‘SISTERS’ ARE DOIN’ IT FOR THEMSELVES

‘Junket’: An extravagant, expensive and unnecessary trip or celebration enjoyed by a government official at public expense.

JET-setting Fremantle mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge and councillor Ingrid van Dorssen will fly to Italy, Portugal and Croatia on a $20,000-plus junket to visit ‘sister cities’ the council has ghosted for nearly a decade.
The City of Cockburn last year abandoned plans to send a $114,000 delegation of up to four elected members to Split and the island of Korcula in Croatia.
The City of Rockingham with only one sister city relationship with Ako in Japan copped a ratepayer backlash when in 2018 councillors approved a delegation costing more than $25,000 and the City of Albany in 2023 decided to review its program and how it should end its various sister city relationships.
Cr Fitzhardinge and van Dorssen’s ‘official’ European vacation from April 27 to May 11 will do wonders for the City’s frequent flyer program following the mayor and CEO Glen Dougall’s two-week $28,200 Aukus visit to the US in September last year and visits to Canberra last year to attract funding for Fremantle Oval.
“What a waste of ratepayer money,” Fremantle Society John Dowson told StreetWise. “Going to Canberra three times with no result on a wild goose chase for money to build an obscene nine-storey affordable housing project on Fremantle Oval. Add that to what the Aukus trip cost, that was paid for by ratepayers yet it’s listed in the City’s gift register.
“The board of the Perth South West Metropolitan Alliance gave the City a ‘gift’ for the US trip. But it’s ratepayers who fund that group which consists of six councils.
“The mayor and CEO sit on the board. She voted herself $14,100 (and CEO $14,100).”
Mr Dowson wants to know whether Fremantle is getting bang for its buck from its mayor and why the City unlike other local governments in WA did not have a ‘wish list’ for candidates in the state and federal elections.
“Is the mayor doing a good job? She’ll probably run for mayor in October. What is Fremantle getting with her advocacy or lack of advocacy? Where is her report on the Aukus and Canberra trips?”
He said the mayor will continue to receive her council stipend of at least $3000 a week while away with Cr van Dorseen, her itinerary expanded to include an extra week for herself.
Given ratepayers fund the sister cities program in which the City places “great value”, why not drop into Freo’s first sister city of Seberang Perai, Malaysia (1978) or Yokosuka, Japan (1979)?
Former mayor Brad Pettitt visited Seberang Perai in 2018 before COVID-19. Mayor Fitzhardinge visited Capo d’Orlando on a private visit in 2017.
A delegation from Capo d’Orlando, Sicily, visited Fremantle in 2018 and in October 2024. Last year, Cr Fedele Camarda also visited Molfetta, Italy, during a family holiday at no cost to ratepayers.

Sisters revisited

COUNCILS in Australia have established more than 260 sister city agreements since 1978. WA has 58 sisters represented by 21 local governments including Fremantle.
According to Sister Cities Australia Inc., these ‘twinning’ arrangements have been around since the first recorded Western link in 836AD between Paderborn, Germany, and Le Mans, France.
US president Dwight Eisenhower’s People to People program began in America in 1956 to boost the concept of twinned cities.
“World affairs continually change however the one constant is the wonderful relationships forged over many years by so many diverse communities to work together in peace and harmony,” SCA president Bill Wilson said in 2019. “When there have been disasters, regardless of where, Sister Cities partners have always been there to provide assistance and I cannot see that ever changing.”
The economic impact and value of sister cities is difficult to measure due to an inability to quantify economic activities between partners including student exchanges, tourism and trade.
Cockburn ditched its planned $114,000 jaunt and agreed to review the City’s sister and friendship city programs.
“Establishing and monitoring such relationships are costly and the outcomes for the community are difficult to measure,” Cr Tarun Dewan told council. “The time, effort and investment in maintaining sister city relationships could be redirected towards other initiatives that offer benefits to the community.”
In response, the City issued a public statement: “Cockburn Council has listened to its community. While cost of living pressures are affecting all communities, CounciI endorsed the deferral of the delegation, for determination at a later date. As a Council, we continue to focus on what we have always done best, and that is to deliver on the community’s priorities of providing low rates, amazing facilities and a huge range of free or low-cost services.”
Rates, roads and rubbish.