District-minded people: Astbury family’s 60 continuous years of service celebrated in Wickepin

The Wickepin community has come together to celebrate the work of the Astbury family who have contributed 60 continuous years of service to the region on the council. The dynasty began on May 25, 1963, when John Astbury was elected to represent the South Ward and it continues today with Wes Astbury serving as deputy president of the Shire of Wickepin. John Astbury’s son Dave Astbury OAM, who served on the council from 1997-2013, said the family’s dedication to local government originates from an urge to be heard. “Harrismith is about 45km away from Wickepin, we were a bit of a forgotten area in the Shire so we had to come over here to represent the place,” he said. “That was the old days when the wards were around, it was called the South Ward and it was the biggest ward in the Shire. “It was always a bit of a competition between Tincurrin and Harrismith, we had to talk pretty loud to get a hearing. We got the jump on them because we had the bitumen road to Harrismith a long time before Tincurrin.” Dave Astbury said that relocating the Albert Facey Homestead into the Wickepin townsite in 2000 was one of the highlights of his tenure. “That was a big thing to have it in town and that sort of thing doesn’t happen so much now,” he said. “The farms have got bigger and there’s less people around to involve themselves in what’s going on.” John Astbury’s grandson, former Shire of Wickepin president and now Liberal Member for the Agricultural Region Steve Martin, opened the celebration. “On May 25, 1963, John Astbury was elected to the South Ward around three months after I was born, so for my entire life there’s been an Astbury on the Wickepin Shire Council, at times a couple at once,” he said. “Being around the Astbury’s as often as I was as a kid, you do learn the ability to tell a story and to make a speech. “The Astburys have always been able to convince people of their points of view and make a strong point of view, and I certainly learnt that on the Shire council serving with them.” Mr Martin joined the council in 2001 and he thanked then-deputy president Ted Astbury for giving him an opportunity to serve the community as president, a role he held for 10 years after being elected in 2005. Following a speech from Freeman of the Shire of Wickepin Murray Lang, Wes Atsbury’s father, former councillor Bill Astbury, addressed the crowd. “Dad was always very community-minded,” he said. “To have a small community you’ve got to have district-minded people and I think that has flowed through all of us lot, that we’ve to contribute somewhere along the line.”