(At this point I’m humbly chastised by Angela People’s comment at the Women’s March last weekend: “If you’re a white woman thinking, “What’s next? Everything seems insurmountable” - welcome to the fucking party." )
If you are the one other person in Perth who hasn’t been following local politics, the Barnett government has decided it wants to extend Roe Highway through to Freo, ostensibly to speed up the route for freight trucks to get to the port. Roe 8 is that part of the extension that goes right through the Beeliar wetlands, an internationally-recognised biodiversity hotspot.
There are lots of reasons this “solution” should piss you off, and these are mine.
(If I’m wrong about any details, please let me know - I’ve been playing catch-up for the last 24 hours and I’m happy to be corrected on facts.)
One. Extending a four-lane highway is not going to speed up freight overall. Trucks are only going to get stuck in the Freo bottleneck - either on the bridges or at the port - so why spend all that money on infrastructure that doesn’t even solve a problem?
Roe 8 is a poorly-conceived, poorly-planned, and poorly-managed infrastructure disaster. I hate poorly-conceived, poorly-planned, poorly-managed infrastructure disasters. I feel personally affronted by them. It’s like, remember when you were a kid and you were taught how to make good decisions that are reasonably sound and educated and financially responsible? And then you grow up and discover the rules don’t apply to adults in government.
(Don’t even get me started on how personally affronted I feel by Donald Trump’s uneducated, irresponsible, incapable imitation of a publicly-elected official.)
And the thing is, I love infrastructure. I love traffic management. I’m a traffic management wonk. One of my secret dream jobs is to be a town planner, working in Main Roads WA, with the authority to make decisions. (I think about this a lot.) I’ve taken the same freeway exit heading south nearly every day for the last five years, and a couple of years ago they made two tiny changes to my route. The first was to make the outer-left lane, as you come off the freeway, a left-turn-only lane. The second was to install traffic lights at the Mounts Bay road roundabout for east-bound traffic. All it took was a bit of paint, a sign, and some lights, and the flow of morning peak hour traffic improved dramatically. It was the right solution for the problem. Paint, a sign, and lights. People expend more energy on New Years’ Eve party decorations for goodness’ sake. Traffic management win!
My point being, there are some really great ideas for alternative infrastructure that will strengthen the freight link. Have a look at www.rethinkthelink.com.au. Roe 8 is bad infrastructure.
The second reason of course is that Roe 8 goes straight through the Beeliar Wetlands - a significant site for the local Indigenous people - but if you’re Indigenous in this country, your voice and wishes aren’t counted and that's not okay.
At the protest this morning we listened to Rev. Sealin Garlett, a Noongar Elder, speak quietly and with great feeling about how this is another example of the government disrespecting and disregarding Aboriginal people - saying, you don’t matter, you’re nobody. This is especially poignant right after Australia Day, the ultimate celebration of a nation that says, some people don’t matter.
Hey, remember when you were a kid and you were taught to be kind and respectful to all people even if they looked different to you, and you learnt that even if you have enough money to buy a bulldozer that doesn't mean you can bulldoze other people's stuff?
Bulldozing and laying bitumen over sacred Aboriginal sites in the name of ‘progress’ is a pretty great metaphor for what’s been happening to Australian Aboriginal languages, by the way. First you bulldoze the language (a stolen generation or two should manage this), then you lay over the waste with English.
So, a question: How many Indigenous voices does it take to equal one white voice?
Actually in this instance, I think it’s okay to specify: one white voice with money.
Part of the issue the protest has had seems to be the way protesters have been portrayed by the media as a bunch of hippies with no jobs - and no one cares about unemployed hippies who want to save the trees. That’s just what hippies do. So people have been showing up with signs saying “I’m a physiotherapist and I say no to Roe 8”; “I’m a bookkeeper and I say no to Roe 8”; “I’m a primary educator and I say no to Roe 8.” Here’s mine:
(Not that linguists are ever going to be mistaken for people with money, mind.)
Apparently if you are perceived not to have money, your voice doesn’t count either. This should worry you. It worries me.
I'd like to see the Government grow up, take responsibility, and have the courage to admit its mistakes and change its mind.
There’s going to be a silent protest at Forrest Place Mall on Sunday, and we’ve been told: no banners, no slogans, and wear “smart casual” clothes. We need to show that it’s not just Aboriginal people and ‘hippies’ who care about this stuff. So if you’re a Perthie who doesn’t necessarily want to chain themselves to a bulldozer but is disgusted by the poor management of WA’s funds and the shockingly disrespectful treatment of our city's Aboriginal heritage, please come along and show your support.
