Volunteer deer hunters ‘professional operaters’
The opening line of your article “Non-professional deer hunters have been recruited by Parks Victoria to shoot deer at Devilbend Natural Features Reserve, near Moorooduc” is, in our view, leading, alarmist and not a true reflection of the level of training, expertise and oversight applied to SSAA Victoria’s Conservation and Pest Management (CPM) volunteers on these programs (“Hunters recruited for Devilbend cull” The News 20/6/23).
While our CPM volunteers are not “professional”, paid, we are concerned that using the term “non-professional” will likely lead readers to conclude that CPM volunteers are unprofessional. Accepting that it is not what was written, SSAA Victoria rejects the implication. Our CPM volunteers operate at a professional standard. They just don’t get paid.
SSAA Victoria runs an accreditation course for members selected to participate in the Conservation and Pest Management Program. The CPM program operates under a memorandum [of] understanding with Parks Victoria to assist with managing pest and problem animals on Crown land.
The course lasts one full day (eight hours) with theoretical and practical components. Throughout the day each candidate will be assessed and based on meeting key competencies, they will be accredited as a CPM volunteer. Volunteers must undergo re-accreditation every three years.
Each accredited CPM volunteer receives a procedure manual and accreditation card after completing the course as proof of their accreditation. The manual outlines the expectations of volunteers while engaged in a Parks Victoria-approved program. This accreditation card is carried when volunteering as a CPM operator on any SSAA Victoria/Parks Victoria-approved pest control program.
A dedicated CPM coordinator in the state office oversees all CPM operations.
Barry Howlett, communications manager Sporting Shooters Association Australia (Victoria)
Years of dysfunction
I read with interest that the Mornington Peninsula Shire once again returned an extremely disappointing score in the Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey (“Shire again misses satisfaction survey” The News 20/6/23).
It is pleasing to see that the community is beginning to make known their views on its observation of the shire’s performance.
The current predicament that the shire finds itself in is the result of years of dysfunction and the loss of focus on the core business of which municipalities are responsible for, the old fashioned three Rs. The responsibilities for local government authorities have advanced significantly over recent decades, undoubtedly placing pressure on the way in which services are delivered, however the basic requirements play a major part of service delivery.
Councillors for many years focused on undermining executive and staff members, along with each other, often blurring the role of council and those responsible for the administration of the organisation. Such behaviour has resulted in the loss of many highly skilled and passionate team members.
It appears that championing causes that often fall outside the responsibility of local government, while not understanding what the community requires/demands have finally exposed the wrong in such follies .
I defy any current councillor/executive team member to, without using the standard excuses, to defend the current presentation of the municipality, a failing road network, poorly presented public open space, neglected commercial precincts (dead trees littering Sorrento).
If the shire wishes to advance its standing in the community, I suggest it returns back to basic principles and move away from focusing on global issues and personal agendas and opening its eyes to how the peninsula is presented.
As a wise old man once told me, if it looks bad it is bad. Hopefully, it can only get better.
Greg Powell, Rye
Beach raking necessary
Photos taken in a small area near Rosebud pier show plastic bottles, dog poo, dead animals, string and plastic.
This will be washed back into the bay at high tide as the beach has not been cleaned.
I picked up a syringe last week and another McCrae resident also picked up a syringe on the beach last week.
If the beach is not raked, the shallow water where children play will be dirty with the seaweed and debris and the risk of injuries will increase, due to an inability to see what’s in the water, such as stingrays (“Mechanical beach raking ‘must end’” The News 13/6/23).
Mechanical beach raking has significant benefits to both the bay ecosystem and the human population that enjoys this beach.
Mechanical beach raking must not end. It will be a disaster when a child contacts hep C or aids from a syringe. The string, bottles and rubbish end up washed back into the bay.
The beach will be an unpleasant dirty mess.
Local residents are strongly opposed to ending the beach cleaning.
