Mail - Mountain Views Star Mail - 17th February 2026

Bubble of peace

When 28-year-old Britney PotterTilsom made the difficult but necessary decision to separate with her partner last May, she and her two children left her Seville rental without a place to live.

“Unfortunately, by the time we came to the end of the lease there, trying to find housing on my own had just beaten me down,” Ms Potter-Tilsom said.

But, a life-saving opportunity came her way in October when she found temporary accommodation at Benwerren in Yarra Junction, a retreat for women and children As she finally finds her footing after almost a year of constant pressure, an opportunity to repaint the accommodation came her way thanks to Dulux’s Community Donation Program. Read more on page 8

Hoons headache

By Oliver Winn

Mount Donna Buang Road was once again ravaged by hoons on the weekend in what one Warburton local thinks is the “worst incident yet”.

John Ashby reported the matter to the Star Mail after the carpark at the popular natural spring was littered with multiple shredded tyres, burnt rubber and shattered glass on 8 February.

The presence of dangerous drivers in the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges have long disturbed lo-

cals, and Mr Ashby said police should step up enforcement to deter hoons and protect the roads.

“I don’t think that the police do enough surveillance of the place.

“If they flog that road each weekend for three weeks, then drop off… then do it again for another two, they’ll soon get the message,” Mr Ashby said.

But local police worked with VicRoads and Parks Victoria to address the issue.

“Police are aware of hoon activity in carparks

along Mount Donna Buang Road and conduct regular patrols to deter dangerous driving behaviour.”

“Anyone who witnesses hoon activity as it is occurring should contact Triple Zero (000),” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

The Star Mail reported on hoons who had trashed the same natural spring carpark in August last year, which prompted Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol to ramp up enforcement efforts.

“Following thorough investigations, a search

warrant was executed at a Dixons Creek residence, leading to the identification of a man in his early 20s. He is set to face multiple charges related to hoon driving and will be summoned to appear in court,” Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol acting sergeant Steve Jenner said in a 2025 Star Mail article. Police enforcement against hooning behaviour remains largely a reactive endeavour, where increased enforcement takes place as a result of increased hooning in the area.

Turn to page three to read more

‘Hoonsville up there’

By Oliver Winn

Mount Donna Buang Road is normally known for its breathtaking scenery, but one Warburton local now regards it as “hoonsville” after dangerous drivers trashed the roads again on 8 February.

The carpark at the popular natural spring was littered with multiple shredded tyres, burnt rubber and shattered glass, prompting calls for increased police presence.

Longtime Warburton local John Ashby said the carpark was left in its worst condition yet.

“Living up there locally you hear them go up and down the road all the time… other times there’s been just a few skid marks, but not the complete carpark like it was yesterday.

“It’s just hoonsville up there, roaring up and down Donna Buang,” Mr Ashby said.

He claimed police weren’t doing enough to deter hoons from roaring up and down Mount Donna Buang.

“I don’t think that the police do enough surveillance of the place.

“If they flog that road each weekend for three weeks, then drop off… then do it again for another two, they’ll soon get the message,” Mr Ashby said.

But a Victoria Police spokesperson said police are working closely with VicRoads and Parks Victoria to address the issue.

“Police are aware of hoon activity in carparks along Mount Donna Buang Road and conduct regular patrols to deter dangerous driving behaviour.”

“Anyone who witnesses hoon activity as it is occurring should contact Triple Zero (000),” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

Mr Ashby believed the hoon activity took place on Sunday night, with the smell of burnt rubber still fresh in the air on Monday afternoon.

He said not one bit of the carpark

was untouched.

“All the shredded tires just left there and that… I’ve never seen anything like it.

“There was not one square metre of bitumen up there that wasn’t covered in rubber.”

Mr Ashby said fatalities could occur if hoon behaviour doesn’t get stamped out soon.

“There’s going to be deaths or something. How there hasn’t been a fatality up there in the years is just beyond me, it’s more luck than good management.

“I mean it’s a pretty drastic comment to make, but what else is there to say, I mean it’s just continuing.”

Hooning behaviour in the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges is an age-old grievance, with many complaints surfacing over the years.

The Star Mail reported on hoons who had trashed the same natural spring carpark in August last year, which prompted Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol to ramp up enforcement efforts.

“Following thorough investigations, a search warrant was executed at a Dixons Creek residence, leading to the identification of a man in his early 20s. He is set to face multiple charges related

to hoon driving and will be summoned to appear in court,” Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol acting sergeant Steve Jenner said.

Mr Ashby was concerned drivers are forced to keep “heavy wits about them” as they drive along Mount Donna Buang Road with the presence of hoon drivers in the area.

If you have any information about hoon activity contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at crimestoppersvic.com.au.

IN BRIEF

Woman rescued from drain

A woman was rescued after she became trapped in a water drain on 12 February in Seville.

An Ambulance Victoria (AV) spokesperson said crews worked to free the woman who was left with upper body injuries.

“Ambulance Victoria was called to an incident in Seville at around 11:25am today (12 February).

“Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedics assessed and treated one patient at the scene. A woman is her 60s was transported by road ambulance to Maroondah Public Hospital with upper body injures in a stable condition.”

Wandin and Seville CFA also attended the incident, which took place on the corner of Raleigh and Drummond Street.

“CFA crews were called to reports of a person stuck in a water drain at around 11,25am on Raleigh St in Seville,” a CFA spokesperson said.

The incident was quickly declared safe at 11:35am.

Fire danger period burn off charges

Yarra Ranges Police charged a 58-year-old male in Don Valley for burrning off during a fire danger period, setting an example for the consequences of breaking fire danger rules.

The Epping man is expected to be charged on summons after the CFA and local police were called to his property on 10 February.

The male was allegedly burning leaf litter and other building material in 44 gallon drums which the CFA promptly extinguished.

You need a permit to burn-off during the fire danger period.

You must also notify Triple Zero Victoria of your burn-off as contained in your permit, otherwise brigades will be called out unnecessarily. Police in the Yarra Ranges have a zero-tolerance approach to fires during the fire danger period.

Road maintenance works in Launching Place

Launching Place locals should expect maintenance works on Cairncroft Avenue from Tuesday 17 February to Thursday 19 February.

Works will be completed by Yarra Ranges Council’s contractor May Asphalt Group, between 7am and 4pm.

One lane will be closed at the time of works and delays are kept to a maximum of 15 minutes. Emergency access will be available.

The Yarra Ranges Council advises circumstances beyond its control may require the program to be altered.

Duck hunting limit set

The Victorian Government has set a daily bag limit of nine ducks per hunter for the 2026 duck hunting season.

Seven game duck species can be hunted. They are Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Wood Duck, Mountain Duck, Hardhead and Pink-eared Duck.

The nine-bird bag limit has been informed by modelling undertaken as part of Adaptive Harvest Management for game ducks in Victoria, which is now being used to inform sustainable duck hunting arrangements each year. All hunters must have a valid Game Licence and Firearms Licence before hunting ducks in Victoria.

School disruption continues

By Gabriella Vukman

Chum Creek Primary School families and staff are being left in the lurch, with students having spent only five days at their own school so far this year.

Without an adequate fire shelter, the whole school has been forced to relocate to Healesville Primary on days with a High-Risk fire rating.

Parent Karen is battling with the constant disruption in her daughter Fern’s schooling.

“Last week our kids were redeployed for two days, and the week before, it was four days,” she said.

“We are just trying to arrange our lives around this day-by-day living, which is having a massive impact on not just the kids, but also the teachers and parents.

“And there is no end in sight.”

Having been notified that their place of shelter was not up to the updated codes in early 2025, Chum Creek Primary School was not made aware of any future needs for relocation.

“They hadn’t talked to us about what the impact would be - that every time the fire danger rating of the day was going to be high or above, we would be redeployed to Healesville Primary,” Karen said.

“The department understood that work needed to be done, and we weren’t advised until two days before the school year started that work hadn’t been done, and that this was the impact.

“We don’t understand why the department hasn’t done something about this earlier, when they’ve known for more than three months now that this building wasn’t going to be available.”

Last year, the school was advised that works were needed to bring their designated shelterin-place building into line with updated bushfire standards under changes to the National Construction Code and related bushfire guidelines.

Planned upgrades included replacing decking with a compliant material and cladding external posts.

The works were expected to take place over the summer holidays. The school council had approved the upgrades and even selected materials. But families say communication stalled

and they were not told the consequences would include relocation.

Previously classified as a Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR) Category 2 school, Chum Creek has now been reclassified to Category 0, which is the highest risk category due to its shelter-inplace building not currently being deemed compliant.

As the fire ratings are decided each evening, the parents and school staff are not informed about whether their child will be attending Chum Creek or Healesville Primary until 5pm the night before.

“It’s also really unsettling for Fern because she is not sure where she’s going to be going each day until the night before, and it’s a very different school environment,” Karen said.

“I’m really lucky Fern’s neurotypical, but we’ve had a really tricky time for us over the last couple of years, and this is just another ongoing change, and the effect of that is starting to really wear on her.

“She is usually a pretty solid, stable kid, but the backwards and forwards of each day, not being able to look at the whiteboard and have a plan of what our family’s week looks like is really hard.”

There is no out-of-hours school care available at the temporary relocation site and there is also no bus service equivalent to the one that previously assisted Chum Creek students.

Parents must collect children promptly at 3.30pm, regardless of work commitments.

Drop-off times have also been restricted, with students unable to arrive until 9.15am.

With Healesville Primary located opposite St Brigid’s Primary School, traffic congestion has added to the stress.

Chum Creek Primary’s specialist programs, including music, art and instrument lessons, have been suspended during relocations as equipment remains at Chum Creek.

Karen and her partner chose Chum Creek Primary for its location in amongst nature, its size of 65 students, and its learning environment.

“We live in Healesville, so we chose Chum Creek Primary as our school based on the size of

the school based on what they’re able to offer the location like the setting that setting in nature is really important to us,” Karen said.

“I work in environmental campaigning and advocacy, so we wanted something that worked for our family’s values, and that’s why we chose Chum,” she said.

“The school that we’re being redeployed to is completely different, and because this happened very last minute, the Chum kids don’t understand the school rules.”

Karen also voiced concerns about the future of Chum Creek Primary.

“I also worry about how this impacts the school financially, for instance, if prep parents decide to pull their kids out because the prep experience has not been what they expected, that could be really bad for the school,” Karen said.

“The longer this goes on, the more pressure it’s going to apply not only to the kids and the teachers but also the parents who are trying to accommodate.”

“I’m incredibly lucky that my workplace has been accommodating and flexible up until now, but we don’t know how long that’s going to last, and not everyone has a workplace that they’re able to leave at the drop of a hat.”

The relocation situation is not limited to Chum Creek with Sacred Heart Primary School in Diamond Creek, Cockatoo Primary, Emerald Secondary College, and Warrandyte High are some other schools who must leave their campus when fire danger rises.

Karen said it’s a rural school disadvantage.

“Because of our size at Chum Creek, we have just been forgotten, or they have just thought that ‘Oh well, they’ll just accommodate it’s only 65 kids’, but it’s the impact on not just those kids, but the teachers, the parents, and the staff and the principal as well like it’s been incredibly stressful,” she said.

“This is also a woman’s issue as well because generally mums have to work less to accommodate. It is the mums that have to pick up the slack here.

“They are the ones that are going to be rearranging their lives and talking to their bosses.”

Chum Creek Primary School Council President Tabitha is concerned that students are losing up to an hour of learning time per day due to having to relocate.

“I don’t understand why they haven’t taken action and informed us sooner”, she said.

“It’s very negligent of the Victorian Schools Building Authority not to have communicated to us that the works that were gonna be undertaken to make it sufficient and make it comply weren’t, in fact, going ahead.

“If the shelter in place wasn’t going to be upgraded and it wasn’t going to be able to comply, then we should have known about it as soon as possible in a timely fashion to try and work out a plan so that it could comply, rather than end up at the start of the school year with new preps and students and that starting, thinking everything’s gonna be fine.”

With the rules for the National Construction Code changing in 2023 and the bushfire behaviour index shifting in 2024, Tabitha is confused as to why the relocation of students from Chum Creek Primary is only happening now.

A spokesperson from the Department of Education said the department takes every step possible to ensure the safety of students and staff, particularly on days of elevated fire danger.

“This includes processes for temporary school relocations if required,” they said.

“Technical experts have been on site at Chum Creek Primary School and are looking to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

“Relocation will occur for a temporary period on days of High fire danger rating or above as we work to identify an alternative Shelter in Place at the school.”

The Department’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness Policy is informed by advice from emergency services and the CSIRO.

“We know that relocations can be inconvenient and disruptive, but the safety of children and staff is always paramount - we encourage anyone with concerns to contact the school,” the spokesperson said.

The Department did not provide a timeline for resolving the issue.

Ambulance response times still lagging in Yarra Ranges

Yarra Ranges paramedics failed to meet official response time targets again responding to 53.9 per cent of Code 1 emergencies within 15 minutes with an average response time of 17.40 minutes.

But they were 48 seconds faster than the previous quarter.

This is according to the latest ambulance performance data for October to December 2025, with Yarra Ranges responding to 2031 cases.

The previous quarter saw 2065 cases with an average response of 18:28 minutes with 49.2 per cent of cases met within the Code 1 target.

Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) response time targets for Code 1 incidents, cases that require urgent paramedic and hospital care, is within 15 minutes for 85 per cent of incidents state-wide, and 90 per cent for populations greater than 7500.

Nearby Local Government Areas such as Cardinia saw similar response times, meeting the Code 1 target for 53.4 per cent of cases with an average time of 17.25 and 1671 responses.

Maroondah saw 71.8 per cent of Code 1 cases met within 15 minutes and an average time of 14.50, with Knox reaching 69.3 per cent of incidents within 15 minutes, averaging 14.41.

