Perth Voice Interactive

A NEW book is set to hit Freo’s shelves telling the tale of discrimination, hardship and resilience which intertwines the experiences of Italian and Croatian immigrants and their central involvement in the WA timber industry in the 20th century. 

Growing Roots – Italians and Croatians in the Development of the Western Australian Timber Industry addresses the “previously undocumented” experience of Mediterranean immigrants to WA. 

Freo-based author Christina Gillgren interviewed over 50 people as part of her PhD project in the 1990s and says the Croatian and Italian experiences are an “important” and part of WA’s history and economy. 

Tapestry

“The stories complement the tapestry of settlements in Western Australia, so that is why I think it’s so relevant to the history of WA,” Ms Gillgren said.

“It’s a story of which [the interviewees] narrate through their interviews, and a story which is part of the heritage of Western Australian settlement.

“There were other migrant groups, but in WA the majority were these two groups.”

The book details how employment for immigrants was limited to the goldmines, wood lines, and the timber industry.

“When I first interviewed them, many were reluctant, because in those days they grew up in the times where there was a lot of antagonism and prejudice and exploitation,” Ms Gillgren said.

“Despite the White Australia Policy, in 1923 the federal government had an agreement with Italy for migration and supposedly there were no restrictions, but the reality was very different.”

This was not limited to employment opportunities – the ability for Italian and Croatian immigrants to become citizens was also restricted. 

“It was only after the Second World War that they got Australian citizenship,” Ms Gillgren said.

“Until then, when you became naturalised, you became a British subject.

“Not only that, women, Australian women who married Italians or Croatians lost their citizenship, and it wasn’t until their husbands would become naturalised that they would get their citizenship back.”

At least 1200 Italians were also interned in camps during WWII despite many being naturalised, which Ms Gillgren says was “indiscriminate”. 

According to Ms Gillgren, many interviewees were reluctant to open up about the hardships and challenges of being first- and second-generation immigrants trying to establish themselves in Australia.

Opening up 

“These were their experiences in the ‘50s and ‘60s; when we moved into opening up Australia, a lot of the laws still not had changed sufficiently, so their experience was to be quiet and not talk about what they experienced,” Ms Gillgren said. 

“I asked them how they felt now, which was in 1990s, they were still very quiet and subdued, and they didn’t want to really talk about the really bad things that happened. 

“But after I switched off the interview tape, a lot more personal stories came out, of the things that happened to them.”

The book also details the “tug-of-war over the preservation and use of native forests” – a debate which Ms Gillgren says “still rages on today”.

Ms Gillgren says it was “important” to document the often-heartbreaking experiences of immigrants from Mediterranean countries to combat intergenerational shame of coming from a non-British background. 

“What particularly troubled me is how they felt they couldn’t speak about it and how the second generation almost didn’t want to own up to being Italian,” she said. 

“It’s only the third or fourth generations that are starting now to embrace that heritage…it broke my heart.

“Very few Australians know this story, and they don’t know how they changed, how Australia moved into multiculturalism.”

Growing Roots – Italians and Croatians in the Development of the Western Australian timber industry will be launched by mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge on June 14 at 5.30pm, at the Fremantle Italian Club. 

If you are unable to attend the launch and wish to purchase the book, email salinabooks@gmail.com 

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER

KELLY BOULTER was so shocked at the state of stray cats and dogs on a recent holiday to Greece, she’s founded an organisation to help them.

All funds raised for her not-for-profit Save Greek Cats and Dogs will go to animal shelters in Greece, and after seeing the state of some strays back home, Boulter’s decided to donate money to WA shelters too.

“On a recent trip to Greece I discovered the appalling and massive scale of suffering and cruelty experienced by stray cats and dogs living on the streets,” she says.

“These poor animals often go hungry and starve to death, have little access to water, shelter or veterinary treatment.

“I spent a lot of my trip feeding the stray cats and dogs, and building shelters out of cardboard boxes wrapped in plastic, and putting a cushion inside.

“After I returned from my holiday, I became aware of cat and dog rescue groups in Perth being inundated with surrendered animals, and so have decided to help these groups as well.”

It’s estimated there are more than three million stray dogs and cats in Greece, and Boulter was taken aback at the scale of the crisis on her month-long trip across the ‘cradle of Western civilization’.

“Emaciated cats and dogs rifled through garbage on the ground or in dumpsters; cats and dogs begged at the feet of outdoor diners, eyes pleading for scraps of food; and ravenous dogs crawled sideways through a gap underneath a mesh cage covering dumpsters to lick empty food containers,” she says.

