THE MEANING OF AUSTRALIA DAY

Today we celebrate Australia Day and the achievements of our nation and I will be at the Fremantle Esplanade for the citizenship ceremony that is so life-changing for those of us who come from foreign countries and commit ourselves to our new home.

Australia Day is also invasion day, the day where foreigners forcefully occupied the land that indigenous people had looked after for some 50,000 years. It was the start of racism in this country when white people believed they were superior to those ‘black savages’ and ignored their culture and knowledge of the land. Racism is still a daily occurrence for Aboriginal people and others with a dark skin because some ignorant white people believe they are better just because of the colour of their skin. A woman on Facebook even suggested “These Aboriginals should go back to the country they came from.” I think that shows the intelligence of racists.

It is good to celebrate Australia’s achievement but January 26 is just not the right day for it. I hope that once we become a republic Australia Day will be celebrated on the day of our independence from England.

Australia is a good country and it has been very good to me since I arrived here in 1982. I love living in Fremantle where we are more like a family than a community. We care, share, participate and try to make a difference and we all in our own way want to make this a better place.

I love it that we have such a peaceful and harmonious multicultural society. Those who become Australian citizens today should know that Fremantle people are very tolerant and embracing and that we welcome you with open arms and will support you whenever we can.

Every year on Australia Day people claim this is the greatest country on earth but that of course is nonsense as there is no best country on the planet. We are doing well but are less than perfect and there is a lot of room for improvement.

A rich country that still has so many homeless and poor people, where many indigenous people live in third-world conditions, where the disabled and aged are struggling to get by, and where real equality between women and men is a long way away, cannot claim to be the best country in the world.

A country that refuses to approve same gender marriage and that believes that real love can only be between people of opposite sex is not the best country on earth, because it shows Australia is still holding on to old archaic values and is yet to move on to become a genuine progressive nation that embraces change and tolerates diversity.

Australia is a country of immense opportunity for those who live and come here but the gap between the very rich and very poor is growing and that needs to be addressed as a priority. Corporate greed is no substitute for culture and substance and high-rise buildings are no substitute for old-growth forests.

Life is all about balance and willingness to share and I believe we can achieve that in Australia, so instead of getting pissed on this special day and waste money on grog why not ask someone less fortunate to join you today for a real Aussie BBQ or picnic and show them we don’t take our fellow Aussies for granted.

Have a happy Australia Day, Fremantle!

Roel Loopers

THE LUCKY COUNTRY FOR SOME

OXFAM asked the question Is Australia Still the Lucky Country? and the report they released shows that most Australians don’t believe it is. Nearly 80 percent of the people interviewed said the gap between the poor and the rich had widened, and over 60 percent claimed that inequality is making Australia a worse place to live .

According to the Oxfam report the wealthiest one percent of the population have more money that 60 percent of the population, and that the most wealthy Australians have too much influence.

It was interesting to listen to the ABC radio Geoff Hutchison program this morning. I did not hear it all but there were quite a few people who said they were leaving Australia, and others who said they were leaving W.A. because they could no longer afford to live here because of high living costs. One man told Geofff that he and many of his mates were going to move to Asian countries because they were fed up with the whingers and hand-out mentality.

I believe taking responsibility as a society is what it comes down to. Leaving the battle to others and going AWOL in another country is never going to be the solution, and neither is it to believe that it is someone else’s problem or that governments alone have to deal with it. We’re all in this together and we should all try to make life better for those who are not as lucky as others.

While (Western) Australia is not perfect, I still would not want to live anywhere else. Life runs its own course and while we are often in control of our own destiny, sometimes the universe has other ideas. Life is not for ever, so make the best of it and enjoy it while you can. I reckon it helps a bit to live in Fremantle, in a community minded place where people care.