However, Yarra Ranges is significantly larger in size and distance.

Overall, the region has largely had average response times of 17-18 minutes over the previous four quarters and a similar number of cases.

AV noted that in the metro region response times improved due to a “significant drop” in hospital clearing times, the duration between a crew completing their patient handover before attending another case.

Introduced last year, the Standards for Safe and Timely Ambulance and Emergency Care (the Standards) are improving handover times across the state, AV highlighted.

Metropolitan regional director Vanessa Gorman said in the Metropolitan Region, the average hospital clearing times dropped by nearly three

minutes last year.

“Every small improvement – from more efficient hospital handovers to quicker clearing times – adds up to better care for all Victorians,”

Ms Gorman said.

“We are extremely proud of our crews who

through dedication and teamwork have made remarkable improvements to hospital clearing times and are returning to the community faster.”

The Metropolitan Region average clearing time has dropped from 33 minutes between January and March 2025 to 30.2 minutes between October and December 2025.

During the October to December quarter across Victoria, AV crews responded to 65.1 per cent of Code 1 cases within the state-wide target of 15 minutes – up from 64.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

The state-wide average response time to Code 1 emergencies was 15 minutes and 40 seconds –six seconds faster than the previous quarter.

AV responded to 100,292 Code 1 emergencies across Victoria during the October to December quarter – slightly down on the previous quarter but still the third highest on record.

E-bike regs have ‘loophole’

By Oliver Winn

The reintroduction of industry-leading safety standards for e-bike imports into Australia has a crucial loophole enabling unsafe and illegal e-motorbikes into the outer east and the rest of the country, industry experts warned.

It came after the Federal Minister for Transport brought back the European standard on e-bikes known as EN-15194 - a move celebrated by e-bike enthusiasts and fire-concerned communities alike.

But while EN-15194 imposes much stricter conditions on e-bikes being imported into the country, Bicycle Industries Australia general manager Peter Bourke said there’s a “massive, massive loophole”.

“It’s a voluntary application, so you literally can bring an e-bike in without filling out an application to say that it meets the standards,” Mr Bourke said.

“It’s effectively a self-declaration by the brands and then customs in there somehow must manage that.”

EN-15194 requires imported e-bikes to have a motor that cuts off at 25 kilometres per hour, a 250-watt limit on power, and for the motor to only assist when pedalling rather than relying on a throttle.

It also requires e-bikes to meet manufacturing standards and anti-tamper conditions.

Local groups such as the Yarra Ranges Mountain Biking Club (YRMBC) have moved to formalise a policy outlawing the use of any e-bike which doesn’t meet the EN-15194 standard.

“I think what’s important to make clear is that this is the formalisation of what was an existing policy really,” YRMBC vice president Paul Larkin said.

He said the fire along the O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail spurred the group to put the rule into writing in order to make its rules crystal clear.

“I think a lot of that is people are invested in the communities and no one wants a fire or any kind of risk.”

Australian Greens senator Steph HodginsMay raised questions about the lack of mandatory advisory notice during Senate Estimates on Monday 9 February.

“I guess what I’m asking is this: If they’re not legitimate e-bikes, is the department aware that these bikes exceed the 250-watt power limit, allow speed and power unlocking through consumer codes and can be operated without pedalling,” Ms Hodgins-May questioned during

senate estimates on Monday 9 February.

Australia used to have the EN-15194 standard but it was removed in 2021 by the Morrison government.

The result was an e-bike boom, with companies cashing in on relaxed regulations and selling illegal e-motorbikes as e-bikes.

According to an ABC article, industry figures suggest the number of e-bikes imported into Australia rose from 9,000 e-bikes in 2017 to 200,000 in 2021.

Mr Bourke said this was the reason for the onslaught of illegal e-motorbikes being sold as e-bikes in Australia.

“What that did is it effectively removed the safeguards and opened the door for poor quality products that didn’t meet minimum standards for speed and power,” he said.

Another problem surrounding e-bike regulation is a lack of product safety standards for the sale of e-bikes under Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

This means that while EN-15194 regulates the importation of e-bikes into Australia, once the bikes themselves are in the country, e-bikes and e-scooters can be sold in Australia without meeting any safety benchmarks.

But, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) participated in a cross-jurisdictional working group to address this.

“This working group concluded in November 2025 and its recommendations to improve the safe use of lithium-ion battery powered e-micromobility vehicles, have been provided to consumer ministers,” an ACCC spokesperson said.

Mr Bourke said making import advisory notices (a notice that a vehicle is not a road vehicle) mandatory was essential for the EN-15194 standard to actually have an impact.

“The Federal Government needs to make that a mandatory process.

“So customs, like all government departments, is challenged by the volume of products at which it must assess on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis.

“It is a challenge for them to undertake it, especially considering the application for an import advisory notice is voluntary.”

Mr Bourke said Bicycle Industries Australia supported the reintroduction of EN-15194, but more work was still needed to ensure only legally compliant e-bikes were entering the country.

The Federal Minister for Transport was contacted for comment.

Science women in spotlight

By Gabriella Vukman

Wednesday 11 February marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, with Healesville’s own conservation and science community taking the opportunity to come to the fore.

For the second year in a row, six members of Zoos Victoria’s Youth Advisory Committee came from across Victoria to celebrate women in STEM and experience life as scientists and zookeepers at Healesville Sanctuary.

The day’s events included platypus encounters, behind-the-scenes vet visits, and honest conversations with a range of mentors about career pathways.

Healesville Sanctuary Platypus Specialist Dr Jessica Thomas, sits on Zoos Victoria’s Gender Equity Committee and was instrumental in initiating the Healesville Sanctuary event.

“Each year the Committee goes through the annual calendar of all the important days across the year and the International Day of Women and Girls in Science stood out for me because I am quite passionate about it myself”, Ms Thomas said.

Having completed a masters degree and a PhD in the sciences, Ms Thomas noted that some guidance would have been helpful during the formative years of her career.

“It would have meant a lot to me when I was younger to have some mentorship and support, and someone to help guide me and tell me what sort of subjects I should do and what courses were available to me”, Ms Thomas said.

“I’m hoping that these girls that are coming through today will get some support and some of that guidance from us,” she said.

“If we can help guide even one of these girls towards a pathway they might not have known was possible, then the day has done its job.”

According to Ms Thomas, there is no one way to go about a career in science.

“Here at the Sanctuary, we all have different degrees from different universities, and different work experiences”, Ms Thomas said.

“Even after working together for years, I’m still learning about people’s backgrounds.”

“One of our vets actually did an arts degree before becoming a vet so she was a bit older when she decided to change direction,” Ms Thomas said.

“I think it’s really good for the girls to hear that, and know that there isn’t just one pathway.”

Education Innovation Leader Cheryl Laks, who oversees Zoos Victoria’s youth programs, said the event continues to grow in impact.

“We know that traditionally you don’t see as many young women in these types of roles,” Ms Laks said.

“It’s important to celebrate that this is changing. Women play such a huge role in science, and when young people can see those role models and the opportunities ahead of them, that’s powerful,” she said.

The six Youth Advisory Committee members who took part this year, ranged from newcomers to those who have served on the committee for almost four years.

Their role includes advising the zoo on how to better engage young people and ensure youth voices are represented in decision-making.

Zookeeper and Free Flight Bird presenter at Healesville Sanctuary Jessica Ratcliffe took part as a mentor for the day.

Ms Ratcliffe said, “I volunteered to be a mentor because I like the opportunity of being able to inspire the next generation.”

“I would have loved that kind of mentorship when I was growing up. And it seems like a nice

initiative,” she said.

For Ms Ratcliffe, mentoring is about authenticity as much as leadership.

“I guess for me it’s about being an appropriate role model, but also just being myself because it lets people know that there’s all kinds of different people who can go into different pathways and just kind of set one example out of many,” Ms Ratcliffe said.

Reflecting on her own journey into zoology and zookeeping, Ms Ratcliffe noted that women are not the minority her industry.

“In the sciences that I studied, which were zoology, there are definitely more women, even at university level,” Ms Ratfliffe said.

“Being part of the majority, I definitely feel like you fit in and you’re capable,” she said.

“I also think Inclusion, accessibility and equal opportunity is something that’s just getting greater in a lot of different areas and gender equality and inclusion is part of that growth too.”

Despite being a part of the majority in her field, Ms Ratfliffe noted there were still some significant challenges within the industry.

“There were some cases early on in field work where there were things like sexual harassment,” Ms Ratcliffe said.

“It is a part of life for most women.”

When it comes to making her field a safer place for women, Ms Ratcliffe noted that a focus on teaching women how to be assertive and set boundaries is the wrong approach.

“It is actually the wrong direction to ask the woman how to overcome oppression or harassment,” Ms Ratcliffe said.

“That’s a question for the harassers to take on. It is a broader responsibility for parents of boys, and men in general, to step up.”

Among the youth advisors were sisters Gracie, 13, and Georgia, 15, who travelled from Tarragon for the event.

“I really love conservation and I want a future in the zoo and I love learning about animals and protecting them,” Gracie said.

Seeing a platypus for the first time was a highlight.

“They’re adorable,” Gracie said.

Ruby, from Mentone, said her passion for con-

servation began early.

“I’ve always been really passionate about animals,” she said.

“I want to learn what it’s like behind the scenes and what a day in the life of a zookeeper is actually like.”

Whilst it is early days, Ruby is considering a future in conservation biology or wildlife biology.

Across the board, the six youth advisors found it encouraging to see so many women working across veterinary and animal care roles.

“I’ve been with the vets today and there are actually more female vets than male,” Ruby said.

“It’s really inspiring to be around other women who are interested in the same thing,” she said.

While the students and mentors alike acknowledged that gender imbalances and bias still exist in the field of science, celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science at the Sanctuary highlighted the progress being made across the sector, as well as the work that still lies ahead.

Key fire prevention works done in Upper Yarra Catchment

Melbourne Water completed essential bushfire mitigation works in late January to protect one of the Yarra Ranges’ most important drinking water catchments.

The Upper Yarra Catchment was the focus for the works, which saw the reinforcement of containment lines, increasing access for firefighters and other crucial maintenance works.

“The Black Range sits north-east of the Upper Yarra Reservoir, forming part of the forested landscape that surrounds and shields one of Melbourne’s most important drinking water catchments,” Melbourne Water stated on 27 January.

“Because of its position, strengthening containment lines in this area is crucial to preventing fire from moving south toward the reservoir and the closed catchment forests that provide some of the world’s best drinking water for Melbourne.”

Melbourne Water worked with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), which formed the Catchment Protection Taskforce.

“Together, we prepared and improved roads and tracks so firefighters can safely reach the area…”

This work is an important way Melbourne Water protects the forests that provide most of the city’s drinking water.

Preventing fire from entering these closed catchments is one of the best ways to ensure Melbourne’s water is at the highest quality.

Crews removed hazardous trees, cleared the sides of tracks, and improved access along over 24km of existing tracks, such as Jacksons Break, Whiting Break, Stillman Track, and Simmonds

Track.

These improved routes now give firefighters a stronger backup network if the area faces a fire or

needs backburning.

Crews also worked along the 41km Black Range Road Strategic Fuel Break, making one of the area’s main containment lines stronger. They improved Ure Break and the north-south powerline easement to give firefighters more ways to control fire movement.

All activity was confined to existing disturbed areas and delivered under strict environmental and cultural heritage protections to ensure the surrounding forest and waterways remain healthy.

In total, more than 88km of strategic containment lines have now been strengthened across the Black Range.

This work has significantly enhanced fire readiness and supports ongoing protection of Melbourne’s drinking water catchments.

Saved from homelessness

By Oliver Winn

When 28-year-old Britney Potter-Tilsom made the difficult but necessary decision to separate with her partner last May, she and her two children were left her Seville rental without a place to live.

“Unfortunately, by the time we came to the end of the lease there, trying to find housing on my own had just beaten me down,” Ms Potter-Tilsom said.

Outcompeted by dual-income families in the rental market, she felt she was “beating her head against the wall” with every rental she failed to get into.

“You go from living a life where you’re worried about how you’re going to pay your bills and making sure your kids are going to bed on time, to wondering where you’re going to sleep at night and how you’re going to feed them.

“It’s a whole different ballgame of stress. It becomes debilitating and it’s really hard,” Ms Potter-Tilsom said.

But, a life-saving opportunity came her way in October when she found temporary accommodation at Benwerren in Yarra Junction, a retreat for women and children to rest, reflect and find restoration.

For Ms Potter-Tilsom and her two young boys, it was like “walking into God’s little secret bubble of peace”.

“Both my boys are sort of somewhat neurological, my eldest one diagnosed, my youngest one not, and this was just like the space and the reset that they needed,” she said.

“When you don’t have a spot, you’re sort of shielding them and trying to protect them from all of the change, and I think the consistency and the stability that this has given us has just completely changed everything about every day for them.”

While her stay has breathed fresh air into her

‘Absolute

life, she’s also been able to breathe new life into her small unit with a fresh coat of paint.

On 30 January, her temporary home was transformed through the Dulux Community Donation Program, delivered by Habitat for Humanity volunteers, giving and her family a brighter and more dignified place to live.

“I think that the fresh coat of paint has sort of given back the house. It was blending into the countryside a bit, but the new paint jobs definitely made it stand out a little bit on the property which is really nice.”

Benwerren chief executive officer Nicole Kelly

mountain’ of work completed during spring clean

By Oliver Winn

Members of the Yellingbo CFA banded together for a working bee on 8 February where an “absolute mountain” of chores were completed.

The huge effort saw eight members dedicate their Sunday morning to collecting junk for hard rubbish, servicing the trucks and pressure washing the station.

Yellingbo CFA captain Jeremy Hardy said the working bee was successful in getting the brigade back in shape.

