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provide advice and tips to people starting out. Other highlights include refreshments and free face painting for children. Details: Mornington Peninsula Avicultural Society’s bird sale and expo, incorporating the Victorian Zebra Finch Show, Sunday 29 May, 9.30am (bird sales 11am-2pm), State Dog Centre (KCC Park), 655 Western Port Hwy, Skye (Melway 128, J12). Details: 0428 518 646 or www.mpas.webs.com
By Mike Hast THE Mornington safe harbour, or marina, has been given the green light by Planning Panels Victoria. The independent panel, located in the state government’s Department of Planning and Community Development, released its report last week. Panel members Nick Wimbush and Chris Harty reported they had “a very difficult task in balancing the state and regional policy imperatives for a significant safe harbour with the obvious concern and passion of mostly local people for the harbour as it stands now”. They said they had considered issues and submissions in considerable detail, heard substantial expert evidence and concluded the environmental effects of the project “can be effectively managed or mitigated for most issues”. “In net community benefit terms, the inquiry concludes that overall there will be significant positive community benefit. “Subject to detailed recommendations in this report … the Mornington Safe Harbour proposal has strong policy support and should proceed.” It’s a big win for Mornington Yacht Club and its separate company, Mornington Boat Haven Ltd, but a blow for objectors including Mornington MP David Morris, Mornington Environment Association and hundreds of citi-
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zens who spoke at hearings held by the shire council in February. Mr Morris said he had been concerned about the safety of the harbour for more than 20 years, but “I’m not inclined to support a marina there”. “It is disappointing to note the panel recognised the importance of the harbour to our community, but was still prepared to support the project,” he said. “Little weight appears to have been given to legitimate environmental questions, and none at all to the very real concerns about traffic congestion both in the harbour precinct and throughout the town at peak periods.” He said it appeared the panel had assessed the proposal against “the obsolete policy framework of the former government, with little or no consideration of the impact the proposal will have on the Mornington community”. The yacht club wants to build a $19 million marina protected by a 210-metre wavescreen mounted on piles running east–west along a seven-metre depth contour. It would protect the harbour from northerly storms that have devastated the precinct twice – in 1984 and 2008. The marina would have 197 berths, a public jetty, refuelling and sewage pump-out area and associated infrastructure including a travel lift.
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All preened up with somewhere to go people attending last year”. “More than 100 Victorian and interstate breeders will be selling a large variety of Australian and exotic birds including parrots, finches, quails and doves as well as the ever-popular budgies and canaries,” he said. About 30 trade stands will offer a range of bird products such as seed and other foods, cage accessories, bird toys, aviaries, breeding boxes and artwork. Mr Rankine said bird experts would
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Cracker colours: Bird fancier Glenda is promoting the Mornington Peninsula Avicultural Society’s annual bird sale with a little help from her eclectus parrots Annie (red) and Daniel. Picture: Peter Rankine
BIRDS of a feather flock to the 27th annual bird sale and expo run by Mornington Peninsula Avicultural Society at the State Dog Centre in Skye. The society began on the peninsula in 1983 and meets monthly at New Peninsula Church, 370 Craigie Rd, Mt Martha. Club member Peter Rankine said the show is “Victoria’s premier bird sale and expo and one of the largest bird sales in Australia, with more than 2000
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Tracing family’s record FOOTPRINTS: the journey of Lucy and Percy Pepper is an exhibition produced by the Public Record Office Victoria, being displayed at Mornington Library from Friday 10 June to Friday 8 July. Footprints explores the different places the Pepper family lived as well as details about the events of its members’ lives, their resilience in the face of adversity, and the strong family connections they protected despite government policies aimed at separating “half-caste” Aboriginal people from their full-blood family relations. The exhibition and accompanying book is a search through public and family records that traces the lives of one Aboriginal family in the first half of the 20th century. Featuring information panels and a short film, Footprints also illustrates how Aboriginal people can retrace the steps of their ancestors through public records, and in the case of the Stolen Generations, reconnect with families and communities. Mornington Peninsula Library Service is staging several events in conjunction with the free Footprints travelling exhibition. For further details about the events – including during NAIDOC Week 3-10 July – visit ourlibrary.mornpen.vic.gov.au.
Time lapse: Lucy Pepper (centre) with her children, circa 1917, clockwise from top left Gwendoline, Phillip, Alice, Sarah, Lena and Sam. Photo courtesy Watkins family.
Film shows indigenous social issues FILM is being used by Mornington Peninsula Shire to arouse social conscience, with special screenings planned this month and next. First on the bill is Liyarn Ngarn, a documentary featuring British actor Pete Postlethwaite, with musician Archie Roach and Aboriginal leader Pat Dodson. The title means ‘the coming together of the spirit’ and the film shows Postlethwaite, Roach and Dodson in the outback tracing the past “in an effort to change people’s perceptions and attitudes towards indigenous people”, according to an ABC Radio National review.
The film was made in the wake of the murder of a 19-year-old Aboriginal man “allegedly because he was black”. Liyarn Ngarn is being shown at 6pm at Rosebud Cinema on 25 May as part of the Reconciliation Week activities. Bookings essential, call 5950 1685 or email: spcd. admin@mornpen.vic.gov.au. In June four award-winning short films will be screened at the shire’s Mornington office as part of the national Human Rights Arts and Film Festival. To see Kids might fly, Sin Pais, This chair is not me and Change at 6.30pm 0on Wednesday 1 June call 5950 1685 or email spcdadmin@mornpen.vic. gov.au and quote ‘Film’.
Marina go ahead from independent panel Continued from Page 1
YACHT club commodore Tony Donnellan on Tuesday morning told The News the club was happy with the panel’s strong support “but we have lots of work to do with Mornington Peninsula Shire”. “We are extremely pleased with the report; it gives us a good tool to advance the project,” he said. The club was unsure of the final design of the safe harbour as there was still a distance to go. Shire planner Frank Mangan said the panel report had been sent to state planning minister Matthew Guy for assessment of the environment effects statement. This was expected to take at least five weeks. The Department of Sustainability and Environment would then have to approve the project under the Coastal Management Act. It would then come to a full meeting of shire councillors, who also would consider recommendations made by shire planners. The shire might allow one last opportunity for people to speak about the project at this meeting, Mr Mangan said. The whole project and its hundreds of pages would then go to Mr Guy for final approval. Mr Donnellan said yacht club members had been holding their breath this autumn, hoping the harbour would not be hit by a big northerly. “We were lucky to get through the season without damage,” he said. The harbour had been made less safe following removal of rocks on the bay side of the pier and the announcement that Parks Victoria would not be replacing wave panels on the under-renovation middle section of the pier. “We had to cancel the Variety Splash boats visiting the club and the Etchells state titles as we couldn’t guarantee the harbour
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would be safe enough.” Changes or additions made to the marina proposal include: Deleting 12 swing moorings planned for the eastern side of the harbour. Improving the wavescreen to reduce wave bounce and making it lower. Deleting eight fore and aft moorings from the southern side of the marina. No floating boat cradles. Improving the design of the artificial reef. Making room for tall ships to berth including public access areas. Further investigation to stop the marina negatively affecting sand quality at Mothers Beach and Scout Beach. Monitoring of water and sediment quality during construction. Determining the presence before and after construction of endangered species and state and federal “listed” species. The club to consult with heritage groups and install signs about the harbour’s history. Assess if extra car parking is needed and/ or run a shuttle bus from the town centre. Mornington Environment Association said it was “extremely disappointed” with the decision. “The proposal will be detrimental to our historic harbour, adjacent beaches and the town. Amendments to the project as proposed by the panel will have little effect on protecting the harbour environment,” Judith Martin of MEA said. “Car parking is a major community concern. The report provides no solution. Instead, it handballs the problem back to Mornington Peninsula Shire to deal with. “The panel process has been an initial skirmish in what will undoubtedly be a protracted struggle to preserve that which is irreplaceable. MEA will continue to fight to stop a much-loved community space moving into private hands.
Northern exposure: Mornington pier and harbour (top) get belted in April 2008 by a northerly storm, the worst since 1984. More than 30 boats were sent to the bottom of the harbour or washed up damaged on adjacent beaches. Yachties watched in horror from the clubhouse (above) as the precinct was turned into a seething maelstrom. Pictures: Roy Hunter
Call of help from the wild By Keith Platt HAVING Easter stretch over five days brought little comfort to Klarissa Garnaut. Most of her time was spent collecting injured and orphaned animals and then deciding how best to bring them back to health or watch as they died. The Balnarring-based wildlife carer’s life normally revolves around feeding habits and lifestyle needs of animals under her care, but Easter was worse than usual. “It was disastrous, with dead animals all over the place,” Ms Garnaut said. While receiving a regular influx of animals is nothing new, Ms Garnaut is concerned that authorities make no provision for the loss of wildlife habitat when promoting the peninsula as a holiday destination or allowing subdivisions and developments involving land clearing. Most recently the alarm was raised when bush was cleared at Mt Martha to make way for the 27-kilometre Peninsula Link freeway. Fauna conservationist Mal Legg said the clearing where the freeway joins the Moorooduc Hwy led to 13 possums being killed by vehicles. A spokeswoman for the consortium building Peninsula Link said all necessary approvals were in place for the clearing. Ms Garnaut said land clearing “has a ripple effect” among wildlife
populations, forcing possums, kangaroos and wallabies “into the open or unfriendly territories”. “I don’t think there is any way the animals were properly assessed before clearing for the freeway. Subdividers clear whole blocks and there are no laws to force replacement of native trees. “There should be regulations to force people to keep native trees or have them replaced by mature native trees.” Ms Garnaut said the peninsula was being promoted “as the place to be” and attracted some people who “don’t want to live among wildlife”. “Half the possums are brought here by people who say ‘don’t bring them back’.” Orphaned baby possums cared for by Ms Garnaut usually weigh about 45 grams and need to be about 600 grams before they can be released. It takes about six months to achieve the desired release weight. “This is expensive for carers and virtually takes up their whole lives and they burn out,” Ms Garnaut, a carer with Wildlife Help On Mornington Peninsula (WHOMP), said. A week ago Ms Garnaut was caring for 15 possums and three penguins as well as several other larger native animals. Over a year, the number of possums brought in for care tops 200 and she is getting ready for the breeding season influx in August. “We also get kangaroos, wallabies and many species of birds. The pen-
guins that are here now are late in moulting, which means they can’t swim until their feathers are fully developed.” Tourists see them on the beach like this and put them back in the water. The adult penguins each eat 20 pilchards a day, costing Ms Garnaut $15 every two days. A Rosebud man had watched horrified last month as a dog savaged and killed a swan at Rosebud beach. It too had been moulting and was among a flock of swans sheltering in the shallows and on the beach until new feathers came through. The beach was not a leash-free area and the man had told Ms Garnaut that the dog’s owner walked off seemingly without a care. When able to be reintroduced into the wild, possums are given a “soft release”, which means being provided with a box (brush-tailed) or a round fibre nest (ringtails), which is placed in a tree and surrounded by a wire cage. Food is delivered for a few days and then the cage door is left open so the animal can leave and enter at will. After about two weeks the possums become acquainted with their new territory and accepted by their neighbours, allowing Ms Garnaut to remove the wire cage. To report an injured native animal call 0417 380 687 or visit the WHOMP website.
