Police responded with urgency to a call reporting an alleged forced entry and lockdown at the City of Mandurah council building last year, only to find that the incident was a misunderstanding fueled by a mistaken emergency report from an off-site council employee.
The call was made at 2:44 p.m. on April 4, 2025, by a City of Mandurah employee who was located more than 60 kilometers away in Fremantle, roughly an hour’s drive north of Mandurah. The caller told triple-0 that approximately 30 people had forcibly entered the council’s administration building during a protest, prompting the dispatch system to log a Priority 2 emergency. This triggered a significant police response as officers raced through Mandurah during school pick-up times.
Upon arrival, police discovered no breach or disturbance. Instead, they found no sign of forced entry or lockdown, but a peaceful gathering that included 82-year-old local activist Ivy Bennell and about 15 supporters. Bennell, who uses a manual wheelchair, had entered the council foyer calmly just minutes before, arriving to deliver a letter protesting a controversial council plan to reserve a significant portion of Hall Park for a proposed 650-seat pub.
The pub development has become a contentious issue in Mandurah, sparking opposition from local residents, including Bennell and her group, who emphasize the area's cultural significance and the desire to maintain it as a peaceful, alcohol-free public space. Bennell and supporters reportedly sang the chorus of “I Am Australian,” a song favored by Bennell, as a form of peaceful protest, which the council reportedly characterized as loud and intimidating.
The controversy has escalated political tensions, placing Premier Roger Cook in a challenging position as he weighs whether to continue backing the pub plan—a component of the government’s broader craft brewing strategy aiming to triple production by 2034—or to reconsider in light of growing local opposition. Labor MP Rhys Williams, formerly Mandurah’s mayor, had previously praised the project as “visionary and iconic,” while opposition voices and some former officials, such as Kim Hames, a former MP and Aboriginal affairs minister, oppose the plan, citing its impact on the cultural and historical significance of Hall Park, which Bennell notes was historically a Noongar birthing ground.
The City of Mandurah has declined to clarify why the emergency call was made by an off-site employee, whether a supervisor instructed the call, or what prompted the reported severity of the incident. Bennell expressed sympathy for the employee, a former police officer, suggesting he was acting under direction from higher-ups.
Former Western Australia police commissioner Karl O’Callaghan criticized the incident as an unnecessary misuse of police resources and potentially dangerous, given the disproportionate emergency response to a peaceful protest. He noted that such escalations reflect a growing trend of institutional over-reactions to community demonstrations, a shift from policing practices two decades ago.
The episode has intensified debate around the pub development project and highlights wider community concerns about government responsiveness and respect for local heritage and protest rights in Mandurah.