AS this year’s extraordinary election season comes to an end, it’s timely that we reiterate the goals of Voices for Fremantle (V4FREO) and the role it has played. 

There appears to be some confusion around this community-powered group, so let us begin at the beginning.

Origins

V4FREO began in June 2024 with a small group of local residents who were frustrated about the apparent disconnect between the values and ambitions of the Freo community and the actions of our political representatives. 

Inspired by the successes of the Community Independent / ‘Voices’ movement across the country, they set up V4FREO along similar nonpartisan lines. 

The founders, far from being secretive, launched the group and its objectives on the front cover of the Fremantle Herald on September 21. 

Self-funded press advertising began that same week, as did social media publicity, driving enquiries and sign-ups via the group’s website. 

V4FREO began regularly taking a stall at the Freo Farmer’s Market in Beaconsfield. 

The goal was to maximise the group’s visibility so as to drive participation, collect community insights, build understanding of Community Independents and eventually attract prospective candidates.

In keeping with the Community Independent model, V4FREO organised ‘kitchen table conversations’ and doorknocks around the electorate to canvas views and understand the community’s key priorities. 

Given the state election would be first cab off the rank, the state electorate was the focus of activity.

State and federal elections

Based on the insights gathered from the community, the group developed a set of personal attributes for an independent member for Fremantle, to assess potential candidates. 

True to the nonpartisan Community Independent ethos, key among those attributes was having no affiliation with any political party.

Voices for Fremantle is explicitly not a political party – indeed, it is opposed to party platforms being imposed on communities. 

So, while policy priority areas were also drawn from the community conversations, these were to be provided to a candidate solely as guidance – as an independent, their platform would be for them to decide.

Discreet discussions were had with a number of prospective candidates during 2024, some proposed within the group and others by the Freo community (via online survey, in-person, etc). 

It wasn’t until the Christmas break that Kate Hulett stepped forward.

Kate more than met the criteria for a strong independent candidate and, after a formal interview process, V4FREO was delighted to endorse her.

Kate established her own formal campaign organisation – separate from V4FREO – and with that the Voices group effectively went into hibernation, having achieved its first goal of identifying an independent candidate for Fremantle in the state election.

Many volunteers from V4FREO signed up to work for Kate’s campaign, bringing their experience from the previous six months canvassing the electorate, and they were joined by a great many more supporters once Kate’s campaign got underway.

Famously, a whirlwind eight-week campaign saw Kate very nearly unseat the Labor incumbent in the state election, demonstrating how effective a community-led independent candidate can be in a ‘safe seat’. 

When the dust cleared, pressure mounted for Freo’s independent to take her campaign national, and another four weeks of frantic campaigning almost won her the federal seat.

A Community Independent campaign transformed Fremantle from Labor’s third safest federal seat to its third most marginal, along the way exciting unprecedented citizen engagement with politics and highlighting critical issues the community wants addressed.

The local election

The primary aim of V4FREO has always been to achieve better, more responsive political representation for the community, at every level of government.

As this year’s local government elections approached, the group decided to promote participation in the Fremantle mayoral election by calling for nominations of independent candidates, and this was done via press advertising and social media.

The aim was to attract the broadest possible field of candidates and to encourage voting.

V4FREO did not endorse any mayoral candidates.

Fremantle is a highly engaged electorate, and motivated V4FREO volunteers individually chose to support multiple (and sometimes competing) local government candidates within and outside the region – reflecting the group’s independent and diverse nature. 

After another intense election campaign, we congratulate the new mayor and the new and returning councillors, and wish them the best in their vitally important role representing our unique community.

The future

Voices for Fremantle remains committed to improving our politics, and ensuring all voices in Freo are heard. 

To that end, the group will continue to grow its community, promote active participation in politics, and periodically gather the views of residents to provide a reality check for our representatives.

After a very intense year, V4FREO is taking a break to reflect and regroup in 2026. 

Volunteers across Voices and Kate for Fremantle campaigns have been gathering to share feedback, lessons and ideas to guide the next steps.

V4FREO will also continue to connect with other ‘Voices’ groups from around the state and across the country to share insights on achieving our goal of genuine community representation.

Fremantle residents are encouraged to learn more, ask questions and perhaps get involved in the project at voicesforfremantle.org