Latrobe Valley Express Monday 23 December 2024

It’sChristmastime!

Loud, louder,loudest

By TOMHAYES

HOTEL Traralgonand itscompany director,George Zurcas, havebeen convicted and fined$15,000 each,due to excess amounts of noise complaints spanning across 2021 and 2022.

On top of fines brought by the court, they will also be forced to paymore than $12,000 in legal costs to the Environmental ProtectionAuthority (EPA )V ic to ria, split bet ween the company and director.

Mr Zurcas told the Expresshe intends to appeal the conviction.

Following complaints for excessive noise, Ryan’s FamilyHotelPty Ltd (trading as Hotel Traralgon, also known as Ryan’s Hotel)was chargedwith breaching the General Environmental Duty (GED) under the Environment Protection Act 2017.

Modelled on Victoria’sworkplace safety law ,t he GED, which was introduced on July 1, 2021, is afirst for Australia, making everyone legally responsible to take reasonable steps to

reduce the risk of harm to human health and the environment, which includes noise levels.

EPA General Counsel, Greg Elms believes this case is apointer to a responsibility for Victorians.

“The General Environmental Duty putsharmprevention at the centre of Victoria’s environmental laws.Byensuring we are aware of the environmental risks from our activities, we can then take reasonablestepstoreduce those risks and prevent harm from happening in the first place,” he said.

“This is afirstfor Australia; Victoria is the first state with alegallyenforceable GED pointing to proactive responsibility that applies to everyone, and this case demonstrates that it does its job.

“Everyone operating abusinessshould look at their operation’s potential for affecting the environment, ask themselves ‘what’s the harm?’ and take actions before that harm can happen.”

EPA told the court that the company anddirector failed to ensure all

reasonably practicable measures were taken to address the risk of harm from excessive noise arising from the premises, located on thecornerofFranklin and Kay Street.

EPA offic ers had alleged ly give n advice on how to comply in December 2021, whileconductingrepeated inspections, later resorting to the issue of a Prohibition Notice as well as electronic surveillance.

Said notice prohibitedHotel Traralgon from engaging in any activity which would cause the emission of unreasonable noise between 10pm and 7am, requiring to provide proof thatithad complied.

Amarquee tent was raised in the Ryan’s Hotel beer garden, in an attempt to block out the noise.

But,inMay 2022, loudmusic from Hotel Traralgon once again affected people outside of the venue.

EPA offic er sh ad ins talle dn oi se monitoring equipment nearby, logging the noise levels. Inspections confirmed

that aftermidnight on twoSaturday nights,excessive noise was again coming from the premises.

Mr Zurcas toldthe Express he felt he was running outofoptions,after theCOVID pandemic forced him to move business to the beergarden in order to comply with state government restrictions.

The restrictions in place at the time meantthatonly one person could occupy four square metres of space at atime while indoors.

Hotel Traralgon is about 300 metres from the nearest permanent residence and about 250 metres from the Mantra hotel.

Questions have since been raised as Star BaronGreyStreet sits less than 200 metres from permanent residence and about 100 metres from the Mantra

The Deck, on Kay Street sits between 250 and 300 metres from permanent residence too, granted, both are mostly indoor venues with opened doors.

Continued -Page2

Reminder to travel safely these holidays

By AIDAN KNIGHT and TOMHAYES

THE festive season is often afast-pacedone, packed with many celebrations and events.

This however, is often reflected in people’s drivingstyles as locals travel across, in and out of the region over the holidays.

Drivers are reminded to stay alert on long drives,takefrequent pit-stops to avoid fatigue and microsleeps, and allow for congested traffic as the roads continue to become busier over the summer period.

Consider the following tips to ensure driving safety when taking to the roads this summer:

 Consider wildlife hazards: the Latrobe Valley is aregion that frequently sees kangaroos and wombats venturing closer to busy roads, as they become desensitised to human activity;

 Check tires: particularly hot days increase tire pressure, which can result in ablowout if they are already inflated to the max. For Australian conditions, the recommended tire pressure range is usually between 30-35psi. Extreme heat also causes tires to harden making for less traction, so if your tires are already balding this can make driving much less precise;

 Under-maintained roads: similarly, high temperatures can cause roads to break down quicker under increased traffic. Road surfaces become soft or even sticky, which if not already maintained, can cause potholes and cracks to fall apart and become bigger hazards, making for more prominent uneven surfaces, and;

 Leave earlier than you need to for longer trips, so you can drive slower and still arrive on time, with more people on the road over the holidays there is a 20-30 per cent increase in fatal accidents over the summer period each year.

Victoria Police is focusing on impaired driving as apart of the 20-day operation that begunonDecember 13, aiming to keep motorists safe over the festive period.

OperationRoadwisewillsee highly visiblepoliceacross the state’s major roads, conducting widespread alcohol and drug testing every day during the operation.

December is the worsttimeofthe year for drink-drivingoffences, with the highest number of detectionsrecorded,and most collisions involving drivers over the blood alcohol limit.

During last year’s OperationRoadwise, police conducted more than 300,000 preliminary breath tests and nearly 9000 drug tests. Throughout this period, 19,000 traffic infringements were issued, including 7631 speeding offences.

Operation Roadwisewillrun for20days, after beginningat12.01am on Friday, December 13. It will continue until 11.59pm on Wednesday, January 1, 2025.

Five times the legal limit

A38-year-old Traralgon man has stunned police after returning abreath alcohol concentration more than five times the legal limit.

It is alleged the driver left alicenced premises in Traralgon, got into his vehicle, and then drove it straight into the vehicle parked in front of him.

An evidentiary breath test registered areading of 0.256.

Themale’slicence was immediately suspended, and he will be summoned to court at alater date.

Paper jam

ON the Express’ Monday morning deadline, a journalist becamestuck in the bathroomasthe handle on the door jammed.

Triple Zero (000) was called and multiple Fire Rescue Victoria/CFA members came running up the stairs of the George Street premise.

PoliceBeat with Katrina Brandon and TomHayes

Breaking the door and air support were both considered, but thankfully they were able to cut through the door to free the intrepid journo.

Aldi mishap

AN incident occurred at Moe Aldi,onTuesday (December 17) at 9.56am, where an 87-year-old female driver mistook her accelerator as the brake and drove into the brick wall of the store. The 87-year-old appeared to have no injuries. Police sectioned off the area until the structure

for

Until the

was been checked, Aldi and surrounding customers were asked to stay clear of the wall in question.

Morwell car theft

LATROBE Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding an attempted carjacking on Elgin Street, Morwell, on December 3, 2024 at about 8.45pm.

Police havereleased acomputer generated photograph of an individual.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the LatrobeCrime Investigation Unit on 5131 5000, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or submit an online report at: crimestoppersvic.com.au

Ex-pub owner quits industryafter complaints

From Page 1

FOLLOWING further complaints, they received a$9000 fine from the EPA in 2022, and at that point had decided to shut down the nightclub at Ryan’s Hotel.

Mr Zurcas contested the fine, resulting in himself and the company pleading guilty to the charge, receiving the latest fine previously mentioned.

The 62-year-old toldthe Express that after more than40years in theindustry, he has decided to call it quits, feeling as though he had been targeted.

Since 1977, Mr Zurcas has been involved in the liquor, entertainment, and hospitality industry.

He beganwith the family-owned GoulburnValley Hotel in Shepparton.

While under his ownership, he branched out to multiple other ventures, taking on ownership of Hot Gossip, Sundance Saloon, and Abby Road, all in Bendigo.

He would hold ownershipinall four untilthe early 1990s,before he took on Bendigo’s City Family Hotelfrom 1993 until 1997.Inthe late 1990s, he parted ways with the Goulburn Valley Hotel after 22 years.

In 2001, Mr Zurcas took ownership of Shepparton’s Fullhouse Saloon for nine years until

2010, getting back into the industry at Geelong’s The Deck in 2017. In 2019, Mr Zurcas initiallylost the battle to keep the beer garden at The Deck in Geelong, located at a164-year-oldpub, following noise complaints from residents of anew apartment complex nearby. Ayear later, the beer garden was saved after they called on the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunaltooverturnthe planning, after the council demanded it be turned into acarpark Mr Zurcas hassince sold The Deck in Geelong. His last venture, Hotel Traralgon, he owned for three years up until late 2024.

Wrong pedal: Some of the car parking areas at Moe Aldi were closed off after a customer accidentally drove into the wall Photograph: Katrina Brandon

Drowning incident at Spring Court

Pool safety: An ambulancehelicopter was calledtoSpring Cour t, MorwellonTuesday, December 17,for ayoung child who wascaught in adrowningincident. Photograph supplied

By KATRINA BRANDON

EMERGENCY services were called to aMorwell residence last Tuesday (December 17) at 1.30pm, when afour-year-old girl reportedly drowned on Spring Court.

The girl was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in acriticalcondition, where she was placed into an induced coma.

Afterthe incident, Victoria Policeand Ambulance Victoria reminded families to take caution around waterwaysoverthe warmer periods.

Advice around waterways include to ensure you have fencing and to restrict access to waterways, to actively supervise children around water, teach children watersafety skills, and to learn how to respond to emergency situations.

According to Royal Life Saving Australia (LSV), children aged zero to four-years-old are at high risk of drowning.

“Young children are naturally curious and attracted to water but do not yet understand the concept of danger, while parents can become complacent about safety around afamiliar home environment,” the LSV website states.

“In cases of (children) drowning in home pools, designated supervisors were often distracted by everyday tasks, such as aconversation with another person, answering the door or attending to another child, all of which giveayoungchild time to wander away unnoticed.

“Children must be supervised whenever around water at home. Checkyour home for water dangers and consider all hazards such as buckets, open drains and water fountains. Basic water safety rules should be established for your children.”

Releasedinthe 2023-24 Life SavingVictoria Drowning Report, which provides data and insights on drowning incidentsacross the state, across Victoria in the past year the largest increase was recorded among 15 to 24-year-olds with 10 fatalities, which is double the average of the drowning rate for the past decade.

On top of this, 25 to 44-year-olds recorded 17 deaths, the highest number of any age group and the largest death count for this cohort in 20 years.

Tragically, multicultural communities across Victoriaalsohad the highest number of drownings since records began, with 21 fatalities.

The report provides valuable information to help

LSV, its partners and policymakers to target the underlying factors behind drownings and drive fatality numbers down.

Life Saving Victoria Chief Executive,Cath Greaves hoped the report’s grim figures would motivateall Victorians to do what they can to keep themselves and their loved ones safe in the water.

“Our community collectively shuddersatthis sharp increase in drowning deaths, particularly among teenagers and young adults. We need a community-wide effort to reach out to our young people and halt this disturbing trend,” Ms Greaves said.

“We must support our multicultural communities by breaking down language and cultural barriers, building watersafety abilities and fostering role models so all Victorianscan enjoy the water safely.

“This report must harden our resolve as acommunity to arrestthe numberoflivestragically cut short, and the heartbreaking impacts that are felt far and wide from every drowning incident.”

For more informationonwatersafety, visit: royallifesaving.com.au/stay-safe-active/locations/ water-safety-at-home

Makea list andcheckittwice for fire conditions

WHILST you might be busy packing the car and planning Christmaslunch, don’tforget to check conditions and the VicEmergency app beforehitting the road this holiday season.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is urging everyone travelling this holiday season to ensure they know what fire district they are travelling into and to regularly monitor the firedangerratings for that area.

People should reconsider their travel on days of Extreme Fire DangerRating and know what you can and can’t do on aTotal Fire Ban Dayparticularly those whoare camping and having barbeques.

Do not travel to Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating

areas -your life may depend on the decisions you make during acatastrophic day.

CFA Chief Officer, Jason Heffernan said it was important to take abreak this holiday season however, no Victorian can afford to take abreak from fire safety.

“We know people have alot to think about this festive season but taking afew minutes to plan and prepare could save the lives of you and those you love,” he said.

“On hot, dryand windydays, have aback-up location to visit that is not in ahigh-risk bushfire area.

“If you’re stayinginabushfire risk area, the safest option is to leave the night before or early

in the day on acatastrophic or extreme-rated day.

“Ifyou are visiting aholiday home over the summerperiod, making sure the grass is mowed, and gutters are clean are just some of the things you can do to prepare for the fire seasonweare expecting.”

Victorians are urged to download the VicEmergency app and set up watch zones for the locationthey’re visiting. That way, the app will issue anotification for any fires or other emergency incidents in the area.

The CFA website has more resources and information on how to have ahappy and fire safe holiday season.

Traveller safety tips include:

 Learn about the Australian Fire Danger Rating System on the CFA website;

Lasertechnology to lightuplives

ON awall near the entrance of Gippsland Radiation Oncology at Latrobe Regional Health, is aplaque featuring the name ‘Professor Barry Dunstan’.

It was an honour bestowed on the then-chair of LRH’s board of directors who made asignificant contribution to the planning and development of Gippsland’sfirstcancer care centre, whichopened in 2006.

Having your name on awall however, makes no differencetoaninsidious disease likecancer.After aprostate cancer diagnosis, Barry found himself passing that plaque every day for eight weeks on his way to treatment at Gippsland Radiation Oncology.

“It wasn’t adifficult procedure but it was every day for 40 days. There are some fantastic people in there and they’ve all got incrediblesenses of humour,” Barry said.

As aboard director for 10 years, Barry lobbied governmentsand advocatedfor specialised medical careand treatments at LRH. His ‘build it and

they will come’approachwas part of astrategy to entice specialists and healthcare professionals with advanced skills to work in Gippsland.

“If you get the latest equipment here,people rate you by that. Every little advance in asystem adds shape, it adds colour, it makes it interesting and exciting for staff and the public,” Barry said.

“I think with the cancer care centre, we got the attention of locals, and people in Melbourne took notice as well. That’s important for acommunity like ours which might feel forgotten.”

While his tenure on the boardended in 2010, Barryremainsapassionate supporter of LRH and its quest to bring new services to Gippsland.

He has graciously accepted an invitation to be the communityambassador for LRH’s fundraising appeal ‘LightingupLives’ whichisaimingtoraise

$280,000 to purchase the latest laser equipment to blast away kidney and urological stones. The laser system can also be used to treat an enlarged prostate.

Current LRH board chair Linda McCoy welcomed Barry’s involvementinthe Lighting up Lives campaign.

“Barry’s trailblazing leadership set the wheelsin motion for anew era of healthcare in Gippsland, where local people could get treatment as close to home as possible. I’m pleased we have been able to deliver on avision to give people greater access to care and provide an environment where health professionals are able to grow and learn,” Linda said.

“Our quest to purchase specialised laser equipment is another step forward and will ensure patients experiencing pain and discomfort won’t have to travel to Berwick for this service.”

All donationstoLRH’s Lighting Up Lives Appeal before December 31 will be doubled thanks to the generosity of local businesses Weblease,Gippsland Motor Group and BGIS.

To donate go to the LRH website home page: lrh. com.au or call Lisa on 5173 8577.

 Check the four-day Fire Danger Period forecast for your area;

 Download the VicEmergency app for realtime updates about emergencies across Victoria;

 Reconsider travel through bushfire risk areas on ‘extreme’ days and do not travel to bushfire risk areas on days of ‘catastrophic’ Fire Danger Rating, and;

 Stay informed and, be prepared and pack some essential items so you’re ready to leave when you need to.

For all travel safety tips including the checklist, visit: cfa.vic.gov.au/ plan-prepare/before-and-during-a-fire/leave-early/ staying-safe-when-you-travel

Better mobile coverage

ONE Gippslandhas welcomed a$55 million federal government investment to boost mobile connectivity and resilience in areas vulnerable to natural disasters.

Thefunding will be available under round eightofthe Mobile BlackSpotProgram and target regional and rural Australia prone to natural disasters to improve community safety and assistance during and after emergencies.

One Gippslandspokesperson Scott Rossetti said better mobile services could save lives during disasters.

“Over the past10years, Gippslandhas endured almost 40 naturaldisasters, including bushfires, floodsand storms,”MrRossetti said.

“Gippslanders knowdisaster-ready services needtobeactivated at any time and this infrastructure must be resilient and reliable,” Mr Rossetti said.

“One Gippsland has been advocating for ongoing investment andpolicy shifts to improve telecommunicationresilienceinour region, so this funding is awelcome start,” Mr Rossetti said.

Councils and parliamentarians can suggest projects or areas needing better coverage. This information willhelp mobile network operators and infrastructureproviders when developing their funding applications.

In its submis sion to 2024 Regional Telecommunications Review, One Gippsland called for telecommunicationstoberecognisedasanessential service and for providers to be required to meet service continuity standards to prevent prolonged, widespread outages during natural disasters.

The review committee’s report delivered to the FederalGovernment this week reflected recommendations made in OneGippsland’s submission. These included:

 Continuingtofund existing StrengtheningTelecommunications Against NaturalDisasters (STAND) facilities; and,

 Minimum backup power periods for newcriticaltelecommunications infrastructureinstallations in regional, ruraland remoteAustralia.

Mr Rossetti said communication black and grey spots needed to be eliminated to ensure communities across Gippsland were disaster-ready.

“Gippsland is a popular destination with holiday makers and authorities need to reach them to communicate safety messages or warn them of dangers,” Mr Rossetti said.

“Reliable communications is an essential tool in community disaster planning, management and recovery,” Mr Rossetti said.

One Gippsland will continue to make the case for improvements to vital communication services needed to protect our community when disaster strikes,” Mr Rossetti said. Suggestions for areas or projects to be funded in round eightofthe MobileBlack Spot Program can be submitted to aproject noticeboard until February 7, 2025.

Will the show go on?

PLANS are in place to host aMoe Show next year.

Localsare hopingtosee an agriculturalshow return to the town in 2025.

However, before anything can proceed, acommittee needs to be formed.

Agricultural shows, once astaple in the Latrobe Valley, have dwindled in recent years, but if acommittee can be formed, there is renewed hope for arevival in Moe.

Agricultural showswelcome an array of attractions, and given the success of events such as the Thorpdale Potato Festival, there appears to be an appetite for large-scale community events. Those interestedinassisting theMoe Ag Show areencouraged to email info.moeshow@gmail.com, or phone 0494 323 256.

Parks Victoria review announced

By PHILIP HOPKINS

THE leader of TheNationals, Danny O’Brien, has urged the state government to revampits forestry management practices as partofthe independent review into the future of Parks Victoria.

Thereviewwas ordered after savage criticism of Park Victoria for its bans on rock climbingin large swathes of the Grampians and Arapiles in western Victoria.

Mr O’Brien, the Deputy Leader of the Coalition and the MP forGippsland South,saidParks Victoria and its chief executive had taken the fall for Labor’s incompetence, but the review was an opportunity for rethinking forestry policy.

“The Nationals have longheld concerns about forest management in this state, both under Parks Victoria in national parks and DEECA in state forests. The Nationals believe our forests need to be managed -they can’t simply be locked up and left alone,” he told the Express.

“Neighbouring landowners will tell you that national parks are ahaven for pest animals and weeds and more often than not, atinder box waitingtoexplode, just as they did during the Black Summer bushfires.”

Mr O’Brien said the Nationals had championed the concept of more Indigenous cool burningto better care for forests.

“We don’t believe Parks hasdone enough to protect our forests from wildfire,” he said.

“When it comes to public land management

under Labor, thereare toomanysuits and not enough boots on theground.The review offers an opportunity for Labor to turn around its failed approach.”

On the stategovernment’s announcement of the review, Mr O’Brien said only aLabor government wouldslash jobs and cut $95 million from an organisation as they have with Parks Victoria and then state that its ‘current operations need to be improved’.

“Nojoke! Regional Victorians know Parks has beenfailing for years because Labor is more interested in chasing Green preferencesthan managing our natural environment properly,” he said.

Parks Vict oria Chief Executiv e, Matthe w Jackson, who has run the organisation for more thanfive years, has left his position under the orders of the state government.

The LaborAllan governmenthas announced afull independent review into Parks Victoria includinga“focus on ParksVictoria’s priorities,the delivery of its objectives under the Parks Victoria Act 2018, the organisation’s administration, finances, functions and delivery model –toidentify waysthe organisationreduce red tape, improve customer service, and deliver better outcomes for Victorians”

On the last dayofParliamentfor the year, federal Coalition and independent senators and MPs signed adocument that supportsthe rock climbing community against the climbing bans.

Correction

THE Express wishes to clarify anumberof points made in last week’s story regarding Lowanna College lunch passes (‘Student uproar amid lunch pass removal’, 18/12/24, Page 2).

The hospitality business mentioned in the story do not supply stock to Lowanna College. Port strikes in the US also delayed containers carryingbranded cups normally used at the school’s on-site cafe.

The business owner was not contacted for comment, as stated in the story.

The Express would also like to stressthe business in question is one of the biggest supporters of thelocal community. There is absolutely no truth in any implication otherwise.

The Express extends an unreserved apology to the person or persons affected for any offence, inconvenience or distress caused.

Liam Durkin -Editor

In theworks: Thereis hope aMoe Show can be held next year,pendingthe formation of acommittee.

Photograph supplied

Christmasnotimetorest for pollies

By LIAM DURKIN

AFTER the week just gone in politics, borrowing from aprominent cricket commentator seems appropriate given the stateiscominguptothe Boxing Day Test.

As Bill Lawry would say: “it’s all happening.”

The pre-Christmas rush tookonadifferent meaning as the state’s two major parties looked to settle some pressing internal issues.

For Labor, the resignationoftreasurer Tim Pallasmeant acabinet reshuffle, while the Liberals remained at odds over whether or not to readmit former colleagueMoira Deeming back into the party room.

Ms Deeminghad won her defamationcaseagainst Liberal leader and Traralgon local John Pesutto a fortnight ago, but lost her bid to re-enter the party room last Friday

Thedecisionreached a14-all deadlock,meaning Mr Pesutto had the casting vote.

WhileMrPesutto declared the matter settled there and then, backlash in the daysfollowing from some members within the party room led to asecondspecial meeting scheduled for next month

“Since last Friday’s meeting, it has become clear that there is now adefinite, absolute majority of my colleagues who want this issue resolved with her (Deeming’s) readmission so that we can collectively put this behind us and concentrate,” Mr Pesutto said on Sunday.

“I againapologise to Deeming as we all work together to ensurethe Liberal Party succeeds in winning governmentinNovember 2026.”

The Oppo sit ion’s in-f ightin go ffer ed so me distraction to changes afoot within state government ranks, after Mr Pallas resigned following a decade-long stint as chief bookkeeper.

Mr Pallasleft the role as the longest-serving treasurer in the state’s history, something Premier JacintaAllan believed was worthy of

acknowledgment when news came to hand last Monday.

“As treasurer,Tim has overseenaneconomy that’s growingfaster thanany other in relative terms. Business investment has grown to the highestshare of economic activity on record in our state –and jobs growth is at arecord high,” she said.

“ButasTim hasalwayssaid, atrulystrong economy is one that works for working people –not the other way around.

“Over the past decade, Tim’s efforts have helped transform our state. Next year the Metro Tunnel will open –sowill the West Gate Tunnel.We’ve builtschools and hospitals, we’ve reformed TAFE and early education.

“Perhaps Tim’s most important achievement: his steady guidancethroughthe pandemic. The word ‘unprecedented’ is thrown around alot, but Tim stareddown achallenge unlike any we’ve ever seen before.

“He made sure that our economy was protected, businesses survived and Victorians remained in work. That our state not only weathered the storm but came through the other side.”

Others however weren’t so complimentary -the HeraldSun running acomic titled ‘Pallas in Wonderland’ in light of thestate’s record debt levels -more than every other state combined.

Nationals Memberfor Gippsland East, Tim Bull said history would not judge the outgoing treasurer well.

“While Ifind Mr Pallas to be apersonable and friendly individual and wish him all the best, the realityishehas left the state as afinancial basket case,” Mr Bull said.

“He, like Daniel Andrews, now rides off into the sunset leaving the train wreck for others.”

Stepping into the breach is Jaclyn Symes, taking on the unenviable task of inheritingastate economy

projected to be more than $150 billion in the red by June next year.

Ms Symes is the state’s first female treasurer, and previously served as Agricultural Minister. She could face abattlewinning over Gippsland farmers, who may still remember her visit to the Giffard region in 2019 to announce adrought relief package thatequated to amere $3000 per farmer.

At the time, one local farmer told this reporter even some government officials had trouble justifying thesum when the announcement was made.

Morwell MP and Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Harriet Shing will add to the list of leading ladies in cabinet, taking on the much vaunted Suburban Rail Loop portfolio.

Ms Shing is also Minister for Housing and Building, and the state government says she will continue to work in partnership with industry to build more homes in Gippsland.

