Perth Voice Interactive

THE first of 12,000 Syrian asylum seekers the federal government agreed to embrace this week enjoyed an Aussie barbecue hosted by the City of Bayswater.

Six members of the Kujah family moved to Australia in November and now live in Yokine.

Mayor Barry McKenna was called into a special meeting on Monday and asked by federal social services minister Christian Porter to play host to the family on Australia Day.

He says the city was chosen because it’s multicultural — being home to many post-war migrants who relocated in the 1950s — and has just signed up as one of 126 Refugee Council of Australia “refugee welcome zones” across the country.

There are only six other signed WA councils: Fremantle, Katanning, Augusta-Margaret River, Subiaco, Victoria Park and Vincent.

“They a great young family,” Cr McKenna says.

“The mother, Khawlah, was pregnant while they were trying to flee from Syria. I think it was just six or seven days after arriving that she gave birth. You can imagine that while they are so happy to be here, they still have family back in Syria who are going through a lot.”

He understands Khawlah’s husband, Bashar, is looking for work. “I’ve heard he’s looking for work as a butcher and will continue learning English.”

Cr McKenna is keen on making Bayswater more culturally diverse.

“Welcome zones” consist of local governments that are supporting refugees “in spirit”.

Mr Porter says resettling the bulk of the Syrian refugees will take more than a year.

by EMMIE DOWLING

WHILE foreshores were flooded by an estimated 300,000 revellers on January 26, hundreds of Aboriginal people and activists marking the date as Invasion Day made their way from the significant site at Matagarup (Heirisson Island) to the Survival Day concert at Ozone Reserve.

Activist Alex Bainbridge documented the march and says it’s the biggest turnout yet, estimating 200 joined this year.

Protestors bearing signs marked the 26th as “a day of mourning and celebration of survival”.

They also called on the government to close the health gap between Aboriginal and other Australians, rather than force closure of remote communities.

Nationwide, similar rallies saw reported turnouts of about 500 at parliament house in Tasmania to thousands in Melbourne.

by DAVID BELL

• THEATRE historian Ivan King has picked up another premier’s Australia Day active citizenship award (he also won in 2005). Having set up the Musuem of Performing Arts where he maintains a massive collection of memorabilia beneath His Majesty’s Theatre, he was given the award “for service to the performing arts as an historian and archivist”. The City of Perth awards saw lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi’s tenant Mathew Clarke awarded Citizen of the Year for his work “strengthening business relationships between the Perth community and Hong Kong”. The two-time unsuccessful Perth council candidate and director of Bar 138 (in the old Railway Hotel building) is also the president of the Hong Kong Australia Business Association WA.

• MAJOR crime squad detectives were poring over the Perth esplanade busport and train station in the early morning after Australia Day investigating the suspected stabbing murder of a 26-year-old man. Police say a massive brawl broke out with about 20 people involved in a fight at the corner of Mounts Bay Road. The victim was taken to RPH but died about 3.30am. The cops are asking anyone with info to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

• CONSUMER protection is warning people to steer clear of Exclusive the Gallery, operating out of the Bon Marche Arcade off Barrack Street. Opened in 2012, the store’s managed by Chris Tsoutsoulis and father Bill Tsoutsoulis is the store’s designer, and they trade under Superfold Pty Ltd. Acting CP commissioner David Hillyard says they’ve had “numerous complaints” from customers who’ve paid the shop for jewellery that was never delivered and items left for repair have never been returned. He says anyone who’s had issues with the gallery should contact consumer protection on 1300 30 40 54.

• MORE than 160 people were made Aussie citizens at Stirling and Vincent councils’ Australia Day ceremonies. Countries of origin include the UK, South Africa, India, Brazil and Pakistan. In Vincent, most of the 62 new citizens were from Ireland, the UK and Germany. Perth city council failed to respond before the paper’s deadline.

FLYERS have been stuffed into East Perth letterboxes imploring locals to speak up against the planned demolition of two old houses at 60 and 62 Cheriton Street.

The planning application doesn’t list an owner but whoever bought the homes (number 62 sold for $1.75 million in 2013) has applied to bowl them both over. At the time it was advertised by the real estate agent as a “rare development opportunity—a rare chance to secure this site with holding income for a future commercial/mixed use development”, boasting a high density zoning.

The federation Queen Anne style houses aren’t on the Vincent city council heritage inventory, but they were probably constructed around 1900. We found records going back as far as September 18, 1921, when the Sunday Times reported Miss E Jackson of 62 Cheriton Street won fourth prize in the paper’s recipe contest for her potted crayfish sandwiches.

Until last October, Vincent council discouraged demolitions unless accompanied by replacement plans: the policy was intended to stop sites remaining vacant for prolonged periods of time. But the Barnett government changed the law, effectively stripping councils of the power to stand in the way of such demolitions. Public consultation closed January 22 and the demolition decisions now rests with the council.

by DAVID BELL

THE WA Police’s “Frontline 2020” model has been hailed for breaking a cycle of drinking and violence at Wellington Square.

Support for the model follows Labor branding it a “failed model” in the wake of a spike in crime statistics over the past six months.

“It may have worked in some small policing districts in the UK but it is not working here so it does need to be abandoned,” says WA Labor police shadow Michelle Roberts.

But Terry Maller has lived in East Perth 17 years and says it’s the only model to have an impact on drinking and fighting.

The new model takes a back-to-the-future approach: police are assigned to one area over a longer period so they become more familiar with individuals, and they get out of their cars and onto bikes and foot patrols.

Officers soon learn the nooks in trees used as hiding spots for booze and can pour out the goonbags before trouble starts.

People used to spot a cop car from across the park and hide booze from officers simply passing through without knowing the area or its characters.

“It stopped it within a month or so, a problem that existed for years,” Mr Maller says.

“From my perspective, and I can speak for a lot of people around the neighbourhood here, it has been absolutely successful.”

Neighbours told him the summer the policy started was the first time they’d been able to sit on their patio in the afternoon without any trouble.

Police commissioner Karl O’Callaghan told the ABC, “to say the model is responsible for the increase in crime is simply ignoring some of the more complex social problems that we are facing”.

“More people are being arrested, more people are being brought before the courts and there are more police available for deployment at peak times… but there are other elements of the model we just need to look at.”

He pointed out there’d been a similar rise in crime in regional areas where the model hadn’t been introduced.

by DAVID BELL

THE Mount Lawley Tennis Centre has almost tripled its junior squads in the past two years.

The Central Avenue club has 14 junior teams of players up to the age of 18 — in 2013/14 there were five.

Rhys McDougall, who’s been on board for 18 months and is the club’s third head coach in three years, puts the success down to involving the community.

He also coaches at eight local schools, where he recruits new players.

“I still being active in the game also helps,” Mr McDougall says. The coach, who hails from the Gold Coast, has played for Australia in the over 35s for the past six years.

Tennis ace Zac Segal, 12, joined the club two years ago with four of his friends. His sporting hero is Nick Kyrgios: “I like it when he gets angry,” Zac giggles.

by EMMIE DOWLING