The Western Independent, Volume 20 Number 1, September 2014

SEPTEMBER 2014 – Volume 20 No 1

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Great rush out of Goldfields Heather Miller

A fall in the international gold price has hit business, mining and tourism hard in the Goldfields town of Kalgoorlie.

The price of gold has slumped 10.47 per cent over the past six months and Kalgoorlie residents say local businesses are starting to feel the pinch, while real estate prices have also fallen.

Chartered accountant Ashok Parekh, who is also chairman of exploration company MacPhersons Resources, said mining companies had been forced to cut jobs as the price of gold continued to fall.

“The business conditions in Kalgoorlie are the toughest I’ve seen in 30 years,” Mr Parekh said.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates about 2000 residents left the City of KalgoorlieBoulder during 2011, Mr Parekh said another 5000 people had left during the past 18 months.

He said the exodus had a significant impact on the town.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Ron Yuryevich said businesses had reduced their workforce in an effort to cut costs.

Some companies, including drilling companies, had been placed in the hands of receivers.

“The town is subdued,” he said.

“People aren’t spending as freely as they have been. We’ve had businesses

close because of the non-activity in to predict when the price of gold the town.” would rebound, especially when the Australian Institute of Mining and price of other resources had recently Metallurgy chief executive Michael improved.

Catchpole said towns like Kalgoorlie Recent AIMM figures showed were reliant on mining to keep all their unemployment in the Australian businesses afloat. mining and resource sector was “It’s the service companies running at 12.2 per cent in September that provide services to the mining — double the national unemployment industry, it’s the average of 6.1 per pub, the caterer, cent.

“Turnover in the motel and how Gavin Dorotich dependent they Kalgoorlie-Boulder who owns mining are, not only on and quarry is now down by 46 supplies company the super pit but on all the other mines Hard per cent, it’s below Westralian within the region.”

Chrome, said the Mr Catchpole the 15-year average lack of work had said any fall forced him to cut in commodity costs. for house sales” price would hurt “They [mining business in a mining town because companies] are making do by patching companies would look to cut any up the machinery to keep it operational, unnecessary costs. but ultimately that is unsustainable,” “The drop in the international he said. gold price has affected gold mining “At some stage they’ll need to spend companies because it makes them the money and then they’re looking for a either less profitable or potentially very price-conscious repair cost.” unprofitable,” he said.

Real Estate Institute of WA “That’s had an impact on communications executive manager employment levels across all of Brian Greig said Kalgoorlie-Boulder mining, but if we’re talking gold house sales had fallen 33 per cent in mining specifically, most of the gold the past year and properties had been mining companies would have reduced abandoned. their labour force.”

“Turnover in Kalgoorlie-Boulder is The price of gold was about $1600 now down by 46 per cent,” he said. an ounce in early 2013, but is now “It’s below the 15-year average for about $1370 an ounce. house sales.

Mr Catchpole said it was difficult “If we look back five years, and we

EXHALE: E-cigarettes cough up risks (Page 9).

THE PITS: Falling gold prices break businesses.

look at how much capital and price growth across each year, there is just under one per cent, so very slow growth.

“To put that in a broader context, the kind of growth you want in normal times, at least in metro Perth, is eight per cent per year.”

Mr Dorotich said locals became anxious when the mines started laying off workers.

Greg Coyle who owns accounting, finance and corporate services company G Coyle & Associates, said some local companies were looking to take

PHOTO: Samantha Relph.

advantage of the falling gold price by buying gold mines at a low price.

Those deals were helping some other businesses to survive, he said.

“Bigger companies like Barrick are down selling their assets and the local based companies like Metal X, Northern Star and Norton Goldfields all buying these assets,” he said.

“Kalgoorlie is isolated enough that these smaller companies who have bought these operations are re-investing early and it is keeping the economy afloat.”

PHOTO: Lars Kristian Steen.

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September 2014

NEWS

A message from the student editor Well, that escalated quickly.

A calm start to the week quickly turned into a mid-Friday panic as stories started falling through and pages started looking thin.

Yet, in the midst of last-minute stories on the night before production, and copy subbed in green pen flying around the room, the team appeared in control more than ever before. Perhaps in denial, but we will never know.

The past week has been spent sunbaking under the fluorescent light of the newsroom and computer screens, while social media floods itself with

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joseph M Fernandez STAFF EDITOR Sean Cowan STUDENT EDITOR Tyne Logan DEPUTY EDITOR/DEPUTY CHIEF SUB EDITOR Rhiannon Shine

FEATURES EDITORS Christie Bosworth Lucy Rutherford PHOTO EDITORS Rebecca Metcalf David Cumming PRODUCTION MANAGERS Hannah Lawrance Jon Solmundson SPORTS EDITOR Tyrone Thwaites ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Hannah Barry CHIEFS OF STAFF Zach Relph Timothy Roberts Brittany Langley Heather Miller CHIEF SUB EDITOR Holly Hazel SUB-EDITORS Luke Illich Saket Dongre Samantha Saw Grace Chineegadoo DESIGN ADVISORS Jessica Ibacache LEGAL ADVISOR Joseph M Fernandez TEACHING STAFF Sean Cowan Kerry Faulkner Kathryn Shine Chris Thomson

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can even say it ourselves. It’s interesting to be on the flip side of journalism.

This edition focuses not just on local, but national and international issues.

To tie in a Ferris Bueller quote, “ladies and gentlemen, you are such a wonderful crowd, we'd like to play a little tune for you. It's one of my personal favorites and I'd like to dedicate it to a young man who doesn't think he's seen anything good today – Cameron Frye, this one’s for you”. We hope, after reading this, you’ve seen something good today.

- Tyne Logan

Apartment building threatens Northbridge nightlife Timothy Roberts and Brittany Langley A plan to build a big apartment block in Northbridge has come under fire from the area’s nightclub operators.

It’s understood the building, to be constructed as part of a $500 million triple-tower development on the old Megamart site, will be about 40 storeys.

Club owners are concerned it will interfere with the area’s nightlife.

Plans for the Megamart site, on the corner of Beaufort and Roe Streets, are due to be submitted at the end of this month. If approved, the development will add 600 apartments to the area.

Court Hotel owner Bree Maddox said nightclub and bar noise levels were threatened by the influx of residents into the area.

“My main concern is the unrealistic expectations that residents will be able to deal with the already existing noise levels,” she said.

Ms Maddox said a busy nightlife precinct was not the place to build a large residential building.

“I’m really concerned for the wellbeing of surrounding nightclubs. The proposal is just not feasible,” she said.

“I think the council needs to understand that there is a large need for hospi-

HIGH-RISE: Nightclub owners fear noise complaints.

tality venues in the city and they need to protect what’s already there.”

Geisha Bar director Craig Woods said it was up to the building company to deal with noise issues.

“It will be the responsibility of the building company to ensure the apartment building is built to reduce outside noise for the residents,” he said.

He also said the city council had taken steps to ensure noise pollution was not

Overseas students say Perth’s too expensive

Nadia Budihardjo

Western Australia’s high cost of living, high salaries and high land prices have helped drive up the price of a university degree and reduce the number of international enrolments, according to education experts.

UWA Professor of energy and resource economics Peter Hartley said WA’s high cost of living was being exacerbated by the increase in land price.

Prof Hartley was commenting on an HSBC survey that showed international students paid an average of $42,000 a PHOTO: Shannon Gillespie.

NEWS EDITOR Emma Griffiths

glittering posts of the Perth spring we are yet to experience. Instead, we have experienced a whole new side to the life of a journalist. Although it was a generous time frame, the newsroom process has made clear the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.

My approach toward editing stories has drastically changed over the week, as has the attitude of the team. We now catch ourselves repeating lines from our legal advisor Joseph’s vocabulary like “what are the facts?” and “um, where did you get this from?” as our staff editor Sean often asks, before we

STUDENTS: Celestina and Natsumi.

year to live and study in Australia.

While Australia’s university fees were similar to those charged in the US, our cost of living was almost $3,000 a year higher.

Prof Hartley said the high salaries enjoyed by both white and blue-collar workers in WA drove prices up.

The State Government was also driving up the cost of land in Perth.

“If you drive up the cost of land, the price of everything else goes up,” he said.

“It’s deterring international people from studying in Australia, and it is driving tourists away as well.”

StudyPerth executive director Mike Ryan said Australian universities charged high prices because of the cost

of additional services and advertising for international students. His group receives government funding to help international students who want to study in Perth.

“There are expenses surrounding accommodation, additional units for students whose first language is not English and counselling sessions to help deal with homesickness,” he said.

Mr Ryan said advertising to international students was expensive, but crucial to attracting them to Australia.

“An Australian university has to compete with other cities and other universities in the world for that student,” he said.

Curtin International Student Committee president Ewelina Przenioslo said she wanted to study in an Englishspeaking and multicultural country, despite the high cost.

Ms Przenioslo said universities needed to provide emotional and academic support for international students.

“Studying in a foreign country is really challenging for international students for reasons such as language and cultural barriers, as well as homesickness,” she said.

“It’s really important for the university and student body to be aware of those challenges.”

Federal opposition education spokesman Kim Carr said Australian universities were among the best in the world.

“On a per capita basis, Australian universities out-perform the United States and others,” he said.

“Over the past 10 years, our universities have been consistently climbing in international rankings.”

A 2014 Housing Industry Association report said Perth’s land prices increased by 10.2 per cent in the December 2013 quarter, and were the most expensive in Australia with “prices about five per

an issue for new residents.

“The City of Perth has taken precautions and completed noise-reading tests in certain areas to ensure there are minimal problems,” he said.

The new building is one of three residential buildings to be built in Northbridge as part of a high-rise building boom.

Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said these residential developments would

PHOTO: Shannon Gillespie.

enhance the city’s vibrancy and cosmopolitan nature.

“We are positive that residential and commercial development can coexist within an entertainment precinct, provided appropriate planning mechanisms are adhered to,” she said.

The area has seen a sharp rise in planning applications since the City of Perth relaxed planning rules and the Perth City Link Project was announced.

