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Cleavers a sticky problem
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PHOTO: MARK SCHNEIDER
Tom Bolas with the Bravery Award he won for saving a young woman’s life.
Local hero’s long wait for citizenship He’s one of the kindest, most considerate – T he’s just a beautiful human being. om Bolas is a hero, and he has the certificate and medal to prove it. In August 2025 the now 79 year-old grandfather was at work tending the gardens at Ford House when he spotted a young woman jumping from the bridge before being swept downstream. He ran to the office to raise the alarm before running back to the river and plunging waist-deep into the freezing water. The woman was desperately clinging to branches against the fast-flowing water. “I could see she was losing her grip because it was pulling her and I thought I’ve just got to keep following her,” Mr Bolas said. He got out of the water and headed downstream as she lost her grip and floated away only to grab hold of a tree in the river before losing her grip again. He plunged back in once more and grabbed her wrist with a firm grip as she floated towards him. “My feet were off the ground because I was in the stream and we went down about two metres downstream, but fortunately I had my right
hand and I was just pulling grass and bushes and everything to pull us up onto the bank.” He eventually got there but was exhausted and without the strength to lift her up from the bank. Senior Constable Mike Smith then arrived to drag her out of the water while Tom got out and alerted the emergency crew. For their efforts that day both men were awarded with certificates acknowledging their courage by Police Commissioner Col Blanch, while also receiving awards from Royal Life Saving Western Australia. Well he may be a hero, but that hasn’t helped Mr Bolas gain the Australian citizenship he so desperately wants and needs despite living here, working, and paying his taxes for 12 years. He first arrived in July 2014 from his native Zimbabwe to help his son, who’s lived here since 2008, to renovate his home.
He returned briefly to Zimbabwe in December that year because his wife was in intensive care before she sadly passed away. It’s a painful memory that still brings him to tears. He has two sons and several grandchildren here and returned in February 2015 on a Bridging Visa before applying for Australian Citizenship under an Aged Parent visa subclass. He’s been waiting now for 11 years and he could be waiting a good deal longer yet. While 90 percent of applications for Australian Citizenship take eight months from the date of application to a decision, and 14 months from application to the Citizenship Ceremony, under the Aged Parent visa subclass the demand for visas is greater than the number of places available each year. CONTINUED PAGE 3