Perth Voice Interactive

NATIVE title does not exist on Heirisson Island, sinking Aboriginal activists’ claims they were unlawfully evicted.

Earlier this year Noongar elder Bella Bropho wrote to Perth city council arguing activists protesting the closure of Aboriginal communities were entitled to camp on the island.

She’d based this on a 2007 federal court decision which found Noongars had native title right in the South-West corner of WA, including Perth.

However, lawyer Greg McIntyre—who launched the historic Mabo case in Queensland—says recent investigations have shown native title was extinguished in 1950, when Heirisson Island was vested in the state’s education minister.

“I do not believe that the law has been broken by evicting people, but it may be that the council has no right to keep their personal property,” Mr McIntyre told the Voice. “The owners of the personal property can take action in the Magistrates Court for the recovery of their property or compensation for the loss of property.”

by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA

MIKE O’HANLON wants the teenager who gave him a black eye to be put to work, not put in a cell.

The Perth lord mayoral candidate had been at the Perth cultural centre last weekend with a friend when he was hit.

At the time Mr O’Hanlon had been trying to stop his friend from responding to a minor fracas.

He spoke to police, who gave him two options: let them intercept and lay charges, or let it go: “Running them through the criminal justice system isn’t going to make their lives better,” Mr O’Hanlon said.

“That only makes someone who has an anti-social bent to their personality even angrier.”

He decided against pressing charges but said that wasn’t a great option either, as the perpetrator may now think it’s ok to do this, which could lead to even worse violence or crime down the track.

Mr O’Hanlon would like to see an alternative that intercepts young offenders but—at their victim’s request—puts them to community work instead of being formally charged.

He says Perth city council has a bunch of volunteer programs already, such as tree plantings and litter removal (and he wants to get some composting programs going).

“I think it is plausible to get it off the ground,” he says. “I’ve spoken to different police officers, they mean well, the issue is they don’t have the resources, they have very limited options.

“They are about intercepting and funneling into processing. All they have is the criminal justice system.

“This presents them with another option. I don’t see that we’d be asking them to give anyone any special treatment, we’re talking about an agreement that exists [between the victim and offender].”

Criminal justice diversion programs have been used in other states and WA has a diversion program for people with mental illness. But most are administered by the courts rather than informally mediated between victim and offender.

An Australian law reform commission paper says this approach “avoids the stigma associated with prosecution and conviction and it avoids contaminating a first minor offender through contact with serious or recidivist offenders”.

by DAVID BELL

THE coat of arms on the Perth general post office is being replaced this week.

The building has two coats of arms (one UK, one Australian) and in January the Voice reported vandals had decapitated the unicorn and nearly kicked the lion’s head off the poms’ sigil.

After the pieces had been sitting in a sergeant’s office for a while, Perth councillor Reece Harley put the GPO caretakers in touch with the coppers and the lost bits were reunited. A local sculptor put them back together and this week workers started to put the puzzle back together on the GPO.

by DAVID BELL

Mount Lawley Senior High School students collected more than 200kg of food during its Foodbank School Appeal. The collected food will provide more than 270 meals. Foodbank distributes supplies across WA to needy families and the agencies that support them. Pictured are: Ella Monaghan, Modra Addy, Sarah Brook, Neve Kerr, Heather Bland, Zari Calligan. Photo supplied | Mount Lawley SHS

HOPE you like your liquor straight, because Whipper Snapper Distillery isn’t allowed to sell it any other way.

The burgeoning East Perth distillery makes a whiskey-style drink and one of its flagship products is meant to be a mixin’ liquor, not a sippin’ liquor, intended to be enjoyed with ginger beer, tonic, watermelon juice or cola, and a slice of fruit if you’re so inclined.

But visitors to the front-of-house bar have no option other than to drink it straight: under its “producer licence” the distillery isn’t permitted to sell mixed drinks.

The producer licence was established so wineries, breweries and distilleries could sell samples of their wares.

Distillery boss Alasdair Malloch says the rule doesn’t make much sense with today’s sophisticated crowd.

