LAST  Wednesday was the last Fremantle Council meeting for Cr Rachel Pemberton, Cr Su Groome and Cr Bryn Jones, as they resigned, after giving so much of their valuable time to our community.

There are three other councillors whose term expires, but they are up for re-election, so I don’t want to put the mocker on them by also thanking them for their contribution.

Those who really step up in our society very rarely get thanks and kudos for it. 

The main media instead likes to focus on the irrelevance and lack of substance of so-called influencers, or the partners of those who professionally kick or hit balls.

Influencers

Supposedly that makes these wives famous and worth reporting about.

When they make cult heroes out of criminal bikies, one has to seriously question the journalistic integrity of our media.

That brings me back to the good people, those who really contribute to our communities and society, those who volunteer for many years, but don’t get any articles written about them, or air time on radio or TV. 

They are taken for granted, as our local councillors are.

Instead of receiving thanks, Cr Pemberton was relentlessly criticised by those who claimed that as a Greenie she was only about ideology. 

Those who observed Cr Pemberton on council, though, appreciated her as one of our best performing councillors; someone with a lot of good ideas, who was realistic and pragmatic. 

And yes – Heaven forbid! – she also believed that we need to look after the planet we live on much better. 

Cr Pemberton was never a one-eyed, blinkered councillor, contrary to those who simply did not appreciate her efforts because she is a member of the Greens. 

According to her opponents and critics, when you are a member of the Greens you are only about ideology, but when you support the Liberal party you allegedly have no ideology. 

Yes, pigs do fly in politics. Could it not simply be that they all believe in the ideology of democracy?

Crs Bryn Jones and Su Groom also were people who greatly contributed, but received a lot less criticism than Cr Pemberton. 

Both Cr Jones and Cr Groome always had well-considered arguments, were open-minded to change, and did not hold back when speaking their mind passionately. 

Cr Jones was specifically good as chair of the Planning Committee.

On October 21 the Fremantle community will have voted for at least two new councillors, and might re-elect some of the three who have renominated.

Perform

It is up to us to decide if we believe a new member will perform better than those who already contributed, so will we see the return of Cr Frank Mofflin, Cr Geoff Graham and Cr Marija Vujcic, or will they be kicked out? 

Whatever the outcome, they too deserve our thanks for stepping up and serving their community.

What we should all learn from the nastiness in politics, especially during the Voice referendum debate, is that we need to have more respect for opposing views. 

Our political opponents, or those who have a different opinion, are not our enemies. We are not at war with each other, we just disagree!

So from me personally, Thank you so much Rachel Pemberton, Su Groome and Bryn Jones. 

May your future be bright and full of love! Freo owes you!

Roel Loopers/Freoview