Perth Voice Interactive

TINY turtles raised by the villagers of Bayswater have been released back into nature.

The eggs were laid in Deborah Bowie’s backyard, just near the Carter Wetland in Bayswater and hatched in September.

But with the neighbouring wetlands partially cleared for a housing development, the locals stepped up to help raise the wee testudines by collecting mosquito larva for them to eat.

They became tiny mascots in the struggle to save the remaining wetlands, their little likenesses appearing on signs and flyers calling for action.

With locals providing food guidance from the Turtle Oblonga and Rehabilitation Network, the hatchlings doubled in weight (and some chubby bubbies almost tripled from 8 grams to 23).

On October 11, Ms Bowie and friends released them back into the wild. She said with their home still under threat of further a housing development they were sent to a neighbouring suburb known as a turtle habitat.

by DAVID BELL

FERTILISER might help your garden grow, but its overuse is killing the Swan River, says Gardening Australia presenter Josh Byrne. Each year around 250 tonnes of nitrogen and 26 tonnes of phosphorous leach into the Swan River, resulting in algal blooms that reduce oxygen levels in the water and can kill fish, he says.

The good news is there are alternatives which don’t require replacing the garden with fake grass or concrete, and Mr Byrne will share these secrets during a series of free workshops around Perth. Supported by the Department of Parks and Wildlife and the Water Corporation, the two-hour sessions will be held in South Perth (October 19), Bassendean (November 2), and Peppermint Grove (November 5).

Bookings can be made at: http://www.riverguardians.com

THE foundation stone for the original St Luke’s Anglican church was laid 110 years ago, and in the years since it’s changed a lot to meet the needs of a new demographic around Maylands.

In 1900 the suburb was staunchly working class, home to workers from the Maylands Brickworks, Aerodrome, Schulstad’s Engineering Works and Mills Pottery.

Despite the bustling population the faithful had to travel to Perth or Guildford for their Sunday worship, so there was great rejoicing on October 20, 1906 when Sir Edward Stone laid the foundation stone. The rectory was completed in 1911.

An expanding congregation meant a new church was needed, which was built in 1931, although the original still stands behind.

According to a parishioner’s history compiled from old church records and stories, the church was always progressive: In the 1920s it hosted activist Irene Greenwood, a prominent proponent of getting women involved in politics.

As the suburb went through tough times and the demographic became poorer, an op shop was opened. Fortnightly “rainbow lunches” to help people with mental health issues socialise were established, as was a program to deliver gifts to children of prisoners.

When refugees from the Middle East and Africa started moving into town the church welcomed them into the fold, incorporating traditional dances and singing from their homelands into weddings and baptism services. The Nyoongar traditional owners of the land were also acknowledged before every service.

The service to mark St Luke’s 110th year is tomorrow, Sunday October 16 at 9am.

by DAVID BELL

NEW local government minister Paul Miles has backed lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi’s stance on forbidding councillors speaking to the media

Opposition leader Mark McGowan has reiterated calls for the council to be sacked.

Three councillors — Jemma Green, Reece Harley and James Limnios — want the policy scrapped so they can communicate their views to the public, with Cr Limnios stating outright he’ll openly defy the gag.  The ABC quoted Mr Miles as saying the gag “isn’t a stupid rule… it is democratic”, and that Cr Limnios was just rocking the boat because he wants to be lord mayor.

Mr McGowan says the council’s now “dysfunctional” and “embarrassing”.

Across the border at Vincent where councillors can speak freely, mayor John Carey says it hasn’t led to anarchy; residents need to know where their elected members stand so they can be informed when voting, he reckons.

“The City of Vincent has a policy that yes, as mayor I give the official position, but there’s nothing to stop the Voice calling any councillor and asking their personal opinion on a matter. That is healthy, that it good,” he says.

”It seems incredible in the 21st century: it’s extraordinary that the majority of the City of Perth believe it is healthy or acceptable or accountable that councillors can not express their personal opinions.

“There really is a toxic culture developing at the City of Perth … it is a concern if there is a pack mentality developing in council, where a council becomes so heavily factionalised that those councillors who are not in the majority feel ostracised or unable to make a contribution, and I think that’s what some councillors in the City of Perth are feeling.”

In May Cr Jemma Green claimed at a council meeting that Ms Scaffidi had handed down an edict to her allies ordering them to “freeze” her out, with Cr Limnios confirming he’d received the missive. Cr Green told the meeting Ms Scaffidi continually refused to meet with her, saying she tried for two months but the lord mayor wouldn’t budge.

by DAVID BELL

HISTORICAL tapestries depicted 240 years of Quaker history in Australia are going on display at Quaker Meeting House in Mt Lawley.

The Quakers separated from the Church of England in the mid-1600s and are marked by their strong pro-peace stance and emphasis on worldly works.

They have a long tradition of tapestry, with one of the most notable the 77-panel “Quaker Tapestry” housed in Cumbria, England, depicting the history of the Quakers going back to the 17th century.

In 2005 Aussie Quaker Verley Kelliher visited the Cumbria tapestry and brought back an idea for a locally stitched version.

The local panels are a work in progress depicting Quaker history in Australia since 1770, when Quaker Sydney Parkinson came over on Captain Cook’s expedition as a botanical artist.

The panels (and woodwork by artist Geoff Roy) are on display October 16 from 2pm at Quaker Meeting House, 35 Clifton Crescent.

by DAVID BELL

THE eighth annual Perth Heritage Days are on this weekend with the theme; “Perth — How We Worked”.  Heritage Perth is running tours of historic places like Government House, the 1892 Palace Hotel, and the newly (and splendidly) restored Trades Hall on Beaufort Street which was done up when CFMEU moved in.

