VIPs refused entry to Freo Town Hall

EXCLUSIVE: Former Federal Treasurer John Dawkins and his wife Maggie were left shocked and upset yesterday after City of Fremantle staff refused them entry to the Town Hall.
The Federal MP for Fremantle during the America’s Cup had arranged to see the heritage-listed ‘people’s hall’, only to be left on the side of the dirty pavement by staff who said the venue is booked all week.
Born in Perth, Mr Dawkins advocated for tens of millions of dollars to be spent on renovating buildings in the port city, including the town hall opened 136 years ago.
Accompanied by Fremantle Society president John Dowson, the couple were kept waiting as staff attempted to contact the CEO, his PA, venues manager, anyone. Mr Dowson said Cr Geoff Graham witnessed the brush-off but did nothing to intervene.
“I was disappointed and dismayed at the efforts by council officers to deny me entry to view the Town Hall,” Mr Dawkins told StreetWise today. “Forty years ago a lot of public money was spent on painstaking refurbishment of the spectacular interior of the town hall.
“As I was leading the project I was keen to see whether the council had kept its promise to properly maintain it. I now wonder what they have to hide as apparently the hall is in a state of disrepair.”
StreetWise has contacted CEO Glen Dougall’s office, only to be told if required he would respond within 10 days. The City website states it does accept private bookings, but adds the hall, “is able to accommodate a variety of functions ranging from casual cocktail-style events to traditional seated receptions”.
Mrs Dawkins said they previously toured the venue more than 10 years ago and, “there was no problem, we want in and viewed the beauty of the hall and marvelled at how well it had been holding up”.
She said the events of the past 48 hours were not only disappointing, but disrespectful: “It is extraordinary behaviour considering John advocated for the money to refurbish and restore many places around Fremantle. We’re talking $30 million approved by Cabinet in 1985.”
She said this was on the proviso that council care for the building: “It appears we don’t know what is going on. We’re shut out.”
Mrs Dawkins added she made a flippant remark to staff about how wonderful it would be to hold their daughter’s birthday party in the hall in October. Alice was christened at nearby St John’s and the family lived in Shuffrey Street.
The City wrote back to say, “How exciting and special for you to celebrate and plan for your daughter’s 21st in the Fremantle Town Hall. I have forwarded your email to the City’s Bookings Officer to schedule a suitable date to view the Town Hall”. Minutes later, another staffer informed her the hall did not hold private events.
“I know lots of people who were married and had their receptions there,” she said. “This is a council that needs to raise revenue and they say it will not be hired out to private individuals.
“I was told the hall was hired for a week but they wouldn’t tell me who had hired it so I could contact them. This is cover-up. These are petty lies that will be exposed. What is the public event?”
At $133 per hour to hire until 6pm and $186 per hour after 6pm, the ‘public’ event must be earning the City a small fortune.
“The hall is actually a people’s asset,” Mrs Dawkins told StreetWise. “The people of Fremantle own that asset, not the officers, not the councillors. The people do.”
Mrs Dawkins wrote to the City: “It is disappointing that we have been denied access to a public facility owned by the people of Fremantle. Given that John did so much to advance the city of Fremantle it is shoddy that the CEO and the mayor have been unavailable to accommodate a very simple request.”
Mr Dowson said the matter had been badly handled: “It is a sad reflection on how John has been treated in his own town.”
He added online: “It has been a frustrating and upsetting visit to Fremantle for the Dawkins, and they join a conga line of Labor luminaries unhappy with King’s Square and what’s in it – first Carmen Lawrence, then former Fremantle MPs Troy and Parker, and now Dawkins.”
The City describes the hall as, “one of Perth’s most prestigious examples of classical 19th century architecture”. It states: “Fremantle’s most iconic historic building is perfect for gala dinners, exhibitions, stage performances, corporate functions and many more activities.”
But not VIP tours.

Footnote: Mr Dawkins was vice president of the WA branch of the ALP between 1977 and 1979 and member of the National Executive from 1981 to 1982. Having joined the ALP as a student, he was elected in 1974 at age 27 to represent the new House of Reps seat of Tangney in Perth’s southern suburbs. After losing this seat in the 1975, he re-entered the House of Reps in 1977, winning the Fremantle seat left vacant with the retirement of Kim Beazley senior who had held it for more than 30 years. When Paul Keating became PM in 1991, Dawkins was appointed Treasurer and delivered two budgets before resigning in 1993 and member for Fremantle in 1994. Source https://jcpml.curtin.edu.au.