Security bill rushed NO-GO ZONE: Personal computers off-limits.

Michael Service

The Federal Government has failed to give parliament enough time to properly review its proposed changes to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act, according to the Pirate Party.

The 2014 National Security Legislation Amendment Bill was announced by Attorney-General George Brandis in July, and provides stronger powers for Australia’s security organisations.

Both Labor and the Coalition supported the initial recommendation by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.

Pirate Party spokesman Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer said the AttorneyGeneral’s office hadn’t given parliament enough time to properly consider the Bill.

“The Attorney-General’s Department should be weighing up the evidence, not just giving ASIO and others the powers they’re requesting,” he said.

He said the Bill was a “complex document” that needed to be better understood by all members of parliament before any changes were made to the Act. Mr Olbrycht-Palmer said while the

PHOTO: Laura Birch.

government had been “quite transparent” in informing the public of the changes, the document itself was “presented in a way that makes it impossible for people to adequately digest the Bill and respond to it”.

He said: “The government gave us less than a month to respond to 300 pages of various documents.”

Lawyer Greg McIntyre said some parts of the legislation disrupted the balance of power “between investigating matters which may harm our society” and interfering “with our fundamental freedom”.

He said the sections of greatest concern included the introduction of new offences and increased penalties for disclosing intelligence information, powers to access computers and premises of innocent third parties, and the power to use force to install or remove surveillance devices.

Mr McIntyre said the changes impacted on freedom of speech, privacy, “respect of property” and “respect of persons”.

He also said some of the amendments were difficult to follow, but he did not regard the Bill as “any more obscure that many others passed by parliament”.

The Attorney-General’s Department and ASIO declined to comment.

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Mixed response over mental health merge Aaron Bryans The proposed merger of WA’s Drug and Alcohol Office and the Mental Health Commission has drawn a mixed response from both the State Opposition and a prominent public health expert.

The proposed changes, contained within the Alcohol and Drug Authority Amendment Bill 2014, would see the Drug and Alcohol Office’s management board turned into an advisory board responsible for the Mental Health Commission.

Opposition mental health spokesman Stephen Dawson said he supported the merger, but was concerned that the Drug and Alcohol Office would be less important in the new structure.

“While I have an open mind on the issue of the amalgamation, I do however

hope that the work that’s currently being done by the DAO is not diluted in any way,” he said.

“In other states, when an alcohol office and a commission have been amalgamated, they have ensured that drug and alcohol is actually recognised in the Bill.”

Mr Dawson said he would seek a guarantee from the Health Minister that the work being done by the Drug and Alcohol Office would not suffer.

“The Minister owes it to the parliament to make that guarantee and if she does then I think people will be a lot more comfortable with the amalgamation,” he said.

“Labor has indicated that we will support the Bill. We will seek to make a number of amendments, though, that will take into account the concerns raised by the DAO.” Health and Disability Services

Minister Helen Morton will lead the new department, with Mental Health Commissioner Tim Marney as director general.

The Minister’s spokesperson, Lucy Coleman, said the merger was aimed at helping those affected by mental illnesses and drug and alcohol abuse.

“We know that there is a substantial link between people experiencing metal illness and harmful drug and alcohol abuse,” she said.

“A high rate of those who are home less have co-morbidity, which meansmthat they have both a mental health issue and experience substance abuse issues with both drugs and alcohol.”

Ms Coleman said the merger was not aimed at increasing efficiency but at increasing collaboration between the two offices.

“There will still be people dedicated to drugs and alcohol and people dedi-

PHOTO: Rebecca Metcalf.

Call for same-sex health-ed Rebecca Nash

Homosexual and transgender sex education needs to be taught alongside heterosexual sex education, according to a WA gender-queer group.

A 2005 La Trobe University study showed young Australians in samesex relationships were five times more likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease than their heterosexual peers.

WA Pride spokeswoman Michelle Rogers said this study, as well as many others, highlighted the importance of broader sex education in Australian schools.

Ms Rogers said students often looked for advice from friends or online when healthy same-sex practices were not taught in school.

“Sometimes advice from friends is the best advice,” she said.

“But sometimes the people giving advice are basing it on something they have been told that could be inaccurate.

“There are recent studies showing that young gay men are more likely to be at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases due to a lack of consistent information available to them.

“Young people in same-sex relationships, especially young men, are less likely to attend their GPs and other healthcare providers for a variety of reasons, including having to come out.

“And if they do see their GP and they don’t come out they are in danger of getting the wrong advice.

“A provision of inclusive sex education in schools would ensure that students receive the same or similar information across the board.”

Ms Rogers said the school curriculum now covered ethical issues about

human sexuality. It had previously only provided physiological facts.

“So, rather than just concentrating on the perceived negative side of things, like preventing pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and risky behavior, it helps normalise sexuality as part of the human experience,” she said.

“This helps young people to make informed choices about things like becoming sexually active, contraception, sexuality, body image, gender identity, consent, and relationships.”

WA Education Minister Peter Collier said the state curriculum included content that provided skills for developing “healthy relationships with others”.

“The kindergarten to Year 10 syllabuses provide explicit information, at each year level, to support teachers to plan and develop health education learning and teaching experiences,” Mr Collier said.

He said schools had the flexibility to select which content from the syllabus they wanted to teach.

The Equal Opportunity Commission of Western Australia released guidelines for supporting sexuality and gender diversity in schools last month.

Ms Rogers said she hoped the new guidelines would aid homosexual and transgender sex education both in and out of schooling.

“Hopefully, the new policies and guidelines for Western Australian schools will start to take effect and same-sex and transgender education will be consistently provided in government and private schools,” Ms Rogers said.

“If it isn’t, parents and teachers will at least have information to back up the need for this.”

PHOTO:Aaron Bryans.

cated to mental health,” she said.

“We believe this will ensure a better integration of the state network of mental health as well as drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services.”

Curtin University Health Policy Professor Mike Daube said Ms Morton was competent to handle the responsibilities of both departments.

He said, however, he was worried her

successors would struggle.

“We currently have a minister who is very strong on alcohol,” he said.

“My biggest worry, I think, is what happens after this minister.”

Prof Daube said the move was not appropriate at this time.

“I worry that a re-organisation could distract from the important work of the drug and alcohol office,” he said.

another way to recycle radioactive waste.

Lynas is based at Mount Weld, about 300 km north of Kalgoorlie. The rare earths it mines are minerals required for use in mobile phones, batteries and some green technologies, including solar panels.

A study of the Lynas plant in Kuantan was carried out last year by the Oeko-Institut consultancy firm. It found the toxicity of rare earth elements was low-to-medium when compared with other metals.

Mr Tan said SMSL was still concerned about the long-term health effects.

“We have acquired data compiled by the regulating authorities regarding the effect of Lynas Advanced Materials Plant and it has shown an increase in background radiation,” he said.

The National Toxins Network, an organisation that helps promote environmental organisations across Oceania, also conducted an assessment of the plant.

It found the plant caused “significant atmospheric, terrestrial and waterborne emissions of toxic chemicals and radionuclides including uranium, thorium and radon gas”.

Australian Conservation Foundation Asia-Pacific campaign co-ordinator Lee Tan said Lynas’s full operating

licence was legally controversial.

“It is subject to the legal interpretation,” he said.

“Most of us who have some technical and legal understanding would argue that the authorities have not strictly followed the law in the process of issuing Lynas its operating licences.

“I and other legal people felt that the government has acted politically to approve the project and allow it to continue to operate despite the many serious deficiencies of the plant.”

Fremantle-based SMSL activist Sam Wainwright said the best option was to bury the waste where it was mined at Mount Weld.

He said Australian regulations, however, prevented the waste from being brought back into Australia.

“It would make a lot more sense, environmentally, to process the ore close to site in Australia and for the spoil to go back down the hole,” he said.

Mr Wainwright said the circumstances in which the Malaysian processing plant had been originally established were “fundamentally flawed”.

“The whole thing went through an environmental approval process that took only a week,” he said.

Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board and Lynas Corporation were not available for comment.

Lynas licence under scrutiny Tyne Logan

SEX ED: For all preferences.

SHADOW MINISTER: Stephen Dawson shows angst.

Malaysia’s biggest environmental protest group is planning to appeal against the decision to allow an Australian mining company to continue processing rare earths in Malaysia.

A full licence was recently issued to Lynas Corporation by Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board, allowing the company to continue to transport rare earths from WA to the Malaysian city of Kuantan.

The Save Malaysia Stop Lynas group is concerned about the disposal of rare earth waste containing thorium, a low-level radioactive element, in Malaysia.

SMSL chairman Tan Bun Teet said the radiation did not pose an immediate danger to humans, but “had been proven to be a health threat in the long term”.

Mr Tan said the licence should not have been issued because Lynas failed to comply with the terms and conditions of its temporary operating licence, which was due to expire on September 4.

“Lynas failed to identify a suitable permanent waste disposal facility within 10 months of its operation,” he said.

Mr Tan said Lynas claimed it had

LICENCE APPEAL: Lynas operations questioned.

PHOTO: Kelvin Chow.

September 2014

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Fem-fitness comps put fertility at risk

PHOTO: Siobhan Herne.

Kiralee Smith

RSPCA abuse laws cause stir SAFER HOMES: New laws ensuring animal safety on its way.

Emma Handreck The RSPCA is pushing for legislative change that would see some people prosecuted if they failed to report animal abuse.

RSPCA spokeswoman Kate Eliasson said the proposed laws would force any person with a professional duty of care to animals to report abuse.

“Under this proposal, only those who, by virtue of their role, are expected to have an understanding of animal welfare legislation, will be legally obliged to make a report,” she said.

Those who failed to report animal abuse despite having a duty of care to animals would face a maximum fine of up to $50,000 and up to four years in jail.

Among those expected to come under any new legislation are veterinarians, vet nurses, livestock managers, zoo managers, and animal trainers.

Ms Eliasson said the laws could have some drawbacks.

Some animal workers could be less likely to report abuse for fear of being held accountable for accidental harm, or harm caused by others, to their animals.

