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  • 7 months ago
A pensioner who has spent decades picking up rubbish along a stretch of highway is calling on the public to help fund the work governments have refused to pay for. Locals have started a GoFundMe campaign to offset the thousands of dollars the 80-year-old spends each year to keep the highway clean.

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00:00On one of Western Australia's most beautiful highways, a retired policeman is on the beat.
00:09This area is paradise. We've got to keep it clean.
00:13Collecting the rubbish, travellers have thrown away.
00:17For more than 20 years, Michael Philby has picked up tons of other people's trash.
00:23Average selection of half a bag.
00:25This would have been dumped in the bush by people who are travelling.
00:29It's all voluntary. Other than the $2,000 a year he gets from the Mandiamup Shire,
00:35no state or federal authority will help shoulder his load.
00:41I spend myself $10,000 a year, so I spent $200,000.
00:46They put up signs, but no bins.
00:49Without his work, the popular tourist highway he fears will become a long rubbish dump,
00:56with no government taking responsibility.
00:59Now a call for help. A GoFundMe appeal to raise $30,000.
01:04Enough to keep him going for three more years.
01:08Joe Lane started a Facebook page for the GoFundMe appeal and Warpol has rallied.
01:15I'd really love to see him supported and if he gets anywhere near that amount,
01:21he will feel the support from all of us.
01:24The local chemist gave him a Christmas card with $200 inside.
01:29You know, you're just a pensioner and having to fund, pay for all of this.
01:35So yeah, I was just like, I really wanted to do something to help him.
01:39The GoFundMe is not a personal fund, as donations will be managed by Warpol Tidy Towns
01:46to pay for fuel and maintenance to keep Michael Philby on patrol.
01:50I'm running out easy, I'm running out of money, but it would help and in the long term, a possible future.
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