“We decided that it was timely to have a bit of a working bee on the Sunday and clean up the premises a bit,” Mr Hardy said.

After a busy start to the year, CFA brigades and its volunteers have been drained and depleted due to the bushfires around the state. Even those not directly affected by some of the major bushfires of the past month, brigades like Yellingbo were still indirectly involved through the support they provided.

Two Yellingbo CFA members and two Yarra Junction CFA members formed Strike Team 1314 which supported bushfire mitigation efforts in Alexandra in January.

This meant a spring clean was necessary to ensure the brigade not only remained operational, but also to keep it looking nice and tidy.

“We like to keep the station looking as best and nice as possible for both the looks, but from a standpoint that it’s operation as well.”

“A lot of our members were deployed to the various fires across Victoria over a period of time. Our vehicles were also deployed at times.

“They sometimes go away for, you know, up to a week at times and they come back that are, yeah, quite dirty and well-used,” Mr Hardy said.

The members worked hard to clear clutter from the outside area of the station, where overtime the brigade tends to accumulate various bits and pieces.

“We just need to make sure that we maintain those and clear out clutter that we don’t need,” Mr Hardy said.

Community donations and funds often make up for a lot of the brigade’s possessions and other equipment.

Mr Hardy said it instilled a sense of pride in the volunteers, as they pour their time into keeping the station looking tiptop.

“It shows that we are proud of volunteering

Members noticed a rough outline of Australia, prompting a bit of a laugh as they continued their clean up. (Supplied)

for the CFA and we try to maintain our premises, so both again that it’s operational and also looks good from a community’s perspective.

“The stations are built from community money and we want to make sure that they last for a long time and continue to look at their best as well.”

At one point during the cleanup, one of the members noticed a dry patch not touched by the pressure washer was shaped roughly like the outline of Australia.

“We thought, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic and we’ll take a photo of it’.”

“It wasn’t planned that way, but it’s quite funny how someone noticed it and picked it up.”

“I think it was a good moment for the members that were there.”

said the organisation was incredibly grateful for the donation from Dulux’s Community Donation Program.

“We knew we wanted to do this painting here and painting over at the main house as well, and so I put in a request and it gave us everything that we asked for,” Ms Kelly said.

Benwerren received thousands of dollars worth of paint which they “couldn’t have afforded” at all to begin with.

Ms Kelly said Benwerren collaborated with Habitat for Humanity, which organised volunteers to come and paint through its Brush With Kind-

ness program.

“They organised volunteers to come and paint, it was just gorgeous.”

On a hot, 33 degree day, volunteers rocked up with paint and brush in hand, ready to tackle the front of the weatherboard home.

Roasting in the sun, they worked all day, methodically working from panel to panel, coating the house with a quaint “country custard” colour.

Ms Potter-Tislom said the collaboration between the community was inspiring to see.

“Honestly it’s so nice to sort of just have the community sort of come together and be able to make it feel more homely. I mean it was gorgeous when we got here anyway but it is a nice refresh.”

As much as Ms Potter-Tislom loves her temporary home, she’s keen to find some stability in her life as she looks for rentals.

But in the meantime, she’s been taking advantage of the hard rubbish collections, collecting bits and pieces to fit out her spot in Benwerren and make it feel a little more homely for the next person.

“If there’s little things that I can add or leave behind so that, you know, it feels more like home for the next person, I want to do that.”

“This is our temporary home but it’s going to be somebody else’s too.”

Changes hit outer-east orgs

By Oliver Winn

Outer east volunteer organisations have struggled amid inadequate funding and changing volunteer behaviours, though some organisations are adapting to the change.

Over the past 30 years, the State Government eroded support infrastructure for volunteer organisations through blow-by-blow hits to funding for place-based volunteer resource centres (VRCs).

EV Strengthening Communities chief executive officer Viv Cunningham-Smith said the State Government has “resoundingly refused” to fund support infrastructure for volunteer organisations.

“We were already running pretty thin in the services. Some are finding it extraordinarily difficult to continue to deliver services and as we go on into the future,” she said.

Meanwhile, people are shifting to informal styles of volunteering - more spontaneous, project-based volunteering rather than committed roles.

This is the landscape the Millgrove Residents Action Group (MRAG) and many other organisations have navigated carefully as they adapt to a historically low level of governmental support and changing volunteer behaviours.

MRAG member Janice Burney said the organisation advertised roles which focused on a single event, and the results were looking positive so far.

“We’ve been able to put a call out for people who would like to do a particular role and have had some really good responses and it’s been obviously positive to get somebody to help out with the job, but also the gains that current members have had just by listening to a person’s different view on something is huge.”

EV Strengthening Communities was a VRC which would provide volunteer support infrastructure to the outer east. This included guiding organisations to provide volunteering opportunities and helping people find opportunities to volunteer themselves.

“We were supporting their boards, we were helping them design their volunteer programs, we were helping them adapt, but we were also helping people into volunteering and that averaged between 1500 and 2000 people a year,” Ms Cunningham-Smith said.

But in 2020, the Federal Government stopped funding VRCs, which stripped EV Strengthening Communities’s ability to support 600 outer east volunteer networks.

Many neighbourhood houses across the state could close as the State Government refused to raise funding to meet operational funding requirements.

Community houses in Seville, Lilydale and Mt Evelyn signed hundreds of postcards written by locals about the impact of the programs provided by community houses and sent them to Parliament.

State Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence delivered the postcards to Parliament on behalf of the organisations, some of which have been around for decades.

What was previously seen as a decline in volunteering is now recognised as a result of a lack of infrastructure support not capable of adapting to changing needs in volunteers.

Small to medium sized volunteer organisations today struggle with adapting to the shift from formal volunteering styles to informal volunteering, and without appropriate volunteer infrastructure, VRCs aren’t able to help guide these organisations either.

“How they want to volunteer is very different… people want shorter-term, project-based volunteering. But the main thing is the way volunteering opportunities are being offered, and that requires the organisations who are utilising volunteer workforces to really think hard about what opportunities they are offering,” Ms Cunningham-Smith said.

An ABC article reported 92 Rotary clubs to have closed between 2020 and 2025 with an average membership at 22 members.

But it’s also seen 21 “new-style” clubs open in the past five years attracting younger members and offering informal or special interest volunteer opportunities.

Despite being proactive in changing its approach to recruiting volunteers, it’s still undoubtedly a struggle for groups like MRAG, which already run a tight ship as it is, having won Yarra Ranges community group of the year award in 2024.

But there’s only so much volunteer organisations can optimise for.

Without support from key volunteer support infrastructure that used to be provided by EV Strengthening Communities, it’s only getting harder.

In the end, Ms Cunningham-Smith said the State Government needed to provide consistent funding into infrastructure rather than haphazardly funding through grants.

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New teaching easel for Healesville Library

By Gabriella Vukman

On Wednesday, 11 February, The Lions Club of Healesville donated a teacher’s easel to the Healesville Library, for use by the library’s Children’s Services Officer during Storytime.

The easel was gifted just before storytime on Wednesday morning.

Team Leader at Healesville Library, Jac Perry told Star Mail the children’s supplies needed a bolster.

“I approached the Lions Club to see if they would be interested and able to donate the easel to our community,” Jac said.

“After speaking with Rose Herring about the need for it. The confirmation from the Club came through pretty quickly,” she said.

“I then worked with Your Library Ltd and The Lions Club to receive the money for this purchase, and to then purchase the item online.”

Members of the Lions Club assembled the easel and arranged for the addition of a plaque noting where the donation came from.

Jac said, “The donation means that activities can now be planned, supported, and implemented for the library community and families, for many years to come.”

“A huge thank you to the Healesville Lions Club for this amazing and very generous donation,” she said.

Having previously worked at Healesville Library as the Children’s Services Officer, delivering Storytimes, school tours, and children’s events, Member of the Lions Club of Healesville Rose, knew this teaching easel was a much-needed resource.

The funds for the easel were raised at the volunteer-run Lions Den Op Shop, which can be found at 9 Lilydale Road, in Healesville.

Rose informed the Star Mail on behalf of the Lions Club that the Club is thrilled to be able to help the library in its crucial services to the community.

“Knowing the Lions Club can be a small part of supporting these programs with essential equipment like the easel is great,” Rose said.

“At a price tag of over $1000 teaching easels are not a resource that the library can easily purchase with limited funding.”

“The Lion’s Club are very proud to support the Healesville Library with the donation of the Teaching Easel and other programs like the Community meals, which ran 2022 - 2025,” she said.

50 years of fresh meat

By Gabriella Vukman

In Healesville, there are a few certainties in life: the ibis will be nesting happily in Queens Park, someone you know will be in the local supermarket at the same time as you, and Steve will be behind the butcher’s counter, wearing a big smile and letting out a hefty chuckle every now and then for his customers.

Having just celebrated his 65th birthday, local butcher Steve is also celebrating 50 years in the trade.

“I still enjoy it.” Steve said. “I’ve got a good relationship with most of the customers and I do like to have a bit of a yak to them,” he said.

“One of my biggest highlights of being in Healesville for 30 years is to watch the kids come in and bring in their own kids years later.”

Throughout the township of Healesville, Steve is known for generously handing out pieces of ham, cabana and stras to the local children when they tiptoe into his store with their parents for the evening’s shopping.

The tradition of heading into the local butcher and leaving with a taste of some of the goods has been passed down through generations, with children of children now entering the store and receiving their own tasters.

While Steve was officially introduced to the art of butchery at the age of 15, his formal introduction to the trade began much earlier.

“I used to go up to the hunt club and muck around cutting up the cattle up there from the knackery. Then I liked it from there,” Steve said.

“Then my dad, who used to work for Lady Vesti at Coombe Cottage told them that I wanted to be a butcher,” he said.

“Lady Vesti owned all the Anglises shops, so she got me a job at Croydon and that’s how it all came about.”

Fifty years later, Steve has watched the trade change beyond recognition.

“Butchering has changed now completely compared to what it used to be,” Steve said.

“People used to eat a lot more meat. Now it’s completely different.”

“There are heaps of different new laws. You’ve just got to keep up with the times and all the constant law changes.”

“When I first started, if you had told the boss that you’d be selling beef with honey soy and a heap of vegetables, he’d say ‘you’re an idiot’,” Steve said. “It has changed. It’s gone completely gourmet now, more so than anything.”

Steve has had no trouble keeping up with gourmet trends, with his very own Main Street Butcher and Smokehouse winning awards year after year for its smoked bacon, spiced sausages, and cabana. Those award-winning smoked goods are a point of pride, not only for Steve, but also for the local community, and regulars know to get in quick before favourites sell out.

“Michael, the bloke who works with me, is pretty good at coming up with new stuff,” Steve said. “He thinks of all these different things, and then we try them.” “If we like them, we keep them going. If we don’t like them, we do it once only,” he said.

Along with a growing love for gourmet items, Steve noted the demand for meat in general de-

clined rapidly over the years.

“You used to sell a lot more meat. Now it’s odds and sods,” Steve said.

“People don’t come in and buy a heap of meat for tea because they can’t afford it now,” he said. For Steve, predicting what customers will buy is no longer straightforward.

“We don’t cut anywhere near the amount of meat that you used to cut,” Steve said.

“It’s a lot harder to judge it now than it was years ago because you never even know. You could sell five trays of one thing today and sell none for the rest of the week.”

Adapting to industry changes aside, Steve still loves the craft and particularly enjoys working with beef.

“I like all butchery, but I really do like beef,” Steve said. “It’s pretty good to have your own shop. If you want to be a bit of a slacker, you can have a bit of a rest. You don’t have to be busting your bum all the time. It’s good,” he said with a grin.

To customers peering into the spotless display fridge, it might look like everything simply arrives neat and ready, however Steve assured Star Mail that breaking down a full carcass is still a big part of the job.

“A lot of people just think you buy a tray of rump and you just put it in the window,” Steve said. “You’ve got to prep it all and cut it and slice it and trim it and whatever.”

“It’s a lot of stuff, a lot of hard work to get it to this stage to come into the window,” he said.

Steve celebrated his 65th birthday taking in the sights of his hometown from above.

“My wife surprised me with a joyflight around the Yarra Valley and got some of the grandkids to watch me fly over,” Steve said.

It was all smiles and waves for Steve’s flock of grandchildren as they watched their poppy soar through the skies.

“Well, I’ve got two years before I can retire, but it is really up to Kerrie,” Steve said. “I’m going to do another 12 months, and we’ll just see how we go from there,” he said.

For now, Steve remains exactly where Healesville likes him, and that is behind the counter of Main Street Quality Butcher and Smoke House. Fifty years dedicated to perfecting a career. Thousands of early mornings, years of expertise and a shop full of stories.

Not bad for a 15-year-old who just “went on from there.”

Quick dip in the pool

By Gabriella Vukman

As temperatures soar over 30 degrees, Chantilly the Lace monitor has been soaking up the sunshine at Healesville Sanctuary.

Much like us on a sweltering day, this large lizard enjoys a cool dip, lapping it up in his pond much to the delight of visitors.

Healesville Sanctuary Reptile Keeper Courtney Pridgeon said monitors or goannas can be incredible swimmers, and they swim for a variety of reasons.

“It can be part of them moving through their habitats, like crossing a river, as an area of refuge, a place to hunt or even to help them thermoregulate. In Chantilly’s case, it helps him to manage his body temperature on warmer days,” Ms Pridgeon said.

“As ectotherms, goannas don’t regulate their body temp like we do and rely on external sources like the sun or their environment to warm up and cool down.

“For many reptile species, you’re likely to see them out basking on a rock or moving between resting spaces.

Australia is a hot place, and the middle of the day is toasty, especially for temperate Victorian species, so they’ll be tucked away somewhere protected and cool during the hottest part of the day.”