However, she said the proposal also recommended animal workers receive some form of statutory protection against liability.

National Farmers’ Federation president Brent Finlay said protection for those who did not maliciously harm their animals was crucial.

“While the Australian farm sector strongly supports initiatives for improvement, the full flow-on effect of this proposal still needs to be gauged,” he said.

Mr Finlay said the proposal had to be carefully considered to ensure it did not hurt the agricultural sector.

Animal welfare group Voiceless also supported the proposal despite receiving a “mixed response” from the industry, head of communications Elise Burgess said.

“Its definitely a step in the right direction,” she said.

An increasing number of women are risking long-term reproductive system damage when preparing for fitness competitions, according to fertility experts.

Competitions require contestants to strip body fat to below average levels by following a strict diet and exercise plan.

Obstetrician and gynaecologist Tamara Hunter said at least 12 per cent body fat was required for women to conceive naturally and 25 to 30 per cent was the average for Australian women.

“Body fat is one of the best producers of oestrogen,” said Dr Hunter, who also is completing training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility with Fertility Specialists of WA. “It’s important for stimulating the brain to turn on the ovulatory cycle. It’s also important to stimulate the lining of the womb.

“The reproductive system is very dependent on body fat.”

Fertility Specialists of WA medical director Roger Hart said women who exercised excessively had little body fat and their reproductive systems didn’t function normally.

“Exercise can deprive ovarian hormone production,” said Professor Hart, who is also a University of Western Australia reproductive medicine professor.

“It’s a depletion of lepton produc-

tion – essentially due to a reduction in body fat.

“Exercise is great for your heart, reducing the risk of diabetes and your harm to your bones, but unfortunately sometimes it can have a negative effect on fertility.”

Professor Hart said it was not uncommon for women with exercise-related conception problems to visit his practice.

Fitness trainer Siobhaon Cleary said a strict 12-week diet she used to prepare for an international competition upset her menstrual cycle.

“I quite enjoyed the diet at the beginning of my preparation,” Ms Cleary said.

“As I got closer to the competition day, my trainer panicked about my level of body fat and started cutting fruit, good fats and carbohydrates from my diet.

“I was 14 per cent body fat, which isn’t even very lean by competition standards.

“My whole cycle was a mess and it wasn’t normal for months afterwards.”

Dr Hunter said the reproductive system was the first to stop functioning when body fat dropped.

“It’s like an evolutionary survival mechanism,” she said.

“In times of famine you wouldn’t want to be reproducing.

“The communication between the brain, pituitary glands and ovaries shuts down.

“In the short-term one of the first things to go will be periods.”

Dr Hunter also said the bodybuilding lifestyle caused patients to ignore her advice to gain weight, increasing the risk of permanent damage.

“If the intention is to reduce body fat then you’re potentially going to compromise your essential driver for your hormones,” she said.

“The brain produces chemicals called kisspeptins and their stimulation and regulation can get interrupted in the long term.

“Even if women were to regain body fat or stop excessive exercise and restrictive dieting, their periods may not come back.”

International Natural Bodybuilding Association WA president Sam Attrill said the number of women taking part in INBA competitions had doubled since last year.

Ms Attrill said competitive fitness had never been healthier.

“We’ve got different categories on offer which aren’t as extreme as bodybuilding.

“It makes it a lot more achievable in a healthier way,” she said.

Attrill also said the health risks of bodybuilding weren’t such an issue any more.

“We’re about doing it with whole foods and getting to a state where you don’t have to do as much exercise,” she said.

“We’re dieting a lot better and a lot cleverer now.”

whether it has faded as time passes, those are the kinds of things that we’ll be interested to find out,” she said.

British migrants are the largest overseas-born group in WA, making up 9.5 per cent of Perth’s population.

Prof Gregory said research about British migrants was often overlooked and past research had mainly focused on other ethnicities.

“It’s being assumed that since they speak the same language, they’ve got a similar kind of culture to the majority of Australians, so they will just fit in,” she said.

“But that’s not necessarily the case.”

Hundreds of English families migrated to Australia after World War II, each adult paying a fare of ten

pounds for their trip. Children travelled free.

Drawn by promises of employment, housing, a relaxed lifestyle and a better climate, they came to be known as ‘ten-pound poms’.

Project participant David Cotgreave, a self-confessed ‘ten-pound pom’, said it was important people understood their heritage.

He moved to Australia in 1975 and settled in Perth as a child in 1979.

Mr Cotgreave said he hoped the project would provide a greater understanding about what motivated people to move across the world.

Data obtained from the project will be held at the JS Battye Library of West Australian History.

Family histories come full circle

Joseph Wilson

The University of Western Australia is calling on British migrants with family members in the UK to take part in an oral history project this month.

UWA and the University of Hertfordshire will record the stories of families split between Perth and the UK in their collaborative project, to be called Full-Circle.

UWA Winthrop Professor Jenny Gregory said the project would seek to uncover how British migrants had kept in touch with their relatives in the UK and how that had changed over time.

“Whether this is something that has maintained the same strength or

Marine park sanctuary gets snubbed Michael Roberts

A proposed marine park near Broome will not effectively protect marine life if it does not include sanctuary zones, according to conservation groups.

Sanctuary zones are no-take zones, in which fishing is not allowed.

In 2010, Premier Colin Barnett announced a plan to make Roebuck Bay, south of Broome, a marine park.

The Yawuru people, Broome’s traditional owners, recently signed off on a State Government draft management plan for the proposed park.

According to the Roebuck Bay Working Group the bay is home to dugongs, green turtles, snubfin dolphins, crustaceans and many other species, making it one of the most diverse mudflats in the world.

Marine scientist Alex Brown said the Australian snubfin dolphin was one of the animals that would benefit from a sanctuary zone in Roebuck Bay’s marine park.

He said the snubfin dolphin was vulnerable to extinction and environmental change and figures suggested some populations in Roebuck Bay could almost be considered endangered.

“We do see evidence of entanglement in gill nets from animals in

Roebuck Bay,” he said.

Mr Brown was one of 30 scientists who wrote to the Premier in June saying marine parks did not provide full protection without sanctuary zones.

“The real benefits from marine parks come when there are some actual restrictions on activities that take place there,” he said.

“Just calling it a marine park and establishing a management plan for it isn’t enough really.

“A well-designed marine sanctuary of adequate size within Roebuck Bay marine park can be expected to provide significant benefits to the protection of biodiversity.”

Kimberley conservation group Environs Kimberley plans to join the fight for a no-take zone.

Marine project officer Jason Fowler said the only way of getting a no-take zone was to put public pressure on the government.

He said this could be achieved if everyone made a submission calling for a sanctuary zone when the State Government’s plan is released for public comment.

A spokeswoman for Environment Minister Albert Jacob said the marine park plan was being developed in collaboration with the Yawuru traditional owners.

SNUBFIN DOLPHIN: No sanctuary for marine mammals.

PHOTO: MUCRU-WWF-Aus.

September 2014

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NEWS

Goal to prevent ACL injuries The chances of suffering a knee injury requiring a reconstruction can be significantly reduced by doing simple exercises, according to a new study.

The anterior cruciate ligament is one of four major ligaments in the human knee and, when broken, it can only be fixed by surgery. Australia has the highest rate of ACL injuries in the world.

A University of Western Australia study has found exercises such as squats and lunges can help prevent ACL injuries.

UWA biomechanics PhD candidate Gillian Weir said 60 per cent of ACL injuries were preventable.

She said researchers had devised a nine-week training program for team sport athletes, to strengthen the muscles that reduce frces on the knee and the associated risk of injury.

“To see a measurable change with body weight exercises in a professional athlete who does regular strength training is quite incredible,” she said.

“We should expect to see very positive results from community-level athletes.”

Ms Weir said the researchers were able to identify the movements that caused the greatest risk to athletes’ knees by analysing players from the Australian women’s hockey team.

“The movements we know that cause the most amount of strain on the ACL are things like landing with a straight leg, and not controlling the lateral movement of the upper body,” she said.

Hockeyroos forward Georgia Nanscawen said ACL injuries affected team morale.

“The Hockeyroos have traditionally been pretty unlucky with these injuries,” she said.

Police reforms in firing line PREVENTION: Exercise is key.

PHOTO: Shannon Gillespie.

Kira Carlin

RETIRED: Ex-cop David Bentley.

PHOTO: Shannon Gillespie.

The WA Police Union has criticised Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan’s reforms after a survey revealed officers believed their mental and physical health could suffer as a result.

The Frontline 2020 reform is being tried in the south-east metro area and participants have claimed the new rosters are gruelling and inflexible, and will reduce the amount of time they spend with their families.

The reform is aimed at identifying how police can better direct their resources to local issues through social media, online forums and better-prepared response teams.

The survey, however, revealed 67 per cent of members claimed they would not be able to cope with the changes because stations were already understaffed.

WA opposition police spokeswoman Michelle Roberts said she was concerned for the families of police officers and new recruits.

She said the reform “will potentially lead to some marital breakdowns and it’ll have an impact on their children”.

“They are needing to attract good people to serve as police officers and this may well deter people from applying or entering the police force,” Ms Roberts said.

Medically Retired WA Police Officers Association president David Bentley said cracks were already showing in the trial area.

“I’m getting phone calls from people in the job, still serving, saying ‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to cope with this new reform because it’s going to put so much extra pressure on me’,” Mr Bentley said.

He said about 80 per cent of police retired because of stress.

The Institute of Clinical Psychologists WA president Darryl Menaglio said the reforms could lead to health problems for police officers.

He said placing more pressure on officers may cause them to take more sick leave. Officers were at risk of posttraumatic stress disorder, cardiac problems, high-blood pressure, immune conditions and alcoholism, he said.

“Prolonged high stress leads to all sorts of problems and you need to maintain the resilience of your work force by supporting them,” Mr Menaglio said.

WA Police Union president George Tilbury said members were most concerned about a lack of support.

“The response teams are getting hammered with jobs so it’s important that more police officers are placed in those teams and that they are equipped properly,” he said.

