Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH city council has cracked down on beggars in the Perth train station overpass, posting signs reminding them of a ban on sitting, standing or lying in the thoroughfare.

The overpass is where Salvation Army volunteer Shirley Mort collected $1.7 milllion for charity over the last 26 years, and according to the signs, nowadays she’d have been up for a fine.

As well as being a hotspot for shaking a collection tin, the footbridge was a favourite of homeless people begging for coins from commuters.

There were usually two or three sitting with cups in hand, but when the Voice went by this week they were all gone.

Conrad Liveris from homeless advocacy group Street Smugglers described the move as “disrespectful” and “ill-considered”.

He lived rough on the streets for a week so he could better understand the experience of homeless people.

“The City of Perth fundamentally does not understand the importance of access to public spaces,” he says.

“Targeting public spaces, especially those where homeless people go, isn’t just disrespectful, it is ill-considered.

“Forcing homeless people away from public visibility is the definition of NIMBYism and also precludes them from access to the services they need.

“Homeless people have become out of sight, out of mind and out of reach.

“These sorts of actions don’t just fail to solve issues of homelessness, but make them harder to solve … the City of Perth should not push them out of sight but work with services and individuals to limit the impact it may see.”

We asked Perth council media man Michael Holland what was behind the move but he continued his 17-month streak of not responding to Perth Voice media requests.

by DAVID BELL

THE oldest house on Cowle Street — a heritage-listed bungalow — is showing signs of neglect and is being targeted by vandals.

Match Property Group bought the 1884 house in West Perth a couple of years back along with several other properties on the street.

Condition

When the company was given approval by the Development Assessment Panel to develop the area, it was made with the condition that the house was “retained and maintained”.

Another Match-owned property at 68 Cowle Street (circa 1894), was virtually destroyed by an arsonist in 2015.

Local Andrew Main fears number 54 could follow if it’s not restored and secured.

“I am really concerned about the future of this heritage-listed property,” he wrote to Vincent heritage staff.

“What can the city do? It is not inconceivable that this place will meet the same fate as number 68 which burnt down.”

Vincent council CEO Len Kosova says: “Staff inspected the property earlier this month and have required the owner to address a number of issues by 31 March, including removal of overgrown vegetation and graffiti and repairing the perimeter fence to prevent unauthorised access to the property.”

54 Cowle Street was the earliest dwelling on the street and was once owned by market gardener Joseph Gallop, a relative of former premier Geoff Gallop.

Match did not respond to our questions.

by DAVID BELL

LABOR’S  Simon Millman won Mt Lawley with an 11.8 per cent swing at last weekend’s state election, but outgoing Liberal MP Michael Sutherland says blaming the One Nation preferences deal is a furphy.

Mr Sutherland nabbed 42.1 per cent of the primary vote, but preferences boosted Mr Millman from 40.6 to 52.9, with the Greens’ Matt Roberts getting a decent 11.4 per cent.

The Voice called Mr Sutherland as he was packing up his Walcott Street office on Monday morning, and he said there’d been a lot of misinformation in the media about voters punishing the Liberal party for the preference deal with Pauline Hanson.

Internal polling

While he has no love for Ms Hanson, he said internal party polling showed the swing had gone against the government long before the deal.

“In about November last year I was told the primary vote had collapsed to the early 30s,” he said.

“They told me there was about a 20 per cent swing in Mt Lawley.

“So this huge swing was on, before the preference deal came,” he said, momentarily putting down the phone to tell a staffer what to do with all the blue Liberal party balloons.

As for the swing against him he said “a lot of it was time,” with the Barnett government having been around eight years.

“There was a whole lot of balls in the air: small things happening, and some big like Roe 8, then you have these fights with the Nationals, the mining tax, the Western Power sale that was brought on too late.

“We wanted to float the sale of Western Power months previously and Barnett prevaricated and wouldn’t take the deal.

The Sunday Times recently reported Mr Sutherland was considering running for lord mayor if he lost the election and Labor ended up booting the current council out.

He wouldn’t rule it out, but said for now, “I’m just going to clean the office.”

“I don’t live the Mercedez Benz lifestyle, [but] I’m not going to start panicking.”

by DAVID BELL

IN a political landscape full of dun suits and drab rhetoric, Michael Sutherland was an entertaining splotch of colour.

The rich turn of phrase, avuncular waistline and self-deprecating wit, all ensconced in that South African drawl, formed an affable and slightly flamboyant whole.

Behind closed doors he didn’t suffer fools gladly — the turnover in his electoral office was so high I once suggested he replace the front door with a revolving one — and some ex-staffers compared his management style to president Mugabe.

But he was gregarious and charming in public, and most importantly knew how to work a room, going from unlikely election winner in 2008 to speaker of the legislative assembly.

His sense of humour and pompous baritone were perfectly suited to that role and he kept the political sprats swimming tightly in their shoals.

Flouted

Politically, he was more of an independent Liberal, and often flouted the party line on domestic matters.

None of these were life or death, and he seemed content being a backbencher and enjoying the cachet that came with the speaker’s mantle.

His later political life took a lurid turn when an audio recording of ex-staffer Sherry Sufi — at that point the Liberal federal candidate for Fremantle — emerged. Mr Sufi was caught on tape doing a sexually explicit impersonation of Mr Sutherland.

