Toodyay Herald

Another person aged in their 70s was living alone in what Roz called an “abject hovel” in the Toodyay townsite.

She said about 25 homeless people – including 17 children – recently moved to Perth where more support services were available.

There were more homeless women – some fleeing domestic violence – in Toodyay than there were men.

Roz said her Toodyay Locals Care group had given more than 25 free blankets and doonas to homeless local people last month.

The group also provided half a dozen two-person dome tents and seven single sleeping bags donated by local church members.

“I also gave away three solar mobile phone chargers that were donated,” Roz said.

Roz said that every morning she collected a supermarket trolley full of food that had reached its use-by date that day, donated by Toodyay’s IGA store.

The donations included milk and fruit juice.

“I collected 30 litres of juice from there today” Roz said.

Store owner Dean Carter said this had been happening for three or four years.

“Better that than throw it away,” Mr Carter said.

Roz said IGA donations were used to cook 100 hot meals a week for homeless people.

“They get paid fortnightly by Social Security and come to us when they run out of money the following week,” Roz said.

“Most people who come in the night are people in their 30s.

“Some come looking for food at two in the morning.

“We provide frozen cooked dinners in plastic containers which homeless people can cook in a microwave oven on our front veranda (in Fiennes Street opposite the Toodyay Freemason’s Hall) or take to where they are sleeping that night.”

Roz said most homeless women were “couch surfers” who stayed a few days or weeks at the homes of friends or relatives before moving elsewhere, sometimes after arguments with their hosts.

Others lived in vehicles under car ports or parked out in the open.

One family living in a car included a mother with young children who went to hospital at the end of last month to give birth to another child.

Others lived out in the open in tents at secret locations to avoid discovery for fear of being told to move on by Shire of Toodyay rangers or police.

“Mostly you never see them because they stay under the radar and out of sight,” Roz said.
About a third of Toodyay’s homeless population were Aboriginal people.

Census data collected last August showed median rents of $285 a week in Toodyay, well short of this year’s $350 a week average, according to local real estate agent Tony Maddox.

He said the age of new people buying homes in Toodyay – especially in the past six months – was lower than five years ago, with many now aged in their 30s and 40s.

SOCIAL media posts indicate that low-income tenants displaced by the sales boom are struggling to find alternative accommodation because rents are now too high, causing some families to leave town.

About 43 per cent of Toodyay residents were reported to own their homes outright, compared with 29 per cent in the city.

A further 40 per cent had mortgages, and 11.5 per cent were renters.

About a quarter of all Toodyay households reported weekly incomes of less than $650 last August.

Median mortgage repayments were $1564 a month in Toodyay, compared with $1907 in Perth.

Big rises in home loan costs – starting as early as this month – are predicted this year as Australia’s Reserve Bank lifts official interest rates to fight rising inflation, now running at 5.1 per cent nationally.

Australia’s official cash rate rose to 0.85 per cent last month and is predicted to hit 2.5 by the end of the year, adding hundreds of dollars to monthly loan repayments.

The overall picture painted by the 2021 census is that most Toodyay residents are still much older than their city cousins.

Last year’s Toodyay median age was 54 compared with 37 in Perth, and higher than Toodyay’s median age of 51 in 2016.

The census reported that about a third of all Toodyay residents were born overseas, with English-born residents the biggest component at just over 10 per cent, compared with Perth (8) and nationally (3.6).

A total of 136 shire residents (three per cent) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders, along with 42,023 in Perth (two per cent) and 813,000 nationally (3.2 per cent).

About 20 per cent of all Toodyay residents (823 people) did voluntary work through an organisation or group in the 12 months to August last year, compared with 15 per cent in Perth and 14 per cent nationally.

In health, the Census reported that 4.1 per cent of Toodyay residents (190 people) have cancer or are in remission, compared with 2.7 in Perth and 2.9 nationally.

However, only 0.3 per cent (16 people) have dementia – including Alzheimer’s Disease – compared with 0.7 per cent in Perth and the same figure nationally.

A total of 264 Toodyay residents (5.7 per cent) reported heart disease – including heart attack or angina – compared with 3.5 per cent in Perth and nationally.

Toodyay resident also fared worse in lung disease – including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema – with 126 cases (2.7 per cent) compared with 1.5 per cent in Perth and across Australia.

Mental health – including depression and anxiety – accounted for 438 cases (9.5 per cent) in Toodyay last August compared with 8.4 in Perth and 8.8 nationally.

About 470 Toodyay dwellings (26.7 per cent) were occupied by only one person, roughly matching Perth and nationally.

In religion, 2152 Toodyay residents (46.8 per cent) reported no religious affiliation – a big increase compared with 2016 when the non-religious total was 1536 (34.6 per cent).

