$ 2.24 MILLION UPGRADE FOR FREMANTLE NETBALL

 

WA Premier Mark McGowan and Sport&Recreation Minister Mick Murray opened the new pavilion of the Fremantle Netball Association at Frank Gibdon Park on Sunday, just in time for the club’s 60th anniversary.

The $2.24 million upgrade includes a pavilion and change rooms, a first aid room, toilets and umpires’ rooms, and a canteen, kitchen and admin rooms.

The State paid $ 1.8 million toward the project while the club made up for the balance of it.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE SAFETY OFFICERS SAVE LIFE

 

Congratulations to the City of Fremantle Safety Officers who saved a man’s life on the Fremantle traffic bridge!

The man’s vehicle was involved in an accident and his airways got blocked so our very astute Safety Officers took care of that, cleared his airways, administered CPR, and kept him alive with a defibrillator on standby until the ambulance arrived.

Great job! Should we now call them Health and Safety Officers?

Roel Loopers

HILTON CURRY CLUB RESTAURANT FINED

 

The City of Fremantle has successfully taken the Hilton Curry Club restaurant to court for breaching food handling regulations.

The restaurant owner was fined $ 25,000 for multiple breaches including failing to store food properly, cleanliness of the kitchen and lack of hand washing facilities.

The restaurant was also fined previously three years ago.

Keeping a busy commercial kitchen clean is a constant battle for the operators, but it needs to be done to protect the health of the customers.

Roel Loopers

POINT WALTER JOGGERS DOING IT TOUGH

 

 

Photography is a constant journey to discover new images. I enjoy the rather restless task of walking and driving while looking for new photos.

These joggers were doing it tough on the sandbank at Point Walter yesterday mid afternoon and made for an interesting photo with the sun reflecting on the surface of the river.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE HOSPITAL NEW LOCATION FOR GENERAL DENTAL CLINIC

 

The Fremantle General Dental Clinic has now moved to Fremantle Hospital after the WA State Government spent $ 2.99 million on the relocation of the clinic, which was on the corner of Parry Street.

The service has not only been relocated but improved and expanded.

The new clinic has nine treatment rooms, a dental laboratory, sterilisation areas and staff support rooms. It will offer patients:

• Dental examinations and assessments;
• Radiographic examinations and interpretation;
• Preventive and prophylactic services;
• Periodontics;
• Extractions and minor oral surgery procedures; and
• Fillings, dentures and some crown and bridge services.

Dental care in the new Fremantle Hospital clinic is only available to eligible patients, such a people who have a Pensioner or Health Care Card,

Roel Loopers

ABORIGINAL HEALTH WORKERS DESERVE FREMANTLE APOLOGY

 

While there has been a huge outrage, and rightly so, about the online racial abuse of West Coast Eagles indigenous player Liam Ryan we should never underestimate the daily racist abuse that is going on elsewhere in our society.

I just heard this disgusting little episode that happened in Fremantle this week. The Aboriginal Health Council of WA has a conference in the Esplanade Hotel Lead The Way; Challenge The Possibilities; Imagine the Future, where Aboriginal health workers from all over the state are gathering, and what happened?

Several of the female participants had a smoke outside the hotel during a conference break when a white male drove by and yelled out to them “Why don’t you get a job you black c….!”

Yes, this is still happening in 2019 in Australia! Our indigenous people still get racially abused daily by ignorant dickheads and we need to call it out, every time, each time, always, because it is unacceptable.

On behalf of the Fremantle community I want to apologise to the health workers for the racist fool’s abuse you had to suffer. Fremantle is better than that. I am so sorry!

Roel Loopers

THANK THE LAW MY SISTER DIED WITH DIGNITY

 

Last night our time my oldest sister Marja died in the Netherlands. She was euthanised.

I am not sharing this with you because of narcissism but because the Western Australian government also want to legalise doctor assisted dying and I believe that is a very humane intent. There are community information sessions and community consultation and a very long online survey that took me 20 minutes, but is worth doing.

I am so grateful that my sister died in her own bed in her own home and with dignity and that she had plenty of time to receive family and friends and say goodbye.

The process she had to go through was lengthy and very thorough before an expert committee decided that she was eligible for euthanasia.

Legalising assisted dying is about giving people a choice instead of forcing them to commit suicide in awful and very lonely ways. It should not be politicised or being kidnapped by religious leaders.

There is no threat to religious or cultural values. No one can be forced to be euthanised and neither can doctors be forced to administer it. In my sister’s case her new doctor-the old one had retired-told her it was too early in his young career to feel comfortable assisting her so she was referred to an older colleague.

My sister Marja was assessed on her health and mental health by different practitioners who wrote reports which were considered by an independent panel. There was nothing easy or flippant about that process and not at all what some panel members at last year’s Notre Dame university forum claimed.

Call me an old cynic, but it comes as no surprise to me that the billion dollar age care industry and the billion dollar palliative care industry are against euthanasia, and so are those who believe that only a god can take a life. For those of us who are not religious the promise of heaven, paradise or nirvana is irrelevant, but euthanasia is our pragmatic and humane choice if life is coming to a painful, slow and unstoppable end. We don’t let animals suffer, so why not apply the same compassion to human beings.

It is astounding how unprepared we are for death. It is the elephant in the room that not many people want to talk about. We are not taught how to deal with it, so at the end we try to deal with it the best we can with empathy. I was lucky to be able to Skype with my sister often over the last couple of months and that was good for both of us.

Marja was just three years older than I am and was always there for me. She had inoperable cancer. I am so grateful that she was allowed to die with dignity. All her pain and worries are now over.

Roel Loopers

FREO BIKE WEEK STARTS ON FRIDAY

 

It is BIKE WEEK in Fremantle from March 15 to 24 so hop on your bike and take part in the events.

Check it all out here: http://www.fremantle,wa.gov.au/bikeweek

Roel Loopers

STATE OF THE ART GYM AT NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY

 

 

Clean, flexible and functional design lines, high ceilings flooded with natural light and state-of-the-art equipment provide a backdrop for a unique new training facility dedicated to physiotherapy students at Fremantle Notre Dame University.

The bespoke 125-square-metre exercise gym, located at the former Customs House in Phillimore Street, is designed to fully prepare students to meet the increasing focus on exercise for the prevention and treatment of many modern health issues.

“When providing health care for anyone – from our children to our ageing population – it doesn’t matter what the question is….exercise is almost always part of the answer” said Professor Sarah Love, Dean of Notre Dame’s School of Physiotherapy.

The gym’s training equipment, including aerobic exercise machines and weight lifting equipment, has been carefully selected to maximise options for exercises and activities within the space and to provide the flexibility to alter configurations and layouts to suit specific teaching needs.

“It takes the training of our physiotherapy students to a whole new level, gives them the unique opportunity to gain invaluable practical experience and skills,” said physiotherapy lecturer and Senior Research Scholar Dr Mervyn Travers, who helped to plan and design the gym.

Roel Loopers

STREET GAMES SOCIAL SPORTS START TODAY

 

 

STREET GAMES is starting today in Fremantle’s Princess May Park, so go and check it out!

Every Wednesday from 10-11.30am free social sports will be played; AFL, cricket, boxing, etc.

It should be a fun and social way to get or stay fit, and meet new people.

People of all abilities and genders are welcome, so don’t be shy!

Roel Loopers