”This is an example of the outdated liquor act,” he says. “If people come in we want to show them how they would drink it at home.”

He asked WA liquor licensing to delete the “no mix” condition—the application fee was $240, necessitating a slug of hard liquor—but no luck. He says liquor staff are good to deal with but they’re hamstrung by ancient rules.

“It’s a flaw in the legislation,” he says. “Here we are, a new business, trying to do things a little big differently, but the legislation is outdated and doesn’t help us sell our product.”

Changing to another licence would bring more problems: a small bar licence wouldn’t permit the sale of bottles for people to take away. A tavern licence would require lots of new infrastructure.

Water-tight licensing restrictions are intended to minimise harm from alcohol but state Labor leader Mark McGowan says in this case they could do the opposite as they actively prevent liquor being diluted.

He says the business employs six people and is starting to export its product: “It’s just ridiculous that an innovative small business is being held back by unnecessary and illogical bureaucracy,” he says.

“Let’s bring back some common sense and support entrepreneurs. Why can’t a tourist or a local enjoy a tasting of whiskey with a mixer in a sophisticated environment?”

The opposition leader wants liquor laws changed, noting places like Whipper Snapper are unlikely to become hotspots for alcohol-fuelled violence.

He wants a new “tourism, community and cultural benefit” category added to the public interest test when considering liquor licence applications.

by DAVID BELL

AN advertisement offering cheap mobile phone and computer deals through the Perth Voice last weekend has been exposed as a likely scam.

The ad, purportedly from Pacific Mobile Phones, offered “Buy 3 get 1 free” on a range of latest-model phones, but provided only email or skype addresses as contact points. It has run in a variety of publications throughout WA, the earliest the Voice could locate being in April this year when it appeared in XPresss.

The advert was to have run in the Voice’s sister publication the Fremantle Herald before staff became suspicious and started doing some digging.

It turns out Pacific Mobile Phones is a defunct company from New South Wales, and an address provided in Queensland was non-existent.

When the Voice used the Skype address on the ad to contact the scammers in the hopes of finding a physical address, apart from being assured “you will never regret in doing business with us” we were directed to a run-down building in Manchester which is home to an oddly large number of accountancy and solicitor firms.

One firm shares a family name with a fraudster now on the run in the UK for luring people into expensive mobile phone contracts with false promises. It was also the registered business place of Phone Planet, which according to a company check faces dissolution with a net debt of about A$3000.

Shortly after the advert was pulled, Consumer Protection confirmed it believed it was a sham which had been circulating widely in a variety of media and via pamphlets.

Acting commissioner Gary Newcombe said it appeared stolen credit cards had been used to pay for the adverts and glossy brochures, and there were other hallmarks of scammers.

He said anyone who paid money to Pacific Mobile Phones should contact WA Scamnet by calling 1300 304 054 or email consumer@commerce.wa.gov.au.

by STEVE GRANT

BEAUFORT STREET’S beloved jewellery and fashion store Behind the Monkey is closing.

When the Voice visited this week one customer after another came into the store to wish operator Brody MacLeod all the best or to express regret.

Ms MacLeod says it’s sad to say goodbye, but it’s not a sad story: she’s not closing because of high rents or a grouchy landlord—noting the Monkey’s rents are reasonable and the landlord’s a top bloke)—but because she wants to focus on other projects and because retail’s pretty wobbly.

“We’re not leaving on a bad note, there’s not one particular reason, it’s just time for a change,” she says. As a jewellery designer she’ll keep working on her label Anonymous of 379 (named for the ancient astronomer).

“It’s been really overwhelming, the number of people coming forward and wishing us love,” she smiles.

The store’s been open eight years, with Ms MacLeod having taken it over from mum Elaine at 22.

While she will take some time off to focus on getting her brand out there (it’s already in five local stockists), she says she’d like to come back to retail when the landscape settles down a bit.

Disclosure: This reporter buys all his Valentine’s Day presents here and is pretty much buggered now.

by DAVID BELL

A FORMER keyboard player for Eskimo Joe is running for Bayswater council.

