Business Times November 2014 by Keith Platt

business & Leisure: Frankston | Mornington Peninsula | Dandenong

November 2014 | $4.95 (GST inc.)

being the boss and mum, too VANESSA MIRANDA DESCRIBES HER LIFE AS A JUGGLER

election cities line up to with wish lists as pollies promise the world

leadership

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how stress can help as well as hinder

who/what/where

www.businesstimes.net.au

ISSUE 51 / NOVEMBER 2014

FRANKSTON / MORNINGTON PENINSULA / DANDENONG

TONY MURRELL KEITH PLATT MARG HARRISON DAVID HILET MELANIE LARKE SIMON BROWN Design MARLON PLATT Finance ANITA HILET

Publisher / Director Editorial Director Sales Director Managing Director Material production / Prepress

Columns

features

Networking: Ivan Misner Social media: Jessica Humphreys Business training: Bruce Doyle Health: Mike Ellis Markets: Richard Campbell Managing: Hamish Petrie

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ROTARY ART SHOW: Businesses partner Rotary as art sales help finance national and international projects. STATE ELECTION:

Councils line up with their wish lists as political parties go into election overdrive.

Email: General: inquiries@businesstimes.net.au Editorial: news@businesstimes.net.au Advertising: sales@businesstimes.net.au Artwork: production@businesstimes.net.au

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RICHARD CAMPBELL SHINES A LIGHT ON THE MEDIBANK FLOAT: P19 busiNess

& leisure:

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DISCLAIMER: Information in BusinessTimes contains general advice only. No article or column has been prepared taking into account any individual reader’s financial situation, investment objectives or particular needs. Readers should personally consult professionals for advice on any matter, including investment, health and the law. While all care is taken, BusinessTimes accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions in the published material. Views expressed are not necessarily those of BusinessTimes Pty Ltd. All content is copyright.

COVER: Juggling her roles as a boss and a mother keeps accountacy practice owner Vanessa Miranda well and truly on her toes. PAGE 12 Cover photo: Keith Platt

(GST inc.)

vaNessa miraNda her liFe describ es as a JuGGle r

election

cities liNe as pollies up to with wish lists promise the world

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2014 | $4.95

being boss the d mum,an too

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rotary project

Businesses partner art show and funding of surgical teams to perform reconstructive facial surgery in Pacific Rim countries. The exhibition receives a commission from artwork sales and gains revenue from entry fees and a major raffle. “Business sponsorships help defray costs which is pivotal to generating a profit and making the above projects possible,” art exhibition convenor David Benson said. Business sponsors include Mornington Peninsula News Group, Watson’s PL, AMCLA, Progress Signs. Bunnings Warehouse, Galaxy Press, Big Four Holiday Parks, Grand Hotel and Farrell’s Bookshop. New business partners are welcome by 30 November: email art@morningtonartshow.com.au RIGHT: Bevan Main, whose research into Parkinson’s disease is paid for by Mornington Rotary, recently won Melbourne University’s 3 Minute Thesis competition and the Royal Society of Victoria’s young researcher prize.

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Business support for the annual Mornington Rotary Art Exhibition contributes to the sale of artwork on the Mornington Peninsula and funding for community projects. In return, business names appear on printed material and billboards while year-long exposure on the exhibition website provides links to individual business websites (www.morningtonartshow.com. au/gallery/). The 43rd exhibition runs 17-26 January following a showcase opening night on 16 January, when prizes for the best artworks are awarded and paintings go on sale. This ‘black and white’ event will have an orchestral trio, finger food and refreshments. Tickets at www.morningtonartshow.com. au/ or Farrell’s Bookshop, Main St, Mornington. The art exhibition has so far raised more than $865,000 for such Mornington Rotary projects as student scholarships, senior citizen’s welfare and disability support. Rotary health projects are also a major focus, particularly mental health initiatives

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Chisholm redevelopment A $45 million redevelopment of Chisholm’s Frankston Campus will receive a state government kick start of $21.9 million. The grant will finance employment related training in the region, beginning with the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Trades. The centre will continue the college’s tradition of trade training and introduce training in advanced manufacturing, including mechatronics and fluid power, to supply the demands of a rapidly changing sector. Also planned is the Centre for Health and Community Services with VET and tertiary studies. Higher Education and Skills minister Nick Wakeling said health and other services were growing in the region and the new facilities would provide additional opportunities for residents to acquire the skills to take advantage of growing employment opportunities Frankston mayor Cr Darrel Taylor said Chisholm’s commitment to Frankston would support the city’s growth and skills development, especially in key areas of health and advanced manufacturing.

“A recent survey found that there is growing demand for health professionals and that one in every four jobs in our region is expected to be in the health industry by 2016,” Cr Taylor said. “Frankston’s manufacturing sectors have grown by 27 per cent in gross revenue since 2011 and the industry has been transitioning organically toward non-automotive niche goods.” Cr Taylor said that the state’s investment in Frankston campus and its $12.5 million contribution to the recently opened $49.7 million Peninsula Aquatic and Recreation Centre highlighted the importance of Frankston as a growing regional city. “This first stage of the Frankston

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campus redevelopment will generate substantial construction activity and longer-term benefits for Frankston residents and surrounding communities,” said Chisholm CEO Maria Peters. “Longer term benefits will flow from local students staying in Frankston to study, gaining the skills and qualifications they need for successful employment outcomes and continuing on to work for local industry and businesses. “In turn, local industry and businesses will benefit from a skilled local labour supply, allowing skill shortages to be addressed and encouraging innovation and growth.” Peters said there was an “indisputable link” between quality education and training facilities and positive student experiences. “As manufacturing continues to face pressure in the region, and as the car industry exits, local education and employment options are needed to keep workers skilled, employed and to keep them in the region,” Ms Peters said. “The Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Trades, followed by the Centre for Health and Community will provide the facilities and course offerings needed to meet this economic and social need.”

