Perth Voice Interactive

Sex on verandas, condoms, syringes litter street

VINCENT city council is planning to publicly name and shame men prosecuted for soliciting prostitutes in Highgate.

Mayor Alannah MacTiernan told councillors at Tuesday night’s meeting she was fed-up with the “mayhem” in and around Stirling Street caused by kerb-crawlers.

Local Robert McCormack reported that people engage in sex on verandas, while used condoms and syringes litter the street.

Despite WA Police issuing 156 move-on notices since January and undertaking a street-blitz in November, prostitution is rife.

Ms MacTiernan says names and faces could be published in a media email alert and on a council-run website.

“These people are destroying the amenity of the area, and a lot of them are older men in their late 50s and beyond,” she fumes.

“We’re not being moralistic about this, there are plenty of brothels in the city which these people can use.

“I acknowledge that there are underlying social issues driving this problem, but we’ve got to keep it under control and do something in the short term—it’s become too rampant and intense.”

Ms MacTiernan is talking with police about how she can get the names and faces up in lights.

Ray Clarke, who has lived in Smith Street for 23 years, says prostitution had been a serious problem since 2001.

A Department of Housing building has been used as a brothel for 18 months, he claims.

Senior Sergeant Simon Hazel told councillors extra resources had gone into the problem but prostitution was a wide-ranging social issue and police work alone would never eradicate it.

The item was originally going to be debated behind closed doors, but after an emotionally-charged question time, Cr Josh Topelberg successfully moved for it to be discussed in public.

Councillors voted to spend $60,500 to:

• keep a ranger in and around Stirling Street to deter kerb-crawling for a month;

• install additional lighting in Stirling Street, between Bulwer and Lincoln Streets; and,

• erect moveable CCTV cameras in and around Stirling Street, and prune trees in the street to aid visibility.

Ms MacTiernan says she’s thinking about assigning a council staffer to manage the problem full-time.

Kerb crawling in the area was so bad 10 years ago the council installed road blocks and photographed the licence plates of every car entering Stirling Street.

The controversial move made headlines over privacy concerns.

A development application for an aged care facility on Smith Street was heard by council the same night.  Residents who spot dodgy dealings should call the cops—not the council—on 131 444.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

MT LAWLEY researcher Terry Boyle (left) wants to find out how often non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors get out and about.

The research officer at the WA Institute of Medical Research has won a $25,000 grant from the WA cancer council to fund the project, which could guide future council advice to survivors.

Dr Boyle will fit 200 sufferers of the diverse group of blood cancers with an accelerometer to track exercise levels.

“The main aim is just to look at how much physical activity that non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors are doing and how much sitting they do.

“There’s been some research that shows physical activity can have a positive effect on things like quality of life, depression and fatigue amongst people who have been diagnosed with NHL, so we’re trying to get a picture of how much activity survivors of this cancer are doing.”

In his spare time Dr Boyle says “I like doing physical activity! I feel obliged: I like running, I play golf every now and then.”

by DAVID BELL

DESPITE locals waging a strong campaign against it, the Leederville Hotel looks likely to be granted its extended trading permit after a split Vincent council decided not to object.

The final decision rests with the state racing, gaming and liquor department.

Hotels are meant to close at midnight but the Leedy wants its indoor area to close at 1am, as it’s been doing for six years.

Sixty-two locals, including diehard Leedy critics Stuart Lofthouse (from Greens and Co) and Debbie Saunders opposed the extension.

The campaign against the hotel included posters being circulated that blamed the hotel for noise, wee, rowdiness and vomit.

Council community services chief Rob Boardman said the Leedy was “unfairly” blamed for everything that goes on in the area. He acknowledged however it was difficult to sometimes get in touch with Leedy staff when, as part of its extended permit, the hotel had committed to establishing a “hotline” so locals could report problems.

Sixteen businesses supported the extension application.

Leederville general manager Jason Antczak says the club hasn’t had a complaint all year about the midnight to 1am slot.

“The hotel has, for right or wrong, been blamed for many of the negative aspects that alcohol has bought to the precinct—considering that there are many licensed premises in the area the hotel seems to be singularly held culpable,” he said.

“The majority of claims have been both unsubstantiated by the City of Vincent and racing, gaming and liquor.

“For a hotel with a licence of over 2000 it is run with much consideration for the local community, residents and business owners.

Security staff maintained a 200m radius to handle patrons leaving on busy nights and to make sure they didn’t take drinks.

He says the hotel contributes to the community, backing St Patrick’s day and the Leederville Carnivale, and signing up to the Vincent Accord and the Leederville Connect community group. The council says no noise complaints have been lodged recently.

