Perth Voice Interactive

IT was a full-house at RenewWA’s forum on climate change and renewable energies at ECU Mt Lawley on Thursday, with another 120 people on the waiting list.

However, no Liberal party politicians accepted the invitation to attend and Labor’s shadow energy minister Bill Johnston cancelled at the 11th hour.

What happened behind the scenes at Labor HQ is still a bit murky, but on the morning of the forum The Australian ran a story claiming Mr Johnston had, in a recorded speech to a conference in October, said he was in favour of a state renewable energy target (RET).

The article quoted Liberal energy minister Mike Nahan as saying that’d push prices up and cost jobs.

Labor’s media machine reacted quickly: At 8.10am that same morning they issued a stark press release stating “WA Labor will not introduce a state-based renewable energy target”.

“We aspire to have more renewable energy.

“After the election, we will sit down with industry and the community to see what is achievable and affordable.”

Mr Johnston then pulled out of the forum later that day.

Piers Verstegen is director of the Conservation Council of WA, one of the signatories to RenewWA, which comprises 40 varied organisations that want a shift to renewable energy.

“We are disappointed that at this time Labor’s not going to announce a RET, but we remain optimistic that if they form government, or even if they don’t, a [RET] is the only pathway forward for WA,” he said.

“We’re confident that whichever government comes to power will realise we do need a RET.”

As private households keep buying up solar power to get off the grid, it undermines the coal industry (which is already heavily subsidised by government).

Dinosaurs

Eventually it’ll go the way of the dinosaurs, and Mr Verstegen says the smart thing is for government to step in and manage that transition to make sure coal workers don’t end up redundant.

“Any government that’s wanting to maintain low energy prices and not wanting to pay subsidies to these industries will realise we have to restructure,” Mr Verstegen says.

He says Germany’s experience of getting out of coal has seen its coal-reliant communities rejuvenated as they transition to renewables, and that a town like Collie could do the same thing, switching from coal to wind farms.

“They’ve got a workforce, they’ve got an industrial base down there they can adapt and draw from, and the manufacturing that already exists down there, and that puts them to a great advantage,” Mr Verstegen says.

“But it does require government policy to put in place targets and signal to the industry that government’s going to support this transition.”

RenewWA’s Alastair Leith says state-based RETs are important because the federal RET has been undermined since the days of the Abbott government.

He says the renewable energy industry needs the certainty of the RET, and without a state-based target we’ll see fewer renewable projects go ahead.

Every state except WA and NSW have RETs (of varying strength), the strongest being the ACT which has set a target of 100 per cent renewables by 2020.

by DAVID BELL

The jugglers, tumblers, actors and clowns of Canning Vale College have organised a day of circus entertainment at City Farm tomorrow, Sunday, February 19. CVC is one of the only schools in WA to offer circus as a subject, and its accomplished troupe normally does a Fringe show. It got turned down this year because Fringe’s high profile is making the application process more competitive, so the troupe organised their own event.

Year 12 student Grace Guppy, who does hoop, acting, and clowning for the troupe, has been in the circus since year 8 and reckons this performance is even more exciting than their regular shows because it’s all been organised by the students. ‘Circus at the Farm’ will run from 12.15pm – 5pm on Sunday 19 February at City Farm, East Perth. Tickets can be bought through trybooking.com.

PERTH lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi lobbied to be put up in five-star accommodation by the hosts of an event because she didn’t want to “stay in trash”.

Mrs Scaffidi’s top-shelf dossing habits were aired at this week’s State Administrative Tribunal hearing into her failure to declare gifts and free travel, including a $35,000 trip to the Beijing Olympics which was “camouflaged” from council colleagues.

When called as a witness the lord mayor claimed she spent her early years in office assuming the council was picking up the tab for her travel so she didn’t have anything to declare.

Clear details

“Were you aware that third parties funded trips?” local department lawyer Carolyn Thatcher asked Mrs Scaffidi.

“No,” the lord mayor said resolutely.

But Ms Thatcher then produced two emails from Mrs Scaffidi to her personal assistant which made it clear she was aware of the arrangements for at least two trips.

“Get very clear details on the flight booking, and make sure they are going to pay,” Ms Scaffidi wrote in one email, while the other asked for the hosts to be made aware of her distaste for staying in “trash”.

Another email from Kagoshima University clearly spelt out that the uni was paying for the trip.

Ms Thatcher asked whether Ms Scaffidi’s failure to declare the trips on her annual return “was because you put your head in the sand?”

“It didn’t occur to me to worry about money coming into the city,” the lord mayor responded.

“Clearly I wasn’t appreciative of that money being used to offset my travel.

“I feel very sad, knowing what I know now,” Mrs Scaffidi said, adding the omissions now made her “feel ill and very remorseful”.

Mrs Scaffidi has acknowledged failure to declare five trips, but is contesting 40 other allegations, with her lawyer Steven Penglis arguing they were part of her official duties and shouldn’t be considered as gifts.

Her time wasn’t free, he argued, and covering her travel and accommodation was fair in return for her speeches and attendance at dignitary functions.

Mr Penglis said if the hosts hadn’t picked up the bill, the council would have so there was no benefit to Mrs Scaffidi and the travel shouldn’t have been considered a gift.

Travel required

“The lord mayor is required to travel, that’s a fundamental part of her job,” he argued.

SAT president Jeremy Curthoys queried whether cutting a ribbon was a fair return for a paid flight and accommodation, and said any request from Mrs Scaffidi to be upgraded to five-star accommodation would have resulted in a financial benefit.

Mr Penglis said cutting ribbons was under-rated and an “important ceremonial event”, while only the cost difference between standard accommodation and an upgrade should be considered a “gift”.

Former CEO Frank Edwards backed Mrs Scaffidi’s take on trips for official functions, saying “it would not have entered my mind that it is a gift to an individual member”.

After the two-day hearing the three members of SAT panel retired to consider their decision.

by DAVID BELL

HIGHGATE and Leederville have been lavished with upgrades, but dowdy North Perth is still in need of a little love, and Labor’s candidate for Perth John Carey is now pledging $250,000 for a new town square if his party’s elected.

Labor would match $250,000 with Vincent council to create a public town square.

Mr Carey says “the reason why the state government is getting involved is because the Liberal state government promised Max Light Rail [running through Fitzgerald Street]. And as a result of that, planning to renew the North Perth town centre was put on hold.

“But the ‘fully costed, fully funded’ plan was put on hold and the community was left waiting.

“I get feedback from the community: It has felt like North Perth has been the poor cousin because they’ve been waiting. This is a significant election commitment to renew North Perth and give it the physical heart that it has as a community. It needs a green space where people can sit and read and rest.

He says the final location and details have to be up to the community but the corner of View and Fitzgerald Street is one option, or Wasley Street could be closed off.

Ida Smithwick is the chair of North Perth Local community association and says while it’s too early to say what the upgrade will involve, it could be “brilliant” for the area.

“Locals could sit there and residents could meet there and bring their children down,” Ms Smithwick said.

“If you walk around the shopping centre you often see a lot of the old Italian men sitting around having a coffee and talking for hours, and you see them in Hyde Park, so it would be great to have something like that in the town centre.”

Ms Smithwick says she’s already had discussions with Vincent council about the plan and a pop-up cafe had been floated.

by DAVID BELL and STEVE GRANT