Roel Loopers

WHY BREAD BECOMES LANDFILL

We live in a society of quite unbelievable waste, but when people try to change that it is far more difficult than one would expect. Fremantle chef Mark Woodcock , who nominated for City Ward at the last council election, got annoyed that a bakery he works next to throws out so much bread each day and suggested they could donate it. They were happy to do so if Mark could find anyone willing to take it, but all his calls to local charities and schools have been without success and no one is interested in receiving free bread.

As Mark points out, a lot of work goes into making bread, it costs flour, yeast, power, gas, manpower, etc. to produce, but at the end of the day it has no longer any value to society and disappears in rubbish bins and landfill. That kind if waste is staggering and as a society we should not just take that for granted and accept  it. How can we change it? Why do bakeries produce far more than they can sell? That makes little business sense, but more importantly how can we get leftover bread to people who might not have the money to buy it? Any ideas, Freo?

Roel Loopers

IT’S BEEN A LOOPY JOURNEY

March 13 is a very special day for me. It is my personal Australia Day, the day I migrated and arrived in Sydney in 1982. I think I should start calling myself Australian now, instead of Dutch, as this is the country I have lived in longest. I lived 20 years in the Netherlands, and 13 years in Germany.

It has been an amazing journey to grow from a young boy who was too shy to ask questions in school to an outspoken community activist, and it has been a fascinating journey to adept to a new country, culture and language. Overall that journey has been extremely rewarding and a really good one, one that has grounded me into the person I wanted to be; someone who cares and who wants to make a difference.

I have a deep love for Australia, although I struggle with the discrepancy of the Australia I love and that other Australia that makes me despair, the Australia of uncaring and dishonest politicians, the Australia that allows homeless, disabled, poor, Aboriginal, and old people to be treated as lower class, the Australia that refuses basic humanity to asylum seekers, the Australia where being rich is more important than being good and caring, and where selfishness is pushing community interests aside.

The best discovery of my personal journey have been people. People are amazing, they fascinate and intrigue me constantly, and I have a naive trust in people, which sometimes cost me dearly emotionally.

I love life and people and I am immensely grateful that I live in one of the best countries on the planet and in Fremantle, a place so very close to my heart, and I thank you all for being part of the journey.

Roel Loopers

LEARNING LESSONS FROM AUSTRALIA DAY

It is Australia Day tomorrow, a day that has more relevance to Sydney and New South Wales than to Western Australia. It is also the day known by our indigenous people as Invasion Day, so one has to question the lack of sensitivity of celebrating Australia Day on January 26. Why not have it at the start of the year, or the financial year, or whatever. Does it matter on which date we celebrate our day of national pride and belonging? Does it have to be the day Captain Cook invaded Aboriginal land and claimed it for the English king?

It is good to have a day where we acknowledge the special people in our community and make them Australian of the Year, or Fremantle Citizen of the Year, etc. It is also a day when we should reflect on what we are doing as a society, and if we should readjust our values, lifestyle and policies. We should also consider how we celebrate our national day, because most Australia Days end in a mess with far too many intoxicated people making a nuisance of themselves, and piles of rubbish left in our parks, on beaches and along the river foreshore.

For a foreigner Australia Day must look like the Aussie marquee at the Munich Oktober Fest; drunks, louds, fighting, with the police out in force, to try to keep some semblance of public order. All that because many Australians simply can’t handle their grog and go out to get ‘pissed’ and make a nuisance of themselves, thus spoiling the fun for families and those who just want to watch the entertainment and fireworks while having a quiet beer or glass of wine.

English journalist John Pilger ones wrote that he has more fear for Australian drunks than for sharks, snakes or deadly spiders, and I believe many in our society feel the same. When it is no longer safe to walk the streets at night because of out of control drunken thugs, one has to question the Australian values and the way we accept anti-social behaviour and boast at work about how pissed we got on the weekend.

Australia Day should let us contemplate our urban myth of the fair go country, when we disgracefully reject asylum seekers and keep their boats from our shores. We should also think about the fact that our Aboriginal people are still far behind on the social ladder, in health, education and living standards, and we should ask if what our governments are doing in that regard is good enough and acceptable, because our record is rather shameful.

