King’s Square Art Installation
The Fremantle Society summarises its position on the important proposal for King’s Square for $1.4 million of rocks up to 2 metres high to deliberately be placed to obliterate the Christian heritage of King’s Square.
Aboriginal art is important but it is being used in KIng’s Square as a weapon to divide, no bring people together:
Last year the Fremantle Society successfully took legal action against Mayor Fitzhardinge after defamatory comments she made against us at a reconciliation conference. We had simply asked for a balanced approach by council to the 2029 Bicentenary.
Fremantle Council it would seem is still pursuing a divisive reconciliation policy, with its proposal to deliberately put $1.4 million worth of large rocks for an Aboriginal artwork encroaching on church land and on top of a listed heritage site, the site of the former St. John’s Church clearly outlined in the paving.
The confronting project is one culture building on top of another culture, and cannot be allowed to happen.
The church and the Fremantle Society support Aboriginal art, but not in this location.
Reconciliation and preparation for the 2029 Bicentenary, (which council and the state government refuse to engage the community on), should aim to bring people together, not divide them.
Council has already divided the community when a council committee led by Cr Fitzhardinge changed the name of King’s Square to Walyalup, the name for an extinct deceased kangaroo-rat that used to inhabit a wide area north and south of the river. At the very least there should have been dual naming, and the Fremantle Society seeks that. Council has also recently changed the name of Arthur Head to Wadgemup with no community consultation.
The church feels aggrieved at the attitude of council staff in dealing with the church who own half the former square and allow free public use there, in return for an annual rent since 1926 of six pence a year. There are 6 car bays on church land for sole use by the church, but council staff regularly park there and have refused to move their vehicles when asked. Council regularly encroaches onto church land with events without permission, and once, when asked to move something off church land, the Fremantle Council staff member retorted: “This is not church land, it is Aboriginal land!”
When council was destroying the only town square in Western Australia with its $70 million administration building they said would cost only $42 million, they tried to remove from the square the statue of Hughie Edwards, the nations’s most highly decorated soldier, because he represented a dead white male. That was despite the statue being sited on church land. The Fremantle Society got the RSL into action and the statue is still there.
The Catholic Church down High Street with Notre Dame University has a powerful positive presence, occupying 46 buildings, and bringing 7,000 students into town. The Anglican Church have historically had an important and positive influence in Fremantle, especially in early years, founding a school for Aboriginal children way back in 1842, but losing much of their land, including Victoria Hall, which they built in 1896 as their Parish Hall. They need to get it back for a community space, as the current owner, Fremantle Council, cannot afford to keep it. The Fremantle Society suggests the church seek funds to buy it as a Bicentennial project.
It is heartening to see St. John’s Church stand up for themselves. The last thing we want is for the church to be bullied out of existence, so that in ten years’ time it becomes just a museum.
Hear the President, John Dowson speaking on ABC radio on May 25 2026 about the Kings Square art installation here. Start audio at the 1hr 45 min mark
PARKING NEWS FROM 5 YEARS AGO
JUNE BODDY BEQUEST
In 2026, the Fremantle Society was honoured to receive a bequest from the late June Boddy to support its work in preserving Fremantle. The current president of the Society, Mr John Dowson, spoke at June’s funeral in 2021 and the text of his speech is reprinted below. Further information on June is available here.
June Boddy JP Funeral Tuesday May 25, 2021
I remember June when I got on Council in 1996. There were then three councillors for each ward, for three years, making a council chamber of 18 councillors and a mayor.
June was charming. She was engaging. She always seemed to be smiling or laughing, though not through the tedious council meetings.
This 1994 Notice Paper from the Dowson collection of useless objects gives some idea of the enormous amount of material June had to read and digest each week as a local councillor. And, I have not one but two copies here of a Strategic Planning Agenda from 1997 (her last year on Council) featuring as the very first item a motion by Cr Boddy for a review of R code densities with a view to restricting infill housing. Because, June considered “The character and quality of life in Fremantle is being severely impacted upon by infill. There has been a reduction of gardens, curtilage, traditional family housing and loss of visual privacy.” She was always a fighter for amenity, and heritage.
But of course June had been on Council already for 20 years, when she joined Don Whittington in Hilton Ward in 1976, and, who, like June and me, have been Presidents of the Fremantle Society at some time.
In 1979, when June became President of the Fremantle Society, a role I now hold, June was interviewed by the Fremantle Gazette.