“It is very important that the roster has a degree of flexibility to allow members to spend quality time with their families.

“Police are not expendable items. They’re actually a very rare commodity.”

Police Minister Liza Harvey said the reform was aimed at positioning police for future challenges, particularly the

New FIFO scheme useless without Wi-Fi Andrew Charlton and Hannah Lawrance

Chevron employees working on Barrow Island have criticised a new State Government mental illness initiative for fly-in-fly-out workers because it relies on them having access to the internet.

Earlier this month, the Barnett Government launched a $120,000 scheme to support FIFO workers through a website called This FIFO Life.

The website, which carries information relating to mental health and support, was devised after an inquiry revealed there had been nine FIFO suicides in WA in the past 12 months.

Chevron competency and training manager Peter Holmes said Wi-Fi and mobile phone reception on Barrow Island, about 50km northwest of WA’s Pilbara coast, was “appallingly bad”.

“Slow Wi-Fi and no Wi-Fi – so how the hell are folk going to access these systems?” he said.

“It should be of primary concern to the employer as their workforce can keep in touch with loved ones.

“Children and good friends – like

every one else can – after all, we are not in prison.”

A Chevron spokeswoman said the company was working to improve telecommunications access on the island.

“Chevron continues to work with the provider of telecommunications services on Barrow Island to address broadband capacity on the island,” she said.

“Regular reminders about the availability of a reliable landline network on the island, as well as tips on maximising mobile phone reception, are also issued.”

Mr Holmes said limited Wi-Fi access on site made him question the effectiveness of the new scheme.

“I ask the question, ‘will it fade into the ether like a lot of these well-meaning initiatives?’,” he said.

“Surely a Lifeline kind of arrangement would be better with a phone link.

“Or if the companies or government sent professionals, psychiatrists specifically, to talk to the teams at their worksites and carry out one-on-one sessions, if necessary.”

Maritime Union Australia WA branch secretary Chris Cain said the

ONLINE HELP: Workers left searching.

telecommunications issue was another example of Chevron “treating their workers like robots”.

“This is a company that has absolutely no regard for any type of worker, around

PHOTO: Rhiannon Shine.

the world, no regard,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Mental Health Minister Helen Morton said the Mental Health Commission funded a range of suicide prevention initiatives.

“With an ACL injury, you’re looking at 12 months out.

“Each time someone goes down with an ACL you immediately know what they are in for and how hard the road back is.”

Swan Districts Football Club strength coach Dan Jolley said although ACL injuries were less common in football, they still presented a threat to players.

“For us it’s usually a season-ending injury,” he said.

“It can happen to your best player in the first game of the season and then you’re without that guy for the rest of the year.”

Ms Weir said her team was working to publish the research and provide online tutorials so other coaches could take advantage of the findings.

“The greater goal is providing a package that will benefit professional coaches right down to mum and dad coaches in junior sport,” she said.

PHOTO: Rebecca Metcalf.

Gareth Thomas

NURSES: Safety needed.

Opposition wants security in hospitals Saxon Durrant The State Government should beef up security inside WA’s hospital emergency departments, according to opposition health spokesman Roger Cook.

Mr Cook said the Barnett Government had promised to introduce mandatory sentencing for assaults on all public officers, including nurses.

They had not carried through with the plan and needed to do more to ensure nurses were safe, he said.

“If they were serious about providing a more secure environment for nurses, they should put more security in our emergency departments,” Mr Cook said.

Mr Cook said mandatory sentencing was not the right way to protect nurses.

“I think mandatory laws take away the discretion for judges to be able to make sentences which are appropriate for the severity of the crime,” he said.

WA Attorney-General Michael Mischin said appropriate penalties were already in place to protect nurses.

“There are very significant penalties already in place for assaults with maximum jail terms of seven, 10 and 14 years, depending on the nature of the assault and the harm done,” he said.

Mr Mischin said he did not support the widespread use of mandatory sentencing, but had seen positive outcomes in some workforces.

“It can be useful in carefully selected types of offences,” he said.

“Prescribing minimum terms of imprisonment and detention in the case of bodily harm done to police and other public officers, for example, appears to have reduced the risk of assault to those officers.”

According to a spokesperson for the North Metro Health Service, there have been 2582 ‘code blacks’ at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital this year. A ‘code black’ is a signal alerting staff to violence against nurses.

September 2014

6

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

TV ‘can’t replace music school’ Greta Jasiak

Music school training and not reality TV talent shows are the key to long-term employment in the music industry, according to the University of Western Australia’s head of music Alan Lourens.

Associate Professor Lourens said shows like The X Factor served as a shortcut for musicians, many of whom should instead focus on improving their craft.

“Shows like The X Factor are in no way designed to develop young talent,” he said.

“They are designed to promote

the judges and make money for the producers.”

Perth-born Reigan Derry, who finished eleventh on Australian Idol in 2006, however, recommends reality competitions for up-and-coming musicians looking for exposure.

Derry said she gained plenty of experience performing on the show, but admitted it was “no walk in the park”.

“You’re constantly growing and working with amazing music tutors, vocal producers and production teams, so it is worth it,” she said.

Dr Lourens, however, said music schools helped kids with lessons, found them professions and provided advice about becoming a musician.

Festival lacks appeal

The local fashion industry has criticised Perth Fashion Festival for not attracting enough international attention.

Local designers said the festival, which will be funded by the State Government for the next three years, could benefit from inviting more buyers to the event and organising stronger media coverage outside of WA. Winner of the 2009 Perth Fashion Festival designer of tomorrow award, Kirsten Shadbolt, said the festival was great for the promotion of WA fashion but did not expose designers to the international market.

‘I’m not sure the Perth Fashion Festival gets a lot of exposure elsewhere,” she said.

Central Institute of Technology Professor of fashion and textiles Anna Kotai said the festival was too publicityoriented.

“It’s about getting a photo on the front

page of The West Australian or in The Sunday Times,” she said.

“It’s more of a publicity thing than something that is going to lead to sales with a retailer.”

Prof Kotai said fashion shows in the Eastern States were aimed at selling collections to big retailers, including Myer and David Jones.

The Perth Fashion Festival was aimed at regular consumers, so the garments had to be available in shops before they were shown.

This made it difficult for new designers to take part, she said.

“Designers needed to have their own label before they showed as the festival is meant for collections that are already producing that season,” she said.

Ms Shadbolt said designers should be prepared before their clothes appear on the catwalk.

“I think if a designer is going to show they definitely need to have stockists for Perth so that people can access their garments straight away.”

STRUNG UP: Local lines lack reach.

PHOTO: Rebecca Metcalf.

Jasmine Clarke

“Shows like The X Factor do not do that,” he said.

“Reality television shows are designed to short-circuit development process and jump straight to the end.”

After her time on Australian Idol, Derry pursued a pop career with girlgroup Scarlett Belle.

The band worked on their debut album with artists, including Snoop Dogg and Ne-Yo. “I look back now and I‘m glad I went through that because I discovered what it was like to try and be someone else and make people like you,” Derry said.

Perth dance teacher Tahlia Baker, who auditioned for The X Factor earlier this year, was told she didn’t

have enough experience to go through.

She said one producer told her she had “one of the best voices” in Perth.

“I thought the show was all about getting experience, so it annoyed me a little bit, she said.

“I came out thinking it was a bad audition and more of a negative experience.”

Baker said the producers seemed more interested in finding someone with a life story that would make for good television.

“I had to fill out an audition form which was like 20 pages long and they basically wanted to know your life story,” she said.

“X Factor and all those reality shows

SHOW TIME: Community theatres struggle without funding.

love their sob stories.”

Local singer-songwriter Melissa Kay said competitions like The X Factor could be detrimental to artists who wanted to be original.

“I do feel they are very commercialised and they seem to mould artists who win in a specific way,” she said.

“I am keen to make it as far as I can without those competitions.”

Kay said she preferred having control over her work and not having to conform to others’ expectations.

Only four The X Factor Australian contestants have had number one singles in Australia – Dami Im, Reece Mastin, Samantha Jade and Taylor Henderson.

PHOTO: Ornella Bijlmakers.

Local theatres get left behind curtain

Jake Eckersley Local community theatre members claim government funding and private sponsorship is too often given to the same theatre companies.

Black Martini Theatre founder Thomas Dimmick already works three jobs and is considering a fourth to help keep his company afloat.

Dimmick said many talented people were overlooked when funding was being distributed because sponsors preferred to fall back on their existing relationships.

“There is a lot of money that's always going to the same people when it could be distributed more evenly,” he said.

The State Government allocated $148.8 million towards the culture and the arts in the 2014 Budget.

Another $380,000 was allocated to small-to-medium companies.

Dimmick said that was not enough.

“I’ve received a grant from the Murdoch University Guild but that was about it,” he said.

“It’s those few extra dollars that can turn a show from average to awesome.”

Black Yak Theatre president Melissa Merchant said while some companies could survive without additional support, government subsidies and private investment was important.

“Barking Gekko missed out on government support and they were able to keep running,” she said.

“But then other organisations ultimately had to end up insolvent because of a lack of funding in the Perth scene.”

Even Black Swan, one of the state’s most successful theatres, relies on government funding for its survival.

The company said the average cost of production for one of its shows was more than $500,000.

The company’s newsletter On Cue said government funding covered about 50 per cent of their costs and ticket sales covered about 30 per cent. The rest came from corporate sponsorship and individual donations.

Second Chance Theatre founder Scott McArdle said he was planning to move to Sydney in January to help his company keep growing.

“There are limited opportunities in Perth and it’s really competitive,” he said.

“In terms of people giving you a shot, when you’re young and especially when you’re at university it’s really difficult in Perth.”

Despite the challenge of getting his company off the ground in Perth, Mr McArdle said he broke even on almost every show.

“Although it’s been difficult to break into, I believe Perth theatre has never been more diverse, and more in quantity.”

Freo culture suffers under redevelopment strategy Mark Tilly

Fremantle risks losing its reputation as a cultural hub, according to local cultural groups.