Three councillors opposed the continued later hours—Ros Harley, Dudley Maier and John Pintabona—but were outvoted.

Following the vote, Mr Lofthouse and Ms Saunders took aim at the council saying it “ignores the majority of its ratepayers” to satisfy one.

by DAVID BELL

A LOCAL artist has lost a $30,000 commission after Vincent city councillors changed their mind and decided to instead purchase a $60,000 piece by prominent Chinese sculptor Chen Wen Ling.
Perth sculptor Matt McVeigh had been asked to create a colourful abstract piece, based on a concept design.
He was paid $5000 in advance but ran into problems making the piece sturdy enough. The council didn’t like redesigned solutions he came up with.
The first he heard of his sacking was when the Voice called. He didn’t want to comment before learning more.
“It was a very stock-standard piece of municipal art and we’re trying to do something a bit better,” mayor Alannah MacTiernan said.
She and Cr John Carey had been struck by Chen’s piece, Games, displayed at Cottesloe’s Sculpture by the Sea, and won council support to shell out $59,800 for it.
A council report says the Chinese artist is amongst the world’s top 10 contemporary sculptors and buying the 190cm bronze “would be a significant coup” for Vincent.
Cr Dudley Maier was the only elected member to oppose the decision.
“I had three issues with it,” he told the Voice.
“First of all I thought [McVeigh’s] revised plan was quite good and acceptable.
“Secondly, I thought we should be supporting local artists.
“And thirdly, we had a budget for the work and this is massively blowing out the budget.”
Cr Carey says, “we do support a lot of local artists, but like everything we have a mix: We support local, national and international.
“You can look at our arts acquisition program, our wall mural program, our festival program. We do support local artists.”
He says the council should buy works that get people talking and which liven up the streets.
Ms MacTiernan points out the Beseech big blue head, sitting out the front of the council HQ, was done by local sculptor Ken Sealey.
The unbudgeted $34,800 is to come, “from a source to be identified by the CEO”.

‘If you made a mistake then you should wear it. These guys should have done their homework’ Cr Dudley Maier

WITH two public art projects blowing out by a combined $73,000, Vincent mayor Alannah MacTiernan wants her council to tighten its rules.
She and Cr John Carey were principally behind one of the blowouts, convincing the council to spend $60,000 on a sculpture, when it had earlier budgeted $30,000 for a different piece.
The other blowout was $38,000 in unanticipated concrete costs for a tendered Beaufort Street project.
Cr Dudley Maier opposed both blowouts. He says Bremick, the company that won the tender to erect the Beaufort Stre letters, should wear any extra costs, not ratepayers.
“This isn’t a starving naive artist that’s holed up in some garret who doesn’t know what they’re doing,” he told the Voice.
“It is Bremick: They’re in the shop fit-out trade. They do project management and they know the game.
“They put in the tender, they signed a contract as such saying they could deliver it for just under $100,000.
“For them to come back and say ‘we need more money’, I think ‘no, you put in a bid, this is your normal game’.
Bremick director Brett Young said that during months of consultation, including with the council, the scale of the project grew to “a significant structure over 20 metres long and two metres high”.
He said they tried to get big builders to contribute to the cost, but none were interested. His own company poured hours of design and engineering into the project gratis.
Developers of big projects must spend one per cent of the project’s cost on public art, but councillors are questioning whether they’re getting value for money.
Ms MacTiernan wants projects more defined before money is spent: “There does have to be increasing professionalism,” she says. “You can’t tender a project and then say ‘I can’t build it for that cost’ or ‘I can’t build it because it’ll fall apart’. We are going to have to be a bit more on their case in terms of tying them down about these things before we award them costings.”

Stories by DAVID BELL

IT’S utter garbage—but in a good way.

The winners of Vincent’s inaugural Bincent Awards have all pimped-up their bins with funky artwork.

The competition was designed to brighten Vincent’s streetscapes on bin days.

Fifteen prizes were handed out this month, including first prizes for Marie Slyth, who depicted a panorama of Smith’s Lake on various sides of her Sulo, Jessica “Huckleberry Bin” Holker, who turned her receptacle into a colourful library of all her favourite books, Dianna Kelly’s scenes depicting wildlife at nearby Hyde Park and William Perera’s fun Japanese-inspired wave landscape.

Mayor Alannah MacTiernan—who rarely engages in trash-talk with journos—says she wants to make bin day an “alfresco street art gallery”.

“The biennial awards were introduced to inspire and encourage locals to enliven their streets with art and make bin day an alfresco street art gallery,” she says.

“It’s one way the council can instil a sense of fun, play and community in our neighbourhood streets and showcase Vincent’s diverse social backgrounds—and talent—through art.”