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Ethical enterprise The one-day Ethical Enterprise Conference is a business networking and educational gathering aimed at small to medium-sized social and ethical enterprises. With the theme, ‘The Attitude of your Business’, the 2014 conference will provide businesses with tools to operate in the growing field of social, ethical or fair-trade business. The conference is on 19 November at Rydges, Bell City, Preston. For booking details and prices go to http:// moralfairground.com.au/ membership

Energy savings

Entrepreneur Emily McWaters started her first business at 22 and now, at 31, is the CEO and founder of The Hamper Emporium, a corporate and personal hamper provider. Emily lists her top five tips for young women wanting to start a business. 1. Don’t place limitations on yourself Buying a cafe at 22 was a massive undertaking, but it’s important to challenge yourself and not make decisions based on what you “think” you should be doing. Don’t be daunted by your goals, no matter how big. 2. Be involved with your business While it’s important to spend time working on the business, it’s still important to work in the business. Being so hands on with The Hamper Emporium in the beginning really helped me understand what my customers wanted, what was working and what wasn’t. Understanding your business from the bottom up counteracts any misconceptions about your knowledge or abilities. 3. Know your customers Corporate clients make up a large portion of the business, so it’s important to identify what they value and find ways to incorporate that into our services and products. I have a dedicated tasting room on site for my corporate clients, enabling them to pick exactly what they want to put in their gift hampers. Never underestimate the value of personalised service and the impact it can have. 4. Explore your options There is no one size fits all business model, so really research your options when it comes to financing your business. Remember that self-funding your business can sometimes be a better option than relying on other forms of investments. I turned down a seven- figure offer from a venture capitalist becauee they wanted a 50% equity stake in both of my companies (The Hamper Emporium and Kingston Foods). Although

Emily McWaters, CEO of The Hamper Emporium.

it was a difficult decision to make, ultimately selffunding the business was the right call. 5. Plan ahead for the tough times The decision to self-fund the business meant planning was crucial to success. You can have a strong business and not have any money in the bank, so during the rough times we focused heavily on our cash flow and involved all of the staff in planning how to overcome that. Because 65% of revenue is generated around Christmas, it takes a lot of forward planning to manage that. McWaters attributes her success to her being driven and hard working “Being passionate about what you do combined with a drive for success has enabled me to establish and sell a series of successful companies. “I am fortunate because I love what I do, which translates into the enthusiasm I have for my work “I’m also mindful that the essence of a successful business is providing consumers with what they want, when they want it… at great value for money.”

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The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) is offering an energy efficiency program for SMEs in the sector. It is called AFGC empower. The program, funded by the Department of Industry, provides energy efficiency related information and advice to businesses with less than 200 employees. As a part of the program, AFGC has developed tools and factsheets that are available on the AFGC Empower website. Free energy assessments, reports with energy saving recommendations and free workshops are also available. For details and to register, visit the AFGC Empower website.

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More than half a million Australians are involved in the early stages of setting up a business and it is a well known fact that most small businesses fail within the first few years. The question remains, what are they doing wrong? With more than 25 years experience in small business accounting, John Corias, senior partner of MAS Accountants, knows the mistakes to avoid when starting a new business. “We have a lot of businesses come to us in the early stages and we are able to spot the red flags,” Corias says. Here are Corias’s ‘mistakes to avoid’ when starting a new business: 1. Leave emotion and egos behind. Most small businesses are built from the ground up, so of course it is natural to grow emotionally attached. However, this is where so many people go wrong. Being emotionally invested only sets you up for failure. It clouds your judgement and stops you from seeing clearly. These emotional investments may include the ego factor. Egos are bad for business. Usually, when high stakes are at play the egos come out. This happens more often than not in business. When clients come in with a business or business idea that they are too personally attached to and are set in their ways, we have to give them the ‘tough love’ speech. 2. Undercapitalisation. When creating a business, funding is the key. Having the right amount of capital can turn the business from non-existent to booming. Too little funding is a common mistake most startups make. Either the business was not able to get the bank loan approved, or it financed the business with short term capital rather than permanent capital or simply made business purchases that exceeded their means. It is important to manage cash flow and the best way to handle this is to make sure you have a financial plan, a business plan and that you are prepared.

3. Underprepared/ Didn’t do homework. Some small businesses jump into the sector without giving it a second thought. With the entrepreneurial boom there are plenty of people coming up with new business ideas. However, many of them do not have a legitimate plan in place to secure the future of the business. Most businesses are making mistakes because they are not thinking things through. There is a lack of research which includes questions such as ‘How much rent am I paying?’ ‘Am I getting ripped off?’ ‘Can I get a better deal?’ I cannot stress how important it is to have a strong foundation and plan before you even think of starting a business. 4. Seeking investors to fast track growth. Most start-ups want to grow quickly and seek investors to solve this problem. However, this doesn’t always work in the business’s favour. Finding an investor for rapid business growth is not ideal and it is much better to grow the business organically. Growing it naturally is more sustainable as you have invested the time to create the right foundations and systems to ensure long term sustainability. When mismanaged, fast growth can cause the company to crash. Also, investors won’t be satisfied until they get their cash back. This means they may push for rapid growth which won’t always match up with your business plan. 5. Jumping into partnerships with friends. Partnerships with friends can seem like a fantastic idea when sharing a drink on a Friday night. Reality tends to be less than amicable. Partnerships are tricky especially those with friends because it not only involves an extra element to the business but an emotional element as well. Before delving into a partnership, it is best to evaluate whether the other party has a different approach to the growth of the business, a different vision or different values. Partnerships work when all parties complement each other’s strengths. Most business partnerships do not survive so make sure to think it through before going ahead.

Training award Chisholm TAFE has been named the state’s top Large Training Provider. It won the accollade at the 60th annual Victorian Training Awards. “Chisholm is a proud public TAFE provider and this award recognises the quality of our training, our clear strategy, the commitment of our people that lead to strong operational results,” said CEO Maria Peters. Chisholm, with campuses in Dandenong and Frankston, is the largest vocational training provider in Victoria’s South East and delivers education training solutions from senior secondary school programs through to customised workplace training projects.

‘Fast’ listing Nick McDonald, owner of Prestige Inhome Care, which has offices in Frankston and Mornington, has been added to the BRW Fast 100 list. Companies are put on the publication’s list because of their growth over the past four years. Prestige, 88th on the list, has 250 staff members and has increased annual turnover to $6 million since being started by McDonald over his father’s medical centre in Sandringham. Head office for the homebased nursing business is in Cheltenham. A new office is planned for Geelong.

