Draft:Marcus Burnett


Marcus Burnett is a British-born Australian community advocate, independent lobbyist, and volunteer emergency services member based in the City of Cockburn, Western Australia. He is the founder and president of the Voice of Cockburn Association (VOCA), a community safety and advocacy organisation established in November 2025, and stood as a candidate in the 2025 City of Cockburn local government elections. He is married with three children.

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    1. Background

Burnett was born and raised in England before emigrating to Western Australia in 2013. He has built a professional career spanning more than 20 years in the gas, oil and water industry.

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Community advocacy

Voice of Cockburn Association

Burnett founded the Voice of Cockburn Association (VOCA) in November 2025, serving as its inaugural president. VOCA operates as a community safety and advocacy group focused on issues of crime, anti-social behaviour, homelessness, and public safety within the City of Cockburn and the broader Perth metropolitan area.[^1] His public advocacy for mental health contributed to the reinstatement of mental health attachés to police forces, starting with a trial rollout in the east metropolitan area.

The association has organised public community forums on safety issues, including a crime forum held at Len Packham Reserve in Coolbellup in February 2026, convened in response to a significant incident of youth violence involving weapons in the suburb.[^3] VOCA has also established a metropolitan-wide communication network relating to crime and community safety. This has been one of many forums he has held in various communities since 2022, addressing specific crime and safety issues in their areas.

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Beeliar Drive rail bridge campaign

One of Burnett's prominent early advocacy campaigns concerned dangerous antisocial behaviour at a rail bridge over Beeliar Drive in Cockburn. As VOCA president, he raised public awareness of incidents in which individuals — including children as young as seven and eight — climbed the rail bridge to drop heavy objects including paving slabs, stones and other debris onto passing vehicles. Burnett documented near-misses, liaised with rail operator Arc and Cockburn MLA David Scaife, and publicly called for physical barriers to be installed at the site.[^1][^4]

The campaign attracted coverage in the *Fremantle Herald* and on 6PR radio, where Burnett appeared on the *6PR Breakfast* programme to voice community frustration over the lack of action by local authorities.[^4]

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Homelessness advocacy

In early 2026, Burnett — having personally attended multiple bushfire incidents caused by homeless campers in Cockburn's bushland reserves while on duty with his volunteer brigade — moved a motion at Cockburn's electors' Annual General Meeting calling on the City to produce a formal homelessness action plan. The motion was adopted unanimously.[^6]

Burnett argued that local government could no longer defer responsibility on the issue to the state government alone, and that a council-led action plan would at minimum begin a coordinated conversation among relevant agencies and stakeholders. He cited specific incidents including a fire at a reserve in Success in December 2025, where a homeless man's campfire had spread significantly, and a separate incident involving a family with three young children living at Milgun Reserve in Yangebup.[^6]

The City of Cockburn subsequently confirmed ongoing engagement with Voice of Cockburn on community development matters, with Burnett also writing to Mayor Logan Howlett urging the City to prioritise youth engagement services in Coolbellup.[^7]

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Change.org petition

Burnett initiated a Change.org petition calling for ministerial action against crime in Cockburn, as part of broader efforts to direct state government attention toward community safety in the area.[^8]

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    1. 2025 City of Cockburn local government election

Burnett stood as a candidate for Central Ward at the 2025 City of Cockburn Ordinary Local Government Election, held on 18 October 2025. The Central Ward contest attracted eight candidates for two available seats. Burnett received 1,775 first-preference votes and, following distribution of preferences, accumulated 2,224 votes at the final count — narrowly finishing third behind Chontelle Stone (2,738) and Philip Eva (2,380), who were declared elected. Burnett was named as the first candidate in the backfill order by the Returning Officer.[^9]

During the campaign, Burnett spoke publicly about the need for greater council engagement with sporting clubs and community groups, equitable facilities for women at local sports clubs, and reducing factionalism within the council.[^10] He reported that more than half of his election signage was damaged, destroyed, or stolen within 48 hours of being placed.[^10]

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Volunteer and community roles

Burnett is a volunteer member of the **South Coogee Bushfire Brigade**, having attended multiple active fires in Cockburn's bushland reserves. He is also a board member of the **Beeliar Primary School Board**.[^11]

He has been nominated on multiple occasions for the Cockburn Volunteer Awards, an annual programme administered by the City of Cockburn that recognises outstanding contributions by volunteers and community organisations within the municipality.[^12]

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Media coverage

Burnett has been featured in multiple local and metropolitan media outlets, including the *Fremantle Herald*, 6PR radio (*6PR Breakfast* with Millsy and Karl), and television news coverage by Seven, Nine and Ten News Perth. His advocacy work has also been referenced in formal correspondence published by the City of Cockburn.[^3][^4][^6][^7]

References

[^1]: "Bridge hoons rock residents", *Fremantle Herald Interactive*, 8 August 2025. https://heraldonlinejournal.com/2025/08/08/bridge-hoons-rock-residents/ [^3]: "Machete prompts forum call", *Fremantle Herald Interactive*, 20 February 2026. https://heraldonlinejournal.com/2026/02/20/machete-prompts-forum-call/ [^4]: "Community frustration grows as rock-throwing at cars continues", 6PR, 8 October 2024. https://www.6pr.com.au/community-frustration-grows-as-rock-throwing-at-cars-continues/ [^6]: "Fired up for action", *Fremantle Herald Interactive*, 6 February 2026. https://heraldonlinejournal.com/2026/02/06/fired-up-for-action/ [^7]: "The City's youth service provision in Coolbellup", City of Cockburn, 28 March 2026. https://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/City-and-Council/Events-and-News/Media-Releases-and-Responses/Responses-to-media/2026/The-City-s-youth-service-provision-in-Coolbellup, [^8]: Change.org petition — Ministerial Action Against Crime in Cockburn. https://www.chang.org/p/ministerial-action-against-crime-in-cockburn [^9]: City of Cockburn, 2025 Ordinary Local Government Election Results. https://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/Local-Government-Election-Results [^10]: "Cockburn 'too divided'", *Fremantle Herald Interactive*, 10 October 2025. https://heraldonlinejournal.com/2025/10/10/cockburn-too-divided/ [^11]: Beeliar Primary School — School Board. https://beeliarps.wa.edu.au/our-school/school-board/ [^12]: Cockburn Volunteer Awards, City of Cockburn. https://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/Community/Volunteering/Cockburn-Volunteer-Awards

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