In typical fashion, he brushed it off as a peccadillo and said he had moved on and bore Mr Sufi no ill will.

Perhaps that’s why Sutherland gave off the air of a man who was never particularly stressed — he didn’t hold a grudge and didn’t take himself too seriously.

Lampooned by Labor as an epicurean fat cat (they nicknamed him Sir Lunchalot), he was stereotyped as a bon vivant, but people liked him, sensing a warm and genuine man whose bark was worse than his bite.

What ever you thought of “old Sutho”, one thing’s for sure — the political skies over Mt Lawley became slightly greyer last Saturday.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE Uniting Church has installed the biggest solar photovoltaic system in Perth at its CBD headquarters.

The 100kW solar array, which sprawls across the roof of the William Street building, is part of the church’s commitment to renewable energy.

UC is one of more than 40 organisations in Renew WA, an environmental group lobbying the state government to set a renewable energy target.

Church consultant Geoffrey Bice says caring for the environment has been a key part of the church’s ideology since its inception in 1977.

“We think the major political parties have been a bit disappointing considering there are so many resources for renewable energy options,” he says.

“Our partner churches in the Pacific said to us ‘[climate change] is impacting on us right now’.

“We really wanted to do our bit for them and they were a key driver for our advocacy of renewable energy.”

Mr Bice adds that ecotheology is on the rise, prompting religions to consider their relationship with the environment.

Yes2Renewables community organiser Alastair Leith says businesses in the CBD should follow the church’s lead.

“WA is in need of a renewable energy target,” he says.

“The good thing about an ambitious target is that its transparent and if the government doesn’t make their targets then the public have accountability.”

The Greens is the only party pushing for a 100 per cent renewable energy target for the WA electricity market by 2030.

Labor recently backtracked on a 50 per cent target by 2030, while the Liberal party has not made any commitment.

“The organisation Sustainable Energy Now have developed software which has demonstrated we can achieve 85 per cent renewable energy, on the South West Interconnected System, for the same cost or less than coal,” Mr Leith says.

“There’s really no downside moving to renewable energy, except their will be a transitioning for workers into new, clean jobs.”

by CHARLIE SMITH

STIRLING council has taken a small, but significant step in its dream of creating a new city centre of 65,000 residents.

The council has sent a planning scheme amendment to the WA Planning Commission for ratification by the planning minister after discovering new regulations had significantly watered down its power to control development in the area.

The new regulations meant that developers within the 716-hectare structure plan area between Herdsman Lake and Karrinyup Road wouldn’t have been bound by its provisions.

Stirling city planning manager Fraser Henderson said the plan, which has resulted from 10 years of planning work, has been supported by the local community.

The plan is anticipated to result in 33,600 additional homes and create 82,000 jobs. It features a light rail along the Ellen Stirling Boulevard.

According to Mr Henderson, Stirling can start implementing their vision once the amendment has been approved by the planning minister.

by CHARLIE SMITH

LISA BAKER has further tightened Labor’s grip on Maylands, winning the seat with a giant 16 per cent swing.

With most of the votes counted at the time of going to print, 68.5 per cent were going to Labor after preferences and Liberals’ Amanda Madden lost 16 per cent on the primary vote.

The Greens’ Caroline Perks improved their primary vote, up about 5 per cent to 17, while Greg Smith led the pack amongst the microparties scoring 2.3 per cent of the vote for the Julie Matheson party for WA.

Ms Baker, who has held Maylands since 2008, was never in danger of losing her seat, but it’s moved from a marginal Labor seat with a 2.7 per cent margin to being a safe 18.5 per cent red-ribbon seat.

Meanwhile, Labor’s David Michael, a Stirling councillor, won the seat of Balcatta against incumbent Liberal Chris Hatton with 55.81 per cent of the vote.

Former Vincent mayor and Perth federal MP Alannah MacTiernan was elected to the Upper House.

by DAVID BELL

SEA SHEPHERD Australia’s MV Ocean Warrior pulled into Henderson last week after its maiden voyage to the Southern Ocean where it hunted whalers.

The Ocean Warrior and Steve Irwin trailed the Japanese whaling fleet for three months, catching them with a dead minke whale which was allegedly caught in Australian waters recognised as a sanctuary.

Outrun

The discovery led to criticism of Japan’s whaling from environment minister Josh Frydenberg, while prime minister Malcolm Turnbull took up the issue with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe who was visiting Australia at the time.

Ocean Warrior captain Adam Meyerson said he was proud of the crew, who became the first Sea Shepherd team to outrun one of the whaling fleet in their annual game of cat and mouse.

“I could not be prouder of the crew of the Ocean Warrior who worked together through rough weather, fog and ice to shut down whaling in the Australian Whale Sanctuary,” Capt Meyerson said.

“We are thankful and humbled by our supporters all around the world that enable us to keep up this important fight.”

Sea Shepherd Australia’s managing director Jeff Hansen welcomed the crew of the Ocean Warrior, praising them for giving up time with family during the Christmas and New Years holidays to take part in Operation Nemesis.

Mr Hansen said the Ocean Warrior will undergo repairs at Henderson.