The council plans to run the competition every two years with the next one commencing in 2014.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

WikiLeaks’ founder’s mum to visit Luna, April 12

CHRISTINE ASSANGE says she communicates with her son Julian using notes, because she believes her phone may be tapped.

She won’t disclose her home location to the Voice because of “security considerations”.

The mother of the WikiLeaks’ founder says she remains politically active and works every day to get the, “truth out there”.

Her son has been holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy since June last year. UK bobbies ring the place to nab Mr Assange—wanted by Interpol on a sexual assault warrant—in case he makes a run for it.

Mr Assange’s supporters believe the Swedish sexual assault charges have been cooked up in order to make it easier to get him on a plane to the US, where he could face charges relating to WikiLeaks’ publication of reams of classified military material.

Ms Assange says she is concerned about her son’s physical health: “I’m obviously concerned about the lack of exercise and sunlight, but mentally he is very strong, so that wont be an issue.

“It’s ironic because the Americans wanted nothing more than to stop him doing WikiLeaks, but now they’ve got him holed up in the embassy, where all he can do is work on a computer.”

Ms Assange will speak to Perth audiences when she appears at the screening of Underground: The Julian Assange Story at Luna Leederville on April 12.

The film follows Mr Assange, his mother and a group of Australian hackers who are pursued by the FBI during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Ms Assange will participate in a Q&A with Underground director and writer Robert Connolly, whose filmography includes Balibo, Three Dollars and The Bank.

She is unaware of any “organised” WikiLeaks group in Perth, but notes WA Greens senator Scott Ludlam has been very supportive in lobbying the Gillard government to stop her son’s extradition to Sweden. So far the Fremantle-based senator’s pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Mr Connolly consulted with neither the Assanges nor WikiLeaks during the making of the film, but Ms Assange is pleased with the result, saying he presents an accurate portrayal of their lives.

“I think the film is both entertaining and educational,” she says.

“Alex Williams was so convincing as my son, that at times I thought I was actually watching Julian—he had the mannerisms and movements down to a tee.

“There were only a few minor points concerning my character that I thought were over-dramatised and slightly inaccurate.”

Mr Connolly says he deliberately shied away from the Assanges during pre-production to avoid a hagiography. Mr Assange had later told him he’d “loved” the movie when Mr Connolly visited him at the embassy following its release.

“Yeah, he really liked it and thought it was a good Aussie movie about an exciting youth movement,” he says.

“It’s pretty-full on in the embassy: He lives in a small, simple room—it’s probably three by three metres.

“It could be tough in there after a few months.”

Mr Connolly—essentially a political film maker—says he’s encouraged A-List Hollywood actors such as George Clooney are making movies about morally ambiguous, political issues.

“What excites me is that audiences are now seeing films that have a bit more meat on the bone,” he says.

“But I do find it interesting that Australia hasn’t made a film about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars yet, given Afghanistan is the longest war we’ve ever been involved in.

“Yet America, which is viewed as conservative, has made several films on it.”

Mr Connolly says he’s mulling over whether to make a sequel to Underground.

This week, Mr Assange announced lawyer and ex-political candidate Greg Barns, who once headed up the Australian Republican Movement with Malcolm Turnbull, will run his campaign for the Senate. Mr Assange is seeking a seat as a Victorian senator but it’s unlikely he’ll be able to campaign in person on Australian soil.

“The upper house has become a rubber-stamping exercise when its real job is to scrutinise,” Ms Assange says.

“Julian would be a great independent senator—a breath of fresh air.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

PLANS by Ambar nightclub to relocate from Pier Street to Barrack Street, near the luxury Equus apartment building, have hit a snag.

Perth city council on Tuesday night deferred the application after 124 inner-city residents arced up.

In its 12 years of operation the high-end club, which opens till 5am Saturdays and Sundays, has had no infringements issued against it.

Miss Maud’s and Seasons of Perth Hotel back Ambar’s application.

But locals petitioned the PCC, expressing concern about noise and “drunken, violent and anti-social behaviour”.

Squeezing three-dozen locals into the normally sparsely populated public gallery was a feat. The group was represented by lawyer Glen McLeod, an old hand at council negotiations (he helped convince neighbouring Vincent council not to cut down plane trees on Money and Monger Streets).

Mr McLeod told the council, “they’ve bought into that new building on the expectation that the high amenity of that new building would be maintained”.

PCC planners grumbled, “the financial interest of adjacent properties, while noted, cannot be taken into consideration as a relevant planning matter”.

But the elected members heeded Mr McLeod’s call to defer the decision so they could take more time to pore over the details.

Ambar director Liam Mazzucchelli wasn’t available the morning after the deferral. The club has won best nightclub at WA’s dance music awards every year since 2003.

by DAVID BELL