When the first phase of the Suburban Rail Loop is complete, it is predicted atrip from Traralgon to Box Hill will be nearly half-an-hour quicker.

“TheSuburbanRail Loop (SRL) is much more than atransport project, with the first stage delivering 70,000 new homes where Victorians tell us they wantthem -close to jobs, transport, educationand health services,” Ms Shing said.

“The Suburban Rail Loop will mean regional Victorians no longerhave to travel into the city or drive to Melbourne to get to hospitals, jobs and universities. PassengersonV/Line willbeable to connect to SRL at transporthubsatClayton, Sunshine and Broadmeadows.”

Local Opposition howeverwere quick to lambast the appointment. Nationals Leader and Member for Gippsland South,DannyO’Briensaiditwas ironic that aregional MP had beenappointedto oversee the Suburban Rail Loop

“I look forward to Ms Shing explaining to regional

people why their roads and other infrastructure are in such adire state as she proceeds with a$200 billion-pluscity project that will deliver nothing for regional residents,” he said.

Ms Shing responded with: “While the Nationals teamed up with the Liberal Party to close regional rail lines when they were in power, we’re upgrading every major regional passenger railway line.”

With acabinetreshuffle, The Nationalssay they will continue throw down challenges to the state government.

“Jaclyn Symes will need to explain why in her government’s own words, spending on the regions has collapsed to just aquarter of what it was four years ago,” Mr O’Brien said.

“There is virtually no money left in the Regional Development portfolio and jobs in the department have been axed, along with the Latrobe Valley Authority.

“As aregional MP and treasurer, Jaclyn Symes has the opportunity to reverseLabor’s savage cuts to our regions.”

Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Member for Eastern Victoria Region, MelinaBath, said regional Victoria needs help after 10 years of neglect.

“The independentParliamentary Budget Officer has highlighted that regional Victoria is receiving just 13 per cent of state government infrastructure spendingdespite representing25per cent of the state’s population,” shesaid.

“MinisterSymes must restore funding to our regions to ensure we get our fair share.”

Ms Shing now adds Suburban Rail Loop to her ministries, along with Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts and the before mentioned Minister for Housing and Building.

Time will tell if the latest appointment is an early Christmas present or poisoned chalice.

Not overyet: Liberal leader and Traralgon local John Pesutto hascalled anothermeeting to vote on acceptingexiled MP MoiraDeeming back intothe par ty room File photograph

Busy, busy: Morwell MP Harriet Shing has added Suburban Rail Looptoher por tfolio File photograph

Historymakers: Victoria nowhas afemale Premier andtreasurer forthe firsttime ever in Jacinta Allan and Jaclyn Symes.The pair will likelyneed plentyofcoffeeworking hardtodeliver forthe state. Photograph supplied

Anglicare’sExpress Christmas delivery

ALL kids deserve to be gifted something on Christmas Day.

This year, the Express did their part for the giving season by providing aChristmas tree for the local community to placegifts underfor children less fortunate.

The towering tree housed dozens of toys during December, eagerfor an owner and to escapeits wrapping paper on the festive morning.

Gifts were passed onto Anglicare’s Morwell office last Thursday(December19) with Express staffon

hand to help transfer the piles of presents stacked under the tree onward to youngsters in need.

Anglicare Victoria Administration Coordinator, Tahlia Hopkins was grateful to thedozens of local families who found it in their hearts to give back.

“It just seems to get together each year and never fails to make children happy, it’s amazing,” she said.

Anglicare Victoria has seen donations from businesses from across Gippsland, as well as from local churches.

Eyecatching: Display judge, PeterKingwill and Mar yvale Chief Executive, Daniel Scholteswereinspired by thedisplayinthe Theatre and Recovery Ward

Maryvale gets dressed into the spirit

By KATRINABRANDON

HE was makinghis list and checking it twice to ensure the winners of the MaryvalePrivate HospitalChristmas competition were the best in the business.

Peter Kingwill, aMaryvale Private Hospital board member, visitedthe hospital’s wards on December 17 to help choose the best-decorated ward. While he wasn’t jolly Santa, he was the merry judge, enjoying all the surprises that were to come.

Trying the photo-op at reception, standing in

awe of handwritten notes from local students hanging from Theatre and Recovery, Grinch at the nurses meeting Santa in the kitchen and stepping into Santa’s lounge with sleepy Santa in the East Ward, the choice wasn’t easy.

Last year was the first year Maryvale Private Hospital held the merry competition, and North Ward stole the show.

“It’s always such ahard choice,” Mr Kingwill told the Express “Lastyear, there was no spare wall or floor space withone of the wardslaying down train tracks throughout the ward. It was great fun!”

and Chris

This year’s winner was Theatre and Recovery. As you walked in, you saw posters of awinter wonderland theme, frosted trees, soft blue lights, snowflake decorations, balloons, and more snowflakes that camewithwritten notes from schoolchildren. Most of the ward featured many blue and white decorations.

Thedecision for their win wasn’t taken lightly.

Mr Kingwill said: “Not asingledisappointment from what Isaw throughout the displays.”

“Asyou walk into Theatre and Recovery, the kids’ decorations with the messages were great. That was anice touch.”

and

Cheery: Mar yvale PrivateHospitalboard member PeterKingwill, Teoni Wedrouwicz

Coxpar ticipated in the displayatthe Maryvale Hospitalreception display.

Judge: Making alistand checking it twice, judge PeterKingwill announcedthat Theatre

Recovery does Christmas best in 2024.

Express delivery: AnglicareVictoriaAdministration Coordinator,Tahlia Hopkins with the Express’ Features Advertising Manager,JennyMannfor the handoverofdonated Christmasgifts Photograph: BlakeMetcalf-Holt

Sleepy: Aftersomuch hardworkdecorating,Santaand hislittle helpertook anap in the east ward

Double trouble: Mr Grinch stepped outto decoratethe halls of Mar yvale PrivateHospital on December 17,for an earlyChristmas mischief Photographs: Katrina Brandon

Winter wonderland: Theatreand Recovery stole the Christmas competition with their snowy children’s display, Christmas trees and Christmas spirit.

Merry Morwell welcomes hundreds

By KATRINA BRANDON

THOUSAN DS atten ded the Merry Morwel l Festival on December 12 at the Morwell Wooden Playground.

Aft er wo rk ho urs ,t he fes tiv al op en ed up to ma ny themes ,s uch as sha ring "coo l" or collector cars, am ar ke t, music, jumping

cast les, face pai ntin ga nd av ariety of games.

People arrived all cheery and in the Christmas spirit despite the glaring sun, chatting away and enjoying the ambience.

The organisers of the event were Advance Morwell Inc, who said they were happy with the turnout.

"To say the event has gone offwithabangis an understatement," they wrote on their socials.

Spirit: Morwell locals KathySimpson,Heath Foster,Alana Durham, TanyaBrowne, andAlice Foster enjoyedthe Christmas and car showatthe Morwell Wooden Park

Photographs: Katrina Brandon (unlessspecified)

Everyone from council to local students were at the event,even Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron attended.

He wrote on his Facebook: "I think the number of families and people in general thatare still enjoying all the stalls, food,cars andmusic has probably exceeded everyone’s expectations,” he said.

"What aw on derfu le vent for the Morwe ll

Prancing: Morwell’sKulani (9), Aira(9) and RajirhaAbeyrutne came ready forChristmasspirit.

community as we get closer and closer to Christmas!"

Food and entertainment was available throughout the event, with some even gettingout the picnic set to enjoy some family fun.

Other events suchasthe Traralgon Carols By Candlelight on December 15 also reported outstanding numbers.

Community:

Warmth: Christmasspirit throughoutLatrobesparkled this year with many planning theday out despitewarmer temperatures

SEC Victoria’steam of MichelleGrey,Sian Fitzpatrick, Christina Young,and Lisa Nicholls helped outatthe festival in cheer yspirits.

Jingle: Morwell Citizens Bandwerethe hit music preference for Christmastunes on December12.

Packed: Attendees cameout in droves forthe Morwell Christmas event on Thursday, December 12 Photograph supplied

Photograph supplied

Lions legend helps to revive pub

By TOMHAYES

FORMER Brisbane Lions triple premiership player, coach and current Collingwoodassistant coach, Justin Leppitsch, alongside business partners, has purchased, renovated, and reopened the pub at Port Welshpool.

Renamedthe Rusty Gurnard, it opened for business in late November 2024, giving Port Welshpool locals apub to eat, drink, and socialise for the first time since 2021.

Leppitsch has history as adeveloper after his AFL playing career came to an end in 2006, however he had never been involved commercially before. Leppitsch and business partner Adam Thorn spoketothe Express about the experienceof revamping acommercialbusiness on the Gippsland coast.

“My wife and Ihave got ahouse down there, we bought ahouse there in 2020, so Iguess we were familiar with the area,” Thorn said.

“The opportunity came along, Justin and Ihad done aprevious project together -itwas Justin’s project,and Iassisted himwith it -and we discussed doing somethingelsetogether and thisopportunity came up, Iapproachedhim and it all kind of went from there.”

Leppitsch added the challenges that surrounded the purchase, as well as the running of the business which will mostly be new to both himself, and Thorn.

“Wewere lookingaround… the property market has been adifficult one to get into from adeveloper’s perspective,” Leppitsch said.

“It really was afantastic opportunity to get the land and building… so we’ve gone from property owners to publicans, which is probablythe biggest challenge of the whole thing… the running of the pub poses adifferent challenge, but an exciting one.”

Lepp itsch never even saw himse lf owni ng commercially,evenafter his developer history, expecting himself to stay involved with “smallerend developments”.

“I was always interested to have property, but not abusiness per se, so I’m loving this part of it to have something else.”

The contract was settled by mid-December 2023, with the land settled early in June 2024, which prompted the start of the renovations.

“We did alittle work in the background leading up to June, mainly around permits with council, some of that back-end work,” Thorn said.

“We’d obviously looked at kitchens, and the bar, and crunched some numbers on certain things so we did afair bit of work in the background.

“It was really just amatter of hitting the ground running come June (2024) because we wanted to hit the target of opening by mid-November (2024) to give ourselves agood four to five weeks before Christmas to find our feet and iron out any little things before the busy summer period.”

When it came to renovations, it was amatter of all hands on deck.

“My background is kindofinproject management, so we did alot of the work thereourselves in terms of the demo and those sorts of things,” Thorn said. “Just having apresence on site to deal with tradies, electricians,plumbers and all sorts of things -thatwas the way we approached it. “We manageditourselves and did alot of the work ourselves.”

The group did want to stay in linewiththe nautical theme, which can be seen through the name ‘TheRustyGurnard’. Thorn’s wife,Michelle, did alot of the interior design.

Sinceopening, Leppitsch and Thorn have received quite abit of positive feedback thus far.

“They (Port Welshpool locals) are definitely excited,wehad afairbit of pressure from afew of the locals during the renovations to hurry up!” Thorn said.

“The feedback is pretty common… ‘Gee, it’s great to have the watering hole back’.

“Even on the opening day, just looking over the bar and into the pub itself and just seeing everyone laughing, you can tell there was agenuine excitement in getting their pub back.”

Thornisdown at the pub five days aweek at this stage, while Leppitsch is seen at the pub everynow and again pouring beers among taking photos and signing autographs.

Plans for the future have already begunnow that business is underway.

“Now that we’ve got our feet under the desk a little bit, we havestartedtotalkaboutthat. We were swimming the first few weeks just keeping up with some of the demand,” Leppitsch said.

Leppitsch, Thorn andthose behind The Rusty Gurnard have began contacting bands and other forms of live entertainment and have even been on the receiving end about hosting weddings.

Thorn added that they were keen on introducing raffles and mentionedthe potential of extending as far as creating an 8-ball team “for the locals”.

Leppitsch joins fellow Brisbane premiership player and Yarram local Josh Dunkley in pub ownership in Gippsland. Dunkley is apart of a multi-investor syndicate at the WoodsidePub, which reopened in 2022.

“They’ve done agreat jobinthat renovation… it’s awesome. You sort of want everyone in the community to thrive and win and bring more people to the area -that’s what the whole thing is about,” Leppitsch said.

PE PAAAPER!

The Latrobe Valley Express has been Informing the local community for nearly 60 years and is your best source for local news, sport , features and bargains All local, allthe time

Venture: Brisbane Lions great Justin Leppitsch andhis wifeChristine during renovationofthe Port Welshpool pub.

Photographs supplied

Location: Theexterior of the recentlyreopened RustyGurnard. Port Welshpoollocals have delighted in having apub back in town.

Young, local talent releases new hits

By AIDANKNIGHT

JACKSON Morehu is one of the more enigmatic musicians hailing from Gippsland, usinghis online moniker of ‘junk0’ as away to release his genredefying bedroom-produced songs, anonymously at first, accidently finding himself on national radio before his 18th birthday.

Blending gritty elements of indie rock, contemporary pop, and electronic music, junk0 is the kind of artist who grabs your attention by being completely different, and keeps you engaged with the stories he tells.

Now 20-years-old and based in the Warragul area, Morehu has turned heads from everywhere, with his online uploads garneringhim fans in every state of the country, acclaim from Triple J, and Insanity Radio Britain, and astringofimpressive live performances. The first of which saw the young Gippslander playatasold-out GasometerHotel in Collingwood, opening for alt-pop California artist, Bryce Bishop, amusician with over28million Spotify streams.

Anaturally shy soul, junk0 stepped away from music publicly for ayear after the release of his debut EP iLOVEGWEN* in February 2023. He returnedtothe stage last July in supportof Adelaide’s JesseMelancholy, before announcing a double-single set for release December 13. This last release having seen Morehu sweep up placement in two Spotify editorial playlists -the homerun for every independent artist in the digital age, there is much anticipation within his cult following for this long-awaited follow-up.

“The break happened really organically, artists don’t want to rewrite the same songs so there was alot of separating from the previous music."

“The new tracks are about learning to be happy in yourself, and the spontaneity of living. I’m back to making fun music that Ijust want people to hear.”

In an area where musical resourcesmight not be abundant when compared to those of ametro area, especiallyinamore ‘digital’ or unconventional soundsuch as his own, Morehu has used the internet as junk0 to create his own space in what can be abrutal and self-serving industry.

“The alternative sound was something distinctly different, especially in Gippsland, so anybody I knowwho did music didn’t get it and thatwas tough for awhile buteventually Ifound my way of sticking out to be easier”, Morehu reflects, perhaps being

more memorable servinghim better in attracting fans.

“I had afeeling of ‘I'm just gonna do this and I don't care’.I’ve learned that not fitting in made me fit in anywhere, in aweird way, and it made me focus on building the online audience first," he said, which has enabled junk0toreach some strong core listeners in Perth, Adelaide, and the US.

He attributes alot of his critical success to these online communities. It was also this musical isolationthatcausedhim to catchthe eye of someofhis most influential supporters, however.

Triple JUnearthed Music Director, Dave Ruby Howe describes him as “magnetic”, attributing the young artist’s “outsider mentality” to his charm early on, when reviewing his 2021 single no sympathy

“What’s more is he seems pretty driven too and he’s going to make thishappen for himself one way or the other,” Howe added.

Morehuwas afresh-faced 17-year-old at the time, avery impressive age to have asong you made in your bedroom spoken aboutlikethat by someone of that calibre, let alone played on national radio

“I went from nobody in the area knowing I made music, to being approached at my brother’s basketball games by people saying they enjoy the songs, and receiving messages online like‘heyI saw you in Kmart, keeping making cool music’, and that really warms my heart," he said.

His latest release, aptly titled 2songs iwanted out,deals with Morehu’slived experiences of coming out of his shell, and pursuing “what feels good”.

Usually known for his honest depiction of young relationships and growing up in asmall town, over ahusky voice and samples of voicemails from those closetohim, junk0’s songs makeithard not to be drawn into his experimental, youthful

narrative -one we wouldn’thave, had he come from anywhere else.

And while the accolades are impressive for an independent artistsuch as himself, his unique brand of musichasn’t been withoutchallenges starting out. Remaining close to where the music began stays important to Morehu through all this.

“All the music has been made in Gippsland so if I’m ever anywhere else Ican throw it on and feel right at home," he said.

Part of this for Jackson means making junk0 a family affair.

“My dad, Reece, has been amusician all my life, and has contributed some great guitar work to a bunch of my songs, including one of the new ones, and it really makes the track," he added.

The new dou ble -si ngl ef rom junk 0, ‘2 songs iw ant ed out’, can be hea rd on all streaming platforms.

Homegrown talent: MusicianJackson Morehu is at home in Gippsland, wherehebegan his music journey as ateenager.

Photograph supplied

ONE POINTERS

1. Michael Phelps is an Olympic athlete known for this sport?

2. Which jazz singer sings the song “What AWonder ful World”?

3. What is it called when birds fly south (warmer climates) for the winter?

4. Quasimodo is afictional character from which novel/movie?

TWOPOINTERS

5. In which U.S. state is Are 51 located?

6. What is the French word for awoman?

7. Siberia makes up over 50% of what countr y?

8. True or false: Thomas Edison discovered gravity

THREE POINTER

9. Which poet wrote the iconic poem “The Raven”?

10. Who said that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”?

11. What is Sodium Chloride referred to as?

12. Where is the Golden Gate Bridge located?

FOUR POINTER

13. What’sthe name of the song that Friends’ Phoebe Buffay known for?

14. To be auniversal donor,what does your blood type have to be?

FIVE POINTER

15. I’ll give you five mythological gods, and you give me the element or ideal they represent. One point for each answer: 1. Thor 2. Mars 3. Osiris 4. Poseidon 5. Bacchus

10: Mar oppins;yP 11: Salt; 12: San Francisco, CA; 13:Smelly

1: Swimming; 2: Louis Armstrong; 3: Migration; 4: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame; 5: Nevada; 6: Femme; 7: Russia; 8: False, it was Isaac Newton 9:

Localmembers sendtheirbestwishes

DarrenChester

Federal Member forGippsland

CHRISTMAS is my favourite time of the year in Gippsland.

Iwillbespendingasmuch timeasI can with my family and friends. We will share ameal, laugh about the good times we’vehad throughout the year and also remember the family members who aren’t with us to celebrate the occasion.

In our increasingly busy lives,manyofuswill have achancetocatch our breath: reflect on the year that has passed,and makeplansfor the future. Please spare athought for the workers in our health and emergency services, or critical industries, who will be doing shifts over the Christmas period to keep us safe andkeep the lights on. Thank you for your contribution to our region.

As aParliamentarian, it’s often tempting to complain about the things our community doesn’t

have, but Istrivetobeaspositive as possible about the things we do have.

We should always strive for improvements but it doesn’t hurt to consider the old saying about remembering to count our blessings.

In Gippsland, we have many ‘blessings’ including extraordinary natural resources; astrongsense of community spirit; hardworking professional people and volunteers; and many quality facilities andservices.

We are aresilient and resourceful region which makes an enormous contribution to the wealth of our nation.

We stand abetter chance of prosperity as acommunity if we can capture the spirit of the festive season and work together throughout the year.

One practical opportunity at this time of the year is to shop locally for Christmas presents, purchase locally grown produce or hire local service providers and tradespeople.

Iunderstand that cost-of-living impacts can tempt

Petstock Traralgon to help those faced with trauma through animal therapy

CHRISTMAS time often follows with multiple charities throughout the year, including Petstock Traralgon, which is taking part in acampaign to help raise $827,000 for charities across the country This year, the charity of choice is Lort Smith whichprovides comfort and relief to Victorians experiencing illness, adversity, loneliness and the long-term impacts of trauma through animal therapy.

One hundred per cent of the funds raised will be split evenlybetween eight organisations nationwide, including VIC charitypartner Lort Smith, which will support the expansion of the Lort Smith Animal Therapy Program.

The Lort Smith Animal Therapy Program coordinates volunteers taking their specially assessed andapproved dogs to visits to hospitals, aged-care facilities,youthservices and other settings across Melbourne. The free community service aims to improve the wellbeing of Victorian patients and residents throughpositive interactionswith visiting volunteers and their dogs.

Jessica Curtis, Head of Petstock Foundation, says, “We know Christmas can be adifficult time for the most vulnerable people in our community, with many people experiencing even more financial strain, lonelinessand increased anxiety during this time. At the Petstock Foundation, we understand the magic that pets and animals can bring to our lives, and our aim is to strengthen the rewarding bond between pets and people.

"ThisChristmas, we are asking our Victorian community to give the gift of abetter future to those in need. PurchaseaPetstock Foundation gift or product in-store or online, and 100 per cent of fundsraisedinNovember and December will be donated to our charity partners.”

One in three people report feeling lonely during the Christmas season, and the high cost of living can further isolate people who are already experiencing hardship -it’soften people with adisability or limited independence who are

some families to by-pass local shops in search of so-called ‘bargains’ but the long-term cost to our communities needs to be taken into account.

Small businesses are the first to donate goods to local community and sporting organisations as well as supporting other fundraising initiatives, so it only makes sense to support them in return.

The best present we can give ayoung Gippslander thisChristmas is achancetoget ajob in theirown community.

Finally, Iwould liketourge everybody to take care on our roads this festive season.

With the higher than normal traffic volume on local roads, we will have to be patient as it may take longer than usual to reachour favourite Gippsland destinations. Allow alittlebit of extra time for your journey and make sure you arrive safely.

Iwisheveryone ahappyand safe Christmas and ahealthy, prosperous New Year.

DannyO’Brien StateMemberfor Gipps South

ANOTHER year has flown by, and Iastakea moment to reflectonthe year that was Iwould like to express my gratitude for another year as theMember for Gippsland South. Thank you to each and every person who helps make Gippsland Souththe wonderful place that it is to workand live. Iwould also liketoconvey my gratefulness to those who will sacrifice time with their loved ones in service to our community.

Please know that you are appreciated and thought of warmly. Please help ease the burden on our emergencyworkers by abiding by road rules, playing safe by the water, drinking responsibility and showing care for one another.

Iextend my sincerest wishes for asafeand festive Christmas and New Year to all. May we all enter the New Year with peace, love and hopeinour hearts.

impacted more thanothers.Petstockresearch has shown that 81 per centofpeople feel that having apet provides emotional support, and 95 per cent agree it improves their mentalhealth, so it’s even more important to support those who

find sight, confidence, independence and empowerment through pets and animals when celebrating Christmas.

For more informatio n, go to: petstock.com.au/pages/the-christmas-project

Charity: PetstockTaralgonistaking par tinacampaign to helpraise $827,000 forcharities across the countr y.

Photograph supplied

‘Wise Words’sharedatdairyevent

By KATRINA BRANDON

FROM all areas of farming, about 175 women (and afew men) attended the Women In Dairy Discussion Group's (WIDDG) third annual endof-year lunch on November 29. The lunch allowed womentomeetother farmers, hear different farm experiencesand socialise.

Held at the Moe Racing Club, the group got to hear from afarming panel, includingThelma Hutchison, Lyn Hornby, and Chris Anderson, who have had their fair share of farming experiences, following the theme of the day ‘Wise Words’.

Prior to the panel, WIDDG co-founder Allison Potterand coordinator Belinda Griffin opened the day with adiscussion of the previous year’s event. In 2023, the group competed to create a

logo visually representing the group. The winner was vet Alex Boileau.

Leading the panel discussion was GippsDairy’s Farm Engagement Lead, Kim Price.

One of the main topics of discussion was the challenges of the past in dairy, as well as developments in dairy, and how countrypolitics has changed.

The women on the panel reminisced about the milk price crisis in 2008 and how they struggled but could get through it or break even.

Milk pricing was aprominentissue they had to deal with, but they mostly talked about how the weather could impact the farm and how they could work. Ms Hutchinson reminisced about the weather, talking about havingtofetchcows in flash floodingtomilk whileher husband could not.

During the discussion of the flash flood,Ms

Hutchinson joked that cows are more intelligent than sheep in bad weather situations like the one she had previously experienced, which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed.

While things have become more technologically advanced, Ms Anderson reminded the crowd that social sports haven’tchanged much. During her farming years, her husband was big on cricket, leaving people to help out during cricket days.

“You manage the things you want in your life,” she said.

“You are independent -fit your lifearound the farm.”

After the panel, the women and two men who joined the day enjoyed lunch, during which each farmer could network further.

Overall, Ms Griffin was pleased with the number

of ladies who attended the event last month.

“It’s important to provideopportunities for dairying womentoconnect,and we’re thrilledthat a record number took the time to come along and be involved this year,” she said.

“Hopefully events like these continue to grow as these networks become stronger.”