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FIVE MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN STARTING A NEW BUSINESS

November 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | BusinessTimes | 7

NETWORKING gallery

1. Mt Eliza Business Networking held its October meeting at Canadian Bay Hotel, Mt Eliza. Pictured are Sarah Hayes (Provoke Design), Rehman Ymer (Creative Artroom) and Nicole Van Krieken (Nicole Van Krieken Building Design) 2. Dandenong Business Network held its October meeting at Keysbrough Golf Club on 9 October. Pictured are Anne Ross (Debt Management), Bill Underwood (senior economic development manager, City of Greater Dandenong). 3. Geoff Brayshore (Dandenong Business Network) and Rob Foran (The Drug Detection Agency). 4. Steve Bastoni (director of the Peninsula Short Film Festival) was a guest on radio 3rpp’s Taking Care of Business show on Friday, 10 October. Steve, who discussed the festival scheduled at Rye on February 8, 2015, is pictured with Marg Harrison, sales director of BusinessTimes. 5. BNI Mt Eliza celebrated its second anniversary at Mornington Golf Club with a visitors’ day on 15 October for more than 120 guests. Pictured are Brett Edwards (director of BNI Melbourne South) with Brad Massoud (Mortgage Choice, Mornington). 6. Georgia Rouette (Grendesign, graphic artists), with Bree Endlish and Vanessa Duarte (Splash of Red, Mornington). 7. Locky McDonald (Minuteman Press) and Clint Hodgart (Infinite Resolutions), with Glenn Hull (Online Solutions for your Business). 8. Peter White (BNI) with Ken Wahlstrom (Woodpecker, of Mornington).

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9. Greater Frankston Business Chamberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s October networking gathering attracted Wolfgang and Gisela Bottcher (Profishonal Protection) and Alan Stewart (The Spirited Group, printers).

10. Jim and Samatha Schaefer (The Schaefer Group), Peter Patterson (Chairman of Frankston Business Chamber. 11. Dan McQuinn (White Cleland, lawyers,) Sabine WillertDettmer (tourism coordinator for Mornington Community Information and Support Centre) and James Tickner (NAB Frankston). 12. Somerville-Tyabb Rotary held a business breakfast at Orchard Bistro Cafe on 22 October with social analyst David Chalke as guest speaker. Chalke is pictured with his wife Katrina.

13. Robyn Flynn (Somerville Bookkeeping) and Chris Giacomi (Design to Print Solutions). 14. Helen Lang (Moorooduc Estate winery) and retired Western Port harbourmaster Capt. Dick Cox. 15. Paul White (Whitehill Wine Distributors) and Tim Newman (Advance, a training organisation).

16. Charlie Spiers (Rotary Governor of District 9820) with his wife Janne and Rotarian Lee Stanford.

email marg@businesstimes.net.au if you have something to share.

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November 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 9

NETWORKING

Business and non-profits While spending a week on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson last summer, I discussed his B Team concept in depth with him. The B Team is a group of internationally renowned business and thought leaders like Paul Polman of Unilever, Dr Mo Ibrahim of Celtel, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Ariana Huffington of the Huffington Post. The B Team seeks to accelerate the implementation of Plan B, a commitment to the planet and people as well as profit. Sir Richard said: “We can’t leave every problem to government – non-profits alone cannot solve the tasks at hand. We cannot continue to do business as usual.” The Plan A for business concept traditionally focuses on making the largest profit possible. You know that adage, “He who dies with the most toys wins”. That is how I have seen most people in business approach their corporate and personal success.

Dr lvan Misner*

Networking specialist

However, now we are seeing more and more successful businesses not simply paying lip service to giving back in order to make the world a better place, but really doing it. Conversations are taking place in the market place that reveal this shift. Books like Conscious Capitalism by my friend, Dr Raj Sisodia, and his co-author, Whole Foods founder John Mackey, and We First by another friend, Simon Mainwaring, have become best sellers. It is encouraging to see that a new focus has reached critical mass and is rapidly moving toward the tipping point. As I interviewed Sir Richard about the B

Team and Plan B, he began to inspire me to question what it would look like within my own company if we were to seek to implement Plan B. I want to share four ways businesses can implement their own Plan B focus because charitable activities are an important part of building a powerful personal network: 1. Create a non-profit arm of your company. While you may feel that it is too costly or needs a lot of administration to create your own non-profit charity, that’s simply not true. Most cities and even states have community foundations in which you would be able to create a donor-advised fund. When BNI, started to really become successful, we chose to start a corporate charity with a focus on children and education. The BNI Foundation awards mini grants to teachers who can’t secure funding from their school districts or states for the resources they need so badly. 2. Get to know the non-profit organisations that are working hard to support life-changing and environment-sustaining causes. For the BNI Foundation, that means learning

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Business Networks

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10 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | November 2014

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what we can about organisations like the Boys and Girls Clubs, Junior Achievement and C5LA. They also need community members to be involved on their boards and with their fund-raising efforts. In order to reach in and help out, you have to know what the needs are. Keith

supporting the causes that matter to you. 3. Bring your employees and clients along with you. Show them how they can help out, too Consider holding a staff volunteer day at a school site that needs hands-on help. There are many ways your company can work together to address the many needs

The BNI Foundation awards mini grants to teachers who can’t secure funding from their school districts or states for the resources they need so badly. Ferrazzi, in his book Never Eat Alone, encourages us to use our lunch breaks as power meetings with others with whom we want to network. You can set aside one lunch a week (or more, as your time allows) to have with the organisers of charities you want to get to know better. This is a great way to develop relationships with the people

these schools have. The BNI Foundation is starting an initiative we are calling Business VOICES (Business Values Our Inner City Education & Schools) to let entrepreneurs know what needs are out there. You can start something similar as it relates to your company’s cause or join us. You’ll find us discussing this initiative on our Facebook.

4. Host a Get-Acquainted Meeting for a non-profit which is having a positive impact in your community. You can be a gatekeeper for the organisations which need support. You might have space at your office to host a gathering there. If not, consider underwriting a get-acquainted meeting at a local establishment. Some of these organisations have regularly scheduled get-acquainted meetings and would benefit greatly from your support in sponsoring one or several of these events. These are just some of the ways you can plug in to Plan B and help make a difference. We believe business can change the world in thousands of positive ways.

