Established in 1875 as the
proudly serving Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay
6 AUGUST, 2025
Brett gets on his bike again Veteran Altona cyclist Brett Marlow had a good answer when asked why he was saddling up for the Great Vic Bike Ride again this year. “It makes living worthwhile for me actually,” said the 74-year-old bachelor who will be doing his 31st ride from November 24-28. “This is the one holiday I have to have every year.” Riding anywhere from 60km to more than 100km per day for five days wouldn’t be most people’s idea of holiday, but as someone who rides 150-170kms a week, Marlow clearly isn’t your average retiree. In fact, he treats the social event as a competition. “I turn it into a race,” he said. “You have three stops, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea and generally I’ll try and go as hard as I can between those stops.” The ride takes a different route each year and while Marlow wasn’t sure where this year’s was going, he didn’t care. “I just turn up and do it. If they ran it around the MCG I’d do it.” Details: https://bicyclenetwork.com.au/ rides-and-events/great-victorian-bikeride/ Altona’s Brett Marlow is saddling up for his 31st Great Vic Bike Ride this November. (Ljubica Vrankovic) 492874_02
Council ‘shame’ By Cade Lucas Two Hobsons Bay councillors have lashed out at their colleagues for not supporting a public safety motion at last Tuesday night’s council meeting. The July 29 meeting ended in chaos when a motion introduced as urgent business by Cr Lisa Bentley, demanding council advocate for improved public safety following the recent machete attack on a man in Altona Meadows, was voted down on procedural grounds.
“Shame, shame, shame” shouted Cr Bentley to the chamber after her motion was voted down 4-3, with only mayor Daria Kellander and Cr Michael Disbury joining her in support. The four councillors who voted against reacted angrily to Cr Bentley’s comments, pointing out they were voting against the motion being introduced as urgent business, not the motion itself, while others protested that they were blindsided by Cr Bentley’s actions. After a five minute adjournment failed
to placate Cr Bentley, the meeting moved onto confidential business before being declared closed. In a statement to Star Weekly, a spokesperson for Hobsons Bay council confirmed the motion was defeated on procedural grounds, not for its content. “The urgent business motion moved at Tuesday night’s meeting was voted down for procedural reasons, with the item deemed not to be urgent business,“ the spokesperson said. Despite this, both Cr Bentley and Cr
Disbury released Facebook statements criticising their colleagues. “They may have decided to hide behind a small procedural technicality, but it could easily have been accepted if they wanted it to be,“ Cr Disbury wrote. “Shame on all of you who voted the motion down, who put politics above community safety.” In a later interview with Star Weekly, Cr Disbury didn’t back down from his comments. Continued: Page 8.
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