The WIDDG was founded in 2007byAllison Potter and aco-worker that use to work with her at Leongatha's Murray Goulburn to support women in dairy and other agricultural positions. Originally founded to support during hard times, the group now meets for events throughout the year and is now connected with GippsDairy.

For more information on WIDDG, go to: dairyaustralia.com.au/gippsdairy/about-us/ gippsdairy-programs/gippsdairy-discussion-groups

Changing of the guard forwomen’sgroup

THE International Women’s Group (IWG) celebrated the end of another successful year with their final lunch and get together for 2024.

At the annual meeting in October, the president, Soula Kanellopoulos stooddown from her position and anew president waselected by the organisation.

Ms Katherine Tang will now take over the role of president.

At the end of year luncheon, the membership of the International Women’s Groupshowed its appreciation of Soula’s dedication and commitment to the group by conferring life membership upon her. The group is closetoSoula’s heartand she will forever be associatedwith it and its achievements. Soulawas the first president of the International Women’sGroup in the Latrobe Valleywhenfounded on March 3, 1996, 28-and-a-half-years ago.

The groupincludes women of all ages and from any background. Its purpose is to provide a forum for women of various cultural background to socialise,learn together and help each other when necessary.

Overthe years the InternationalWomen’s Group has provided information on health issues,

assistance and support in navigating Centrelink and other government departments as well as opportunities to socialise.

Soula has given structure and leadership to the organisation. Shehas been atireless workerfor the International Women’s Group and has initiated manyprogrammes for the benefit of members She started the computer training program, Public InternetAccess Program (PIAP) thatwas launched in 2009.

This was so successful 870 attendees and 2250 hours of learning were recorded in one year. At the end of each learning session, aculturallunch, magicallyproduced by the manygreat cooksamong the attendees, was shared.

Soula has been the recipient of many awards for her volunteer services;

-Ambassadors Award for Services to the community;

-Victorian Award of Excellence for Multicultural affairs, presented at Government House, Melbourne;

-A medal and certificate for contribution to community and women’s services; and,

-Arural women’s leadership award for excellence

Due to her tireless efforts in promoting IWG, the organisation received aLatrobe City CouncilAustralia Day award for Services to the Community. Underher leadership, the IWG also attained ‘Welcome and Age Friendly’ status from Latrobe City Council.

Soula has led from the front on every step of IWG journey.

Shehas not been afraid of hard work and her efforts on behalf of the association’s members cannot be underestimated.

Her experience and knowledge have contributed to acohesive and thriving group of members.

All members of the International Women’s Group wish to take this opportunity to voice our sincere appreciation and to thank Soula for her commitment and dedication over the past 28 years.

Ms Tang is looking forward to the next 12 monthsinher leadershiprole and invites Latrobe Valley Women to check out what the IWG has to offer on Facebook at: facebook.com/ InternationalWomensGroupLatrobeCity

Experience: Thelma Hutchison, LynHornby, and Chris Anderson shared their women in dairy stories at theWomen In DairyDiscussion Group’send of year lunch. Photographs: Katrina Brandon

Congratulations: Soula Kanellopoulos receives lifemembership to the IWG.

Cheery: Rosemary, Libby,Jothi, Mary, Rose

Photographs supplied

Firsthand: Thereisn’t much ChrisAnderson, LynHornbryand Thelma Hutchison haven’tseen on thefarm.

Familyevent: Marina Legg with childrenJackand Harryand Robert Clough.

Community Corner with Liam Durkin

Heritage walk

WITH the assistance of grants from Latrobe City and EnergyAustralia, another section of the all weather pathway of the Gippsland Heritage Walk at Kernot Lake in Morwell has been completed.

The Gippsland Immigration Park Inc Committee has been working on the completion of the path around the lake for some time and around half the walk is now concreted.

This greatly enhances the amenity of the area, but moreimportantly,makesitmore accessible for those with mobility issues.

The committeeisveryappreciativeofthe support from Latrobe City and EnergyAustralia and looks forward to completing further sections as new funds become available.

Bridgeresults

TRARALGON Bridge Club results:

Monday, December 16: 1st Don Tylee and Robin Hecker (77.5 per cent); 2nd Monika Cornell and Ken Tierney (72.5).

Tuesday, December 17: N/S 1st Helen McAdam and Moira Hecker(62.07);2nd Kay Baxter and AnneMoloney(59.87).E/W 1st Geoff Dixon and John Marsiglio (57.6); 2nd Kaye Douglas and Roshni Chand (56.47).

Thursday, December 19: N/S 1st Ken Tierney and Roxy Lamond (70.31); 2nd Rob Graham and Glenis Lohr (60.31). E/W 1st Kaye Douglas and Roshni Chand (55.1); 2nd Fred Kaminski and Heather Henley (53.33).

If you would like to playorlearn more about Bridge, phone Traralgon Bridge Club President, Greg Nicholson on 0419 365739.

Tramps ride

TRAMPS (Traralgon and Morwell Pedallers Inc)met on Saturday, December 14 for an evening ride from the Churchill Hotel for the wind-upChristmas dinner.

Then,with decoratedbikes the group toured Churchill admiring the amazing number of high quality illuminated decorations in town.

This was the last ride of an awesome year of adventures riding around country Victoria.

TRAMPS' next ride will be early in February. The group's half-year program will appear on the website and Facebook page in coming days.

TRAMPS welcomes new riders.

For more information, visit: tramps.org.au or call club contacts Paul on 0459 823 422 or Vance (0403 662 288).

Get your copy

THE latest Gazette published by the Trafalgar &District Historical Society is on sale now at the Trafalgar Newsagency and the Trafalgar Post Office.

For $4 you can read about the bushfires of 1898 when fires raged through whole areas of Gippsland,with some incrediblestories of bravery.

Also within the Gazette is the Changing Face of Trafalgar 2023-2024.Somanychanges for such asmall town.Lots of holiday reading to be enjoyed.

The T&DHS will be in recess until January 31, 2025 when working bees resume.

The first general meeting for 2025 will be held on February 21 at 2pm in the society’s rooms at 30 Contingent Street, Trafalgar.

Funand fitness: Traralgon Harriers

President PhillMayer,local triathlon champion MollyIrvine andFederal Memberfor Gippsland Darren Chester joined in the fun forthe HarriersChristmas Run. The noveltyevent in KayStreet, Traralgon attracted about100 runners.

Local chess

CAREFUL defence helped Peter Bakker complete the round undefeated at Latrobe Valley Chess Club.

Ben Jackson had alatestart and claimed two wins as well as one draw.

Ian Hamilton won three games and gave up the advantage in key clashes.

The sacrificialattacks worked well for Brodie Newman in two games.

Jack Holme accepted the rewards from recent study to overcome the opponents in two games

Tactics helped Hannah Jackson gain some advantages, but the oversights of the opposition threats were too weakening.

Steve Ahern forced two victories but made mistakes to lose three games.

Raym ond Mabilia joi ned the con tests and showed potential with some creative technique.

Cliff Thornton providedhelp to new players learning to visualise tactical themes.

Phone Cliff Thortonon0413330 458 or Ian Hamilton (0400 221 649) for further chess details.

Youcan be apartof Community Corner

IF you are acommunity group and have any news items you need publicised, feel free to email us at news@lvexpress.com.au

You can address the correspondence to Editor, Liam Durkin.

Pleasewrite 'Community Corner' in the subject line and nothing else.

Deadline is Friday 9am to appear in the following Wednesday issue.

The generosity shown by members of our local community has once again been amazing!

To see the overwhelming number of gifts for the less fortunate local children both under and surrounding the Christmas Tree certaintly shows the kind-heartedness of those we live with, and work with, in our local communities, side by side every day

Feel the warmth on Christmas Day as you wake up knowing that you really have made adifference this Christmas. THANK YOU

Bright: TRAMPS riders visited Christmas lights in Churchill to seeout the year Photographs supplied

‘House’ the economygoing?

THE statistics presented in DavidBraithwaite’s story (‘Jury out after Labor decade’, Latrobe Valley Express 18/12/24) should be awakeupcalltoevery Australian, particularly the 20,000 Gippslanders who chose to voteLaboratthe last federal election

Given the alarming economic news announcements coming out of Canberra almost daily, they mustbewringing their hands in frustrationatthe dismal performance of the Albanese government as it lurches from one disaster to another.

So what needs to be done? Australians who are beingsaddledwith further cost-of-living increases needtorealise thatthese are nothappeningby accident, but as the result of flawed government policies.

If you are renter,for instance in aregional area, according to the latest Homes Victoria June Quarter Rental Report, your rent increased by six per cent this year. In the city it was 10.9 per cent. The average rent paid by Victorians is now $450 per week. So what is triggering this?

Last year it was revealed that Australia had welcomed around 2000 migrants each day, swelling our population by 659,000 that year. In 2022 our intake was 765,900. To be fair, attempts havebeen made recently to normalise these arrivals but these have failed. In February 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed that our monthly immigration intake had exceeded100,000 forthe first time in ourhistory.

Now consider that all these people need to be housed somewhere. This places pressure on existing housing stocks; the interaction of low supply and high demand in turn pushes up rents. To

From the editor

THANK YOU to all who contributed letters to the editor in 2024.

Fromthe regulars to first timers, you have all provided asnapshot of public sentimentperhaps the most valuablepartofany letters page.

Lettersare an important fabric of the newspaper, and as the Age accurately describes: “useful in the toolbox of democracy”. The passion of readers is clear when Iscour the emails (and the occasional handwritten note), and it is refreshing to see asolid majority of readers are engaged with news stories we publish.

Conversely, the letters section has also brought to light issues that would have otherwise gone unreported.

For this reason, Ihope there has beena number of good outcomes for locals.

Admittedlya few letters had to be toned down, but in an age where people seem to be told more and more whatthey can and can’t think, Ifeel it’s important to have a space where people are (within reason) free to express their views.

With this in mind, Idaresay afew of the regularsbecame familiarwith peoplethey otherwise wouldn’t have (for better or for worse).

Therewas ahealthy influx of letters this year, so much so there was often weeks where the usual two pageallotment neededtobe spilled over.

It was also humbling to hear from various readerstheir enjoyment of the letters section, noting it was ‘the first page they turned to’.

This was my second full year in the editor’s chair, and each yearthe aim has been to improve in some tangible aspect. There can be little doubt our localfootball coverage has improved markedly in recent years,and it would be fair to say letters have followed suit. Moving forward, like many media outlets, Iforesee the biggest challenge for this page will be the continued deciphering of actual facts from merely convenienttruths presented as facts. It is great there are now so many news services available -not so great peoplecan cherry-pick information whenthey feel uncomfortable with the existing answer.

As Hillary Clinton put it in the wake of her presidentialdefeat: “everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but everyone is not entitled to their own facts”.

This has formed the basis of my line of thinking whenever going through letters. Remember, agreat letter is topical, informative and has aclear point of view.

Keep sharpening your pencils in 2025.

Liam Durkin Intrepid Express Editor

overcome this, the Albanese government subsequently announced it was going to build1.2 million homes. However given thatalmost3000Australian construction companies have collapsed in the last 12 months it is clear thatthis ambitioustargetwill not be able to be met, and this is already apparent with plummetinghousing construction approvals Parties like One Nation are advocating for a reduction in immigration to asustainable level whichwill reduce pressuresonrents, but which will also take the heat off infrastructure e.g. hospitals, schools, transport systemsetc.

The alternative?I guess Albocould always consider popping some granny flats out the back of his new $4.3 million beachside mansion.

Greg Hansford Newborough

Views not news

FIRSTLY, thank you so much to contributors DanCaffrey, John Gwyther, HayleySestokas and Wendy Castles for all providing much needed and appreciated counterbalance (Latrobe Valley Express Opinion,18/12/24) to the regularSky News

After Dark contributors in the Express

My reference, (‘Guess who’s back’, LVE 11/12/24), to the “lazy and disrespectful”, is again painfully prevalent this (last) week.

Thank you John Gwyther (‘No comparison’, LVE 18/12/24) for beating me to the punch in pointing out to Joseph Lis his self servingbut fallacious comparison of the Lucas Heights (NSW) plant with proposed modern nuclear power plants.

Of course Joseph doubles downonthis theory (‘Chinese elephant’, LVE 18/12/24), and naturally Patricia Correa repeats what Joseph says, (‘Fear yes, but no deaths’, LVE 18/12/24).

Will either now acknowledge their mistake, or do the usual Trump-like “never concede”?

Josephofcourse has no interest, in his obviously extensiveGoogling, of finding anything that doesn’t fit his agenda. Patricia on the other hand, doesn’t bother with research. For your information Patricia, the unproven safe but proven uneconomic Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania closeddown in 2019.

As we know, Joseph Lis loves an analogy, but sadly most are irrelevant and therefore distractions to his arguments -suchasthe nonsensical comparison of the demiseofWalhallawell over acenturyago,(‘What’s old could be new’,LVE 27/11/24), with the current denial of agold mining company’s application to build adam in NSW, and the phasing out of coal mining in the Latrobe Valley.

But of course Joseph is apragmatic economic rationalist, which means nothing should get in the way of jobs. Not Indigenous heritage, not cultural heritage, not environmental protection and definitely not climate change mitigation.

In that vein, if a‘Eureka’ find of acoal seam is found under the Morwell Rose Gardens, meaning lots of jobs, Ipresume it’s fullsteamahead Joseph? However, among all these fallacious, blinkered, selective and self indulgent epistles from Mr Lis, he of juvenile nicknamesfor politicians he despises, and of enough scorn for climate science to actually publish an unqualified “little book” of his beliefs, his worst sin is this: to categorically state that“it is incumbent for all Australians...tovote out these economy wrecking economic vandals...”, (27/11/24), whichleads me to advise that it is incumbent for all Australians to think for themselves before voting, whilst ignoring the shrill and incessant ranting of one who speaks only for himself.

Next, Nicholas Tan, (‘First move’, LVE 18/12/24), and far be it for me to defend aLiberal politician, butJohnPesutto,who seems adecent man, has been found by acourt, rightly or wrongly, to have

defamedMoira Deeming, but to suggest his actions were“sexist and racist”isunfounded andtherefore outrageous.

Finally, AnthonyWasiukiewicz,(‘Debate persists, time to move forward’, LVE18/12/24), “learning and understanding” on the opinions page is anoble ideal, but... and perhaps “potshots and dunking of other contributors” does need “to be turned down anotch”, but such vigorous exchanges, for better or worse, form abackbone to most letters to the editor pages, and my bet is they are well read, and therefore well appreciated by Mr Editor.

John Duck Trafalgar

No to nuclearand gas

IWOULD like to congratulate Latrobe Valley Express Editor, Liam Durkin on his article, ‘Peaceful protest against nuclear,’ published in the Express on Wednesday, December 11, 2024.

As one of the participants in this demonstration, Ican confirm that Liam has described the event and its attendees in accurate detail.

There was however one glaring mistake in Liam’s report.Inthe articlehestatedthatLabor has a ‘renewables only’ approach to transition when in fact Labor’scurrent policy is, disappointingly, to keep asignificant amount of methane gas in the energy grid. This is despite the fact that high gas prices, caused by Russia invading Ukraine, have sent up electricity bills. We pay the current global pricesfor gas because our gas producers chargeus what theycould sell it for overseas.

Labor is seeking to lock in climate wrecking gas as ‘crucial’ to energy generation to 2050 and beyond. Labor will also continue to seek out new reserves and exploit them, something the international energy agency called for an end to back in 2021.

Meanwhile, this year in Australia renewables produced almost 40 per cent of the country’s total electricity supply. Renewable energy paired with storage like batteries and hydro, is the cheapest and by far the quickest way to replaceold coal fired power stations.

We don’t need nuclear or gas in ourfuture energy mix.

Jane Sultana Moe

Woke mind virus

IREFER to the article of Wendy Castles titled ‘Divisive politics: local, state, and federal’ (‘LVE, 18/12/24) in which she accuses Opposition leader Peter Dutton of being “divisive” following his brave decision to standinfront of the Australian flag during his press conferences, as opposed to Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese standing in front of three flags: the Australian flag combined with the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flags.

Ms Castleshas learnedlittle from the Voice referendum, in which 60 per cent of Australians overwhelmingly rejected race-based politics.

Accordingly, Ms Castles labelling PeterDuttonas divisive is abit rich,especially given that it has been the practice of every previous Australian Prime Minister since Federation to stand in front of the Australian flag only, Labor no less than Liberal.

This land belongs to all Australians, black and white alike, and one-sided articles likeMsCastles’ undermines Australia’s unity.

Thus, the pandemic we will never defeat is the woke mind virus of identity politics infecting institutions and far too many of our citizens.

By way of footnote, Ms Castles’ veiled swipe at Latrobe City Mayor, Dale Harriman is alow blow indeed. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many other unbiased Gippslanders, Mayor Harriman

is doing an outstanding job anddeserves to be respected rather than unfairly criticised.

Joseph Lis Morwell

Price tag

Iwill admit, Ioften gloss over articles relating to the nuclear/renewables debate.

Iamofthe opinion that renewables are the best way forward. My question is, what about ongoing costs?

It seems to me that nuclear has massive costs in comparison, including but not limited to workers, maintenance, security, etc. Most importantly, in this often drought plagued country, the cost of cooling and the massive cost of water consumption.

Karen Drake Morwell

Nothing new

HERE we go again, another state treasurer with no financial qualifications to take charge of our treasury.

Pallas has gone downthe rabbit hole and Jacinta Allan will be next.

They inherited $22 million and multiplied it to $182 million -great maths.

Ikeep praying for adouble dissolution to save us from these lunatics.

Will we survive the next two years?

Patricia Correa Traralgon

We arepayingthe price

HOW much more financial pain is the Victorian Labor government going to inflict on us during acost-of-living crisis before they realise enough is enough?

We are being hit with an increase in fire levies. I also hear that home and car insurance is likely to rise by an estimated 15 per cent next year. Why are theseincreasesnecessary? It is because the state government is financially incompetent and indifferent to the pressures that they are putting on us.

Contrary to what Labor politicians might think, the average person doesn’t have unlimited funds to pay for their incompetence.

Let’s not forget Jacinta Allan’s proposal and the unnecessary cost of changing fromgas to electricity appliances, with some estimates beingaround $30k because she seems to think we are all well paid like politicians.

Premier, stop thewaste and stop expecting us to bail youout of trouble.

Allan has forfeited the right to be Premier and must resign before she can hurt anyone else.

Relying on the Victorian LNP is pointless since they are more concernedwithin-fightingthan acting like aviable government in waiting.

Patrick Ansell Morwell

Have your say

THE Latrobe Valley Express welcomes letters to the editor.

Preference will be given to brief, concise letters which address local issues.

The editor Liam Durkin, reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of space and clarity, and may refuse to publish any letter without explanation.

The Express doesnot publishletters from anonymous contributors.

Letters must include aphone number, email address and the author’s hometown for purposes of substantiating authenticity. Readers are entitled to aright of reply to a letter directed at them.

While healthy debate is encouraged, the editor will use his discretion if he believes letters are becoming slagging matches between writers.

The views expressed in letters to the editor are thoseofthe writers, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Latrobe Valley Express management or staff.

The letters section is designed to allow people to have their say, and not be hijacked for political agendas.

Letter sr egarding relig ion will not be published.

Emailletters to news@lvexpress.com.au and include ‘Letter to the Editor’ in the subject line. Deadline for letters is Thursday 3pm.

Hip Pocket Morwell on the national stage

By AIDANKNIGHT

IN ahumbling trip to Cairns forthe 2024 Hip Pocket NationalConference, Morwell’sown Latrobe Valley store has come home strong, returning with the Victorian State and National Franchiseeof the Year.

Beating out competing storesGold Coast, Hilton, and Central Coasts in the national section, receiving the award wasabig deal for director Alfi Prestipino, whose community involvement within the business has not gone unnoticed in recent years.

Contributing extensively to localevents such as the Biggest Ever BlokesBBQ and Gippsland Motorcycle Toy Run each year, while sponsoring six local sporting clubs, has all added to the spirit and reputation of the store -alarge component of what earned them the two awards. The accolades required acomprehensive 12-month evaluation, in which the store was assessed on targets of compliance,customersatisfaction,performance, branding, and community engagement. This last item is likely where the Latrobe Valley store shone the most.

“Thisaward is clear recognition that we are heading in the right direction,” Mr Prestipino said. "I cannot thank our team enough for their tireless commitment. Fromthe customer service team delivering friendly and professional service every day, to the sales team going above and beyond

to meet targets, to our marketing team creating innovative ways to engage the community -every rolehas been vital in helping us securethis award. It is their pride in their work, their passion for excellence have made this possible."

Thedual victory is no small feat, with the Hip Pocket franchise now counting over 60 stores nationwide, highlighting the quality of serviceand community-mindset found withinthe Morwell store and its staff to be at the top of this list. Prestipino cites community engagement as akey part of their formulafor success, and to maintainingalocal business overall.

“Although we already consider our team winners, this award serves as an external validation of the values and work ethic we uphold,” he said.

But the hard work doesn’t stop now, as Hip Pocket Latrobe Valleyisalwayslooking onwardstofurther goals and new successes.

“It motivates us to keep improving, growing, and setting new standards in our industry.”

The journey to this recognitionhasn’t been without its challenges, however. With one in five shops in Morwell empty, maintaining asteady business in the current cost-of-livingclimate is impressive enough, as residents are less and less unlikely to spend money if they can avoid it.

This, paired with the staffing issues following the COVID-19 pandemic,haveproven notable hurdles

over the past few years, but Mr Prestipino and his co-director Gareth Williams persevered alongside their high-qualitypersonnel throughitall, to create athrivinglocal business thatservesregions beyond.

The Morwell store has taken on multiple interstate contracts,reaching areas in Queensland, South Australiaand Western Australia, with aparticularlybig jobservicing industriesin Karratha, which in turn allows them to bring in more employees and work intothe Latrobe Valley “Bringing in business that wouldn’t exist locally is agreat thing to be able to do,” Mr Prestipino continued, “and has allowed us to see some serious growth as abusiness, making it possible for us to donate in excess of ahundred thousand dollars backinto our local communityeach year -that’s something we’restoked to be able to do.”

The store’s willingness to take on these larger operations has been key to its growth, expanding from a3 00²m shopfro nt in 2013 ,t oi ts currentpurpose-built 2500²m building -which Mr Prestipino says is now “busting at the seams, despite us thinking we would struggletouse all the space”. He also references the local power industriessupportand trade, whosebusiness was akey component to getting it on its feet in the early days, and remains strong to this day.

“This award is clear recognition that we are heading in the rightdirection through allthe hardwork

Latrobe Valleyvictors: Theaward-winningteam at Hip PocketLatrobe Valley

Purplehaze descendsonStPaul’s

PURPLE Day at St Paul’sAnglican Grammar School, ledbyYear 6students, united students for an event of fun, fundraising and purpose in support of Cancer Council.

Thanks to the meticulous planning of the Year 6 students in organising an excitingarray of activities, the event wasa huge successwith studentsdonning purple attire adding to the colourful atmosphere. The much-anticipated wet sponge-throwing contest was met withlaughter and excitement,with

unwavering support from educators who amiably had the sponges hurled at them.

Although the Year 6studentsadvocated for agood cause among their peers, the event also served to strengthenstudents’ health, happiness andcommunity spirit.

In conjunction with the Year 6RelayFor Life event, students have raised close to $3000 for the Cancer Council.

No stalling for markets led by junior school students

YEAR5students at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School have personalised their learning journey by organising Market Day stalls as part of their Humanities (Economics) area of learning. In groups,students developed market stall concepts,craftingawide range of products to sell to other year levels. The project allowed students to explore key concepts such as consumer wants and needs, goods and services,resources, scarcity, consumer choices and advertising.

Educators provided students with asense of purpose and reinforced the importanceofcommunity contribution as all profits raised will be donated to Kids Helpline.

From infinity cube fidgets to bath bombs to Christmas decorations, there were so many different product conceptsthat showcasedthe students’ creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. Studentsreflectedonwhatthey had learntwhile creatingprofit and loss statements.The day was a huge success, with $1600 raised for Kids Helpline. Market Day was not only afun and educational collaborative experience, but also served as a reminder of the importance of giving back to the community.

The Year 5studentsfinished the unit with a sense of accomplishment and an understanding of how businesses can benefit agood cause.

Page 16 —The Latrobe Valley Express, Monday, 23 December, 2024

Head to toe: Head of St Paul’s Traralgon Junior School, TraceyKing, inspiring students to be involved by wearing herpurple outfit.

Vision: Mikkayla, Cassandra, Estelleand Neave with their Dream Catcher stall.