Many reptiles take advantage of spending their day ‘powering up’ so they can hunt when the sun sets.

Chantilly came into care as a juvenile through the Australian Wildlife Health Centre after being hit by a car and suffering a serious head and neck injury. He would not have survived in the wild.

Lace monitors are a closely related species to the largest known terrestrial lizard, known as Megalania.

Thanks to the expertise of our veterinary team and the care of his keepers, Chantilly has gone on to live a good life at the Sanctuary for 23 years.

Lace monitors are a closely related species to the largest known terrestrial lizard, known as Megalania.

Like snakes they use their tongues to smell.

Each tip of their tongue is connected to a specialised organ in their head called a Jacobson’s organ that processes scent particle in the air and their direction of smells to form a greater picture of their world.

In the warmer months, the best time of day to Chantilly is in the morning or afternoon on the Woodlands Track.

Visitors can learn more about goannas during a daily keeper talk at 2.15 pm.

Healesville Sanctuary is open 365 days a year. Kids under 16 visit free on weekends, Victorian school holidays and Victorian public holidays.

Heidi Tucker swimming to prevent homelessness

By Callum Ludwig

Anchor Community Care chief executive Heidi

Tucker is combining two of her greatest passions by fundraising through an upcoming event in Tasmania.

Later this month, Ms Tucker is completing the Derwent River Big Swim, the final leg of the Australian Triple Crown of Ultramarathon Swimming, while raising money to prevent youth homelessness in the process.

Ms Tucker said she has been swimming fairly seriously since she was about eight years old, even becoming one of the first female surf lifesavers in Australia.

“A little bit later on in life, I guess probably more into my 40s, I met a group of people here in Melbourne who all love the cold water and they’ll swim all year round, and more of my friends than not have done the English Channel,” she said.

“We just have a community of people, no one’s a super duper champion or anything like that, they’re just people who like to challenge themselves and I guess I got the bug for it.

“Back in 2017, I did my first long swim and I didn’t know whether I’d be able to do it or not,

that was to swim from Cottesloe to Rottnest Island, that’s quite a piece of water and it’s a very big event with lots of swimmers, lots of boats and I just loved it.”

The Triple Crown consists of the 25km Euroz Hartleys Port to Pub channel swim in Western Australia, the 24km Palm Beach to Shelly Beach ocean swim in Sydney and the 34km Derwent River Big Swim in Tasmania.

In preparation, Ms Tucker said she swam the first 15km of the event from New Norfolk to Bridgewater.

“I felt quite comfortable in that so that gave me a lot of confidence because I’d never swam in rivers before and it’s very different swimming in freshwater because you don’t have the buoyancy,” she said.

“When you’re in the sea, yes you’ve got all the waves and the sharks andwhatever, but you actually get very buoyant because of the sal so I just wanted to know what it was like.

“At times it’s quite shallow, then it’s deep and then it’s it’s curving and it’s quite different, but I had a lot of fun, so I think I’m ready for it.”

Ms Tucker will be taking on the swim on Friday 27 February.

Ms Tucker said she is honoured to be dedicating the swim to Anchor.

“Anchor has in the last five years developed a service where we work with kids from 16 to 18 in the last couple of years of being in state care, to be able to transition out into the world more successfully,” she said.

“Unfortunately for kids with a care experience, 35 per cent of them become homeless in the first year Australia-wide, so the statistics are not good.

“We’ve had about 70 kids through in the five years, and not one of them has exited to home-

lessness, which is really quite extraordinary.”

Anchor’s MyLife Project provides accommodation, mentoring, long-term support and positive experiences for children as they prepare to and eventually leave state care, and a fundraising goal of $10,000 has been set.

Ms Tucker said she wants to see young people to leave their care experience in a positive manner, instead of being flung out into the world as if they aren’t wanted anymore.

“If you want us to remove these kids, as we should to protect them, it’s a long journey for them to grow up and we’ve got to get we’ve got to grow them up as the best way we can, because it wasn’t their fault that they couldn’t stay with their parents,” she said.

“This $10,000 would really assist us to do those really bespoke things like perhaps pay for driver’s lessons…or it might be that they’ve never been on a holiday or been to the theme parks.

“We’ll give them some of those extras, some of those things that we want to give our kids and that these kids never get or never experience so it will make a massive difference.”

To donate, visit anchor.org.au/heidis-derwent-river-swim-fundraiser/.

Counts

Intense start to the year

This summer, Victoria has suffered devastating bushfires in all corners of our state.

I extend my deepest sympathies to people that have lost homes, pets, livestock, crops, wildlife, small businesses, and livelihoods.

Despite the ferocity of the fires, our emergency services courageously went to the danger. We thank them for their tremendous effort – Forest Fire Management, FRV, Police, Ambulance and of course volunteers of the CFA and SES.

We’ve been fortunate in the Yarra Ranges with only a few fires contained swiftly.

Whilst ensuring trucks and volunteers have been on standby and monitoring local risks in the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges, many volunteer firefighters of Yarra Valley and Maroondah Groups were deployed on strike teams to help fight fires across the state, including at Longwood, Alexandra, Walwa, Cudgewa and the Otways.

State of Affairs

Bridget Vallence Evelyn MP

dra to help evacuate people in danger, to Gruyere CFA volunteers giving respite to the Terip Terip CFA by washing their trucks, to Montrose CFA delivering food supplies to the Acheron community, or Lilydale CFA delivering petfood to Yark, Ruffy, and Gellibrand communities – our volunteers are the best of us.

million in real terms since 2020 by the Allan Labor Government, leaving Victorians paying the price.

Victorians impacted by the bushfires deserve a voice.

They deserve to know why communication radios failed and why they’re still in 30-year-old trucks.

Let’s remember it’s not just fighting fires or tackling floods.

Extra effort happens behind the scenes – from Wandin CFA volunteers doorknocking in Alexan-

This includes Evelyn Electorate CFA Brigades at Gruyere, Coldstream, Lilydale, Mt Evelyn, Silvan, Seville, Wandin, Montrose, Mooroolbark, and Chirnside Park. Astonishingly, the Otways were impacted by bushfires and floods, and we thank Lilydale SES volunteers deployed to help after flash floods at Wye River.

It’s why they deserve greater respect and support from their government. It’s why the Victorian Liberals and Nationals pushed hard to secure a Parliamentary Inquiry into the summer bushfires despite the Labor Government initially refusing to do so.

Volunteers, firefighters, farmers, emergency management personnel, and communities affected by fires are rightly concerned about preparation, resourcing of emergency services agencies and management of the fires.

Especially after the 2024-25 CFA Annual Report exposed funding to the CFA was cut by $55

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Melbourne Writers Festival.

The MWF Team is currently “gathering memories from the incredible community who has helped to build, shape and sustain MWF”.

Quoting the Festival’s e-newsletter: “Did you meet, or discover, your favourite author at MWF? Was there an unforgettable moment that you shared with a loved one? Or is there a thought provoking conversation you still think about today?”

My fond memories started in 2015 as a MWF Audience Advocate.

In the words of Lisa Dempster, that year’s artistic director: “Each year MWF audiences bring the Festival to life by responding passionately to the ideas and writing at the heart of our events… Our ongoing dialogue with the readers of Melbourne informs so much of what we do – the style of events we deliver, the writers we invite to the Festival, the themes we cover, and even how we facilitate audience questions at events.”

Thus with the establishment of “a direct line to the Festival” for readers across Melbourne to share their ideas, I was among the lucky dozen of applicants “with diverse reading passions and a love for the Festival” selected as MWF 2015’s Audience Advocates.

PASSION FOR PROSE

In the process of what Lisa referred to as “audience-driven programming”, we met with the MWF Team regularly to discuss our views and opinions, and to contribute to the Festival’s programming and planning by bouncing around all sorts of (crazy) ideas.

Curiously, these ideas were often quite different from those proposed by MWF’s industry partners.

The Festival that year turned out to be full of surprises.

As Jo Case, that year’s program manager, recently recalled: “Mark Latham was polite, even pleasant, when I spoke to him in the Melbourne Writers Festival green room. But minutes later, he was on stage calling his interviewer, Jonathan

Green, an ‘ABC wanker’, and swearing at the audience. It was headline news back in 2015.”

I also remember attending the “Writing and Censorship” session at the Festival that year, where Chinese author Sheng Keyi fiercely declared: “A writer’s job is to offend, and [my book Death Fugue] was not published in China because it offended some people.”

Imagine my shock when the official interpreter (mistakenly?) turned Sheng’s words from “to OFFEND” to “to DEFEND”.

I alerted the MWF Team afterwards, but the damage was done.

MWF 2017 was an equally interesting experience, where I attended not just a session but also a translation workshop featuring Taiwanese author Wu Ming-Yi and Darryl Sterk, translator of Wu’s The Stolen Bicycle, an awesome book longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.

That year also marked Lisa’s last year as the Festival’s artistic director.

I served as an Audience Advocate again for MWF 2018, and have been helping to promote the Festival ever since.

As readers, perhaps we don’t get to attend the Festival every year.

But we can all do our small bit to support this iconic literary festival.

Further, we deserve to know why the Yarra Ranges Police Fire Patrol Unit was disbanded as a result of Government budget cuts in the middle of the fire danger period – a proactive policing unit that helped manage risk monitoring known arsonists or responding to illegal burn-offs on total fire ban days.

As we support fire ravaged communities to rebuild, the Inquiry will allow Victorians to have their say and help learn the lessons of these recent fires to better equip our emergency services and communities for future challenges.

Too much love

Wuthering Heights

Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi M 3.5/5

In writer-director Emerald Fennell’s loose adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 novel, Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie), a young aristocrat woman, marries nobleman Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) but remains drawn to her old love Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi).

Wuthering Heights is full of jaw-droppingly beautiful cinematography from Linus Sandgren and lavish sets and costumes. The film’s anachronistic art direction is topped off by a score with electronic elements and songs by Charli XCX. Robbie and Elordi deliver strong performances (as selfish, terrible, thinlydeveloped characters), and Hong Chau is the stand-out actor as Nelly, a servant who looks out for Catherine in a coldly pragmatic fashion. Despite several tender or steamy scenes, the romantic tension between Catherine and Heathcliff is offset by slow, listless pacing and large time-jumps. Wuthering Heights explores themes of passionless comfort versus risky excitement and unrequited love boiling over into resentment, but feels uncharacteristically tame for Fennell. Her first two films are about a feminist avenging angel (Promising Young Woman) and a workingclass sociopath who infiltrates a gormless wealthy family (Saltburn). They’re smarter, sexier and seedier than Wuthering Heights, which only shows some of Fennell’s subversive spirit in the third act, when Heathcliff treats his new wife Isabella (Alison Oliver) so degradingly that you lose all sympathy for him. The uncomfortable fact that Heathcliff and Catherine are basically siblings – Heathcliff was adopted by Catherine’s alcoholic father – was a fatal roadblock in my engagement with the film, but if Fennell had leaned into (or just acknowledged) this fact, the film would be grosser but much more interesting.

Playing in most Victorian cinemas, Wuthering Heights is well-acted and visually staggering but let down by limp pacing and bland, unlikeable characters who are a little too close for comfort, if you know what I mean.

EDUCATION - OPEN DAYS

Discover the difference

Choosing a secondary school is about more than just finding a classroom; it is about finding a community where your child feels seen, supported and inspired.

At Mount Lilydale Mercy College (MLMC), we believe that an exceptional education is defined by the “Mercy spirit” – a distinct culture of values and excellence that has been our cornerstone since the beginning.

We warmly invite families to experience this spirit firsthand at our upcoming Open Day on Sunday, 1 March.

A Vibrant Learning Community

Our Open Day is more than a tour; it is a vibrant, hands-on window into life at MLMC.

From interactive displays and student performances to exploring our expansive grounds and facilities, you will see how we ignite curiosity in every student.

Principal Mr Philip Morison emphasises that our mission is to develop the innate talents of every child, ensuring they graduate with the “resilience and confidence to live their best lives and be the difference in the lives of those around them.”

A Seamless Transition

We understand that the leap from primary to secondary school can feel daunting for both students and parents.

That is why MLMC has pioneered a comprehensive transition framework designed to replace anxiety with excitement.

Before they even step into a Year 7 classroom, students are welcomed through our Flying Solo program and Orientation Day.

Once they arrive, the Stepping Forward program and Year 7 Camp help forge immediate bonds with peers and staff.

Perhaps most importantly, our Year 10 Peer Support Leaders act as mentors, providing a friendly, familiar face in the hallways. By attending Year 7 classes weekly, these student leaders help younger peers navigate new routines and academic expectations, fostering a deep sense of belonging from day one.

ues - compassion, justice, respect, courage, service and hospitality - provide a compass for our students.

Come and see for yourself why so many families choose Mount Lilydale Mercy College.

Values for a Complex World In an increasingly complex world, our Mercy Val-

This Catholic identity is woven into the fabric of College life, ensuring that as your child navigates their teenage years, they are grounded in integrity and kindness.

Whether you are interested in our diverse cocurricular opportunities or our robust academic programs, we look forward to welcoming you into our community.

EDUCATION - OPEN DAYS

Message from the principal

Healesville Primary School

My name is Tracey Robertson Smith, and I am the proud principal of Healesville Primary School.

I feel very fortunate to work in such a wonderful learning environment.

Our school has seen immense growth over the past few years.

This is because we have dedicated, passionate teachers who use evidenced based teaching practices to maximise the learning opportunities for all our students.

We have education support staff working across the school in all levels, as well as great students who wish to learn.

Our positive school culture is based on the school values of respect, learning, confidence and community.

We pride ourselves on our calm and engaging learning environments, much of this is due to our implementation of (SWPBS) School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports, which focuses on teaching expected behaviours.