Handle with care: Wildlife carer Klarissa Garnaut warily handles a moulting penguin that has no fear of biting the hand that feeds it.
Mornington News 19 May 2011
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Heavy lifting: :Left, architect’s drawings of the proposed glass and steel top station showing open chairs and closed gondolas, and, above, the viewing tower planned for stage two with the vista over the southern peninsula and Port Phillip. Pictures: Chairlift Group Arthurs Seat
Chairlift gets government backing By Mike Hast THE Arthurs Seat chairlift consortium rolled out the big guns last week when it launched concept drawings for its $5 million attraction due to open in 2013. On a wet Wednesday on Arthurs Seat, Melbourne and local media joined Environment Minister Ryan Smith, Parks Victoria boss Dr Bill Russell and consortium spokesman Simon McKeon to unveil drawings in the comfort of Arthurs Hotel’s dining room. Dr Russell praised Mr McKeon – the 2011 Australian of the Year, Macquarie Group Melbourne office executive chairman and CSIRO chairman – saying he was a lover of the Mornington Peninsula and determined to rebuild the iconic tourism attraction. Mr Ryan said he was delighted to be back on the peninsula where he had spent an enjoyable Easter break.
The new chairlift would be a great addition to tourism attractions on the peninsula, he said, and there was great talent in the consortium. The government acknowledged the importance of tourism attractions such as the chairlift, and Parks Victoria had recently spent $100,000 on the car park, shelters and barbecues at the summit, Mr Smith said. He congratulated Mr McKeon and his team on their plans, “which will take into account the local environmental sensibilities”. Mr Smith stated in a press release: “There is enormous anticipation with this project. Arthurs Seat offers one of the great views in Victoria. The new chairlift will take that experience to new heights.” He stated the project would create “local jobs, support the local economy
and further opportunities for tourism providers”. Mr Smith said members of the public would be consulted “later this year”. Mr McKeon, dressed in what he said was his Arthurs Seat workgear, introduced members of the consortium – James McGann of McGann Architects; consortium chief executive Hans Brugman, a former aircraft maintenance engineer; retired engineer Ron McCallum, who Mr McKeon called the doyen of Victoria’s chairlift industry and who built the Portsea back beach chairlift in 1961 and many others in ski fields; and Ron’s son Andrew McCallum, a former Qantas maintenance engineer. “We’re interested in making the chairlift a great experience and in safety – all else is secondary,” he said. “Today we launch concept plans,
which will not be lodged with the relevant planning authorities. There is a need to work carefully with Parks Victoria.” He said the existing chairlift corridor up Arthurs Seat would be trimmed “a little bit” and the chairlift would come over the existing car park and road, largely for safety reasons. The existing top station location was narrow and restrictive, and people getting off the old chairlift spilled on to the road. A new top station would allow more room and be well away from traffic. The building would have large areas of glass to cut the visible bulk. The consortium aspired to build a new viewing tower that would be accessible to more people, including senior citizens and people with disabilities. It would be above the treetops and allow 360-degree views, including of Bass Strait, Phillip Island, the Otways and Mt Macedon. The tower would be part of stage two. “I want to get the chairlift built first,” he said. The bottom station would get a bigger car park. “People will be able to drive down the new freeway [Peninsula Link], park at the bottom and use the chairlift to get to the summit,” he said. Mr McKeon unveiled the concept drawings with the help of Mr Smith
to reveal a futuristic top station with a kiosk and adjacent viewing tower. The bottom station would have a cafe and large car park. “The chairs will be slightly bigger and have room for three or four people rather than the previous two. Every 10 minutes a train of six-seat gondolas would arrive,” he said. They would be safer as people would enter a gondola and doors would be sealed until the end of the ride. They also would allow people to make the journey in comfort during bad weather. Arthurs Hotel operator Jason Griffith, and Enchanted Maze Garden owner Michael Savage and his media officer Nelly Shaw all supported the chairlift plan in principle. Tourist numbers had been affected by the chairlift not running since 2006 and at least one Arthurs Seat business had closed. Mr Griffith said there had been several proposals to either restart or rebuild the chairlift since it stopped operating. “I hope this one is the real deal,” he said. He was not concerned a chairlift kiosk would take custom away from his restaurant and kiosk. “People ride up on the chairlift then go for a walk around the precinct and often end up here.”
Towering ambition
Big guns: Chairlift consortium spokesman Simon McKeon, left, Environment Minister Ryan Smith and Parks Victoria chief Dr Bill Russell with architect’s drawings of the chairlift top station.
End of the road for cross-peninsula bus THE cross-peninsula bus from Mornington to Hastings will stop on Thursday 30 June. The end of the service is a blow to the few residents who used the bus, and therein lies the problem: it was not patronised well enough for Mornington Peninsula Shire to keep it operating. An item hidden on the shire’s website says: “The shire acknowledges
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that public transport access between Western Port Bay and Port Phillip Bay is vital for both communities and tourism, however this was a trial service the shire cannot financially support on an ongoing basis. “Advocacy to the Department of Transport on behalf of residents will continue, and residents will be informed of any positive outcomes when they become apparent. In the
meantime, the current timetable will continue up until the final day. Thank you for your support and patronage to date.” A transport insider said the service was bound to fail as it was not frequent enough. “What do you expect when you run a bus just two days a week and twice a day?” they asked. Mike Hast
THE chairlift consortium might have the backing of “city hall”, but faces a fight over its plans to demolish the Arthurs Seat lookout tower to make way for the top station. The tower, built by the Shire of Flinders to commemorate the 1935 centenary of the founding of Melbourne, is heritage listed. Even though it has been closed to the public for almost 20 years due to a deteriorating interior, the outside remains in good condition, says Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Graham Pittock, who attended the chairlift launch last Wednesday. “The outside is structurally sound and they [the consortium] can’t just come in and knock it down. At the minimum, they’ll have to move it to another significant location,” he told The News. Dromana and District Historical Society president Peter Holloway said the chairlift consortium had completely ignored heritage considerations. “Much has changed on Arthurs Seat since 1960 when the first chair-
lift was installed. Not only is the mountain now legally protected by five Significant Landscape Overlays, but also the lookout tower is heritage listed,” he said. The tower’s significance to the Mornington Peninsula cannot be overrated, he said. “It was erected in 1935 to a unique art deco design by George Brown, shire engineer of the Shire of Flinders.” He said the exterior was in excellent condition and the tower provided a highly significant visual, cultural and architectural connection to the past. Mr Holloway said the historical society did not object to a new chairlift “which adheres to ... heritage and planning regulations”, but was concerned a new cafe with views to Melbourne would “destroy this unique peninsula heritage icon for purely commercial gain”. Last November, Mr McKeon was quoted in a local newspaper saying he hoped Parks Victoria would restore the observation tower.
New research casts doubt on bay’s 10,000-year history Coupled with an earthquake, a tsunami swept into Port Phillip bay accompanied by wild electrical storms ing New Zealand’s “Fires of Tamaatea” and leading to the extinction of the giant moa bird. Dr Holdgate believes Port Phillip held water at close to present-day levels until about 2800 years ago when its entrance to Bass Strait was blocked by sand and silt. Despite being fed by the two rivers, water in Port Phillip evaporated and was not replenished until the blockage at the entrance was broken by “some sort of overtopping”, storms or an earthquake. Dr Holdgate refers to Aboriginal stories of Port Phillip being dry before quickly filling. Jupp also relies on Aborigines for evidence: “Georgiana McCrae’s diary is spot on accurate. She records how a Mr Cobb talks to the Aborigines who said originally you could ‘walk dry foot from our side of the bay to Geelong’. “It was a kangaroo grazing ground and he [Cobb] quotes that, ‘long ago, in a night of great tempests, the trees blew down and a great sea rushed in through
the heads at Portsea. The land sank under earthquakes and the water became deep and void, just as it is today’. McCrae notes that Governor Batman also added the Aboriginal tradition that the Yarra once flowed along the Carrum Carrum swamp and came out in Western Port. What a great catastrophic event this must have been.” Peter Jupp says he intends to continue “striking hard at the theory of uniformity that has dominated so much of geology and evolutionary theory. In my view a disciplined chaos runs the universe”. “I feel we have naively accepted the theories of geologists on the formation of Port Phillip and ignored the legends and myths of the Bunurong and other local indigenous tribes. These legends were rich in facts but were dismissed as fairytales by those theory-laden sciences called geology and archaeology.” Peter Jupp is distributing his documentaries from www.ancientdestructions. com.au.
Past and present: Peter Jupp on location in Malta investigating his theories on lost civilisations.
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Lifeline for marine environment: Scientific evidence shows that 1000 years ago a break in the build-up of sand and silt at the entrance to Port Phillip ended a dry spell that had made the bay a plain grazed by emus and kangaroos.
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By Keith Platt MT Eliza filmmaker Peter Jupp might seem a bit smug when he agrees with the latest scientific findings that show 1000 years ago most of Port Phillip was dry land. He is gratified, but not surprised. “I knew that all along,” he said last week when asked to comment on widely reported research by Guy Holdgate that overturns conventional thinking that the water-filled bay has existed for 10,000 years. Dr Holdgate, of Melbourne University’s earth sciences department, has published research showing what seems to confirm that 1000 years ago Port Phillip contained a lake fed by the Yarra and Werribee rivers. Comprising about 30 per cent of the Port Phillip’s area, the lake would have been surrounded by grassland and saltbush where Aborigines hunted kangaroos and emus. Much of the research was based on results of testing in the lead-up to the 2008 and 2009 dredging of Port Phillip’s shipping channels. Jupp has long held beliefs about the bay and world that go against accepted history. The emergence and, more intriguingly, the disappearance of civilisations have taken him on a journey that led him to attain a Batchelor of Arts with honours, majoring in archaeology. During his studies, Jupp picked up a video camera and decided to use pictures and sound to illustrate his theories with a series of documentaries on cataclysmic events he believes have shaped history. “I aim to overturn modern scientific dogma, from Darwin and his natural selection to Einstein and his theory of relativity,” Jupp told this reporter in September 2009. “Since my early days, I’ve been fascinated with the rise and fall of civilisations. I don’t think archaeology involves being thrilled by dusting off broken pots and bones. “Everywhere you go in the world you see ruins shattered, abandoned in deserts and buried under sand. You’ve got to ask: what happened?” Not used to being aligned with conventional archaeological thinking, Jupp’s version of events leading to the inundation of Port Phillip goes a step further by suggesting the barrier to the sea was blasted away by a mammoth electrical charge. He believes such charges – linked to coronal mass ejections from the sun – have been responsible for many almost instant reconfigurations of the earth’s surface. “Together with solar flares, their explosive discharges dwarf any pathetically puny human efforts.” Possibly coupled with an earthquake, a tsunami swept into Port Phillip accompanied by wild electrical storms. His film Mega Tsunami Melbourne 1500AD includes shots of a tree on a beach at Mt Eliza. Petrified in parts, the tree’s remains embedded in the shoreline reef are seemingly woody and burnt in others. Jupp says the earthquake and tsunami was caused by the impact of the comet Mahuika, which burst through the earth’s atmosphere in 1481, ignit-
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Geese fly in for a graze and a gander CAPE Barren Geese spend much of their time on small windswept islands in Bass Strait. They can drink salt or brackish water, so the absence of lakes or creeks is no problem. Tussock grass on the strait’s uninhabited or sparsely-populated islands provide a food source as does spear grass, herbs and succulents. When summer comes, the birds broaden their horizons and head north to the mainland before teaming up and going south to breed. Many geese fly to the Mornington Peninsula to dine out on pasture grasses, including barley grass and clover. Snez Plunkett spotted and photographed a flock of 50 geese two weeks ago flying over the mangroves north of Hastings before settling in what she described as “the most degraded paddock they could possibly find”. However, the sheltered paddock probably looked pretty inviting compared to a rugged island. Numbers of Cape Barren geese
Dining out: Visiting Cape Barren geese graze in a paddock north of Hastings. Picture: Snez Plunkett
Winging it: Cape Barren geese flow over Western Port’s mangroves in search of a paddock on which to dine out. Picture: Snez Plunkett
have increased since the 1950s when biologists feared they were close to extinction. Although they are among the rarest of the world’s geese scientists estimate there are 16- 20 000 Cape Barren geese, more than at any time since settlement of Australia.
