DEFENDING SPALDING: Pair slam minister’s ‘derogatory’ comments on Geraldton suburb

A Spalding couple have expressed their fury at the WA housing minister for “denigrating” their suburb, after he told Parliament homeless people refused to live there. Bill Tanks, who has been a Spalding resident for nearly a year, approached the City of Greater Geraldton during public question time at its ordinary council meeting last week to ask what problems there were in Spalding and what was being done to rectify them, including boarded-up public homes. RELATED NEWS Housing Minister John Carey told the Legislative Assembly on August 11 that some “boarded-up” properties in Spalding were inhabitable and had been offered to people on the public housing waitlist, but were turned down because those people did not want to live in the suburb. He said the State Government was working to dilute the amount of public housing in the suburb to resolve issues like antisocial behaviour, and to make it a more attractive place to live. Spalding recorded 681 criminal offences in 2020-21, a 5-7 per cent rise from the previous two years. Mr Tanks said after hearing the council’s response and speaking with Geraldton-based Agricultural Region MP Sandra Carr, he had a better understanding of the “long-standing issues” the suburb had experienced with concentrated public housing in certain streets. But he said it was wrong to tar the entire suburb with the same brush. “I’m livid, angry, annoyed. Because he (Mr Carey) selected the suburb and denigrated it to the point where he said homeless people would not live here,” he said. “I absolutely enjoy living in Spalding, it’s lovely and quiet ... there’s no problem. Although he used Spalding, it really affects Geraldton ... it’s not a very big place.” Mr Tanks and wife Susan moved from NSW to the Spalding home they bought sight-unseen, and said they had never had a problem living there. The tidy home with an immaculate garden has been their base to enjoy the Geraldton lifestyle, which impressed them when they passed through multiple times while travelling the State. Mrs Tanks said she thought it would take a long time for the damage caused by the minister’s statements to be undone. “I believe the statement the minister made was derogatory to everyone who lives in Spalding,” she said. “It made me very angry ... because it’s so unfair to the people that maintain their properties, live in Spalding, and have done for years and years. “Then all of a sudden this label is put to you ... it’s going to take some time for that stigma to disappear.” “We’ve got a new (housing) minister there and he’s very focused on working out a solution, and that’s what I said to Bill,” she said. “Not all the (boarded-up) houses across Geraldton and Spalding belong to the department, some are privately owned. “The issue is a little more complex ... I still don’t see it as a highly negative comment of Spalding. “The minister is solution-focused and he’s pointing out what all the issues are and some of those are coming directly from the City of Greater Geraldton.”