Tuesday, 19 August, 2025
Council draws off-leash dog park plans
Urgent Care Clinic location remains uncertain
Kindness makes Yarra Junction woman’s day
See Real Estate Liftout inside
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A Star News Group Publication
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Double flags By Dongyun Kwon Healesville Junior Football Club’s U11 Girls and U13 Girls brought the trophies, premiership flags and gold medals to their clubhouse. The U11 Girls lost the first two games at the beginning of the 2025 season. Despite the disappointing results, the footballers didn’t give up. After putting lots of effort into training, the team was equipped with an incredible defence, which they dubbed ‘The Great Wall of China’. ‘The Great Wall of China’ brought not only a premiership to the team but also brilliant results in the last nine games of the season on their way towards the flag. “The season’s been absolutely incredible. The girls have grown so much not just as footballers, but as people in general,” U11 Girls coach Stuart Rainbow said. “It’s been inspiring to watch their journey along the way.” The U13 Girls showed team camaraderie throughout the season. The Healsville U13 Girls beat Wesburn with the score of 5.3.33 to 2.1.13. U13 Girls coach Jaimee Petersen said “coming together” was the secret to the team’s ultimate win. Turn to page 30 to read the full story
‘The Great Wall of China’ brought not only a premiership to the Healesville U11 Girls but also brilliant results in the last nine games of the season on their way towards the flag. (Bethany Hutchison / BH Photography)
Cult loss shared By Oliver Winn The harrowing story of a Yarra Ranges mother losing her daughter to a coercive cult has contributed to a series of submissions to a State Government inquiry into cults and organised fringe groups. Renee Spencer told the story of how her 22-year-old daughter was indoctrinated by an infamous cult called The Jesus Christians, also known as the Kidney Cult for encouraging its members to donate their organs to strangers.
Hearings for the Australia-first parliamentary inquiry into cults wrapped up on 31 July after submissions from Victorians all over the state. The inquiry is investigating the impacts of cults and organised fringe groups in Victoria and review if the law is equipped to appropriately regulate and deal with groups which use coercive control dominate and hurt its members. Ms Spencer’s daughter, Ellicia, was like many other 22-year-olds - she was working part-time, attending her final year of TAFE while renting in
Lilydale. But in 2017, Ellicia found a YouTube video that changed her life. “That’s where she found the Kidney Cult’s videos, and she reached out to them through an email that they advertised and then they came to see her, presenting themselves as Christians, hiding their past as the Kidney Cult,” Ms Spencer said. Within an instant, Ellicia was whipped away: she quit her job, moved out of home, gave away all her possessions. The matter was complicated
further by the fact she had fallen in love with (and then married) one of the members. Stories like these formed the bulk of submissions to the new inquiry, which specifically stated it wasn’t investigating the beliefs of cults, but rather the damaging ways they control and dominate their members. The State Government will hand down its findings September 2026. Read more on page 3
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