CLAUDIA’S VIEW

‘Flag at half mast for the death of the democratic process’

IT appears Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge took it upon herself to make the highly contentious, political and dubious decision to lower the Aboriginal flag in response to a political event being unsuccessful, with the throwaway line quoted in the October 21 edition of Fremantle Herald:
“But Ms Fitzhardinge brushed off the fracas, saying lowering the flag was a ‘minimal thing’”, having done her research …”
Of even more confoundment is “the research” the mayor did apparently did not throw up the City of Fremantle council policy: flying of flags. A document that suggests otherwise of her observation that flag raising and lowering is a “minimal thing”. In fact, it specifically states that:
“This Policy has been created, as flags are recognised as the symbol of a nation, state or organisation and it is important for the City of Fremantle to be aware of and observe the appropriate principles and flag flying protocols.”
Furthermore, it is soooo not minimal that it also states:
“This policy is to provide operational guidelines and identify the protocols used for flying flags under the City of Fremantle’s care and control.”
Nowhere in the document does it say ‘except when the mayor is disappointed when the City of Fremantle electors come up with a decision/outcome that doesn’t suit her or a group of others.
The only reference to flying the flag at half-mast is as a sign of mourning, for which there is an approved list, which also does not include the outcome of federal referendums of which the mayor of the City of Fremantle does not agree or approve.
In fact, outside of the stated protocols (for the mayor “minimal things”), the only … “other approved occasions are when the Protocol Unit of the Department of Premier and Cabinet provide a notice to the City of Fremantle for when the flags are required to be flown at half mast … in the event of a death of a member of the royal family or the death of the Governor General”.
So who died?
The mayor appears to have unilaterally come up with the highly contentious and definitely political decision, to ignore the maths, to ignore the serious governance issue of formal decision making during a prescribed period of Caretaker Government, and to ignore the sheer symbolic hypocrisy of lowering a flag in a civic place that belongs to, and is being paid for by the WHOLE of Fremantle electors/ratepayers, and not the insignificant minority who voted for her.
Mayor Fitzhardinge once asked the Fremantle Society president whom he actually represented, a fair question but now the shoe is on the other foot and we, the electors/ratepayers and residents need to ask whom, indeed, does the mayor represent when making the political/policy decision to lower a flag, and, on whose behalf was she speaking when she did it?
The mayor’s election in 2019 was supported by significant minority of the eligible voting population of ‘Freo’; the referendum, same eligible voters/ratepayers/residents but a majority vote.
Their serious misuse of authority exposes is an element of systemic failure in local government suffrage in WA, which suits the political agenda of the party political system.
This symbolic decision to lower the flag, apparently was made on the basis that even though the vote and outcome in the referendum wasn’t the decision of her choice, (AND as a member of the Labor Party which promoted her choice), it was disappointing to her and a group of people, and having checked the ballot box results, in the mayor’s mind, the result was not what ‘Freo’ intended!
So, on the basis of the minority that voted her in as mayor: 46% of the 44% who voted in the mayoral election, that is, winning the largest number of the paltry turnout who voted: (4,951 of 24,514 eligible voters), the Mayor took it upon herself to change the result of the Referendum in Fremantle: “in Freo the vote resoundingly supported the YES vote (sic)”, and yet the actual numbers say otherwise.
The mayor is ignoring the most important fact of this systemic failure, and that is in WA there is NO compulsory voting in local government elections, unlike all the other states, so it is easy to twist and manufacture the vote in a local government election to suit a narrative, particularly the one that suits your political persuasion. In Fremantle, the favourite line in Dr Brad Petitt’s (Greens’) reign was that the silent majority agreed with the direction the council was taking so there wasn’t any reason to bother asking them (compulsory voting).
The other important fact is that in WA, a candidate does not have to declare their party political status, which for Ms Fitzhardinge just happens to be the membership of the Labor Party which was promoting the YES vote.
It is deceitful then, to be using, “Fremantle joined Sydney, Newcastle, and Adelaide Councils in flying its flag at half-mast”, as a justification for a unilateral decision to fly the Indigenous flag at half-mast in Fremantle. For a start ALL of those States cited have State legislated local government compulsory voting; ALL of those States have legislated arty-political declarations for local government candidates.
This is NOT the case in local government in WA which means it is NOT the case in Fremantle.
So, in Adelaide, Sydney and Newcastle, the same number of eligible voters voted in both the referendum AND their local government elections because both are compulsory.
In Fremantle, a strange thing happened not recognised in ‘good ole progressive local government Freo’, EVERYBODY voted in the referendum (compulsory) and shock horror, ‘good ole progressive Freo’ came up with a completely unexpected result … a majority NO.
We are so used to the progressive narrative which we have developed (and swallowed with the Kool Aid) for ourselves about ‘good ole progressive Freo’, mostly on the basis that the paltry number of voters who do vote in Fremantle local government, are the chosen ones with the correct view of the world, and the assumption made by those in council who represent that minority that voted for them, that they are, in fact, representing everyone. Therefore, it comes as a shock when we find out that the Emperor (or mayor) has got no clothes on after all, and when forced to vote, things don’t go her way … that is, the majority don’t represent the ‘Freo’ zeitgeist after all. More importantly, unlike the mayor’s narrative, the majority did not vote yes, whichever way the mayor likes to rewrite history:
“The small light of hope was that they (sic) had invested so much in supporting reconciliation in the City of Fremantle over the years, and in Freo the vote resoundingly supported the VOICE; the vote lowest YES vote was in Samson with 50%.”
What delusionary nonsense is this? The decision can’t be reinvented by a unilateral decision of the mayor to exclude the totality of numbers, the very same numbers that actually determined the final decision: No.
Whichever way the mayor has read the result, and then decided partially, to lower the Aboriginal flag, the decision belongs to ALL the voters/ratepayers of Fremantle and is covered by significant State policy. The symbolic gesture of her superior decision that the majority of people in Fremantle were misguided or really intended to make the correct decision, did not allow her to make unilateral political decisions.
From my reading of the situation, she has not only breached the protocol of City of Fremantle policy, made a formal decision without Council in a caretaker period of government, but more significantly, NOT accepted the majority referendum decision of the people she represents, all those eligible voters/constituents who pay her not untidy allowance and not just the very few number of Party faithful and followers who voted for her as mayor), she has more likely, in fact, acted unlawfully on several counts.
As a simple observation, the mayor broke the “protocol” of good manners, in arrogantly having stuck her finger up to the majority of voters in her ‘Freo’ constituency who voted No and who did so in the true democratic process of a legitimate CHOICE: Yes or No, (both choices having legitimate status), and deceiving them with her justification.
This requires the “protocol” of an apology at least. Particularly as these very same people who voted No, pay her handsome allowance!

• I have asked the CEO and the Governance department what specific advice was given to the mayor.
• When did the Protocol Unit send their agreement for lowering the flag.
• Was Council convened to make the decision?

No response to date.

Disclaimer: I have always voted Green or Labor. I have never voted Liberal or for Pauline Hanson or the National Party or any other conservative party that the reader in disagreement wants to throw at me.
Claudia’s views can be found at streetwisemedia.com.au and its Facebook page.