She said: “The Society isn’t just involved with the built environment. It has a very broad base. The arts, planning, support for small traders, oral history, photographic records – they all come within our charter”
“A paid secretariat would seem to be the next step, and we’re working towards our first real headquarters.”
“Preservation and development can go together. It just needs care.”
Being on Council and President of the Fremantle Society, she was busy: “The dog tends to get 10 minute walks instead of an hour and the garden has to look after itself sometimes. But I love fixing up my house, playing a little golf and getting involved in the arts. It’s a full life.”
June also was very keen on bowls and her five years as president of the Fremantle Bowls Club were marked not only by winning an award as the best sporting club in WA under 140 members, but by the way she recognised the efforts of others and encouraged people.
June was President of the Fremantle Society 1979-1980
The big issue for June as President of the FS was the closure of the railway line to Perth. June was prominent in marches and protest meetings along with the Federal Member for Fremantle John Dawkins who she met while walking her dog in Fremantle Park, and who tried to get June and the Fremantle Society to support Labor candidates in Fremantle Council elections. That June refused to do, and it resulted in the Labor Party targeting Fremantle Society members running in local ward elections. June herself was targeted in 1979 in Hilton when union organiser Clive Hughes ran against her, and he lost because June was seen as independent and a good person.
She most certainly was both. What an independent, and successful woman she has been.
June Hutchison, who is here today, spoke at June’s 1997 farewell from council stating that she worked with “no finer elected member” and that June was “a significant stabilising force over all those years”, showing “admirable integrity, strength and consistency”.
June never lost her interest in the people and places of Fremantle. She was a good advocate and a good supporter of all things agreeable about our town.
June was positive, full of fun and light, and gave to her community a great deal more than she took. I wish there were more like her.
John Dowson
President
The Fremantle Society
references:
Fighting for Fremantle The Fremantle Society Story by Ron and Dianne Davidson, 2010
Fremantle Local History Library courtesy Stewart Alger:
a) Farewell to Councillor June Boddy 28 August 1997 B/Boddy, June
b) Interview with Fremantle Gazette 1979
Comments from Ruth Levett and Don Whittington
CURTAIN CALL FOR FREMANTLE THEATRE ICON AS 60-YEAR LEGACY AT RISK
A cornerstone of Fremantle’s arts community for more than six decades is facing closure with Harbour Theatre deciding its future at a critical annual general meeting on April 14.
The volunteer-run company, founded in 1963 and long associated with Fremantle, will meet at Camelot Theatre in Mosman Park to determine whether it can continue operating.
Without new members, stronger support and a secure long-term pathway, the organisation may be forced to wind up – bringing an end to one of the region’s longest-running community theatre groups.
While currently based in Mosman Park, Harbour Theatre’s roots and identity remain firmly tied to Fremantle and its potential closure would leave a significant gap in the local arts landscape.
For much of its history, the company maintained an unbroken production record, staging performances, building sets and running operations entirely through volunteer effort.
But repeated venue disruptions have taken their toll. The group was originally based at Fremantle’s Evan Davies Civic Library until 1996, before moving to the Tivoli Theatre in Applecross, returning to Fremantle at the Princess May Building, then relocating again in 2010 to the Port Cineaste building.
A further forced move in 2014 saw Harbour Theatre relocate to Camelot (Mosman Park Memorial Hall), where it remains today.
The company faced another setback in 2023 when a partial ceiling collapse at Camelot halted productions. Despite repairs, only one show has been staged since in 2024.
Harbour Theatre has remained self-funded throughout its history, reinvesting proceeds from productions back into operations, with little to no ongoing support from local or State government.
In the company’s December newsletter, president Jarrod Buttery warned of a critical shortage of new members and volunteers.
“We have had no infusion of new blood or fresh interest,” he said.
“The committee currently consists of seven people – six of whom are retirees. These same seven people have been doing this for years.
“We don’t have a consistent venue. Camelot is nice but it’s not ours and it’s very busy.
“We don’t have an extensive membership like we once had. We don’t have a team of people who can keep going and going and going.
“At the AGM, we will discuss the option of winding up Harbour Theatre.
“Unless we get a massive influx of fresh enthusiasm, we cannot see Harbour Theatre continuing.”
The AGM will be held at 7pm on Tuesday, April 14 at Camelot Theatre, 16 Lochee Street, Mosman Park. Members of the public are welcome to attend.
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Mayor Seeks Stronger Heritage Protection
Mayor Attends Fremantle Society Committee Meeting
Source: Fremantle Herald 17 January 2026