Several cultural institutions have left Fremantle in recent months because of ongoing development.

In 2011, the City of Fremantle announced the Fremantle Economic Development Strategy, which was aimed at increasing business and cultural opportunities in the city.

Mayor Brad Pettitt said the development strategy would bring the changes the city needed.

“It’s an exciting time for Freo as it starts to re-shape and re-imagine its future,” he said.

Local cultural organisations, however, have felt the sting of the developments.

The Harbour Theatre was forced to move to Mosman Park after 50 years in Fremantle when its venue was demolished to make way for a new hotel.

The hotel development is part of the FEDS strategy, which also includes plans for 1,500 new dwellings and 20,000 sq m of office space throughout Fremantle.

Harbour Theatre president Nicola

Bond said there were signs of a looming mass exodus of cultural entities from Fremantle.

“More and more groups will be forced out, leaving a dearth of cultural activity in the heart of Fremantle,” she said.

Other cultural organisations that have left Fremantle in recent months include Kulcha, Deckchair Theatre, the Film and Television Institute and the Fly By Night Musicians’ Club.

Fly by Night left after it failed to secure a new lease at the old artillery drill hall, the club’s venue for 28 years.

Sunset Events has leased the venue.

Fly by Night general manager John Reid said the City of Fremantle was supporting larger commercial entities over the not-for-profit arts organisations that had first made Fremantle culturally significant.

“We’re seeing all these great cultural places leaving and I really think Fly

By Night is the last bastion of that,” he said.

Fremantle Business Improvement District director Justin Rogan said the development plans for Fremantle were a step in the right direction.

“Business is slower than we’re used to … but culturally we’ve got things on five, six nights a week,” he said.

CLOSING DOORS: Harbour Theatre.

PHOTO: Shanon Gillespie.

September 2014

7

FEATURES

Young veterans soldier on

GRANT MELDRUM: He has their backs.

Rhiannon Shine

G

rowing up, Matt Tonkin wanted nothing more than to be a soldier. At age 12, he took the first step towards realising his dream when he signed up for the Army Cadets. He thrived as a cadet and quickly worked his way up the ranks. A career in the Australian Defence Force was his greatest aspiration.

Matt’s dad David says his son’s reasons for joining the army were no different from those of the young men who fought at Gallipoli 100 years ago.

“It’s about the adventure,” he says.

Patriotism was important to Matt, too.

As a 10-year-old, he had an Australian flag quilt cover. A flag still hangs above his bed today. On his 19th birthday, the day to enlist finally arrived. A childhood dream had come true and he became part of the Anzac legend. In July this year, aged 24, Matt died after he overdosed on painkillers.

Matt was deployed to Afghanistan in June 2012 as part of a contingent of the 6th Royal Australian Regiment Fellow 6RAR serviceman Luke Jones says Matt was thrilled by that deployment. “He was buzzing with excitement – happy to finally be in Afghanistan and ready to serve his country,” Jones says.

While on patrol during November 2012, Matt tore a hip cartilage when he jumped over an irrigation ditch and landed badly. As a result of the injury, he was medically discharged from the army and returned to Australia. By December 2013, he was back at home in Subiaco.

Matt endured constant pain following his surgery and also developed posttraumatic stress disorder. The things he saw in Afghanistan haunted him. He watched one of his best mates die and performed first aid on another friend who had both his legs blown off. After being discharged, he became heavily dependent on painkillers to cope with the pain in his hip. His death was not the first time he had overdosed on prescription medication since being discharged.

Matt didn’t die in a triumphant or patriotic battle, fighting for his country.

There was no blast, no heroic mission

PHOTO: Rhiannon Shine.

against the enemy. He was miles away from Afghanistan. Instead, he died in his childhood home in Perth.

“It’s not all guts and glory,” David says.

“People ask me why I let him join the army. I told them it was a dream come true for him, so I never tried to dissuade him. We talked about the possibility of him being injured and he said, ‘dad, I’m not married, I don’t have a family’.

“I thought that was quite a mature way of looking at it.”

Matt assured David that even if he did get hurt there were safeguards in place, through both the army and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, that would take care of him. David says, however, that was not how it turned out.

At a time when the nation is planning to spend millions of dollars to pay tribute to World War I soldiers who died in battle a century ago, there are questions over whether the funds could be better spent on trying to save recent veterans like Matt.

“The Soldier On motto is: we will always have their backs” War veteran Grant Meldrum says Matt’s story is a tragic, yet familiar one.

He says soldiers who are discharged from the service are on their own.

Meldrum is a volunteer with Soldier On, a young, independent organisation that provides support for physically and mentally wounded, and ex-serving ADF members. Volunteer veterans, who often suffer from PTSD themselves, organise events for veterans and members of the community.

Meldrum is a former army signaller with the Special Air Services Regiment and spent 12 years in the army. He has set up a sailing program in Perth, called Soldiers' Sailing On. He also suffers from PTSD and is unable to work, instead devoting his time and energy to other veterans.

The Soldier On motto is: We will always have their backs.

“The most difficult thing I have found in the time I have been working with Soldier On is the number of young guys that are in their early 20s and have had a dream of joining the army or defence force,” says Meldrum, who spent a lot of time with Matt.

program does not come at the cost of mental health treatment of the nation’s veterans,” he says.

Rowswell says the DVA “is exploring options for improving its understanding of the prevalence of suicide among ex-serving personnel”.

Perth’s Soldier On Cycling club recently gathered on a warm winter’s day to ride along the glistening Canning River.

When the group of veterans finished their ride, they sat down for a coffee at the South of Perth Yacht Club, wearing their custom-made Soldier On lycra riding gear. The design features a picture of three soldiers with guns and helmets. The soldiers wrap their arms around one another in a supportive embrace.

MATT TONKIN: Tragic, yet familiar.

“Once they have done that, they get trained up and they go away on a deployment to Afghanistan. Then they see horrible things, they get injured, and suddenly their dream of a military career is over.

“They’re diagnosed as medically unfit, whether with PTSD or a physical injury, and suddenly lose that career.

They thought they had 25 to 30 years of good defence life coming up but then suddenly, in their early 20s, they have nothing.

“They reach that day of discharge and then they are on their own.”

Meldrum says the disappointment can be seen in a passage in Matt’s diary, in which he wrote “the dream is quite different from the reality.”

Meldrum doesn’t like to call Matt’s death a suicide. He says he believes it was an accident, but says that suicide is a big issue among ADF personnel.

“The rate of ADF suicides of those who are serving and ex-serving is going through the roof. There have been three times as many Australians killed by suicide than in combat. We’re already over the 120-mark of Afghanistan veterans that have committed suicide,” he says.

Forty Australian soldiers have been killed in combat since troops were sent to Afghanistan in 2001.

This year marks a century since Australian troops were sent to fight in World War I. James Brown, author of Anzac’s Long Shadow: The Cost of Our National Obsession, says about $325 million

PHOTO: Supplied.

will be spent on WWI events over the next few years.

He says that money could be better spent elsewhere.

In an article for the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year, Brown said the centenary events ignored today’s veterans.

“Somehow, in planning the Anzac centenary, we’ve become convinced that in order to pay our respects, we need to pay hundreds of millions of dollars,” he wrote.

“Those veterans who have served us most recently in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and East Timor are feeling the opportunity cost of all this attention and public funding.”

Meldrum says: “We’re celebrating a ghost when we have got people who are struggling to survive daily.”

“I personally feel that the history of our defence force and the legend of Anzac should absolutely be remembered. But when there are thousands and thousands of Australian veterans living today who are struggling to get support, I have my doubts about spending huge amounts of money on celebrating World War I,” he says.

Brad Rowswell, spokesman for Department of Veterans’ Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson, says the money spent on WWI events will not reduce the help provided to veterans.

“The Australian Government has committed around $145 million to the Anzac Centenary Program over a fouryear period. The commemorations

“We’re just a bunch of like-minded dudes who want to support each other” Jason Curedale, who established the cycling club, says there’s an instant bond between veterans.

“This is because there is a certain type of personality who enlists in the first place. Some of the guys here I hadn’t met before today, but we instantly clicked,” he says.

“We’re just a bunch of like-minded dudes who want to support each other.”

One of the veterans, who was medically discharged about 12 years ago, says he wishes something like this had been around when he first returned.

At times, the men chat about life in the army and coping with life afterwards.

Sometimes, they just talk about the toughest stretches of road on which to cycle. Then there are moments of silence, when they just sit and look out at the river. Some things don’t need to be spoken about. It is enough to know they each understand the words left unsaid as deeply as those that are.

David says most of his late son’s support came from Soldier On. He says Meldrum would help Matt complete DVA claim forms, take him to appointments and check on him regularly.

“Soldier On fills various gaps that are in other Veterans’ Affairs support services,” David says.

“There is a need for them - otherwise they would not exist.”

September 2014

8

FEATURES

Reporting suicide responsibly Isabel Moussalli

A

t last month’s police press conference in the United States announcing the suicide death of Robin Williams, police revealed graphic details. These details included the method of death, the body’s position and self-harm descriptions. Several TV and radio stations broadcast this live.

Should the media report suicide in such detail?

In Australia, suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 44, according to crisis support and suicide prevention service Lifeline.

The Lifeline website also says an average of seven people per day committed suicide in 2012.

Mental illness and suicide charity SANE Australia spokesman Jeremy Little says it is encouraging to see the media being critical of suicide reporting.

He says the Australian media is fairly responsible when reporting suicide, but problems arise when media outlets re-publish international reports from news services that may not meet Australian standards in suicide reporting.

“In these cases, the reporting journalist is filing copy under another country’s guidelines, laws and values, resulting in reports that do not adhere to Australian media standards,” Little says.

In a non-stop online news cycle, we are no longer limited to our own country’s press.

Various stories about Williams’ death can be found online and most provide the method and location of his

suicide. The same happened with other high-profile suicides this year, including those of TV personality Charlotte Dawson and Mick Jagger’s fashion designer girlfriend L’Wren Scott.

Should suicide not be reported in detail in news publications for fear of encouraging copycat suicides?

