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Fremantle Herald Official, Fremantle (2025)

17/12/2025

It's been quite the journey – from cow pats and tractors on a Wheatbelt farm to A listers and quinoa wraps in Los Angeles.

Shelley Q grew up in Highbury, about 20 minutes from Narrogin, but now plies her trade as an actress and singer in the City of Angels.

She broke through to fame in the US social media thriller '1 Million Followers' (Amazon Prime and Apple TV), after responding to a worldwide casting call.

Now she’s turning heads in the music world, her singles 'The Stand' and 'Run to the Moon' getting international radio play.

Recently she’s teamed up with award-winning French jazz violinist and composer Scott Tixier, who’s performed with Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Adele, Pink Floyd, Beyoncé, Hans Zimmer, and Jon Batiste.

“We met in April/May 2024—I discovered a video of Shelley singing a cover of a French song on Instagram (Dalida’s Paroles Paroles) and I privately messaged her, I fell in love with her voice,” Tixier says.

“We started working on music together online, and after four weeks of FaceTimes and Zooms, she took a 30-hour flight to meet me in Cabo Mexico, where I was attending a friend’s wedding.

“It was our first date. We fell in love.”

The Scott Tixier Quartet featuring Shelley Q is at the Duke of George, East Fremantle tonight (Wednesday December 17) at 7:30pm. Tix at moshtix.com.au.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/ya7p5vcm.

16/12/2025

Fremantle’s docks were buzzing as 10 Clipper Round the World yachts glided in after being thrashed across the Roaring Forties, bringing home a swag of salt-streaked Aussies.

Among them is Perth engineer Colin Thomson, who signed up for the race when life needed “a change and… some excitement”. With no sailing experience before training, he admits he couldn’t wait to see home rise over the horizon — “Returning to home is all about the beers and the beaches!”

The fleet’s arrival gives locals a rare chance to nose around these stripped back ocean racers. Free public tours run December 16-17, 10am–6pm, letting visitors clamber below deck, test a winch, or take the helm.

A Discovery Talk at Fremantle Sailing Club follows on 18 December 18, before the fleet heads back out on December 21 at noon for the next leg to Airlie Beach.

15/12/2025

At least 100 children will be sleeping in tents, cars or temporary shelters in the Fremantle region over Christmas, says St Pat’s CEO Michael Piu.

Since launching their Family Support Program last month, the Freo Community Support Centre has been inundated with requests for help and is already at capacity.

“Sadly we have seen a growing number of people, particularly families, facing homelessness this year,” Piu says.

“With the news that Perth has been named the most unaffordable city for renters for the second-year running, we predict demand will only increase in the new year.

“The impact of homelessness on a child’s development cannot be overstated, both immediate and long-term, so our biggest concern is finding them and their families a safe, appropriate place to call home as soon as possible.”

The good news is that St Pat’s has lots of support for folk doing it tough over the festive period.

They’ll be serving about 400 Christmas lunches, distributing around 500 Christmas Hampers, and holding their popular Christmas Party on December 17 at St Patrick’s Parish Hall.

Their Christmas Appeal is well underway (you can donate at donate.stpats.com.au) and its community centre will be open on Christmas and Boxing Days, providing meals and a friendly chat.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/2kj7mzx6.

13/12/2025

Blood is in the water in East Fremantle, with moves to complete a merger between the men’s and women’s footy teams being held up by a dispute over life memberships.

Although the women have been playing under East Freo’s banner four the last four years, they still technically have their own board and constitution.

The dispute flared prior to the club’s AGM on Wednesday, when the East Fremantle Women’s Football Club raised their beef in a series of social media posts.

“If a club wanted to show inclusivity by including life members of the women’s club to an existing men’s club constitution, would it be as simple as adding a clause and having it voted on at an AGM?” one post said.

The other queried why just two players from the 2023 premiership team were still in the squad, suggesting many had left because of disillusionment.

It’s been another sticky point for Sharks CEO Adrian Bromage to negotiate after a tumultuous year of lease negotiations, board resignations, and a cash deficit.

But says things are finally starting to take shape.

Two women board members, Bianca Starcevich and Sandra Di Girolame, have stepped up this year following the departure of three directors — giving the club, Mr Bromage said, an opportunity to improve its gender balance and skillsets.

