GARRY BRISCOE is a Beaconsfield resident who’s concerned about how much graffiti is appearing on walls (and even works of art) around Fremantle. It follows the Herald’s story about Fremantle council cutting back its graffiti-busting services in July last year (“Scrubbed out,” Herald, October 14, 2023). Dr Briscoe says he’s seen the results of letting graffiti get out of hand and has urged the council to act now.

FREMANTLE (and Perth in general) has so far been spared the scourge of graffiti. 

But recently I’ve noticed an increase in the amount of graffiti around Fremantle, most of it tagging. 

I originally came from Melbourne, and last winter visited Athens, two cities that have been ruined by graffiti. 

The image above is a street scene from Athens, and tagging is ubiquitous throughout the central area where we visited. 

There was some good street art, but most was ugly tagging as shown above. 

We even saw tagging on marble antiquities. 

I was living in Carlton in Melbourne in the 1970s and caught two young boys tagging the newly-renovated brick wall of a house I was renting. 

Tagging was new then, so I gave them a verbal blast and let them go. 

These days I would take them to the nearest police station. 

The tagging in Melbourne is now totally over-the-top, and although the city tries to make it a feature with tagged lane tours, the fact remains that the city is greatly lessened by the tagging. 

Graffiti grew quickly in Melbourne, and after a while it was so pervasive that it could not be stopped. 

I suggest that unless Fremantle acts quickly, we will succumb to the same fate. 

Tagging is not art – it is visual pollution. It is also a criminal offence. 

The Fremantle council needs to take immediate action. Here are some suggestions: 

• Encourage residents to ‘dob in a graffiti polluter,’ perhaps via an advertising campaign. 

• Request that the local police take the matter seriously. They can attend schools, and should make an example of any perpetrators. 

• Encourage residents and local businesses to quickly cover over any graffiti. This will rob the writers of any recognition. 

• Employ a worker to paint over any graffiti that appears within Fremantle. There are also businesses that can sand-blast brick and other materials if required. Kleenit is a company that performs this task; and,

• Encourage the state government to increase the penalties for graffiti, and to undertake an advertising campaign condemning the practice. 

Let’s not kid ourselves. 

Unless we take action, our beautiful Fremantle buildings will soon be covered with ugly graffiti. 

Perpetrators don’t care about history or beauty, just a perverted need for recognition.