Southern Peninsula
GET YOUR
FREE TV GUIDE INSIDE!
DOWNLOAD 3MP FROM THE APP STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY
An independent voice for the community
Your weekly community newspaper covering Safety Beach to Portsea
FREE
Wednesday 18 October 2023
For all advertising and editorial needs, call 03 5974 9000 or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au
Waves of hope for troubled minds
ON and around World Mental Health Day on 10 October Mornington Peninsula police showcased the work of Sergeant Barry Randall, who founded Operation Soul Surf. When it comes to healing the mind, water and waves are the best healers. From early in his career, Randall became aware of the impact policing can have on a person’s mental health, describing “high highs and low lows” during his nearly 30 years at Victoria Police. Not long into his career, an attempt on Randall's life in 1995 ended in a fatal police shooting. Nightmares followed, as did insomnia and PTSD; a diagnosis that encouraged Randall to leave the country, and then return to the Mornington Peninsula where he could be closer to the beach. While he knew the benefits of surf-
Surf therapy: Sergeant Barry Randall, pictured at Point Leo, knows that salt water and waves are a good elixir for restorative health. Picture: Supplied
ing for his own wellbeing, it wasn’t until he watched a documentary on surf therapy that he had a lightbulb moment. Soon after, Operation Soul Surf was born – based at Point Leo - with the help of the East Coast Surf School, surf outlets and sponsors. Designed for first responders and military veterans, each free program includes four two-hour lessons and a post-surf meal where participants bond over shared experiences. “Learning to surf is very physical, very immersive. They (participants) can get out of their own heads for a while, which resonates with so many of us,” Randall said. Since its launch in 2021, Operation Soul Surf has supported 120 first responders and veterans impacted by PTSD and trauma. If you or someone you know needs crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au/. If a life is in danger, call triple zero (000). Current and former Victoria Police employees and their families can also access wellbeing services at bluespacewellbeing.com.au/ Liz Bell
Peninsula in step with national No Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au VOTING patterns in the Voice to Parliament referendum on the Mornington Peninsula were close to those recorded across Australia, resulting in a clear No. The latest counting on Monday morning showed 57.89 per cent of No votes on the peninsula (60.59 nationally) and 42.11 per cent Yes (39.41 nationally). Neighbouring Dunkley, which includes Mount Eliza, recorded 50.07 per cent No and 43.61 per cent Yes. There were some pockets on the peninsula where Yes votes triumphed - Mount Martha and around the Red
Hill area - but No votes dominated elsewhere, from Portsea and Sorrento to Dromana and across to Baxter, Somerville and through Hastings on the Western Port side of the peninsula. Flinders Liberal MP and a supporter of the No campaign waged by the federal opposition, Zoe McKenzie, used a German word when using Facebook to urge people to vote in the referendum: "Turns out Flinders are weltmeister [world champions] when it comes to early voting, with 54% of us having voted by close of business on Thursday.” Dunkley MP Labo’sr Peta Murphy, on voting day on Facebook, said voting Yes was “our chance to close the gap on health, education and housing. Let’s take it”. There was no mention
of the No victory on her Facebook page on Sunday. Labor MP for Hastings, Paul Mercurio, uploaded a video of himself and labor colleague Eastern Victoria MP Tom McIntosh “turning some democracy sausages … I voted Yes not because I'm Labor but because it is the absolutely right thing to do,” On Sunday, after the referendum was lost, Mercurio’s Facebook showed pictures of a microwave meal he’d cooked but made no reference to the result. On voting day, the latest post on Nepean MP Sam Groth’s Facebook page congratulated Dromana Tigers on their Mornington Peninsula Football Netball League division one premiership. Fellow Liberal and MP for Mornington Chris Crewther told
how “exciting” it had been at the official opening of the new Jubilee Park stadium in Frankston. McKenzie had made no secret of her advocacy for a No vote, saying five months ago that although being “firmly committed to the recognition of Australia’s First Nations peoples in the Constitution … I cannot recommend a Yes vote due to the unacceptable constitutional and legal risk it contains”. “While lawyers disagree about what the worst-case scenario might be, former High Court justices have warned that if a court were to find a duty to consult the Voice before the execution of any executive power, then it could ‘bring the government to a halt’ or ‘make government unworkable’ (“A
risk to executive government” The News 30/5/23). The three polling places in Hastings recorded the largest margin between voting preferences on the peninsula, with No receiving 10,170 votes and Yes 5731. The 187 comments on the Hastingsbased Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association Facebook made after the referendum result was known ranged from being sympathetic (“devastating outcome”) to derisive (“what a waste of money”). On the other side of the peninsula, Rosebud’s six polling places added 14,087 No votes and 9555 Yes votes to the tally. Mornington’s six polling places recorded 12,603 No votes to 9718 Yes.
