Perth Voice Interactive

THE Beaufort Street Festival will “take a break” this year.

Organisers from the non-profit Beaufort Street Network say the festival has achieved its goal of putting the street on the map and economic conditions are now making it tough to fund.

Network chair Pam Herron says; “it’s time to try some new ideas. We’re planning on a number of events throughout the year and looking at other ways we can create a better Beaufort Street… the Network may relaunch a smaller community celebration in future years.

“Funding the festival each year is challenging, particularly for a non-profit community organisation in the current economic conditions.”

The festival was sponsored largely by Vincent and Stirling city councils and Lotterywest.

Festival founder and now Vincent mayor John Carey has long lobbied for the state government to help fund the festival through Tourism WA. They didn’t come to the table.

Apart from companies JumpClimb and the Event Agency who were paid for their time, everything else was pulled together by volunteers who poured in long hours, spending the better part of the year to prepare for the one -day event.

The festival was a hit from the first year when around 50,000 people turned out in 2010, and reaching around 160,000 at its peak. The only criticism anyone’s been able to muster is that it’s too popular and the streets get utterly packed.

Ms Herron says by holding smaller events (the first one is a Crust pizza arvo at Mt Lawley’s Forrest Park croquet club on March 12) they’ll be able to engage the community across the year.

“The BSF really put Beaufort Street on the map. It’s time to try some new ideas.”

Mr Carey says the festival achieved its goal to raise the street’s profile and it’s the right decision to call it a day: “I don’t think this is a bad thing, I think this year the Network can look at smaller community-based events to engage locals… and not have all its energy sucked into one big event.”

It was a massive undertaking for organisers to pull the festival together, leaving little time for other projects: “I had a full time job and I was putting in 20 hours a week [on the first festival],” Mr Carey says. “I was working weekends, most nights, and it achieved a lot of great things but it just got too big, too unwieldy, there wasn’t enough funds to manage so

many people, and in some sense it did lose that local component.

“Things change. At the time Beaufort Street really was a leader in seeing a whole new push for Street Festivals: Look at Vic Park or what Subiaco’s trying to do, what other council’s are trying to do, they come to Vincent and say we want that kind of festival.”

by DAVID BELL

THINGS descended on WA’s parliament house en masse Tuesday February 23 to protest new ”anti-protest” laws.

The proposed laws make it an offence to suspiciously carry a “thing” that could be used to impede lawful activity, unless you have a good excuse. It’s intended to stop protestors carrying “things” like chains or locks to logging sites and then using them to stop work from going ahead.

But the vague wording has everyone from Labor and the Greens to farmers and the United Nations concerned about how broadly it could be applied.

There were disputes about the numbers present at the protest, with corporate media placing it in the low hundreds but activists reckoning north of a thousand.

Voice photographer Matthew Dwyer was there and saw “things” as diverse as a stuffed dragon and whacky hats to umbrellas and a pony plushy.

For two protestors he spoke to—disability activist Rayna Lamb and vice-president of people with disabilities Australia Samantha Connor—their “things” were their wheelchairs.

WA opposition leader Mark McGowan fronted the rally to reiterate that Labor would strike down the laws if he’s elected next year — assuming they get through the upper house.

WA attorney-general Michael Mischin denies the laws are “anti-protest”, saying they’ll simply prevent people locking themselves to vehicles and machinery to interfere “with the owner’s lawful activity”. The forestry industry reckons they’re important for safety reasons.

The Ed says: We remember when a former Labor state government introduced “move-on” powers for police, claiming they’d be used judiciously. These days those powers are exercised at the drop of a hat. If the power is given, it will be taken.

• WA Labor leader Mark McGowan

by DAVID BELL

WA health minister Kim Hames has told state parliament he had “no idea” his own government planned to include medicinal allowances as income for rental assessment purposes.

The policy change means public housing tenants who receive a pharmaceutical allowance, or any other allowance, will effectively lose a quarter of it to rent.

When confronted in the Legislative Assembly by Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker about the new policy, Dr Hames — who until two weeks ago was WA’s deputy premier — replied, “I am not aware of what the Member is talking about…I have no idea”.

He palmed responsibility off to WA housing minister Colin Holt, who insists the change is consistent with what other states do, despite evidence to the contrary.

The Voice can confirm that only Queensland has similar policiesand it does not include all the allowances the Barnett government is assessing.

Mr Holt is sidestepping Voice questions about whether he’s making WA the nation’s least generous state. Instead, he highlights that low-income tenants renting privately are also doing it tough, but still manage to pay “significantly higher proportions of their income” in rent.