Living with ‘sustainable’ neighbours
NEIGHBOURS are being encouraged to band together to live more “sustainably at a local level”. Lessons in the ways and means of reducing waste and using less energy are available under the Sustainability Street program, being promoted by Mornington Peninsula Shire. “Sustainability Street is a fun, easy, neighbourhood based program that provides information on how to live more sustainably at a local level,” according to a new release from the shire which invites residents “to join with other like-minded people … and create a sustainable village”. Since 2001, more than 200 local Sustainability Street villages have developed around Australia and overseas. Statistics show that a Sustainability Street program in the City of Manningham east of Melbourne achieved reductions of 13.5 per cent in water use, 33 per cent in waste, 13 per cent energy and 10 per cent gas. A similar program in West Melbourne saw water use drop 26 per cent, waste 33 per cent and energy 13 per cent. Anecdotal results of the program show that it is almost as much about getting to know the neighbours than reducing waste. Comments published on the sustainability street website mention friendships formed with people living in the same street through having a common purpose. The Sustainability Street Approach “brings about a values reevaluation among participants
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Mornington News 19 May 2011
at the deepest personal level involving identity, belonging and relationships to family, friends and precious new neighbours - who’ve actually lived down the road for years”. This outcome is seen as the multiplier effect following research which indicates that people will react positively to information passed on through “community based social marketing” than from organisations with which they have no direct connection. Sustainability Street has its roots in the Vox Bandicoot organisation which began with street theatre more than 20 years ago before branching into the environmental education sector. “We all know why it is so important to change the way we live, Sustainability Street guides people in how to change behaviour,” media personality and Sustainability Street patron Geraldine Doogue said. The program’s founder Frank Fitzgerald-Ryan will speak at three information sessions: Rye Beach Community Centre, 27 Nelson St, Rye, 10am –11am Sunday 29 May then 1pm–2pm at Rosebud West Hall, Vern Wright Reserve, (entry off Swans Way), West Rosebud and then at Balnarring Community Hall, 3041 FrankstonFlinders Rd, Balnarring 1pm– 2pm Sunday 5 June. For bookings and details call Nicci Tsernjavski on 5950 1259, 0428 351 778 or Nicci.Tsernjavski@mornpen.vic.gov.au or visit www.sustainabilitystreet.org.au.
Footy memorial area to lose parking By Mike Hast PLANS to redevelop the foreshore area near the Mornington football disaster memorial could see the loss of crucial car parking. The landscape master plan for the picnic and park area on the corner of the Esplanade and Schnapper Point Drive is on display for public comment until the end of the month. The shire says the plan is designed to improve the links between the main retail precinct and foreshore area. The memorial was erected by townspeople soon after the disaster in 1892, one of the worst boating accidents in Victoria’s history. Fifteen members of the football team returning from Mordialloc aboard the 10-metre double-ended yawl Process perished when the yacht struck Pelican Reef off Mt Eliza. Shire planners say the “memorial park” plan is “an opportunity to maximise the historical significance and recreational amenity of the area”, which includes the old court house, police lock-up and 1860s post office. “At present, these areas are underutilised and dominated by informal car parking. The lack of parking controls results in cars often parked within vegetated areas with detrimental impacts to … the vegetation. “Overgrown weeds and grasses are restricting views and detracting from the overall appearance of the area. Bollards are in need of repair and rubbish bins have been vandalised. “The paved surface areas vary in material and condition. The number of picnic tables and seats could be rationalised and better located.”
Mornington councillor Bev Colomb says the work will cost about $330,000 and she hoped to secure money in the coming budget. Memorial park “neighbour” Paul Pingiaro, who operates Schnapper Point Boat Hire on the beach below the park, said reducing car parks would make it even more difficult for locals and tourists. “Each year we serve about 22,000 visitors, and numbers are increasing at about 10 per cent a year,” he said. “It’s increasingly challenging to find car parks. This is a tourist destination and parking affects the overall experience. Parking spaces that will be lost are used by local traders, the church, visitors and locals. “I support redevelopment of the area, but the shire could relieve parking pressure by opening up the old fire training facility on the western side of Mornington Park.” Paved areas at the historic court house and post office would provide spaces for book sales, exhibitions and information boards. The officer’s report states: “The views over Mornington harbour and Port Phillip are to be protected and enhanced where practicable. This does not mean that any extent of native vegetation will be removed to achieve this. Where the vegetation is not of ecological significance, it may be possible to remove vegetation to open up some view lines. “Picnic tables, barbecues, shelters and seating will be rationalised and relocated to more desirable locations. A new picnic area with a shade pavilion is
proposed that will be oriented towards views over the bay. “The area around the existing rotunda donated by the Rotary club will be improved to increase the capacity of this shelter to cater for community activities and functions.” The report said the safe and effective capacity of the car park as it is presently configured is 20 vehicles. A recent survey showed that at peak times there may be as many as 36 cars. “The reconfiguration would result in 16 spaces, a loss of four spaces or a loss of 20 spaces if based on the survey of peak usage. “It is unlikely Department of Sustainability and Environment would support any additional car parking in the foreshore area.” The plan is on the shire’s website at: www.mornpen.vic.gov.au, under “OnExhibition”, “Draft Plans & Policies”.
Changes: Top, Mornington Peninsula Shire plans to fix up the foreshore area around the football memorial, left, at the end of Main St in Mornington, but car parking will be lost.
Mornington News 19 May 2011
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Arrests after rooftop protest By Keith Platt FIFTEEN people were arrested and charged with trespass after spending 12 hours on the roof of a Somerville egg farm. They were among 20 members Animal Liberation Victoria protesting against what they claim to be the “horrific suffering of the hens on the property”. Somerville Egg Farm manager Linda Larkins said the business was given the all clear by a Department of Primary Industries vet who inspected the chickens during the protest. Ms Larkins said the noise of protesters on the roof of a chicken shed had caused distress among the chickens underneath. “There was a higher mortality rate among the birds the following day,” she said. “They are supposed to be animal lovers, but they were more concerned with getting their faces in the media than caring for animals.” Ms Larkins said protesters had held up a “vegan” banner and yelled at customers, criticising them for eating eggs. She said the family-run farm abided by a lawful code of animal welfare. It had about 36,000 birds – free range and in cages – and employed about 15 people. “If the birds are not happy we won’t get eggs,” Ms Larkins said. “The protest was very alarming and very distressing. We’ve never had anything to do with these people before ands what they are saying is a lie.” Senior Sergeant Steve O’Neil of Hastings police said the case against
Waiting game: Police wait while below Animal Liberal Victoria protesters hold signs and placards urging veganism and alleging cruelty to chickens inside Somerville Egg Farm in Eramosa Rd, Somerville.
the charged protesters would be heard in Frankston magistrates’ court on 15 June. He said the animal liberationists agreed to end their vigil at about 4.30pm after he told them that a vet would look at a chicken they claimed
was injured. “They said they wanted to come without us arresting them, but I couldn’t do that,” Senior Sergeant O’Neill said. “They came down and handed over the chicken which was looking pretty
cosy all wrapped up in a pink blanket.” Jo Osborne, one of the protest organisers, said the injured chicken had been caught under a fence. She said animal liberationists had twice been inside the farm at night and taken images of dead and dying
chickens and others living in “terrible conditions”. “Our aim is to show people that these chickens, caged and free range, are not being kept well,” Ms Osborne said. She said members of her group had been at the farm under cover of darkness on 14 March and 23 February. A news release issued by Animal Liberation Victoria said Melbourne shoppers were “being duped by an egg industry out of control, while millions of laying hens in Australia live tormented lives in cages, barns and on free range egg farms”. Activists had inspected the property more than 10 years ago and “lodged a photographic cruelty complaint to legal authorities”. “Rescue team members are haunted by what they found – thousands of screaming and thrashing hens, many who had gone crazy due to the horrific living conditions forced on them. The birds were overcrowded and tightly packed in tiers of wire cages and suffering severe feather loss.” The “free range” birds were “crowded together on their accumulated droppings, many were sickly, some dying unattended”.
Human rights up for debate
Late lead-in to cool climate show GRAPES are being harvested up to four weeks later than usual on the Mornington Peninsula because of unseasonable rains and cooler temperatures. “The extra time being given to grapes for ripening can concentrate the flavour, so quality will be up, but it can also see them suffer downy mildew and other diseases,” Cool Climate Wine Show manager Steve Robin said. “On the peninsula quality is on par with last year but some areas of Victoria have suffered. “A few vineyards have left grapes on the vine which won’t be harvested because they didn’t ripen.” Mr Robin said “the other sleeper” was organic vineyards that had been hit by diseases because grapes were not sprayed. However, the current harvest has not affected this
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Mornington News 19 May 2011
year’s cool climate wine show, which has received 670 entries, below last year’s 690 but up on the 660 entries in 2009. “Following a very challenging vintage this year, it was expected entries would be down, but this has not happened,” Mr Robin said. “With increased production of wine and reduction in overseas markets, vignerons need a marketing edge, which medals from prestigious wine shows like ours can provide.” He said entries from New Zealand vineyards had held up, despite their drop in export markets, and they still made up 20 per cent of wine show entries, with a similar number coming from the peninsula and Tasmanian. The rest of the entries come from the Yarra Valley, Geelong, Gippsland, the Port Phillip region and
small wine-growing regions in South Australia and New South Wales. “Variation in entries each year is caused by regional or seasonal factors,” Mr Robin said. Wine show judging will be on 24 and 25 May at Mornington Racing Club, with a public tasting following the second day of judging on the Wednesday. As part of wine show week, 10 of the peninsula’s top restaurants and cafes are offering a two-course lunch featuring local products with a glass of cool climate wine for $49.50 on Friday 27 May. The public tasting costs $20 (including a glass) 6-8pm Wednesday 25 May at Mornington Racing Club, Racecourse Rd. Awards will be presented at a dinner on Friday 27 May. For details, visit www. classiclunches.com.au
ISSUES surrounding the call for a charter of human rights charter in Australia will be up for debate in Mornington next month. The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Dr Helen Szoke will chair a public debate entitled Protecting human rights in Australia. The debate is being organised by Mornington Peninsula Human Rights Group with support from Mornington Peninsula Shire. Greg Hunt, MP for Flinders (Liberal), and Mark Dreyfus, MP for Isaacs (Labor), will speak during the debate. The politicians will be questioned after their presentations by Emily Howie, director of advocacy and strategic litigation at the Human Rights Law Centre, and Dr Russell Soloman, a director of Amnesty International and senior lecturer at RMIT University. The human rights public debate, 7.30pm Thursday 9 June is at Peninsula Community Theatre, corner Wilsons Rd and Nepean Hwy, Mornington. To attend call 5950 1685 or email spcadmin@mornpen.vic.gov.au by Monday 6 June.