*Dr Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is founder and chairman of Business Networking International (BNI), the world’s largest networking organisation. Dr Misner is also senior partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company. Email: misner@BNI.com

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cover story: vanessa miranda

12 | BusinessTimes| Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | November 2014

WORDS AND PICTURES: KEITH PLATT

THE

JUGGLER Life as a boss and a mother

BEING AN ACCOUNTANT COMES NATURALLY TO VANESSA MIRANDA. ACCOUNTANCY IS WHAT SHE STUDIED AT UNIVERSITY, WHAT SHE DID AFTER UNI, WHAT SHE DID FROM HOME AS A SINGLE MOTHER AND WHAT SHE DOES NOW WITH A STAFF OF 23 FROM OFFICES IN CHELSEA HEIGHTS.

s s

Apart from being an accountant, Miranda also describes herself as a juggler, both at work and at home. On her days off, staff at Miranda Accounting Services politely but effectively shield her from the business, allowing her to concentrate her energies on family matters. Step back a couple of decades to when Miranda had one year to go at Deakin University near Geelong and she had already began working part time in her chosen industry. That first job was as a receptionist. Staying with that same company, she worked her way to being an accountant. Later, as a freelancer, she worked for many different firms, all the time observing and absorbing the ways in which business operated. “It’s all very useful now, although I never thought I’d be a boss,” Miranda says. Aged 27, a single mum and living in Frankston, she decided to go it alone, asking a friend to be her first client. Her client list grew along with baby Taylah. The long nights working while her daughter slept finally led to “real days, when Taylah started kinder”. “I was a real juggler. If mum was free I’d be out of my trackies and in the car going to see clients. It was tough, but my number one priority was my child. “I’d work Saturday nights while she slept and when everyone else was going out.” 14 Family is never too far away from Vanessa Miranda, pictured at her offices in Chelsea Heights.

November 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 13

COVER STORY: Vanessa miranda

THE UGGLER Eventually, she moved to a one-room office at Patterson Lakes, close to where she now lives with “life partner” Leith Bridgeman and their children. The building was shared with a conveyancing firm and the landlord was at first “dismissive about me not being able to pay the rent, but I’m grateful he gave me an opportunity”. The landlord needn’t have worried as Miranda’s business expanded to having six staff within four years “and he ran out of room for me”. Miranda also took over the conveyancing business and one of its key staff, who remains on the payroll to this day. Seven years ago she bought a factory on Wells Rd, converting it to offices “with blood, sweat and tears” and a “miracle builder” within four months. The conversion also included space from where her partner Bridgeman, a mobile banker with the Commonwealth Bank, can operate. “I definitely like a challenge,” Miranda says. “It’s not easy with kids, 23 staff and two businesses – I run the accountancy and conveyancing separately.”

s s

‘It’s still a male dominated profession. That’s what it was 22 years ago and not much has changed.’

14 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | November 2014

The 14 staff in the accountancy side and eight in conveyancing are all women. Miranda has employed two men, but believes the more senior ones have a problem working for a younger woman, although one of the two males left to find work closer to Melbourne. “It’s still a male dominated profession. That’s what it was 22 years ago and not much has changed,” she says. “I don’t see any change, anyway. I go to professional meetings and about 80 per cent of the people there are men.” Pressures of work and family have seen her cut back on networking meetings. Miranda says although she sets KPIs, her experience as a mother has given her an insight into the kind of flexibility women require. “Family First is my little motto.” Staffing issues remain her “number one headache”. “Everyone is different and their morals, ethics, fears and behaviour can affect how they deal with clients.” Miranda hands out gold pins recognising the number of years people have been with the company

(one has been there seven years “and will stay until she retires” while another six have been there more than five years). “I set realistic targets and say if you can’t smile don’t come in. I’m pretty approachable and I think the other accountants here follow my style” There are more males than females among her 350 clients, who also include most of her near neighbours in the factories lining Wells Rd. Miranda is certain that her business won’t get any bigger. “Even though I’m a big risk taker I won’t do anything stupid; I take educated risks.” When it comes to politics Miranda believes the allegiances of employers and employees is clear cut, with 80% of the former voting Liberal and 80% of the latter preferring Labor. “Change is always good, but each government works for a different sector [of the population],” she says. Despite calls from some economists, no government will end negative gearing “because it’s what keeps the economy going”. Miranda also thinks Australia’s governments, no matter the political persuasion, are “too clever to go into recession”. “There’s a massive mix of economies in Australia.” No matter which government is in power “all

businesses are going to hit hurdles” and they need to make themselves recession proof by asking themselves “If someone doesn’t pay me, can I still trade”. The need for recession-proofing is among the advice she gives clients during a two-hour interview when they come to her with the idea of entering a new business. Miranda emails a quarterly newsletter to business clients answering questions and providing information. “It’s a way of staying in touch,” she says.

‘Despite calls from some economists, no government will end negative gearing because it’s what keeps the economy going.’

Left: A sign in Vanessa Miranda’s office reminds staff members to consider their clients.

Southern Partners 1140 Nepean Highway, Mornington

The

Mornington

Ph 0437 695 491 / 59 77 0680 jconquest@wallsbridges.com.au www.wallsbridges.com.au

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Showcase Opening Night Friday 16th January from 6.30pm

November 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 15

The Urban Development Industry of Australia has recognised four of Watsons residential developments with environmental and urban design awards for excellence. Watsons is presently designing and managing a number of prestigious Victorian land projects including Martha Cove at Safety Beach.

change of space

Industrial area goes creative By Keith Platt

Creative siblings Josh, Kristy and Joel Brown.

“Naturally, we jumped at the opportunity and begin the preparing the business model immediately.” While there are some studio spaces yet to be filled, already operating out of The Nook are the Snake Hole Gallery; Keep Resin (hand crafted resin jewellery, homewares, artwork, lighting and planters); Mel Matthews (illustrator, artist, bird-lover, and “bear enthusiast”); and, Discover Me (website design). “The Nook is a creative hub; a community of artists, makers, creatives and everything associated,” Josh Brown said. “We are passionate about contributing to the Mornington Peninsula art culture in a big way and hope to support local artists, while bringing in established artists from all over Australia to exhibit in the gallery. “There are a lot of spaces like ours in the

Melbourne CBD and surrounding suburbs but, as for the peninsula, this is a very new thing and so far the response has been super positive.” Mornington Peninsula Shire’s economic development manager Shane Murphy said the move by non-conventional businesses into light industrial areas was not seen as a trend “as yet”. He said it would be advantageous for businesses to move there instead of Main St, Mornington, “because rents are lower, but they don’t have the passing foot traffic – they would need to make it work”. “There are pros and cons and I can’t see it working in all of the peninsula’s light industrial areas,” Mr Murphy said. “For some reason it does at Mornington, but would it work at Hastings or Dromana? This could become a trend, but it’s still early days.”

