In a funk
I WISH to write in acknowledgement of the sad fact that Kulcha in Fremantle has been closed down.
Not only closed down but not  helped out nor given a chance to modify its program to get on track financially.
It’s a big loss to music lovers in Perth, Fremantle and in fact Australia. What started out as the Ethnic Music Centre in North Perth all those years ago grew and brought together so many musicians of the world, making them feel welcome and letting them know Australia welcomed them and was curious to know about culture and music and stories.
It went on to win many state awards in excellence. We have been enriched by the activities there and to pull the plug makes the place dull indeed. I urge all Western Australians to get behind Kulcha to revive it and re- create the space where culture can be enjoyed at a reasonable price and at the same time help maintain the living musical and dance traditions of many artists who have now come to call Australia home.
It was funky, and it was fun and we danced and sang and no amount of pills, money, shopping can make you feel that way! It’s a great community asset and a huge mental health booster in these times of stress. Please reinstate KULCHA!
Warm regards to all
Kavisha Mazzella AM
Port Place, Yanchep
Log onto the Chook’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FremantleHerald) for Kavisha’s lyrics to Jon Cope’s anthem “Free Our Culture” (up to you now Jon) as well as some corker protest songs from Dilip of Dav’s fame and formidable vegetable Charlie Mgee.

Not amused
I DO think the Europeans would be somewhat miffed to be told Match’s Move apartment block is “being seen a lot in Europe” (Herald, February 22, 2014).
As a widely travelled Pom the best comparison I can come up with is a particularly ugly 1950s block of council flats seen on the way into Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Apparently even the Queen expressed her distaste for them when she passed by on her way to Portsmouth Harbour. I suspect she would be “moved” to make the same comments about the Match effort.
I do feel sorry for investors who have been fooled by glossy brochures and smooth talk only to discover they have bought into a second-rate, downright ugly block of flats.
Hey, Cockburn council must be pretty chuffed too!
Peter Coghlan
Shoalwater St, North Coogee

Kwinana cuckoo
KWINANA mayor Carol Adams, show us the money. Where is your financials to substantiate anything? From putting your head in the sand and wanting Kwinana to stand alone you now want to take on the majority of Cockburn?
Before you go pontificating rubbish get the facts: Cockburn has done its homework, it has the financials to back it up. That is one of the reasons why it is so financial viable and voted the most sustainable local government in WA and then followed it up with the national award.
So besides showing us your money show us your credentials: I know you won’t want to bring up the Robson report on Kwinana will you?
Let’s see now, that’s right: weak and marginal, ranked 25th out of 30 councils in performance. And you want to run the show? Get real.
Steve Portelli
Blossom Chase, Aubin Grove

Tears for Arthur
JUST heard decision against state’s most important heritage place. Fremantle: we weep for her.
Ron and Dianne Davidson
Fothergill St, Fremantle

Freo for me
I RECEIVED Cockburn’s propaganda leaflet on the supposed benefits of joining with Kwinana. I was shocked by the complete lack of genuine discussion of the issue and the council’s deceptive, one-sided “call for submissions” form.
How can the council ethically spend my money producing something which is so anti-democratic and misleading? Cockburn’s form seems to provide residents with options to vote for or against the merger with Kwinana but is so sneakily worded that even ticking “I oppose” is actually a vote in support of its own proposition.
The council is trying to seem like it is asking for community feedback whilst giving no real options. I do not want to merge with Kwinana: I bought a house in Hamilton Hill to be part of Fremantle’s vibrant artistic and alternative lifestyle.
I support Fremantle’s environmental policies and have heard nothing to make me believe these would be shared by Kwinana. I do not want a “stronger city” I want a more ethical one.
Julia Noakes
Starling St, Hamilton Hill

Mean-spirited
I WILL preface this letter by stating I work for the architectural practice responsible for the design of the Move apartments (Herald, February 22, 2014).
My reason for writing is not to defend their design, despite a personal belief they will make a beautiful and appropriate insertion into the South Beach development.
Instead, I write to object to the neighbour’s choice of words in describing the apartments. Referring to them as having a “Homeswest aesthetic” serves no purpose other than to demean those dependent upon one of the state’s most vital services. It’s a mean-spirited statement that does nothing but reinforce the isolation felt by our most vulnerable, and serves no place in modern society.
Emma Brain
Burt St, Fremantle