“While locals in certain regions do provide food for stray animals, these offerings can be sporadic, particularly during the off-peak tourist season. Sadly, this often leads to numerous animals facing starvation. 

“From the bustling streets of Athens to the tranquil villages and enchanting island, a consistent and heart-wrenching sight is evident for those willing to see: a desperate fight for survival fought by millions of cats and dogs who are deprived of life’s basic necessities-food, water, shelter and veterinary care.”

Boulter says the extreme temperatures in Greece make life even tougher for stray cats and dogs, and she tried to help out by making makeshift shelters.

“Scavenging cardboard boxes from businesses or dumpsters, I wrapped them in black garbage bags to protect them from the rain, and bought cushions from pet shops to put inside them,” she says,

“The tragedy of a mother dog and her puppies abandoned in Santorini epitomised the crisis for me. Efforts to find help were met with the stark reality of overwhelmed shelters reliant on the support of few volunteers. Worse still, I discovered the disturbing practice of intentional animal abandonment and starvation.”

Boulter will kick off her fundraising with an Aussie Bogan Bash with bogan bingo, quizzes, games and entertainment at the Fremantle Police and Community Youth Centre in Hilton. 

There will be a prize for best-dressed bogan and a bar selling beer, wine and soft drinks, as well as food platters available to pre-order.

The Bogan Bash is on Saturday June 22 at 6.30pm-10pm. Tix at events.humanitix.com/aussie-bogan-bash. To donate directly to Save Greek Cats and Dogs see savegreekcatsanddogs.com

KINGS PARK’S long-serving director of science has added his signature to a letter calling on prime minister Anthony Albanese to protect at least 30 per cent of the South West from further deforestation and development.

Kingsley Dixon, who’s also a professor at Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said Australia was facing a “catastrophic” decline in flora and fauna which needed to be addressed.

“Australia is facing an extinction crisis unparalleled globally, where the abundance of plants has fallen 71 per cent, birds have been reduced by 55 per cent, and mammals have declined by 46 per cent since 2000.”

Prioritise

Prof Dixon, whose signature joins those of former premier Carmen Lawrence, Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley and Conservation Council of WA president Richard Yin, has urged Mr Albanese to prioritise the 48.9 million hectare Southwest Australia Ecoregion for protection.

The Southwest Australia Ecoregion stretches from Shark Bay to the south coast and according to the World Wildlife Fund has the highest concentration of rare and endangered species in Australia. It’s one of only three acknowledged hotspots in the country.

The signatories want the government to focus its attention on the hotspots rather than trying to fulfil its obligations towards the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity framework with less valuable but less contentious arid areas.

“There is no better place to start than by restoring and protecting our global biodiversity hotspots,” Prof Dixon said.

Prof Stanley said biodiversity loss affected the health and wellbeing of current and future generations.

“The pathways into climate change and biodiversity loss are the same and they are linked to human health,” Prof Stanley said.

“Whist not yet too late to reverse this, we are getting dangerously close to not being able to avoid serious damage.”

Dr Yin said 100,000 hectares of forest had been wiped out through prolonged drought and “heat-making ecological restoration” in the last six months.

“The South-West of WA is one of Australia’s Global Biodiversity Hotspots and home to thousands of plant species found nowhere else in the world,” Dr Yin said.

“It is also a region most vulnerable to climate change impacts.”

Extinction Rebellion has gone under the radar since Covid took the sting out of public protests, but their Red Rebels were out again last Friday to air their concerns about a possible localised extinction of snake-necked turtles at Bibra Lake after climate change was cited as a factor in a major fox attack that killed more than 100 of the reptiles.

It comes as Kings Park’s long-time director of science and a former premier added their signatures to a letter calling for better protection of the Southwest Biodiversity Hotspot.

Read the full story here.

PERTH lord mayor Basil Zempilas has taken aim at the Cook government for failing to re-open a Safe Night Space for homeless women before winter set in.

The centre has been something of a political football between the City and the state government after councillors voted in November to stop funding a two-year trial at the Rod Evans Community Centre on Hay Street.

The council then pushed for Uniting WA to run a SNS from its Tranby hub on Aberdeen Street, but that was reliant on state government funding that didn’t eventuate.

Ruah, which had managed the SNS at Rod Evans, then put forward plans for a space in James Street which were approved by the City, but with conditions which included a contentious demand that security guards be posted outside at all times.

