Perth Voice Interactive

BASIL ZEMPILAS is back as Perth’s lord mayor with a third election win, while an extensive preference count among 10 council candidates saw contenders jostle back and forth before some late reversals. 

Mr Zempilas claimed 56.5 per cent of the vote against Sandy Anghie’s 36.49 per cent, with newcomer Will Leyland polling at 7 per cent.

Among the 10-way race for four council seats, incumbent Catherine Lezer got first place. 

Bruce Reynolds, who previously ran for mayor, opted for a councillor role this time round and got a comfortable second place.

Third place went to David Goncalves, whose campaign had been endorsed by Ms Anghie. He was one of four candidates who declared receiving an electoral gift worth $4,038 from Ms Anghie, which covered being included in a flyer pack, printing, and postage costs.

The final spot was a close race: For most of the count, it appeared that law firm director Crawforde Yorke would take the seat, having started out in fourth place on the primary votes.

He stayed ahead for most of the count, but as the final few eliminated candidates had their preferences distributed East Perth community volunteer Raj Doshi pulled from fifth place to fourth.

Medals

In a post-election statement on his LinkedIn page, Mr Yorke wrote, “they say that the worst result you can have in sports is to come fourth at the Olympics. Just out of the medals, often by a hundredth of a second or a few centimetres short.

“And while it’s not the Olympics, the final result for the City of Perth elections has left me in fifth place, just one short of being elected.

“It’s a tough result, to be so close, but someone has to be the first one to miss out and today that’s me.”

Others left off the winner’s podium included Glennys Marsdon, Bronte Macmillan, Isabella Tripp, Naijiao Bo, Dave Lee, Shirley Vine, and Mr Leyland, who’d also had a tilt for council along with his mayoral attempt.

by DAVID BELL

ALISON XAMON is the new mayor of Vincent, coming in ahead on both primary votes and preferences. 

Ms Xamon is formerly an upper house MP for the Greens but ran independent of the party, and says she’s far happier in a council role than in state parliament.

Technically she could still be called back to a parliamentary role if one of the MPs who was elected ahead of her in the 2021 election stands down.

But Ms Xamon told the Voice “If someone left and they did a countback, and the next [in line] was me, I wouldn’t accept it.

“I would not take it. I am so happy to be mayor; this is what I want to do.”

Ms Xamon had 2,956 first preference votes, Ron Alexander had 2,437, Suzanne Worner had 1,374, and Amanda Madden had 596.

After preferences were distributed Ms Xamon had 3,757 against Mr Alexander’s 2,917.

At the October 24 special council meeting to appoint a deputy, Cr Alexander put his name forward saying he would “look forward to the opportunity to support the mayor”. 

He said placing him as deputy would reflect the voters’ choice: “In the election mayor Xamon got 40 per cent of the vote, and myself got 33 per cent of the vote, so it would be a good opportunity to… respect the residents and ratepayers voting.”

Cr Castle also nominated for deputy. She has six years’ experience on council compared to Cr Alexander’s two, and said: “I think with a new mayor and with several new faces in the chamber that it is important to have the balance with an experienced deputy mayor.”

Cr Castle got the deputy spot 7-2. 

In north ward newcomer Nicole Woolf won first place, having been active locally in campaigning against the Angove Street petrol station. Cr Suzanne Worner kept her seat in a close second. President of Floreat Athena football club Con Poulios missed out, as did Phillip Madden after a fairly low-profile campaign. 

In south ward incumbent councillor Ashley Wallace was a firm first place. Science teacher Ashlee La Fontaine won the second full-length term, and Greens-backed candidate Sophie Greer got the two-year term that was left behind by former councillor Ross Ioppolo retiring early.

Runners up were Diana MacTiernan, Ed Bernier, Amanda Madden, and Kerry Bowe.

by DAVID BELL

LONG-serving Bayswater councillor Sally Palmer is off council after Saturday’s election.

The empty north ward seat she would’ve stepped into with the second-highest vote on the weekend was blocked off by a last-minute resignation from mayor Filomena Piffaretti that will instead spark a by-election (“Shock resignation,” Voice, October 21, 2023).

As the Voice predicted, Cr Michelle Sutherland won first spot with 1,973 primary votes. Ms Palmer got 1,257 primary votes, and new candidate Paul Shanahan, also endorsed by Ms Piffaretti, got 804.

