Planet Freo

THE WA coroner will hold a public inquest into the suicides of five Alma Street patients after relatives complained a WA health department investigation was superficial.

Families contacted this week welcomed coroner Alistair Hope’s decision to investigate the 2011 and 2012 deaths of Ruby Nicholls-Diver, Carly Elliott, Michael Thomas, Anthony Edwards and Stephen Robson.

Mr Hope will look at each death before calling in experts to discuss possible links.

Messrs Edwards and Robson’s deaths hadn’t been included in a previous inquiry by chief psychiatrist Rowan Davidson, which was given the narrow brief of looking only at the centre’s admission and discharge procedures.

That review also missed the 2011 suicide deaths of Clayton Robinson, Neil Marcial and Kim Smee. While not included in the latest inquest, the coroner’s office said, “if they have been reported to our office then they will be investigated”.

Mr Marcial’s sister Patricia says she wants her brother’s death investigated, “but I haven’t had the courage to read through the notes and investigation reports from Neil’s file at the coroner’s office”.

Speaking on Tuesday, which would have been the father of four’s 36th birthday, Patricia says her brother was a known patient who’d relapsed and died at home after Alma Street could not assess him for six weeks.

Ms Elliot’s father Vince says receiving his letter from the coroner’s office two weeks ago took him back to the day he’d discovered his daughter’s corpse: “It was a shock, it takes you right back. But this is what we fought for, I don’t want more people to die like this.

“A coroner’s inquest puts some value on Carly’s life, which was already precious.”

He says Dr Davidson’s review, “didn’t change anything”. Findings of a second review by WA neurosurgeon Bryant Stokes were released in November and identified major shortcomings which contributed to premature deaths of mental health patients.

The latest inquiry comes as the coroner’s office also investigates the deaths of 10 people since 2007 at WA’s biggest mental health inpatient unit at Graylands hospital.

Another inquest into the 2008 suicide death in Mexico of 39-year-old mother-of-four Erin Berg, who was in Alma Street’s care when she flew out of Perth, will reconvene in August.

by CARMELO AMALFI

LOCAL photographer Kirsten Graham has picked up an armful of awards at the WA photography awards.

The Palmyra snapper scored the top print handlers’ award for a touching picture of a father-of-the-bride gently hushing a playful child at a wedding, along with six silver awards for other wedding and landscape pics. It was caught at a wedding in March.

“Over the years you learn to anticipate when something could happen,” she says. “When you see those amazing candid photos that get taken, quite often it’s [by] looking in advance and thinking ‘something could go on’ and keeping an eye on them, and the bride, and the groom, and the parents, and everyone else.

“You’re constantly looking at everyone around you to see what opportunities arise, like misbehaving nephews.”

She studied photography during its transition from film to digital and recalls the days when primitive digital cameras cost $15,000 and could only create a photo the size of a postcard. She still tries to make every shot count, just as if she was shooting film—both to snap the perfect moment and to ensure she doesn’t have to trawl through 50 gigabytes.

Based in Mt Hawthorn’s Compose Photography (colleague Rebecca Johansson picked up illustrative photographer of the year and a gold award herself) Ms Graham says weddings make up about 70 per cent of their business.

http://www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com.

She says people shouldn’t try too hard to avoid potentially embarrassing passing trends: “You still want to have some idea of when it was taken… you want to show what the world was like in those days, because it’s fun to look back and laugh at what you wore.”

The winning photos will be on display at the Moores Building in Freo from June 22.

by DAVID BELL

A PETITION is about to start doing the rounds calling for skaters to be banned from certain areas of Fremantle.

Skaters (of boards, scooters, rollerskates and inlines) are officially deemed to be pedestrians and not riders nor drivers because their “toy vehicles” are propelled by human power.

But Bicton doctor Elena Monaco, who plans to start the petition, says skaters should wear helmets or be banned from using busy roads and footpaths in the Fremantle CBD.

In South Australia, skateboarders must wear a bicycle helmet and in parts of Melbourne there are time restrictions.

Asked whether Fremantle council should clamp down on street skating, east ward councillor Dave Coggin, a vigorous supporter of the $1.2 million Esplanade skate park project, says, “no, I don’t support the nanny state approach”.

“Besides, traffic rules are the responsibility of the police, not council.”

Under the WA road traffic code, skateboarders are banned on carriageways with a dividing line or median strip and on roads with speed limits exceeding 50kph.

Australian road rules defines a person in or on a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy as a pedestrian, not a rider and not a vehicle. Skaters must stay left if using footpaths and give way to any pedestrian on the footpath or shared path.

Dr Monaco says the Esplanade is no place for a skate park, “which according to most research I have read is frequented mainly by males aged under 25”.

She quotes a 2010 Griffiths University report, Skate parks as a context for adolescent development, which found skate parks were associated with drug taking, property damage and physical aggression.

“The data do not paint an entirely rosy picture of skate parks and those who inhabit them,” the report states.

Interviewees noted anti-social behavior occurs in the parks, mostly late at night and probably not committed by dedicated skaters.

“Many non-users, and even some users, reported feeling intimidated by aspects of the parks and the people they attract,” the report states.