Dressed forthe occasion: Year 5students Rachelle and Harper join in the spirit of Purple Day Purple is afruit: Albaand Baylea enjoying Purple Day.

Top: St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School, Year 6student Jetson inspiring other students to get involved in Purple Dayactivities by wearing his purple hat.

Season: Faith, Ava, Zekeand Khloe with their Christmas Ornaments stall.

Come one, comeall: Year 6 student Abby assistingingetting the ring toss fundraising activityupand running

All business: Ilias, Kyle,Seb and Bosco withtheir Catapults stall. Photographs supplied

Fun: Preps andYear 2students Sofia,Eleanor, Mason andEthan. Photographs supplied

Is it about my cube: Manan, Shaun and Mason with theirEndless Cube stall.

On display: St Paul’sAnglican Grammar Schoolstudents William and Nicholas with their Paddle PopPlants stall.

Creative: Paygan-Lily, Sofia and Mackaiwith their ForeverPhotofidget toystall

Trifecta of awards for local principal

By KATRINA BRANDON

CHURCHILL Primary School Principal Jacquie Burrowsrecently receivedthe Teaching Excellence Award, the Most Outstanding Primary Principal Award, and the Lindsay Thompson Award at the Victorian Teaching Excellence Awards.

Overthe last five years, Ms. Burrows has implementedchanges in howthe students are taught to receive the teachingmethod that best suits them.

Ms Burrows told the Express,“The awards are basically the changes we havemade to our instruction and teaching, as well as our results.

We gotthe highest NAPLANresultsinGippsland.”

“It’sexciting recognition for the schooland for the work that we have done.Itisnicetobe celebrated, but it is definitely recognition for lots of other people who havebeen pioneering the work of the science of reading.”

Within her classes, Ms Burrowssaidhaving highexpectationsthatall students can listen with the right instructions and working on developing teacher knowledge and skills around different techniques has helped towards receiving the award.

Although Ms Burrows received the awards, she saidthe whole staffcontributed to theeffort. Staff have been implementing strong classroom routines and predictability for the students and their new knowledge to help raise their results.

Ms Burrowsisreally pleased with the results throughout the year.

She said, “We areprobablyclassed as alow socioeconomic school,but our results show that what we do at schoolcan matterfor these kids. So, Iguess it’s about not defining schools by their postcode.

“Latrobe Valley is getting really good results as awhole,but the new Victorian Teaching and Learning model and thenew reading position, which has been announced recently, is basically whatweare doing. We have been really early adopters of that.”

In the lastfew years, the schoolhas beenfocusing on their literacy skills to get them up and is now swapping over to focusing on improving numeracy skills throughout the school.

“Working on one focus at atimeisreally important and making sure what you do that you do well and then you move on,” she said.

Ms Burrows is also the Deputy Chair of the Latrobe ValleyPrincipalsNetwork and led the planning and facilitation of the Latrobe Valley Inclusive Practices Conferencein2023, which supported the capacity building of 350 of her principal and teaching colleagues across the inner Gippsland area.

a number of stateteaching awards Photographs supplied

Churchill PS leading the region’sNaplan results

By KATRINABRANDON

NOT too shabby.

ChurchillPrimary School hasbeen ranked number one school in Gippsland for 2024 NAPLAN results.

From aYear 5ranking in NAPLAN, Churchill Primary School received a520.2.

Across Latrobe,the Herald Sun saidthat local primaryschools averaged 410-480. At state level, the highest school in 2024 in Year 5averages was Haileybury College, with an average of 592.8.

Churchill Primary Schoolsoared in Grammar, Reading, and Spelling,exceeding the average of 520.

Principal Jacquie Burrows told the Express this was one of their key focuses over the years.

“We took an innovative approach to our teaching and saw whatwas missing within our local school community -creating learning opportunities for our students," she said.

“Our strength is our academic results, but the approach that we use is based on thescience of learning -basically what the researchsays about how kids learn most effectively and then how we put that into the classrooms.

“I think having high expectations of the students -that all students can learn with the right instruction. We have alsodone alot of work around building our teacher knowledge around how children learn best.”

Other schools in Latrobe thatreached an average above 500 in Year 5primary levels included Yinnar Primary School, Boolarra Primary School, St Michael’s, Traralgon and Traralgon South Primary School.

SHOP,EAT, SPEND

Topmarks: DeputyPremier and Minister of Education,Ben Carroll congratulates Churchill Primary School Principal, JacquieBurrows at the Victorian Teaching Excellence Awards night

Best in Gippsland: Churchill PrimarySchool Principal, Jacquie Burrows has been honoured with

HOROSCOPES

by Joanne Madeline Moore

December 23 -December 29, 2024

Aries (Mar 21 - Apr 19)

You re in the mood for plenty of fun and festive cheer

However with your ruler Mars in retrograde mode (and Saturn squaring Jupiter), too much haste could land you in trouble, especially involving family, friends and/ or neighbours So do your best to get the balance right between thinking things through and being spontaneous When it comes to Christmas presents, choose ones that bring joy and inspiration, like soulful music and beautiful books

Libra (Sep 23 - Oct 22)

Mighty Mars is moving backwards, so don’t worry if your carefully-made plans are messed up this Christmas Try to keep things in perspective Its OK if the food, presents, decorations and celebrations aren t 100% perfect As birthday great Quentin Crisp wisely observed: “Treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster Aim to enjoy the festive season with your favourite family members and/or close friends

Taurus (Apr 20 - May 20) Gemini (May 21 - June 20)

Scorpio (Oct 23 - Nov 21)

With Mars reversing through your domestic zone, you’ll feel like cleaning, decluttering, and rearranging your living space or tackling a delayed DIY project during the holiday season But Uranus squares Venus (your ruling planet), so Bulls can expect a busy and bamboozling week Prepare for some very short timelines You don’t work well when other people try to hurry you Have the confidence to cruise at your own preferred pace this Christmas

You ll need to be extra diplomatic if you want to avoid a fraction too much friction on Christmas Day With Mars reversing through your communication zone (and Saturn squaring your ruler Mercury), misunderstandings are likely, so tread carefully Jupiter is jumping through Gemini, so focus on friendship, generosity and community spirit Your motto for the week comes from writer (and birthday great) Henry Miller: “Do anything, but let it produce joy ”

Cancer (June 21 - July 22)

Prepare to be in a fabulously festive mood, as you let your hair down and enjoy the Yuletide celebrations to the max But if you eat and drink and party too much on Christmas Day then you’ll be a grumpy Crab for the rest of the week And with Mars reversing through your money zone (until February 24) be careful at the Boxing Day/ New Year Sales Extravagant, impulse buys (especially on Saturday) could result in long regrets later on

Leo (July 23 - Aug 22)

Most Leos love to live large and enjoy life’s little (and big) luxuries This week, with Mars reversing through your sign there’s a tendency for you to overdo things even more than usual – like buying extravagant presents, overdressing, overeating and over-drinking So, some Lions will have trouble getting started on Boxing Day, as your body reacts to all the rich treats and alcoholic beverages you enthusiastically over-consumed on Christmas Day!

Virgo (Aug 23 - Sep 22)

This week Mercury (your patron planet) opposes Jupiter and squares Saturn, so you may fee a bit out of sorts this Christmas Many V rgos have a very del cate digestive system wh ch is easily upset by stress, rich food, too much alcohol, overwork and over-exc tement If you pace yourself, then you (and your sens t ve stomach) wil en oy the festive season even more Simple meals – in smal amounts – and plenty of s eep is the smart and sensible way to go

With Venus and Pluto (your ruler) in your domestic zone on Xmas Day, many Scorpios will host festive celebrations at home But communication between guests looks tricky as argumentative retrograde Mars stirs up sensitivities It will take your very best diplomatic (and acting) skills to keep children under control, parents from getting paranoid, and family members from feuding When in doubt take ten deep breaths and continue the show must go on!

Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

Saturn (in your domestic zone) favours traditional Christmas celebrations, surrounded by family and/or friends Choose your words wisely as Saturn squares (and Mercury opposes) your ruler Jupiter If you’re not careful you could blurt out the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time and upset a relative or stir up an old family grievance Smart Sagittarians will simmer down, hold your tongue, and think things through before you speak

Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)

When it comes to last-minute gift shopping, look for presents that are practical and useful But if you spend more than you can comfortably afford this Xmas then you ll just end up with a heap of New Year debt You don’t have to go overboard in order to have a good time And avoid getting too serious and stressed It’s time for clever Capricorns to bliss out on Yuletide cheer! A calm and methodical approach is the best way to handle festive celebrations

COPYRIGHTJoanneMadelineMoore2024

Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18)

Unique Uranus and joyful Jupiter are transiting through your family-and-friends zone so strive to be more generous towards loved ones, as you view a troubled relationship from a more philosophical perspective Your Christmas motto is from birthday great, singer-songwriter-activist Annie Lennox: Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world ” With Venus visiting your sign this week is all about socialising with loved ones and having fun

Pisces (Feb 19 - Mar 20)

Steady Saturn he ps to stabilise and conserve your energy throughout a ong and hectic Christmas Day Then you’l be able to enjoy the Yu etide celebrations w thout feeling totally exhausted by bedt me! Many Pisceans wil spend the post-Chr stmas per od at home, as you reflect on 2024 and look ahead to 2025 So, your motto for the week is from birthday great, writer Henry Mi ler: “One’s destination s never a place but rather a new way of looking at things ”

Next generation diving into Gipps Water roles

GIPPSLAND Water has started its annual summer internship program, welcoming 12 enthusiastic university students into the organisation.

The 12-week program offers students the opportunity to launch their career and gain real life experience with alarge local employer.

Gippsland Water Managing Director, Sarah Cumming said the program, which has run for more than25years, aims to create meaningful career pathways for local young people.

“As one of the largest employers in the region, we want young people to knowthat exciting career pathwaysare right here on their doorstep,” Ms Cumming said.

“This program provides auniqueopportunity for students to apply the skills they’ve learned at university to real life projects.

“They will receive dedicated mentoring and coaching from industry professionals throughout their time with us.”

Students are employed in paid roles relevant to their course of study.

This year, positions have been filled in

departments across the organisation, including planning, asset delivery, innovation and technology, governance, environment and healthy country, organisational development and corporate affairs. Ms Cumming said GippslandWaterhad a responsibility to provide the professionals of tomorrow achancetodiscoverall the water industry has to offer.

“Ourfocusoninnovation, customer value and community resilience means the projectsthese students will work on will make adifference to our customers and the widercommunity,”Ms Cumming said.

“I hope this cohort of students is inspired to embrace the many opportunities within the water industry.”

Gippsland Water’s summer internship program runsfrom late Novembertomid-Februaryeach year.Applications for the programopen mid-year annually.

To find out more, visit www.gippswater.com. au/careers

Mortgage support available

VICTORIANS struggling with their mortgage repayments can now access Australia’s only free service dedicated to helping homeowners stay in control of their finances, thanks to support from the state government.

Attorney-General and new state treasurer, Jaclyn Symes announced the state-wide expansion of Mortgage Stress Victoria (MSV) -supporting even more Victorians with expert legal, financial, and social work support both in-person and remotely.

“A house is more than aroof over someone’s head -it’stheir home. Through Mortgage Stress Victoria, we are supportingmore vulnerable to stay in their homes,” Ms Symes said.

“Mortgage StressVictoriaoffers more than just financial advice- it’s alifeline for people’s wellbeing, their futures, and their peace of mind.”

Initially funded as part of a$31.1 million state government investmentinthe legal assistance sector in the 2021/22 State Budget, the service

started as apilot in Melbourne’s western suburbs. MSV’s team of financial counsellors, lawyersand social workershelp homeowners by negotiating affordable repayments and protecting their legal rights as well as offering emotional support. Since 2022, MSV has helped prevent home repossession in more than 190 cases, with around one-third of its clients being victim-survivors of family violence.

MSV can help at any stage of mortgage stress, whether the payments are up to date or if there are court orders for repossessing your home. Victorians can access support if they live in their mortgaged primary residence, own only one property and have ahousehold income of $75,000 or less, or are affected by family violence. For more information on Mortgage Stress Victoria, call 1800 572 292 or visit: mortgagestress. org.au

DESTINATION Gippslandhas welcomed two new board directors.

Adam Vardy and Mandi Davidson were elected at Destination Gippsland’s annual meeting in Traralgon last month.

“The past five years have seen significant challenges for tourism, from bushfires to COVID and theresulting economic pressures, and during this time Destination Gippsland has worked to support tourism operatorsand successfullypromote the region,” she said.

Mr Vardy brings a wealth of tourism and hospitality experience to the board. He and his wife Julia ownand operate MewburnPark Homestead, awedding event and accommodation business in Central Gippsland.

“The contributionmadebyour retiring directors, Nicola Pero and Neil Travers, has been significant over many years and is greatly appreciated.

advertise your bargains,

or services in this

or forinformation, simply phone JennyMannon 5135 4412 today.

As afulltimetourism owner/operator, Mr Vardy understands the needs and challenges of starting and operating atourism business.

Prior to tourism, Mr Vardy was agraphic designer who worked for major consumer brands in Germany and China. His family have farmed in the Maffra region for four generations.

Ms Davidson has had asuccessful senior executive career spanning more than 20 years.

She is currently an executive manager (Strategy and Innovation) with the RPS Group, aleading provider of consulting and engineering services worldwide.

“It is asignofstrengthand confidencein our future strategic direction that Destination Gippsland has appointedtwo such outstanding individuals in Adam Vardy and Mandi Davidson to join our board.

“I look forward to working with the new board to support the Gippslandtourism industry to deliver world-class visitor experiences.”

Ms Davidsonbegan her career as acadet journalist with the Herald Sun and went on to become the paper’s Deputy Chief of Staff. She holds aMaster of Commercial Law,aMasterof Professional Communication, andanMBA Jan Fitzgerald was re-elected chair and thanked outgoing directors, Nicola Pero and Neil Travers, and congratulated Mr Vardy and Ms Davidsonon their appointments.

The pair join the following serving board directors: Jan Fitzgerald(chair), NeilPlumridge (deputy chair), Andrew Clark, MichelleNicholson, Daniel Miller, Greg Box, David Morcom, Kerryn Ellis andMark Dupe. Destination Gippsland Board Observers Kerri Villiers (Parks Victoria), Sara Rhodes-Ward(Regional Development Victoria) and Jason Bannikoff (Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions) continue to represent their respective organisation on the board.

Gippsland’stourism industry experienced another exceptional year with record highs of 8.5 million visitor nights and $1.9 billion in expenditure in the region.

Here: Gippsland Water’s2024 summer internship students with thecompany’smanaging director SarahCumming (left). Pictured is (backrow)NickAlston, TomGafa, Ben Gafa, Jack Murray,Noah Clark, Alessia Casella, TiaPaku (front) Emily Crick, Ella Fothergill,ZaraPettifer,Tess Johnsonand Caitlin Lisle Photograph supplied

TheGuide

PICK OF THE

LEONARD COHEN: IF IT BE YOUR WILL

SBS, Friday, 8.35pm

WEEK To the end of love: The life of Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen is celebrated in IfItBeYourWill

If youwereglued to the recent Leonard Cohenbiopic drama series SoLong,Marianne(streaming,SBS On Demand),this celebration of the Canadian songwriter and poet’s lifeand music will be essential viewing.The filmexplores Cohen’s personal,spiritual and musical journey through interviews, live performances, and archivalfootage, inviting the audience to laugh, cryand celebrate aman who is undoubtedly one of thegreatest songwriters of our time. IfItBeYour Willalso features musical icons such as Sting,Céline Dion, Elvis Costello and Lana Del Rey, and includesperformances from a 2017 memorialtoCohen at the Bell CentreinMontreal.

Wednesday, December 25

ABC TV (2) SBS (3)

JIMMY CARR’S ILITERALLYJUST TOLD YOU SBS, Monday, 8.25pm

There’snoexcusefor not knowingthe answers in this game show with aunique twist: the questions arewritten during the program, based on what happens in theepisode.Fromthe outset,hostJimmy Carr (pictured) keeps his guestsontheir toes by grillingthem about each other’s introductions. Season two kicks off with aspecial sure to thrillsoccerfans –Carr quizzes legendaryEnglish footballer John Barnes, sports journalistGabbyLogan, team manager HarryRedknapp and former Lioness Sue Smith, with £25,000 fortheir chosen charity on the line. With redherrings, plenty of trivia and oodles of deliberate distractions, it’sariotous exercise in concentration.

SEVEN (7,6)

ALL CREATURES GREATAND SMALL ABC TV, Saturday, 7 30pm

This latestseries based on James Harriot’snovels picks up in the springtime of 1940,taking viewers back to the YorkshireDales formoretimeless tales and heart-warming stories. Tonight’sdoubleepisode season finale finds arather pregnant Helen(Rachel Shenton)strugglingtocope with James’ (Nicholas Ralph, picturedwith Shenton) absence as he trains forthe Air Force. When she moveshometohelpher family,Mrs Hall(Anna Madeley) is left blindsided and worried forSiegfried. Then,Christmas comes to the Dales–and with theirbabydue anyminute, Jamesisdetermined to getback to Helen from his postatthe RAFbase. However, when Georgie the bird mascot needs his help, James struggles to do the right thing.

HELP! WE BOUGHT AVILLAGE 9Life, Tuesday, 7.30pm

Biting off morethan youcan chew with aDIY projectorminor renovation is easy to do –but formostofus, it’s aproblem easily solved with avisit to the boffinsatthe local hardwarestore or by boosting the budget and calling in the experts. This reality series with a personaltouch followsambitious Britswho havetaken on abandoned villages and hamlets abroad in an effort to revive thepiles of rubble and build their dream homes: redtape and language barriersbedamned!The second season premieres tonight,asScottish lawyerCesidio (pictured) fallsinlove with the dilapidated village his Italian grandparents left behind decades earlier.Itwill makethat deckingdo-overyou’ve beenputting off look likeapiece of cake.

NINE (9,8) 6.00 Rage On Christmas Day.(PG) 9.00 News. 9.30 The Pope’sChristmas Mass 11.30 News Breakfast: Christmas Cracker.(R) 12.00 ABC News At Noon. 12.30 MOVIE: ABoy Called Christmas. (2021, PG, R) 2.05 MOVIE: AChristmasCarol.(1938,G) 3.15

HM The King’sChristmas Message. (R) 3.25 A (Very) Musical Christmas. (R) 4.55 Antiques Roadshow.(R) 5.55 Royal Carols: Together At Christmas.

7.00 ABC National News. Coverage of news,sportand weather.

7.30 HM TheKing’s Christmas Message. King CharlesIII’s Christmas message.

7.40 TheRoyalVariety Performance. Hosted by Amanda Holden and Alan Carr

10.10 WouldILie To You? At Christmas (R) Hosted by RobBrydon.

10.40 Adam Hills:The LastLeg (Final,R)

11.25 Summer Love (Mdls, R) 12.25 Long Lost Family (PG,R)

1.10 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv)

3.30 ChristmasCabaret. (Ml, R) 4.30 Gardening Australia. (R) 5.30 ABite To Eat With Alice. (R)

6am Morning Programs. 12.30 ABC World News Tonight. 1.00 PBSNews. 2.00 The Point: Road To Referendum History Bites. (R) 2.05 Tradfest: The Dublin Castle Sessions. 2.35 Such WasLife. (R) 2.45 Plat Du Tour.(R) 2.55 The Cook Up.(PG, R) 3.25 Lapland: The Ultimate Winter Wonderland. (PG, R) 4.15 Copenhagen: Europe’s Greatest Christmas Market. (PGa, R) 5.05 Jeopardy!(R) 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)

6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R)

6.30 SBS World News.

7.30 No Hamburg, No Beatles. (Mdns) 8.30 Rock Legends: ABBA (R) Alookatsupergroup ABBA. 9.30 TheNight Manager (R) Roper’s life of luxuryand calm is shattered.

10.35 Paul Newman: Always On TheMove. (Malv,R)

11.35 Maxima. (Mav) 12.35 Pagan Peak. (MA15+a) 3.20 LegacyListWith Matt Paxton (PG,R) 4.25 Bamay.(R) 4.55 Destination Flavour ChinaBitesize. (R) 5.00 NHK World EnglishNews Morning. 5.30 ANCPhilippines The World Tonight.

6.00 NBC Today. 7.00 Carols In The Domain. (PG,R) 9.30 Alinta Energy Christmas Pageant. (PG) 10.30 Mayor’s Christmas Carols. (PG) 11.30 St JohnAmbulance Carols By Candlelight (PG, R) 2.00 Christmas WithThe Salvos (PG, R) 2.30 MOVIE: AChristmas Number One. (2021, PGalsv, R) 5.00 TheChaseAustralia.

6.00 SevenNews

7.00 TheForce:Behind TheLine. (PG, R) Narrated by SimonReeve

7.30 MOVIE: Love Actually (2003,Mlns, R) Explores aseries of interlocking vignettes about love and romance in Britain in the weeks before Christmas. HughGrant,AlanRickman. 10.15 MOVIE: LastChristmas. (2019,PGals, R) An aspiring singer gains anew perspective. Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding. 12.30 Stan Lee’sLucky Man. (MA15+av) 2.30 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise 5am News. 5.30 Sunrise.

6.00 National PharmaciesChristmas Pageant. 8.00 Lord Mayor’sChristmasCarols 10.00 CMA CountryChristmas. [VIC]WINSymphony OrchestraSpecial.(R) 11.00 Christmas With Delta. (R) 1.00 Carols By Candlelight. (PG,R)

4.00 MOVIE: Blizzard (2003, G, R) Ayoungice skater befriends a reindeer.Jennifer Pisana

6.00 9News.

7.00 ACurrent Affair

7.30 MOVIE: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. (1989,Ml, R) Chevy Chase

9.30 MOVIE: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983,Mdl,R)A family goes on aroad-trip holiday.Chevy Chase. 11.30 TheKing’sChristmas Message. 11.40

MOVIE: The Jazz Singer. (1980,G,R)Neil Diamond, Lucie Arnaz, Laurence Olivier 1.35 TV Shop: HomeShopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop.(R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Believer’s VoiceOfVictory.(PGa) 4.30 ACurrent Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News 5.30 Today

9GEM (92, 81)

7TWO (72, 62) SBS VICELAND (31) 6am Children’s Programs. 3.30pm PlaySchool’s Very Jazzy Street Party. 4.15 Aliens Love Underpants And Panta Claus. 4.40 Piney:The Lonesome Pine 5.05 Peppa’s Christmas. 5.25 Ginger And TheVegesaurs. 5.30 Shaun TheSheep 6.00 Kangaroo Beach. 6.15 Bluey. 6.30 Thomas. 6.40 Paddington. 7.00 Fireman Sam. 7.20 Bluey. 7.30 Shaun TheSheep 7.35 MOVIE: Scoob! (2020, PG) 9.10 Wallace And Gromit: AMatter Of Loaf And Death. 9.40 Wallace And Gromit: AGrand Day Out. 10.00 Horrible Histories. 10.30 Mythbusters “There’s Your Problem!” 10.55 Late Programs. ABC FAMILY (22) 6am Children’s Programs. 12.45pm MOVIE: Alice-Miranda: ARoyal Christmas Ball. (2021, C) 2.15 MOVIE: Penguins Of Madagascar. (2014) 4.00 The Nanny:OyToThe World. 4.30 The AddamsFamily 5.00 Bewitched. 5.30 IDream Of Jeannie 6.00 The Golden Girls. 6.30 TheNanny 7.30 MOVIE: ASavage Christmas. (2023,M) 9.30 MOVIE: Christmess. (2023,M) 11.30 TheO.C 12.30am The Nanny 1.30 LifeAfter Lockup 3.00 Teen Titans Go! 3.30 Beyblade X. 4.00 Transformers: Prime 4.30 Ninjago 4.50 Yu-Gi-Oh!Sevens. 5.10 LEGO Friends: The Next Chapter. 5.30 Pokémon: XYZ 6am The FishingShow By AFN. 7.00 Step Outside With Paul Burt. 7.30 Creek To Coast. 8.00 America’sGame: The Super Bowl Champions. 9.00 AFootball Life 10.00 Storage Wars 10.30 American Restoration. 11.00 American Pickers. Noon Pawn Stars. 1.00 OutbackTruckers. 3.00 BillyThe Exterminator. 3.30 Barrett-Jackson: RevvedUp. 4.30 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.30 Highway Patrol. 8.30 The Force: Behind The Line. 9.30 World’sWildest Police Videos. 10.30 World’sScariest Police Stings. 11.30 SwampPeople. 12.30am Late Programs. 9GO! (93, 82) 6am Walk With Me. Continued. (2017,PG) 6.45 The Secret Garden.(2020,PG) 8.40 Finding Graceland. (1998, PG) 10.30 Destination Wedding. (2018, M) 12.05pm ILove YouToo.(2010) 2.05 Thunderbirds Are GO.(1966,PG) 3.45 Phar Lap.(1983) 5.55 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. (1968,PG) 8.30 Heartbreak Kid. (1993) 10.20 The WayWay Back. (2013,M) 12.15am ChasingThe Dragon. (2017,MA15+, Cantonese) 2.35 HeartbreakKid.(1993) 4.25 The MovieShow. 5.00 Courted. (2015, PG, French)

TEN (10, 5)

6.00 The Talk. (PGa) 7.00 Jamie: Together At Christmas. (R) 8.00 Jamie’s One-Pan Christmas. (R) 10.00 TheDog House. (R) 1.00 Christmas With Australian Women’s Weekly (R) 2.00 MariahCarey:Merry Christmas To All. (R) 3.45 TheKing’sChristmas Message. 3.55 TheGraham Norton Show. (R) 5.00 10 News First.