Ms Palmer’s loss means one less voice on council apt to speak up against the mayor.

We tried to get answers from Ms Piffaretti about her resignation motives last week through her private communication channels, and tried again this week via the council communications team now that she’s mayor again. But we were told she wasn’t officially in the job til after our deadline.

Newcomer

Elsewhere in Bayswater, south ward incumbent and mayoral ally Catherine Ehrhardt lost her seat to newcomer Nat Latter in a four-way race also featuring Keith Archer and Ben Bullock.

It didn’t even need to go to a preference count. Cr Latter, who runs Rabble Books & Games on the Eight Ave Strip, had a huge result winning 51 per cent of the vote outright, coming in first against Ms Ehrhardt’s 32 per cent.

Incumbent councillor Dan Bull was soundly endorsed in west ward with 74 per cent over his only competitor Sean Hocking.

In central ward, returning councillor Steven Ostaszewskyj saw off the need for a runoff with 55.34 per cent of the vote, beating Rhiannon Italiano and Nirmal Singh.

by DAVID BELL

INCUMBENT Stirling mayor Mark Irwin has won another term, pulling in 62 per cent of the vote over Elizabeth Re in a two-way race.

Cr Re, who is probably Mr Irwin’s most vocal rival on council, remains at Stirling in her councillor role through to 2025.

No incumbents lost their seats, though it was a near-run thing in a couple of wards. 

The new optional preferential voting system caused an upset in Osborne Ward’s four-candidate race: On first preference votes newcomer Mary Argese was ahead with 1,757 first preference votes over incumbent Lisa Thornton’s 1,712. But that was well below the absolute majority of 3,093 needed for outright victory, leading to two rounds of preference counts.

Cr Thornton absorbed some preferences from fourth place candidate Sergio Famiano and third place candidate Wayne Dropulich as they were eliminated, ending up with 2,725 votes to Ms Argese’s 2,493.

Cr Thornton told us the new system made for a nervous time during the count, but added, “I believe it was fairer and more democratic.

“It was a bit of a rollercoaster day for me, because I started off in a bit of a trough, thinking, ‘I’m not going to make it from here’.”

But as Mr Famiano’s 2nd preferences were distributed Cr Thornton pulled ahead, and ended up even more comfortably in front after the third count.

Cr Thornton had not done any “how to vote” deals with other candidates, and asked why she might have drawn so many second preferences, Cr Thornton said: “I don’t think I’m a polarising type of elected member; I’ve got a good reputation out there.” 

Mr Dropulich is an old hand at preferential voting elections: In 2012 he won a federal senate seat as a member of the Australian Sports Party with a record-low primary vote of just 0.2 per cent, or 1,908 votes. That was the year election-whisperer Glenn Druery arranged preference deals for minor parties to share around votes. 

In Inglewood ward there were four-year and two-year terms up for grabs, as former councillor Bianca Sandri had left halfway through her term when she won employment as a director at Bayswater council.

Newcomer Damien Giuduci, who’s worked with community group Inglewood on Beaufort to improve the town centre, came in first with 34.76 per cent of the primary vote. That means he gets the full four year term to 2027, and incumbent David Lagan got second-place so he gets the remaining half of Ms Sandri’s term until 2025. Returning candidate Daniela Ion missed out, as did new progressive candidate Sophie Morrison.

The other new face on council is Rob Paparde who got a strong result in coastal ward, winning 53 per cent of the vote over Colleen Pearce and Simon Wheeler. Incumbent Felicity Farrelly had opted not to run, and had supported Mr Wheeler’s campaign. 

Cr Paparde has previously worked for the Barnett government, federal Liberal MP Vince Connelly, and he was a part-time research officer for fellow councillor Tony Kristevic back when Cr Kristevic was state MP for Carine. 

Other wards maintained the status quo.

Joe Ferrante had a close run to keep his Inglewood seat, at 52.32 per cent against sole rival Belinda Evangelista.

Hamersley ward incumbent Chris Hatton was first place with 55.29 per cent over Lynne Noack’s and Catherine Fowler.

Doubleview ward’s Stephanie Proud kept her spot with 54.56 per cent against John Noakes and Tonia Poggioli.

In Balga Ward councillor Michael Dudek defended his seat with 48.57 per cent of the primary vote, beating Amy Blitvich, Ram Tin Thei and Elizabeth Ogilvie.

