Mornington YOUR GUIDE TO WHAT’S ON THIS WEEKEND FOR PENINSULA FAMILIES FACEBOOK:
peninsulakids.com.au mornpenkids
An independent voice for the community
INSTAGRAM:
Your weekly community newspaper covering Mornington, Mount Martha and Mount Eliza For all advertising and editorial needs, call 03
FREE
Tuesday 15 June 2021
5974 9000 or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au
Sitting up to beat prostate cancer WHEN life gives you lemons, make lemonade – that’s the motto Mornington’s Julie Cowley has chosen to live her life by. It came about when her husband, Mark, was diagnosed with prostate cancer at 54. The cancer returned six years later and has spread throughout his body. Ms Cowley is showing her support for Mark, and to all men impacted by prostate cancer, by joining the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia’s Sit-Up 45 challenge. She is doing 45 sit-ups a day during Men’s Health Week (14-20 June) to raise money to support the 45 men diagnosed with the disease each day. “We have recently been thrown lemons in this prostate cancer challenge. My husband has really struggled and, as a support partner, I didn’t know how to help in the bigger picture,” Ms Cowley said. “Then I saw the Sit-Up 45 challenge. As an exercise lover, I loved the idea and set myself a fundraising goal. Within an hour I was in tears at the amount of support we received from friends and family.” Continued Page 7
Hard yards: Mornington’s Julie Cowley is doing 45 sit ups a day to raise money for prostate cancer sufferers. Picture: Gary Sissons
Judgement day for pledge posing as prayer Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au FRIDAY is the deadline for public comments to be made about Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors beginning their meetings with a prayer or a pledge. Words of a pledge have been spoken since December last year (except for one meeting in February) but the agenda item is listed as Th Prayer, even though there is no mention of a god, deity or any other supernatural being considered divine or sacred. The word prayer was retained to describe the pledge following the shire’s in-house lawyer Amanda Sapolu advising that as long as what they were saying was called a prayer, there was no need to consult the public (“God purged from council ‘prayer’” The News 15/12/20). However, what seemed like a move to avoid
seeking public approval to change a decades’ long tradition came unstuck at the council’s 9 February meeting when Cr Antonella Celi “reminded” councillors that “community consultation is foundational to local government”. The words “almighty God” were used in the The Prayer for that meeting but have been dropped ever since following councillors’ agreeing to test public feeling. The then newly elected Cr Anthony Marsh, who moved that the pledge be substituted for the prayer at his first council meeting in December, said he had been “listening to voices that aren’t heard; to people that are silent in our community that had a view”. Cr Marsh’s pledge has been recited ever since, but the wording of The Prayer agenda item is up for comment along with other amendments to the shire’s Governance Rules. If given the public tick of approval, The
Prayer may be dropped from future agendas and replaced by The Pledge, which means it will no longer have to masquerade as a prayer. Other proposed changes to the rules involve: n Councillors attending meetings by teleconference. n Chairperson’s powers. n Chief executive officer powers. n Councillors introducing further amendments. n Notices of motion. n Inclusion of the “election period policy”. The deadline for comments and submissions is this Friday, 18 June. Go to mornpen.vic.gov.au/governancerules to have your say. Contact the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Governance team for further information on 5950 1000 or at customerservice@mornpen.vic. gov.au
The Pledge
“We pledge that this council will act in the best interests of the entire Mornington Peninsula community. We will conduct our deliberations and make decisions with an open mind and on each item’s individual merit. We further commit to carry out our duties impartially and in good faith, treating each other with respect, dignity and kindness, and at all times, acting in accordance with the Councillor Code of Conduct and Governance Rules.”
The Prayer
Almighty God, we humbly seek Thy blessings upon this Council. Direct and prosper its deliberations to the advancement of Thy glory and the true welfare of the people of the Mornington Peninsula Shire. Give us the strength and courage to make wise decisions with grace and dignity. Amen.
We’ll help you find the floor you’ve been searching for. Choices Flooring by Smiths Shop 1, Cnr Bruce St & Tyabb Rd, Mornington
5975 2600 choicesflooring.com.au
carpet | timber | luxury vinyl | laminate | bamboo | vinyl