There’s even a talk on “Racist Furniture and White Australia, the Factories Act of 1904,” with historian Eddie Marcus recounting an era when every piece of furniture was required to declare whether it had been touched by “Asiatic” hands, and when Boans used to proudly advertise its furniture was made in East Perth with “100 per cent white labour”.

Everything across the two days is free, but they fill up fast so you’ll need to book at heritageperth.com. There were going to be a fleet of 18 vintage biplanes flying into Langley Park but unseasonal rains have made it too muddy to land.

PERTH lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi has been reported to the local government standards panel for allowing ally Janet Davidson to steal fellow councillor Jemma Green’s thunder over a vote on a media gag.

Cr Green had put forward a notice of motion before the September 20 meeting which would have paved the way for councillors to offer personal opinions about council policies and decisions to the media.

But Ms Scaffidi directed Cr Davidson to move the motion, allowing her to open and close the debate and restricting Cr Green’s opportunity to respond to any concerns raised by other councillors.

Cr Green was clearly annoyed at the outcome and reported the pair to the panel. According to the council’s standing orders, Ms Scaffidi should only have allowed Cr Davidson to move the motion if Cr Green had consented in writing.

Cr Davidson described it as a “pro forma” motion, saying that gave her the right to butt in, but the term doesn’t appear in the standing orders. When the Voice asked her to explain the term she replied: “I have no comment to make.”

Ms Scaffidi has another outstanding complaint against her at the standards panel, stemming from a successful motion of no confidence she allowed Cr Davidson to raise against deputy mayor James Limnios in May.

The lord mayor allowed it as an item of urgent business, although standing orders says that should be reserved if the item “cannot await inclusion in the agenda for the next meeting” or if “the delay …. could have adverse legal financial implications for the city”.

stories by DAVID BELL

LORD mayor Lisa Scaffidi was quizzed by a Northbridge local at Tuesday’s council meeting over a donation to councillor Lily Chen’s campaign for the state seat of Mirrabooka.

Graham Hansen submitted the question, which read: “I understand that you donated a gift to Lily Chen’s election campaign for the Liberal Party in the seat of Mirrabooka.

“What was the value of the gift and will it mean that Cr Chen is conflicted and therefore unable to vote on matters before the City of Perth such as the upcoming heritage listing of your building on Wellington Street,” he said, referring to the Grand Central backpackers which staff have recommended for heritage protection.

That heritage protection has been opposed by Ms Scaffidi’s husband and part-owner Joe Scaffidi.

Ms Scaffidi said her husband had donated some pottery items worth about $75 to Ms Chen.

The display from the Liberal fundraiser at Hans Palace on September 29 gave “special thanks to our prize donors” including “Lisa & Joe Scaffidi”.

At $75, the pottery is under the $300 limit that’d make it a prohibited gift.

Mr Hansen also asked Cr Chen if she’d declared the gift. She replied she’d filled out the relevant forms and handed them in, though they’re yet to show up on the online gift register.

THE public transport authority has removed three bus stops along a discontinued stretch of bus route 15 despite a challenge to the service’s axing being before WA’s supreme court.

Members of the Senior and Disabled Bus Action Group (Sandbag) claim Transperth discriminated against people with poor mobility when it changed route 15 last year, with those living around Brady and Tasman streets being forced to walk up to 700 metres to the nearest bus stop.

Sandbag’s crusade took it to the state administrative tribunal and the federal court with little success, but a supreme court appeal and a complaint to the human rights commission are still being considered. Convenor Tad Krysiak reckons the decision to remove the three stops (two on Tasman and one on Egina) is “premature”.

Mr Krysiak says the PTA will waste taxpayer dollars putting the bus stops back if the supreme court overturns its decision to axe the route.

“Those bus shelters shouldn’t have come out until all legal actions have ceased,” Mr Krysiak says.

“It’s not in anyone’s way, it’s just a shelter with a seat … why can’t they wait until everything’s finished?”

“It is the PTA’s conniving, contemptuous way of getting revenge on us for complaining in the first place…” Mr Krysiak wrote.

Sandbag has a petition to restore bus 15, which will be delivered to the minister for transport when it gets 100 signatures.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

WA LABOR is still butting heads with the Barnett government following a decision to pull support from a handful of childcare centres around the State.

Of the 310 not-for-profit community childcare centres in WA, 33 operate from state-managed properties with rent and maintenance assistance, but this is set to cease from June 2018.

Equal playing field

The Liberal party reckons this will provide an equal playing field across all child care services, but Labor has described it as mean-spirited.

Amid fears it would force child care centres to close up or increase fees, parents and staff came to state parliament demanding the decision be reversed.

But treasurer Mike Nahan stuck to his guns, saying the government does not anticipate any centres will close because other tenure options are available (like vesting the property in the local government).

Dr Nahan also noted a 43 percent increase in WA childcare places since 2008 and claimed the state government began managing the land in the 1980’s, when there was greater need for child care.

“The state government maintains its commitment to ensuring accessible and affordable childcare and will support the continued delivery of child care services through these facilities,” Dr Nahan said.

Shadow community services minister Simone McGurk argued there was still a childcare shortage, and said the centres were being axed because of poor state finances.

She also connected unaffordable childcare with fewer working mums and the gender pay-gap, pointing to a 2015 report called ‘filling the pool’ which said WA had the highest pay-gap of any state (25 per cent).

“The big waiting lists at most of these centres show that Dr Nahan was way off the mark,” Ms McGurk said.

“The funding needed to keep the centres open is small compared to the bill taxpayers are having to foot for the Liberals’ waste and mismanagement.”

“There’s still a demand for it, and if these centres are threatened with closure it’s going to have a knock-on effect [for parents].”

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM