And in news overnight, City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has taken yet another swipe at the state government over the continued closure of Ruah’s safe night space for women, a situation he said was ‘mind-boggling’.
It’s been three months since Homelessness Minister John Carey called in a row between the city and Ruah before it progressed through the State Administrative Tribunal over operating conditions on its James Street premises that the service provider described as ‘untenable’.
The saga boiled over in November when a city-funded pilot Ruah had been running from the Rod Evans Centre in East Perth ceased amid complaints from residents.
And the political tit-for-tat in the months since has only heightened long-held tensions between the city and state, with the Seven West Media personality now also the Liberal candidate for Churchlands.
Zempilas used his allotted public deputation time at last night’s meeting to highlight it had been 112 days since the council unanimously approved the plan, a situation he said was “impossible to believe”.
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He rejected claims the operating conditions were “heavy-handed”, insisting the requirement that a security guard be present and that the service operate to the city’s satisfaction were only logical.
“We still don’t have an outcome, 112 days later… and that is mind-boggling to me, absolutely mind-boggling,” he said.
“It is our jurisdiction, it’s logical those conditions would be in there, but apparently those conditions were untenable.
“So for 112 days, the safe night space, now into the month of June, cold, wet, is not providing the service that we have heard so consistently is so important.
“I find that almost impossible to believe and will continue to update until such time as the safe night space has had a more sensible outcome than the one we have at the moment.”