Our students are incredibly lucky to have a diverse range of play areas – we have designated playgrounds for each level, large open spaces, down ball courts, an oval, basketball and baseball courts, a natural play space to make cubbies as well as a range of interactive spaces.

This allows all our students to spread out and play safely with others.

Later this year we will be having a playground upgrade for our top asphalt area as well as extensive work on our gardens and retaining walls –this will be amazing when completed.

Each of our specialist teachers have their own specific learning space.

Our STEM room has undergone a refurbishment at the end of last year and is a brilliant and engaging space.

We have 3D printers, robots, laptops and iPads for our students to expand their IT skills.

Our students have Performing Arts, Visual Art, STEM and PE each week for a one-hour session.

Again, we are incredibly lucky to have a full-

size indoor basketball court in our gym/hall for our PE sessions.

Students at HPS are very fortunate to have Brooke Wandin as a teacher of language and culture of the First People of Healesville.

Brooke teaches us cultural stories and the Woiwurrung language.

As a school our motto is Together We Make a Difference and this is because we firmly believe that we need to work with the parents and carers of our students, so they have the best possible experiences at school.

Mental Health and Wellbeing is a top priority for us, and we work hard to ensure all our students have a strong connection to the school, thereby creating a sense of belonging.

The following is our vision and this what we as educators want to achieve for all our students.

This underpins everything that we do. At Healesville Primary School we inspire all students to be curious, creative and engaged lifelong learners.

We develop resilient, confident and respectful students who have the necessary skills to be a valuable member of their community.

Exciting new spaces for all

Students at St Brigid’s Healesville were greeted with a wonderful surprise as they returned to school this year.

Upon entering the gates on the first day, they quickly discovered that the holidays had brought some exciting transformations to the playground and school facilities.

Thanks to the generosity and hard work of many members of the school community, supported by the Smaller Wineries donation, St Brigid’s landscaping master plan has begun to take shape.

Throughout the holiday period, volunteers dedicated their time and talents to various tasks, including painting and landscaping, washing windows, watering plants, sourcing materials, and accepting deliveries.

Theireffortshavecompletelytransformedthe back garden into an engaging, interactive space that inspires creative and cooperative play.

The school facilities have never looked better, with a full upgrade of the student toilets completed just in time for the start of the school year.

Thoughtfully designed, these modern facilities complement the new school building, which is scheduled for completion in just a few days.

The new building will serve as the home for Prep and Year 1 students, who are eager to settle into their bright, welcoming learning space.

The school looks forward to showcasing these impressive new facilities to both current and prospective families during school tours in March and at the upcoming Family Fun Night.

The Family Fun Night, organised by the dedicated Parents and Friends Group, will take place on Thursday, 19 March, and promises to be an enjoyable evening for the whole community.

Everyone is warmly invited to attend.

This major fundraising event will support the next stage of the outdoor transformation, with funds directed toward establishing an outdoor soccer field for students to enjoy.

St Brigid’s Healesville continues to grow as a place where community spirit, learning, and play come together and this year’s improve-

ments are a wonderful reflection of that shared commitment.

To find out more about what makes St Brigid’s a great place to learn and grow, interested parties are encouraged to visit the school’s website to book a tour, request an information pack, or complete enrolment forms.

Applications for 2027 Preps are open now, and the friendly office staff is available for more information.

Growing with confidence

Strong foundations, innovative learning and a nurturing community help students thrive in every way.

Gladysdale Primary School is more than a place of learning - it’s a place for children to grow, explore and play.

Set in a peaceful rural setting, the school offers a supportive environment where students are encouraged to follow their interests, take on challenges and develop a love of learning.

Under the guidance of new principal Felicity Curnow, the school is building on its proud foundations while embracing fresh ideas and future-focused learning.

Felicity brings vision and energy, maintaining the school’s warm, inclusive culture while introducing innovative approaches that prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow.

Central to the school’s success is a strong focus on literacy and numeracy.

Teachers provide personalised support to ensure students build essential reading, writing and mathematical skills, giving them the confidence to achieve at their own pace.

This approach balances challenge with encouragement, setting students up for success both now and in the future.

A wide range of specialist programs complements the core curriculum and supports the development of the whole child.

Art and Performing Arts nurture creativity and self-expression, Physical Education fosters teamwork and resilience, and the muchloved Patch to Plate program teaches students about sustainable living, from growing and harvesting produce to preparing healthy meals.

Auslan lessons further broaden students’ skills and understanding, promoting inclusivity and communication.

Dedicated teachers are at the heart of the school’s approach.

Small class sizes and individualised learning ensure every student is known, valued and supported.

EDUCATION - OPEN DAYS

Millwarra off to strong start

Millwarra Primary School has begun the 2026 school year with enthusiasm, students across both the Millgrove and Warburton East campuses quickly settling into their classrooms and engaging in new learning opportunities.

From the first week, there has been a positive sense of momentum as students reconnect with friends, build relationships with their teachers and dive straight into their learning.

A key focus this year has been strengthening teaching and learning through a refreshed, collaborative approach.

Curriculum Leader Grace Barnard has been working closely with staff to support consistent, high-quality instructional practices across the school.

Junior students have been particularly enthusiastic about the Little Learners Love Literacy program, which is building strong foundations in reading and writing.

Across all year levels, students are also enjoying Top 10 Maths, that has a hands-on approach, encouraging curiosity, problem solving and deeper understanding.

Another highlight for 2026 has been the introduction of our new navy and teal uniform.

Students are proudly wearing the refreshed look, with a gradual transition planned over the coming years.

Our new sports tops have also arrived and we look forward to seeing them in action at upcoming events.

Families and community members are invited to come and discover Millwarra Primary School.

The Millgrove Campus will open on Monday 23 March from 1.30 to 2.30pm, followed by the Warburton East Campus on Friday 27 March from 2pm to 3pm.

We warmly welcome any families considering enrolment to come and experience the vibrant learning community across both campuses.

Cruise North America

By Lee Mccarthy

TAKE in historic cities and rugged shores with Viking’s 15-day Canada and East Coast Explorer voyage from Toronto, Ontario to Fort Lauderdale, Florida or vice versa.

Fifteen days, seven guided tours, two countries and countless meals and experiences ensure this is the perfect once in a lifetime cruise. Start the cruise in Toronto savouring the diversity of Toronto’s food scene and explore some of the city’s treasures.

On day two, guests can experience the series of locks, canals and channels that comprise the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Day three, those who wish to can be immersed in the religious heritage of Trois-Rivieres during a trip to a historic shrine to the Virgin Mary.

Guests can explore the rugged beauty of the Canadian Shield during an exhilarating Zodiac ride or take to the water in a kayak and explore the surrounding with a member of the Viking Expedition Team.

For the culinary lovers enjoy a selection of local favourites as you explore the city’s culinary roots during a walk around Trois-Rivières.

Travellers will step back in time to explore the intriguing history of Quebec City during an excursion through its old town or explore the contrasting landscapes that form the Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area during a hiking excursion.

Experience the world’s largest naval base in Norfolk, travel Nova Scotia’s shores and rugged landscapes and visit Quebec’s National Parks.

Viking’s inclusive value includes everything you need, such as a guided excursion in every port, all onboard meals including alternative dining venues, wine and beer with lunch and dinner, unlimited Wi-Fi, 24-hour specialty tea, coffee, and bottled water, access to the stateof-the-art Nordic spa, self-service laundry, and all tipping. With no children, no casinos, fewer than 1,000 guests, and all veranda staterooms, Viking’s award-winning ships take you as close as possible to each destination.

Guests can go underground in Cape Breton and get a glimpse of what life was like digging coal at the Cape Breton Miners Museum.

One treat guaranteed to please is a visit to Peggy’s Cove to enjoy a delicious lobster lunch in the picture-perfect postcard seaside village or discover distinctly Nova Scotian wines during a visit to Petit Rivière Vineyards in the Lahave River Valley or sample a selection of local beer in Nova Scotia’s picturesque South Shore district.

Enjoy Charleston’s southern charm and colonial homes and embark on a guided exploration by motor coach or experience the natural beauty of the low country during a visit to one of the only team farms in the United States.

Learn how to prepare typical Charleston dishes during an interactive cooking demonstration and explore the streets of Charleston during a walking tour as guests are invited to step inside one of the city’s historic homes.

The cruise arrives in Ft. Lauderdale Florida, with many guests taking advantage of the Post Cruise Extension to enjoy additional days exploring. A two-night extension in Ft Lauderdale costs from $1499 and is a stunning end to a truly stunning fifteen days.

While sailing, guests can attend lectures, watch a film in the eight thousand laser-projected panoramic screen in The Aula or focus on wining and dining, whatever the choice, Viking offers an unbeatable holiday in understated elegance.

Right now, the cruise is priced from $12,295 per person for a Nordic Balcony saving up to $2500 per booking with Viking’s “Fly free, flight upgrade credit”.

Book before 31 March 2026.

Unrivalled luxury is here

For over 30 years, Regent Seven Seas Cruises® has set the benchmark for ultra-luxury ocean travel, inviting guests to Experience the Unrivalled™ aboard The World’s Most Luxurious Fleet®. Carrying between 496 and no more than 822 guests, the line’s Spacious All-Suite Ships™ create an intimate atmosphere complemented by exceptional space to explore more than 550 destinations across all seven continents.

At the very heart of the Regent experience is their promise of Unrivalled Space at Sea®, with luxurious all-suite accommodation that ranges from 28–413 sq m in size, the vast majority of which are complemented by private, furnished balconies. A spacious sitting area is enhanced by soothing colours and rich textures, while marbledetailed bathrooms and walk-in wardrobes further elevate the space.

On every journey, Regent’s Heartfelt Hospitality™ shines through personalised service, delivered by one of the highest crew-to-guest ratios at sea. Expansive pool decks, inviting lounges and bars, elegant speciality restaurants and alfresco dining venues create a sense of generous luxury. Relax in the spa and sauna, enjoy a craft cocktail on your private balcony or attend an enrichment lecture.

Regent’s hallmark inclusion of unlimited shore excursions offers their guests thousands of opportunities to immerse deeply in the culture and surroundings in every port of call. Thanks to carefully planned itineraries, you could be wine tasting in Bordeaux, meeting Sámi communities in northern Norway or reflecting at a Japanese shrine in the shadow of Mount Fuji.

Regent invites you to Cruise in All-Inclusive, Unrivalled Luxury™, truly elevating every element of your journey. Guests can enjoy exquisite cuisine, fine wines and premium spir-

its, entertainment, Starlink Wi-Fi, unlimited valet laundry, pre-paid gratuities, and even a one-night pre-cruise hotel stay for Conciergelevel suites and higher, or a Personal Butler in Penthouse Suites and above. All of which is included as part of Regent’s All-Inclusive Cruise Fare.

Featured Voyage: Amsterdam to Barcelona Embark on an ultra-luxury voyage across Europe on Seven Seas Grandeur®, from Amsterdam’s ca-

nals to an immersive overnight stay in Bordeaux, home to the world’s most prestigious wines. Continue through the Iberian Peninsula with calls in Oporto, Lisbon, Seville (Cádiz) and Málaga, before concluding in the passionate ambience of Barcelona.

Vineyard Walk & Tasting With Nathalie –Included Shore Excursion Tour a merlot vineyard in the company of one of the owners, who will share insights into the daily

operations of the estate, the challenges of achieving organic wine certification and the philosophy behind their winemaking. During your visit, enjoy a guided tasting paired with tapas, and discover the three exclusively crafted wines from merlot grapes.

Plan your ultra-luxury voyage today.

For more information, contact Julie at Exclusively Cruising on 03 9762 2799 or email cruise@ exclusivelycruising.com.au

7 Nights

Dec 2026 - Mar 2027

Iconic Experiences, Expertly Escorted

Full day Barossa Valley tour with lunch and wine tastings including: Saltram wine estate, lunch and wine tasting at Lambert Estate, visit to Barossa Valley Chocolate Company, photo stop at Menglers Hill Lookout, vineyard tour & wine tasting at Jacob’s Creek visitor centre, stop at Beerenberg Farm, and free time in Hahndorf to explore the historic German settlement

2 day Kangaroo Island tour including: Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery, Clifford’s Honey Farm, In-Flight Birds of Prey Display at Raptor Domain, Seal Bay Conservation Park guided beach walk, lunch at Emu Bay Lavender Farm, Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, and Flinders Chase National Park

Full-Board River Elegance

3 night Murray River cruise on board PS Murray Princess with all meals and sightseeing

Tour of Murray River Bridge and historic Roundhouse

Guided nature walk of Salt Bush Flat

Taste Riverland food and wine

Dragon-Fly flat-bottomed boat wildlife tour

Hand-Picked Hotel Stays

3 nights four-star hotel stay in Adelaide with breakfast

1 night four-star hotel stay in Kangaroo Island with breakfast, lunch and dinner

All Flights, Taxes & Transfers

12 DAYS • 1 COUNTRY 11 GUIDED TOURS

SET SAIL • MAY, AUG-DEC 2026; JAN-JUN, AUG-DEC 2027; 2028

Step into the land of pharaohs and timeless wonders. Viking invites you to experience Egypt like never before. Sail the legendary Nile on a 12-day cruisetour through Egypt and enjoy an included shore excursion to the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum — the world’s largest archaeological museum and home to Tutankhamun’s treasures. Witness history in the making while indulging in the comfort and elegance of Viking’s award-winning river ships.

From $11,395pp in Standard Stateroom From $13,695pp in Veranda Stateroom

Nostalgia’s lies...

WOORILLA WORDS

By Maria Millers

When the newly minted Liberal leader, Angus Taylor fronted his first press conference last Friday he immediately announced that his priorities were to restore our standard of living and protect our way of life and put what he called Australian values at the centre of policy, especially on immigration.