Dr Monaco says the report does outline some positive aspects of skateparks, but the “negative impact to our green area certainly outweighs these positive which will extend to a small male portion of our population. The spending of ratepayers’ money on a facility which has so much potential for negative outcomes is irresponsible government.”

by CARMELO AMALFI

SAM WAINWRIGHT will run as the Socialist Alliance candidate for Fremantle at the September federal election.

The port city councillor for Hilton ward urges locals looking for a left-wing voice to abandon the ALP.

“Labor has paved the way for Abbott by caving in to the conservatives on a whole number of issues, especially the mining tax and the gutless way both of them bet up on refugees to distract people from their real problems,” he says.

“You can’t fight Coke with Diet Coke.

“We have to confront the ideas of Abbott head on.”

The former wharfie says both Labor and the Liberals are “freeway addicts” and slaves to the interests of big business.

“Between them they are about to spend $1 billion on freeways associated with the Perth Gateway project around the airport,” he says.

“But public transport and freight rail projects struggle to get a look in. To make things worse road freight gets a carbon tax exemption but rail does not.”

Mr Wainwright says housing affordability is another growing problem in WA with, “people sleeping rough on the street only the tip of the iceberg”.

“This is a direct and inevitable product of both federal and state government policy,” he says.

“Investment in public housing has not kept pace with demand, shrinking in real terms, and transforming it into residual welfare housing.

“We have to scrap welfare for landlords and speculators and instead significantly expand public housing and introduce rent controls, like those imposed in New York and Los Angeles.”

The Hilton local says Australia’s biggest problem today is the major parties being “loyal servants to big business”.

He jokes the Libs play bad cop to Labor’s good cop.

“What we need in this country is a serious political force that is 100 per cent on the side of working people, the environment and our communities.

“Through our campaigns we want to link up with people who feel the same way to build that alternative. By supporting us, people help that project.”

Two potential Liberal candidates have surfaced to take on Labor incumbent Melissa Parke: Local businessman Matthew Hanssen, who secured a significant swing for the party at the March 9 election, and unknown Sherry Sufi.

by BRENDAN FOSTER

RESIDENTS have collected since October the registration details of more than 100 vehicles that have visisted a Beaconsfield home they say is being used as a brothel, including government-plated and commercial cars.

But police are telling WA police minister Liz Harvey that nothing is going on.

The alleged Warren Street brothel is metres from Christ the King primary school and not far from Beaconsfield primary.

Ms Harvey says police are conducting patrols.

“Since January 1, police have informed me there have been no reported incidents requiring immediate police attendance relating to this house or other suspicious or anti-social behaviour which could be connected,” she says.

Following last week’s front page story (“Not a priority”, Herald, May 11, 2013), the owner of the property has reportedly approached residents asking if they are stirring up trouble by contacting the authorities.

He has also contacted the Herald several times this week but refuses to be quoted.

Residents raised the alarm in October when a woman walking her dog reportedly saw a man masturbating in his car on Annie Street.

She reported it to the school and called police, giving them the car’s registration. The same car was parked later the same day at the house on nearby Warren Street.

“Anybody engaging in indecent activity in public or in the presence of juveniles is committing a serious criminal offence and police would be expected to investigate any such complaint,” Ms Harvey says.

This alleged incident was “assessed” and “due to it being uncorroborated, anonymous information [via Crimestoppers], it did not provide sufficient information,” for further investigation.

“It was, however, recorded as intelligence,” she says.

Under the WA criminal code, any person—tenant or landlord—who keeps or manages or assists in managing any premises for prostitution faces up to three years’ imprisonment. Proceeds of crime legislation could also apply, leading to confiscation of property.

“We don’t want brothels in residential neighbourhoods,” Beaconsfield councillor and Hilton resident Dave Hume says.

by CARMELO AMALFI

AN elderly man watching his Hilton house burn to the ground feared his son may have been inside.

As the man stood in his Winterfold Road driveway Wednesday night, firefighters dashed past to bring the $350,000 blaze under control.

The Herald was one of the first at the scene and saw the single-storey home engulfed within minutes.

“My son lives there,” the devastated property owner numbly related. “I don’t know where is…he’s not around…he must be…I don’t know where he is. I can’t get in touch with him, because he doesn’t have his phone with him. I hope he’s not inside.”

Police media wrangler Naomi Smith says no-one was injured.

The arson squad is investigating. More than 30 firies from Fremantle, Murdoch, Canning Vale and Success stations attended.

by BRENDAN FOSTER

The synagogue project is moving again, says its owner. Photo by Jeremy Dixon

THE owner of the former synagogue opposite the Fremantle Markets is confident the site’s redevelopment is back on track despite a recent stumble at the WA heritage council.

Roger McKimm told the Herald he’d met heritage council staff two weeks ago and they appeared happy after he traded off a top storey for other concessions. Under the plan, the original synagogue will house a bar/cafe and offices, while a new section at the rear will be for short-term accommodation.

Mr McKimm said he’d been surprised by the heritage council’s decision in March to knock back his application, which he’d regarded as a minor amendment to a 2008 plan it had supported.