Ms Baker says “attacking our most vulnerable citizens” is unfair.

“This extravagant, big spending premier seems ignorant of how seniors and pensioners are struggling to make ends meet,” she says.

“Seniors’ pensions, pharmaceutical benefits and veterans’ pensions are given to people who are already suffering under high costs of living. This government is forcing seniors to choose between buying medicines or paying their rent, paying for food … or being able to care for their much loved 20-year-old pet cat.”

WA Labor housing shadow Fran Logan says they’ll overturn the decision if elected next year.

by EMMIE DOWLING

LETHAL rat bait left outside the Osborne library may have been used by children as pavement chalk.

Stirling council is investigating library user Carlo Meleca’s claim a baiting station he’d seen in the courtyard a week ago — filled with bright blue bait — was empty Monday afternoon, and the courtyard brick floor covered with bright blue drawings.

“I went over to have a look at it, because at first I thought it looked like pool cue chalk,” Mr Meleca told the Voice.

He says he’d seen the bait in nearby bushes and is worried inquisitive children might have dragged it out.

“There’s lots of kids who use the library, lots of African kids and kids from different countries where English is the second language, so they might not have known what they were playing with.”

Mr Meleca said after seeing the bait last week he’d warned staff it was too close to a ping pong table popular with children and teenagers, but was ignored.

Stirling media manager Simone Holmes-Cavanagh says the first the council was aware of the baits was the Voice’s call, and someone had been sent out to investigate.

by STEVE GRANT

IT’S not Flint, Michigan: this was the water coming out the tap in Maylands last Friday.

Similarly murky water was spat out of taps across half the suburb.

Water Corporation Perth regional manager Garth Walter apologised to locals and says despite the appearance the water is safe to drink.

“Discoloured water is caused by the sediment in pipes being stirred up by changes in flow rates,” he explains.

“This generally happens when the weather warms up and water use increases. The sediment is mostly iron and manganese, which occurs naturally in the groundwater that supplies this area and settles in the pipe over time.”

While it’s safe to drink the WaterCorp provides bottled water while the system’s flushed. If anyone had a load of whites in the washing machine it’s got a special cleaning agent that’ll get any stains out of your clothes, and you can get that by calling 13 13 75.

We also heard water was out for a couple days at Maylands Peninsula Primary school, but that was an internal plumbing issue (now fixed) and not related.

by DAVID BELL

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THE lakes in Maylands are ailing, with Lake Bungana and Brearley suffering from toxic levels of algae and with nasty stenches encroaching on nearby houses.

Bayswater city council has been fielding calls from concerned locals and over the past six months and has sent out a series of letters to households explaining the situation.

But residents’ own actions could be to blame, with fertilisers and other pollutants heading straight into the lakes from nearby stormwater drains. Some residents have even been spotted emptying pools right into drains, chemicals and all.

The council’s letter reads in part: “The issues associated with the water quality of these lakes are complex and solutions are potentially very costly.” It says “band-aid” solutions will do little to solve the problem in the long term.

A year of water quality monitoring is underway and the council plans to bring in an expert to look at solutions starting mid year.

Locals aren’t happy the pretty fountains have been turned off to prevent them kicking up nasties into the air.

Ward councillor Catherine Ehrhardt tells us once the monitoring is complete and budget time rolls around she’s planning a motion to move the fountains away from houses so they can be turned back on. While they’re mainly decorative, any aeration they provide to the lake can’t hurt.

In its letter, the council lists several things to avoid doing.

“Fertilisers, grass clippings, leaves, soil, pet waste, leakages from septic tanks, household cleaners, irresponsible water usage etc are major contributors to this problem and therefore, you should consider the potential impact the next time you think about washing the car on the driveway instead of the lawn or fertilising the garden.

“Ask yourself, does the garden really need it and is it fertiliser free?”

by DAVID BELL

TWELVE DOLLARS may not sound like a lot to many, but for Marianna Paulin it could mean giving up her beloved 20-year-old cat.

The pensioner — who has already stopped buying pain killers for her chronic hip aches — is facing a $12 weekly rent hike from March 28 for her WA housing department unit.

The hike follows the Barnett government’s decision to include allowances, such as pharmaceutical allowances, as income for assessing rent. It effectively means a quarter of the allowance will go straight to the WA housing department.

Caught in the net are public housing tenants receiving child support, pharmaceutical allowances, carers, people working for the dole, pensioners and veterans.

“I might have to get rid of my cat,” 67-year-old Ms Paulin tells the Voice, tears welling.

After paying rent, the Bayswater woman has $320 a week left to pay for food, transport, power and water, medicine and other bills.