Bands to play at Mornington FIVE bands, including Built on Sand and Ikarii, share the bill this Friday 20 May at a concert in Peninsula Community Theatre, Wilsons Rd, Mornington. Doors to the concert being staged by the iMPAkT FReeZA youth committee open at 6pm. Tickets at the door are $10 or $7 on presentation of a flyer promoting the event.
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NEWS DESK
Keep in touch with what keeps us alive This is the third of an occasional series of articles by Andrew Raff and Peter North covering a range of environmental topics including the CO2 debate, use of resources, future energy and the nuclear power debate. Both are members of SHIPPS – St Andrew’s Habitat Improvement, Preservation and Protection Society – on the southern peninsula. IN days long ago, humans were just another member of the animal kingdom and top among the hierarchy of our needs was getting enough food to eat, enough water to drink and staying alive from one day to the next. Later in human history the development of permanent agriculture created a less precarious lifestyle. But even at the start of the Industrial Revolution about 250 years ago, 95 per cent of the population lived on the land. People were in daily touch with what kept them alive. In places like Ethiopia, where famine and starvation is commonplace, this is still the case. But Ethiopians don’t have much of a say in how the world is run. In developed countries where the planet’s policies are forged, people have become increasingly separated from their life support systems. For example, a mere 3.7 per cent of the community grows Australia’s food, plus exports that feed twice the Australian population overseas. (ABS Labour Force Statistics, May 2002, Catalogue 6203.0, Tables 1 and 46. Total persons employed in agriculture (excluding hunting, trapping, fishing and forestry).) Most of Australia’s population takes the food supply for granted. Availability of food, as distinct from price of food, is not an issue in the lives of most citizens in developed nations. For the average urban dweller, what maintains the supply of food to the supermarket shelves may not be all that obvious. Most people probably understand that agriculture requires fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides. Fewer know these industries use natural gas (fossil fuel) as their principle feedstock and energy source. Fewer still realise looming shortages of fossil fuel might threaten not only their petrol requirements but also their food supply. (Other methods of making ammonia-
Machine age: The development of permanent agriculture has created a less precarious lifestyle for modern humans, but looming shortages of fossil fuel might threaten our food supply.
based fertilisers are possible. But presently, 95 per cent of the fertiliser industry uses natural gas as a feedstock and as an energy source.) The link between fossil fuels and food is just one of the many almost invisible dependencies of the modern world. In the long term this dependency is unsustainable.
Unless some other feedstock and energy source comes along, when natural gas runs out in few decades, fertiliser, herbicide and insecticide supplies also will run out. At this point, sustaining the supply of food to supermarket shelves will become much more difficult. Policymakers and the broader com-
munity seem indifferent or unaware of such threats. People, whether citizens or leaders, take for granted availability of resources that in previous ages were more highly valued because people had to work hard to get them. Water that flows at the turn of a tap creates the illusion of an infinite supply. Food just arrives on supermarket
shelves. Eggs appear to be laid in cardboard boxes. Electricity comes magically out of wall sockets. Sewage disappears down a hole to who knows where? Petrol comes out of a nozzle at the local service station. Telephones connect the world and half the developed world uses computers that do magical things. But how does it all work? Few know; few care. But occasionally some do wonder. As one curious individual was once heard to remark, “I still marvel that when I flip a switch here, the light goes on over there”. The technological web that sustains people is mostly invisible to the consumer. It is itself sustained by key resources like fresh water and fossil fuel. Power generators, telephone exchanges, oil refineries, steelworks and myriad factories are out there somewhere, producing essential products. Only when part of the web fails does it make news. Only then are we reminded of the existence and importance of technology that enables 6.9 billion to live on planet Earth in various degrees of comfort. Less are we reminded of the physical environment and resources on which these wonders of technology depend, and that it is a finite resource. A future article will discuss “environmental economics” showing several (and there are many) unbelievably stupid world food resource systems that simply don’t stack up. Andrew Raff has lived on the Mornington Peninsula for 50 years, was in the Royal Australian Navy for 20 years, served in Vietnam, and has studied the nuclear industry and climate change. He is a member of Sustainable Population Australia and founded SHIPPS last year. Peter North has degrees in engineering and commerce, and has worked in the petrochemical, mining, manufacturing and construction industries in Australia and overseas. He has published nine books on business, travel, environment and economics, has written for the environmental magazine Pacific Ecologist and is also a member of Sustainable Population Australia.
Bus interchange could close Blamey Place By Mike Hast THE proposed bus interchange in Barkly St, Mornington, could see the closure of the northern end of Blamey Place. The interchange – a glorified bus stop on either side of Barkly St east of the Main St roundabout – was funded in the state budget in early May (‘Transport focus of state budget for Mornington’, The News, 5/5/11). It will cost $450,000 and is planned to be built by June 2012. Mornington Peninsula Shire asked Mornington MP David Morris for the interchange and he made it an election promise prior to the poll last November. Mr Morris told The News the bus interchange had been included in the Mornington structure plan and the next step to make bus routes work better would be to install traffic lights at the intersection of Wilsons Rd and Nepean
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Hwy near Peninsula Community Theatre. The state government was trying to get a few basic public transport elements in place for Mornington, he said. The shire council’s director of sustainable environment, Steve Chapple, said two of four buses servicing the town used Barkly St and the shire would encourage Peninsula Bus Lines to reroute 781 and 788 to use the interchange. The two buses currently stop at nearby Vale St. The shire’s manager of infrastructure strategy, Niall McDonagh, said the shire would design and manage the project using the government’s money. Work would involve creating indented bus bays and “beautifying Barkly St”, he said. The funds had not yet been secured but it was hoped detailed design work would start soon. “We wouldn’t do the
work over summer as it would cause too many delays, but hope to be finished by next June.” In a related matter, earlier this month, shire councillors were told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal had ordered the shire to pay half the cost of a new $800,000 roundabout as part of the proposed closure of Pearson St to allow construction of 12 doublestorey townhouses and 107 apartments in a four-storey building. The complex will be built either side of Pearson St, which runs between Barkly St and Mornington Primary School and is used by pupils and their parents at drop-off and pick-up times. The shire will close the road, sell it to the developer and a “new” Pearson St will be constructed along the northern boundary of the school to connect with Eastern Ring Rd. The roundabout could include the exit/entrance to the Blamey Place car
park and solve a complex traffic conundrum. Mr McDonagh said the shire would look at the idea when planning the bus interchange. At the council meeting on 9 May, Mornington area councillor Bev Colomb sought and won a deferment of the Pearson St road closure. Councillors were told the development, at 71-79 Barkly St, had been in the pipeline for more than four years, but Cr Colomb said it was important to get the matter right. Referring to the VCAT order that the shire pay for half the roundabout, she said that timing was everything and she was worried about the timing of the building of the development and when the roundabout would be built. “We need the right traffic treatment and the roundabout should be built at the same time as the [four-storey] development,” she said.
Cr Leigh Eustace said the traffic would be “diabolical with this [roundabout] solution” and that traffic could be banked up back to Main St. “We should take it back to the VCAT and argue the point.” Cr David Gibb agreed, saying he was always concerned about reducing the functionality of the ring road, but he wanted the matter to come back before the council in 30 days. “Developments should be done in a timely manner. Everyone thinks developers are as rich as Croesus but this is not always the case,” he said. (Croesus was the king of Lydia 560547 BC until his defeat by the Persians. In Greek and Persian cultures his name became a synonym for a wealthy man, which passed down into English. Croesus is credited with issuing the first gold coins.)
Teenager beats $1000 ‘knife’ fine By Mike Hast A TEENAGER fined $1000 for carrying a work box cutter in her bag near Frankston rail station has had the fine withdrawn by Victoria Police. Eighteen-year-old Ashleigh Hicks of Somerville, a qualified disability support worker, and her family were more worried about the effect on her budding career than the fine. Ms Hicks works part time at Kmart in Hastings stacking shelves while she seeks a full-time job in the disability services sector. She started at Kmart four years ago while still at school. She is also a parttime teacher’s aide at schools for children with disabilities in the region and was worried the fine would make her ineligible to work with children. Police withdrew the infringement notice last week after high-profile Melbourne lawyer David Galbally QC went in to bat for Ms Hicks. “I am just so relieved; it’s been a big weight on me and my family,” Ms Hicks told The News on Friday as she was about to leave for Melbourne where she was among a group of volunteers looking after teenagers with disabilities on an outing. Her mother Trudy Hicks said commonsense had prevailed. “It was a difficult few months and it was hard for our family. We’re just an ordinary family who do ordinary things and being under the media and police spotlight was a stressful experience.” The incident occurred at about 2pm on Friday 25 February when Ms Hicks was walking into the station to catch a train to the city to visit friends. She was stopped by a transit police officer and her bag searched. Inside was her work box cutter, which the officer told her was a prohibited weapon. “I thought he was joking at first, but then realised how serious it was. I explained why I had it, but this had no effect. I couldn’t believe it when he wrote out an on-the-spot fine for $1000. I burst into tears,” she told The News in April. “When I found out later the infringement could threaten by chances of getting work, I was even more upset.” After police rejected her written plea for the fine to be withdrawn, Ms Hicks called Neil Mitchell of 3AW who enlisted the support of Mr Galbally, a partner with Madgwicks lawyers and a regular guest on the Mitchell show.
Back to normality: Victoria Police have withdrawn Ashleigh Hicks’s $1000 fine for carrying a box cutter that she was afraid would threaten her career working with children.
