Withdraw from enemy

The GAT will be held across secondary schools today.

AFTER being postponed twice, the General Achievement Test will be held today. It will be exam conditions across the state, as VCE students sit down between 10am and 1.15pm to determine general knowledge, English, mathematics and humanities skills. The results will then be used to calculate a derived ATAR score for those affected by illness, accident or personal trauma, help rule out any discrepancies in schools’ internal marking and provide a comparable benchmark for the final exams. Originally scheduled for June 9, the three-hour exam was moved to August 12 after the state’s fifth lockdown. Two days before it was set to take place, it was then postponed again because of COVID-19 community transmission in Melbourne. Local Year 12 students reported stress from the constant disruptions COVID-19 has caused during their final school year, after a fractured Year 11. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority confirmed in July it will again use the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage process to finalise VCE results. This will apply to every student completing one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Units 3 to 4 sequences in 2021. VCE students will begin their exams later this month, with the three-hour English exam first up, scheduled for October 27.

Loch Sport foreshore erosion continues, but plan is coming

EROSION of the Lake Victoria foreshore in Loch Sport continues to worsen, with local infrastructure such as walking paths washed into the lake, and picnic tables close to being next. Gippsland South MLA Danny O’Brien is again calling on the state government to take action to prevent the foreshore being completely eroded. However, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning says there are currently no private or public assets under immediate threat, and a final report on erosion and coastal processes in Loch Sport is due in the coming months. In recent storms, damage has been sustained at the public walking track at Loch Sport from Seagull Drive to National Park Rd. Mr O’Brien said he had been campaigning for some time for a solution to the erosion issues, particularly around Seagull Drive and Toorak Avenue, but said the state government was yet to take action. “I visited the foreshore again recently and clearly this winter’s winds have taken a further toll,” Mr O’Brien said. “The government provided taxpayer funds to relocate the walking track around Seagull Drive boat ramp in the past year, but this is only a temporary fix and the erosion continues to get worse. “It is clear that where groynes have been installed at other parts along the Lake Victoria foreshore that the erosion has been arrested, and it’s quite obvious that that is what’s needed in these remaining parts of the town’s foreshore. “The government is now up to its ninth different consultant’s report and it just needs to stop wasting money and time and actually act. “Natural wave and wind motion is doing the damage, and wasting time on more consultants’ reports is not helpful and won’t deliver a solution. “If the government doesn’t act soon, not only will public land be washed away, there will be a threat to private property along the foreshore of Lake Victoria. “Loch Sport is justifiably proud of having one of the few north-facing waterfront views in the state, and the beach needs to be protected. “I have written to the Minister for Environment yet again to urge immediate action and funding to fix the problems at Loch Sport.” A Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning spokesperson confirmed the department

Gippsland South MLA Danny O’Brien with Loch Sport Foreshore Committee secretary Tony Patchell at Seagull Drive boat ramp, where erosion continues to eat away at the coastline.

was investigating solutions for the long-term management of erosion in Loch Sport. “A final report on erosion and coastal processes in relation to the area is due in the coming months,” the spokesperson said. Upon finalisation of the options analysis report, a project plan will be submitted for funding consideration. “We will continue to monitor the erosion and assist the foreshore committee in minimising the risk to the community and visitors,” the spokesperson added. All available intervention strategies for coastal erosion, especially hard structures such as groynes, will result in some negative impact. DELWP says it will work with Loch Sport Foreshore Committee of Management as managers of the land to minimise these impacts. In July year, Wellington Shire Council also wrote to Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, requesting urgent action to address erosion along the Lake Victoria foreshore at Loch Sport. A few months later, Loch Sport Foreshore Committee of Management received $48,000 from the state government to realign a foreshore walking track at Seagull Drive and The Boulevard, as part of a grants program for maintenance and erosion management projects to protect the state’s coastline. The Gippsland Times has previously highlighted

Erosion threatens to tip a picnic table into Lake Victoria.

the concerns of local residents and holiday home owners, who said they had lost up to four metres of beach during the past few years. During the past five years, DELWP has allocated about $5.6 million on coastal resilience projects throughout Gippsland, from Phillip Island to Mallacoota. The Victorian government’s ‘Victoria’s Resilient Coast – Adapting to 2100+’ program is developing a state-wide approach to long-term coastal hazard resilience and adaption to support local government, land managers and communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change on the coast. The government’s policy is to plan for a sea level rise of no less than 0.8 meters by 2100, and allow for the predicted combined effects of tides, storm surges, coastal processes and local conditions such as topography and geology, when assessing risk and coastal impacts associated with climate change.

www.gippslandtimes.com.au Aus Democrats tries to build support in Gippsland

WITH a federal election likely taking place next year, the Australian Democrats say they are setting up local branches across Australia, including Gippsland. Party spokesperson, South Australian state executive secretary Andrew Castrique, said the party planned to field candidates in all states. Established in 1977, the Australian Democrats has had senators in parliament for more than 30 years, with the slogan “keep the bastards honest”. The Democrats held balance of power in the senate from 1980 to 2004, and sole balance of power for 13 years of that time. The party was deregistered in 2015 after 38 years because of lack of membership, but continued to exist as an organisation. It regained federal registration in 2019 and today claims membership is the “highest it has been in 10 years”, and growing. “Our aim now is to become the party that represents rural Australia,” Mr Castrique said. “We have established policies specific to sustainable agriculture and management of climate change, based on scientific evidence, and best practice. “We want to add to that policy by hearing what local communities need ...”

For every survey completed, we will be donating $5 to your choice of either Lifeline or Headspace. Federation University is seeking the Gippsland community’s views on what to do with the Latrobe Valley’s coal mines / open-cuts once they have closed.

What happens to these mines will have a major impact on our lifestyles, land and waterscapes across our great Gippsland region – so we’re very interested to know more about your views on this subject. We’re therefore inviting Gippsland community members aged 15 years and over to complete a short survey.

The survey can be accessed via surveymonkey. com/r/SGL6V3W or by scanning the QR code.