Susan Grimshaw, Rosebud
Legal advice needed
It appears the mechanical beach raking machine [used under contract by Mornington Peninsula Shire] cannot be mentioned on “operational grounds”, as defined by CEO John Baker (“Mechanical beach raking ‘must end’” The News 13/6/23).
Why do councillors continue to put up with this? Basically, they get all their legal instructions from the CEO and his minions. Executive advisor to and corporate counsel, Amanda Sapolu, is appointed by the CEO.
Councillors just stare in fright like kangaroos in the headlights of a cement truck at midnight on a moonless Halloween when they fear being in violation of the Local Government Act. They have no independent legal support giving them frank and fearless advice.
The councillors should pass a resolution that they receive legal advice of their choosing from someone reporting to them.
Why, one might ask, do the councillors continue to renew the contract of the CEO?
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
Coastal challenge
Local memories are always interesting (“Tides of time” Letters 20/6/23). Some argue that because tides have been higher, climate change is nothing to worry about and sea levels are not rising. Some use the deepening of the channel through the [Port Phillip] Heads and beach engineering as the sole reasons for coastal erosion. “The sand has always moved” is a common comment.
However, coastal engineers have a rule of thumb, that for every 10mm of sea level rise, we may see flat sandy beaches retreat by up to one metre. By 2030, at current rates, sea levels will have risen another 20-25mm inundating another two to three metres of flat beach. High tides and storm surges amplify the inundation.
The extent of the projected coastal inundation within the Borough of Queenscliff as shown in its 2021 coastal marine management plan is most revealing.
The Port Phillip Bay Coastal Hazard Assessment to be released this month will rightly inform local government strategies around the bay. With 192km of coastline, the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has quite a challenge.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn
Oustanding questions
Thank you [Flinders MP] Zoe McKenzie for providing an educated explanation of the implications of Labor’s Aboriginal Voice, beyond one liners and naive altruistic statements which some rest their argument for a major change to Australia’s founding document, the Australian Constitution (“A risk to executive government” The News 30/5/23).
The referendum requires Australians to vote on a dramatic change to the Constitution without detail? Examples given.
How much will this cost the nation? in addition to the billions already invested each year to assist a small group of Aboriginal descendants?
What additional bureaucracy will be required to support this new branch of government? How will transparency and integrity be maintained?
Will existing Aboriginal organisations such as the NIAA, which presently advises government, be dissolved?
The qualifications of those chosen for the Voice, rather than elected by the Australian people, considering the numerous tenuous and contested claims of Aboriginality?
What will be an individual’s length of service on the Voice? Will positions be voluntary?
It will also be challenging for Australians to see preferential access to and influence over the Australian government by a small group based on their racial profile. How will this be managed?
What will happen if Labor’s Aboriginal Voice does not agree with proposed legislation that may not be in their interests but in the national interest? Will our government be shamed into compliance or a well-worn path to the High Court be established, delaying and impeding an already slow and adversarial process and increasing the cost to Australian taxpayers.
The present government seems determined to railroad an undefined, uncosted and racially prejudicial change to the Australian Constitution. It is being presented as an altruistic cause and cure all, which is extremely questionable, considering that basic questions cannot and will not be answered by the government and proponents.
Michelle Smith, Rosebud
Voice exists already
I have travelled extensively in the outback and been to places such as Weipa, Gove and Port Headland among others, where there are many Aboriginal people gainfully employed in responsible jobs and live in the community without any need for extra support from Centrelink. They already have a voice via the National Indigenous Australian Agency (NIAA) which states as its purpose “… to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a say in thew decisions that affect them … to provide advice to the prime minister and the Minister for Indigenous Australians …”.
I have also travelled the Canning Stock-route in Western Australia twice and been to Halls Creek where one sees the other end of the Aboriginal spectrum at its very worst. There is no chardonnay in these places.
You see Aboriginal people living in nice houses provided by the government with the occupants living in squalor.
What I would like to hear from these learned Yes advocates is how The Voice is going to do something for these people which is not already available from NIAA and the plethora of other similar organisations.
There are already 11 Indigenous members of federal parliament and 47 in state and territory parliaments. How much more Voice does Albanese want ?