After the 3AW interview, Ms Hicks received widespread support from callers including other people who had been fined for carrying what new laws categorise as prohibited weapons. Ms Hicks met Mr Galbally midApril and he wrote to police Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay, putting her case and seeking a second review and the withdrawal of the infringement notice. Mr Galbally wrote: “Ms Hicks is required to take the box cutter home, as there is no provision for her to safely leave it at Kmart. Unfortunately she
had inadvertently neglected to remove the box cutter from her bag when she arrived home from work the previous night and it was still in her possession. “By letter dated 3 March 2011, Ms Hicks requested an internal review of the decision of Officer Boag-Wells who issued the infringement notice. Ms Hicks was advised by letter dated 24 March 2011 written by Leading Senior Constable S Baker that her request for a review had been rejected.” Mr Galbally quoted a section of the Department of Justice website to Mr Lay: Police will consider all the cir-
cumstances when deciding if someone has a lawful excuse for carrying a knife or other controlled weapon. “Unfortunately at the time Ms Hicks spoke with Officer Boag-Wells, he was not interested in any explanation by her despite the fact that she attempted to explain that as part of her employment she works with children and a clean record is imperative and that prior to this she does not have any criminal history.” Mr Galbally told the Assistant Commissioner that the March police internal review of Ms Hicks’s case had not
exercised discretion as it “did not entertain any of the circumstances that” Ms Hicks had attempted to explain to the police officer. “The fact that there is discretion clearly allows for an opportunity for a young person such as Ms Hicks of good character to be given a chance when it is clear that the breach of the law is one of inadvertence.” Mr Galbally told Mr Lay it would be most unfortunate if Ms Hick had to go to court. “... the revocation of this infringement would be seen as a sign of good faith and acceptance of a young person’s honest and reasonable belief and good character. An act such as this would go a long way to repairing what has already been an unsavoury experience with the Victoria Police Force.” A copy of Mr Galbally’s letter was sent to Chief Commissioner Simon Overland. Trudy Hicks said the family was told of the fine withdrawal over the phone by a policewoman. “We have been told that in recent months there had been 902 fines handed out to people carrying prohibited weapons, but Ashleigh is the only one to be let off,” she said. “I’m sure there are other people in similar circumstances to Ashleigh.” Ashleigh Hicks said she had not applied for jobs in the disability services sector because of the fine hanging over her head, but would now do so. She still works at Kmart and has come up with an ingenious way of ensuring she does not walk out of work with her box cutter: “I’ve put a security tag on it. If I walk out at the end of my shift and have forgotten to take it out of my bag, the tag beeps.”
VCAT slams shire over Red Hill restaurant, wine sales A SENIOR Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal arbitrator has declared that Noel’s Restaurant Gallery in Red Hill has no valid permission to operate a restaurant or to sell liquor from the property. Senior member Russell Byard also made a scathing attack on Mornington Peninsula Shire planners, saying that “an examination of the permits concerned has led me to doubt whether there is any valid planning permission for the use of this land as a restaurant”. The shire had sought declarations from the tribunal relating to business activities on the property at 1175 Mornington-Flinders Rd, which began trading in September 1981 as an art and craft gallery. Further permits issued over the years have had parts of their validity called into question by the VCAT ruling, which was issued on 29 April. In making the declarations sought by the shire, Mr Byard writes: “The use of the land to operate wine tasting and sell packaged liquor for
consumption off the land: is not ancillary to the use of the land as a restaurant and gallery; falls within the ambit of the land use “shop”; is prohibited under the Green Wedge Zone of the Planning Scheme; is not authorised by the Planning Permits issued for the land.” He goes on: “The land may have been used as a restaurant, but contrary to the planning laws. To make declarations assuming that a restaurant in accordance with the planning laws on the basis of the agreed facts, but where such significant doubt exists would, in my opinion, amount to making a declaration about a hypothetical question.” In a further declaration, Mr Byard states: “I am not satisfied that there is valid planning permission for tea rooms or restaurant.” “I do not want to make a declaration in terms that might imply or rely upon the proposition that there has been a lawful, (as opposed to a de facto, but unauthorised under planning law) use
of the land for that purpose.” Under the heading “Permits and purported permits”, he writes that “municipal council, whether acting as responsible authorities under planning legislation or otherwise, are creatures of statute and have only the powers granted to them by a statute”. They “cannot do just as they might wish. They are obliged to carry out the duties bestowed upon them by legislation, but have only the powers granted them by legislation. “They cannot make up statutory processes or grant permits or privileges, or regulate activities except by and in accordance with statutory powers.” Mr Byard cites a 1994 permit that refers to “the existing gallery/tea rooms”, asking: “Where did the tea rooms spring from? There has been no permit to allow the use of the land as tea rooms.” He then describes the administration of the permit and the drafting of the documents as “shoddy and unclear” before turning to a subsequent permit
that mentions a “restaurant”. “... where did the restaurant spring from?” he asks. “No permission, according to all the detailed evidence produced to me, has ever been given for a restaurant use on this land.” Continuing his criticism of the shire, Mr Byard deals with a permit condition that states: “The restaurant use must cease at midnight”, observing caustically: “It is but a minor point to observe that this probably means that the restaurant is not to remain open after midnight. If the land is ‘used’ for a restaurant, the use continues whether the premises are open to the public or not.” He describes another permit condition in these terms: “The poor drafting at this stage seems to me to be reduced to something that is unintelligible”, concluding that “I am not satisfied that it is a valid planning permit.” The VCAT ruling deals with a letter sent to Noel’s Gallery licensee in 2007, in which the unnamed planning officer concludes: “I also wish to advise that
the [liquor licence] proposal does not contravene the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme.” Mr Byard: “... the responsible authority now repents of that sentence because it does not consider that it is correct.” He records that the shire’s objection to the existing liquor licences at the property included the statement that: “The existing cellar licence is not part of a vineyard or winery on the subject land. It is a shop selling wine from five difference vineyards that are not part of the subject land or adjacent land. Under the provisions of the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme the use of the land to sell wine from grapes not grown on the land is prohibited.” But he writes that the statement in the shire letter “cannot provide valid planning permission and cannot legally authorise the sale of packaged liquor ... Such other questions are beyond the scope of the current proceedings, and, I suspect, beyond the jurisdiction of this Tribunal.” Mornington News 19 May 2011
PAGE 11
WHAT’S ON Morningto Peninsula Flyfishers Interested in fly fishing? Why not join a club? We offer our members assistance with all aspects of fly fishing for both freshwater and saltwater application. We arrange regular club trips to various locations. We meet on the 4th Thursday of each month at 7:30pm, 4-5 Carder Ave,Frankston. Come along to a meeting or you can obtain further details via our website. www.mpff. org.au
World Environment Day, Sunday June 5th. The Sunshine Reserve and Fireguard Group in Mount Martha will be having their working bee from 9.30am to 12.30. Come and learn skills and make a difference to our environment. Meet at the Alexandrina St. fire access track, with long pants and sleeves, hat and sturdy boots. All welcome, morning tea supplied. Details, Gill 5974 1288 Over 50’s American Clogging New beginner classes learning Clogging, cross between Country Tap Dancing, Irish Dancing and American Folk Dancing. No dance experience or partner needed. Contact: Mornington Cloggers Lee : 59776985 04129777898
Women’s Shed. meets Wednesdays from 9:45am till 11:30am. Mt Martha Uniting Church Hall, Bay Rd. Mt Martha. “Time out group for women of all ages”. A supportive environment for women of all ages and backgrounds Wednesday 25th May Guest Cook will be Michelle, Cooking Delicious “ Pumpkin Scones”. Cost of morning $5.00. For Further information Please Call Merrilyn 58744072.
Western Port Equestrian Association Inc, for equestrian families, holds rallies on the 3rd Sunday and 2nd Wednesday of every month at Woolley’s Road Equestrian Reserve, Woolley’s Road, Crib Point. New members most welcome. Enquiries 0408 173 486
Rosebud Branch of National Seniors will hold its next meeting on Wednesday 8th June at Rosebud Library Community room, McDowell Street, Rosebud at 1.30pm. Guest speaker will be Sister Carmel McFaull Coordinator of Southern Peninsula Cancer support. Visitors are most welcome. Margot: 5981-2974
Your event here? Email team@ mpnews.com.au to have your community group’s event listed in the ‘What’s On Around The Peninsula’ section’.
Southern Peninsula Family History Group will hold it’s monthly meeting on the May 26th. at 1.30pm. in the community room at Rosebud libary. The guest speaker will be Des Young. on Locating the First Settlement Graves. afternoon tea will be served. Entry by donation. The Research rooms are located in Rosebud Community Centre 111 Boneo Rd. Rosebud . The rooms are open Monday 1-3pm. Wednesday !0am-3pm. Saturday 1-3pm. Records on Births, Deaths, Marriages, Convicts, Mirgration and many others .No appointment necessary Enquiries phone 5986 5882. Mornington Peninsula Family History Society will meet on Saturday 4th June at 1.30pm in the Frankston South Recreation Centre, Towerhill Road Frankston Mel ref 102 D7.Subject “Researching Irish Family History”. Members $3.00 Visitors $5.00 Details ph 9785 6814 or www. mpfhs.org Arthritis Self-help Group meet the last Tuesday of the month in the Baptist Church Hall, Boneo Road, Rosebud, at 1:30pm.New members welcome. Contact Lorna 59822678.
Cancer Support Group meets every second Tuesday of the month. All welcome. Community Health. 185 High Street, Hastings, or ring 0419 020 543. Your event here? Email team@ mpnews.com.au to have your community group’s event listed in the ‘What’s On Around The Peninsula’ section’. ROSEBUD SENIOR CITIZENS have Bingo in their Club Rooms 121 Ninth Avenue, Rosebud, up the hill from the Commonwealth Bank & Vinnies, on Mondays, rain, hail or shine, commencing at 1.00p.m. Any residents 18 and over are welcome. The more patrons the better the prizes. Lunch is available at a reasonable price, afternoon tea free. Hope to see all Bingo fans soon, we will make you most welcome.
Rosebud Ladies Probus meet on the fourth Friday of every month at the Salvation Army Citadel, Melaleuca Ave Rosebud West. at 9.30am. Speaker Kay Rawlinson on Jewellery on Friday May 27th May. New members are always welcome to join. We are a friendly and caring group of ladies lookimg forward to meeting YOU Ring Barb 5985 7695 The Great Three Legged Chair Op Shop HALF PRICE SALE is back. Everything half price. Furniture, electrical goods, homewares, toys, brick-a-brac, pictures. Large selection of brand new Japanese crockery from 50c per piece. Books $1 per kilo. All proceeds to Community Caring Inc. 19-27 May. 18 Progress Street, Mornington. Monday-Friday 10am to 4pm. Phone: 5973 5522.
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General Goods TAXI TRUCK SERVICE Storage Available PH: 59 77 3560 or 0419 964 920 Wanted Kitchen, bathroom or mosaic tiles for Local School Mosiac Project. Please call 0408719550. Brass Bed Head and Foot White Posts with Brass Knobs porcelain inserts includes inner spring mattress and base complete with broderie anglaise valance beautiful single size vgc $7O 59774177 Tyabb
Ads are free for private items under $100. Ads are just $5 for private items over $100. Add a photograph to an ad for another $10. Situations vacant ads are $20. Garage sales ads are $20. Once you have your ad or listing completed you can 1. E-mail it to team@mpnews.com.au 2. Fax it to (03) 5979 3509 3. Mail it to Mornington Peninsula News Group, PO Box 588, Hastings, 3915.
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All ads must be paid for before publishing. No ads will be taken over the phone. PAGE 12
Mornington News 19 May 2011
Furniture for sale Sofa-bed in good condition $99 T.V unit $80 2 Wall units , $90 + $75 Call 0402 673 113 Tyabb Decking boards. Cypress 70 x 20mm. 105@ 2.7m. $1.55 per LinM. Excellent condition. Arthurs Seat. 0408 919 707. Phone 7 days. Support belts. Less than half price. New. Sizes medium and x-large. Thermoskin with trioxin. Adjustable. $30. Safety beach. 5987 1194.