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A creative hub has been established in Mornington’s light industrial area. The October opening of The Nook in Progress St is the latest of a series of non-traditional “light industries” to move into the area. The Mornington Brewery is just around the corner in Yuilles Rd while the Commonfolk Cafe is next door. The Nook – six studios and an art exhibition space built inside a conventional factory – was created by Mark Brown and his family. Brown, of Mt Martha, who runs Shop Metal Industries, said he outgrew the factory and decided on using it for “creative spaces” after discussing it with his graphic designer son, Josh. Shop Metal Industries moved across the road to larger premises while the Brown family set about building The Nook. Josh Brown said his father in 2012 provided studio space in the factory for him to run his design studio, Snake Hole Gallery, when he went freelance after working for surf companies Insight Clothing, Sydney, and Balin Surf Hardware, Rosebud. “After moving in, dad and I chatted about how great it would be to convert the entire warehouse into creative spaces if he ever moved out of the factory,” Josh brown said. “Sure enough, dad eventually grew out of the space and was forced to move over the road. I turned up to the studio on the Monday and dad offered the entire warehouse space to myself, [carpenter brother] Joel and [graphic designer sister] Kristy.

16 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | November 2014

CONTRIBUTOrs

SCHEDULING YOUR CONTENT We often have countless tasks to Jessica Humphreys* do throughout our busy days and Social media consultant unfortunately social media is often a business’s last priority. We have the intention to post on Facebook or share a photo on Instagram, but unless we have already planned the post, it often gets left by the wayside if it’s a busy day. This is where scheduling your content can be an amazing help. There are always lots of discussions surrounding this topic. Some experts feel scheduling is not an advantage as businesses may schedule content and forget about it, people may schedule things that are unfortunately timed due to current occurrences in the media and it can be quite apparent that content is scheduled if there is a high level of activity on content and no one is responding. However, there can be major advantages to scheduling. I recommend clients have a series of posts scheduled in advance that aren’t timely - these can be links to articles with valuable information, flashback posts, tips, product and service information etc. Because these don’t feature timely content they can be rescheduled if something more important does arise. Scheduling content does not mean you shouldn’t be aware of regular and timely content that could potentially be shared on social media. It also does not mean you shouldn’t be monitoring your social media platforms. It does provide you with some assistance for those times when you are really busy and don’t have have time to produce or schedule new content.

We’re here ... to help you achieve your business goals.

Some of our experts Professional solutions for the South East

*Jessica Humphreys operates Social Concepts, a social media consulting business. Send questions to Jessica@socialconceptsconsulting.com

Although he’s under 30, Jack Delosa is an award-winning entrepreneur, author of Unprofessional, founder of the The Entourage institute and has advice for employers: inspiration and engagement, not discipline and performance management, are the keys to successful business teams. Delosa says a 2010 survey of 7300 employees in Australia and New Zealand, showed that in high performing businesses two-thirds of employees are fully engaged in the vision and direction of their company. “The injection of GenY has changed the dynamic of the workforce,” Delosa says. “Australia currently has the most engaged workforce it has ever seen – employees that are naturally driven, impatient and confident. All these employees need is something to inspire and excite them.” The research highlighted two distinct factors to employee engagement: The level of engagement employees have with their career or profession, and how employees feel about their employer. Delosa says successful teams are formed when both of these factors are met – when the individual is inspired by what the business does and sees its success as a form of personal success. “If you want to build a successful business, create the vision and find people who believe in it. Surround yourself with people who believe in that vision and are just as passionate as you are about it.”

Pitcher Partners, a leading Melbourne accounting, audit and advisory firm, has been helping businesses like yours for more than 20 years. And now, we have an office in the South East Region to provide practical business advice and professional solutions in a location that’s convenient to you. For more information contact David Knowles or Vicki Macdermid on

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INSPIRED EMPLOYEES

November 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 17

health

What are friends for? How many friends do you have? It’s a cheeky question I know, but it’s ultimately important to your health and longevity. The more friends you have the longer you are likely to live. To be completely accurate, the greater variety of friends you have, and more supportive of them you are, the healthier you will be. We’ve known this ever since a series of studies mostly from the US began to show an unambiguous link between social connections, health and life expectancy. Recently researchers at Brigham Young University and the University of North Carolina combined the data from 148 studies on health and social relationships – every research paper they could find, involving more than 300,000 people all over the world – and found that people with poor social connections had a 50 per cent greater likelihood of death in the study’s follow-up period (about seven years). That loss in life expectancy is about the same as the mortality difference between smokers and non-smokers. The friend effect didn’t vary by sex or by age, with men and women of all ages and health statuses gaining roughly equal benefit. It’s long been understood that lonely people die sooner, but I always return to a revelatory series of studies reported in the US about 15 years ago. One that religious groups leaped upon gleefully proved that going to church added three years to your life. Now it’s pretty clear that the explanation for that could not involve a health benefit conferred by prayer, or listening to nice sermons, or praising whichever deity takes one’s fancy. It must be something else. Could it be the sense of community and shared purpose engendered in church congregations? Another study meanwhile, this time into respiratory illnesses among the elderly population, established that older people suffered fewer diseases the more contact they had with others. This seemed counter-intuitive because germ theory would have it that the more people you touch, the more viruses you’re going to get. But no, the reverse was true. The interesting part of this, however, was that the protective benefit was conferred not by the number of social connections but by the variety. The key thing was not that people went down to the same club seven nights a week but that they had multiple spheres of

Michael Ellis*

Chinese Herbalist

social activity. So maybe it’s the club one day, a card night the next, a support group the next, then a family dinner, a sports event, and so on. It looks as though the more social connections a person has, the more they feel part of the community fabric, the healthier they are. The University of Michigan looked into this further, investigating the effect of giving compared with receiving support in a sample group of older married adults. It found that mortality was significantly reduced for individuals who provided instrumental support to friends, relatives or neighbours, and also those who reported providing emotional support to their spouses. Receiving support had no influence on mortality once giving support was taken into consideration. This added to a body of evidence that personal wellbeing depends on investing in others rather than becoming obsessed with one’s own health. Depressive illness involves a closing in of a person’s life, an inability to see beyond one’s own troubles, one’s own small world. An effective treatment strategy is to

18 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | November 2014

encourage a person to help someone else – perhaps to volunteer. The contention that our longevity is increasing is intriguing in the context of a society in which the sense of community seems to be diminishing. In Australia in 2010, the University of NSW completed its Australian Centenarian Study, hoping to establish the health factors working for 188 Australians to have reached their 100th birthdays.