He was tapping into the increasing discontent among many Australians who face the everyday challenges dominating daily life: mortgages, rent, food and other costs of modern living.

Add to this the deep social divides that surfaced post the Voice referendum: on climate, immigration, indigenous rights

What Taylor is doing is tapping into a rampant, powerful but rarely examined force behind today’s discontent, what can best be described as misguided nostalgia.

A belief that there was once a stable, prosperous, socially cohesive ‘golden age’ (often imagined as the 1950s) that we have somehow lost.

Many psychologists and philosophers argue that nostalgia is an intrinsic part of human nature.

In uncertain times nostalgia often intensifies and helps us cope with change.

And that is nothing new.

English Romantic 19th century poet Wordsworth in Ode: Intimations of Immortality (1807) mourns that fading wonder of childhood. There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Apparelled in celestial light…

Humans are deeply sensitive to change and uncertainty.

When the present feels unstable, we often romanticise the past because it feels familiar, certain and emotionally safe.

This doesn’t mean the past was always better — just that it feels coherent and known.

For some as in war torn areas or in abusive situations or neglect memories will not be as positive.

However, our brains tend to remember positive aspects more vividly than negative ones.

This cognitive bias makes the past seem better than it likely was.

In Australia, this myth shapes debates about housing, crime, immigration, gender roles, education, and national identity.

It feeds frustration not just because things feel harder now—but because they’re measured

against a version of the past that never fully existed.

Back in the fifties Australians were fed a constant diet of programs from the USA such as Leave it to Beaver, Father knows Best, The Waltons which celebrated what appeared on the surface to be a simpler, safer life.

Undoubtedly the post war period was a time of reconstruction and is remembered for affordable homes, secure jobs, strong communities and clear values.

In Australia this view shapes debates about housing, immigration, gender roles, education, and national identity.

True the 50s was the golden age of capitalism and reconstruction and catching up after the war and economic growth was buoyed by unique post-war conditions unlikely to be repeated.

However it was paradise only for some and not for all.

Alcoholism was rife with the six o’clock closing evidenced by the often vomit strewn pavements outside hotels and high incidence of domestic violence. Many women were excluded from economic independence and if pregnant faced the horrors of backyard abortions, social ostracism and a life of penury if they were brave enough to keep their babies.

Women’s health problems were ignored with many addicted to over the counter products such Bex often resulting in kidney disease.

Migration policies were racially restrictive and the White Australia Policy was in full force.

Indigenous Australians faced systemic discrimination (pre-1967 referendum rights).

And for anyone with cultural aspirations Australia was a cultural backwater and the only the way forward was to go overseas.

So the 1950s weren’t paradise.

But believing they were may be shaping today’s politics more than we admit as longing for a simplified past prevents us from designing a realistic future.

And when today’s Australians compare their lives to that simplified memory, modern realities feel like decline—even if they’re seen through unrealistic rose coloured lenses.

Younger Australians facing high rents and insecure work feel they are denied the stability previous generations enjoyed.

Older Australians may feel accused of hoarding advantages and indeed there’s a case that older Australians have been prioritised over the needs of youth.

The 1950s myth becomes a wedge between generations rather than a shared story.

But it’s the political simplification of today’s problems that is dangerous and deepens generational tensions.

The myth encourages the idea that restoring old attitudes could restore all the negatives we face today.

And politicians shamelessly exploit this misguided view.

And nostalgia makes complex problems look like moral decline rather than the result of structural change.

Housing affordability is one example.

In the 1950s, one wage bought a house and the post war government invested in social housing

and opening up land in outer suburbs.

Today two wages are needed.

But what has to be taken into account is urbanisation, population growth, financial deregulation and global capital flows.

Of course those looking back would zero in on population intake and ignore the many areas where our society would fall apart without input of migrant workers.

Today’s globalised, finance-driven housing market bears little resemblance to that past era.

Yet politicians routinely invoke the past without acknowledging how structurally different the economy now is.

Then governments promise to ‘restore the dream’ they are often selling emotional memory, not replicable conditions.

The myth encourages the idea that restoring old attitudes could restore old outcomes.

Nostalgia adds to discontent by creating unrealistic benchmarks, social media adds to this by amplifying issues

And as algorithms reward anger, many become addicted to outrage without looking at the reasons behind their discontent.

There are many issues facing us today that we should have national conversations about.

But regrettably we are losing the forums for this to take place.

Such as: Should billionaires (now more likely trillionaires) have the political power they are exerting, pushing us into a modern version of feudalism?

Are liberal democracies up to solving global problems?

Is patriotism in a globalised world still relevant or possible?

And are we really more divided or just appear to be so online?

When the future feels unclear, the past feels safe—even if it’s selectively remembered.

Australia isn’t declining it’s transforming.

But if we keep comparing ourselves to a past that never fully existed, we will mistake change for decay.

Hopefully the new leader will bear that in mind.

“Tropical Death” by Claude McKay: Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root, Cocoa in pods and alligator pears, And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit, Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs; Set in the window, bringing memories Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills, And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies In benediction over nun-like hills.

My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze; A wave of longing through my body swept, And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.

All the theatre action coming up in local theatres

The 1812 Theatre

Clue on Stage

Based on the iconic 1985 Paramount, movie which was inspired by the classic Hasboro board game, Clue is an hilarious farce-meetsmurder mystery.

The take begins at a remote mansion where six mysterious guests each disguised as characters from the board game, assemble for an unusual dinner party; only to find themselves embroiled in murder, blackmail, and mayhem, as they try to uncover the killer amongst them.

Season: February 18 – March 14. Karralyka

Melbourne Celtic Festival

Following the runaway success of the Melbourne Celtic Festival on Tour 2025, the tour returns to Karralyka in March 2026 with the best St Patricks Day craic!

Join for an afternoon of live Celtic music fea-

turing acclaimed local and international acts.

Direct from Dublin, Ghosts of Erin Oliver traditional folk rock, blending gritty ballads with fast-paced tunes.

Austral Australian Folk Bans of the Year, return with their high-energy fusion of Celtic dance music, digeridoo, fiddles, pipes, guitar and percussion.

Melbourne trio Apolline bring intricate harmonies and Celtic-inspired arrangements.

Celebrate St Patrick’s Day in true Celtic style.

Season: Saturday 14 March at 3pm.

Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre

The Female of the Species

A Dark Comedy

Margot Mason is a feminist writer suffering from writer’s block.

Molly Rivers, her former student, arrives unexpectedly at her country home with a gun, blaming Margot for raping her mother’s mind with her best-selling book.

Margot’s daughter, her son-on-law, her publisher and a taxi driver also arrive to comment on Margot’s feminist failings and the expectations placed on female public figures.

The plot is loosely based on an incident that happened to Germaine Greeer.

Season: April 23 – May 8.

Gemco Players Open Stage Nights 2026

Welcome one and all to ongoing Open Stage Night.

Hosted by Carol, our popular open stage has

been running for many decades.

Held in the cosy hall, you are welcome to perform anything you like or just come for the lovely entertainment.

Enjoy music, poetry. singing, monologues to show.

Running the first Saturday of every month now starting at 7pm.

Bring your own nibbles.

Season: March 7 from 7pm – 10.30pm.

Eltha, Little Theatre

Bondi Legall – Sun, Surf and Solicitors

An anxiety prone locum conveyancing lawyer, Brad Pitth (no relation) turns up to a Bondi Legal Practice and finds himself thrust into taking on a courtroom for the first time, taking on a Corporate Chemical Company for a single mother seeing justice for her daughter’s show pony after it was savaged by one of its grooming products.

He doesn’t stand a chance … does he? What could possibly go wrong.

A LANDMARK ARCHITECTURAL RESIDENCE WITH VIEWS

A LANDMARK ARCHITECTURAL RESIDENCE WITH BREATHTAKING VIEWS

POSITIONED to capture sweeping vistas across the treetops, this exceptional custombuilt residence is one of Upwey’s most striking contemporary homes. Designed by renowned local architect Allan Pearson of Yarra Architects, the home has been masterfully created to embrace the unique multi-level landscape while maximising natural light, elevation and outlook.

Only a few years young, this high-end residence showcases a refined architectural presence, combining James Hardie cladding, recycled red brick and Colorbond to create a bold yet resilient exterior perfectly suited to hills living.

Inside, soaring 6-metre cathedral ceilings and expansive commercial-grade doubleglazed windows frame the views and flood the interiors with light. Every element has been thoughtfully curated to deliver luxury, comfort and timeless design.

Accommodation and Layout:

• 4 spacious bedrooms with custom built-in cabinetry

• 2 designer bathrooms

1 powder room

Two separate living areas

Open-plan office/study space

2-car carport plus electric-door enclosed garage

• Extensive under-house storage

The heart of the home is a beautifully appointed kitchen featuring Caesarstone benchtops, premium 2pac joinery, a Westinghouse pyrolytic oven and gas cooktop, and a seamless connection to outdoor entertaining. A built-in BBQ and gas connection for a pizza oven make hosting effortless.

Premium Features:

• Velux skylights with remote-controlled blinds Hydronic heating (zoned per room) – the ultimate in clean, comfortable warmth

Zoned ducted heating and cooling with mobile Bluetooth connectivity

• Engineered timber flooring

• Terrazzo stone tiles for a bold and enduring finish

• Heated bathroom floors

Custom cabinetry throughout bedrooms, living and study areas

Rainwater tank servicing toilets and garden

Designed to maximise comfort year-round, the home’s hydronic heating, zoned climate control, and superior glazing ensure energy efficiency and quiet luxury in every season. This is not simply a home - it is an architectural statement, thoughtfully crafted for modern hills living. A rare opportunity to secure one of the suburb’s most impressive and recently completed residences.

An extraordinary lifestyle awaits at 288 Glenfern Road, Upwey. ●

SET

suited to families, professionals, and those seeking space both inside and out.

The residence comprises four bedrooms plus a separate office, with the master suite privately positioned and featuring a walk-in robe and ensuite. Three additional bedrooms are grouped together and serviced by a central family bathroom, providing a functional and family-friendly configuration.

Two substantial living areas deliver excellent separation, with a large family room connecting seamlessly to the dining area and centrally positioned kitchen. The kitchen is well appointed with stone benchtops, quality appliances and ample storage, flowing directly to the covered outdoor deck - ideal for everyday living and entertaining.

Outdoors, the property continues to impress with a private outdoor spa, positioned to enjoy the surrounding garden setting and offering a relaxed space to unwind year-round. Split system heating and cooling in the master bedroom ensures seasonal comfort, while solar panels contribute to improved energy efficiency & the ease of ducted vacuum.

The property also offers exceptional infrastructure with dual access, a double garage, plus a separate extra-height lock-up garage, ideal for trades, storage, caravans or recreational vehicles.

A well-rounded property offering space, flexibility and lifestyle appeal, all within a private and established setting. ●

HOME ESSENTIALS

HIGH-VISIBILITY POSITION WITH DUAL ACCESS AND FLEXIBLE FUTURE USE

OFFERING a combined return of approximately $41,000 per annum and significant future upside, this versatile property presents a rare opportunity in the heart of Monbulk. With 23 metres of Main Road frontage, two crossovers, rear laneway access, and connection to mains sewerage, the property lends itself to a wide range of potential uses.

These include future subdivision (STCA) under the forthcoming Monbulk Housing Strategy, or alternative options such as professional suites or further redevelopment, subject to council approval.

The main residence is a tastefully renovated two-bedroom home plus study, featuring a large kitchen, spacious lounge room, and a full-length sunroom that doubles perfectly as additional living or workspace.

Comfort is assured year-round with gas heating, split-system air conditioning, and a double carport.

The separate studio is well-appointed with split-system heating and cooling, an updated kitchen and bathroom, and the added benefit of separate rear laneway access, enhancing flexibility and privacy.

Currently comprising four lots on one title, the long-term redevelopment potential is substantial.

All of this is complemented by an excellent location, just a short walk to Monbulk township, shops, cafes, and local amenities. A compelling opportunity to secure strong income today while positioning for future growth.

Enquire now to add a high-potential asset to your property portfolio. ●

NEST OR INVEST - TWO DWELLINGS ON 1167M2

TUCKED away on a peaceful no-through road and surrounded by lush, established gardens, this property offers an idyllic blend of tranquillity and privacy.

The property offers two dwellings, the primary residence currently rented, boasts a spacious light filled lounge with relaxing leafy outlook. The adjoining kitchen and meals area features the roomy kitchen with stainless steel oven, gas cooktop and dishwasher.

There are three bedrooms all serviced by the family bathroom. For your comfort, there is ducted heating and evaporative cooling throughout the home. Outside, the decked and enclosed outdoor entertaining space is tucked away from the weather and ideal for yearround enjoyment. On warmer days, enjoy the sunshine on the front verandah.

The secure side yard is perfect for the fourlegged family members.

Also on the property is a 2 bedroom selfcontained unit, with a fully fenced front and back yard with driveway access.

The charming cottage boasts a spacious central lounge with split system heating and cooling, a functional kitchen with a freestanding oven, two comfortable bedrooms (one with built-in robes), and a well-sized bathroom with space for laundry facilities. Enjoy privacy and relaxation decked and covered front verandah.

The cottage is separately fenced, offering a true sense of independence. Conveniently located near major arterial roads and just a short drive to Emerald township, schools, sporting facilities and medical facilities, this property offers a fantastic opportunity you will enjoy for years to come. ●

PUZZLES

To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal rows and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.

