Joondalup is a suburban centre 26 km north of Perth's centre, and a Local Government Area of Western Australia.

Joondalup is a relatively modern, 'northern suburb' area of Perth. Joondalup's centre is an extensive shopping and retail area, in addition to a large library, a major police station and other commercial and government organisations. There are two major education centres in Joondalup, a campus of TAFE and a recently-built campus of Edith Cowan University. Some entertainment venues include The Old Bailey, Dusk, and Grand Boulevard Tavern, which stay open until the early hours of the morning. Another feature of the city is the Joondalup Resort. This golf resort features 27 holes. The city pavements feature tiles hand-painted by local school children.

One of Perth's oldest WAFL clubs, the West Perth Football Club, moved to Joondalup in the 1990s and has since done exceedingly well in the WAFL competition, their latest premiership coming in 2003 over rivals Subiaco.

Statistics

• Area: 98.9 square km.
• Length of coastline: 17.46 km.
• Length of roads: 975 km.
• Population: 156,738.
• Wage earners: 70,574.
• Unemployment: 3,154.
• Residents' annual income: 2,508.1 million $AU.
• Number of dwellings: 53,493.
• Area of parks: 592 hectares.
• Area of bushland: 175 hectares.
• Annual expenditure of the Council: 112 million $AU.

(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2002)

Council controversy 2003–2004

Joondalup City's elected Council (including the mayor) was suspended by the Minister for Local Government Tom Stephens on 5 December 2003 after complaints were received indicating that the council had become dysfunctional. The Council was replaced by five Commissioners: Chairman John Paterson (former mayor of Nedlands), Peter Clough, Michael Anderson, Anne Fox and Steve Smith. The Council's power was temporarily transferred to the Commissioners, for a period envisioned to last until the Local Government elections in May 2005.

A subsequent inquiry, referred to as the McIntyre Inquiry as it is chaired by Greg McIntyre, has revealed that the Council had effectively split in two opposing groups over the controversy around the qualifications of the city's Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The CEO in question, Denis Smith, had been accused of misrepresenting his educational qualifications by deputy mayor Don Carlos. Don Carlos demanded Denis Smith's immediate dismissal, but his motion was unsuccessful. The councillors opposed to Denis Smith's dismissal expressed the view that the CEO should not be dismissed as his performance was satisfactory. Instead, the council passed a motion forbidding Don Carlos from publicly criticizing Denis Smith. Don Carlos became mayor of the City at the next election.

(Reference: Community - Wanneroo Times October 19-25, 2004).

Links

• Joondalup City Official Website (http://www.joondalup.wa.gov.au/)
• Joondalup Inquiry Official Website (http://www.joondalupinquiry.wa.gov.au/)
• West Perth Football Club Official Website (http://www.falconsfc.com.au/)