As with all longevity studies, it could attribute only a 20 to 30 per cent effect to genetics, and the rest to personality and lifestyle factors. The research team found that keeping physically and mentally active, being open to change and maintaining social networks were common traits among the centenarians. The study’s Professor Robyn Richmond said centenarians had lower levels of depression than the rest of the community and lower levels of cardiac disease than people in their 80s. Interestingly, Chinese medicine theory predicts both of those things. It sees a direct connection between the mind and the blood and therefore between mental health and cardiac fitness. It also directly associates heart health with the ability to communicate, to maintain a sense of humour, and to form and maintain social relationships. So that’s what long life is all about. Note the absence of the slightest mention of cholesterol. And also note I got through this without one Facebook joke. *Michael Ellis is a registered Chinese herbalist in Mt Eliza. Visit www.mtelizaherbal.com

MARKETS

Taming the medicos

Medibank’s very strong brand recognition, zero debt, $2.2 billion cash and sheer scale provide investors with more than enough to support the price post float, but what is not clear is how much it can lift its modest, if acceptable, margins by reducing its costs. As this partly means third party costs – i.e. the costs charged by hospitals and medical professionals the degree of difficulty involved should not be underestimated. In the US medical costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation and while Australian cost increases have been more modest, they are still rising as new, more expensive procedures, higher wages and rising insurance and legal costs combine. BUPA, Medibank’s largest competitor, points out higher medical spend doesn’t necessarily ensure better outcomes or patient satisfaction, but in many cases this may be a secondary issue. CT scans increase the risk of radiation, but a clinic’s underlying concern may be as much to ensure that it can’t be accused of missing something. What and insurer may see as “over-sevicing” may actually be fear of reputational and financial loss. There are however, many cases where Medibank will have success where best

Richard Campbell* Stock Analyst

practice is encouraged and poor discouraged. The CEO Geoge Savvides says some of the $100m it spends on call-back surgery called “revisions” should be shouldered by the hospital if this takes place in under 28 days. But in this case it isn’t straight-forward. Surgeons will still be paid, but if they develop a reputation for needing a second go, they may be penalised unfairly. Surgeon A may only deal with sports injuries on young fit men. If surgeon B is patching up a drug addicted bikie with Hepatitis C, the outcome may be different. This raises a question about the degree to which Medibank will be able to increase its own margins at the expense of hospitals and clinicians and raises the tricky issues of conflicts. Will an insurer bent on lifting profits

for shareholders compromise on member care? All medical insurers have to tread this fine line of course and it can be done. Like its peers, Medibank is offering incentives for healthy eating and living, but more interventionist steps are coming as well such as employing qualified medical staff in call centres. Electronic communication may also play a larger part by monitoring blood pressure and mobility at home or simply discussing symptoms and concerns on Skype. The downside, however, is that all health insurers are only too aware that advances in medical practice have extended life spans. Our grandparents often died in their early or mid sixties of strokes or heart attacks while now the equivalent group cohort is living on but needing hip replacements, heart valves, stents and an array of procedures even before reaching the costly phase of dementia or Alzheimer’s. For this reason some caution is required. Medibank’s membership numbers have been static for three years and while a large investment in computer systems will lift margins modestly in 2015 and more in 2016, the CEO warns that the cost reductions it is seeking will take time. Some will be easy to make as new methods like tele-medicine become standard or as treatments make a leap in effectiveness as, for example, stem cells become a common procedure. These gains will be balanced by losses as we live longer and the obesity epidemic of our sedentary lives leads to diabetes or repeated surgery on knees and backs. Another possible risk for investors is the potential for ahm, Medibank’s discount brand to cannibalise higher margin income of Medibank itself. This is not to say that Medibank will be a sub-average performer, but as the CEO made clear as the float was being prepared, cost reductions to raise after tax margins from the current to 4.2% closer to 5% may take time. One alternative would be to explore the only other listed medical insurer, NIB. It has periodically made capital returns and can also fly a little under the radar as Medibank takes a front line position in taming medical costs. NIB directors may say, “Rather them than us.” * Richard Campbell is Executive Director of Peninsula Capital Management, Tel. 9642 0545. rcampbell@peninsulacapital.com.au

November 2014| Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 19

BUSINESS MOVES

Accountants Kathryn Monger (left) and Veronica D’Silva have launched their practice Counting Wealth in Mornington.

COUNTING ON A PERSONALISED ACCOUNTING SERVICE After six years working together for a large accountancy firm certified practising accountants (CPAs) Veronica D’Silva and Kathryn Monger have branched out on their own offering “a more personalised approach”. “We try to be a bit more family oriented,” principal D’Silva says at the Counting Wealth office at the beach end of Main St, Mornington. “We’re interested in small business and the community. “We’re general practitioners – from tax to super and auditing to business planning,” The team moved into the office in March, after a “frantic bit of Labour Day painting”. “A lot of people already know us. One of my clients has been with me for 15 years,” D’Silva says. “We just wanted to do something different to the services that accountants usually offer. “It’s not just the bottom line, we take an interest in a family’s whole wealth. “We like long-term relationships with our clients and not something that’s just focussed on the six- minute billing unit. We want to make businesses and people happy.” Monger, the manager at Counting Wealth, said the transition from a larger firm to a boutique business “enables us to be in charge of our own destiny”. “Accountancy with large companies is becoming more of an annual phone call and spending less time with a client. “Now, we can have better client relation-

ships. They can talk to us about what they are planning to do so we can actively help lead people down the right track instead of just reacting when tax time comes around.” D’Silva: “If the foundation is right, it gives a business the strength to grow and, from my point of view, there’s nothing more satisfying than that.” The partners have a business plan and want Counting Wealth to grow, but not to the point where they are out of touch with clients. The plan involves having about six staff before facing the problem of finding a more suitable office. “It might sound silly but, as accountants, we like people. “We opened a networking meeting with a joke about accountants and it went down well,” D’Silva says. Monger: “Going to see your accountant shouldn’t be as painful as going to the dentist. “We will get bigger because of contacts, but we’d like it to stay so we’re offering a personalised service. “We like to be hands on with people and our work would be diminished if we got too big. We have a family-friendly environment and are not keeping bankers’ hours. “We want to stay adaptable to our clients’ needs.” D’Silva and Monger say they are happy to visit clients at their workplaces. “Seeing the whole package helps, otherwise you only see a set of numbers,” Monger says. “It can make the difference between a good and a bad accountant,” adds D’Silva. “You can touch so many lives through your clients.” Counting Wealth, Federal House, 13A Main St, Mornington, call 5973 6888, 0402 288 916 or www.countingwealth.com.au

