‘Boycott Fruit Loop Freo’ – public reacts to City ‘Yes’ vote

A City of Fremantle plan to spend $35,500 on a three-month campaign to support the ‘Yes’ campaign for a First Nations Voice to Parliament has sparked public outrage on social media, radio and TV.
Some have called for people to boycott ‘Fruit loop Freo’, the angry reaction not seen since the City dumped Australia Day in 2017 and moved to support the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in 2020.
On Wednesday, the City FPOL committee chaired by East Ward Cr Jenny Archibald voted to support the use of ratepayer funds to educate people about why they should vote ‘Yes’.
The only elected member to vote against was South Ward Cr Marija Vujcic who asked Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge whether the City would direct equal resources to a ‘No’ voice.
Cr Fitzhardinge said council already had a position to support the Uluru statement and if Cr Vujcic wanted to rescind that position she would need to move a new motion.
The StreetWise report of the meeting attracted many readers opposed to the use of ratepayer funds for political causes.
“There are two sides to the Voice. Not your business FCC to be involved. Just get on with servicing the ratepayers needs. e.g. cleaning streets emptying rubbish bins … Doug Thompson!” one reader posted.
Other comments include:
– “Your job is to make sure the streets are safe, clean and to provide a healthy and safe environment for the people, it’s to help businesses to survive. It is not to try and influence how people will vote on any particular issue. I sincerely hope the government investigates this hopeless council and makes an example of them.”
– “This is only going to create more divide and do nothing to close the gap.”
– “They should not be taking any political position by using ratepayers money. We have been waiting several months for our street trees to be pruned but apparently there’s no funds for this essential service.”
On the Local Government Reform Facebook page, one reader states: “The City of Fremantle is exceeding its statutory authority to govern its citizens by engaging directly in Commonwealth Government business. Its role is limited to administering state law for the sole benefit of its inhabitants.
“Unless it conducts a formal referendum of voters re this issue it cannot claim to represent their views. In any event whatever it is saying is pure propaganda.”
The page also includes a reference to Hilton Cr Ben Lawver and his wife Deana’s association with the MUA: “The Mayor is a Labor Party member and Cr Ben Lawver was a MUA organiser for the ALP back in 2018.”
The comment is accompanied by a photograph of Deana with Voice campaigner Thomas Mayo.
Cr Lawver attended FPOL and said there was a lot of misinformation about the issue, “so us dedicating some funds to get some real good information out there and what it is going to do and what it will achieve I think will be very healthy for the community”.
The following day, Cr Lawver took offence at having been described online as a MUA organiser, the post later corrected (including by StreetWise which shared the post) to say he was a former political organiser.
StreetWise asked Cr Lawver why he didn’t declare an interest in the FPOL item and whether he intended to do so at future council debates and discussions given his wife’s support of the ‘Yes’ Alliance.
Cr Lawver said he was not an ‘MUA organiser for the ALP nor did he have a vote on FPOL: “Deana is not part of the ‘Yes’ Alliance, she is not paid by the ‘Yes’ campaign … she volunteers her time. She has no official affiliation with them.”
He added: “I’ll just point out the proposal is to spend ‘up to’ an amount to help educate our residents – it is NOT a contribution to the YES campaign and shouldn’t be described as such.”
Cr Doug Thompson, who supported Cr Fitzhardinge’s argument, was in two minds at FPOL: “I actually disagree with the idea that we should put money towards it even though I will vote for it. I have this difficulty that I respect people’s right to either not have a position to the voice to parliament or oppose it. He agreed with Cr Vujcic and Fedele Carmada that someone else should pay for it.
6PR morning presenter Gary Adshead said he supported giving Aboriginal Australians recognition in the constitution, but local councils should not be spending ratepayers to promote a yes or no campaign.
“I don’t need to be told at a local government level how to think the Fremantle council thinks otherwise,” he said before introducing Cr Vujcic to the program.
“Using ratepayers to only have a one-sided conversation is not helpful and not within our local government remit,” she said. “It is so un-Australian.”
6PR afternoon presenter Oliver Peterson said the City should not stick its nose into issues beyond rates, roads and rubbish and believes every councillor should be made to publicly declare the political party they belonged to.