A 2012 review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health examined 56 international studies on how news coverage affected suicide rates. All but four found a link between media coverage of suicidal behaviour and the likelihood of suicides being committed.

“One of the problems is if it’s glamourised or romanticised, that poses a risk of contagion or copycats, which is one of the reasons why people are too scared to report on it,” says Professor Patrick McGorry, who founded the National Youth Mental Health Foundation — Headspace.

undue prominence to suicide.

For the most part, he says these principles are followed in Australia.

Bryant says there is a danger that coverage of suicide could normalise it.

“People who do have suicidal ideation are not always going to carry out the act or do not know how to take their own lives,” Bryant says.

“But what the media might inadvertently do is present the person with the idea of how to take your own life.”

Prof McGorry, who was Australian of the Year in 2010, says 40 per cent more people commit suicide than the number of people who die on our roads. The public needs to realise that it is a massive public health problem, he says.

“If it’s not actually discussed in a similarly open way then nothing will be done about it,” he says.

Bryant says it is a myth the Australian media does not report suicide. He says suicide reporting has more than doubled since Mindframe’s guidelines were introduced in 2002.

In 2011, the Australian Press Council introduced its own guidelines, in consultation with Lifeline and Mindframe. The guidelines recommend that the decision to report on a suicide be taken at a senior editorial level and that descriptions of the methods and locations of a suicide or attempted suicide be withheld.

It is now rare to find a suicide story

“I

t all started at the olive tree.”

Meeting every morning at the twisted trunk of an evergreen olive tree is how John and Elsie Rudan, now 78 and 75, fell in love in their early twenties.

Neighbours since they were children, the two would meet at the tree every morning as John returned home from getting milk for his family.

They have now been married for 54 years. Elsie remembers ballroom dancing, dinners, and spending time with each other’s family as being part of their courting experience.

The concept sounds romantic, but for many young people today it’s nothing more than a fairy-tale.

University of New England Associate Professor of psychology John Malouff says

YEARS ON: Still strong.

• For help or information call Lifeline on 131114; Kids Helpline on 1800551800; or visit beyondblue.org.au

“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem” Mindframe, an Australian government initiative that encourages responsible, accurate and sensible representation of mental illness and suicide, has produced comprehensive guidelines for media reporting of suicide. Mindframe is not a regulator, however, and it is up to individuals to determine whether they should follow Mindframe’s guidelines.

Mindframe program manager Marc Bryant says publishers should avoid things that might push vulnerable people closer to the edge.

Such things include the method or location of suicides, glorifying the death by giving excessive coverage to funerals or memorials, and giving

R U OK: Mental illness awareness.

PHOTO: Lars Kristian Steen.

Back in my day...

Nicole Hamer

published by the Australian media without help resources listed.

McGorry says more people seek help during high media coverage of suicide.

“In that way, it’s good publicity towards mental illness and suicide because you might be able to reach more people,” he says.

McGorry says reporting needs to stress the very important message that help is available and effective.

“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” he says.

romanticised, traditional dating is a thing of the past.

“Because people are meeting others through workplaces, mutual friends and online dating websites, dates have become more casual,” Prof Malouff says.

“Getting a drink after work or meeting for coffee are all considered to be suitable dates today.”

Malouff says meeting a prospective partner’s parents and getting along with their family isn’t so crucial any more.

“Today, parents’ approval isn’t of great importance,” he says.

“This has a lot to do with the greater independence women have today compared to 50 years ago.”

Psychologist and dating coach Melanie Schilling says dating changed during the sexual revolution of the 1960s, especially concerning the roles men and women were expected to play.

“There used to be very clearly defined boundaries of behaviour, such as the man opening the door, pulling out her seat and putting her coat on,” she says.

PHOTO: Rhiannon Shine.

“Today, women are more empowered and have more of a choice, so there’s not really one set of rules.

“Because of this, a lot of men are totally confused about what women expect.”

She says the fundamentals of dating and compatibility have not changed.

“Essentially, shared values, similar interests and someone to make you laugh are the fundamentals of compatibility,” she says.

“I’ve spent the best part of my life married to my husband, who is also my best friend” Schilling says one of the biggest changes, however, is the way in which people connect to each other.

Social media, dating websites and, more recently, mobile apps have allowed people to date almost anyone, anywhere in the world.

Has the influence of technology made society lazy when it comes to courting a partner?

In 2014, it could be argued that mobile phone apps like Tinder are the equivalent of a 1960s love letter.

This ‘match-making’ app allows users to view a picture of every person who uses the app and allows users to either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the person’s photo. If both users say yes to each other’s photos then they can start talking.

It has become as simple as swiping your mobile screen to show you are interested.

Sexual Focus therapist Fai Kur says you don’t need to “put your whole heart on the line” when using an app.

“We don't even have to deal with

COURTSHIP: From trees to Tinder.

rejecting someone’s advances,” she says.

According to the recent Date of the Nation Report 2014, commissioned by online dating website RSVP, most people prefer to meet people online rather than at work or in pubs and clubs.

The study found 57 per cent of Australian singles thought online dating was a mainstream way of meeting new people.

RSVP spokeswoman Melanie Dudgeon says online dating can be just as intimate as a face-to-face meeting.

Dudgeon says online dating provides a better filtering process than we conduct

PHOTO: Rhiannon Shine.

ourselves when meeting someone faceto-face.

“If you’re clear on what your values, interests and lifestyle preferences are, then you have a really good authentic set of criteria to screen people on,” she says.

“It’s much harder to do this when you meet someone socially at a bar or a barbecue.”

John and Elsie still believe a love like theirs, which has lasted more than half a century, cannot be found online.

“I’ve spent the best part of my life married to my husband, who is also my best friend,” Elsie says.

“How lucky does that make me?”

September 2014

9

FEATURES

To wait or to vaccinate?

Declan Bush

I

t has been called the most important medical breakthrough in the history of mankind. It has brought safety to millions and changed the way people live their lives. It has enabled us to almost eradicate that which has tormented humanity for hundreds of years. But when given the choice, some of us are still willing to abandon it.

Western Australia is home to many thriving alternative communities that pride themselves on living ethical, healthy lifestyles. Yet, within these alternative communities, scepticism about the benefits of immunisation is common.

Medical groups say this is a problem.

Australian Medical Association WA president Michael Gannon says: “To look at a map of Perth overlaid with immunisation rates is to look at a map of shame.”

“There were three reported cases of measles in WA last year,” he says.

“This year, so far, we have seen 33 cases.”

Dr Gannon says governments and health groups around Australia have made it a priority to increase vaccination rates to 95 per cent or more, but progress in some areas is slow.

One area where this may be changing is Fremantle – home to many alternative families, and a region in which immunisation rates have historically been low. Immunisation Alliance WA chairman Michael Wise says not everyone can be immunised, so those rates must be increased.

“For a range of reasons you cannot immunise all of the people all of the time,” he says.

“So you have to rely on all the other people to be immunised around them.”

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners WA board member Hilary Fine says the best way to improve the immunisation rate is for doctors to discuss the risks with patients, forming trust over time.

“It’s about that unique relationship that GPs have with their patients,” says Dr Fine, who also operates the East Fremantle Medical Centre.

“You have to, as a GP, have that nonjudgmental attitude. You have to give people the opportunity to change their mind.”

Wise says much of the information about vaccines available on the internet is misleading.

“It’s your child.

You need to go and do research to try and make the right choice for your family” “The problem with the internet is whatever point you want to make, you’ll find someone there to support you,” he says.

“So if you have a particular mindset, you’ll find someone out there who will provide evidence to support that mindset.”

Bad publicity has also provoked doubts among parents about vaccine safety. Saba Button, an 11-month-old girl, was left badly disabled after an adverse reaction to the Fluvax shot in 2010. The resulting confidential legal settlement led to millions of dollars in compensation being paid to the girl’s family and Fluvax being banned for children under five.

Fine says rare events like this can make parents hesitate to take the risk, however small.

“You will find a large number of

MEDICAL CENTRE: Anita Howard and her son Deshi watch a vaccination demonstration.

people being very concerned about vaccinating their kids,” she says.

“Not just for flu, but for anything. It has a ripple effect.”

Adding to that ripple effect is the voice of the Australian Vaccinationskeptics Network.

The network relies largely on Dr Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 study linking the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine with autism for its argument. While Wakefield’s findings were disproved, the fallout has lingered.

Wise says information from vaccination critics can confuse parents looking to make an informed decision.

“The anti-vaccination information is very well-presented,” he says. “It

reads well, it sounds good, and also if you’re not particularly trustful of central authority, it is believable.”

Hayley Backhouse, a 33-year-old primary teacher from Kwinana, says she did a lot of her own research and decided against immunising her two children.

She says to get a ‘conscientious objection’ letter signed, which enabled her children to attend daycare, she had to go to a doctor to discuss immunisation.

“In the end there were pros and cons, with research,” she says.

“I will take full responsibility for my child’s health.”

Opposing her view is that of 29-yearold disability support worker Anita Howard. The Victoria Park mother-of-

PHOTO: Clare Kenyon.

one is strong defender of vaccination.

Fremantle Medicare Local chief executive Christa Riegler says immunisation rates in Fremantle are rising sharply.

So what should be done to push immunisation rates higher? Fine says confronting parents who refuse to immunise their children is not the best strategy.

“It’s not in the best interest to make parents feel guilty about not vaccinating their child,” she says.

Fine says the best way is to educate parents, to listen to them and to negotiate with them to find the right approach.

Backhouse says: “It’s your child. You need to go and do research to try and make the right choice for your family.”

E-cigarettes have hazy future Claudia Wright

feel clogged up,” he says.

“Plus I don’t smell anymore,” Crugnale laughs.

“My hands don’t smell, my fingers aren’t stained and my teeth feel cleaner, that’s for sure.”

But are these small benefits and tasty flavours distracting users from serious issues surrounding e-cigarettes?

Daube says they are.

A

puff of what looks like smoke leaves their mouths just as the smell of blackcurrant fills the surrounding air.

