WITH Cockburn’s Sister Cities program up for review in December, DANIELA GARBIN unpacks the controversial trip to Croatia that unleashed a media storm, turned councillors against each other and ultimately raised the question; are Sister Cities really worth it?

DESPITE the cancellation of Cockburn council’s delegation to sister city Split this year, Croatian Folkloric group ‘Zagreb’ danced on to much success. 

Hrvatska Folklorna Grupa Zagreb completed a 14-day trip around Croatia in July, where they attended professional dance workshops, took tours at historical locations and performed at events and festivals. 

They even got to meet and perform in front of Croatia’s president and prime minster. 

This follows the February media outrage at the release of a $114,000 trip for four Cockburn councillors, including the mayor, to visit sister city Split in July. 

The only planned item on the delegation’s itinerary at the time of release, was watching HFG Zagreb perform in Split.

“It’s been very entertaining looking at the public discourse on it, they don’t understand,” Cockburn councillor Michael Separovich told the Herald. 

According to Cr Separovich, the City’s plans were rushed and premature, with officers putting the trip forward “to quickly to fit the timeline of the Zagreb dancers”.

“When we got this agenda item, the only thing on it was the dance group.”

• Despite the controversy, Zagreb had a very successful Croatian tour.

Cr Separovich said travelling across the world to watch the Perth-based dance group wasn’t strong enough to justify the trip and its expense.

“They let out a half-baked tour no one supported. Had they kept it in the oven another month, there would have been a two-page agenda,” Cr Separovich said.

At the following March council meeting, the vote to defer the trip narrowly won, in part due to many councillors wanting to distance themselves from the controversy. 

One more vote would have potentially scrapped the Split visit completely, and potentially have terminated sister city relationships. 

Notre Dame University professor of politics Martin Drum said that “might be an overreaction”.

“It’s like anything, there are good sister city relationships, and others just sitting on paper,” he said.

Prof Drum said ideally sister cities would invest in each other and stimulate the economy, but “you want to be confident in what you’re doing, and not just spending money”.

Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett sees cultural education as something he will always support, and said he wants to “continue the (sister city) concept, but as to grow it”.

“Just absorbing all that music, song and dance. These are great things,” Mr Howlett said.

Last October Split councillors had an inbound visit to Cockburn where they received a full tour of Cockburn’s cutting edge facilities; the Cockburn Arc and their arrangement with the Fremantle Dockers, the waste to energy plant in Rockingham, the Australian Marine Complex and more.

Cr Separovich says that’s an indication sister city trips are no junket: “They got a lot of value out of that trip,” he said.

Mr Howlett, paying for his own tickets this time, attended Zagreb’s final performance at sister city Split. 

“We were overcome with emotion. It was absolutely spectacular,” Mr Howlett said of being apart of the large crowd at Split, many of whom were fellow Cockburn ratepayers traveling with the tour.

Split mayor Ivica Puljak says he plans to continue the collaboration, as it has “proven to be beneficial for both cities… from cultural exchange, sports, and education to joint environmental initiatives”.

Mr Pulijak also wants to create more opportunities for young people to participate in these exchanges.

“Expanding horizons, especially for younger generations, is one of the biggest advantages of this program, as it contributes to global awareness and respect for diversity,” he said. 

Mr Pulijak also said “the preservation of the cultural identity of Croatian immigrants in Australia”, is a key focus.

“It was unbelievable,” HFG Zagreb president Zrinka Vlasic said of the trip. She and sister Gordana have been dancing since age five. 

Ms Vlasic said the trip was really special for the kids: “These are some second-, third-generation kids, they are going there (some for the first time) and learning stuff they don’t know.”

Zagreb’s tour was the first of its kind for the group, which has been dancing for over 50 years and the travelling ensemble consisted of 112 people with all the family members included.

“Can’t stop raving about it. [We] had a very warm reception and lot of ‘money can’t buy’ experiences,” Kristina Zlendic said of meeting and performing for the president and prime minister on the tour. 

Ms Zlendic (42) has danced in the group since age nine. 

“It’s important for the kids to know about what their Baba and Dida’s did, its about seeing why something is. Even every dance has a story,” Ms Vlasic said.

Cockburn council will complete a review of its sister city relationships in December.