Mr Hedges spoke to the boys, including his Year 5 son John, about the role of local government. Under the council’s role in town planning, he talked about how the council implemented paid parking within Fremantle to try and stop cars coming into the city. He also explained how the mayor and councillors were elected and how he, personally, had marketed himself and to what demographic.

Year 5 teacher Megan Kennedy said the visit from Mr Hedges tied in with the Society and Environment studies the boys had been doing, which had specifically involved looking at issues within local government.

“The boys really enjoyed talking to someone who had actual experience within local government,” Miss Kennedy said. “They were interested to hear that most local councils were run in the same way and were also interested in the fact that the mayor was elected separately to the councillors. And of course they thought it was cool that Mr Hedges was related to one of the boys.”

From this, the boys are now investigating their own topic in their local government area.