SURBHI Snowball has outlined her vision for the Flinders electorate and the policies that an Anthony Albanese-led Labor government would deliver. Snowball’s campaign launch was made on Sunday 1 May at Mount Martha Community House, the venue where Bob Chynoweth, the last Labor MP for Flinders celebrated his historic win in 1983. Flinders has been held for the Liberals for all but one of the past the past 50 years, with retiring MP Greg Hunt succeeding fellow Liberal Peter Reith in 2001. “From the many meet and greets, the door knocks and forums, I appreciate the issues which are foremost…
Author: Keith Platt
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has set up an “election pledge tracker” to monitor pledges made by the major political parties as they approach the Saturday 21 May election. The shire’s website mentions only the Liberal and Labor parties and as of last weekend was showing the Liberals as having pledged $16.75 million and Labor with nothing. Two weeks ago, the mayor Cr Anthony Marsh and deputy mayor Lisa Dixon posed for photographs alongside Liberal candidates Zoe McKenzie (Flinders) and Sharn Coombes (Dunkley) when they announced more money for the Peninsula Trail, a shire project. Marg D’Arcy, campaign manager for Labor’s Flinders…
THEATRE entered the Flinders electorate campaign last Tuesday with members of the Western Port Sybil Disobedients group delivering “reading material” to candidates of the two major parties. Labor’s Surbhi Snowball met the Sybils troupe at Mornington for the handover, but Liberal Zoe McKenzie was not available. Organiser Talei Kenyon said she had “popped” in to McKenzie’s Rosebud campaign office four days earlier and been told while the candidate “may not be available” on 3 May, but the delivery could be dropped off at the office between 10am and 4pm. The office was closed when the Sybils arrived at 1pm but…
POSSIBLY in the hope of converting Cash into votes, Liberal federal election candidates Zoe McKenzie (Flinders) and Sharn Coombes (Dunkley) were last month photographed in shops with the Attorney General Senator Michaelia Cash. Faced with the highest cost-of-living inflation for two decades and stagnant wages growth, the candidates praised small business and the positive effects of the federal government’s JobKeeper program. For McKenzie, on Facebook, her time with Cash on Thursday 21 April was “a day full of terrific stories of optimism, positivity, small and family businesses into which local families have thrown their lives to create places we all…
ALL 10 candidates for the seat of Flinders in this month’s federal election have been invited to attend and speak at a “town hall meeting” at Mount Martha. The meeting is being organised by the non-political community group Peninsula Voice and radio station 3RPP FM. The meeting will be live streamed on the websites of both organisations. Peninsula Voice chairperson Peter Orton said little was known about some of the 10 candidates and the seat had been held by retiring Liberal MP Greg Hunt for more than 20 years. “This is a problem because we need to know what they…
SOME of the many signs dotting the Mornington Peninsula urging a vote for Liberal Party candidate Zoe McKenzie are attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. Vandals have daubed signs with swear words and drawn black crosses across Ms McKenzie’s eyes, while Mornington Peninsula Shire has ordered others to be removed for violating local laws. The vandalism also led to opposing candidates to agree on at least one issue: signs should be shown unhindered. McKenzie posted a message on her Facebook page saying she was not surprised at the vandalism: “Women in politics cop vile abuse all too often, especially…
FOUR Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors attended a $200 a head tour and hospitality event at the Continental Hotel, Sorrento 17 days before voting to reduce the rent on the hotel’s use of public land for outdoor dining. Billed as a “tour of the Hotel Continental with canapes and drinks”, the Saturday 19 March event was attended by the mayor, Cr Anthony Marsh and Crs Lisa Dixon, Debra Mar and Susan Bissinger. A check of the shire’s register of “gifts presented to a councillor” last week, showed Mar as the only councillor to have listed the event. The shire’s advocacy, communication…
PEACE talks are being held between the campaign teams of the two independent candidates standing for Flinders in next month’s federal election. The two candidates – Despi O’Connor and Sarah Russell – have been at odds ever since O’Connor decided to seek election on her own terms after failing to get the backing of the Voices for Mornington Peninsula (VMP) group. O’Connor was one of three shortlisted candidates for endorsement by the VMP but announced she would stand as an independent just days before the VMP publicly revealed its candidate. The move split the vote for independents in Flinders which…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Anthony Marsh sent an email on 10 March saying his appointment to the Bass Park Trust was “done and dusted”. “I said I’d give it a year, and I’m happy to report that the Premier and Governor have signed off my appointment to the Bass Park Trust with a few months spare,” the triumphant mayor stated. Councillors on 1 June 2021 voted 6:5 to replace Cr David Gill with Cr Marsh on the trust. His term is set to end on 30 June. The governor’s appointment is dated 1 March 2022. “We officially have a…
RYE, Mount Martha and Rosebud have been listed as the top three Melbourne towns or suburbs for rising house prices in the March quarter by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. Rye led the house price growth with a 48 per cent annual increase, bringing the median cost of a homes there to $1.195 million. Mount Martha followed with a 34 per cent annual increase, taking its median house price to $1.87m, while its near neighbour Rosebud grew 32 per cent to $851,121. Units in inner-city suburbs such as Docklands ($555,000) and Melbourne CBD ($580,000) are in the top 20…