Both major religions lost followers in Toodyay, with Anglicans dropping to 14.5 per cent (21 per cent in 2016), and Catholics 12 per cent (previously 16), reflecting similar trends in Perth and nationally.

Australia’s total population last August was 25.4 million people, of which 2.1 million lived in Perth and 4601 in Toodyay.

Dollar amounts will be much higher for broadacre farmers and livestock producers on 208 properties bigger than 100ha who pay tens of thousands of dollars in shire rates every year.

Pensioners can claim rebates of up to half of the cost of their rates bills, capped at $750 last financial year.

Holders of WA Senior’s cards can claim rebates up to 25 per cent, capped last year at $100.

The proposed rate increases are calculated to raise $7.2 million this financial year – $335,000 more than last year.

There was no rate rise in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

State reviews of land valuations may alter the value of individual properties on which shire rate increases are applied each year.

A special Toodyay Shire Council meeting on June 8 voted 7-0 (Cr Mick McKeown absent) to advertise the proposed new rates for 21 days for public comment.

Shire CEO Suzie Haslehurst said this was done on Facebook, online and on the shire website, and submissions had now closed.

The council decision came too late to advertise in last month’s Toodyay Herald, Ms Haslehurst said.

This year’s proposed rates include a new mining category which aims to raise an extra $200,000 from 35 Toodyay properties.

Rates on rural land used for mining and exploration are proposed to increase from about 0.014c to nearly one cent in the dollar – by far the highest for any local land use.

The shire said previously that it needed to charge higher rates for mining to repair and upgrade local roads damaged by frequent heavy industry vehicle use, such as at Chalice Mining’s Julimar worksite.

It is understood that at least one mining company operating in Toodyay was reportedly “not happy” with the proposed increase.

The shire said WA local government law required ministerial approval for the size of the proposed new mining rate, which will be sought prior to the council finalising its 2022-23 budget in coming weeks.

The proposed overall increase in rates revenue – taking into account unchanged minimum rates – is 2.5 per cent.

This matches the council’s 10-year Long Term Financial Plan adopted in June 2020 which requires annual increases of 2.5 per cent for the next eight years.

Shire Projects Officer Maurice Werder told last month’s special council meeting that leaving Toodyay’s minimum rate unchanged at $1351 left it still higher than the amount charged in most other shires.

Local WA National’s MP Shane Love later told State Parliament that he was “shocked” and “dismayed” by the sacking, which he described as “gut-wrenching”.

Mr Wroth testified under oath to the inquiry that St John Ambulance management culture was “toxic” and had failed in basic areas of emergency service delivery.

Several Toodyay ambulance volunteers had resigned, and others were too afraid to speak out, he told MPs in Perth.

The State should take over WA’s ambulance service and run it similarly to rural WA’s fire and emergency services, Mr Wroth said.

The inquiry said WA was one of only two Australian jurisdictions – the other is the Northern Territory – where ambulance services were not governed by State law.

It agreed there was a case for the State to take over ambulance services in WA but said “a private provider may deliver essential government services so long as it provides the services to a similar or higher standard as would a public entity”.

The inquiry said the State should investigate new laws to govern ambulance services or implement a “comprehensive policy”.

“Pivate providers of essential public services must be subject to the same oversight and scrutiny as a public body,” the inquiry said.

It noted that unlike with other essential services run by the State, the WA Corruption and Crime Commission had no jurisdiction over St John Ambulance WA operations.

A seven-year State agreement with WA’s monopoly ambulance service provider is due to expire at the end of this month.

The inquiry recommended that St John be offered a new contract for five years instead of the 10 years with two five-year options it had sought, with greater public scrutiny and accountability to the State.

This would include regular WA Health Department audits of St John Ambulance workplace and organisational culture to be tabled annually in the WA Parliament.

The inquiry said WA should consider switching to a different private operator or a government-run ambulance service if these higher standards could not be met.

Mr Bell’s Brisbane-based company, Australian Mines Ltd, announced his resignation last month as managing director and CEO on the same day the Australian Government Solicitor’s office filed its Federal Court action in Perth.

ASIC said the UK Financial Conduct Authority had assisted the investigation.

Trading in Australian Mines was halted on May 10 pending a further announcement.
Prices fell from 16c to 13c next morning and dropped further to 10c on May 31.

It wiped more than $400,000 from the value of Australian Mines shares held by Mr Bell and his wife, Rachel, according to figures published in a May 11 Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) announcement.

Australian Mines is named as a co-defendant in the Federal Court litigation.

Lawyer Jennifer Flynn representing the Australian Government Solicitor, told The Herald that a hearing date is yet to be set.