In an ideal world, he says the EFWFC would deregister and be formally recognised by the EFFC — allowing the women’s club’s life members to be acknowledged.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/ys8fcjd8.

12/12/2025

Eddy the Octopus has been recovered.

The popular statue was stolen from Fishing Boat Harbour on October 24, with the thieves sawing off a bollard after failing to pry Eddy off his home.

On Thursday Fremantle detectives announced that they’d found Eddy and had charged a Warnbro man with one count of possessing stolen property.

He was due to face Fremantle Magistrate’s court on Thursday.

It’s not the first of sculptor Greg James’s bronzes to go missing from the harbour.

His popular Bella disappeared almost exactly six years ago, and while a 40-year-old Fremantle man was convicted over her theft, the statue was likely already melted down and she had to be replaced.

James said Bella’s theft prompted calls from around the world, with thousands of people who’d stopped to snap a momento with her expressing their sorrow at her loss.

10/12/2025

Former Fremantle council senior heritage architect Ian Molyneux, who championed the city’s heritage through a time of rapid change, has died aged 81.

Born in Cottesloe on December 6, 1943 and trained in Perth, Molyneux spent time in the United Kingdom before returning to Western Australia in 1974.

Over his decades-long career, he became a key figure in heritage conservation — most notably serving as the council’s chief architect and later as chair of the Heritage Council of WA from 1991–1994.

Mr Molyneux combined a scholarly eye with passionate advocacy.

His 1981 guidebook Looking around Perth: A Guide to the Architecture of Perth and Surrounding Towns became a foundational touchstone for understanding WA’s architectural heritage — and often highlighted buildings and streetscapes of Fremantle that might otherwise have escaped wider notice.

His tenure at the council, where he was tasked with developing long-term strategic plans for the city, came at a critical time in the city’s history; many of its heritage buildings were empty and falling into disrepair as the need for warehouse space for port activities diminished, and there were strident calls to bowl them over and go modern.

Beyond writing, Mr Molyneux undertook critical conservation assessments and plans — such as documentation of early warehouse sites on Collie Street, ensuring that the layered history of Fremantle’s maritime and convict-era structures would be recorded before redevelopment.

He also contributed to heritage reports for significant precincts, including a heritage-study of Victoria Quay for the Fremantle Port Authority — underscoring his belief that Fremantle’s heritage was integral to its soul.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/9jcy922h.

09/12/2025

The Fremantle Street Kitchen and other homeless support services have been given a year’s reprieve after being told they’d have to leave their Beach Street car park site because of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge replacement.

The services have been operating from a shelter on the Public Transport Authority car park, but with the authority hoping to add more parking while the bridge is closed, it ended Fremantle council’s lease and told it to clear the site.

But earlier this week the council confirmed to the Herald that the services had been given a 12-month extension, mirroring the breathing room won for the neighbouring skate spot (“A week of backflips for skaters,” Herald, October 17, 2025).

Street kitchen volunteer Jennifer Byrne said the current set-up grew from negotiations between council and the Public Transport Authority.

“The transport department okayed the location of this.

“The council had very detailed negotiations with them at the time, so they knew it was happening, but I think they hadn’t planned for the bridge, for this extra parking at that stage.”

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/5n7keruz.

08/12/2025

Summer is here, the days are getting longer, and we’re celebrating in a big way — with a massive Herald and Perth Voice giveaway!

We’re giving readers the chance to win one of 12 x $50 dining vouchers to use at three of the area’s favourite food spots: Ruocco's Pizzeria E Ristorante, Coogee Boathouse Eats & Sips, and Om Nom Nom Pizza & Pasta Bar.

Enter here: https://wp.me/p2Np7f-GZz

08/12/2025

After more than three decades behind the limestone walls of Fremantle Prison, The Literature Centre is packing up and shifting to the State Library of WA.

CEO Elizabeth Spencer said the organisation had been based at the prison since 1992, when it was known as the Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre, but strategic planning and a golden opportunity prompted the move.

“The board were quite keen for the organisation to also evolve and change and do what it needed to do to suit more of the current environment,” she said.

Feedback from writers and illustrators also pushed them to rethink the historic prison setting, particularly given the centre’s work with First Nations creatives.

“There’s a few of those artists that actually won’t step foot inside the venue or feel uncomfortable working from here because of its history,” she said.

“Disability access here is not ideal,” Ms Spencer said, adding the prison’s heritage upkeep also meant constant maintenance.

