to disclose was deliberate”.

The SAT also disputed Ms Scaffidi’s claims that she was unaware that third parties were paying, with their report highlighting several instances of her acknowledging via email that foreign governments or companies were picking up the bill (even asking for swanky hotels and to check if a medical conference in Japan would be paying for her husband’s airfare too).

Extensive criticism

Ms Scaffidi’s statement emphasised a section of the SAT finding that “confirms there was no corruption by myself and that contributions made to me were in any way an attempt to exert improper influence.

“Given the extensive criticism by so many that I have endured since May 2015 this reaffirmation (which is conveniently overlooked by many) is more important to me than ANY number of findings.

“In reading the details now provided I hope those who have so viciously criticised me can see how extensive my promotion of our city has been.

“If only once the details of why I travelled and where were ever discussed then maybe the public at large would understand the travel was about the promotion of Perth and WA and is exactly the type of travel a dedicated lord mayor should be undertaking.

“To repeat: The error of paperwork non-disclosures was inadvertent and that is the nub of the issue.”

Ms Scaffidi pointed out “there is no question of my being dismissed from the role: What is sought by the CEO of the department [of local government] is a period of suspension”.

Talking to ABC 720 this week, she said the people of Perth had elected her with full knowledge of these issues and that meant she should see out her four-year term.

However the CCC report was released October 5, several days into the voting period when 65 per cent of the votes were already cast, and the WA Electoral Commission got several calls from people asking if they could take back their vote (they can’t).

With the SAT findings released this week, Mr Nahan joined WA Labor’s call for Ms Scaffidi to stand down.

by DAVID BELL