ACROSS

1 Supplicates (5)

4 Provider of information (9)

9 Belittle (5)

10 Middle Age armour (5,4)

11 For blinking (6)

12 Formal request signed by many people (8)

14 Choice (10)

15 Exclamation of surprise (3)

17 Tentacle (3)

19 Public estimation (10)

23 Slow (8)

24 Skilfully produces (6)

26 Purifying (9)

27 Greenish (5)

28 Game birds (9)

29 Frozen shower (5)

1 Heavenly body (6)

2 Non-professional (7)

3 Local law enforcer (7)

4 Measure of length (imp) (4)

5 Brotherhood (10)

6 Length of a film (7)

7 Miraculous (7)

8 Masterful (8)

13 Relative dimensions or size (10)

16 Disability (8)

18 People of Malta (7)

19 Viewing figures (7)

20 Fears (7)

21 Disconnected (7)

22 Appearance (6)

25 Ova (4)

Two down, two more to go

Mount Evelyn’s Bree Walker fought back on the second run of the Women’s Monobob to keep herself in contention for a medal after day one of competition.

After only setting the 11th fastest time on the opening run, Walker remain composed and was far cleaner her second time down the course.

Walker’s second run was nearly two-tenths of a second faster than her first and saw her move four spots up the rankings and into seventh position.

“I made some notoriously unexpected mistakes in the first heat so I was really happy to be able to come down and lay it down in the second heat and move up a few spots,” said Walker. “It’s a really tight race and it’s four heats so you’ve just got to keep going.”

The Aussie’s aggregate time after two runs currently sits 0.77 off the provisional podium, but with many of the top 10 having issues on at least one of their runs on Sunday, the medallists are far from settled.

“I know what I can produce and I’ve just got to keep going,” said Walker. “World Championships and Olympics are four heats, it’s a marathon, so you’ve just got to keep going, keep going, keep going.

Walker will rest up over the next 24 hours before athletes return on Monday night for their final two runs.

“Tomorrow’s a new day – I’ve just got to go back and reset, focus on my cues, my race, what I need to do in order to be able to execute.”

Bree Walker will contest the Runs three and four of the Women’s Monobob from 5am AEDT on Tuesday 17 February - watch the Winter Olympics on Channel 9, 9Now and Stan Sport.

Laura Nolte surged to the top of the Milano Cortina 2026 women’s monobob standings after the first two heats.

The German finished the first day of bobsleigh’s single athlete competition at the Cortina Sliding Centre with a combined time of 1:59.12,

Notices

ahead of the USA duo of Beijing 2022 silver medallist Elana Meyers Taylor (1:59.34) and reigning Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries (1:59.43).

“It’s a very good feeling,” a confident Nolte said after her runs. “I had two good runs and one tiny mistake per run but everyone is making mistakes here in the monobob. So I’m very, very happy that I improved my start time in the second run and I can’t wait to go down again tomorrow.”

The USA team is in an excellent position to se-

cure multiple medal podium finishes, with three of the top five hailing from the nation. Kaysha Love enters the final day in fifth position, just 0.11 seconds behind fourth-place Melanie Hasler of Switzerland.

“I feel pretty good,” said second-place Meyers Taylor. “I’m really excited about my push, I wasn’t so excited about the second drive, but it’s a tricky track and things happen.”

Humphries, who is currently in the bronze

medal position, said she was looking forward to the final day of competition, where the experience of the three-time Olympic gold medallist is expected to show.

“We’re only halfway done,” she said. “As we can see, a lot can happen on any given run on this track. You’ve got to stay focused.

“The drive is my asset, so we’re going to use that to every advantage humanly possible and keep trying to track them down at the start.”

Burras buckle to Heathmont

By Garry Lewis

The Warburton Bowls Club season finished for one side while two sides will now progress onto the finals.

The Weekend Warburton One side finished the season at home with a close but ultimately disappointing loss to a motivated Heathmont Two side.

The green was a little faster than usual and some players struggled to adapt.

However, the match began to swing in the Burras favour late and it got tight on the overall scoreboard.

In the end, though, Heathmont had enough in reserve to run out winners by six shots, 74 shots to 68.

Rink scores were: S. Lord 12/22, P. McConachy 21/19, C. Neale 20/14 and T. Appleton 15/19. By winning the two rinks ensured they will remain in Division Two next season after a tough season.

The Weekend Warburton Two side played a revitalised Vermont South Three side away.

Unfortunately, the Burras struggled to handle the unfamiliar green conditions.

Apart from one rink, the visitors were behind overall from the start, and despite trying hard, failed to bridge the widening gap to go down 62 shots to 93.

Rink scores were: P. Woods 29/13, M. Van Meurs 13/22, P. Summers 7/27 and S. Darwall 13/31.

The loss means the side dropped to fourth place on the ladder and will now play Monbulk Two away in the cutthroat Semi Final next week determined to fight back.

Warburton’s Midweek side travelled to play Yarra Glen One on Tuesday with both teams having a lot at stake.

Warburton hoping to claim first spot on the ladder and Yarra Glen hoping to sneak into the four.

It was a predictably close match played in great spirits. All rinks were close with no team able to break away.

Rink scores were G. Walsh 19/20, R. McKail

Topsy-turvy day for Eastern Golf pennant

By David Waters

A topsy turvy day for Eastern Suburbs plus 55 Senior Pennant.

The rolling hills and gentle morning light made a treat for the golfers entering the Heritage.

The Heritage was the host club for round three of the Eastern Suburbs plus 55 Senior Pennant.

The many kangaroos adorning the hilly slopes and some mobs beside fairways provided a spectacle for the visitors coming up the drive.

As the day progressed the kangaroo gallery watched unperturbed and unimpressed as the dumb golfers paraded around their home paddocks.

This is not a piece on wildlife but one on a golf contest, so let’s get to it.

As managers did registrations, many with coffee in hand those players registered and without coffee hit the practice greens.

Luckily this practice area is large enough to have 90 players putting without bumping into each other.

A 7.30 am start was achieved despite a setup problem.

A light dew and a chill in the air at start of play soon dissipated.

The mild temperature and lack of wind made walking the course a pleasure.

The fairways were plush and green.

The rough, as expected for this time of year was littered with twigs and leaves.

Of course, those conditions made stray balls a little difficult to find. The kangaroo onlookers must have been amused.

This week there were no teams that tied. There were however, eight individual matches squared and thirteen others decided on the eighteenth hole.

So, the competition was very close and interesting, especially between individuals.

There were many excellent tee shots, the course suited big hitters.

Accuracy was also needed to avoid the many fairway bunkers and set up a good approach to the greens.

On the green a new battle was waged.

Described by home club players they were slow and “a bit furry”.

Not many one putt greens were talked of in the rooms.

A good green meant a reasonable first putt and a gimme by a gentleman opponent.

The greenside bunkers caused many problems.

The extra stroke playing out resulted in losing the hole.

There were plenty of water hazards.

Not really a problem unless expectation was not matched by ability to execute.

In several cases execution was poor, or the distance was measured incorrectly.

Either way the balls were lost, adding to the scenery for the fish.

As stated earlier it was a topsy turvy day.

Good form last round no indicator for this one.

Churchill/Waverley green thumped last week triumphant this time, the gold team after winning last week defeated this time.

Yering green winner last time loser now.

Yering gold losers both weeks and the same for Gardiners Run green.

Eastwood gold win after losing last time.

Box Hill gold continues with wins both weeks.

Full results for round three.

Gold group: Gardiners Run 5 1/2 def Heritage 2 1/2, Box Hill 6 1/2 def Yering 1 1/2, Eastwood 5 1/2 def Churchill/Waverley 2 1/2.

Green group: Churchill/Waverley 4 1/2 def Eastwood 3 1/2, Heritage 4 1/2def Gardiners Run 3 1/2, Box Hill 5 1/2 def Yering 2 1/2. Watch for the next instalment from Churchill/ Waverley next Friday 20 February. Read well, play well.

Rogers

20/18 and A. Dostie 18/20.

The second placed Burras now play Mooroolbark Two at home in the last game before the finals.

Unfortunately, the Jack Attack Triples Competition last Wednesday was cancelled once again due to the Extreme Fire Danger conditions.

The next two weeks, leading up to the Finals’ Evening on 4 March, will include one Double Header and one Triple Header.

The Men’s and Ladies’ Club Singles Championship Finals were held last Friday evening resulting in Chris Lord and Aimee Dostie defending their achievements from last season over Steve Freestone and Michelle Foord respectively.

Both Chris and Aimee will now progress onto the ERBR Champion of Champions Competition. Good luck to both fine players.

Congratulations to all the players for high standard games witnessed by a good crowd.

The Greenlow Vote Counting Night was held last Saturday after the final round of games before the finals.

The Most Valuable Players for both Weekend Pennant Sides were awarded.

Congratulations to Steven Lord for winning the Warburton One MVP Award with past winner Chris Neale runner up.

Congratulations to Peter Summers for winning the Warburton Two MVP Award with Darren Nisbet runner up.

As a result with all votes counted, Steven Lord was awarded his second overall Pennant Player of the Year Award with Chris Neale runner up for the 2025/26 season.

Social Bowls continues each Monday from 12 midday.

The club facilities are regularly utilised by outside groups, including families and businesses, for social activities and barefoot bowls.

Contact the club for further information via email warbbowls@outlook.com or come along and visit the club and speak to a member.

volunteers worked hard to put on the

Horse Talk

By Anita Prowse

A huge weekend out at Shirley Heights with the annual Seville PC’s Horse trials. It is a massive undertaking running an event of this size so the running committee and volunteers all need a huge pat on the back and hopefully are getting a well earned rest. Winners in the Horse Trials were:

PC

Grade 1 - Emily Walker on Tempting Fate from Kangaroo Ground PC.

Grade 2 - Lotti Hogeland on Burnbank Bentley from Seville PC.

Grade 3 - Tiyana Trang on Mr Mojo from Pakenham PC.

Grade 4 - Sofie Wijsman on Coolamert Courage from Seville PC.

Grade 5 - Lilly Heal on Ashton Park Taylor Made from Yarra Glen PC.

Grade 6 - Esmeralda Matta on Avondale Spilt Milk from Seville PC.

Open 1.10cms - Sophie Fox on Kandoo.

Open Grade 1 - Mia Harriss on Another Coldie.

Grade 2 - Sophie fox on CF Christimo. Grade 3 - Tara Macdonald on Crestfields Freedom.

Grade 4 - Jessica Hackel on River Valley Singing The Blues.

Grade 5 - Kirstie Law on Mystic Shadows Little Miss Gypsy.

Open 6 - Grace Barnett on Staughton Vale Symphony.

Two wins on Tuesday

By Ian Milgate

Tuesday’s First Side played at home against Ferntree Gully who were third on the ladder.

The outcome would make no difference to us as we were not going to make it into the finals, but we believed we could still beat FTG at home.

By the tenth end we were in front by eight shots, 30/22, but we needed to keep the pressure on if we were to win.

One rink was doing really well while the other two were dropping off, but in the end, we came home winning by two shots, 61/59. Well, done everyone against a good side. The scores were;

• Anne Knibbs, Bob Brown, Rita Featherstone, Gary Broussard 30/10 Colin Jarvis, Rob Broadhurst, Mick Featherstone, Steve Bulled 18/21 Gerda Otto, Mike Adams, Wally Mays, Robyn Turville 13/28.

Tuesday’s Second Side played Donvale at home, and to ensure a spot in the finals they needed to win.

Unfortunately, Donvale had to play one player short, which for us was a huge advantage.

All rinks got off to a great start with one rink galloping away.

By the half time tea break Healesville were well in control.

After the break Donvale had lost its mojo and Healesville went on to win by 51 shots, 81/30. With one week to go Healesville have to win to have a chance in the finals. Well, done everyone.

and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. (Supplied)

The scores were;

• Russell Smith, Jill Cookney, Leonie Fitzpatrick, John Fitzpatrick 36/5, Tino Macari, Glenda Graham, Damian Key, Len Cosson 22/13

• Judy Veermann. John Allen, Mark Cookney, Bernard Godde 23/12.

Saturday’s First Side played at home against Ferntree Gully who were sitting in fourth place and we were in fifth.

A few things had to happen for us to get into the finals next week and one of them was winning so we had to be on our game.

We also had the added pressure of several Side One players being out of the team due to illness

Cloudy skies, cloudy bowls

By Rodney Bates

Cloudy skies but no rain greeted teams for this week’s midweek pennant.

At home, an age-old rivalry was reignited with our great friends and fierce competitors, Warburton, coming to play in our Division Two game.

Warby are sitting comfortably in second place, with Yarra Glen needing a win to clear away from relegation, and still a slight chance of making finals.

Warburtonhadthebetteroftheendsinthelead up to the lunch break, and held a five-shot lead.

A spirited fightback across all rinks, including a run of 7 consecutive ends by Pete Leonard’s rink saw Yarra Glen two shots up with one end to play.

Warburton held one shot, and a couple of up shots by Paul Tirant missed the target.

With the last bowl, Warburton had the chance to draw or win with a perfect shot, and fell short by millimetres, Yarra Glen claiming a one-shot win 58-57 (14 points).

The scores were;

• P. Leonard 18/16; Ash. Skillern 19/21; P. Tirant 21/20.

A two-rink win next week should be enough to secure a finals spot, playing against fourth-placed Croydon

In Division Four, Yarra Glen played away against Eastwood Golf, and it was another tough day for us, going down overall 37-89 (0 points).

The scores were;

• T. Dickson 9/31; C. Boland 15/31; Alan Skillern 13/27.

Unfortunately, with one round to go, the result confirms that we will head back to Division five next season.

Despite a tough day on the greens over the weekend, two of our sides have qualified for finals next week.

Side one played a double header Friday Night/ Saturday fixture, one being a catch-up from a previous round postponed due to state commitments.

On Friday, Bundoora needed a win to secure a home final and top spot.

With the inclusion of two players from their Premier Division side, who finished 2nd last, they scraped home with the win, Yarra Glen down 6676 (2 points).

The scores were;

• B. Simmons 16/23; M. O’Halloran 13/15; M. Creighton 24/17; Beau Simmons 13/21.