“Maybe one or two a week, if that,” Michael Crugnale, 22, says as he exhales.

Eric Brunette, 23, nods.

“I don’t smoke cigarettes any more,” he says.

“I maybe have one occasionally, but only because it feels like reigniting a love affair for a brief moment.”

Brunette and Crugnale are ‘vapers’.

They are two of many around the world who have chosen e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking. Despite their success stories, however, there are concerns among health professionals that e-cigarette devices may pose their own health risks.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that include a refillable cartridge containing ‘e-liquid’ or ‘e-juice’. The liquid is typically made up of propylene glycol or glycerine and usually contains nicotine of varying strengths, as well as flavours and chemicals which are heated into a vapour and absorbed into the bloodstream.

Australian Council on Smoking and Health president Mike Daube says there is no compelling evidence to suggest e-cigarettes are better than anything else to help people quit smoking.

“We do know there is a lot of concern with nicotine already,” Prof Daube says.

Unlike other nicotine replacement

“I’ve been describing e-cigarettes as ‘weapons of mass distraction’”

E-CIGS: Michael Crugnale takes a puff.

therapy products, no safety assessment of e-cigarettes has been undertaken. As a result, the quality can vary and the risks are unknown.

Cancer Council WA tobacco programs manager Cassandra Clayforth says more research is needed to clearly establish the benefits and drawbacks of e-cigarettes.

“So far there have not been enough studies to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of e-cigarettes and their long term health effects,” she says.

In April, the WA Supreme Court ruled e-cigarettes that do not contain nicotine still breach the WA Tobacco Products Control Act 2006, making the selling of e-cigarette products illegal.

Daube says he agrees with the court’s decision.

“There’s a real worry about

them being massively promoted in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States and that brings up concerns about re-normalising smoking,” he says.

Cancer Council WA also backs the decision.

“We discourage use until there is more evidence about their safety and effectiveness,” Clayforth says.

When the legal wrangle is raised, Brunette puts his vape pen down for the first time since we started speaking. Crugnale, meanwhile, shuffles upright in his seat as if preparing to say something important.

“I understand they need to be cautious, but it seems like because there are such negative connotations with smoking and the ill health effects from it, it is almost like there is no concept

PHOTO: Lars Kristian Steen.

for people to accept that it might not be unhealthy,” Brunette says.

Crugnale interjects. “No one knows if they’re bad for you yet, so how can the first step be to automatically make them illegal?” he says.

“Exactly,” Brunette nods, while drawing a deep breath on his vaporiser.

So, why not just try other approved quitting methods?

“Because you’re still smoking,” they say simultaneously.

“It feels the same as smoking a cigarette except it doesn’t have all the negative side effects,” Brunette says.

Brunette rubs the middle of his chest, simulating the motion of smoke running down his throat.

“You’re still getting the kick in your lungs except it feels a lot smoother. You can feel it. It is like your body doesn’t

“I’ve been describing e-cigarettes as ‘weapons of mass distraction’,” Daube says, slightly giggling at his own joke.

“We’re down to 12.8 per cent of adults smoking and in WA only 10.9 per cent of adults are daily smokers.

“E-cigarettes are a very clever distraction from the things we actually need to do to get smoking further out of the community.”

Upon being told what Daube had said, Crugnale and Brunette look directly at each other. It’s clear they disagree.

Crugnale says he’s never been able to quit, and has tried going “cold turkey” many times.

“I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like the vape pens. It is definitely a better alternative to cigarettes.”

Brunette relaxes back into his chair and draws deeply on the e-cigarette.

“This is a technology that could potentially save millions of lives,” he says.

He exhales the vapour once more, filling the air with the sickly sweet scent of blackcurrants.

September 2014

10

FEATURES

Gay slurs need red card “I

got called a ‘f****t’ a few times in a game the other month,” David Manuca says.

“They found out I was gay after the game when they stalked me on Twitter. So the next time we played them, they used that as an insult. I complained to [Football Federation Victoria] about it. Never got a reply.

Sent them all the screenshots. Nothing.”

In August, research by the Crosby Textor Group found 72 per cent of Australians supported gay marriage.

Yet, incidents of homophobic slurs like Manuca’s are not isolated.

It’s not just a problem in amateur sport, either.

Days after Olympic hero Ian Thorpe was publicly applauded for coming out, AFL commentator Brian Taylor called Geelong’s Harry Taylor a “poofter” on live television. Earlier in September, Collingwood’s Heritier Lumumba sought to leave the club after some-

one wrote homophobic of the people behind the graffiti on a picture in Out on the Fields survey the team locker room. project, which released Victoria University preliminary data in August College of Sport and showing homophobia Exercise Science senior is alive and kicking in lecturer Caroline Symons Australian sport. says homophobia is still The report found 85 prevalent in sport despite per cent of lesbian, gay, improved social attitudes bisexual, transgender towards homosexuality. and intersex “There’s an attirespondents had tude homophobia is seen homophobia on its way out, but in a sporting it’s coming from a perspective that’s not particularly sensitive, or has walked in the other’s shoes,” Symons says.

“I think it’s a naïve statement and the research is very helpful in demonstrating that. I think it’s part of the denial that has occurred in sport for a long time about homophobia existing in sport.”

HOMOPHOBIA: Send it off.

Symons is one PHOTO: Supplied.

Benjamin Smith

environment, while 75 per cent of heterosexual participants also said they had seen homophobia in sport.

In a separate survey of 563 children between the age of 14 and 23, 85 per cent of participants said they had heard the phrase “that’s so gay”, in their physical education classes.

“The most harmful homophobia is the casual homophobia” The 2014 Equal Play survey also reported that 60 per cent of respondents said they were more likely to hear homophobic slurs in a sporting environment than in the classroom.

Sydney Rangers Football Club president Joseph Roppolo says all-gay soccer clubs like the Rangers are proof homophobia still exists in sport.

“There wouldn’t be a need for a gayfriendly football club such as ours if that homophobia still wasn’t present,” Roppolo says.

Roppolo says the reason for the slurs and insults lies in the competitive nature of the sport.

“Some of the issues we have experienced have included verbal attacks. I think a lot of it was borne out of frustration, because we were winning or doing well,” Roppolo says.

“The most harmful homophobia is the casual homophobia, like ‘that’s so gay’ or you hear bigoted remarks about gay people.”

There is hope the situation will improve in the near future. In April, the five major sporting codes in Australia – football, rugby league, rugby union, soccer and cricket – signed an agreement to fight homophobia in sport.

The Anti-Homophobia and Inclusion Framework for National Sport provides guidelines to help sporting bodies eradicate homophobia.

Roppolo says the framework is a good start.

“Things are changing. We ask some guys if they want to play with us [the Rangers] and they say, ‘Nah, my team knows I’m gay and it’s not an issue’.

That’s what we want to hear.”

By the start of September, however, neither soccer nor cricket had officially put any policy in place.

“We’re getting in touch with Football Federation Australia to make sure they’re accountable for a document they signed,” Ropollo says.

Escaping reality with reality TV Kira Carlin

T

he night is clear, fairy lights glitter, draped over the striking federation mansion set against Sydney’s beautiful waterfront, Hunters Hill. We are gearing up for another cocktail party on hit reality show The Bachelor. All over the country, more than a million people are settled on their couches, in their offices, in front of their TVs or their phones, eyes glued to the glitz and drama of 24 beautiful young women competing for the affections of this year’s lucky man, Blake Garvey.

Love it or hate it, the ratings-smashing second season of The Bachelor is well underway and reality TV is once again on Australian viewers’ minds, but the question remains: why do we watch this stuff?

Murdoch University cultural sociologist Barbara Evers links the uptick in popularity of the genre to a kind of “emotional outsourcing”.

“We can’t express our emotions or our passions because we have become more civilised. We can’t just bash someone on the street, there are repercussions, and we’ve become more attuned to behaving in a certain way so that we can all get along. It’s outsourcing of emotions.

We can still have those emotions, but we’ve outsourced that to people on TV,” Evers says.

“We enjoy seeing other people go through very bizarre situations” Evers’ research, centring on the hit reality show Masterchef, shows these types of programs act as a social pressure valve, allowing an increasingly shuttered society to experience intense emotion without consequence.

“One of the arguments for why it’s so addictive is that we live increasingly unexciting lives and that’s why we watch supposedly exciting other lives,” she says.

“We’ve had to curb our emotions

to live in high-density environments because that’s what we do now. We live in these big cities, we have lots of people and we need to get along … It’s to do with restraint in that sense as well.”

Aisha Jefcoate, a former reality TV contestant on Australia’s The Mole, says it’s all part of the experience for both viewers and contestants.

“It’s the whole idea of escapism. It’s for people who are lost and who are looking for another chance to experience life but in a safe environment,” says Jefcoate, who is also production co-ordinator for Australia’s Next Top Model.

“It’s getting more extreme and we’re willing to keep going, we want to see how far we can push it. We enjoy seeing other people go through very bizarre situations. It’s a weird thing.”

Prominent reality blogger and consultant Emma Ashton says part of the appeal lies in the show’s local leanings. While international hits like Survivor are only usually shown late at night in Australia, home-grown TV such as The Block is screened during primetime on main network channels.

“In Australia, the highest-rating shows are the Australian reality TV shows. The Australian shows are pulling in over a million [viewers] a night, and that’s the same all over the world, people want to watch their own kinds on TV,” Ashton says.

Tom Ballard, host of ABC panel show Reality Check, says classic elements of drama are the key to reality TV’s success.

“It’s all storytelling. That’s what it is, and I think it’s easy to dismiss reality TV as ‘I’ll just put some freaks on the telly’ but, in fact, when you meet someone like Susan Boyle you’re being told a story there, you’re being introduced to her in a certain way to set your expectations in a certain way,” Ballard says.

He says, however, reality TV has a larger role to play.

“We need a diverse range of TV. We need inclusive TV that’s a bit more popcorny, and I generally think that reality TV more than some other genres can hit that sweet spot between social commentary and entertainment,” he says.