STUDENTS WORK FOR BUSINESS BY KEITH PLATT

Students from the Peninsula campus of Monash University have been working with Hastings traders and a public relations consultant to produce low cost marketing strategies. “This type of interaction between businesses and university students has enormous benefits for all concerned,” Dr Fiona Newton of the university’s marketing department said. Dr Newton said feedback about from employers to the Business and Economics Faculty showed they wanted students to have “more applied and soft skills”.

20 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong |November 2014

Monash University lecturer Fiona Newton with business studies students Sam Barlow and Matthew Bourke .

“We have established a business degree at the peninsula campus that specifically focuses on bridging the theory-application gap and providing students with opportunities to work with business from day one.” She said businesses at Hastings supporting the trial were “giving their time to develop the next generation of business students and also leveraging an untapped source of assistance”. “It also highlights the fact that the peninsula has an innovative business degree program right on its doorstep that is implementing cutting edge pedagogy,” Dr Newton said. “Our students gain vital experience applying their theoretical knowledge to the types of business problems they will face when they graduate. At the same time, the local businesses receive valuable ideas and advice across a range of issues that they may be experiencing.” Dr Newton’s students had worked with the owners of Maple Threads Boutique and H C Shoes to develop a variety of strategies, including ways to entice people into the shops. “The students had to think about applying their understanding of consumer psychology to issues around merchandising, social media, and sales transactions,” she said. The students were mentored by marketing and communications consultant, Nicola Oldridge from Out of the Box Consulting, who helped develop their ideas and understand time management, team work, and confidence in communicating ideas. Ms Oldridge said having students work on real-life scenarios “beats sitting in a traditional lecture theatre, just listening to the theory being explained”.

BY KEITH PLATT

Frankston mayor Darrel Taylor is heading the Speak Up for Frankston campaign, which began with councillors staging a “demonstration” on the steps of parliament house demanding $67 million for “top five projects”. Up Australia Party), Paul Edbrooke (Labor) and former Liberal now Independent sitting member, Geoff Shaw. On 28 October the website contained no videos of Cr Taylor with Mervyn Vogt (Independent), Reade Smith (Save the Planet) or Sean Armistead (Liberal). There is also a video of Cr Taylor with Donna Bauer, Liberal MP for Carrum, whose electorate reaches into parts of the city’s north. She is being opposed by Labor’s Sonya Killkeny, who has no video but gets a website listing. The website notes that the Premier Dr Denis Napthine has promised $1.1 million towards a sports pavilion at Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve. There are no other candidate commitments listed. Cr Taylor says Frankston residents are “fortunate to live in a marginal seat”. “Are residents happy with having to go outside the municipality and pay high fees to dispose their rubbish or are they happy having to use a drab and dirty-looking train station precinct where they feel unsafe and parking is hard to find? “If residents are not happy with these – and

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It happens every four years. As elections loom politicians and those surrounding them exhibit a level of desperateness, often proportionate to the latest opinion polls. Victorians go to the polls on Saturday 29 November and, unusually, the polls for months have shown the first-term government is in trouble. Labor has consistently been rated above the Liberal and National parties which eased it out of office in 2010. Those surprising results have led to politicians outbidding each other to gain votes and set the third tier of government – local government – on a campaign to garner whatever promises it can from which ever party next leads Victoria. While Frankston and Greater Dandenong are actively lobbying for pre-election promises Mornington Peninsula Shire seems satisfied with the efforts of government MPs holding seats in its geographic area. Frankston mayor Darrel Taylor is heading the Speak Up for Frankston campaign, which began with councillors staging a “demonstration” on the steps of parliament house demanding $67 million for “top five projects”. Cr Taylor, who unsuccessfully sought Liberal pre-selection for the marginal seat of Frankston, says the election presents residents with “the best opportunity in decades to push their local candidates for what they want to improve their area”. The city’s website contains a series of videos of Cr Taylor meeting with some of the candidates: Jeanette Swain (Greens), Anthony Wallace (Christian Party), Lyn Tragenza (Rise

tony papadopoulos graphic design

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Polling promises

our online survey of residents is telling us that a waste transfer station is the number one priority for residents – now is the time to start making a lot of noise with the local candidates, who will listen to them.” Council is paying for Speak Up advertisements at picture theatres and nightly projecting messages on Frankston Arts Centre’s northern fly tower screen. It says campaign posts on Facebook reach “almost” 29,000 people, Twitter feeds “almost” 35,000 people and “almost” 600 people completing an online survey ranking their priorities. Greater Dandenong Council, through a news release, has called on candidates in its area “to address the key issues”. An “advocacy document” lists “key priorities”, including improved education and employment outcomes for young people ; funding for key infrastructure projects; support for the immediate closure of the Lyndhurst Landfill site; improved public transport ; the removal of level crossings; support to oppose the capping of council rates to CPI ; support for business, manufacturing and auto industries; gambling reform ; programs to address alcohol abuse and family violence. Greater Dandenong mayor Jim Memeti said council’s role had never been more important. “It is vital that key infrastructure development keeps up with population growth in this region and the changing needs of our community,” Cr Memeti said . “We are looking forward to a very positive future built on harmony, strength, tolerance and diversity, but cannot achieve this without state government support.” “State government recognition and 23 support for council is critical

0408 598 767 tony@tpgd.com.au www.tpgd.com.au

November 2014 | Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong BusinessTimes | 21