Without wanting to be a party pooper, we also need to use Aussie Day to think about the homeless people, of which we have far too many, and we should ask that our governments make it a priority to look with far more intensity after the disadvantaged, the needy, the old, the disabled.

Not everybody works on a mine site and earns over $ 100,000 a year. Many people barely stay afloat in our wealthy state of Western Orestralia. They become poorer by the day, with price increases for all of life’s necessities. That also needs to be addressed, because the pride of a nation should not be measured by how many millionaires it has created, but how well it looks after those who are on the bottom of society and the social ladder. If we improved that drastically, we might once again have a right to claim that we are the fair go country.

Have a happy, peaceful, and non-violent Australia Day, Freo! See you at the fireworks!!

Roel Loopers

FREO NEEDS VISION WITH PASSION

 

The FREO Visioning 2029 community project makes me think even more about Fremantle’s future and where our community and the Australian society should be heading, because we should not be making decisions solely for Fremantle. It is probably impossible anyway because of the overruling state and federal laws.

Forget quick fixes or only seeing the target of 2029. What we need to do is organise the 15 year journey step by step so all things will fall into place and we’ll have a much better lifestyle and equality when we get to the other end. It is about growth and development, about doing first things first, and stop piecemeal planning and policies. We need to be focused on the outcome, while being very much in the moment during the process.

How are we going to improve the lives of homeless and indigenous people, what should the population target for 2029 be, how will we address the modern office needs for the on-line generations who need ‘nomadic’ communal office spaces, rather than substantial floor space, should councils supply alfresco wifi offices in parks and city squares. How will developers and property owners adjust to that, or will it need new laws and different forms of insurances.

Beggars, homeless people, alcohol and drug addicts on the streets are not necessarily a law&order problem but a social problem society will have to deal with before it gets worse and out of control. Should we leave it to agencies to clean up our mess, because when society fails it should take responsibility and start cleaning up its own mess, not leave it to charitable organizations. Homelessness is a failure of society, not individuals!

People are homeless and begging on the streets for a reason. People will try to find solace in drugs, alcohol, petrol and paint because they despair, are displaced, depressed or mentally ill. Should society simply judge them as drop-outs, no hopers and dole bludgers or should we rather take responsibility instead by showing compassion and care, but how to change that in a world that is becoming more and more selfish.

House prices and rents have shot through the roof and are out of reach of many in our society. How are we going to balance that imbalance, how can we make housing more affordable for those less fortunate and financially less successful. How do we create more equality in a society of extreme richness and extreme poverty. What is our responsibility to the rest of Western Australia, Australia, and the world, or should we just close the shutters and look after ourselves.

Our vision for the future should be less about high-density living, transport, and the creation of more individual wealth, but more about our communal responsibilities and a greater sense of care for those who are often ignored and overlooked and who we judge because they just get by on the edge of society.

A vision for our future needs to be one of compassion.

These are only some of the challenges for Visioning 2029 and our future.

Roel Loopers

There is another FREMANTLE VISIONING 2029 active workshop at the UNDA Drill Hall this evening from 5.30.

 

WE’RE WORKING BLOODY HARD FOR OUR COMMUNITY, GINA!

Dear Gina Rinehart,

Thank you for letting all of us non-billionaire losers know that we should drink less and work more, because that is how you became wealthy. I think a reality check would do you well dear Gina, as you seem to live in a delusional state that is far removed from reality.

First things first dear Gina. Not all of us had a mining magnate like Lang Hancock as father, as you did, who left us with a shit load of money, so we could make more money out of it. My parents worked bloody hard in the Netherlands to raise 5 kids. Dad and mum shared the workload in our small corner shop, while dad also had a part time job as advertising rep. and studied in the evenings. It still did not leave them with much, so we did not inherit anything. My parents could not have worked harder even if they had wanted to.