When asked what luxuries she treats herself to, bleak laughter fills the room: she struggles to remember her last holiday.

The government insists the changes will “create a fairer system”.

Rent hikes are limited to $12 a week this financial year but subsequent years’ rent will not have a ceiling.

Ms Paulin’s neighbour, Ann Rickman, is concerned about fine print in tenancy agreements stating increases can come every six months with just 60 days’ notice.

by EMMIE DOWLING

DOZENS of residents wrongly fined by Vincent parking rangers have had penalties cancelled after the council conceded its rules were confusing.

Parking can be a nightmare around Perth Oval and residents have traditionally had parking permits.

A letter went out last year letting residents know about changes, but most couldn’t make heads nor tails of it, and didn’t realise they had to update to new permits.

On January 9 rangers hit Harley Street, issuing 15 fines for people still displaying the old permit, at $95 a whack.

The next weekend 18 more were fined in surrounding streets for the same reason.

The comedy of errors continued when the council sent out letters saying it had “enclosed an application for new permits”. In some cases the application wasn’t included.

Vincent CEO Len Kosova says “unfortunately the city’s letter caused confusion and led some residents [to] believe the ‘nib Stadium permits’ were still valid, but they weren’t”.

“Another lot of letters had to go out giving people temporary permits and including applications for permanent ones.”

by DAVID BELL

DEEDEE NOON wants to know — what’s your favourite toy?

To kick off her PhD research the Edith Cowan University researcher is inviting people to be photographed with their favourite toy to explore the emotions behind “person-to-toy transactions”.

In doing some early preparatory work she’s already come across interesting emotional connections Perth people have with their toys. “There’s one young man in his early 20s, and he has a giant toy called Substitute, which is a character from the Pokemon game.”

In the game “the character takes the hits and hurts for the player”.

“Substitute in its physical form, as a 3D object, is for this person a confidant, a friend in life who he can talk with and he knows nothing he says can be said to anyone else.”

Another she’s been chatting to had a giant teddy bear she’d always kept stuffed away in a closet. A boyfriend had won the bear at a carnie game, but she thought it was a bit naff compared to her usual vintage collections so he’d been hidden away.

But even since pulling him out as part of Ms Noon’s project, she’s found renewed appreciation for the toy: “Ted is no longer shamed away,” Ms Noon chuckles, “he’s out and proud in the lounge room”.

Physical markers left on old toys also provide a wealth of interest for Ms Noon: Old stitches, repairs and stains are like archaeologies marking forgotten events. And the way people modify their toys is telling: Someone who draws an eyepatch on their Luke Skywalker doll or breaks his hand off to make him Episode V compliant has a hugely different connection to their toy from a collector who keeps “shelf queens” safely in their packaging. Likewise “toys that little sisters have defaced or damaged” are commonly seen.

While for some their favourite toy might be a childhood Barbie or an old GI Joe, many these days are still buying toys and connecting with them well into adulthood.

“That old Corinthians thing about leaving childish things behind, that isn’t the world we live in these days,” Ms Noon says.

There’s a lot of factors as to why toys are extending into adulthood. The difficulties young people face in getting into the traditionally “adult world” may contribute: More are still living at home, struggling to find work and unable to afford housing.

With all these troubles hanging over the heads of 20-somethings, “It’s not a surprise [that toys] would be used as escapsim”.

Aside from Lego and an abundance of desk widgets to make workspaces feel more personalised, one of the toys most attractive to adults has been My Little Pony.

“My Little Pony is a fascinating area,” Ms Noon says. “That was one of the first toys in the ‘80s to be based on psychological research. They asked little girls what they thought about when they were going to sleep at night, and they said: ‘Ponies!’.”

The fourth incarnation of the franchise saw the characters based on virtues, and the positive messages along with smart writing attracted adult males in their 20s in droves, forging the “Brony” movement.

“It’s come for Hasbro as a great surprise that they have an audience of passionate consumers that are men,” Ms Noon says.

Following on from her honours project Pinkification, which looked at the relationship of Perth women to the colour pink, photographing people with their favourite toy is just the first step in this new research. After meeting people Ms Noon plans on further in-depth study into their connections with their toys and the emotions behind their interactions.

If you’re keen to get on board, send an email to toyphotoproject@iinet.net.au with a quick selfie of you and your toy. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a preview so Ms Noon can figure out the logistics come photo shoot day, and then the Toygetherness photobooth runs February 29 to March 24 at the Shopfront space at Central Institute, 149 Beaufort Street.

by DAVID BELL