Western Australian councils and local government

  • WA council candidates discuss Roe 8 and Outer Harbour proposals

    Two important issues facing residents in Fremantle and its surrounds are the proposed Roe 8 highway extension and new container facility at Kwinana Outer Harbour. һƷ̽ Weekly’s Janet Parker spoke to four progressive candidates contesting council elections on October 19 about them.

  • Can council be a voice for change?

    һƷ̽ Weekly’s Janet Parker spoke to four progressive candidates running for City of Fremantle and nearby City of Cockburn councils about their views on local government and campaign priorities.

  • Fremantle Council backs Newstart rise

    Fremantle City Council agreed on May 23 to support a rise in the federal government’s Newstart Allowance paid to unemployed jobseekers, becoming the first local government in Western Australia to adopt this position.

  • Socialist re-elected to Fremantle council

    The Fremantle local council elections on October 21 pitted largely conservative challengers against progressive incumbents, including Socialist Alliance member Sam Wainwright and Greens Mayor Brad Pettitt, both of whom had come under fire for the council’s decision to not celebrate Australia Day on January 26.

    Both were returned with 55% of the vote, with progressive candidates defeating conservative opponents in all wards. һƷ̽ Weekly spoke to Wainwright about the outcome

  • Socialist councillor on challenges facing Fremantle council

    The decision by the City of Fremantle to drop its annual Australia Day fireworks has inevitably shaped the contours of the looming council elections, even though no candidate has made it the centrepiece of their campaign.

    The election is largely pitting a generally socially progressive group of incumbents of different political stripes (Labor, Greens, socialist and independents) against an alliance of conservative challengers headed by mayoral candidate Caroline “Ra” Stewart.

  • Perth Council bans balloons to save wildlife

    Cottesloe Council in WA has prohibited the use of air or helium filled balloons at events approved or run by the council. Once released into the air, balloons can drift for hundreds of kilometres, or rise into the stratosphere where they burst and return to earth in a spaghetti-like shape. As “airborne litter”, balloons then end up in waterways and the ocean. Terrestrial and marine animals mistake balloons for food and swallow them or get entangled in the string attached. This can lead to the loss of a limb or even to the death of turtles, whales, dolphins, dugongs or seabirds.

  • What's on һƷ̽ TV

    2015’s most pressing issues in 2015 GLTV team, Anna and Andry, asked participants at the Socialist Alliance National Conference held Sydney in June what they see as the most pressing issues of the day. They captured their thoughts in this video. Perth Freight Link: Fremantle council tells premier where to go!