I have worked all my life and very often pretty hard, like seven days a week, dear Gina, and it is not by choice I receive less photographic assignments than I used to get. Times and technology have changed.

It still does not mean that because I get less paid work I work less hard my dearest Gina, because I put a huge amount of time doing volunteer community work in Fremantle, on average between 25 hours a week. How much community work have you done in your lifetime you hardworking darling?  Not much if your physical appearance is any indication.

Did you know, I am filthy rich so I know better, Gina, that the University of Adelaide reports that volunteering in Australia is worth more than the mining industry and that the monetary value is over 200 billion dollars a year? Did you know that 6.4 million people volunteer their time in this country and that many charities and tourist attractions would not be able to operate successfully without unpaid volunteers?

You see my loveliest Gina, while financially broke losers like I work bloody hard to unselfishly look after our community, you by the look of it just stuff millions of dollars a day down your throat. I’m sure you donate a lot of money to charity. Great tax deductions hey darling Gina!

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE DOES NOT NEED MORE RED TAPE

The Fremantle Herald reports on talks at the City of Fremantle about wanting to manage who can busk in Femantle, and if the city should ban beggars and those annoying people who try to stop one in the High Street Mall most days to get you to sign up for some good cause.

I am not big on nanny state attitudes and micro managing everything. It creates more red tape and less flexibility, but maybe those charity people should restrict themselves to only two days a week in the mall.

Leave the buskers alone. Who is going to judge what is good or bad music. It is a creative outlet and often fun. I don’t think there are many bad buskers in Freo and enjoy hearing and seeing them.

I am sure some people see beggars as a nuisance and an unsightly blight on the city. I see some of them there most days, but who am I to judge if they are genuinely in need of support or if my dollars are going to be spent at the next bottle shop. I rather err on the cautious side here and feel compassion for them without feeling the temptation of constantly giving them money. Should Fremantle try to get rid off them? I don’t think so!

Fremantle is a better place for having a compassionate, caring and engaging community. We don’t need our officers to waste time on managing something that is not out of control, so just let it be and embrace the difference.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE FOUNDATION SUPPORTING EVERYDAY PEOPLE

The Fremantle Foundation is a new organisation  “assisting the people we see everyday.”

Well known former Dockers captain Peter Bell and arts guru June Moorehouse are involved in, and give credibility to, the Fremantle Foundation, so if you have some spare cash donate it to this worthwhile cause.

To find out more go to the website HERE.

Roel Loopers

HOUSING DEPARTMENT MOVE TO FREMANTLE

It is not often that we see our handsome Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt sitting on a bench at Kings Square sipping French champagne, but that was the situation this morning. I first thought the Mayor had had a night out on the turps and was curing his hangover the French way, or he had a broken heart, or worse even, midlife crisis had struck. He is 42 after all. But sneaking up closer I heard Brad’s rhythmic chanting Housing, Housing, Housing,……and noticed the deep smile of satisfaction on his face.

After hours of research I finally discovered what this was all about. The Department of Housing have indicated they want to move to Fremantle and are interested in the Point Street carpark site to move their troops to. This of course would be the coup Fremantle council has been waiting for, and it would change the Freo landscape drastically. It would be great for retail as well.

We here in Freo have great affinity with the Department of Housing of course. They managed to vacate the Henderson Street Warders Cottages and let them slowly rot, they also vacated the Vale Street Homeswest units, without knowing what the future for the area will be. This is made even worse when we read in the West Australian today that the waiting list for public housing has now blown out to more than two and a half years!!

While Fremantle would welcome a government department in the inner city, it is disturbing that the State Government has money to move public servants into better offices, but can’t look better after those in desperate need of affordable accommodation. Maybe the Point Street site could become a mix of Department of Housing offices and affordable units?

Roel Loopers

P.S. The start of this article about the Mayor drinking is of course creative writing only and totally made up! ; >)