THE painters were keen to get a job and the cost, including paint, was agreed. “Can you start Monday?” the house owner asked. “Sure, although if it’s a northerly we might be here in the afternoon, or Tuesday.” The house owner was pleased with the price and the can-do attitude but baffled by the reference to the wind – it was an inside job. New to the Mornington Peninsula she later discovered the painters were serious – about surf. Surrounded on three sides by sea, including unpredictable Bass Strait, the peninsula is an ideal base for surfers. The type and…
CR KERRI McCafferty has been cleared by her Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor colleagues to undertake a $3900 councillor group coaching program. The money is within her annual allowance, of which she has so far spent $1540, but required council approval as it was more than $2000. Cr McCafferty, who was absent from the Tuesday 5 April public council meeting, has been cleared to do the course run by Ruth McGowan OAM. Ms McGowan, author of Get Elected (the Australian guide on how to campaign for political office) and Best Practice Guide for in Gender Equity in Local Government, for the…
A “NEGOTIATED” settlement will see the owners of Sorrento’s Continental Hotel save $19,000 over three years to use a public footpath for outdoor dining. The agreement adopted by Mornington Peninsula Shire on Tuesday 5 April comes five months after councillors voted to charge the hotel $133,000 for the first three years of its use of the footpath. But the hotel refused and, after negotiations with shire CEO John Baker last month, has now agreed to pay $114,000 for the same time span. The agreement means the hotel will pay $38,000 rent for each of the first three years of its…
STUDENTS are being encouraged to consider following a career path into the Mornington Peninsula’s $200 million a year wine industry. The industry group Mornington Peninsula Wine is working with members of a learning and employment network on “active vocational pathways” for students from the region’s 29 schools to work in the peninsula’s wine industry. The move is designed to help overcome labour shortages in the wine industry. Partnering with the Frankston and peninsula local learning and employment network (FMPLLEN), schools and students can take Vocational Education and Training Certificate (VET) courses in horticulture, viticulture or winemaking. The courses include “hands-on”…
THE Voices of Mornington Peninsula-backed independent candidate Dr Sarah Russell is putting “hope” at the centre of her campaign to win Flinders at the federal election. Dr Russell will have Hope Trucks, “fuelled by transparency and accountability” following her on the campaign trail. “My hope is for action on climate, aged care, mental health and housing affordability, which is what people on the Mornington Peninsula have told me they are concerned about,” Dr Russell said. “I also hope that Independents hold the balance of power in our next government, because they are critical to improving our democracy. “Political processes have…
ALTHOUGH billed as destined to be one of “the great walking and cycling trails of the world”, the Peninsula Trail remains years and at least $35 million away from of being completed. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council says work will start in March 2023 and end in April 2024 on the Somerville-Baxter section, but no date has been set to complete other “missing links”. About half of the trail is in place. Meanwhile, the peninsula’s “cluster” of eight Rotary clubs has decided to get involved as part of their Australian Centenary Project. Each club will be involved by installing benches, picnic…
AN investigation is under way into a fire aboard the hydrogen gas ship Suiso Frontier less than one day after arriving at Hastings. A flame was spotted from the exhaust of a gas combustion unit on the ship’s deck after the ship had been loaded with a cargo of liquefied hydrogen. Hastings is an essential part of the $500 million brown coal-to-hydrogen project being conducted by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and partly underwritten with $50m each from the state and federal governments. The Suiso Frontier was purpose built for the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot project and its delivery of…
PROPERTY owners and farmers on the Mornington Peninsula are being asked to delay burning off until after the grape harvest. The CFA lifted fire restrictions on 28 March, but it could be late April or May before all grapes have been picked. Mornington Peninsula Wine CEO, Olivia Barrie said grapes were susceptible to “smoke taint” which could affect their quality and flavour. “For the next few weeks, vineyard nets will be coming off vineyards, grapes harvested, and our wineries will be processing this year’s vintage of wines,” she said. “We know there have been many fallen trees from storms in…
Two test positive RAPID antigen tests were provided to Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors and executives last week after they attended a meeting alongside a councillor who later tested positive to COVID-19. Shire CEO John Baker alerted councillors and officers to the case in an email on Wednesday 30 March, the day after the meeting at the shire’s Rosebud offices. Within days one of the executive officers also tested positive to COVID. “The current advice is that we do not need to isolate unless we have symptoms or we test positive via a RAT,” Mr Baker said in an email to…
BIRD observers worried about a hooded plover seen limping at Flinders ocean beach called for help from Birdlife Australia’s Dr Kasun Ekanayake, who was able to catch the bird. The plover, which had been limping for two to three weeks, was then taken to the Main Ridge vet Dr Kristin Wolfe who untangled a length of fishing line embedded in the bird’s foot. The foot needed to have one toe amputated which had become gangrenous. After overnighting at a house in Flinders, Dr Ekanayake returned the next morning (Thursday 10 March) and, with Friends of the Hooded Plover group member…