General Goods Single Bed. Good condition. Good clean mattress. Solid light wood head and foot board. 2.1mx1.2m approx. Ideal for spare room, or for teenager or young adult. $50 Phone 0435 442291 Balnarring Deb/Wedding dress Size 8-10. Style niccolina, embroided top with scolloped chiffon overlay. Very elegant, warn once and drycleaned. Ex con - must see. Paid $695 will sell $300. Ph: 0407556204 after 6pm. White desk and hutch with two drawers 120x90 VGC $40. 3 sliding mirrored doors 235x110 $90. Flat screen wall bracket never used 76-140 $40. 59755364. Mornington.
Situations Vacant Property Manager Century 21 Hastings, the leaders in property management in the Western Port area, are seeking an agent’s representative with residential property management experience. A current, Victorian driver’s license and a reliable car are all essential. Familiarity with REST software package would be an advantage. The successful candidate will be a mature team player, with excellent communication and customer service skills, seeking a long term career in Property Management. Immediate start available. WE KNOW GOOD PEOPLE COST MONEY! Enquiries in the first instance to Abby Furniss – Senior Property Manager on 5979 3555 or abbyfurniss@century21. com.au Chef/cook required for cafe. Must have experience. Able to do all aspects of kitchen work including front of house. Start on one shift per week and cover holidays and sick days. Avaiable weekends. No evenings. Phone 5979 8129.
Business for Sale Navy bed settee. As new. Generous 2 seat length. Comfortable with two small matching cushions. $500 ono. Phone 59774562. Workbench, folding new B&D assembled for inspection. Adjustable. Ideal for limited space, home & hobby. $50. Safety beach. 5987 1194.
Hairdressing salon with spray tan room and beauty therapy room with all equipment. In busy High Street location in Hastings. Walk in and start work. Purchase at below set-up cost. $23,000. Phone: 0403 733 879
Public Notices The winners of the Mitre 10 21st birthday raffle were Trevor and Leslie of Spruce Drive, Hastings.
Healthy Living Your health and wellbeing By Laura Jones BARIATRIC surgery can help people to lose weight and reduce obesity related diseases, by enabling people to become satisfied from smaller amounts of food. However to achieve the best results, patients must also aim to work towards living a healthy lifestyle. My role as a bariatric Dietitian includes providing regular follow up, support and education for patients. In particular I help people to develop a non-dieting approach to their weight loss, which is something a lot of bariatric patients have not achieved before. It is also essential that a patient’s diet is assessed for nutritional adequacy to prevent nutritional deficiencies and related ill health. I also offer suggestions for vitamin supplementation, quick healthy meal ideas, meal planning and helping patients to understand food labels.
Dietitians don’t just help people with improving their nutritional knowledge; they also focus on eating behavior, behavioral change, motivation and more importantly adjusting diet for other health conditions that a patient may have. Only an accredited practicing dietitian can give advice on the nutritional management of chronic diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. In addition, research has shown that regular follow up with your bariatric team, including the dietitian, can lead to better health and weight loss outcomes in patients. In summary, the dietitian can offer patients with plenty of support, motivation and guidance to help them achieve the best possible health and weight loss outcomes after bariatric surgery. For further information, call Lap Surgery on 9760 2777.
Overweight? Obese? Diabetic? Live without diabetes. Improve your quality of life. Empower yourself to turn your life around.
You CAN do it! We WILL support you!
Call us today on 9760 2777 www.lapsurgeryaustralia.com Email: info@lapsurg.net.au Mornington News 19 May 2011
PAGE 13
Healthy Living Putting the boot into bunions
Macular degeneration awareness Bentons Square Optometrist, John Old, suggests that local residents who are over 50 to take the time to have an eye test and to have their macular checked for early detection of Macular Degeneration. Macular Degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in Australia and affects one in seven Australians over the age of 50. All Australians over age 50 should have an eye test and make sure the macula is checked. The Macular is the central part of the retina which is the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. Macular Degeneration causes progressive macular damage resulting in central vision loss. Macular Degeneration symptoms may include one or more of the following: • Difficulty with reading or other activities needing fine vision • Distortion where straight lines
MANY people suffer from bunions, however bunions are often dismissed or ignored until the problem starts having an affect physically and fashionably. What we mean by that is; bunions can not only cause pain but can get to the point where they dictate the shoes you can wear. For ladies this often means that those much loved high heels and other fashionable shoes are a thing of the past. So what are bunions and are you at risk? Bunions are a prominent or protruding bone joint where the big toe meets the foot. Untreated they can lead to constant pain and will only grow or
protrude more over time. Bunions are in part hereditary and in part from the environment, meaning what you do with your feet and what shoes you wear i.e. how much stress you put through your big toe joint is a contributing factor. For women, unfortunately, wearing high heels frequently can aggravate the problem. Although bunions are a common problem, they should be addressed as early as possible. There is no cure, it’s about reducing the symptoms and slowing degeneration. Surgery, which is usually only recommended in severe cases often does not cure the problem, it just reduces the size of the bunion,
therefore treating bunions early is the best option. Seeking proper medical advice from a Sports Podiatrist whom specializes in musculoskeletal issues as soon as there is any evidence of bunions is paramount. To have your feet assessed or to treat pain or the presence of bunions, call the Foot & Leg Pain Clinics, one of Australia’s largest and most experienced Sports Podiatry companies with 16 clinics across Melbourne. The Mt Eliza clinic is located at 135 Mt Eliza Way, Mt Eliza. Call now for 50% off initial consultations - 1300 328 300 or 9708 8866
appear wavy or bent Distinguishing faces becomes a problem • Dark patches appear in the centre of your vision • Loss of seeing colours clearly These symptoms can all indicate that there is something wrong. You can have the early signs of Macular Degeneration without realising. The major risk factors for Macular Degeneration are age, smoking and a family history of the disease. If you experience any sudden change in vision you should visit your Optometrist immediately, and never dismiss vision difficulties as just needing glasses, experiencing eye strain or getting older, said John. To find out more about Macular Degeneration call John Old Optometrist on 59755720 to make an appointment.
•
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Bentons Square Phone: 5975 5720 PAGE 14
Mornington News 19 May 2011
Healthy Living Women of Mornington Are you paying too go green for fitness much for hair care? WE are in a time of microwave ovens, text messaging and drive-through windows. We want it all now. So, why should seeing our finess results be any different? For this reason, Curves Mornington is encouriging it’s members to Go for Green with CurvesSmart to see results. CurvesSmart is a personal coaching system programmed with each member’s information to help them reach their individual goals. A green alert light provides members with moment-by-moment feedback during each workout. A progress report is provided after each workout, showing the number of kilojoules burned and more. The CurvesSmart system combines cardio strength training to work every major muscle group while burning up to 2000 kjs. We want to show our community that Curves really works, if you work it! With CurvesSmart, our members stay motivated, measure their success and achieve real results. Please call 5975 5526 or drop into Curves Mornington at Level 1, 8 Spray Street, Mornington to find out how to become a member and Go for Green. Entry to Spray Street is Off Main Street, Via Elizabeth Street.
TIRED of paying through the roof for a hairstyle and colour? Then Ziki Hair Salon is the place for you! Modern, stylish and professional, this home hairsalon brings the city to you! With the benefit of low over heads, we at Ziki can offer our clients a service that is
comfortable and easily accessible to those living in Mornington and the surrounding suburbs. The hours of operation are Sundays 10am – 4pm, Mondays-Tuesdays-Wednesdays- 9am – 9pm, and Thursdays- 9am – 12pm. We offer a complete range of hair services from cutting & colouring, bridal & formal hair, to Keratin Relaxing & Smoothing treatments. Both Natalie & Shaun have worked in salons throughout the peninsula area and are both highly trained in all aspects of the hair industry. The Ziki team specialize in modern style cutting, foiling and colour correction. We also have sourced and trained in Keratin based relaxing services, and due to our location we offer these at a very reasonable price. Natalie is also trained in organically bonded hair extensions that are so natural looking, they are literally undetectable! Both the extensions and Keratin services are all priced depending on the individual. We would like to invite you to come try our salon, in which we are sure you will be both happy and impressed, Call Natalie or Shaun on 0449 143 137.
both modern and affordable, almost half the price of normal hairsalon! Plus on your first appointment, you receive a 25% discount on all services! With twenty-five years experience between them, Natalie (pictured above) & Shaun have built a salon that is modern,
Ziki
Now your muscles can multitask, too. Our 30-minute circuit works every major muscle group, two muscles at a time, so you can burn up to 2000 kilojoules. All with a trainer to teach and motivate.
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Try 1 Week Free* *Free week may be redeemed on first visit or exchanged for special membership discount. Not valid with any other offer. Valid only at participating locations. © 2009 Curves International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Women’s Colour Women’s Cuts PERSONAL COACHING SYSTEM
DETAILED PROGRESS REPORT
Tint regrowth only: $45 Tint roots to ends: $60 Tint and foils: $70 Semi-permanent: $45 Foils part line/hairline: $35 Toner: $10 Foils 1/2 head: $70 Foils fullhead: $90 (Long hair charges may apply)
www.curves.com.au
5975 5526 CURVES MORNINGTON Level 1, 8 Spray Street (off Main St, Via Elizabeth St)
Wash, cut and dry off: $30 Wash, cut and blow wave: $40 Blow-wave plus curls or straightener add $10 Curls or straightener on dry hair: $20 Conditioning Treatments: $10 Blow Wave: Short $25, Medium $30, Long $35
Men’s Cuts and Colour
Children/Student Cuts
Tint: $20 Foils scattered: $20 Foils full head: $35 Beliarge: $15 Wash and cut: $20 Head shave: $15
Primary and under: $10 High school girls: $15 High school boys: $15 KERATIN COMPLEX TREATMENT: P.O.A FORMAL/BRIDAL HAIR UP: P.O.A HAIR EXTENSIONS: P.O.A
OPENING SPECIAL 25% off 1st visit 14 EDEN PARK DRIVE, MORNINGTON Call Natalie & Shaun 0449143137 6 7 < / , 6 + 3 5 2 ) ( 6 6 , 2 1 $ / 0 2 ' ( 5 1
Mornington News 19 May 2011
PAGE 15
F
D& ENTERTAINMENT ʔʦLȫɏ
Recipes are from The Australian Women’s Weekly, Only four ingredients. ACP Books. RRP $12.95, available from selected newsagents, supermarkets and online from www.acpbooks.com.au
Confucius says:
Man who finds job at crystal ball company will make a fortune
Riddle: I am right, never wrong and everyone that’s alive has me. What am I? Answer page 17.
An eye to the sky By Stuart McCullough SOME things cannot be explained – the Bermuda Triangle, the ongoing popularity of Glee, or why the normally dependable John Cusack agreed to star in a turkey of a film like Hot Tub Time Machine. (Why, John Cusack, why?) Add to this list is the habit of perching sunglasses on top of the head. There are two types of people in this world: those who wear their sunglasses on top of their head and the rest of us. A person will often remark that they don’t have eyes in the back of their head. Such comments are commonly made in exasperation, but never fail to spark a curiosity in me. I can’t help but wonder whether, beneath the hair that inhabits the dark side of their face, there could very well lurk another set of eyes, a mouth and maybe even a nose. Dismiss such thoughts if you will, but a person can still protest too much. But while the jury may still be out as to whether or not people do have eyes in the back of their heads, they apparently have them on top. All of sudden, what was once a cult practise has suddenly gone absolutely gangbusters.