6.00 MOVIE: School Of Rock (2003, PGl, R) Adown-and-out rock guitaristtakes ajob as asubstitute teacher at aprestigious primary school. Jack Black,JoanCusack. 8.15 Basketball. NBL.Round 13 SydneyKings vIllawarraHawks From Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney 10.30 MOVIE: TheTrumanShow. (1998,PGla, R) Aman living in an idyllic seaside community is unaware that his whole life is being broadcast on TV.Jim Carrey,Laura Linney. 12.30 TheLateShowWith Stephen Colbert. (PG)Hosted by StephenColbert. 1.30 Home Shopping. (R) 4.30 CBS Mornings.

BOLD (12, 53)

Thursday, December26

6am MorningPrograms. 11.10 KewGardens: Season By Season. (R) 12.00 BBC News At Ten. 12.30 ABC World News Tonight. 1.00 PBS News. 2.00 Tradfest: The Dublin Castle Sessions. 2.30 Language Of Light 3.00 French Atlantic. (R) 3.30 The Cook Up.(R) 4.00 The Lakes With Simon Reeve.(PGa, R) 5.05 Jeopardy!(R) 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)

6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R)

6.30 SBS WorldNews.

7.30 Going PlacesWith Ernie Dingo. (PG) Ernie Dingo cruises WA’s Coral Baycoast.

8.30 TheEmerald Isles With Ardal O’Hanlon. (PGa, R) Irish comedian and actor Ardal O’Hanlon explores the islands off the coast of Ireland.

9.30 Daddy Issues. (Mls) Gemma enlists Cherrytohelp find apotential father for her unborn child.

10.30 Billy Joel: LiveAt Yankee Stadium. (PG, R)

Grand Designs: House Of TheYear. (R) 12.35 Long Lost Family (PG, R) 1.20 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv)

3.40 Ho Ho Ho! Telling Christmas Tales. (PG, R) 4.35 Gardening Australia.(R) 5.30 ABiteTo Eat With Alice. (PG, R)

ABC FAMILY (22)

6am Children’s Programs. 4.55pm Bluey. 5.00 Peppa Pig. 5.10 KangarooBeach. 5.35 Peter Rabbit. 5.45 Kiri And Lou. 5.55 Octonauts. 6.05 KangarooBeach. 6.20 Bluey. 6.25 Zog. 6.55 ZogAnd The Flying Doctors. 7.20 Bluey. 7.30 Shaun The Sheep 7.35 MOVIE: Pokémon DetectivePikachu. (2019,PG) 9.20 SecretsOfThe Zoo. 10.00 Doctor Who 10.50 Late Programs.

12.05 DNA (Mav)

1.00 Blackout: Tomorrow Is TooLate. (Mlnv, R) 1.55 Miniseries: The Night Logan Woke Up (MA15+dv,R) 4.10 MakeMeA Dealer.(R) 5.00 NHK WorldEnglish NewsMorning. 5.30 ANC PhilippinesThe WorldTonight.

SBS VICELAND (31)

6.00 Sunrise. 9.30 Test Cricket:

6.00 SevenNews. 7.00 Cricket. Big BashLeague. Match11. Sydney Sixers vMelbourne Stars. From the SCG.

9.10 Cricket Big Bash League. Match12. Perth Scorchers vBrisbane Heat. From Optus Stadium, Perth. 12.30 Criminal Confessions: The WorstBetrayal. (MA15+av,R) Amissing woman is discovered murdered in the backyard of herfamily home.

1.30 Travel Oz. (PG,R)Greg Grainger takes alook at the town of 1770,named after the year Captain Cook landed in Queensland.

2.00 Home Shopping (R)

4.00 NBCToday News and current affairs.

5.00 Sunrise5am News. Thelatest news,sportand weather 5.30 Sunrise. News, sportand weather

SBS WORLD MOVIES (32) 6am Morning Programs. 1.40pm FirstSounds 2.00 First People’sKitchen 2.30 TheCook Up 3.00 Jarjums. 4.05 CitiesOf Gold. 4.35 Motown Magic. 5.00 Our Stories. 5.15 Harlem Globetrotters. 6.00 Bamay 6.30 NITV News: Summer Yarns. 6.40 Ocean Parks. 7.30 Going Places With Ernie Dingo. 8.30 The Walkers. 9.30 MOVIE: Jackie Brown. (1997, MA15+) 12.10am Late Programs. NITV (34) 6am Shopping. 6.30 Escape To The Country. 7.30 Harry’sPractice 8.00 MillionDollarMinute.

6.00 9News

7.00 ACurrent Affair

7.30 GreatGetaways. (PG) The team meanders along the Mekong. 8.30 CycloneTracy:50Years On:The Unsilent Night/After TheDawn. (PGa)Takes alook at Cyclone Tracy,a destructiveevent that struck on Christmas Day in 1974

10.45 Captivated. (Malsv) Elliot plans asurprise for Rachel andLiam.

11.40 Resident Alien. (Malv)

12.30 Tipping Point. (PG, R)

1.20 Innovation Nation. (R)

1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R)

2.30 Global Shop (R)

3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping (R)

4.00

6.00 Deal Or No Deal. (R) Contestants compete in ahigh-stakes game where they must beat The Banker to wina cash prize. 6.30 Dog House Australia: Tails Of Redemption (PGa, R) Revisits some of thepeople and poocheswho got asecond chance at life andloveonthe show 7.30 MOVIE: Mission: Impossible –Fallout. (2018,Mlv,R)A secret agent must prevent disaster when stolen plutonium falls into the hands of an arms dealer.Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, RebeccaFerguson. 10.25 MOVIE: TheIncredible Hulk. (2008,Mv, R) An experiment causes amild-mannered scientist to turn into agiant green monster when he gets angry.Edward Norton, Liv Tyler 12.40 TheLate ShowWith Stephen Colbert. (PG) Hosted by StephenColbert. 1.30 Home Shopping. (R) 4.30 CBSMornings. 6am WorldWatch. 10.00 Front Up 10.30 Food Lover’sGuide. 12.05pm WorldWatch. 12.35 DerryGirls 2.05 Who Gets To Stay In Australia? 3.10 PreservingTaste. 3.40 WorldWatch. 5.40 JoyOfPainting. 6.10 Travel Man: 96 Hours InJordan. 7.05 Jeopardy! 7.35 8Out Of 10 Cats DoesCountdown. 8.30 Holy Marvels With Dennis Quaid. 10.05 CarsThat Built The World. 10.55 Question Team. 11.45 Late Programs.

6am

Courted. Continued. (2015, PG, French) 6.50 Arthur And The TwoWorlds War. (2010,PG) 8.45 Phar Lap.(1983) 10.55 My Old Lady. (2014,M) 12.55pm Heartbreak Kid. (1993) 2.45 TheSecret Garden. (2020,PG) 4.40 Kung Fu Yoga. (2017,PG) 6.40 Mia And The White Lion.(2018,PG) 8.30 TheDaughter (2015, M) 10.20 Adoration. (2013, MA15+) 12.25am Late Programs.

Friday, December 27

ABC TV (2) SBS (3)

12.10pm MOVIE: In The Heights. (2021, PG) 3.00 The Golden Girls. 3.30 TheNanny 4.30 The Addams Family 5.00 Bewitched. 5.30 IDream Of Jeannie. 6.00 The Golden Girls. 6.30 TheNanny 7.30 Seinfeld. 8.30 MOVIE: TheVow.(2012, PG) 10.35 Seinfeld. 11.35 The O.C 12.30am The Nanny 1.30 Life After Lockup 3.00 Teen Titans Go! 3.30

SEVEN (7,6)

NINE (9,8) 6am Morning Programs. 9.00 News Breakfast Late 9.25 Pilgrimage: The Road To TheScottish Isles. (Final, PG, R) 10.25 The Art Of (Ml,R) 10.55 Royal Carols: Together At Christmas. (R) 12.00 News. 1.00 The Newsreader.(Ml, R) 2.00 Fake Or Fortune? (R) 3.00 ABite To Eat. (R) 3.25 Long Lost Family (PG, R) 4.10 Grand Designs. (R) 5.00 Antiques Roadshow. (R)

6.00 ABiteToEat With Alice.

6.30 Hard QuizKids. (PG, R)

7.00 ABCNews. Alookatthe topstories of theday

7.30 MOVIE: TheFabelmans. (2022, Malv,R)A young man discovers afamily secret. Michelle Williams, Gabriel La Belle.

9.55 Shaun Micallef’sEve Of Destruction Christmas Special. (Final, PG, R) Guests include Sam Pang and Courtney Act

10.35 MadAsHell Does Hard Quiz (PG,R)

11.05 MOVIE: TheKing’sSpeech. (2010,Ml, R) Colin Firth.

1.00 Would ILie To You? At Christmas. (R)

1.35 Rage In Memoriam. (MA15+adhlnsv)

5.00 Rage.(PG)

6am MorningPrograms. 11.10 KewGardens: SeasonBySeason.(R) 12.00 BBC News At Ten. 12.30 ABC World News Tonight. 1.00 PBS News. 2.00 Tradfest: The Dublin Castle Sessions. 2.30 Language Of Light. 3.00 French Atlantic. (Final, R) 3.30 TheCook Up.(R) 4.00 The LakesWith Simon Reeve (PGa, R) 5.05 Jeopardy! (R) 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)

6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS WorldNews. 7.30 EveryFamily Has ASecret: Sofia RiosMiranda And PennyMackieson. (PG, R) Presented by Noni Hazlehurst. 8.35 Leonard Cohen: If It Be Your Will. (Ms) A2017celebration of Canadian songwriterand poet Leonard Cohen’s life andmusic.

10.00 MOVIE: Amazing Grace. (2018,G,R)Aretha Franklin.

11.35 De Gaulle. (Ma)

12.30 Kin. (Madlv,R) 2.30 Miniseries: Too Close. (Malns, R) 3.25 Legacy ListWithMatt Paxton.(PG, R) 4.25 Peer To Peer. (R) 4.55 Destination Flavour China Bitesize. (R) 5.00

NHK WorldEnglish News Morning 5.30 ANC PhilippinesThe WorldTonight

VICELAND (31) 6am Children’s Programs. 5.35pm Peter Rabbit 5.45 Kiri And Lou. 5.55 Octonauts. 6.05 KangarooBeach. 6.20 Bluey 6.25 Superworm. 6.50 The SmedsAnd The Smoos. 7.20 Bluey. 7.30 Shaun TheSheep 7.35 Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures. 7.50 Teen Titans Go! 8.00 Scooby-Doo And Guess Who? 8.25 Mythbusters “There’s Your Problem!” 8.50 Robot Wars. 9.50 Doctor Who 10.40 Late Programs. ABC FAMILY (22) 6am Mia And The White Lion. (2018, PG) 7.50 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.(1968,PG) 10.25 I’mNot There.

6.00 Sunrise. 9.30 Test Cricket: Pre-Game Show 10.30 Cricket. Fourth Test. Australia v India. Day 2. Morning session. From the MCG. 12.30 Test Cricket: TheLunchBreak. 1.10 Cricket. Fourth Test. Australia v India. Day 2. Afternoon session. 3.10 Test Cricket: TeaBreak 3.30 Cricket. Fourth Test. Australia v India. Day 2. Late afternoon session.

6.00 SevenNews.

7.00 Cricket. Big Bash League. Match13. Adelaide Strikers vHobart Hurricanes. From Adelaide Oval. 10.30 Big Bash League Post-Game Post-match coverage of thegamebetweenthe Adelaide Strikers and HobartHurricanes.

11.00 TheHome Straight. (M)

12.30 Taken. (Mav,R)Bryan must protect his cousinwhen he is targeted by apowerful crimesyndicate.

1.30 Travel Oz. (PG, R) Takesa look at Greekculture in Melbourne.

2.00 Home Shopping (R)

4.00 Million Dollar Minute. (R)Hosted by GrantDenyer

5.00 NBC Today. News and current affairs.

6.00 9News.

7.00 ACurrentAffair

7.30 Find My Beach House Australia. Presented by ShelleyCraft. 8.30 MOVIE: Volcano. (1997, Mv,R) Aminor earthquakeinLos Angeles causes avolcanic eruption which threatens to destroythe city.Tommy LeeJones, Anne Heche,GabyHoffmann.

10.35 MOVIE: Into TheBlue 2: The Reef (2009, MA15+sv, R) Twodiversgo on an extreme adventure. ChrisCarmack.

12.15 TippingPoint. (PG, R)

1.05 Helloworld. (R)

1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R)

4.00 SkippyThe Bush Kangaroo (R)

4.30 GlobalShop. (R)

5.00 TV Shop:Home Shopping.(R) 5.30 Postcards Summer. (PG, R)

TEN (10, 5)

6.00 Today. 9.00 TodayExtraSummer (PG) 11.30 Find My Beach House Australia. (R) 12.00 GreatGetaways. (PG,R) 1.00 Tennis. United Cup.Day 1. Group stage. Kazakhstanv Spain. 5.00 Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) HostedbyTodd Woodbridge. 6am Morning Programs. 8.00 KeyIngredient. (R) 8.30 Bold. (PGa,

6.00 DealOrNo Deal (R)Contestants compete in ahigh-stakes game where they must beat The Banker to win acash prize. 6.30 DogHouse Australia: All Shapes AndSizes (PGa, R) Awoman recoveringfrom astrokehas decided she needs adog that will help her recovery 7.30 MOVIE: Good Will Hunting. (1997, Mlv,R)After assaulting apolice officer,aself-destructivemathsgenius is orderedtoattend therapy.Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck. 10.05 MOVIE: Dreamgirls. (2006,Mdl, R) Three singers are plucked from obscurity by an ambitious talent agent. Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, AnikaNoni Rose 12.40 TheLate ShowWith Stephen Colbert. (PG)HostedbyStephenColbert. 1.30 Home Shopping. (R) 6am

An zac Da y Fr id ay 25 Apr il Ki ng ’s Bi rt hda y. ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... .M on da y9J une AF LG ra nd Fi nal Fr id ay be fo re Gr and Fi nal Me lb our ne Cu p* * .T ue sd ay 4N ov em ber Ch ri stmas Da y Th urs da y2 5D ec em ber Bo xi ng Da y Fr id ay 26 De ce mb er ** Al lo fV ic to ria unless al te rn at el oc al ho li da yh as be en ar ra ng ed by non -m et ro co un cil

Ne wY ea r’ sD ay We dn es da y1 Jan ua ry Au str alia Da y Mo nd ay 27 Ja nu ar y La bour Da y Mo nd ay 10 Ma rc h Go od Fr id ay Fr id ay 18 Apr il East er Sa tu rd ay Sa tu rd ay 19 Apr il East er Sunda y Sun da y2 0A pr il Eas te rM ond ay Mo nd ay 21 Apr il

TE RM 1: Tu esda y2 8J an uar yt oF ri da y4A pr il TE RM 2: Tu esda y2 2A pr il to Fr ida y4J ul y TE RM 3: Mo nd ay 21 Ju ly to Fr ida y1 9S ep te mb er TE RM 4: Mo nd ay 6O ct ob er to Fr ida y1 9D ec em ber NO TE : Te rm da te sm ay va .Cry he ck with yo ur chi ld ’s school fo ra ny chang eo fd at es

Saturday, December28

6.00 Rage Best Of The Charts 2024.(PG) 7.00 Wknd Breaky 9.00 Rage. (PG) 10.30 Rage Best Of The Vault Guest Programmers 2024.(PG) 12.00 News. 12.45 All Creatures Great And Small. (PG, R) 1.30 Miniseries: Douglas Is Cancelled. (Final, Ml, R) 2.15 Shaun Micallef’s EveOfDestruction. (PG,R) 2.50 LastNight Of TheProms. 4.30 Solar System With Brian Cox. (Final, R) 5.30 Landline. (R)

6.00 Take 5With Zan Rowe: CaseyDonovan. (Final, PG, R)

6.30 Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now. (Final,R)

7.00 ABCNews. Alookatthe topstories of theday

7.30 All Creatures Great And Small. (PG)Helen decidesto move home to help her family

8.20 All CreaturesGreat And SmallChristmas Special. (Final, PG) It is Christmas and James is determined to get back to Helenfrom his post at the RAF training base.

9.10 Miniseries: DouglasIs Cancelled. (Ml, R) Madeline and Douglas’ first encounter and howit took an unexpected turn is recalled.

10.35 Shetland (Madl, R)

11.35 Rage Best Of TheVault Guest Programmers 2024 (MA15+adhlnsv)

6am MorningPrograms. 9.10 TheEco Show (R) 10.05 Love Your Garden. (R) 11.00 Along Ireland’sShores. (PGa,R) 12.00 BBC News At Ten. 12.30 ABC World News Tonight 1.00 PBS News. 2.00 Fading Sands. (PGa, R) 2.35 Portillo’s Greatest Railway Journeys. (PGas, R) 4.25 TheMaestro &The European Pop Orchestra. (PG) 5.35 Weeks Of War. (PGavw,R)

6.30 SBS World News.

7.30 Magical Train Journeys In Switzerland: With TheGlacier Express From Zermatt To St Moritz. Alook at The Glacier Express.

8.30 Cotswolds And Beyond With PamAyres:Stonehenge (R) British poet and comedian PamAyresexploresone of island’smost special places, Stonehenge 9.20 Great Australian Walks With Julia Zemiro (PGa, R) Julia Zemiro explores 10 walks. 10.20 GreatAustralian Railway Journeys. (PGa, R) 11.30 ThePact. (Ma, R) 2.25 Love Your Garden. (PGa, R) 3.20 Make Me ADealer.(R) 4.10 Bamay.(R) 4.50 Destination Flavour China Bitesize.(R) 5.00 NHK World English NewsMorning. 5.15 France 24 Feature 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.

6am WorldWatch.

10.00 Food Lover’sGuide. 12.10pm Scrubs 2.15 Beyond OakIsland. 3.05 Jungletown. 3.55 BBC News At Ten. 4.25 ABC WorldNews Tonight 4.55 PBS News. 5.55 TheMega-Brands That Built The World. 7.35 Impossible Engineering. 8.30 Icons Unearthed: HarryPotter 10.20 Hudson &Rex Midnight The X-Files. 2.45 NHK World English News. 5.00 Al JazeeraNewshour

6am Morning Programs. 1.55pm NITVNews: Summer Yarns. 2.05 Black As. 2.10 First People’s Kitchen 2.35 Where The Dreamings Come From. 2.50 FirstPeople’s Kitchen. 3.20 NITVNews Year In Review 4.20 The First Inventors. 5.20 Larapinta. 6.20 NITVNews: Summer Yarns. 6.30 The OtherSide. 7.30 Alone Australia. 8.30 MOVIE: Seven. (1995, MA15+) 10.45 Late Programs. NITV (34)

6am

Summerland. Continued. (2020, PG) 6.55 Where The WildThings Are. (2009,PG) 8.50 Kung Fu Yoga. (2017, PG) 10.50 The Daughter.(2015, M) 12.40pm Delicious. (2021, M, French) 2.45 Mia And TheWhite Lion.(2018, PG) 4.35 Whina. (2022, PG, Maori) 6.40 Clue. (1985,PG) 8.30 Late Night (2019, M) 10.25 Nymphomaniac: VolII. (2013, MA15+) 12.40am Late Programs.

6.00 NBCToday 7.00 WeekendSunrise. 9.30 Test Cricket: Pre-Game Show. 10.30 Cricket. Fourth Test. Australia vIndia. Day3 Morning session. 12.30 Test Cricket: The LunchBreak. 1.10 Cricket. Fourth Test Australia vIndia. Day 3. Afternoon session. From the MCG. 3.10 Test Cricket: TeaBreak. 3.30 Cricket. Fourth Test. Australiav India. Day 3. Late afternoon session. From the MCG.

6.00 SevenNews. 7.00 BorderSecurity:International. (PGadl) Twotravellers on aworld tour arequestioned about their plans, theirpacks and their party going.

7.30 MOVIE: Back To TheFuture. (1985,PGal, R) After ateenager goes back in time, he must ensure his parents-to-be meet and fall in love.Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd,Crispin Glover. 10.00 MOVIE: TheBlues Brothers (1980,Mlv,R)Two brothers tryto reform their blues band to savethe orphanage where they wereraised. John Belushi,Dan Aykroyd,Carrie Fisher 12.45 Taken. (Mav,R)Anofficial’s daughter is kidnapped 2.00 HomeShopping. (R)

4.00 It’s Academic (R) Hosted by Simon Reeve 5.00 My GreekOdyssey (PG, R)

6am Home Shopping 8.30 Travel Oz. 10.00 Escape To The Country Noon HorseRacing. RoyalRandwick Raceday SaturdayatThe Valley andMagic MillionsPrelude Raceday. 6.00 Dog Patrol. 6.30 Bondi Vet. 7.30 The YorkshireVet. 8.30 Escape To The Country 9.30 IEscaped To TheCountry 10.30 Australia’s Amazing Homes. 11.30 The Yorkshire Vet. 12.30am My Greek Odyssey 1.30 Late Programs.

6.00 The Garden Gurus. (R) 6.30 ACurrent Affair.(R) 7.00 Weekend Today 10.00 Find My Beach HouseAustralia. (R) 10.30 Tennis. United Cup.Day 2. Group stage. Canada vCroatia. From RACArena, Perth. France vSwitzerland. From KenRosewall Arena, Sydney 5.00 9News FirstAtFive. 5.30 CountryHouse Hunters Aust. (R)

6.00 9News Saturday.

7.00 Tennis. United Cup.Day 2. Group stage. Greece vSpain. From RAC Arena, Perth.Australia vArgentina. From KenRosewall Arena,Sydney

2.00 TheIncredible Journey Presents. (PGa)Religious program.

2.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R)

4.30 GlobalShop. (R) Home shopping.

5.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R)

5.30 Helping Hands Summer Series (PG, R) Acelebration of people and organisations across Australia which makethe world abetter place

6.00 MOVIE: TheAdventuresOf Tintin. (2011, PGv,R)A youngreporter embarks on atreasure hunt after a model ship he bought is stolen. Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, DanielCraig. 8.05 MOVIE: Transformers: The LastKnight. (2017, Mlv, R) It is up to an unlikely alliance between the Autobots, CadeYeager and ayoung woman with aknack forscavengingtosavethe worldwhen the humans go to war with theTransformers. Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel 11.10 Ambulance Australia. (Ma,R)Acallcomesinfor awoman who has fallen off herbalcony while trying to retrieve her friend’scat 12.15 Ambulance UK. (Mad, R) Crews attend to patients with mental health issues. 1.30 Home Shopping (R) 5.00 Hour Of Power. Religious program.

9GEM (92, 81)

6am Gideon’s Way. 7.00 LeadingThe Way. 7.30 TV Shop 8.00 Thunderbirds. 8.30 Tomorrow’sWorld. 9.00 Turning Point. 9.30 TV Shop 10.00 Helping Hands Summer Series. 10.30 My Favorite Martian. 11.00 Edgar Wallace Mysteries. 12.20pm MOVIE: The Bridal Path. (1959) 2.20 MOVIE: The Barefoot Contessa. (1954,PG) 5.00 Tennis.UnitedCup.Day 2. Group stage. 7.00 TBA 11.30 Late Programs.

9GO! (93,

7TWO (72, 62) 6am Children’s Programs. 1pm MOVIE: Barbie And Stacie To TheRescue. (2024) 2.10 MOVIE: Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters –Predacons Rising. (2013,PG) 3.30 MOVIE: 100% Wolf.(2020,PG) 5.25 MOVIE: Mirror Mirror.(2012,PG) 7.30 MOVIE: HarryPotter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2. (2011, M) 10.00 MOVIE: The Girl In The Spider’s Web. (2018,MA15+)

Sunday, December 29

ABC TV (2) SBS (3)

Havewecaughtyourattention?