THE voices of Wales will be again heard in Mornington at the end of this month. The Australian Welsh Male Choir will return after nearly two years with its Singing in the Pub night at Kirks Hotel at 8pm on 30 March. Although the COVID stopped the choir from appearing in public or singing at its Frankston base, members stayed in tune by rehearsing remotely via Zoom. Added to their choir’s repertoire for the pub night is You’ll Never Walk Alone, released on record by Gerry and the Pacemakers, sung by Liverpool Football Club supporters and, more recently, heard in…
AN alliance of community groups wants support to plant a carbon forest on the Parkdale Estate land in Dromana. This proposal would see community members being given the opportunity to invest in their own carbon draw-down project while allowing public access onto the site for compatible activities. The proposal utilises a platform that enables this investment and registers the carbon credits. It also pays for planting the forest. The project would be a leading example in Australia and, while modest in scale, would be a highly visible model for others to follow. “Strategic partners who can add value to the…
WORK is already underway to make part of the footpath a 172-seat outside dining area for Sorrento’s Continental Hotel despite there being no agreement on leasing costs. Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors last week authorised CEO John Baker to reopen negotiations with the hotel despite their decision in December to $38,000 for the first year, $45,000 in the second and $50,000 in the third year. The hotel, through its lawyers, has rejected the lease conditions and “sought exclusive possession of the licence area”. Cr David Gill was the only councillor against the Mr Baker going back to the hotel to try…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has restated its preference for the peninsula to be “peri-regional”, a classification it says would protect the green wedge and unlock “the significant economic potential of our region”. The peninsula’s green wedge is one of 12 that effectively form a ring around Melbourne outside the urban growth boundaries. Regional areas have rural conservation zones, with fewer planning and use protections. The shire’s statement on Friday follows claims by Liberal and Labor politicians that only their party’s views on its planning status are best for the peninsula, with the green wedge now a political battleground. At the…
MANY Mornington Peninsula towns are faced with a future that will require coping with the impact of rising sea levels, eroding beaches and crumbling cliffs. Surrounded by sea on three sides, the peninsula’s 190-kilometre coast varies from steep cliffs and sandy surf beaches facing Bass Strain to low lying mangrove swamps in northern reaches of Western Port to the beaches of Port Phillip from Portsea to Mount Eliza. Cliffs are eroding at Mount Martha and Mount Eliza and rock walls are the last line of defence from the sea at Safety Beach and Rosebud. Sand bags have become the norm…
THE sitting MP for Nepean, Labor’s Chris Brayne, says his Liberal opponent Sam Groth “has a very shallow understanding of this community [if he] believes that he should represent [the community] just because he has a holiday house on the peninsula”. “I grew up on the peninsula, I went to kindergarten, primary school and high school here, my first casual job was here and, in an area like [this] being a local matters,” Mr Brayne said. In October 2020, Mr Groth featured in the real estate reports when his family home in Alphington went on the market and, in July…
THE Victorian division of the Liberal Party paid “all costs” associated with the attendance of former British prime minister Theresa May at a fundraising lunch at Moonah Links, Fingal, according to the party’s Hastings candidate Briony Hutton. Ms Hutton said Ms May (Lady May) was “interested in coming to the Mornington Peninsula where we have endorsed female Liberal candidates” as part of an event-intensive, multi-state five-day visit to Australia. The Australian Electoral Commission is investigating questions raised by Labor Senator Don Farrell as to whether money raised at events featuring Ms May are subject to a ban on foreign donations…
ENVIRONMENTALISTS have reacted angrily to news that an artificial reef will this month be submerged at the southern end of Port Phillip near Point Nepean. Port Phillip Conservation Council secretary Jenny Warfe wants installation of the reef delayed “so that scientific studies and other rationale can be made publicly available”. Ms Warfe said her group – a “federation” of 14 conservation groups and their “many hundreds of individual members” – could “find no evidence” of an environmental effects study being made into the artificial reef plan. She said the reef was planned to be placed near the sanctuary for the…
By Keith Platt and Liz Bell ACCUSATIONS of “laziness” and “inaction” over the failure to begin work on two major Mornington Peninsula road projects have sparked an extraordinary war of words between federal Liberal member for Flinders Greg Hunt and state Labor member for Nepean Chris Brayne. On Wednesday, Mr Hunt labelled Mr Brayne “the laziest MP in Australia”, who he says refuses “to spend federal funds to save lives on our local roads” (Letters Page 38). “The federal government has had $75 million of funding on the table for three years for the Jetty Road intersection with the Mornington…
A SCHEDULED five-day hearing at the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal may help clear the air over the ongoing operations of the Tyabb airfield. The hearing began on Monday (28 February) and follows an application by Peninsula Aero Club (PAC) and Westernport Airfield seeking declarations from VCAT clarifying their rights. In a statement last July, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council said, “it has been agreed that PAC’s VCAT application for a declaration will provide clarity about the ongoing operation of the airport, thereby providing certainty for the airport operators, businesses and the community” (“Airfield, shire in permit formation” The News 3/8/21). It…