Just over 27 per cent of Stirling electors voted, falling below the state average of 29.16 per cent.

by DAVID BELL

MAYLANDS’ storied past is being unearthed for the new week-long Maylands History and Heritage Festival starting November 4. 

The festival comes off the back of the popular heritage month the Maylands Historical and Peninsula Association ran in 2022 to celebrate their 30th year of preserving local history, and is running as part of the bigger Flourish Community Arts Festival.

Across November 4 and 5 there’s guided walks around the Maylands peninsula, telling tales and tromping the old grounds of the Maylands Aerodrome, the old brickworks, and Peninsula Farm.

On November 5 and 11 they’re holding the Maylands Street Art Walk. MHPA president Keith Cundale tells us this walk mixes in the old historical architecture with the modern history marked by the suburb’s plentiful street art.

On November 11 there’s a walking tour around (and inside) some of Maylands heritage buildings including iconic sites like the old WA Industrial School for the Blind (now home to WA Ballet).

The festival is part of an ongoing renaissance in the MHPA, which recently won an award at the Royal West Australian Historical Association.

Mr Cundale said he was, “delighted… that from among the 70-plus historical societies in WA we were assessed as having had the most impact on our members and the local community over the last year.

“We were chosen for the award of merit, and I feel that this reflects well on all of our helpers, committee members and sponsors who made this year so successful.”

All the events are free, but book via Eventbrite (plug in “Maylands Historical and Peninsula Association” to get the events to pop up). 

by DAVID BELL

GROWING up, Georgia Tree’s father always insisted she’d be the one to write down his life story, but never let on what a roller coaster ride it would be.

Grant Tree came of age just as Perth emerged from its mission brown nostalgia; the infant internet had opened a window to the world where the falling Berlin Wall was reshaping Europe, AIDS was proving just how porous borders really are and a new breed of brash entrepreneurs were emulating the Wall Street ethos famously summed up by Gordon Gecko as “greed is good”.

It also brought heroin to Perth’s streets, a sweet seductress whose rush of pleasure had too much pull for the surfie to resist.

His addiction earned him a stint in Fremantle Prison, while also bringing him into the orbit of ‘Charlie’, a charismatic but naive drug dealer whose fateful trip to Malaysia with a mate burned their names into the Australian consciousness; Barlow and Chambers.

Barlow and Chambers

Georgia says she didn’t know much about her dad’s early life, but after completing a masters in international relations at Curtin University and deciding it was time to fulfil his long-held wish, she got a different type of education. 

“I wasn’t alive when he was incarcerated, so I didn’t find out about it until I was a little bit older,” she says.

“I was shocked, I suppose, when I first found out, and then as you read in the book, deeply saddened by the circumstances which led to him being in jail.

“You know, reflecting on it for him was difficult for him because I think he’d spent years not really delving down into it. 

“There are moments in the book where he reflects on his childhood and his parents’ divorce and how that affected him later in life. 

“Childhood trauma is something that most people deal with in different ways, on a spectrum of how heavy situations are for different people.”

Georgia says her father’s recovery from addiction and ultimate redemption gave her a profound respect for his resilience.

“You could forgive him for being a sad person or being a negative person and yet he’s not. 

“He’s such a beautiful person and spends his life trying to help others and cares so much about collectivism and social justice and things like that. 

“He is a very empathetic person and I think that speaks volumes considering the kind of life he’s lived.”

Georgia says Old Man was a working title for the book, but when nothing better emerged it stuck.

“Old Man by Neil Young is a favourite song of my dad. 

“I suppose that it’s a bit of a tribute to that song and the Australian vernacular when talking about a father figure.

“If a lesson is to be told in the book, it is to be kind and empathetic towards others, because it’s easy to judge, but you never know how people have gotten into situations that they have and it’s always good to be open-minded about meeting new people, no matter what their history is.”

Much of the book is centred around Fremantle, the western suburbs and the coastline. Her father’s time was served in Fremantle Prison.

“It’s an iconic place that now is a museum essentially, and an artifact of a past time,” Georgia says.

“But you don’t think about the fact that people genuinely were imprisoned there. 

“It only closed down in 1988, which is the year, my brother was born.”

Old Boy was shortlisted for last year’s Fogarty Literary Award.

Old Boy
Georgia Tree
Published by Fremantle Press

by Ariana Rosenberg