PAGE 16
When Corey Hart bravely declared to the world that he wore his sunglasses at night, many assumed him to be a dead-set idiot. However, even Corey would be left to scratch his noggin in bewilderment at the current fashion craze of placing sunglasses on your
Mornington News 19 May 2011
head. No good can possibly come of it. It’s hard to know who to blame. Personally, I attribute the trend to the same people that gave us the perpetually turned up polo shirt collar. To this day, the thought of them makes me shudder.
Often worn in tandem with baggy bottom shorts and the plastic atrocity that must be every podiatrist’s worst nightmare – the Croc sandal – these ostentatious no-goodniks look as though they’re ready to go yachting at a moment’s notice. Which, if you’re being dressed by Duran Duran, might be fair enough, but is otherwise totally mystifying. Human beings are a strange creation – we are seemingly at the mercy of whatever senseless trend sweeps over us. It is for this reason that the most obscure object can suddenly be catapulted into the ordinary. It’s not just oddly positioned sunglasses, either. Consider lycra. Let’s get something out on the table – not everyone looks good in lycra. Just because you ride a bicycle doesn’t automatically mean that you should dress yourself like a human sausage. I firmly believe that even in an age where the world’s military secrets are revealed through the simple click of a mouse, there is still such a thing as “too much information”. There’s an old saying: lycra doesn’t lie. Actually, it’s not an old saying, but it would look like an old saying if I selected a more sympathetic typeface
and said: lycra doesn’t lie. It squeezes, moulds and grips, but it conceals nothing. The closest it comes is by providing unnatural support to those parts of your anatomy that would more instinctively reach towards terra firma with their arms outstretched. As such, the best lycra can muster is to act as some kind of buttock brassiere. Should your lycra ride a little high, you’re in real danger of having your trouser hams end up somewhere behind your ear lobes. Worse than its tendency to drag the saggiest of derrières to an altitude at which it may require oxygen is the ability of lycra to wear out. Let it be said, at some point lycra loses the structural integrity without which it might as well cease to exist. I saw him on Beach Rd. High on his haunches, buttocks waving like a flag. Like fairy floss in the rain, his lycra bike shorts had started their steady descent towards disintegration. The overall effect was more like a pair of stockings. As a result, even casual passers-by were confronted with what, in Sale of the Century terms, would be referred to as “the lot”. Or, put another way, the whole box and dice, the entire fruit bowl, the full packet of
Arnott’s family assortment. Outraged, I planted the palm of my hand as far into the car horn as it would go, while winding down my window and exhorting the clearly confused cyclist – in the name of all that is holy – to get a pair of slacks. I’m not a fan of yelling in the traffic. I prefer to keep my profanities largely to myself, but in this instance there was a larger principle at stake. One that said that being as good as naked from the waist down is not acceptable. Puzzled, the man pulled over, adjusted his upturned collar, removed his helmet and immediately placed his sunglasses on top of his head. This, I thought, explains everything. When I told him that the state of his lycra was such that he might as well by riding down the street entirely without pants, he apologised, explaining that he didn’t have eyes in the back of his head. For a moment, I contemplated demanding to inspect his cranium to confirm, once and for all, whether this was indeed the case. But I decided to let the chance, and the cyclist, ride. It is, I decided, not so necessary to know everything. www.stuartmccullough.com
FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
Sorrento beckons for a June feast TASTE of Sorrento offers a mouth-watering blend of gourmet food and fine wine events aimed at showcasing some of the Mornington Peninsula’s finest. With cooking demonstrations and tastings from Top 4 Junior Masterchef Siena Johnston, well-known chef–author Guy Mirabella, Peter Watson from the Spice company and Red Hill Cheese, themed dinners, meet the winemaker evening, chef authors, cocktail making and, of course, chocolate, it really is a treat for the senses. With events spread over the week from Friday 3 to Friday 10 June prior to the June long weekend, there’s plenty of time to visit. To give you a taste of what’s happening, some of the events include: Cup cake decorating competition after school from 1-3 June at Buckleys Chance followed by winner announcement, talk and cooking demonstrations by Top 4 Junior Master Chef contestant Siena Johnston on Saturday 4 June. An irresistible ‘Pinot & Paella’ night will be held at The Continental Hotel on Friday 3 June. Scicluna’s Real Food Merchants will be hosting a funfilled farmer’s market in store for the whole weekend of 4 and 5 June, including tastings, cooking demonstrations, spot specials and giveaways. Visit the Absolut Vodka cocktail-making classes at the Three Palms Bar on Saturday 4 June where you can drink what you make for $10 a person.
The Age Good Food Guidelisted Three Palms will host a ‘Game, Set & Match’ game degustation dinner on Sunday 5 June matched with Mornington Peninsula wines, $120 a person. Bookings essential on 5984 1057. Peter Watson of the Spice Company will provide a cooking demonstration and lunch – Seriously Good Food, Fast at Stringers Store on Monday 6 June, $45 a person served with a glass of peninsula wine. Bookings essential on 5984 2010. Renowned restaurant Acquolina will treat guests to a mouth-watering northern Italian cuisine dinner on Monday 6 June. Red Hill Cheese will host a tutored tasting at Stringers Store on Tuesday 7 June, including a light lunch and glass of Mornington Peninsula wine. Experience a Taste of Asia at Sorrento Portsea RSL with demonstrations and tastings of traditional Thai food plus a travel expo from Travelscene Sorrento on Tuesday 7 June. The Smokehouse will host a Middle Eastern dinner with a series of courses inspired by Lebanon and Turkey on Wednesday 8 June Guest chef and author Guy Mirabella will deliver a talk and book signing on Thursday 9 June. A series of tasting plates will be prepared from his book by local chefs at Over Easy in a relaxed, casual setting overlooking Port Phillip. Loquat Restaurant will be offering a themed dinner using
seasonal produce and accompanied by Foxeys Hangout Wines on Thursday 9 June. Hotel Sorrento will host a meet the winemaker evening. Winemakers will share their knowledge about wines through tastings of two chardonnays and two pinot noirs, matched with tasting plates from Hotel Sorrento chefs. The Baths will offer a Restaurant Express for the Taste of Sorrento Week with a main meal using the finest Mornington Peninsula produce and a glass of Mornington Peninsula wine for $25. Just Fine Food goes chocolate, offering a gourmet chocolate lovers’ menu including its world famous vanilla slice. Buckleys Chance Restaurant Cafe has a number of specials for the Taste of Sorrento week including breakfasts such as pancakes benedict, and winter warming pies and pots for lunch. Otrher events include food films, kids in the kitchen program, meal and wine deals, music and gourmet menus throughout Sorrento at places like Via Sorrento, The Koonya Hotel, Morgan’s Bar, Sorrento Community Centre, Sorrento Couta Boat Sailing Club by Sorrento Catering, Baked in Sorrento, Glace Gelato & Juice, Brumby’s and others. To find out more visit www. tasteofsorrento.com.au or SMS taste@SPCC to 0427 800 800 (no voice calls) to be kept informed and for special offers.
Joke!!!
RIddle Solution
A highly timid little man, Casper Milquetoast, ventured into a biker bar in the Bronx and clearing his throat asked, ‘Um, err, which of you gentlemen owns the Doberman tied outside to the parking meter?’ A giant of a man, wearing biker leathers, his body hair growing out through the seams, turned slowly on his stool, looked down at the quivering little man and said, ‘It’s my dog. Why?’ ‘Well,’ squeaked the little man, obviously very nervous, ‘I believe my dog just killed it, sir.’ ‘What?’ roared the big man in disbelief. ‘What in the hell kind of dog do you have?’ ‘Sir,’ answered the little man, ‘It’s a four week old puppy.’ ‘Bull!’ roared the biker, ‘How could your puppy kill my Doberman?’ ‘It appears that he choked on it, sir.’
ANSWER: A right side
Sudoku Solution
The most ridiculous and strange, fresh for you...
Peninsula artists give a Continental THE Continental Hotel’s annual art prize will be announced in June. A spokesman for the hotel said the annual art prize has become an institution on the Mornington Peninsula. “It attracts Australia-wide attention and has been judged by many well-known and respected artists.” As well as a first prize of $1500, there is an encouragement award of $500, which aims to inspire emerging artists. “The Continental’s hanging space is more relaxed than a formal gallery and we don’t
charge the fees to hang works that galleries do, which makes it accessible to more artists. “By supporting local artists, the Continental hopes to encourage young artists as well as promote artists who cannot afford to show their works in galleries.” There are no subject restraints for the competition, but conditions apply and can be viewed on the hotel’s website. Entries are due on Sunday 22 May between 11am and 2pm at the Balcony Bar at the hotel, 1-21 Ocean Beach Rd, Sorrento.
Enter on Constitution Hill Rd, via the stairwell up the side of building. The exhibition opening and award announcement is on Friday 3 June at 4.30pm in the Continental Hotel Restaurant. Judging is at 5pm. “The Continental Hotel Restaurant gallery space hosts four exhibitions a year and only artists who participate in our annual art prize can exhibit in our other exhibitions. Entry forms are available at the Continental Hotel Restaurant or on the hotel’s website www.continentalhotel. com.au
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Mornington News 19 May 2011
PAGE 17
FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
Entertainment MUCH has been made of the Jetty Road story, beginning with Paula and Lee Bowman’s childhood journey starting in the small rural coastal town of Nungurner in Victoria outside Lakes Entrance. The identical twins walked the roads of the town from age 10 singing to neighbours. Their father Peter Bowman was also talented, playing guitar and singing songs at home. Paula said: “We were isolated where we lived so we relied on our parents’ record collection and listened to Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, John Williamson and Abba. “Mum and Dad went to Bali and bought back a stack of cassettes including Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt and we would sing to them.” At age eight Paula started playing organ and Lee was playing guitar. By the time they were at secondary school, Lee was also playing flute and Paula clarinet. “Our school music teacher, Sue Bethune, encouraged us to sing and we ended up singing around Gippsland. Sue prepared the foundation for performing,” Lee said. They finished school but the careers teacher did not offer them a career as entertainers so Lee decided to
do hospitality while Paula took on photography. Although the girls were keen on their new careers, they felt something was missing. At age 18 they abandoned their careers and headed to Box Hill College of Music to study. There they met Julian Sammut and Simon Ross who both majored in piano. Jetty Road was born, named after a road in Nungurner. In 2005 Jetty Road released the
debut album Full Circle before heading to Tamworth to do some busking before releasing the second album, Dirt Roads City Lights (2007), and then the award-winning album Life at a Million Miles (2009). The album went to No. 1 on the country charts and the group won the Golden Guitar for Best Group in 2010. Jetty Road has won a host of awards including Australian Independent Group of the Year, Independent Album of the Year, People’s Choice Awards and National Music Oz Award. Jetty Road’s new album Far Away Places is released this week and the first single, Serves You Right Right,, has raced into the Australian country charts. Jetty Road fans are celebrating that the single has raced into the US radio airplay charts debuting at No. 86, something an Australian country act has not achieved before. One of Canada’s top labels, Onramp Records, has signed Jetty Road to its country music label, the first nonCanadian act signed to Onramp. Paula said: “Things are heating up in the US and Canada and there are many possibilities at the moment with the Canadian and US charts. It would be nice to follow 2011 with another Golden Guitar just to prove it wasn’t a fluke.”