If youansweredyes,then just thinkhow manyother people have also seen this ad. Then saytoyourself, “ifIhadadvertisedinthisspace, thosepeoplecould bestaring atmy business,productsorservicesfor awholeweek.”

Hmmm... certainly somethingtothinkabout? Toadvertise in theTVGuideorany other sectionofeach Wednesday’s Latrobe Valley Express, contactyourlocal representativetoday or call theofficeon 51354444 to speaktoone of ourfriendly,experienced consultants.

SEVEN (7,6)

NINE (9,8) 6.00 Rage. (PG) 7.00 WeekendBreakfast. 10.00 SecretScience.(Ml, R) 10.30 Blak Ball. (PG, R) 11.00 Compass. (R) 11.30 Songs Of Praise. 12.00 ABC News At Noon. 12.30 Call The Midwife: 2023 Christmas Special. (PG,R) 2.00 The Royal EdinburghMilitary Tattoo 2023.(R) 3.40 MOVIE: AChristmas Carol. (1938,G,R)Reginald Owen,Kathleen Lockhart. 5.00 Fake Or Fortune? (R)

6.00 Antiques Roadshow. (PG,R)

7.00 ABC News. Alookatthe topstories of theday

7.30 Death In Paradise. (PG) Awealthy businessman falls to his death.

8.40 Love Me. (MA15+s) Claraand Aaron meetGlen’snew love interest, Anita, as their own relationships takeyet another turn.

9.30 Spicks AndSpecks. (PG, R) Music game show,featuringguests Dylan Alcott, Gabbi Bolt, Mama Alto and Peter Helliar

11.05 Take 5With Zan Rowe: Bernard Fanning. (PG,R) 11.40 YouCan’t Ask That (MA15+l, R)

12.45 NewLeash On Life. (Final, PG, R) 1.15 Rage Vault (MA15+adhlnsv)

3.10 Australia Remastered. (R) 4.05 Gardening Australia. (R) 5.05 The Great Acceleration. (PG, R)

6am MorningPrograms. 8.00 DD India News Hour 9.00 The EcoShow. (PGa,R) 10.00 FIFAWorld Cup Classic Matches. 12.00 APAC Weekly.(R) 12.30 PBS Washington Week 12.55 Blind Sailing. (R) 1.00 Speedweek. 3.00 Plat Du Tour.(R) 3.10 Railway Journeys UK.(PG,R) 3.40 Portillo’s Greatest Railway Journeys. (R) 5.35 Weeks Of War. (Final, PGavw,R)

6.30 SBS WorldNews. 7.30 Fortress Britain With Alice Roberts: Henry VIII Going It Alone. (PG, R) 8.25 MysteryOfThe Puzzling PyramidsEgypt. (PGa, R) Exploresthe pyramids of Egypt 9.15 Jonathan Ross’Myths And Legends: South West England. (PG, R) Jonathan Ross heads to England. 10.10 Putin AndThe West (Mav,R) 11.20 Uri Geller’sSecretTreasures. (PG,R) 12.40 Rise Of The Nazis:Dictators At War. (Mav, R) 1.50 Portillo’s Greatest Railway Journeys. (PG, R) 2.45 Love Your Garden (R) 3.40 MakeMeADealer. (R) 4.30 Peer To Peer.(R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.15 France 24 Feature. 5.30 Al JazeeraNews.

6am Morning Programs. 12.30 Test Cricket: TheLunch Break 1.10 Cricket. Fourth Test Australia vIndia. Day 4. Afternoon session. 3.10 Test Cricket: TeaBreak. 3.30 Cricket. Fourth Test.Australia vIndia. Day 4. Late afternoonsession

6.00 SevenNews.

7.00 Cricket. Big Bash League.Match 15 Brisbane Heat vSydney Sixers.

10.30 BigBashLeaguePost-Game. Post-match coverage of thegame between the Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers 11.00 7NEWSSpotlight (R) Anne Hegartyreveals herprivate battle. 12.00 TheRealManhunter: The Dream City Cinema Fire. (Mav,R) Revisits the Dream CityCinema fire

1.00 Travel Oz. (PG, R) Hosted by Greg Grainger

2.00 Home Shopping (R)

3.30 Million Dollar Minute. (R)Hosted by GrantDenyer

4.00 NBCToday News and current affairs.

5.00 Sunrise 5am News.

5.30 Sunrise.

6am MorningPrograms. 1pm Rugby League.Koori Knockout. Newcastle All BlacksvBundjalung Baygal Warriors. Replay 2.00 Away From Country 3.00 Lionel. 4.30 SingAbout This Country 6.30 NITVNews: Summer Yarns. 6.40 Kairakau 7.10 Great LakesWild 7.40 The FirstInventors. 8.30 Nothing Compares: Sinead O’Connor 10.15 MOVIE: Australian Rules. (2002,

TEN (10, 5)

6.00 HelloSA. (PG,R) 6.30 DriveTV. (R) 7.00 Weekend Today. 10.00 ThePet Rescuers. (PG, R) 10.30 Tennis. United Cup Day3.Groupstage. 5.00 9News FirstAtFive.

5.30 RBT. (PGdl) Follows the activities of police units. 6am MorningPrograms. 9.30 Australia By Design: Architecture. (R) 10.00 Drew Barrymore. (PGas, R) 11.00 Luxury Escapes (R) 11.30 Buy To Build. (R) 12.00 Pooches At Play.(R) 12.30 Cook WithLuke. (R) 1.00 Everyday Gourmet. (R) 1.30 Farm To Fork. (R) 2.00 My Market Kitchen. (R) 2.30

6.00 9News Sunday

7.00 60 Minutes. Inside America’s military machine. 8.00 MOVIE: Raiders Of TheLost Ark (1981, Mv,R)Anarchaeologist and adventurer sets out on aquest to recover thefabled Ark of the Covenant. Harrison Ford, KarenAllen,John Rhys-Davies. 10.25 TheBrokenwood Mysteries. (Mav) Adentist’s wife is murdered.

12.20 Maritime Masters: Expedition Antarctica: Dishing Up Dreams. (PGl, R)

1.20 Innovation Nation.

1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R)

Believer’sVoice Of Victory. (PGa)

GolfBarons. (PG, R)

6.00 TheDog House Australia. (PGa, R) Twodogscould be toomanyfor afamily when they meet abonded pair. 7.00 2024’s BiggestStories. The team at TheProjecttakes alook back on the world’sbiggest stories of the year 8.00 MOVIE: Sahara. (2005, Mv,R) An adventurer,insearch of alost Confederate ship and its cargo of treasure that disappeared at the end of the US Civil War, helps adoctoruncoverthe truth behind aplaguethatisclaiming the lives of Africans. Matthew McConaughey Penélope Cruz, Steve Zahn. 10.30 MOVIE: Smile (2022, MA15+ahv,R) Apsychiatrist feels threatened by an entity.Sosie Bacon, CaitlinStasey 1.00 HomeShopping. (R) 4.30 CBS Mornings. 6am WorldWatch. 9.30 Small Business Secrets. 10.00 Food Lover’s Guide Noon Gymnastics. FIG Rhythmic World Cup Series. Replay 2.00 Jeopardy! 4.05 WorldWatch. 4.30 PBS Washington Week. 4.55 Planet In Peril. 5.50 TheEngineering ThatBuiltThe World. 6.40 Abandoned Engineering. 8.30 Plastic People: Crisis Of Microplastics. 10.00 WWE Legends. 11.35 Hoarders. 1.15am The X-Files. 3.05 Late Programs. 6am Whina. Continued. (2022, PG,Maori) 7.05 Clue. (1985,PG) 8.55 Sissi. (1955,German) 10.55 Tokyo Shaking. (2021, M, French) 12.50pm BadEggs.

(2022, M, Romanian) 12.20am Late Programs.

Monday,December 30

TV (2) SBS (3)

6am Morning Programs. 9.00 News Breakfast Late 9.30 The Soundtrack Of Australia. (R) 10.30 The Art Of (Ml, R) 11.00 Antiques Roadshow.(PG, R) 12.00 News. 1.00 Death In Paradise. (PG, R) 2.30 Wallace And Gromit: AMatter Of Loaf AndDeath. (R) 3.00 ABite To Eat. (R) 3.30 Grand Designs (PG,R) 4.15 Long Lost Family.(PG, R) 5.05 Antiques Roadshow.(R)

6.00 ABite To Eat With Alice.

6.30 Hard QuizKids. (PG,R)

7.00 ABCNews. Alookatthe topstoriesofthe day

7.30 LivingWith Devils. (PG,R) Alook at the Tasmanian devil.

8.30 MOVIE: Gravity (2013, Mal,R) Disaster strikes for arookie astronaut during aroutine spacewalk. Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris

10.00 ALife In TenPic tures: Ella Fitzgerald. (PG, R) Alook at Ella Fitzgerald’slife through pictures.

10.55 TomGleeson’s SecretsOf TheAustralian Museum. (PG,R)

11.55 Grand Designs. (PG, R)

12.45 Long Lost Family (PG, R)

1.30 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv)

3.40 Parkinson In Australia. (PG, R) 4.30 Gardening Australia. (R) 5.30 ABiteToEat With Alice. (R)

6am MorningPrograms. 11.20 KewGardens: Season By Season. (R) 12.10 BBC News At Ten. 12.30 ABC World News Tonight. 1.00 PBS News Weekend. 1.30 Al JazeeraNews Hour 2.00

6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R)

6.30 SBS World News.

7.35 TheDeadly Bermuda Triangle. (PGa, R) Alook at theBermuda Triangle. 8.25 Jimmy Carr ’s ILiterally Just Told You. (Return, Mlns) Jimmy Carr quizzes John Barnes, Gabby Logan, HarryRedknapp and Sue Smith in a soccer-themedcelebrity special.

9.20 Inside Sydney Airpor t: DawnTo Curfew (PGa, R) Takesalookatone of the busiest airports in the southern hemisphere, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. 10.20 TheCarnival. (MA15+l, R) 11.30 CleanSweep (Premiere, MA15+s) 12.30 Wisting (Malv,R) 2.15 Portillo’s Greatest Railway Journeys. (PG, R) 4.05 MakeMeADealer. (R) 4.50

Destination Flavour China Bitesize. (PGa, R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC PhilippinesThe WorldTonight.

6.00 SevenNews. 7.00 Cricket. Big Bash League. Match16. Sydney Thunder vMelbourne Renegades. From ENGIEStadium, Sydney 10.30 Big Bash League Post-Game Post-match coverage of the game between theSydney Thunder and Melbourne Renegades.

11.00 Murder In ASmallTown. (Mav) Alberg examines thedeaths of two women, each foundinthe forest with their bodies arranged in eerily similar poses.

12.00 Satisfac tion. (MA15+ads, R) Adriana throws akinky ‘50s-themed party.

1.00 Travel Oz. (PG, R) Hosted by GregGrainger.

2.00 Home Shopping. (R)

4.00 NBC Today. News and current affairs.

5.00 Sunrise 5am News. The latest news, sportand weather 5.30 Sunrise.

6.00 9News.

7.00 ACurrentAffair

7.30 RBT. (Ml, R) Follows the activities of police units.

8.30 MOVIE: Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. (1984, Mv,R)Archaeologist Indiana Jonessearchesfor amystical stone stolen fromanIndian community. Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan.

10.55 Miniseries: Love Rat (Mv)

Aterrified Emma is led at gunpoint

11.45 ChicagoMed (MA15+amv) 12.40 World’sGreatestEngineering Icons: Skyscrapers. (PG,R) 1.30 TV Shop:Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Believer’sVoice Of Vic tor y. (PGa)

6.00 Deal OrNoDeal. (R) Hosted by GrantDenyer.

6.30 TheProject Alook at the day’snews.

7.30 Wheel Of Fortune Australia. (Final, s) Contestants attempt to solve puzzlesand spin the wheel to be in with the chance of winning $50,000 8.30 JustFor Laughs. (Mls) Tommy Little presents sets from theworld’s

Vince Colosimo,Sarah Roberts. 11.45 TheProjec t. (R) 12.40 TheLate ShowWith Stephen Colber t. (PG) 1.30 Home Shopping. (R) 4.30 CBSMorning s. 6am WorldWatch. 9.30 Small Business Secrets.

9GO! (93, 82) 6am TheMovie Show.

(1985,PG) 4.35 Sissi.(1955 German) 6.35 Little Nicholas’Treasure. (2021, PG French) 8.30 BlowDry.(2001, M) 10.10 L.A.Story (1991, M) Midnight The Road Dance. (2021, M) 2.10 Late Programs.

Tuesday, December 31

ABC TV (2) SBS (3)

SEVEN (7,6)

NINE (9,8) 6.00 Tony Armstrong’sExtra-Ordinary Things. (PGa, R) 7.00 News. 9.00 News Breakfast Late 9.30 SecretScience. (PGan, R) 10.30 The Art Of (Ml, R) 11.00 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 12.00 News. 1.00 Death In Paradise.(PG,R) 2.30 WallaceAnd Gromit: The WrongTrousers. (R) 3.00 ABite To Eat. (R) 3.30 Grand Designs.(R) 4.15 Long Lost Family.(PG,R) 5.00 Antiques Roadshow.(R)

6am MorningPrograms. 11.10 KewGardens: Season By Season. (R) 12.00 BBC News At Ten. 12.30 ABC World News Tonight. 1.00 PBS News. 2.00 Celebrity Mastermind. (PG, R) 3.00 Tradfest: The Dublin Castle Sessions. 3.30 Plat Du Tour.(R) 3.35 The Cook Up.(R) 4.10 Dancing At TheRoyal Palaces. (R) 4.45 Jeopardy!(R) 5.10 Letters And Numbers. (R) 5.40 Mastermind Aust. (PG, R)

6.10 Dinner ForOne. (R)Short film. 6.30 SBS WorldNews. 7.30 Andrea Bocelli 30:The Celebration Aperformance by Andrea Bocelli.

9.25 George Michael: Portrait Of An Ar tist. (Mdls, R) Takesalookat thelife of English singer-songwriter and philanthropist George Michael. 11.15 Bohème On TheBeach. (R) Aperformance of La bohème

1.20 TheBestOfThe HAVASI Symphonic (R) 2.55 Legacy ListWith Matt Paxton. (PG, R) 4.00 Her Majesty’s Cavalr y. (Ml, R) 4.25 Bamay. (R)

5.00 NHK World EnglishNewsMorning. 5.30 ANC PhilippinesThe World Tonight.

6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 TheMorning Show SummerSeries. (PG) 11.30 SevenMorning News. 12.00 MOVIE: Roadhouse Romance. (2021, PGa) Lauren Alaina, Tyler Hynes, Michael Teigen. 2.00 MotorbikeCops. (PG, R) 2.15 CatchPhrase. (PG, R) 3.00 TheChase. (R) 4.00 SevenNews At 4. 5.00 TheChase Australia.

6.00 SevenNews. 7.00 Cricket. Big BashLeague Match17. Adelaide Strikers vPerth Scorchers. From AdelaideOval.

10.30 Big BashLeague Post-Game Post-matchcoverage of thegamebetween the Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers. 11.00 Lockerbie. (PGav,R)Documents the investigationinto the1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103overLockerbie, Scotland. 12.05 135thRoseParade. Theannual New Year’s Day Rose Parade from Pasadena, California, featuring the theme“ Best Day Ever!”

2.00 Home Shopping. (R)

4.00 NBCToday. News and current affairs.

5.00 Sunrise 5am News. Thelatest news, sportand weather. 5.30 Sunrise News, sportand weather

6.00 Today. 9.00 TodayExtraSummer (PG) Highlights from the year in review. 10.30 Tennis. United Cup Day5.Group stage. 4.30 9News Af ternoon 5.00 Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) Hosted by Todd Woodbridge.

6.00 9News. 7.00 ACurrent Affair

7.30 Travel Guides. (PGl,R)The critics spend aweek in Melbourne 8.30 MOVIE: IndianaJonesAnd TheLastCrusade. (1989, PGv,R) Indiana Jonestries to find his missing father,who wasona lifelong quest to obtain the legendaryHolyGrail. Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott. 11.00 CityOfMelbourne: NewYear’sEve (PG)

12.10 MOVIE: Can’t Stop The Music (1980, PGdls, R) 2.30 Our State On APlate. (PG) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Believer’sVoice Of Victory.(PGa) 4.30 A Current Affair.(R) 5.00

TEN (10, 5)

6am

6.00 Deal Or No Deal. (R) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 6.30 TheProjec t. Alookatthe day’snews. 7.30 Have YouBeen Paying Attention? (Malns,R) Hosted by TomGleisner 8.30 2024’s BiggestStories. (R) Theteam at TheProject takes alook back on the world’sbiggest stories of the year 9.30 MOVIE: Clueless. (1995,Md, R) Anaive,fashion-loving

Li ghtUpLatrobe

Li ghtUp Latrob e

It certainly looks alot like Christmas across the Latrobe Valley.

Residents and business owners have been busily putting up lights and decorations throughout December to capture the Christmas spirit.

For many families adrive around towns to view the Christmas lights has become atradition.

The delight on the faces of young and old alike is what keeps residents scrambling onto their roofs year after year.

Congratulations go out to all residents and businesses who have made a great effort to spread the Christmas spirit.

The winners of Light up Latrobe 2024 can be found on the following pages.

MOE / NEWBOROUGH

RUNNER-UP V-Line

Lloyd Street, Moe

MORWELL

WINNER

Fossick &Find Opportunity Shop

72 George Street, Morwell

MORWELL

RUNNER- UP

Dear Delilah Florist

166 Commercial Road, Morwell

TRARALGON

WINNER

Carpet Country

2/161 Argyle Street, Traralgon

TRARALGON

RUNNER- UP

Light & Shade

Shop 1, 91 Hotham Street, Traralgon

St Michael’sschool artwork on display

ST Michael’s Primary School, Traralgon held a successful art show.

All students had artworkexhibited. Theart had been collected throughout the year.

Therewas pieces of sculpture, painting, collage, mixed media, drawing and woollen weaving on display.

Grade 5student Niah said: “I was proud of my abstract art because we usedalot of shapes, sizes andshadesofcolour”.

Fellow Grade 5student Georgie added: “We used lots of techniques when we completed our artwork Iliked how all the artwork was different”.

Grade 1student Harvey loved seeing his butterfly art displayed at the show.

Mum Alana commented: “The incredible display of art demonstrated the student’s ability to think outside of the box. As aparentI appreciatethatthe children were given the opportunity to celebrate their unique and diverse creations. Amazing!!" Visual Arts teachers Jenny Hanrahan and Sue Hill said it was wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents and friends taking the time to see all the artwork on display and also working in the classrooms with the children.

Sunny: Sculpture, painting,collage,mixed media,drawing and woollen weaving were on display at theStMichael’sexhibition.

Grant aids Gaga Pit build

NARRACAN Primary School has installed a Gaga Pit. The Gaga Pit game involves students using a ball to hit against another student’s leg below their knee. The last personstanding is the winner.

The school was able to build the pit thanks to an Active Schools SportingGrant to promote active recreation in the playground.

Students voted for aGaga Pit after going to WaratahBay SchoolCamp,where they enjoyed such an activity.

The school has wished to thank Bernie Walsh from ActiveSchools, whoconnected them with Kurnai College,Morwell 'Hands On' learning students, who constructed the Gaga Pit.

The Gaga Pit is in constant use and everyone is trying to be the last person standing.

Studentslearn valuablelessons

GRADE 5/6 students at Sacred Heart Primary Sc ho ol ,Morwell have been learning about Catholic Social Justice teachings.

The children learnt about life and dignity of the human person, call to family, community andparticipation, rights and responsibilities, preferential option for the poor, the dignity of work and the rightsofworkers, solidarity and care.

Students created stalls for acent market with proceeds going to the Catholic missions.

The children created challenges with prizes of lollies and treats in exchange for acent. Students raised atotal of $115.

Young talent: St Michael’s Primar ySchool, Traralgonstudent Liam with his ar twork. Photographs supplied

Greyscale: Riding along the exhibition,this bike piece wasone of manyworks shared throughout.

Generations: Olivia and Sophie with their mumand grandparents

Collaboration: Kurnai College students and staffhelpedconstruct aGagaPit forNarracan Primary School. Photograph supplied

Trio: Sacred Hear tPrimar ySchool, Morwell students Scarlett, Maddyand Jenna at their stall.

Gathered: Xavier,Ali, Jordan andJace Photographs supplied

Business Guide

IT doesn’t matterwhat time of year it is,the best waytosavemoney is to makesureyour heating and cooling systemisregular ly ser viced and well maintained.

When the days and nights become chillier,having to fire up heaterstobewar mmeans there is potential forhigherelectr icit y/ gasbills.Having your heater regular ly ser viced will keep it running to its best potential and help keep energy bills down.

When the warm weather hits with avengeance our best fr iend becomes the air conditioner If youmakesureyou clean air conditionersevery six months,or ear lier if recommended, youwon't have theproblem of clogged, dir ty filtersblocking nor mal airflow and stopping youfromobtaining full potential.

Russell Thomas is able to ser ve all your air conditioning and heating requirements,installations and sales

Phone foranobligation free quoteand find out the benefits

system.

Russell Thomas is fully qualified, has CertificateIIin Engineer ing-Production (Air Conditioning) and occupational

Compliance cer tificates arealso issued with each installation.

Acomprehensive director yofboth tradesand services set in an easy to read format .Itprovides affordable advertising with added benefits to ‘YOU’ the adver tiser,maximising your adver tising dollar.A13issue package is offeredweekly or fortnightly,which entitles adver tiserstoapackage discount.

Plus, by booking thepackage, youcan choose to receivea FREEeditorialpiece,approximately 200words in length, and including aphotograph, during thetermofthe package.

With an audited circulation of 35,752 copies per weekly edition, and areadership in excess of 50,000 per edition, imagine howpromoting your business,inthe Trades and Services ‘Business Guide’ couldincrease your bottom line!

DOUBLE bed, near new, cream leather header and footer, quality matt., incl. doona. Pick up only, no delivery, Longford, $400 cash only. 0422 395 478.

WE’VE GOTYOU COVERED Heavy Duty Waterproof,UV Stable, Economical In stock NOW 1300 656 211 abctarps.com.au

available, $30m3, $50 delivery. 0412 613 443 or 1800 468 733.

The Ministerfor Planning has approved Amendment C131latr to the Latrobe Planning Scheme.

The Amendmentcame into operation on 20 December 2024, the date this notice was published in the Victoria Government Gazette.

The Amendmentimplements the recommendations of flood studies prepared by the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority through application of the FloodwayOverlay and LandSubjecttoInundation Overlay,and by making other consequential changes to theLatrobe Planning Scheme.

Acopyofthe Amendment can be inspected,freeofcharge, at the Department of Transport and Planning website at www.planning.vic.gov.au/public-inspection or by contacting 1800 789386 to arrange atime to viewthe Amendment

also be inspected, free of charge, during office hours,

141Commercial Road, Morwell and on the

DELIVERERS WTD

BATHROOM

GARDENING DONE

Pruning,

BUSH, Alfred Richard. Passed away peacefully at BlueCross Livingstone Gardens, Vermont South on 17 December 2024. Aged

(Smith), Alexis.

(dec.), Percy (dec.),

EATON,

ATKINSON. The Funeral Service for Alexis Atkinson will be held at Latrobe Valley Funeral Services Chapel, 6Ollerton Avenue, Moe on MONDAY (6 January 2025) at 11am.

ABurial Service will be held at the Moonahcullah Cemetery, Deniliquin NSW on (9 January 2025).

Alexis's service will also be livestreamed. To view the livestream, please visit: latrobevalley funerals.com.au and click on livestreaming.

KERRISON, Shelley Anne.

Passed away peacefully at LRH on 10th December 2024.

Aged 50 years

Loved and loving partner of Doug.

Loved mother and stepmother of Danica, Troy, Andrea, Jacob, Kylie, Shanna-Lee, Shelby, Hayden and their partners. Much loved Nana of all her grandchildren.

LICIS, Mara Zenta.

16/6/1940 -17/12/2024

Passed away peacefully with family present.

Wife of Ernest Licis (dec.)

Lucciano Saccottelli (dec.)

Mother of Karl, Inga and Daina. Mother in law of Craig, Kim and Sally (dec.). Grandmother of 10 and great grandmother of 13.

Will be much missed, loved and remembered by many. Private family memorial.