The company informed the stock exchange on May 10 that it intends to defend the case.
It announced next day that Mr Bell had been assigned to an unspecified new role which included helping Australian Mines transfer its business to a new acting CEO.

Mr Bell did not respond to a Herald request for comment about his intentions after being named as the second defendant in the Federal Court litigation.

The former councillor, who company reports show earned $400,000 a year in his former job, failed three years ago in a highly publicised bid on Facebook to become Toodyay shire president after topping the poll in the October 2019 council elections.

He received only one vote – presumably his own –in a secret ballot in the council chamber three days after the election.

Former Cr Bill Manning was later elected unopposed as shire president.

Mr Bell resigned from the Toodyay Shire Council in January this year after missing several monthly meetings and playing no role on any council committees to which he was elected over the previous two years.

His four years on the council were marked by several legal disputes with former shire CEO Stan Scott, who was later named in 14 adverse findings after a year-long WA Government inquiry into his performance.

Mr Bell’s criticism of Mr Scott and other councillors on Facebook resulted in several adverse State Local Government Standards Panel findings directing him to publicly apologise, some of which he ignored.

No penalties were imposed.

Mr Bell is a former Herald monthly columnist who wrote about shire matters under the title The Insider for about two years until after the 2019 council elections.

Mr Roberts resigned from the committee later that day “so as not to cause the elected representatives any embarrassment of drawn-out mediation or litigation”.

Former Men’s Shed vice chairman and “Shed Boss” Fred Fellowes failed a month later to secure a committee vote of no-confidence in the Secretary and Chairman.

The vote was lost 5-2 with only Mr Fellowes and Steve King voting in favour.

Mr Fellowes then tabled a note signed by nine Men’s Shed members that required a special general meeting of all members to be called, prompting the five who voted against his no-confidence motion to resign.

A special general meeting called by Mr Fellowes for May 7 elected Mr Jeff Roberts as Secretary, Phil Roberts as Chairman and former Toodyay shire president Brian Rayner as Vice Chairman.

At last month’s Northam court hearing, Mr Jeff Roberts and Mr Webb accepted the magistrate’s view that the restraining order sought by Mr Roberts should not go to trial.

Neither side was understood to have been represented by lawyers, and the pair agreed to sign a “mutual understanding” provided by the court for them to sign this month.

Mr Jeff Roberts wrote in this month’s Men’s Shed column on Page 12 that “gaps” had been filled after a “glitch” in the “normally smooth running of the organisation”.

An interim committee had been formed.

Mr Roberts said later that he knew of only five Men’s Shed resignations in April.
One of them – former Men’s Shed chairman Graham Hill – now chairs Moondyne Men.

Mr Hill said Moondyne Men had been incorporated as a not-for-profit association and had 18 new members – mostly from the Toodyay Men’s Shed – who meet weekly at the new Toodyay RSL Hall in Clinton Street.

Former Men’s Shed committee member Colin Bird was new Moondyne Men Secretary, and Barry Squires Treasurer.

Mr Hill said Moondyne Men raised $1100 in last month’s Moondyne Festival clean-up and donated it to Toodyay Locals Care.

Members meet at the RSL Hall on Mondays and Thursdays from 9am to noon, and for breakfast on the last Saturday of the month from 8.30am.

The Stirling Terrace facility provides a range of community services for local residents, including printing, laminating, secretarial support, office services, events and workshops.

It helps people to access online government services on computers provided at the centre.
It also rents out a conference room and meeting space for use by other organisations.

Ms Coleman said the State Government contributed $106,000 a year in quarterly instalments under a five-year deal that runs until June 2027.

This paid for just over half of the centre’s operating budget, she said.

Other revenue came from fees and charges for services, fund-raisers such as raffles, membership fees and donations.

The centre has asked the Toodyay Shire Council to provide a total of $10,000 to help pay for the town’s annual Christmas Street Party and School Holday Program.

The request will be decided at the next council meeting starting at 1pm on Wednesday June 22.
Ms Coleman said the requested funds were for annual one-off community events and did not cover the $10,000 needed to cover the centre’s budget shortfall for everyday operating expenses.

The centre had 115 financial members, including some small local businesses, who paid between $15 and $50 a year depending on their membership category and circumstances.
Staff numbers were recently cut with the departure of an administration officer, leaving three others to keep the centre open.

Ms Coleman said the centre had no money to pay for a replacement.

However, she was heartened by the public response after the centre posted a recent plea for help on a local Facebook community page.

“We just need $10,000 to keep going,” Ms Coleman said.

“I don’t think anyone in this town would like to see us close.”

If you can help, please call 9574 5357 or email admin1@toodyaycrc.com.au.