Dan Bull toured with the globally successful Perth band in 2004 and 2005 and has since played with several other famous Perth bands, including The Sleepy Jackson and End of Fashion.

Now a commercial lawyer—he gave away being a career musician following the birth of his kids—he’s looking forward to contesting west ward in October.

“I have two young children, and I guess it was road safety that first got me interested in council issues,” he says.

“There was some speeding in my suburb, which is near the Tonkin Highway, and I got involved in a community committee that worked with council to address that.

“I really enjoyed it and thought I would like to get more involved.

“Aside from road safety, I am passionate about increasing the amount of nature-based playgrounds, increasing the tree canopy and sustainability, and community consultation.”

Mr Bull and his family have lived in Bayswater for three years but he says he has a lifelong association with the city through friends and sporting clubs.

He and his wife own their legal practice and he’s confident he can be “flexible with my hours if I am successful”.

“I’m under no illusion that being a councillor will take up a lot of my time, but I really enthusiastic about local issues and am ready to take up the challenge.”

As for the other-world that is the life of a touring musician?

“I still keep my hand in with the music, but these days it’s more playing along with the Wiggles to entertain my kids,” he laughs.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

PERTH COLLEGE and heritage advocates are at loggerheads over the proposed demolition of four 1920s-era houses.

The exclusive girls’ school has lodged an application with Stirling city council to demolish the Lawley Crescent houses so it can build a multi-million dollar senior learning and leadership centre.

Mount Lawley Society patron Barrie Baker says the homes have heritage value and are within the suburb’s heritage protection zone.

“This Perth College proposal calls for complete demolition of the houses,” the MLS committee posted on Facebook.

“The proposed design makes no attempt to incorporate the character features of the houses, which are evident from the street.

“And, sadly, Perth College, in their community information marketing book, showed photos of their rubbish at the rear of these houses, rather than the streetscape views.”

College principal Jenny Ethell denies the photos were misleading.

“…the school believed the streetscape was clearly visible to the public (which has been confirmed by the photos posted by the Mount Lawley Society on its Facebook page),” she says.

“To provide a total picture of the properties (and their limitations for educational purposes), images showing the rear and side views were included as part of the booklet.

“The properties are zoned for educational purposes but do not meet the standards for universal access for people with disabilities, nor are they of the appropriate structural integrity to enable being included in a new development.”

Ms Ethell says the college tried, where possible, to re-purpose heritage buildings, and had previously refurbished two on Queens Crescent.

Mr Baker says four other heritage homes on Lawley Crescent were demolished in the 1970s, and these four properties owned by the college are pretty much “all that is left of the fine and gracious part of Lawley Crescent leading up from Beaufort Street to the curve down to First Avenue”.

The final decision rests not with the council, but with the local development assessment panel: most of its members are appointed by the government.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

MOUNT LAWLEY Senior High School students will experience the devastating effects of road trauma in a unique art cum educational workshop.

Created by artist James Berlyn, Split Second will put high school actors and audience members in the shoes of young crash victims. “Being partially paralysed, having a colostomy bag, or being wheelchair bound, isn’t much fun,” he says. “When you ask a person to restrict their natural movements for a prolonged period of time, it quickly becomes distressing and very claustrophobic.

“Young people on the verge of driving feel bullet-proof, but this workshop brings home the potential risks to them.

“Kinesthetics is a powerful learning tool.”

In preparation for the show, Berlyn is seeking stories from young Western Australians, aged between 15 and 20, who are willing to share their experiences of road trauma and the impact it has had on their lives, and those around them.

“The lives of young people can be profoundly affected by road trauma through physical injuries, psychological strain, even just knowing someone who has been involved in an accident can be traumatic,” he says.

“We want to shine a light on those stories; those moments where a decision is made that has a life-long impact.”

The stories will form the basis of Split Second, which will feature performance students at Mount Lawley SHS.

Berlyn is planning to trial the workshop in Perth in October.

To get in touch with your story, email hellojb@jamesberlyn.com.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK