Zempilas backs shelter to avoid WA govt

City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas will back the relocation of the Safe Night Space for women program, claiming the state government would inevitably overrule the council if it voted against the proposal.

Ruah Community Services has applied to temporarily revive the women’s shelter program for 30 months at its drop-in centre at 247-249 James Street in Northbridge.

The application comes after the controversial closure of the program at Rod Evans Centre in East Perth, which attracted some heat between state and local governments.

The City of Perth council is set to vote on Ruah’s application at its meeting tomorrow night, with city officers recommending the Safe Night Space relocation be approved.

Mr Zempilas today announced he would support the recommendation to approve, partly to be on the front foot with the state government.

“While I don't speak for my fellow councillors, I am, as I said, stating my intention and that is to support,” he said.

“One of the principal reasons for doing so is that it is very, very obvious to all of us, and in particular me as lord mayor, that should we say ‘no’ tomorrow night, we really will only be delaying the inevitable.

“It is almost absolutely certain that the state government would then overrule that decision.

“The process of overruling would take a matter of months, perhaps even up to a year that would further delay the reopening of the Safe Night Space at this new location [while] knowing that there is inevitable outcome, and that outcome would be for us, as I said, to be overruled.”

Homelessness Minister John Carey rebutted the Lord Mayor's comments, saying the council decision was yet to be cast despite Mr Zempilas' announcement today.

"I understand the anticipation for that question, but I simply cannot pre-empt any planning decision as the Minister so this has to follow through," he said.

"The record stands that the Lord Mayor has repeatedly campaigned against Ruah as a preferred location. It's up to the city administration and its governance arrangements to do the most.

"I'm not second guessing the outcome and I have to say this, we don't have a decision. What concerns me is we only have to look at the record of the city when it comes to homelessness services."

The state government has previously overruled the city’s decision to refuse Ruah’s application to move into the James Street building.

Ruah relocated to James Street because its single-storey outreach centre at the north-west corner of the Shenton and John streets intersection would be demolished to make way for its seven-storey Centre for Women and Children.

The council refused Ruah’s application to move in mid-2022 but was overruled by the state government later that same year.

The state government and the city again locked horns when the Safe Night Space program stopped operating at the Rod Evans Centre in East Perth.

Ruah, in partnership with the city, operated the Safe Night Space program at Rod Evans centre from May 2021 until November 2023.

The state government offered $3.1 million to keep the program running at Rod Evans until December 2025, which Mr Zempilas has described as an “eleventh-hour” bid, claiming the state government had months of notice of the two-year trial ending.

Mr Zempilas said Northbridge was not the best place for a women’s shelter program, repeating comments he made at a council briefing last week.

“The second very important point, although I maintain that the middle of Northbridge is not the best place for this sort of service to exist, I accept that because state government haven't been able to provide another alternative site and because even though we've twelve months' notice, there was no apparent movement forward to another site being located,” he said today.

“Although I do not believe this is the best location for this sort of service, I accept now for a whole raft of reasons it is the only location that is currently being put forward.

“For that reason, the fact that almost certainly a ‘no’ decision of council would be overruled.”

Mr Carey said there was a campaign against Ruah that was unprecedented and nothing that he'd ever seen.

"What we’ve witnessed over the past six months is a targeted campaign and demonisation of Ruah and the service it plays in assisting the most vulnerable women in Western Australia," he said.

"It poses the question whether the City of Perth has the impartiality to be actually able to, as the responsible authority, manage this operation.

"There was one elected official that ran a paid Facebook campaign, actively encouraging residents to make complaints against Ruah.

"It's highly unusual for elected officials at a local government level, to make so many comments in regards to one applicant."

The council is set to decide on Ruah’s application tomorrow night.