McKNIGHT (Rose), Joyce. Passed away peacefully at Latrobe Regional Hospital Traralgon, 18 December 2024 in the presence of her loving family. Aged 93 years Dearly loved wife of Vic (dec.). Much loved mother and mother-in-law of Erina and Graham, Hazel and Stephen, and Delores. Adored Nanna to Gerrod, Paula, Amanda, Justin, Ashley, Cherie, Ryan, Brooke, Fiona and Great Nanna to many.

SPECK, Ruth Lorraine.

Born 12/2/1935. Ruth passed away peacefully at AdventCare Nunawading on Friday afternoon 13/12/2024. Loving and devoted wife to Ray (dec.). Caring and loving stepmother to Gary, Pamela, Suzanne and Jeffrey. Cherished grandmother to her grandchildren Brooke, Danielle, Callum, Robyn, Lachlan, Zoe and Alexa. Now at rest with Ray Privately Cremated

MOE-MORWELL-TRARALGON

TRARALGON 5174 2258 Place your tribute on latrobevalleyfunerals.com.au

McKNIGHT. The Funeral Service and Committal for Cremation for Mrs Joyce McKnight will be held at Latrobe Valley Funeral Services Chapel, 6Ollerton Avenue, Moe on TUESDAY (31st December 2024) at 11am. Joyce's Service will also be livestreamed. To view the livestream, please visit: latrobevalley funerals.com.au and click on livestreaming.

MOE-MORWELL-TRARALGON

MOE 5126 1111 Place your tribute on latrobevalleyfunerals.com.au

BUSH.

AService to celebrate the life of Alfred Bush will be held at the Nielsen Funeral Chapel, Korumburra Rd, Warragul on FRIDAY NEXT WEEK (3 January 2025) at 10.30am.

The Service will also be livestreamed. To view Alfred's Service, please visit: www.nielsenfunerals.com.au

Following light refreshments, the cortege will leave for the Trafalgar Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, adonation in memory of Alfred may be made to Dementia Australia. Envelopes will be available at the Chapel.

MOE-MORWELL-TRARALGON MOE 5126 1111 Place your tribute on latrobevalleyfunerals.com.au

VAN DORSSEN. The Funeral Service to celebrate the life of Wayne van Dorssen will take place in the Rose Chapel at Gippsland Memorial Park Crematorium, Cemetery Drive, Traralgon MONDAY (30 December 2024) commencing at 2pm. The Ceremony will be livestreamed, the link is available on Harwood Facebook page.

FINLAYSON, Alan. At Alan's request, a Private Cremation will take place.

GREEN. The Funeral Service to celebrate the life of Julieanne Green will take place at St Philip's Anglican Church, 102 Thompson Ave, Cowes on FRIDAY (27 December 2024) commencing at 11am. APrivate Cremation will follow.

KERRISON. The Funeral of Shelley Kerrison will arrive at the Moe Cemetery MONDAY (6 January 2025) for a Graveside Service to commence at 11am.

LATROBE VALLEY FUNERAL SERVICES

DAVIS. The Funeral Service to celebrate the life of Matthew Davis will take place in the Rose Chapel at Gippsland Memorial Park Crematorium, Cemetery Drive, Traralgon on MONDAY (30 December 2024) commencing at 11am. Family owned and locally based FuneralDirectors

We bring 35 yearsexperience

EVANS, Betty. 11/11/2006. EVANS, Frank. 12/6/1996. EVANS, Geoffrey. 5/3/2018. LICCIARDI, Vincenzo. 2/9/2011. LICCIARDI, Felicetta. 1/1/2022. Not just today but everyday we love you always. Love Kerry, Angelo, Vincent, Alysia, Evangelo, Carissa, Aliciabeth, Dylan, Angelica, James, Cecelia, Maxine, Puddins and Frank. XOXOXO In Memoriam •

STILES, Malcolm (Mal). 5/2/1949 -28/11/2023. You are part of my heart Love Judi.

HONOUR YOUR LOVED ONES and SHARE THEIR STORY

When you losesomeone close to you, it can be hardtoput your thoughts and feelings into words Placeyour personal messageinthe Latrobe Valley Express and share your memories

To place your message today, contact

Teams advanceafterT20 quarters

 THE Cobras surmounted Traralgon Imperials in no small part due to aphenomenal turn by Brendan Mason at Andrews Park West.

Mason made 143 not out smashing nine over the boundary and an additional 13 dribblers.

FINALS came earlyfor cricket lovers as the local twenty20s hit the groundrunning for the Cricket Latrobe Valley Twenty20 quarter finals on Tuesday, December 18.

Moe made it look like easy work against Centrals, taking the match by three wickets at Apex Park.

The Lions held strong despite 80 notout from Jordan Matthews and further efforts from Corey Pollard (27) and Tye Hourigan (21).

But Moe kept Centrals at bay particularly through Keenan Hughes involved in every wicket for the winning Lions.

Hughes took 2/14 across fouroversand had three catches.

Despite gettingthrough to the end,Moe only needed three men to advance.

Rob Phoenix made 79 not out, accompanied by Benn Zomer’s 35 not out and Jesse Pheeney (21).

Support came in bunches from the likes of Ryan Ayres (31), Ben Kearns (23) and Brae Kelly (21).

Imperials tried to forge ahead but fell 113 runs short with Tom Starkey making 36.

 EX STUDENTS were too much to handle for Willow Grove at Terry Hunter Reserve.

Through acombination of Jackson McMahon(43), Rick Battista (37) and Adam Jaensch, the Sharks made an impressive 5/165.

While the Wolves started off handily through Kyan Mulley (35) and Josh Hammond (20), they still needed to lift their output.

Ex Students stomached what Willow Grove put forth making them fall short by 40 runs.

Michael Bentley took 2/15 for the Sharks.

 MORWELL laid to waste Gormandale, and

got Tiger bragging rights at Keegan Street Reserve.

FayazHomyoon led fromthe front with 68 off 54 balls, supported by Jordan Campbell (23) and Mark Cukier (21) seeing Morwell through to the 20 overs setting atarget of 154.

Dylan Keyhoe took 3/24 and Campbell Peavey 2/25 for Gormandale.

The opposing Tigers attempted theirrun but were halted due to four ducks during their innings.

Yohan Soyza performed admirably with 32 not out, but Gormandale lost by 61 runs.

Cukier took3/23,Blair Clymo 2/17 and Brendan Brincat2/12 for Morwell.

Morwell willnow wait to play Churchill at Keegan Street ReserveonJanuary 14 in thesecond week of finals, whereas Ex Studentswillhost Moe at Terry Hunter Reserve.

 IN the week prior, the final round of twenty20s returned to the fold after afew compromised weeks due to the unpredictable weather.

Toongabbie comfortably passed an ailing

Imperials in a29-runwinning affair at Catterick Crescent in Pool Afollowed by Ex Students downing Traralgon West by four wickets at Terry Hunter Reserve.

In Pool B, Churchill needed just 14 overs to defeat Mirboo North by five wickets at Andrews Park West and Raiders downed Willow Grove by three wickets at Yinnar Recreation Reserve.

Pool Csaw Centrals claim victory over Gormandale by nine wickets at Apex Park.

Jeeralang-Boolarra forfeited to Glengarry.

Pool Dsaw MoeslidebyRovers by one run at Duncan Cameron and Morwell defeat Latrobe by eight wickets at Keegan Street Reserve.

Due to printingdeadlines and with Christmas falling on aWednesday this year, match reports from regular weekend cricket lastSaturday’s could not be completed in time These will appear in the Monday, December 30 issue of the Express.

Cricket Latrobe Valley lower grades scoreboard

Saturday,December21

Premier B(Round 10): Glengarry5/219 (P Henry80*, C Dunn 76, DCochrane 25*, KO’Connell 2/29, LSwain2/29) def Thorpdale 7/218 (L Morphett 66,KO’Connell 66, M Graeme 62, AHodson2/27,J Cochrane 2/34, AWright 2/36), CATS 4/140 (R Hare64*, RGray2/22, BReside 2/34) def Morwell 135 (J Pullen 63, RHare5/19, JBellingham 4/22), Toongabbie 7/134 (D Barry41*, JLove31, RVoss 2/18, J Zappulla2/24) def Ex Students133 (J Love 3/15, BHood 3/27, DBarry 2/18), Traralgon West 8/191 (B Howe 91, W Lawrey 2/26, JAlexander 2/28) def Mirboo North 157 (B Aitken 60,JAlexander 26,LCorry26, JGiles 4/34, HBright 3/32, BHowe2/11), Jeeralang-Boolarra 7/98 (J Brierley 36*, RVelardi 5/13) def Churchill 96 (R Velardi 36, BMcCormack 5/22, JBrierley 3/17, JWus 2/3). BGrade (Round 12): WillowGrove 5/210 (D van der

PREMIER A ROUND 8(DAY2)

Centrals vGlengarry at Apex Park

GLENGARRY1ST INNINGS 237 CENTRALS 1STINNINGS

HRajapakse lbwb Graham 3

BWilliamson cFrancis bJenkin 40

SGraycB Marks bGraham .41

THourigan c&b Freitag 2

LSpeairs lbwb Graham 12

JMurdoch st BMarks bJenkin 0

CWhitehead cMertonbJenkin. 0

TGamagecFMarks bMayberry. 0

JMatthewsb Graham 8

NPradeep cFrancis bGraham. 7 MFenech not out 0

Extras (0w,0nb,0lb,0b).. 0

Total (75.1 overs) 116

GLENGARRY1ST INNINGS BOWLING

CGraham 18.1-10-33-5, FMarks 9-2-20-0, MMerton12-3-210, AJenkin 24-12-31-3, BMayberry 8-8-0-1, NFreitag 4-1-8-1 Raiders vs Ex Students at Yinnar

RAIDERS 1STINNINGS 123 EX STUDENTS1ST INNINGS (RESUMED 3/128)

JMcMahon cRobertson bGunathilake 35

RBattista cMcColl bRobertson 59

MHarris not out 3

Extras (0w,3nb,6lb,6b) 15

Total (41 overs) 5dec 179

RAIDERS 1STINNINGS BOWLING

BRivers 10-0-43-0, HMcColl 4-0-18-0, DStares5-2-14-1, T Robertson 13-3-55-3, GChesire 6-1-23-0, JVarghese 2-0-9-0, PGunathilake 1-0-5-1 RAIDERS 2NDINNINGS

GChesirecDyke bHarris

CHill bMatthews 6

BMacfarlane cStockdale bHarris. 4

ASilva bMatthews. 16

LMaynardb Matthews. 47

TRobertson st McMahon bStockdale 28 BRivers lbwbHarris. 8 HMcColl bHarris 0

THutchinson cStockdale bHarris 0

PGunathilake cBattistab Harris. 0

DStares not out

AMatthews8-3-26-3, ABrady 5-2-19-0,L Stockdale 12-10-9-1, JPryde 6-2-11-0, LPanwar2-0-10-0 EX STUDENTS2ND INNINGS (TARGET 69)

(1w,0nb,3lb,0b)

Stoep 73, AWilkes57, JCoombs 28, JDowns 2/0, T Shankland 2/38) def Centrals 168 (D Rode 92, HBerry 46, N Weatherhead 6/38, AWilkes 2/39), Moe6/133 (A Johnstone 32*, MWhitney 30, TOakley 25, IBrown 2/17, SCarney 2/22) def Rovers 7/130 (S Boyes49, JAtkinson2/30), Raiders 9/212 (J Hecker 48, HRai 46, RWebber 41, JBerryman-Lambert25, JBull 3/34, GSwan2/19, JArmstrong 2/45, PShrubb 2/48) def Gormandale 5/174 (G Swan 100*, JScurlock 39*,RSidhu 2/14), Imperials vs Latrobe (scores not in PlayHQ). Premier Cand CGrade: pre-Christmas bye.

Thursday, December 19

Women’s Championship (Round 10): Ex Students 1/139 (A Hood 30*, JLangstaff 30*, DGodenzi29, RAdams 16*) def WillowGrove 2/59 (H Ferguson 30*), Rovers 0/93(SMinster 32*, TDuff 21*) def Raiders 2/89 (R Pidikiti 30*, KWebber

24*), Mirboo North 4/123 (K Collins 49*, CJohns 32*) def Morwell 3/53 (Z Long 20).

Women’s Premier: WillowGrove 2/83 (K Mann 30*, K Wheildon 30*) def Centrals 2/59, (F Morrison 30*), Raiders 2/120 (A Quinsey-Munro24*, SBlines 18*) def Churchill 3/60 (Z Mcnaughton 20*), Latrobe 2/83 (S Rockliff 30*,T Anderson 23,MDuncan 21*) def Imperials 4/81 (R Reid 30*, AHodson21, SRockliff 2/11).

Juniors

Under 16 (Friday, December 20, Round 9T20s): Willow Grove3/142 (D Walsh 30*, JGrima 26*, Dvan derStoep 24, HPhoenix21, JPoursanidis2/33) def Centrals 6/38 (A Hurley23, DWalsh 4/5), Ex Students 86 (D Smith 25, JSmith 2/0, ASmith2/13,K Kumar 2/14, RO’Donnell 2/18) def Gormandale/Rovers 67 (A Gore3/15,T Churchill 2/7, LBastin

CRICKETLATROBEVALLEY

INNINGS BOWLING

3-0-17-0, HMcColl 3-0-28-0, TRobertson 4-0-17-0, P

Gunathilake 0.2-0-4-0

Toongabbie vMoe at Toongabbie Recreation Reserve Toongabbie

TOONGABBIE 1STINNINGS 204 MOE 1STINNINGS (RESUMED 1/44)

RPhoenix cunknown bStoddart. 98

APhilip cJayasinghe bRyan. .84

BZomer not out 35

ESheekey lbwBarry. 1 Extras (1w,3nb,2lb,8b) 14 Total(60.4 overs) 4/234

TOONGABBIE 1STINNINGS BOWLING

GMunasinghe 14-4-48-0, AAthulathmudali 11-6-16-1, J Veneman 9-0-66-0, SMoran 2-0-6-0, MBarry6.4-0-42-1, K

Stoddart15-4-36-1, SRyan3-0-10-1

Cats vMorwell at Traralgon SouthRecreation Reserve

MORWELL 1STINNINGS 247 CATS 1STINNINGS

OPalmer bFord. 19

SGissara cMills bFord. 14

NHarrup c&b Homyoon 22

EPorigneaux c&b Brincat 1

JCochranecHomyoon bCukier 23

TPanyangara cLDay bHomyoon 14

CStewartcClymo bCukier 0

PMcGill lbwb Cukier 0

BHagley cFortuin bHomyoon 3

HCooper cClymo bHomyoon 7 EPass not out 12 Extras (0w,0nb,0lb,1b) 1

Total(61.2 overs) 116

MORWELL 1STINNINGS BOWLING

TFord18-7-28-2, BBrincat 13-6-24-1, DDay 7-1-16-0, M

Cukier 13-3-30-3, FHomyoon

AGRADE

ROUND 8(DAY2)

Mirboo North vs WillowGrove at Mirboo North Rec

WILLOW GROVE 1STINNINGS 142

MIRBOO NORTH 1STINNINGS (RESUMED 1/71)

MSnell cJames bDawson. 47 BHeath cPaytonb Fiddelaers 38 ZHollis bDawson 0 IAllan lbwbFiddelaers 72 LChila cPaytonb Walsh 13 DMatthewsb Walsh 6 MWoodall not out

BEdebohls

49-3, NWheildon6-1-17-0,S Dawson 5-3-5-2, JHammond 9-1-29-0, LPayton2-0-28-0

WILLOW GROVE2ND INNINGS

KMulleyc Anders bBanks 21

BEdebohls run out (Matthews/Anders) 14

AJames not out 2

LPaytonnot out 25 Extras (0w,1nb,0lb,0b) 1 Total2/63

MIRBOO NORTH 2NDINNINGS BOWLING

AThomas6-1-13-0, MWoodall 5-0-14-0, DBanks 3-0-12-1, Z Hollis 4-1-20-0, LChila1-0-4-0

Churchill vs Imperials at AndrewsParkWest IMPERIALS 1STINNINGS 109 CHURCHILL1ST INNINGS(RESUMED 9/205)

ANorman bStarkey 25

RWhelpdale not out .3

Extras (2w,2nb,0lb,ob) 4

Total (42 overs) 209

IMPERIALS 1STINNINGS BOWLING

DThompson13-3-51-3, TDonoghue 3-0-26-1, TStarkey 18-274-5, SAitken6-0-40-1, HDunstan 2-0-18-0

IMPERIALS 2NDINNINGS

RMorleylbw bR Harvey 0

TStarkey cCeeney bAyres 0

JSkingle cKelly bAyres 12

AAnubhav cCeeney bWilliams 15

DThilakarathne lbwb Williams 33

DCaulfield bWilliams 4

DThompson c& bWhelpdale 5

SAitkenc Ayresb Williams 10

HDunstan lbwb Warr .2

EJarvisb Keighran. 11

TDonoghue not out 12

Extras (1w,6nb,0lb,7b) 14

Total (68.5 overs) 118

CHURCHILL 2NDINNINGS BOWLING

RHarvey9-1-18-1, RAyres 16-3-33-2, CWilliams 18-9-17-4, R

Whelpdale 12-4-18-1, SWarr6-3-13-1, ANorman2-0-8-0, J

Keighran 3.5-2-2-1, BKearns 1-0-2-0, JMason 1-1-0-0

CHURCHILL 2NDINNINGS (TARGET 19)

BKearns notout 9

BKelly cDunstan bThompson 3

RAyres not out 8

Extras (0w,nb0, lb0, b0) 0

Total (3 overs) 1/20

IMPERIALS 2NDINNINGS BOWLING

TStarkey 2-0-17-0 DThompson 1-0-3-1

Latrobe vs Gormandale at Peter Siddle Oval

LATROBE 1STINNINGS (RESUMED 7/185)

SFreshwater not out 72 JBloomfield cunknown bBrooks 22

(0w,1nb,8lb,2b) 11

(107 overs). 8/231 GORMANDALE 1STINNINGS BOWLING

2/8), Toongabbie 8/62 (B Duncan 3/13, AMadex2/5) def Morwell/Latrobe 18 (J Hazelman4/3), Raiders 4/131 (J Dunn 30*, PMills27, LUrand 22, JWebber 19*, TDuff 2/22)def Moe5/81 (K Micallef 38*, SBlines 2/4), Glengarry- bye. Under 14 (Wednesday,December 18, Round 7T20s): Moe6/87 (A Nardone 34*, JArmstrong 2/7, JTowers2/15), def Gormandale/Rovers 8/75 (B Savige5/7), Centrals 7/134 (A Hurley 30*, JPoursanidis 26*, BMcIver2/6, JDodd 2/7) def Willow Grove7/92 (N Sallee 23, JGrima 21, JPoursanidis 2/5,CHowlett 2/8), Latrobe 1/106 (A Peavey 30*,H Smith 23*, AMadex22*)def Ex Students 5/104 (A Madex2/10) Jeeralang-Boolarra 2/108 (O O’Brien 20*)def Mirboo North 8/61 (L Roberts 22, CStanton 3/3, OO’Brien 2/1), Morwell -bye Under 14 girls (Friday, December 13, Round 3): Traralgon West 2/68 (A Hodson 25*) def WillowGrove 4/59 (A Hodson 3/4), Ex Students 2/63 defRaiders 0/57

5-1-12-2, TReynolds

Round1-April 5

Fish Creek vYinnar Hill End vMirboo North

Newborough vMDU

StonyCreek vBoolarra

Thorpdale vMorwell East

TooravTarwin Foster -BYE

Round2-April 12

Boolarra vMirboo North

Foster vNewborough MDU vThorpdale

Morwell East vHill End

Tarwin vStony Creek

Yinnar vToora

Fish Creek -BYE

Round3-April 26

Boolarra vMorwell East Hill End vMDU

Mirboo North vTarwin

StonyCreek vYinnar Thorpdale vFoster TooravFish Creek

Newborough -BYE

Round4-May 3

Fish Creek vStony Creek

Foster vHill End MDU vBoolarra

Newborough vThorpdale

Tarwin vMorwell East

Yinnar vMirboo North Toora-BYE

Round5-May 10

Boolarra vFoster Hill End vNewborough

Mirboo North vFish Creek

Morwell East vYinnar

StonyCreek vToora Tarwin vMDU

Thorpdale -BYE

Round6-May 17

Fish Creek vMorwell East

Foster vTarwin

Newborough vBoolarra Thorpdale vHill End

TooravMirboo North Yinnar vMDU

StonyCreek -BYE

Round7- May24

Boolarra vThorpdale

Mirboo North vStony Creek

Morwell East vToora

Tarwin vNewborough

Yinnar vFoster

Hill End -BYE

Round8-May 31

Fish Creek vFoster

Hill End vBoolarra

Newborough vYinnar

StonyCreek vMorwell East

Thorpdale vTarwin

TooravMDU

Mirboo North -BYE

King’s BirthdayWeekend-June7

MDU vFish Creek (Round7)

Round9-June14

Fish Creek vNewborough Foster vToora

MDUvStony Creek

Morwell East vMirbooNorth

Tarwin vHillEnd

Yinnar vThorpdale

Boolarra -BYE

Round10-June21

Boolarra vTarwin

Hill End vYinnar

Mirboo North vMDU

StonyCreek vFoster

Thorpdale vFish Creek

TooravNewborough

Morwell East -BYE

SEASON FIX TU RE

Round11-June28

MDUvMorwell East

Fish Creek vHill End

Foster vMirboo North

Newborough vStony Creek

TooravThorpdale

Yinnar vBoolarra

Tarwin -BYE

Round12-July 5

Tarwin vYinnar

Boolarra vFish Creek

Hill End vToora

Mirboo North vNewborough

Morwell East vFoster

StonyCreek vThorpdale

MDU -BYE

Round13-July 12

Foster vMDU

Fish Creek vTarwin

Newborough vMorwell East

StonyCreek vHill End Thorpdale vMirbooNorth TooravBoolarra Yinnar -BYE

Round14-July19

Boolarra vStony Creek

MDU vNewborough

Morwell East vThorpdale

Tarwin vToora

Yinnar vFish Creek

Round15-July 26

MDUvYinnar

Mirboo North vHill End

Morwell East vBoolarra

Tarwin vThorpdale

TooravFoster

Hill End, Foster,Mirboo North -BYE

Fish Creek,Newborough, Stony Creek -BYE

Round16-August 2

Boolarra vToora

Foster vMorwell East

Hill End vTarwin

Newborough vFish Creek

StonyCreek vMirboo North

MDU,Thorpdale, Yinnar -BYE

Round17-August 9

Fish Creek vMDU

Hill End vStony Creek

Mirboo North vFoster

Thorpdale vToora

Yinnar vNewborough

Boolarra,Morwell East,Tarwin -BYE

Round18-August 16

Foster vFish Creek

MDU vTarwin

Mirboo North vBoolarra

Morwell East vStony Creek

Newborough vHill End

Thorpdale vYinnar

Toora-BYE

Finals

Week 1

August 23

August 24

Week 2

August 30

August 31

PreliminaryFinal

September 6

GrandFinal September 13

Mixed outcomes from MGFNL fixture

FOOTBALL

MID GIPPSLAND BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

WITH the Mid Gippsland Football-Netball League fixturereleased, discussionsurroundingthe equity of the draw will undoubtedly be atopic of discussion Given the MGFNL takes in 13 clubs, some discrepancies are inevitable. Here,welook at just how favourableorunfavourable the 2024fixture is for teams within the Express readership.

Yinnar -A

FOLLOWING yet another Grand Final appearance in 2024, it can be expected the Magpies will once again featurenear the top once it’s all said and done.

The 2022 premier has been offered abit of leeway during the months of May and June during the early to mid-stages of the home-and-away season. Yinnar players willonlyneed to hop in their car for adecent trek once between Round 6and Round 9, which comes with ashort travel to rival Newborough in Round 8.

Otherwise, it’ll all happen at Yinnar Recreation Reserve fromMay 17 to June 14 with gamesagainst Meeniyan-Dumbalk United, Foster and Thorpdale, with the King’s Birthday bye in between.

Further down the track of the season, the Magpies havealsobeen handed two byes in four weeksfrom Round 13 to Round16-being one of the last to have their individualbye before the three-club byes take place from Rounds 14 through 17.

Yinnar could be positioned perfectly heading into finals if they playtheir cardsright, as their last stretch features someachievable games(in theory)against Fish Creek and Newborough at home and MDUand Thorpdaleaway -achance to go at least three out of four in their final weeks of regular season action.