Challenge

Ruah lodged a challenge against the conditions in the State Administrative Tribunal, but planning minister John Carey pulled it for a ministerial decision before handing it over to health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson to avoid any perception he had a conflict of interest.

Mr Zempilas said that since then he’s heard crickets.

“I counted these numbers up today,” he said at the last council meeting.

“From the Safe Night Space closing when this council unanimously voted for it to re-open in a new location in James Street was 89 days, and within those 89 days another site was put forward which was rejected by the state,” he said. “From then until today has been 91 days.

“The Safe Night Space has now been closed longer than when it initially closed off the back of our decision [of] November 30.

“Winter has set in, the cold weather has come, the rain has come, and the Safe Night Space in James Street could have been opened three months ago.”

by STEVE GRANT

VINCENT council will ask WA health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson to look into why Vincent streets are being swamped by used needles.

Vincent mayor Alison Xamon attended a community safety forum in Claisebrook called to address a rise in antisocial behaviour where residents reported finding hypodermic needles in their gardens.

“One of the concerns is that a number of people are entering the Vincent area using public transport specifically to purchase and take drugs and then stay in the area,” Ms Xamon said.

“There are real concerns about how to ensure that people who find themselves in the unfortunate cycle of drug abuse are able to be connected with services to get the support they need and residents can feel safe in their communities.

“I am a big supporter of needle exchange regimes, as they ensure drug users are connecting with services and can be monitored and warned about dangerous batches of drugs going through the system.”

During the forum residents complained about the number of homeless people hanging out in the Claisebrook area, but Ms Xamon said a link shouldn’t be drawn to antisocial behaviour.

“Close examination of the types of behaviour being discussed revealed that it is clear that the issues are not from people looking for shelter, but a different category of behaviour.”

Ms Xamon said people had been deterred from reporting every incident because it was time-consuming, but this meant police weren’t aware of the scale of the problem and hadn’t beefed up their presence.

“It is important that residents don’t assume that this is something they can’t do anything about; reporting is critical,” she said.

by STEVE GRANT

VINCENT council has put off plans to make Harold Street one-way after backlash from neighbours, with mayor Alison Xamon summing the issue up as “frustration”.

The little slither between Beaufort and Vincent streets has long been a source of frustration for locals because of rat-runners and pick-ups from the Sacred Heart primary school making it difficult to get out of their own homes.

In March the council deferred a decision on whether to make it one-way, but at its last meeting the council backed away from that plan to focus on a precinct-wide strategy to deal with increasing traffic and density.

The biggest opposition came from residents of Chatsworth Road in Highgate who fear Harold’s problems will simply be pushed onto them.

Lou Cotter lives on Chatsworth Road and says he’s aware of the problems Harold Street residents face.

“Harold Street needs something to sort out their problem, but we don’t want the problem shifted to Chatsworth,” Mr Cotter said.

He disputed a traffic assessment from Vincent staff showing Chatsworth as a fairly trouble-free thoroughfare that wouldn’t be adversely affected by the changes to Harold.

“The evidence of accidents along Chatsworth Road is not reflected in the statistics, because there’s a log of people – including myself – who’ve had cars damaged and not reported them to anyone,” Mr Cotter said.

“It’s pretty expensive because they’re usually hit and runs.”

Neighbour John Meggitt agreed and said the plan ran counter to best-practice guides because it would divert traffic onto a lower-rated road.

“It’s an ad hoc response to managing traffic in the area, which will limit future options within the precinct.

“As a result of this we are seeing the residents of Chatsworth Road lining up against the residents of Harold Street,” he said, urging councillors instead to focus on the precinct-wide plan.

That got a sympathetic hearing from councillor Jonathan Hallett who moved the amendment to focus on nodes along Beaufort Street and a broader look at why the area has so many black spots.

“And so it’s really important that we do act across the precinct, but some areas are going to require works more quickly than others,” Cr Hallett said.

“If we have a coherent plan that addresses the entire precinct, it allows people to see where they fit within that timeline.”

He says Harold Street would be a priority for a node at the intersection with Beaufort, but Chatsworth would be soon after and he hoped that was something its residents could live with.

Ms Xamon took aim at Main Roads for lagging behind the growing city, saying she supported increasing density, but it needed greater state government investment and co-operation with councils.

“Like every other councillor I’m supportive of a precinct-wide approach, at the same time acknowledging the sheer frustration of those residents that are being affected on a daily basis,” she said.

Council staff will now have until February to present councillors with a plan, with the aim of having it adopted in 12 months.

by STEVE GRANT