On Saturday, we had a chance to secure a top two spot against second placed Croydon.

so it was going to be tough.

All rinks started off well and by the half-time break we were up by seven shots, 38/25.

After the break we kept pressing on even though FTG were getting very close to overpowering us, and with only one end left Ferntree Gully hit the lead by two shots.

It was down to Mick Featherstone’s rink to get us over the line, and to their credit, under pressure, they picked up two shots to draw the match.

A great game by everyone.

The scores were;

• Barry Parker, Bob Brown, Gary Broussard, Mick Featherstone 17/16, Glenda Graham, Rob Broadhurst, Rita Featherstone, Mark Ward 23/10, Gerda Otto, Anne Knibbs, Colin Jarvis, Robyn Turville 19/24

• John Howard, Wally Mays, Steve Bulled, Robert Ayres 9/18.

Saturday’s Second Side played away at Yarra Junction, which has a treacherous green so we were not looking forward to the game as we have lost every time we play there.

We still gave it a red-hot go but sadly went down by 42 shots.

Having said that we have another opportunity of playing finals as we have to play on Sunday against Berwick who are on top of the ladder.

We need to win or Monbulk need to lose to Chirnside Park for us to be playing finals next week. Good Luck Gals and guys.

The scores were;

• Russell Smith, Jill Cookney, Mike Adams, Judy Veermann 17/26 Karl Tok, Jim Viggers, John McMillan, Ken Gallacher 9/41 Tino Macari,

(Supplied)

On their home deck, Croydon proved much too strong, with Yarra Glen going down 58-99 (0 points).

The scores were;

• B. Simmons 17/27; M. O’Halloran 12/26; M. Creighton 10/23; Beau Simmons 19/23.

Next week a home elimination final at home against Diamond Creek.

Division three play away at Heathmont for what was a “dead rubber” Neither side could change ladder position.

With three out of the four rinks being close, Yarra Glen had their chances, eventually going down 62-84 (2 points).

The scores were;

• W. Martin 17/19; A. Skillern 9/28; T. Haartson 19/15; S. Smith 17/22.

After gaining promotion last season, we ended on a high note of staying in the Division, and we will be better for the experience heading into next season.

Division Six played at home against the top side of Yarra Junction.

A win for Yarra Glen would secure a home final, but it was not to be, howevertwo rink wins secured our place in the finals.

The final result a loss 60-77 (four points).

The scores were;

• S. Crossland 11/21; P. Leonard 22/16; T. Dickson 9/23; J. Leather 18/17. Next week, an away elimination final at Cockatoo.

John Allen, Sarah Gallacher, Bernard Godde 17/18.

After Pennant yesterday one of our club members Adrian Beales was going to have his beard shaved, which he had been growing for 12 months.

It was to raise money for the MS Society, a well-respected charity in the prevention and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

Adrian has raised a lot of money for the charity in the past few years and is hoping to continue the trend this year.

Unfortunately, Adrian was rushed to hospital with a medical condition and was unable to complete his task, but when he’s well again, we will look forward to seeing that Ned Kelly beard go. From all our members we wish Adrian all the best and have a speedy recovery.

As it was the end of the Pennant season, we had a BBQ to celebrate the efforts of everyone in the club and the effort that goes into the bowling season.

I would also like to thank Aldi Healesville for supplying the sausages and Wild Grain for supplying the bread, without you our BBQs would not be possible.

And to all our other Sponsors who support us throughout the year, A Big Thank you.

And finally, to all the Club volunteers who work so hard throughout the year, a big thank you and without your generous support we would not have a club.

Lastly, thank you to the Star Mail, Mountain views for putting our articles in your paper each week, I hope people enjoy reading them.

Junction mourns member

By Ian McGregor

Finals time is almost here and this week has seen more excellent results for Yarra Junction Bowling Club.

The Midweek Pennant side registered a 79 to 35 shot home win over a Heathmont side, winning all three rinks.

The resulting 16 points secure third position, and a home final, with one round to play.

This is a particularly pleasing result as after Round Six the Eagles has posted just one win and were languishing at the bottom of the ladder.

The Weekend Pennant sides had an especially busy time with division six visiting friends and rivals Yarra Glen.

Division Eight played a home fixture against Healesville on Saturday and wrapped up the home and away season with an away game against Ringwood on Sunday.

The Division Six side had already secured top spot but were keen to maintain the momentum in the run up to the finals, and in a hard fought game won overall 77 to 60 shots with rinks wins shared.

The 14 points earned bring the season total to 210, topping the magic 200 points again.

On Saturday the Division Eight side won all rinks and were rewarded with an 85 to 43 shot win.

Rivals for top position, Berwick, also had a strong win and the sides remained locked together on points and separated by just a few shots up.

Another hot day on Sunday saw the Eagles engaged in a tough battle on an unfamiliar grass green.

Junction fought hard but eventually lost all rinks and didn’t add to their points total.

Meanwhile Berwick, also playing away from home, had a similar result.

So after fifteen rounds the Eagles and Berwick were locked together on points.

A countback placed Berwick in top position on shots up.

Yarra Junction’s second has earned them a double chance in the finals.

The strong performance on the green was overshadowed by the sad news that club member, treasurer, team mate and friend, John Byrne, lost the brave battle with cancer last week.

John was one of the world’s genuine top blokes and will be greatly missed by everyone at Yarra Junction Bowling Club.

Sincere condolences go to Elly and family.

Yarra Junction Bowling Club’s penultimate barefoot bowls evening for the season attracted another good crowd who enjoyed delicious food from the Rustic food truck menu, snags from Reg’s kitchen BBQ, drinks from the bar and of course lots of fun on the bowling green on a beautiful summers evening.

The final barefoot bowls, on Friday evening promises to be a ripper with live music from from “The Birb” adding to the the atmosphere. All rinks are now booked but visitors are welcome to enjoy the evening at the happy club.

Dwyer, Hubbard hit century

By Kieran Cantwell

Women’s

XI

A much-depleted Women’s side took on Montrose away this week, and it was nice to see some new and young faces debuting for us.

Batting first Ella Diggins had her first go at opening the batting and managed a couple of runs there.

Skipper Caitlyn Parker knew she had to take on the bowling and belted 83 off 68 in a commanding performance; she leads the comp batting with 501 runs for the season.

It was a fantastic learning experience for 13-year-old Abi Diggins who batted with Caitlyn in a partnership of 62 runs, with Abi scoring 10 herself.

We posted 139 runs, and Montrose took to our depleted attack when it was their turn to bat.

The ball was thrown around with ten bowlers used and despite not taking any wickets it was a great experience for all the debutants.

First XI

Taking on Eastfield we’d finished in a strong position at 0-57 last week, with one eye on finals.

It started poorly with Michael Nicholls dismissed early.

We lost two more cheaply and were 3-75.

Adam Dunn and Tim Diggins rallied and put on a partnership of 47 and looked to be steering the ship, however we then lost the two of them in succession.

Chris Reynolds put on an aggressive fightback scoring 42 not out off 41 balls, but eventually ran out of partners as we fell short by 38 runs in a game we should have won.

It leaves next round as a simple equation; win and we play finals.

Second XI

In a commanding position from last week at 0-60 chasing Eastfield’s 197 we started just as positive, scoring at a rapid rate despite losing two early wickets.

With Mick Dwyer at the crease it was never in doubt, and soon he was joined by Dean Sharman who with a blistering 80 off 73 balls saw us over the line well before the tea break.

With a potential outright option open, and our sights set on top spot, we kept batting on.

With the middle order trying to hit everything around him, Mick kept soldiering on to his first century of the year, and a well-deserved one.

115 not out was a massive return as he carried his bat for the innings.

At the declaration we were ahead by 139 with 28 overs to bowl.

For the opposition they had one job only, and they did it well.

Despite throwing the ball around we only managed one wicket to Tayte Hubbard in the first 18 overs and called it off then, securing eight

points, and second spot on the ladder for finals. Third XI

In the split innings format, we headed into this second week against Warranwood four wickets down with a 50-run lead.

Ben Hubbard continued his innings on 70 not out and with excellent support from Jacob Frankovic with 38 runs, he managed to bring up the ton in style, going on to post a magnificent 115.

The tail batted well around Stuart Parker who whacked his way to 56 not out off 53 balls to post 337 and setting Warranwood over 200 to chase.

As Warranwood resumed their innings, Jacob Frankovic struck early with a catch behind to Bilal Ahmad.

Marty White chipped in with a wicket and despite some rapid run scoring the total seemed too much.

Dan Madsen made it a sure thing with three very handy wickets towards the end of the innings, and Warranwood fell 43 runs short.

This leaves the finals race still alive for the Third XI.

Fourth XI

Our Fourth XI have remained positive all season, despite still chasing that elusive first victory. The joy of fathers and sons playing with each other, and a great platform for the juniors to come up through have all been highlights this season. This gamewasagainstBayswaterPark,andPaulBroussard led from the front again, scoring another 50, and getting to enjoy some time in the middle with son Alex, who scored 17 in a partnership of 57 as we posted 124. The openers for Bayswater Park were probably a bit strong for L grade as they took to our bowlers, and we couldn’t snare a wicket as they passed our score in 14.2 overs. Amongst this carnage maiden overs to Joel Pratt and Alexander Mason were something to hang a hat on.

U14

A quirk in the fixture sees our U14s kids taking on Warrandyte for the second time in a few weeks, yet it won’t be the last before finals.

Warrandyte batted first and really took on the bowling, scoring freely.

Oscar Broussard and Daniel Philpot being the sole wicket takers plus a run out to Levi Smit, as Warrandyte posted 3-179 off their 25 overs.

Shaw sures up game after taking 5/14

By Chris Handasyde

Stage One Girls – Healesville 107 defeated East Ringwood 84.

Olivia English 25*, Sophie Anastasio 14*, Evie Matthews 12*, Elodie Handasyde 2/11.

U12-Three Healesville 104 defeated by Kilsyth 9/139.

Rory Jackson-Ward 3/5,, Otis Rowland 2/9.

U12-Eight Healesville 2/46 defeated by Wandin 3/48.

Archie Nolan 8*, Levi Campbell 6*, Taylor Harman 1/7, Finnegan Hawker 1/24.

U14-Three: Healesville 214 defeated Mooroolbark 110.

Defending 214 after a solid batting effort the defence got off to a strong start when Sam Hyndman got the initial breakthrough, thanks partly to a great diving catch from Summer Caldicott.

Tully Ellis would get the big wicket of the Mooroolbark captain, and when Alex Simmons got the other big wicket straight after the tea break we were right on top.

Daniel Shaw bowled incredibly to pick up 5 wickets in his comeback game after a long stint out with injury as the team continues its march to finals.

U14-Seven: Healesville 5/110 defeated Mon-

trose 107.

Healesville Under 14s hosted Montrose this weekend in a crucial match to secure a position in the top four.

After winning the toss, the Healesville team took to the field and successfully bowled out Montrose for a total of 107 runs.

Josh Brayden delivered an exceptional performance, taking two wickets in a flawless spell. Healesville then chased down the target with five overs to spare, with Gus Morcombe being the top scorer, finishing with an impressive 26 not out.

U16-Two: Healesville 198 defeated by Templeton 7/295.

Darcy English 98*, Sam Keath 27, Henry Harding 23, Raff Morcombe 19, Pat Leonard 1/31, Cooper Bell 2/25

First XI: Healesville 115 & 1/44 defeated by Warrandyte 9/337

Chasing338wasalwaysgoingtobeahardask, especially against the top team and it showed after a few wickets relatively early Healesville packed up ending up losing by around 200 runs in a pretty dismal effort as we look on to next week against Yarra Junction.

Tom Handasyde 38, Ash Hamer 20, Dan Ebbels 20, Josh Handasyde 5/105.

Second XI: Healesville 5/245 defeated Lilydale 241.

After bowling Lilydale out last week for 241 we were confident we could chase the runs down within our 80 overs.

Max Wallace (47) go us off to a good start getting us though 29 overs with a score of 2/99.

Continuing on from the great starting platform Ben Wallace (60) batted patiently with Liam English (67*) to help pass Lilydale’s score five wickets down with 13 overs to spare.

Liam English 63* and 2/34, Ben Wallace 60, Max Wallace 47, Plugga Davern 36 & 4/47, Sam Keath 2/26.

Third XI: Healesville 129 defeated by Chirnside Park 8/309.

Ben Mackey 54, Aeden Senti 25, Raff Morcombe 2/30, Owen Morcombe 2/29.

Fourth XI: Healesville 7/134 defeated by Heatherdale 4/137.

Danny Hyndman 50*, Dam Hyndman 28, Endo Gotch 1/15, , Taylor Caldicott 2/7, Nate Caldicott 2/12).

Fifth XI: Healesville 9/157 defeated by East Ringwood 9/162.

Sam Anderson 50*, Emily Mckie 27, Tully Ellis 20 & 2/29, Tyson Henry 2/13, Zach Coleman 2/22.

Jacob Ahmad set the tone early with 39 retired off his 25 balls, but unfortunately not many could match it.

20 to Mason McNeill and 17 to Oscar were notable, but we fell short, finishing with 5-139, and we get a lot of learning out of the game heading towards finals, where we may meet them again. U12 and MiniBash

The U12s team were taking on Coldstream at home on Friday night.

Bowling first; Zac, Daniel, Oscar and Lachlan took wickets as Coldstream posted 150.

Despite not quite making the score with 74, the batting highlight was brother and sister duo Maxwell and Abi batting well in partnership, both retiring with good scores.

In the MiniBash it was great to see them taking on the challenge of a real cricket ball in preparation for future cricket.

Jaspa was brilliant with the ball taking two wickets, and Toby loved the new ball also taking two and getting a run out.

Special mention to the excellent fielding in the MiniBash thanks to a specialised training regime.