Tuesday, 13 May, 2025
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Dreyfus shock demotion
Street violence crackdown
School’s in for Mitch-mania
Stingrays’ twin thrillers
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Star-power adds spice Dandenong Masala Football Club rose from the ‘bottom of the bottom’ to top of the world in a stirring turnaround win with help from ex-AFL star Brendan ‘Fev’ Fevola and pop legend Guy Sebastian on Saturday 10 May. In front of more than 2000 fans at Lois Twohig Reserve, Fev and Guy led the thirds side in the Victorian Amateur Football Association’s (VAFA) lowest division to a two-point victory over South Melbourne. It was a stunning revival for proudly-multicultural Masala, which had been thumped by 229 points the week before and had been scrambling for enough players this season. Fev – part of The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick radio show - soared for pack marks, snagging six of Masala’s seven goals. “The crowd was absolutely electric, and to help deliver their first win in three years – that’s something I’ll never forget,” Fev said. “This wasn’t just a win on the scoreboard; it was a win for the community, and a win for the underdogs.” Adding to the carnival, Guy treated fans to a half-time concert, plugging his new single Maybe. But his day ended early with a suspected Achilles injury in the final quarter. The club reported a 600 per cent lift in canteen sales, requiring a few emergency runs of snags and rolls to stock-up for the bumper crowd. “It was dreamlike. It was just a spectacle,” president Billy Bolch said. “Many of those 18-19-year-old players got their first win with us - for that side, it was the first win since August 2023. “The game was massive for our club.”
Brendan Fevola gets his hand first to the ball. (Gary Sissons: 476840) Masala one-off recruit and pop star Guy Sebastian zones in on the footy. (Gary Sissons: 476840)
Cut-price rates By Cam Lucadou-Wells Greater Dandenong residents face modest rate rises of less than 1 per cent – well shy of the State Government’s 3 per cent rates cap. Despite facing years of debts and deficits, the council’s draft 2025-’26 budget shields residents with a $13 – or 0.79 per cent - average rise in household rates and waste charges.
The median bill will be about $1550 – including a $516 waste charge. This is being subsidised largely by rates on industrial (up 5.85 per cent) and farm (up 3.79 per cent) properties. However, Greater Dandenong expects to go into underlying deficit for the first time in 2025-’26. It also plans to borrow $68 million in two years
for its biggest-ever capital works project, the $122 million Dandneong Wellbeing Centre . It will be spending up to $7.2 million a year to service its loans. A council report last week warns it will need to assess the future of its current services, and to consider asset sales. “We recognise the rising cost of living is affect-
ing many in our community and Council is not immune,” chief executive Jacqui Weatherill and mayor Jim Memeti stated in a joint introduction to the draft budget. “Like households and businesses across Greater Dandenong, we are feeling the impact of inflation and increasing costs.” More on the draft budget, go to page 4
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