BERWICK
Thursday, 21 April, 2022
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Hunt for Indian models
Picnic time for teddy bears
Juddy earns his stripes
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Twinkle Toe retirees dance on
Honoured in paint By Eleanor Wilson It’s fair to say Australia’s frontline workers have faced the full force of the Covid pandemic. Now, an Upper Beaconsfield man has taken his appreciation for the workforce to the revered Archibald Prize - submitting an oil portrait of a Berwick paramedic to honour the dedication of ambos across the country. Peter McLean, who only started painting as a hobby seven years ago, said it was “an easy decision” to choose Ambulance Victoria team manager Nicky Blyth for his entry. “I know Nicky through our children’s school. She is very humble and the work she does is very special, so it was a very easy decision for me,” Mr McLean said. Continued page 11 Peter McLean painted Berwick paramedic Nicky Blyth for this year’s Archibald Prize.
Rates set to rise By Eleanor Wilson The City of Casey’s 2022-23 budget includes a 1.75 per cent increase in average general rates for residents, in line with the state rate cap. The move is a 0.25 per cent increase from last year’s 1.5 per cent rate, and is expected to raise $3.9 million revenue for Casey Council
to use on key projects outlined in the 2022-23 budget. “We do have a strong commitment to ensuring value for money for this community, most particularly adopting the rate cap as part of that,” City of Casey chair of administrators Noelene Duff said. “Many of the cost impacts on this council’s
operations are far greater than that 1.75 per cent, so this becomes a balancing act for us,” she said. Council said hardship options were available for ratepayers who are unable to meet these increases, including deferments and waivers of interest and charges. Chief financial officer Bernard Rohan said
the rate cap was the “key issue that council grapples with each year”. Mr Rohan said the 2022-23 rate cap, which represented a state mandated maximum rate that councils can charge residents in a financial year, was lower than previous estimates for the 2022-23 financial year. Continued page 5
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