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Steve Grant:
PASSIONATE AND PROUD TO THE END
25 August 2023
Fremantle Herald '
TRIBUTES have flowed for former Fremantle councillor and citizen of the year June Hutchison, who died last week aged 96.
Ms Hutchison and her late husband David were at the heart of Fremantle’s civic life for decades, sitting on countless committees and providing considered advice to a generation of politicians.
Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said Ms Hutchison had made an “extraordinary contribution” as an active citizen, volunteer and community campaigner and was a role model for many.
Mentor
“She was a valued, passionate and proud member of our community.
“She gave so much of her time to so many groups and causes, and her opinions were greatly respected,” Ms Fitzhardinge said, adding her counsel was always “fair, firm and very determined”.
Ms Hutchison was born in the Great Southern sheep town of Tambellup in 1927 and moved to Fremantle 50 years ago.
Ms Fitzhardinge said she had an immediate impact on the city, which had just learned it was to host the next America’s Cup and was about to undergo its biggest transformation in a century. Within three years Ms Hutchison had been elected to council and soon after was nominated chair of the planning and development committee.
It was during her time on council that committee meetings were finally opened to the public. Transparency was one of her hallmarks and years later she was one of the key players who ushered in the city’s groundbreaking precinct system, taking the role of convenor of the South City Precinct for several years.
“A teacher and librarian, June served as president of the School Library Association and chair of both the Fremantle Library Advisory Committee and the Fremantle Arts Centre Press as it was then,” Ms Fitzhardinge said.
“She was a strong advocate for local heritage and was a member if the Fremantle History Society for many years.
“She was passionate about social inclusion, social justice and progressive change, co-founding the Fremantle Justice Group in 1993.”
Ms Hutchison was named Fremantle Citizen of the Year in 1999.
Simone McGurk:
Vale June Hutchison OAM.
A tireless and tenacious advocate, June devoted her life to serving the folks of Freo.
June was an active member of the Freo branch well into her 90s, and brought with her considerable experience as a former teacher, librarian, Freo Councillor, and had an unwavering belief in the power of good people.
Clever, kind and community minded - we’ll miss June in our Freo Labor family.
Rest in peace, June.
Photo by Steve Grant via the Fremantle Herald.
References and Links
Hutchison, Jane, Betty McGeever & Kristi McNulty, 'Vale June Hutchison', FHS [[../fhs/newsletter/2023-11.pdf|Newsletter]], Spring 2023.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 31 August, 2023 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/hutchisonjune.html (it was last updated on 9 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.