The album was recorded in Julian’s studio The Cool Room in Melbourne’s outer east and The Factory Studios in Vancouver, Canada. “The Factory was awesome with bands like AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith recording there and for us little Australians to record there was cool,” Paula said. Paula and Lee are influenced by a variety of music but don’t hide the secret that they are big Keith Urban fans. Paula enjoys Fleetwood Mac, Miranda Lambert, Neil Diamond and a touch of classical. Lee likes Brandy Carlisle, Iva Davies, Icehouse, classical and music of the 1980s. Paula, Lee, Julian and Simon wrote four tracks on the album and co-wrote the remainder with other songwriters, produced by Paul Shatto and David Wills. Musically, the album is a masterpiece with well-crafted songs interwoven with clever lyrics and superb production. Highlights include Serves You Right, Wrong, Me & You, Sweet Goodbye, Dream West and Bye Bye Baby Baby.. The album provides an uplifting take on life and some incredibly catchy, appealing songs.
*** THE AFL cops $1.25 billion for the television rights and, as they tell us, it will be good for football and “good for the fans”. First they have to give themselves big bonuses, then the players will want more money as will all the clubs and executives. All games live to air and, whacko, all games accessed on a mobile phone. Will it cost us more? No, says Foxtel, if you can afford Foxtel. The television stations will not pay more without a plan to make more; ditto Telstra. Lavish lunches will become more lavish, and so it goes. AFL, Foxtel and Telstra the big winners and us the likely losers, eventually. From our pockets to theirs. A big con? As for that “good for the fans” bit, where are these fans who support twilight Sunday games and the inclusion of two more teams and no Tassie team? One day it may come to pass that the monolithic AFL resembles Humpty Dumpty. PS: Andrew Demetriou and federal sports minister Mark Arbib (you remember Mark? He’s one of the twins
who stabbed Kevvy) have expressed concern about the level of gambling advertising. The AFL hired an “integrity officer” to combat internal match fixing. Almost as funny as that commercial I heard on the wireless: “Buy Australian. Buy Anxiety Aid today. From health stores and pharmacies.” Begone. *** WHEN I was a kid, around the time of Socrates, we were poor apparently. I say apparently as I was unaware of my social standing. No locks on the doors, very few clothes (we went to bed in a state of excitement when Mum bought us new pyjamas), lemonade on birthdays, self-management as in unabated roaming, no television to guide us to a state of envy, no cars to drive through Toorak, no Tattslotto to live in hope and no big deal. But, we ate well. Beautiful meals and sumptuous puddings; the works. And yet, a look around today and it’s not difficult to see the severe (at times) downgrading in the quality of meals. Why? Obviously cigarettes are a cause – $120 a week and $300 for rent takes a mighty toll. I can’t help wondering whether or
not the do-gooders who whack on extortionate cigarette taxes realise how kids are suffering at the dinner table. Stop smoking and save to buy a house, they reply. Well, they stuffed up the house purchase idea by looking after the rich. And Kevvy was responsible for the last massive tax hike on cigarettes. The government estimates smokingrelated illnesses cost $300 million a year and collects $5.8 billion a year in tax excise duty. Ben Chifley said, many moons ago, “Never separate the working man from his beer and cigarettes”. Beer? Look out! A Cancer Council analysis has now linked longterm drinking to a broad range of cancers. Let them whack a bigger tax on alcohol – for our own good? *** SOME females don’t like men and it’s easy enough to understand why, but why is it that some men don’t “like” females? Men regularly accept verbal aggression from one another but rarely can they accept it from females. Some males assume they’re more intelligent; God knows why. Was my wife the boss or more intelligent than me? Secretly I may have harboured
with Gary Turner Paula and Lee said: “We are ambitious, want to be a worldwide act, have put in a lot of hard work and want to see our names up in lights.” You don’t need a GPS to find Jetty Road: travel down any highway and Jetty Road is straight ahead. www.jettyroad.com GTs Top 10 Country Albums 1. Far Away Places – Jetty Road 2. Holding My Breath – Adam Toms 3. Vintage Reg – Reg Poole 4. Boots ‘N’ All – Chris Lee 3. Diesel Boy – Travis Sinclair 4. Middle of Blue – Nia Robertson 5. Woman of Substance – Nicki Gillis 6. 14 Funny Songs – Jim Haynes 7. Cattle Town – Dean Perrett 8. Bad Machines – Shane Nicholson 9. Straight to the Pool Room – Smokin’ Crawdads 10. Left of Center – Left of Center
A Grain of Salt I SAW a tiny bit of The Wedding before the footy. I was interested in The Kiss, missed it, but caught one of the trillion repeats. It was more a peck, or two. I fancied a passionate embrace followed by a you-know-what kiss. I look forward to the glossy Women’s Weekly photos in the doctor’s waiting room during 2013. Let’s hope Julia was uplifted by it all. After the next election, despite my vote (I’m anti-populist right-wing conservative, for now), marriage may be her best option. Surely the Yanks (Bin Laden) could have waited another fortnight to give The Wedding (and the Logies) their time in the sun. Laurie Oakes was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame. He’s a long way off being a favourite of mine (on a par with Shaun Micallef), but I bow to his excellent speech and congratulate him. It’s fair to add he’s a good journalist, unlike Micallef’s (and Shane Jacobson’s) supposed comedy. Not so Shane Bourne, who was classy. Congrats to Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh for winning the real acting awards. The Logies were once again embarrassing, as were most of the presenters.
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Mornington News 19 May 2011
with Cliff Ellen
the thought that I was more relaxed emotionally than Darling and a better driver, but in the interests of harmony (and fear), I rarely voiced this thought. Two questions I always refrained from asking: “Who was on the phone?” and “When will you be back?” On the other hand I secretly enjoyed Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady singing “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?”. I’m told that some of them are, in a particular street in St Kilda. “We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waiting ’round the bend, my huckleberry friend, moon river and me.” A little chaos is good for the soul. I met a very nice lady recently. Barracked for Carlton and voted Liberal. Here endeth the conversation. Bye for now. cliffie9@bigpond.com
Blues tackle unbeaten Geelong as Saints and Demons battle for respect Round 9 previews Friday 20 May Carlton v Geelong, Etihad Stadium 7.40pm And then there was one... Geelong is now the only undefeated team in the league. Despite the Magpies missing several of their premiership players, the Cats got the four points in the end. Carlton however will be every chance to keep up their great start to the season; there may be injury concerns over Edward Curnow and Chris Yarran so it will be interesting to see how the Blues can counter this. Another major injury concern is Geelong skipper Cameron Ling who damaged his shoulder last week. Geelong by 16 points. Saturday 21 May St Kilda v Melbourne, Etihad Stadium 2.10pm Another bad week for the Demons after they surrendered a decent first-
quarter lead then failed to put up a fight as the Roos came storming home. Funnily enough, the exact same thing happened to St Kilda, except this time Hawthorn were the victors. Even though Stefan Martin held his own in the ruck, Melbourne is going to miss Mark Jamar over the next month. I think St Kilda can get the win here; the Dees have always struggled playing away from the MCG and they did push Carlton a fortnight ago. St Kilda by 18 points. Port Adelaide v Fremantle, AAMI Stadium 3.10pm Two losses in a row and the warning bells are ringing for Fremantle. You could’ve forgiven them for losing in Melbourne, but in the derby they had their chances and couldn’t get their hands on the ball. They need some more A-list midfielders so they can free Pavlich to go into the forward line. Mundy isn’t enough at the moment, especially with the absence of Michael Barlow. Port Adelaide however failed dismally in Sydney when they had the Swans where they wanted them early on. They were playing great football and just lost all
momentum. Fremantle by 22 points. Brisbane v North Melbourne, Gabba 7.10pm I think the ladder sums up Brisbane’s season -- 17th position on the ladder followed by countless disappointing losses including four at home. North Melbourne had a great come-frombehind win against the Demons. Daniel Wells has hit form and they look like taking it up to the Lions in Brisbane. Brisbane is due for a win and they haven’t lost to the Kangaroos at home since 2005, but North are on the up and the Lions are struggling. North Melbourne by 54 points. Richmond v Essendon, MCG 7.40pm Dreamtime at the ’G, and these old rivals will put on a show. Essendon continue to push aside the younger teams of the competition when they won easily against Brisbane. Richmond’s winning streak was finally ended by the Bulldogs in a shootout at Docklands. With an injury cloud over Jobe Watson, Essendon’s depth will be tested, but they’ve
recovered from the loss of Dempsey and Winderlich well enough and now it’s time for them to crack the top two. Essendon by 31 points. Sunday 22 May Collingwood v Adelaide, Etihad Stadium 1.10pm The media debated if it was even possible but the Pies lost their first game for the season in a tight one against Geelong. Unlike last year, the Pies have several injured premiership stars. Alan Toovey, Leigh Brown, Nick Maxwell and Ben Johnson all could possibly miss this game. The Crows have just come off an easy win against the Suns. The Magpies will have a task stopping Patrick Dangerfield after he dominated on the weekend and kicked six goals; maybe Harry O’Brien could run with him. Collingwood by 62 points. Sydney v Hawthorn, SCG 2.10pm Both teams had good wins on the weekend, and both started slowly. The Hawks again failed to put in a four-quarter performance, which could be a liability come finals time. Also they will be without big men
Stephen Gilham and David Hale, which could give the Swans an advantage. Jude Bolton for the Swans is getting better with age, after he tore up the track with 33 disposals. So this will be a tight game. Keep a leash on Franklin and you can beat Hawthorn, especially considering their recent form. Sydney by 2 points. West Coast v Western Bulldogs, Patersons Stadium 4.40pm The Eagles have the bragging rights in Perth at the moment and will be full of confidence when they face a reinvigorated Bulldogs. The Dogs showed us last weekend the type of games they’ve been playing over the last few years. Lindsay Gilbee played out of his skin in kicking six goals against the in-form Tigers. With players returning from injury, there’s plenty of upside for the Dogs. Going on last weekend’s game, I can’t see West Coast’s form dipping too soon; if Andrew Embley returns all the better for them. West Coast by 37 points
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18 Holes - $22 9 Holes - $15 (MUST BRING VOUCHER) JUST when you think you have seen it all, up pops this photo. Fanatics of Colombian soccer side Cucuta Deportiva managed to sneak a coffin carrying the body of a teenager, Cristopher Jacome, into the game against Envigado allowing him to be “on hand” for the team’s equalising goal. The 17-year-old was shot dead playing the game he loved in a local paddock – reportedly by hired assassins. (Shades of
his fellow countryman Andres Escobar who we told you about in a recent edition of The News). The next day, after the wake for their fallen brother and fellow Cucuta Deportivo supporter, members of the “Barra del Indio” fan group broke into the funeral home, stole the body, which was paraded through the streets, and then slipped it into the match of the day at the 45,000-capacity General Santander Stadium in
Cucuta. The game against Envigado finished in a 1-1 draw. Not surprisingly, the event has generated some interest in Cucuta. In something of an understatement, Deportivo doctor Julio Rivera stated: “This is the only part of the world where this has happened.” At the same time police and stadium officials were asking a few questions about how an occupied coffin got past security.
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Mornington News 19 May 2011
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