“Something like Go Back to Where You Came From can be much better than another conversation on Q&A about asylum seekers.

“I had to be convinced of this, but now I’m very sure that there’s a legitimate conversation to be had around this stuff.

I think it’s too fun and silly and interesting and insane to ignore.”

WHAT’S ON: Couch getaway.

PHOTO: David Cumming.

September 2014

11

SPORT

Alignments ‘play a small role’

Kathryn Croston

East Perth claims its alignment with West Coast had “little impact” on the club winning its first WAFL minor premiership in more than 10 years.

East Perth finished the season on top of the ladder for the first time since 2002 after striking a deal that gave the club access to all players who were not chosen to play for West Coast.

East Perth operations manager Mark Winnett said the club’s success had come because of their “own good players”.

“The alignment has had little impact this season, however it has been a positive experience and will raise the bar for the league in coming years,” he said.

While Eagles players not chosen for the league team played in the WAFL with East Perth, Fremantle players who were not required for AFL duty lined up for Peel.

Peel finished the season in eighth place, winning only one more game than in 2013.

Peel coach Cam Shepherd said the alignment with Fremantle gave the senior side a much-needed competitive edge.

“If you look at the amount of games we’ve been in with regards to com-

petitiveness, we’ve been really good,” he said.

Shepherd said East Perth had been successful because the Royals had a strong senior side before the alignment, whereas Peel’s team had not been so strong.

“East Perth have probably got 10 very good WAFL players and are a very good side on their own without the Eagles,” he said Winnett said dealing with a high turnover of players had been a challenge. The club had also been forced to play AFL draftees who had not trained with the club.

East Perth was, however, still happy with the alignment, he said.

Claremont senior coach Michael Broadbridge said he thought the AFL alignments had little effect on the WAFL this season.

He said Claremont’s failure to make the finals had been because the club had lost 17 players since their back-toback premierships in 2011 and 2012.

“Grouping the AFL players into two teams has not disadvantaged my side or other WAFL teams this season,” he said.

“There are positives and negatives about the whole thing.

He said the club will work hard to beat any of the challenges the alignment may bring in the future.

ALIGNMENTS: Not so royal.

als at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The men’s team also won gold at the Hockey World Cup in June, while the women won silver.

“Without success it would be much harder to sell,” Mr West said.

Mr West said Hockey Australia was working to ensure Australia’s major hockey tournaments were enticing to broadcasters.

“We’re reviewing our major events and placing more emphasis on trying to get filming of Test series and tournaments,” he said.

“With Seven the rights holder for Australia for the next Olympics and Commonwealth Games, we’ll look to

develop relationships there and with the other free-to-air broadcasters.”

The International Hockey Federation, which has the right to sell the TV broadcast for international games, recently signed a $250 million deal.

The contract with Indian broadcaster STAR sports will see top level hockey broadcast until 2022.

Mr West said the deal was a step in the right direction for international hockey.

He said, however, the AHL would also benefit from a broadcast deal given the strong domestic competition.

“Television coverage is vitally important to growing any sport and

Golden chance at TV deal

Pierra Willix

Hockey Australia’s chances of securing a major television deal for its domestic competition will rely on the success of both the men’s and women’s national teams, according to a key governing body member.

Hockey Australia media and communications manager Lawrence West said brand awareness was needed if the Australian Hockey League was to attract a television network to broadcast its games.

The Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos helped the cause by winning gold med-

GOLDEN BOY: Kookaburra Trent Mitton.

hockey is no different,” he said.

“It does put a sport such as hockey in front of an audience not normally exposed.”

Sports commentator Tim Gavel, who covered men’s hockey during the Glasgow Games, said hockey did not get the coverage it deserved.

“The men winning gold adds to the profile, but they only get coverage at major events,” he said.

Kookaburras striker Trent Mitton said a local television deal was something the players would embrace and would help to raise hockey's profile.

“Hockey certainly does not receive enough coverage in Australia,” he said.

PHOTO: Hockey Australia.

PHOTO: David Cumming.

WA clubs blame FFA Georgia Willis

Two WA soccer clubs have blamed Football Federation Australia after missing out on thousands of dollars in potential revenue during this year’s FFA cup.

Bayswater City Soccer Club and Stirling Lions Football Club were both forced to move their respective games against A-League sides Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar to the WA Athletics Stadium because their home grounds did not meet A-League lighting standards.

The FFA refused requests from both clubs for games to be held during the day on either a Saturday or a Sunday, instead scheduling the matches to be held at night during the middle of the week.

Bayswater and Stirling were the only second-tier teams from WA to qualify for the inaugural national tournament, which gives semi-professional teams around Australia the opportunity to play against A-League sides.

Bayswater assistant coach Stewart Moses said the club lost about $30,000 in ticket sales by playing the game away from its home at Frank Drago Reserve.

“A Saturday or Sunday game would have attracted a capacity crowd,” he said.

“This tournament is supposed to be about giving grassroots clubs national exposure.”

Moses said the club should have reaped a financial windfall from the match but, instead, it was forced to pay $12,000 for the new venue.

“If we are treated like this next time we won’t hesitate to pull out of the tournament,” he said.

Stirling Lions vice president George Filev said the venue change had cost the club about $60,000 in lost revenue and fees.

“The whole point was to promote soccer, but they made us play at a venue and time that no one wanted to go to,” he said.

“Instead we were staring down the barrel of a financial loss.”

Mr Filev said the FFA had to be more flexible and considerate of smaller clubs.

“We missed a golden opportunity. It was extremely frustrating,” he said.

Football West National Premier League manager Chris Beech said certain rules and regulations in regards to lighting and ground quality had to be met when playing at an A-League level.

He said the cup gave teams an option to promote their club at a national and international level.

September 2014 – Volume 20 No 1

Sport

NBL players call foul on league Abbey Tobin

The National Basketball League’s new marquee player rule will only work if small clubs can share the benefits, according to the league’s players association.

The rule was introduced at the end of last season and allows clubs to recruit one high-profile player without having to fit their payments inside the $1 million salary cap.

NBL Player’s Association president Jacob Holmes said clubs that signed a marquee player would attract more fans to their games.

“It will give teams the ability to obtain some of the best talent the world has to offer,” he said.

He said, however, the rule might not help every team.

Wollongong Hawks marketing and business development manager Courtney Beaton confirmed her club could not afford to sign a marquee player.

She said the rule was good for the sport.

Holmes said a revenue sharing arrangement should be used to help the smaller clubs benefit from the success of the bigger clubs.

“I don’t think it’s possible for the smaller teams like Townsville, Wollongong and Cairns to attract bigname imports because of the money required,” he said.

“You would love to see a way that the smaller teams can also share that excitement and wealth.”

Melbourne United is one of only two teams to sign a marquee player so far, having recruited Australian big man Daniel Kickert after an extended stint in Europe.

The Perth Wildcats and Sydney Kings have signed NBA draftee DeAndre Daniels and former Phoenix Suns star Josh Childress respectively.

Neither team, however, signed their high-profile recruit under the marquee rule.

United head coach Chris Anstey said the club had always planned on using the rule to bring high-calibre Australian players into the NBL. “There is always a reason to go to Europe, but if we can provide an environment for our stars, the more likely they will stay,” he said.

Anstey said the marquee player rule would raise the profile of the NBL and draw bigger crowds to watch smaller clubs, if used responsibly.

“The last thing you want is another NBL team spending too much money and going bust,” he said.

“Look at the EPL, for example, Manchester United pays more for players than any other team, and everyone wants to watch them play – the Australian public deserve this type of talent.

“The likes of Leroy Loggins, Shane Heal and Andrew Gaze had crowd-pulling power because everyone wanted to see them in the early days and anytime you can attract talent to the competition it’s a good thing.”

Former Perth Wildcat and two-time

NBL championship captain Mike Ellis said small basketball clubs would not be able to afford the big names, but would benefit from the bigger crowds attracted to NBL games to watch marquee players.

“It also comes back to the clubs getting good sponsorship, getting good patronage through the door, filling the stadium and bringing in these marquee players will help that,” he said.

“The NBL could look at assisting the smaller teams struggling financially until they get to the point where they can afford it themselves.

“Sharing revenue between clubs is a fair argument, but good luck getting the larger clubs to co-operate.”

NBL chief executive Fraser Neill was not available for comment.

Tim Walker

“These major events are a platform for us to grow the sport and get more people interested in the sport,” he said.

“The Davis Cup and Fed Cup provide us with the opportunities nationally to give areas that don’t necessarily get to see international tennis an opportunity to see it.”

Mr Larner also said WA’s new sporting facilities would help the sport grow.

“In terms of Perth, it obviously has the Perth Arena which has just been developed,” he said.

Tennis West competitions and tournaments manager Loretta Hughes said community support for the Davis Cup was important to secure future international tennis events.

She said to secure such events, it was important to have the support of clubs, elite players, spectators and the government.

Ms Hughes said hosting the Davis Cup was a great opportunity for the Cottesloe Tennis Club to showcase its beachside courts.

“The iconic venue is good for Perth,” she said.

“It’s also good for tourism.”

Advantage Cottesloe

Perth’s world-class tennis infrastructure will play a key role in attracting future high-profile international ties to WA, according to Tennis Australia.

Cottesloe Tennis Club beat seven other Australian clubs to win the right to host the Davis Cup tie between Australia and Uzbekistan this month.

Nick Kyrgios starred as Australia routed Uzebekistan 5-0 to return to the World Group of the Davis Cup for 2015.

It was the first time the competition had been played in Perth in 10 years.

Tennis Australia events and facilities director Tom Larner said the Australian team wanted to play on grass and Cottesloe had the best grass court facilities.

“There was strong interest from a number of clubs in Perth and Cottesloe was the club that was successful in that process,” he said.

Mr Larner said the club had the space and the infrastructure to host bigger tennis tournaments.

COTTESLOE ACE: Nick Kyrgios in action at the Davis Cup.

PHOTO: Rebecca Metcalf.

TEAM AUSTRALIA: But first, lets take a selfie.

PHOTO: Lars Kristian Steen.