Double up against: Fish Creek, MDU, Newborough, and Thorpdale.

Newborough -D

BULLDOGS supporters could have reason to complain even this far from theseasoncommencing.

Uponfinishingrunner-upintwo of the last three years and dipping slightly this last season, Newboroughwill have quite the task aheadofthem if they wishtogoone step further and capture that allusive senior premiership not achieved since 2016.

They’ll visit Foster early in Round 2ofthe 2025 season before taking the week off in Round 3, but perhaps even more annoyingand egregiousis having to then travel to Fish Creek and Toora two weeks in arow. That latter trip in Round 9and 10 combine for a total of 356 kilometres and four-and-a-half hours behind thewheel thereand back smack-bang in themiddle of the year.

Let alone the fact Newborough play the back-toback premier (who downed them in the 2023 Grand Final) on their home turf, it’s difficult to not feel a little bitsorry for the Bulldogs during that stretch You’d then think the league would give the Bulldogs some sort of savinggrace, but all that is offeredismatches against the flag-carrying Kangaroos (at home) and MDU and Yinnar away in successive weeks from Round 14 to 17.

If they can get through that with anetpositive, then anythingcould be on thehorizon for Newborough.

Double up against: MDU, HillEnd, Yinnar, and Fish Creek.

Morwell East -B

FREQUENT onlookers of Mid Gippsland last season wouldn’t have been wrong to suspect the Hawks were bound for great fortunes 14 weeks into the year.

However, losing yourlastthree gamesthat lands you into an elimination final afterspendingthe entiretyofthe yearatopthe ladder added to a crushing result,downed by asinglepoint after the siren to end the 2024 season.

Looking ahead, Morwell East could still be destinedfor greatness… or they could have missed their ship -only time will tell.

The Hawks open with winnable matches against Thorpdale and Hill End to begin, before being forced to travel in three of the next four weeks.

Although trips to Boolarra and Tarwin (stilla hike) can be managed, home against Yinnar and awayagainst FishCreek won’t offerthe samelevel of definiteness.

Then, for the entirety of June, the Hawks won’t feature at Ronald Reserve, bar one timewhenthey host Mirboo North -otherwise, they’ll be making tripstoStony Creek and MDU, combinedwiththeir bye and the King’s Birthday break that make up abare midseason.

Morwell Eastare savedwiththreehome games in the lastfive weeks before finalsagainst Thorpdale, Boolarra and Stony Creektoset them up for a potential finals berth for the secondyear running. Double up against: Thorpdale, Boolarra, Stony Creek, and Foster.

Boolarra -B

TO win finals, you’ve got to be in them.

The Demons have only played post-season football once in thelast10years (2022) and they’llbehoping to buck that trend in 2025.

Not much will be in their way, except for their form.

Boolarra feature an extra home game on their early season schedule where between Round 2 and Round 5they play Mirboo North andMorwell East at home before travelling to MDU and then return to play Foster.

The Demons havealsobeen given two weeks off after they play at HillEnd in Round 8with acombination of their own bye and the King’s Birthday weekend.

Following that, Boolarra follows astraight

forward home-and-away swap from Round 10 onwardswith only noticeable hindrances facing the two previous premiers in Yinnar and Fish Creek in Round 11 and 12.

Double up against: Stony Creek, MorwellEast, Toora, and Mirboo North.

Hill End -C

ANEW coach, aplethora of young talent, the Rovers will be hopeful risers (as all aim to) for this upcoming season.

Winning just one match over the last two years can make it tough to keep getting back on the horse, and it will be extra difficult for players and officials during the middle portion of the season.

Hill End play at their home ground just once between May 17 and June 14 due to ateam bye, the King’s Birthdayweekend and their away games outweighing those at home.

From Round 6toRound 9, the Rovers feature in matches over the hill at Thorpdale, against Boolarra, and must travel near an hour-and-a-half to play Tarwin before returning home.

It’ll be important for the coaching staff to keep theirplayers keenly focussed and motivated during this period.

Adding to that, they’ll be at home zero times for three weeks with away games against Stony Creek and Mirboo North sandwiched between another bye week.

Hill End finish with matches at home against Tarwin and Stony Creek and away against Newborough in the final round of the season. Double up against: Mirboo North, Tarwin, StonyCreek, and Newborough.

Thorpdale -C

THROUGH some difficult circumstances, in which no club can plan for, the Blues didn’t play finals in 2024

The horrifying injury sustained to playingcoach Jason Winderlich followedaperiod where Thorpdale had risen to some success (preliminary final appearance in 2023) after significant time at the opposite end of the ladder.

The Blues may be in for another trialling time, and it isn’t made anymore easier during the back end of the 2025 season.

Following aregular home-away fixture through to Round 11, their next five weeks consist of four away matchesagainst some handy opponentsand require adecent drive, even if most of their list don’t live in town.

Playing at Toora, Stony Creek,Morwell East and Tarwin,including amatch at home against Mirboo North, Blues players and supporters may be rolling their eyes, but they’ll knuckle down and give it their best shot.

The Blues do play their final two games at home, but coming up against Newborough and Yinnar won’t be straight forward wins.

Double up against: Morwell East, Tarwin, Toora, and Yinnar.

Mirboo North -B

WHENitcomes to external factors, the Tigers have been dealt some setbacks primarily due to the devastating stormsthat rioted the town at the startofthe year.

However, whenitcomes to their recentdry patch on the football field, no one should feel sorry for them.

Mirboo North enjoyed awealth of success over a 12-year period in which they captured five senior premierships -the Tigers haven’t played finals since 2019.

Still experiencing adevelopmental phase, the young Tigerswill be tested in their first six weeks, only playing on their home deck once (verses Tarwin) with gamesagainst HillEnd, Boolarra and Yinnar separated by the Easter bye week. They also have abye right before the King’s Birthday weekend before atough away match against Morwell East.

The Tigers will aim to pick up winsinthe backend of the season to boost morale, with three of their last four at home and gettable games facing Hill End, Stony Creek (away), Foster and Boolarra. Double up against: Hill End, Stony Creek, Foster, and Boolarra.

Collingwood land generational Centra with first pick

FOOTBALL

AFLWEXPORTS

BY TOM HAYES AND BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

SALE City’sAsh Centra has become the first GippslandPower women’s product to be selected with the first pick of an AFLWDraft, going to Collingwood.

The 2024 AFLW Draft is the first-ever national women’s draft.

Centra spoke to the Express ahead of the draft.

“It has been abig day. Ihave the most beautiful support system around me. Feeling grateful and excited to see what the future holds for all these girls,” she said.

“Considering the talent in this years draft it feels great to be recognised. Regardless of the number I’m just excited to be on the list and play some footy.”

The Sale City Football-Netball Club product is on her way to Collingwood, joining up with former Power teammate Amber Schutte.

Centra will be awelcomed additiontothe Magpies, who finished the 2024 seasononthe bottom of the ladder.

Centra said she was grateful for the support she has received throughouther football career so far.

“Coming from asmall country town Ifeel like it’s amassive achievementfor the club. Iwouldn’t be where Iamtoday without the club and their support,” she said ahead of the draft.

“Anything could happenand it always plays on my mind but to be there with my family and friends provides me with so much comfort to be proud of myself no matter what happens.”

Despite the attention she has garnered from potential clubs, Centra told the Express she would

prefer to stay in Victoria after draft night,her wish granted by Collingwood.

“At the start of the year Iwas happy to go anywhere but as the draft has got closer Ihave realised that Iwould prefer to stay in Victoria to be closer to my family and those who matter to me,” she said.

She models her game off seven-time club bestand-fairest Monique Conti (Western Bulldogs and Richmond), who has quite the resume at the age of just 25. Centra, aversatile on-baller, took home the Coates Talent League best-and-fairest award in her top-age season with Power, boasting averages of 27.7disposals, 4.4 marks, and 4.2 tackles. She booted 18 goals for the year at an average of 1.4 agame.

Centra also played in the last two Under 18 National Championships for Victoria Country.

Coming from abasketball background (like so many young AFL/AFLW players these days), Centra played for her local association the Sale Sonics -included in their CBL women’s line-up as recently as last year.

Played in Sale. Basketballbackground. Drafted to Collingwood. Sound like anyone familiar?

 WARRAGUL’S Jas Sowden was picked up later in the draft to Port Adelaide.

The Power selected her with the 52nd pick during the third round.

Shejoins apool of girls who will be the first-ever to move interstate, following the firstfullynational AFLW Draft.

SowdenisalsoaPortAdelaidefan, granting her the wish to play for the club she already adores.

Just to make things difficult: Newborough has been given atough draw fornextyear,with three of their four ‘doubleup’ games coming against 2024 Mid Gippslandfinalists File photograph

Boomers bounding intoTraralgon

BASKETBALL

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

TRARALGON will host two FIBA 2025 Asia Cup

Qualifierswhenthe Boomers(national men’s team) go to battle against Indonesia and Thailand from February 20 to 23, 2025.

The games will be the first international basketball fixtures played in the region as the Latrobe Valley continues to become ahotspot for the sport. This is also due to the many local exports that have come out of the area, including Traralgon’s JackWhite and Jade Melbourne and Moe’s Jaz Shelleymost recently.

Whitewas on hand at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (GRISS), where the games will be played, alongside Latrobe City Mayor Dale Harriman, Basketball AustraliaChief Executive Matt Scriven and Executive General Manager of High Performance Jason Smith.

The Melbourne United star and NBA champion said it was a“full circle moment” to be back in his hometown with the potential of playing for Australia in front of his family and friends, something he never thought possible.

“It’s goingtobeasurrealmomentand agreat opportunitythat I’m looking forward to grasp in playing back here in Traralgon,” White said.

“It’s been Ithink 10 years now since I’ve played in my hometown, so it will be aspecial moment to

Major motocross

Roaring: Traralgon wasannounced as the four th stop forthe ProMX Championships next May. Photograph: Foremost Media

MOTOCROSS

THE 2025 PenriteProMX Championship presented by AMX Superstores (ProMX) calendar is now complete, with Traralgon to host round four on Sunday, May 25, 2025. Thanks to support from Latrobe City Council, the famous Loy Yang Park track -which has hosted numerous national-level motocross events over the last few decadeswill be making its first appearance in ProMX alongsidefellow2025debutantes Nowra and Warwick.

With gradientshifts, searching cambers, avariety of jumps, hairpins and punchy straights, Traralgon will make for exceptional racing across all the ProMX classes.

“Traralgon hasa storied racing history, particularly in motocross and enduro -even hosting the International Six Days Enduro in 1998,” Motorcycling Australia ChiefExecutive Peter Doyle said.

“It’s great to see new tracks on the 2025 calendar as ProMX continuestoevolve and gain momentum, and we look forward to building agreat partnership with the Latrobe City Council.”

As well as the spectacular Loy Yang track, Traralgon also offers plenty for visitors including wide-ranging hospitality and service options and family-friendly attractions.

“We are proud to host the 2025 ProMX and provide anew location for riders to test their skills right here in Traralgon,” Latrobe City Mayor Dale Harriman said.

“We look forward to welcoming riders, crew members and visitors to the event -and hope they can all make the most of what Latrobe City hastooffer during their visit.”

The vastly experienced Traralgon Motorcycle Clubwill host the round, whichwillmark the mid-point of the 2025 ProMX Championship.

The MX1, MX2 and MX3 cla sses will compete at all rounds of the 2025 ProMX Championship, the MXW (women)atfour, MX85and MX65Futures at three,and the Veterans at one.

Theclass compositionatall rounds will be announced shortly.

have that opportunity and hopefully Ican put on the green and gold and represent our country at ahigh level.

“Definitely looking forward to the opportunity of suitingupand having friends and family watch me play again here, make it abit easier for them not having to travel around the worldand to Melbourne.”

White expects the crowd to be rocking oncethe games roll around, having visited overthe last few yearssince GRISShas upgraded, watching Gippsland United and other local basketball.

Mayor Harriman, havingalot to do with Traralgon basketball in the past and wearing his T-Birds polo, couldn’t hide his joy announcing the game’sarrival to the area last week.

“Traralgon as ahost city aligns with the connection of basketball in the regional hubs following a sold-outFebruary game in Bendigo against Korea. Taking (an) international-standard tournament to Gippsland will be aboom for basketball and for the basketball community and the local industry,” he said.

“It will also bring investment into our local economy through tourism and it will also encourage people to check out all that Latrobe Cityhas to offer, which is way more than just beyond this basketball stadium.”

Scriven also articulated Basketball Australia’s excitement in bringing the highest level of basketball to the people of Latrobe Valley.

“There’s obviously been some NBL and WNBL games here over the past few years but never a Boomersgameand we areabsolutely excited to showcase (an) international game in such astrong basketball region,” he said.

“Thank you to Mayor Harriman and the Latrobe City Council for their tremendous support to visit Victoria,who continue to supportbasketballall across Victoria.

“It’s fantastic to see the game take off in regional cities such as Traralgon and we hope the city of Latrobe and the broader community get behind

these Boo mers ’g am es in Febr ua ry aga ins t Indonesia and Thailand

“Thesegamesnot only provide the opportunity to seethe best players in the country on home soil, they also provide the opportunity to inspire the next generation.”

Being qualifying games, the Boomers will feature amixture of the best available talent from around the countryaswell as up-and-coming, development players to further theiropportunities and experience.

Smith spoke about arriving to GRISSa few months ago alongside FIBA to conduct an audit on the facility, saying they were blown away by the stadium.

“They walked away same as me, mouth opened, just (saying) ‘this is amazing’, Ididn’t know that

it existed down here, but as soon as Iwalked in the door, Iwent ‘this is incredible’… it ticks all the boxes,” he said.

“Then having the guy to the left of me (White) having been grown up here, just the grassroots of basketball for the hub, it’s incredible. It’s amatch made in heaven… we are really excited about showcasing the game at the best level for this region.”

Basketball Australia will also be conducting community events and initiatives prior to and surroundingthe games in February including player and coachingclinics withthe Boomers outfit. Australia will first play Indonesia on Thursday, February 20 before coming up against Thailand on Sunday, February 23.

Tickets are on-sale via Ticketek.

Lowanna taking it to the verybest

BASKETBALL

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

LOWANNA Collegecompleted yet another campaign at the Australian Schools Championships, sending two under15sides (boysand girls)up to sunny Gold Coast for the week-long national basketball tournament.

The under 15 boys finished secondwith three wins across the week in Pool AofDivision 2but fell to St Joseph’s College FTG 56 to 37 in the quarterfinal.

Notablegames for the boys included athrilling one-point victory overSalesian College in their first outingfor the week and two moresizeable wins across Tuesday and Wednesday against Meridan State College (73-36) and Luther College (59-51).

Konyi Kaka was leading scorer for the under 15 boys with 10.67 points per game and aweek-best 20 points in Lowanna’s day twowin against Meridan.

The under 15 girls also finished second in their pool however, in Division 1.

Thegirls narrowly missed out on amedal match after succumbing to Moreton Bay College 66-60 in thequarter final-Lowanna had great output that game with Lexie Jackson, Olivia Ouchirenko and Shayla Smith all scoring in double digits.

The girls alsocollected awin on day one,defeating Berwick College 46-40.

They could have nearly finished top of their pool taking them astepcloser to agold medal game, with all of their matches falling under aseven-point margin with losses to Mount Ridley P-12 College (46-43) and Brisbane State High School (57-50) costly.

Ouchirenko starred for her team, finishing second for points with an average of 19.4 points per game across the competition.

Lowanna has had ahealthy amount of success at the national stage for basketball, headlined by an under 15 boys championship banner that hangs in the school’s gymnasium after they secured gold in 2015 in Canberra.

Headed by heralded local basketball star and Lowanna College teacher Mike Santo (who once again took the teams to Gold Coast this time around), the gold medalsquadboasted familiar names now seen regularlyincountry sport including Moe seniorfootballersRiley Baldi (playing for Casey VFL also), Harry Pepper (draftedto Hawthorn) and Brock Smith (Brisbane).

The Newborough-basedhighschool, which is considerably smaller and more regional than a lot of the others that enter, have also secured an array of silver and bronze medals at the national tournament as well as an under 17 boys 3x3 (threea-side) state championship in 2017.

This all comes back to the Lowanna Sports Academy. which boasts incredible opportunities and development for young local student-athletes since its inauguration in 2015.

Treated: Lowanna students visited Lowanna alumni and GoldCoast Suns player SamFlandersat the club’straining facilities Photographs supplied

Young gun: Olivia Ouchirenkofinished second forscoring in the Division 1under 15 girls at the Australian School Championships

Crew: Basketball AustraliaChief ExecutiveMattScriven, Latrobe CityMayor Dale Harriman, MelbourneUnited playerand Traralgonlocal JackWhiteand Basketball Australia ExecutiveGeneral ManagerofHighPerformance Jason Smith at the Gippsland RegionalIndoor Spor ts Stadium.

Photograph: Blake Metcalf-Holt

Elite netball is on the way

NETBALL

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

THE Netball Victoria Gippsland Showcase arrives in Traralgon next February, bringing the very best that the sport has to offer from regional, state, interstate and international ranks.

The two-day event from February 8to9will feature asuite of netball talent with community, pre-elite and elite netball events.

The newest Suncorp Super Netball franchise Melbourne Mavericks will be in town for an open training session, giving local fans achancetosee up close how the very best in the country operate and the opportunity to meetthem with signing availabilities.

Exhibition games will also be held for the Victoria 17 &Under and 19 &Under squads, as well as Victorian NetballLeague Championship sides Gippsland Stars, Casey Demons and Peninsula Waves.

TheVNL teams will host interstate and international sides projected to be from New Zealand and across Australia.

Following its debut VNLseasonwith a23& Under side, this will be the first time the Gippsland Stars will hit the court with its Championship division squad.

“It’s really critical for Netball Victoria to get out into the regions and we’ve beenextremely fortunate to receive funding from the state government and also from Latrobe City (Council),”Netball Victoria EasternRegion Manager Judi Buhagiar said.

“The importance of it is to let the young people know that they can see where they can go in the sport.

“A famous old saying is ‘you can’t be what you can’tsee’ and we totally identify that andthat’s why we come out into the regions.”

Netball Victoria will also be setting up acoaching workshopfor local coaches with current pathways coach Adrian Ballantyne, who also coaches the 19

Twoday extravaganza: Netball Victoria has announced aGippsland showcase in Februar ywith appearancesfromSuper Netball,international and stateranks

&Under Victorian stateteam and VNL Hawks Netball, to provide in-depth analysis and match day insight.

Gippsland affiliateclubs will also be given the opportunity to meetNetball Victoria and visiting clubs from the executive-level at forums and luncheonsfollowing the two days to bolster local sports administration.

Latrobe City Mayor Dale Harriman is glad to see more opportunities given to netballers in the region for junior development and elite-levelsport

“We’ve got major level netball available in February.There’s atraining program,we’ve got the Gippy Stars that the kids can look at that and say ‘I can achieve that’ and they can go in and get thatlevel, andoncetheyhit that level,they can look at playing for your Mavericks and your Phoenix’s (in the NBL),” he said.

“It’s just great and they can stay local and do it, and it’s not atwo, two-and-a-half hour drive two or three times aweek, so it’s fantastic.”

Harriman commended council’s events team for theirefforts overthe last few months bringing a plethoraofsport andcommunity events to the region.

“I think if you put in baseball terms, they’ve knocked it out of the park… council’sjust wrapped with it, absolutely wrapped,” he said.

Previous Suncorp Super Netball club Collingwood last hostedpreseasonmatches in Traralgon as well as aMelbourne Vixens roadshow recently as well.

Tickets for the Netball Victoria Gippsland Sh ow case ar ea va il able at vi c.n etba ll. com au/2025-gippsland-showcase

Stoddart in Vic squad

FOOTBALL

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

UNDER 18 squads have been announced for Victoria Countryand Victoria Metro, with Gippsland Power players in the mix as they get ready to take part in summer training across the next two months.

Namely,local juniorstars are in Victoria Country with Heyfield’s Mitchell Stevens and Willem Duursma(Foster) in the boys and Traralgon’sEllaStoddart in thegirls headlining.

Each squad will take part in two highperformance training campsinDecember and January ahead of the 2025 Coates Talent League season -with amajority of selected players as top-age positioned for standout years.

Victoria Country’s firstcampwas held at Essendon FC High Performance Centre (or NEC Hangar for short) and its second will be held at Morwell Recreation Reserve at the Gippsland Power High Performance Centre from January 21 to 24.

Besides GippslandPower, Victoria Country squads feature representatives from each of the sixCoates Talent League country programs in; Bendigo Pioneers, Dandenong Stingrays, GeelongFalcons, GWV Rebels and Murray Bushrangers.

Other Gippsland Power playersselected include, from the boys; XavierLadbrook (Nar Nar Goon), Wil Malady (Bairnsdale), Zachary O’Keefe (Maffra) and Jobe Scapin (InverlochKongwak), and fromthe girls; Maya Crestani (Nar Nar Goon), Rebecca Fitzpatrick (Bunyip) and Abby Hobson (Pakenham).

Rovers move to Warragul junior leaguedenied

3840 Telephone: 03 5135 4444

Office hours: Monday -Friday 9am -5pm

Advertising 5135 4444

Email:bookings@lvexpress.com.au

Classifieds 5135 4455

Email:classifieds@lvexpress.com.au Editorial 5135 4444 Email:news@lvexpress.com.au

FOOTBALL

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

REQUEST unsuccessful.

Hill END Junior Football Club has been denied the opportunity to join Warragul &District Junior Football League after Central Gippsland Junior Football League and AFL Gippsland blocked its move.

Thirty-nine out of 40 parents had raised concerns regarding travel distancesand cost burdensassociated with remaining in CGJFL in part due to the South Gippsland clubs that had entered primarily off the back of aligning Alberton clubs joining Mid Gippsland Football-Netball League in the senior ranks.

Both Hill End and MorwellJFC sought elsewhere during the year, with Morwell eyeing to join Traralgon &District JFL for season 2025.

Morwell’s wish was grantedbyCGJFL, however during Hill End’s wait of fate after its application was accepted by W&DJFL, administration changes were seen at CGJFL and despite reassurances there wouldn’t be an objection -the move was denied.

An appeal was made regarding the decision to the AFL Gippsland Regional Council where it was ultimately decided that there would be no change of leagues.

Hill End believe they are positioned difficultly

in proximityfor most leagues, buta change to W&DJFL makes moresense withnearby towns Trafalgar and Yarragon occupying its junior clubs in thatleague.

“The survival of our club banked on us moving to Warragul,” Hill End JFC President Greg Sallee said “I can’tunderstandwhy we’d be knocked back. We have four teams that would be greater than a two-hour round trip.”

Sallee presented these numbers in their proposal whichhighlightedthatthe average travel distance would drop 24 minutes in total and over 22 kilometres on averagetoand from Willow Grove. (Calculations also done by writer).

Hill End JFC celebrated asuccessful seasonthis year, filling teams in each age group from Under 10s to Under 16s -with its Under 14s taking home the premiership.

Sallee said theclubhad set up an agreement with Yarragon (who play on aSaturday in the Under 16scompetitioninthe Ellinbank&District FL) to fill out theirtop age team.

However, withkidsdoubling up on aweekend -playing on both aSaturdayand aSunday-burn out was inevitable with these older junior players especially hoping for amove to play in W&DJFL fulltime. Giventhis movewas unsuccessful,Sallee believesthe current crop of Under 16s will now solely play for Yarragon next season.

Regarding the two key outputs for amove, AFL Gippsland first determined that the travel differences between the two leagues were ultimately quite marginal.

Its concerns centred on Hill End’s proposal for its Under 16s given W&DJFL do not hold an Under 16s competition.

Thatage group had to be requiredfromthe start and several options were discussed with Hill End landing on apreferred option which would transfer management of the Under 16s to the affiliated senior club, remaining in CGJFL to keep its Under 16s competition alive -lastseason only five clubs filled this age group in CGJFL. Hill Endbelieved this to be the best option to keep kids in Rovers colours and continue CGJFL’s chances at an Under 16s competition. The club is now unsure if it will field an Under 14s side for next season while remaining in CGJFL and aren’t confident of an Under 16s.

TheRegional Councilalsoquestionedthe misalignment the junior and senior clubs would have givenamajorityofCGJFL clubs affiliated with MGFNL -all except for Moe at this point in time -believing it more optimal to remain in CGJFL. “It was league sustainability for us.Wethink it was more important to maintainnumbers in Central Gippsland than it was to have Warragul &District move up,” AFL Gippsland Regional Manager Tim Cotter said.

Photograph: BlakeMetcalf-Holt