Cup runneth over?
YOUR front page spread (Herald, February 22, 2014) on the “new wave of immigrants” while in some respects heart-warming, highlights a major problem for our nation.
Our present rate of national population growth, driven largely by immigration, is adding one million people every three years at a time when the economy looks poised for recession and long-term, full-time jobs are vanishing at a rapid rate.
The budgets of all states are blown and infrastructure is stretched to the limit in all our cities. Your article talks of people escaping from situations of high youth unemployment, but our own youth unemployment is climbing rapidly.
We urgently need to slow population growth down and make a scientific assessment of how many people our largely arid and water-stressed continent might support at a reasonable standard of living.  In case anyone accuses me of racism, I can assure them I rejoice in our rich multiculture. I just want it to survive so my grandchildren can have a good life in a country not ruined by overpopulation and environmental degradation.
Clive Huxtable
Gibson St, Beaconsfield 

Unbecoming
I HAD a few people who attended the special electors’ meeting contact me in relation to the comments by Crs Rachel Pemberton and Andrew Sullivan that were made via Facebook.
The comments related to the age bracket of people at the meeting, which voted overwhelmingly to ask the council to scrap the J-Shed proposal.
Those comments, of an ageist nature, were taken in offence and are unbecoming of a City of Fremantle councillor.
One could argue there is a higher concentration of people aged 60 years and older in the inner city, which the J-Shed proposal would directly affect. More so in the area that may be directly affected by excessive noise and anti-social behaviour from this proposal.
The City of Fremantle has an overall average age of 41 compared to the rest of WA with 36. In fact, Greater Perth’s over-60s represent just 17.8 per cent of residents, five per cent less than in Fremantle.
Fremantle has an ageing population. Simply denying and denigrating that group of people to purposefully and deliberately push through a proposal which they obviously are in full support of, is unbecoming of any city councillor.
If anything, more activities and spaces need to be provided for the over-60s instead of denigrating them and treating them like second-class citizens.
The problem is this significant group of people isn’t being represented and listened to, but is instead being forced to fight for quiet enjoyment of its properties, preservation of the state’s most significant historical site of Arthur Head and one less alcohol-fuelled and -driven proposal, all while being serially denigrated by the very people who are supposed to represent them.
Matthew Hanssen
Fremantle
The Ed says: Mr Hanssen ran against Brad Pettitt in the October mayoral elections and was a state and federal Liberal party candidate for Fremantle. This letter has been significantly cut for length.

Terminal illness
EVER wondered what it’s like to arrive by luxury cruise liner and then dock in a Third World country? If you had been on the Celebrity Solstice which arrived in Fremantle last Friday morning, you would have some idea.
I had the misfortune to be there about 0900, attempting to meet passengers who’d wanted to go on a day trip out to the Swan Valley.
I was lucky to get a parking spot for my people mover, before approaching the hordes near the terminal, seeking my guests. Dozens of disembarking international passengers sat on concrete steps, perhaps waiting to be picked up by some coach line. I ventured briefly inside the terminal where I was officiously told I wasn’t supposed to be there, but when I continued my search outside, another “official” suggested I look inside!
The tour coaches, the SCVs, the taxis, and all the other vehicles jostled for space, while port officials and security personnel tried to do their duty. The passenger terminal is a building frozen in the 1960s—in facilities, in services, in signage, and in comfort. Can I gently suggest Fremantle Ports get its act together to improve things?
If you want cruise ships to continue to have Fremantle stopovers, I suggest you lift your game. Otherwise, like Perth “international airport” your port will also become a standing joke among travellers.
Roy Stall
Rochdale Rd, Mount Claremont 

A bigger picture
YOUR article “Italian Espresso” (Herald, February 22, 2014) draws attention to the growing number of young Italians seeking work in Australia.
However, the parallel made with previous migration of Italians needs qualification. The 16,000 young Italians who entered Australia last year came on one-year working holiday visas.
The Italians who came in the 1950s and ‘60s came as migrants encouraged to settle in the interests of “nation building”. While some young Italian working holiday-makers may share aspirations for a better life the circumstances which led previous waves of people to leave Italy and come to Australia were very different 50 years ago.
Read my book, Vite Italiane, if you want to understand these circumstances.
Susanna Luliano
Waugh St, North Perth
The Ed says: As you would know better than most, Susanna, it takes a book to describe all the nuances of a major movement of people. But how about having a crack for our Thinking Allowed column—about 500 to 600 words?