Barry Rumpf, McCrae
More than recognition
Teenager to mum: “Can we drop in to Officeworks? I need a four in one pen to do my homework.” Then, on arrival: “I need your credit card as I need some other stuff as well.” How many of you would just hand over the card without asking “what other stuff? But that’s exactly what the Yes proponents are asking us to do.
You would be hard pressed to find a single Australian who doesn’t support recognition in the Constitution, but that’s not all that’s being proposed.
What I want to hear is how this body will differ from the 11 politicians, different Aboriginal bodies and corporations, a separate Aboriginal affairs minister and various other bodies?
It’s not the left wing do-gooders I want to hear from, but the likes of Dr Sarah Russell and others that, like I have, have seen first-hand the damage caused by alcohol abuse in remote communities.
Think on this. For the first time, in the 2004/05 financial year, the average age of a girl first reporting with a sexually transmitted disease in the Broome hospital remote community program area dropped below 10. That’s not the youngest. That’s the average. That’s what we have to fix, not Australia Day.
Michael G Free, Mount Martha
Nothing to lose
It is a disgrace that the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament has become politicised when it is an issue that should unite all Australians.
Australia is the only first world nation with a colonial history that doesn’t recognise its first people in its constitution.
The forthcoming referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is our nation’s opportunity to rectify this.
I encourage all of us on the Mornington Peninsula to accept the generous invitation to walk with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
As Kerry O’Brien said at the recent Sorrento Writers’ Festival: “Our country has everything to gain by voting Yes in the referendum and nothing to lose.”
Sarah Russell, Mount Martha
Refugees inspire
Congratulations must go to the inclusion team at Mornington Peninsula Shire for its excellent event to celebrate Refugee Week (“The refugee experience” The News 13/6/23).
Two young Hazara men spoke of their childhood in Afghanistan and their journey to Australia.
Both arrived here with no English. They now have a magnificent command of the English language and have completed university degrees while working two jobs to help support their families.
Their journey and resilience was an inspiration to all who had the privilege to hear them speak.
Marilyn Hoban, Mornington
Shire congratulated
I was so impressed by two excellent speakers from the Centre for Multicultural Youth. Shadab Safa and Sina Zahedi fled Afghanistan because of religious persecution, and both came to Australia as children with their families seeking safety and a secure life (“The refugee experience” The News 13/6/23).
At the event at Mornington Library, they shared their experiences as refugees and how they continue to support their families and are contributing members of their community, pursuing further education and work opportunities to achieve their hopes and dreams.
The life of a refugee escaping from a war torn country and coming here via a dangerous route into a strange country has so many challenges. These men talked of these difficulties for themselves and their families. Despite the many challenges and setbacks, they were so positive and grateful to have become Australians and to have learnt from their experiences. We are lucky to have them and their families here.
I would like to congratulate Mornington Peninsula Shire Council for hosting this event to recognise Refugee Week (19-23 June) celebrating the theme of “finding freedom”.
Ann Renkin, Shoreham
Charity in the mail
I am deeply concerned about the horrific amount of charity mail choking millions of our letterboxes every day.
The huge monetary cost, amount of human time and photography, printing and distribution, of countless heart-rending case studies of desperate people, animals and the environment would be quite unbelievable.
A group of good, honest citizens, with non-vested interest in their vision of a better and happier world for all (if such rare jewels are still to be found in our increasingly self-interested and corrupt society) could examine the merits and needs of the various charities, with our citizens contributing according to their income and assets.
Charity would not then be regarded as this present piecemeal, polluting and precious money wasting approach, or opportunity for the “wealthy unemployed” to stage glittering affairs for their own enhancement, while benevolent philanthropy could still be welcomed and acknowledged where appropriate.
Helping in this new way to rectify so many sadly appalling needs and steadily improve the care of humanity, animals and the environment, heralded by the Australian community, could be the catalyst for worldwide positive direction and of paramount importance towards the best future of our Earth as a whole.
Meredith Neumann, Frankston