Ms Spencer said they’d investigated a few sites around Fremantle, as the centre’s legacy in the Port City wasn’t lost on the board, but when the State Library invited expressions of interest to share a low-cost space with Writers WA, the stars “aligned”.

“We pay commercial lease rates here and it’s just not sustainable for us in the long-term.”

“There was an opportunity to be in the state library, surrounded by the art gallery, the museum… there are a lot of opportunities there for collaboration and partnerships,” she said.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/38kb3x6r.

06/12/2025

Forget about Oasis – nearly four decades after they split up, The Everett Brothers are doing a special comeback show in Fremantle on Sunday.

The band’s frontman, Freo local Les Everett, is probably best known for his excellent journalism on footy and cricket ('Fremantle Dockers an Illustrated History', 'Gravel Rash: 100 years of goldfields football') He also enjoyed a 15-year stint as the features writer at the Chook.

But before all that prose, a fresh-faced Everett wanted to be a rock star, so he started a band with his mate Stephen Coufos in Boulder, Kalgoorlie in 1978.

“We wrote songs and sang them, but none of us could play guitar or anything – we banged a few percussion instruments and blew some tea whistles and stuff,” Everett says.

“Our first gig was in 1980 at Henderson Park in Wembley. That night we played 32 original songs. Unsurprisingly, none of them are on the setlist now.”

After recruiting some other musicians and changing their name to The Everett Brothers – after his dad’s butcher shop in Boulder – the band started to hit their stride.

They became a regular fixture in sports clubs in and around Perth, and also played the Stoned Crow in North Freo, which later became Mojos Bar.

Mixing country songs, lively Elvis numbers and original material, the band put on fun, energetic shows and built up a cult following.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/3ec7vhhw.

05/12/2025

Cyclists have called on Main Roads to upgrade the “noisy, scary, intimidating” Stirling Bridge detour designed to get them in and out of Fremantle during the traffic bridge closure.

High on the list of Fremantle Bicycle Users Group suggestions is making the barrier between the traffic and the narrow dual use path higher, as they fear it’s low enough for a cyclist to get flipped into oncoming cars and trucks if there’s a collision.

The issue was discussed at a bridge forum convened by Design Freo last week.

“It’s quite a low railing and a narrow path, so it can get very crowded,” Freo BUG member Annie Matan said.

Another cyclist said he’d already bumped handlebars while passing other bikes.

Dr Matan said she’d like to see speeds reduced to 45kmh, or even as low as 30kmh to help make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Already I see youth running through the traffic,” she said.

Dr Matan said the intersection of Tydeman Road and Queen Victoria Street was also very difficult for cyclists and walkers, as moving cars was the clear priority for Main Roads.

She said there could be some “quick upgrades” to infrastructure to help two-wheelers and walkers, such as improving the lighting along the detour and installing some colourful “wombat crossings”.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/5t3r8u6m.

04/12/2025

Rachel Riggs explores the swirling relationship between the sea and femininity in her new exhibition 'Between the Devil & the Deep C'.

The ocean has played a big part in Riggs’ life – she has Maltese heritage, grew up in the English seaside town of Blackpool, and now lives beside Fremantle.

As she’s got older, her view of the idyllic seaside has changed.

“There’s a beautiful view of the flowing ocean and the views that we love, which is full of nostalgia, or a more dystopian image of how our lives are changing with the seas rising and global warming,” she says.

“And this kind of juxtaposes with a place of holiday relaxation. It’s a place of pleasure, but we also use islands to imprison people as well to detain them.”

All these salty-sweet memories bubble to the surface in the collage and large scale paper sculptures in 'Between the Devil & the Deep C'.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a sprawling installation about the “bride ship”. In 1863, 50 young women from Preston in the northwest of England were brought over to Fremantle on the ship Tartar. Their role – to become “vessels” and provide future generations for the colony.

“They were placed as soon as possible into respectable situations as wives,” Riggs says

“Many of them formed relationships on the boat with the crew and there’s a whole story about six crew members who absconded.

“Some came back to the boat, but others fought for the right to stay with the women, so they could start families and lives in WA.”

'Between the Devil & the Deep C' is at Moores Building Art Space, 46 Henry St Fremantle from December 11-21. For more info see yardworks.wordpress.com.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/4pyabfbc.

Fremantle Herald Official

17/12/2025

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