MANAGING

Leadership under stress Stress can be a wonderful motivator in business as it can help everyone to focus on the few really important issues, thereby enhancing short-term performance. Too much stress for too long can, however, be a major negative for both business leaders and their teams. Business leaders need to be astute judges of the level of stress in their people through the daily dialogue that they have across their organisation. Leaders usually try to increase internal stress in their organisation to improve performance by setting goals or time lines that are difficult to reach. By being unreasonable, they hope to create an environment where their people will strive harder to meet or exceed their artificial goals or deadlines. Leaders understand that too much stress can lead to a drop in performance, as there is an optimum level of stress where performance will peak. Effective leaders will understand when this peak is being approached and will adapt goals or deadlines to avoid over stressing their organisation. Unfortunately, businesses have many other sources of stress coming from external uncontrollable sources, e.g. customers, competitors or the general economy. When these are layered on top of the internal stresses, a breakdown in normal processes can occur quickly, thereby requiring a refocusing of the organisation. This is when leaders really earn their money, as they need to understand these external stressors and adapt their internal goals and deadlines to ensure that the organisation can thrive in a high stress situation. Stress is not felt uniformly by every person as individual reactions are closely related to the degree of control that each individual feels they have in their specific set of circumstances. Studies have shown that, within an organisation under stress, the leader usually feels significantly less personal pressure than those people closer to the actual workplace or customers. This is because the leader feels that they have more control over the situation than people two or three levels closer to the workplace. During periods of high stress, it is important that all layers of management are actively helping their people to manage the stress positively by providing active support and removing barriers to success. During these periods, poor work designs will become more evident

Hamish Petrie*

Business consultant

Stress is not felt uniformly by every person as individual reactions are closely related to the degree of control that each individual feels they have in their specific set of circumstances. and hence major improvements in work design can be made quickly. Individual leaders have their own style and preferences for how work is done. Their support teams come to understand this and then expect specific behaviour during normal business times. For example, decisions are often made in calm conditions in offices and boardrooms where leaders can work rationally through many considerations and options before making a final decision. Often, they will form a preferred decision and then test it with their reporting team and other key stakeholders before locking onto it. This low stress process is careful, considered and rational and can lead to a decision that has a high probability of support and success. However, when a business is under real stress and time pressures, this type of process cannot work and quick decisions are required. In these circumstances, leaders often react to excessive personal stress by behaving in their back up style. Some leaders become autocratic, some attack, some become compliant and some just withdraw from the situation. It is important for each individual leader to understand their own behaviour well enough to know when they have changed from their normal dominant style to their back up style. Reputations are often created or broken when a leader is in their back up style, because of the damage they can cause to their people around them while

22 | BusinessTimes Frankston / Mornington Peninsula / Dandenong | November 2014

operating in this mode. Ideally, leaders are trained to develop a back up style that will enhance their probability of success by being calm, strategic, values based and selfless. The airlines have a great message in their safety briefing process when they warn their passengers to put their own oxygen mask on first before trying to help others. In a high stress situation, leaders should put on their oxygen mask by looking after their own physical and mental wellbeing, thereby being a good role model for the rest of their team. Some leadership roles are designed to operate always in high stress situations, e.g. emergency services, military officers and trauma care leaders. In these roles, urgency prevails as human life is at risk. Confidence in their leaders is a key factor in reducing stress levels throughout these types of organisation. The importance of confidence extends to the whole team, to equipment and to themselves. Building confidence is therefore a critical factor that must be done through training and practice under artificially stressful conditions. These lessons can be extended to business when leaders are prepared to talk about their personal management of stress and extend this dialogue to their entire organisation. In this way, they are able to build organisational confidence that they can provide effective leadership under all levels of stress. Leadership during high stress conditions can be challenging to ensure that these conditions bring out the best in people, and not the worst. These times can also be very rewarding as rapid progress can be made towards long-term goals. Action Planning Questions: 1. Do you have a considered technique to increase organisational stress levels to enhance your teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance? 2. Do you have a process to gather feedback on stress levels and individual reactions? 3. Do you understand your back up style and how to modify it to gain performance benefits? 4. Do you have an on-going process to discuss stress levels with your team? *Hamish Petrie had a 37-year corporate career including 25 with Alcoa Inc. His latest position was VP People and Communications for the Global Alcoa Corporation based in New York. He can be contacted at hamish@nitroworld.net or on 0404345103. ÂŠ Hamish Petrie 2014

POLLING PROMISES 21

to a prosperous future for Greater Dandenong, the south-east region and more broadly Victoria.” On the Mornington Peninsula, the shire’s website gives no indication of a pending state election. Publicly it is doing nothing and seems safe in the knowledge that it will be adequately looked after by the Liberal MPs in the three safely held electorates that cover the shire. However, a news release from the mayor Antonella Celi criticises Labor for advocating Victoria’s next major port should be built near Geelong (“Bay West”) rather than at Hastings. Liberals tightly hold the three Lower House electorates covering the peninsula. David Morris in Mornington with a 66% of the vote after distribution of preferences; Nepean, Martin Dixon, 68%; and Neale Burgess in Hastings 61%. Planning for a container port at Hastings is already underway by the Port of Hastings Development Authority and Frankston, despite not being part of the peninsula, has already flagged itself as the potential “commercial hub” for the port.

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Pokie operators ‘target’ disadvantaged A public health expert says that disadvantaged areas are being targeted by big operators of poker machines. Senior lecturer at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, Dr Charles Livingstone, said there was a clear pattern of the more disadvantaged local government areas tending to have more electronic gaming machines (EGMs). “And where there are more EGMs, more money is lost per adult,” Dr Livingstone said. “The City of Greater Dandenong, which is the most disadvantaged metropolitan local government area, has 8.4 EGMs per 1000 people. Our two least disadvantaged metropolitan municipalities, Boroondara and Nillumbik, have 1.5 and 1.6 machines per 1000 people respectively,” he said. The Salvation Army’s Major Brad Halse said that the effect of problem gambling – including problem use of pokies – is an all too common community issue. “Gambling excessively causes havoc to a person’s life socially, emotionally and financially. It may lead to the loss of

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relationships, home, health and career and may cause depression and stress in a person’s life,” Major Halse said. Municipal Association of Victoria president Bill McArthur said that local councils had demonstrated a deep concern about the issue. “The MAV State Council overwhelmingly voted to support a limit to the number of pokies in Victoria. It is clear to us, by the number of councils which have expressed their concern for the welfare of their communities, that inappropriate placement of pokies is an area the state government needs to address,” Cr McArthur said. The Enough Pokies campaign is backed by most councils, the Municipal Association of Victoria, the Salvation Army, the InterChurch Taskforce on Gambling and dozens of community groups around the state.