That plan had also been approved by the powerful but unelected state administrative tribunal after Fremantle council rejected it for being too big and bulky for the prominent site.

“These are just hurdles we have to get over,” Mr McKimm said.

Mr McKimm bought the building from the council in 2001 and said the “long, hard and expensive” process to redevelop the site had taken its toll.

“My son’s taken it on, now. I am out. I’ve had enough,” he told the Herald.

“The synagogue building had to be restored first before construction could start on the back of the site and there were a lot of problems with the structure of the original building that was very expensive.”

Project architect John Kirkness said the building had been on the verge of collapse when he’d first started working on it and a lot of work had been done to stabilise it.

“Everyone has an opinion on this site,” Mr Kirkness said. “It evokes strong reactions.”

The old synagogue is on the state heritage list and Mr McKimm will have to reapply to both the heritage and Fremantle councils with a new set of plans. He recently withdrew his application from Fremantle after the state body waved the red flag.

He praised Fremantle council’s heritage architect Alan Kelsall, who he said had worked with his architect to come up with solutions to placate the heritage council.

by ALEISHA DERHAM and STEVE GRANT

Local student dies in London

ALEISHA DERHAM, who worked on the story above as part of her Notre Dame uni journalism studies, died suddenly in London on April 26 after contracting meningococcal disease.

Described by lecturer Mignon Shardlow as a “hard-working student who had an innate nose for news,” the 19-year-old had returned to London during a semester break having fallen in love with the city during a recent student exchange at St Mary’s College.

“Aleisha would have become a great journalist,” Ms Shardlow said.

The university held a memorial service earlier this month.

Dr Noel Nannup and Bruce Abbott. Photo by Jenny D’Anger

EDUCATING non-Aboriginal people about Aboriginal connection to the land is a path to healing the past, Nyoongar elder Noel Nannup says.

A year ago he launched a series of workshops at Replants on Wray Avenue, and following a story in the Herald they had been a sell-out.

A “maturing” of Nyoongar people has seen a spike in interest in the spiritual and cultural aspects of the “oldest culture in Perth”, Dr Nannup says.

“Some people have lost touch with their spirituality and are looking for something to fill it.”

He and Replants owner Bruce Abbott, whose passion is saving grass-trees, are set to move on to “level II”, designed for the more than 100 people who took part in earlier workshops.

“[An] initiation into a contemporary culture where caring for our social and environmental assets is the primary focus…no more bulldozing grass trees,” Mr Abbott says.

Or as Dr Nannup puts it, letting people know Aboriginal people have “knowledge” of the metro area: “They don’t just wander around doing nothing.”

Over four Saturday afternoons Dr Nannup will take participants on a journey from the Round House and the mouth of the Swan River, to Point Walter and Kings Park winding up at Walyunga National Park, where the Swan becomes the Avon.

All the sites have huge significance to Aboriginal people, some happy, some tinged with sadness.

The Round House is the “confluence” of the river: “Where [Aboriginal] people cried…when sea levels rose [cutting off Rottnest Island],” Dr Nannup says.

Point Walter is a place for women and children and still used in the “old ways” as mums teach youngsters about culture.

Although some is a newer culture: “Mothers teaching their kids about baby-cino,” Dr Nannup laughs.

For more info about either workshops call Bruce Abbott on 0430 116 488.

by JENNY D’ANGER  

LANCE HOLT SCHOOL is eyeing off property in the West End with hopes of expanding.

With parents squeezing their faces against the windows desperate to enrol their kids, the jam-packed Henry Street alternative school is looking to move its kindy to a new site.

Principal Kathryn Netherwood says the 40-year-old school faces growing enrolment demand for places from kindy to year three.

“Lance Holt has developed a vision for the future to ensure our on-going sustainability as an innovative independent school,” she told the Herald. “We are in the early stages of seeking an additional building in the West End to expand our early years program.”

She acknowledges concern from some parents that splitting the school across two campuses could harm its community village feel but says, “what is most important to our families is to maintain the school values and culture and the high quality educational programs for our students”.

THE long-awaited upgrade to High Street may finally go ahead after the Gillard Labor government granted $59 million in the federal budget for the project.

Fremantle state Labor MP Simone McGurk says the ball is now in the Barnett government’s court, to allocate its share of the funding.

“Last year residents were dismayed to learn that despite over 10 years of discussion, the state had actually removed money for this project from the state budget,” she said.

“This project was allocated federal funding back in 2008, but the state government has failed the people of East Fremantle and Palmyra by its inability to deliver,” she told the Herald.

Contentious plans to improve the road between Carrington Street and Stirling Highway have been on the cards for years.

Mayor Brad Pettitt says the council made the right call by backing the local community and rejecting option 4.

A newer approved option will have less impact on locals while enabling a safer, better flowing road.

“I am pleased it has been funded as the road is in dire need of an upgrade to make it safer for drivers and quieter for residents nearby,” he says.

“I would expect work to start in late 2014 all going well.”

Dr Pettitt says it still needs a planning scheme change and Parliament’s approval as it will have an impact on an A-class reserve.

by BRENDAN FOSTER