EHD Star Journal - 19th October 2021

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Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

What a fine knock Harvs From a lineage of sports champions, Jeff Harvey has scored an incredible 60 years with Hallam timber company Bowen & Pomeroy.

Mr Harvey - or ‘Harvs’ - is admired as a “champion of timber” at Bowens and throughout the timber industry.

He was said to have done “nearly every job we had on offer”, who “touched thousands of lives” and was loved by colleagues young and old.

Turn to page 13

Jeff Harvey, centre, with sons Robert and Steven, marks 60 years with Bowens Hallam.

Slug-gate verdict

By Cameron Lucadou-Wells Department of Health senior officials have been cleared of deliberately misleading a Parliamentary inquiry into the forced closure of I Cook Foods.

But the department didn’t escape criticism in the inquiry’s second report into the matter known as ‘slug-gate’.

The inquiry examined the closure of the Dandenong-based ICF kitchen by health authorities in response to the death of a Knox Private Hospital patient Jean Painter with listeriosis in early 2019.

In tabling the second report, inquiry chair Fiona Patten said the officials’ “omissions” of

evidence in the first inquiry in 2020 led to “unnecessary confusion”.

They didn’t invalidate the inquiry’s previous findings however, she said.

After the 2020 inquiry, media outlets revealed a report by Knox Council environmental health officer Ray Christy to the health department on the day of ICF’s closure that suggested Mrs Painter didn’t eat ICF’s meals.

This contradicted Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton’s inquiry evidence that ICF was the hospital’s sole food supplier.

The Christy report, which listed seven other suppliers, was not disclosed to the first inquiry.

The inquiry found “no reason to believe that evidence from the Department of Health

officials was deliberately intended to obstruct the inquiry or constituted a contempt of Parliament,” Ms Patten said.

It criticised the four-week gap between the listeria notification and the health department requesting an inspection of Knox Private Hospital.

Serious allegations of impropriety were also made, such as Greater Dandenong Council food inspectors editing video evidence to be allegedly used in a criminal trial as well as a slug being planted on the factory floor.

These claims were “just outside the remit” of the inquiry, Ms Patten said.

Liberal members dissented in a minority report, which recommended an external in-

vestigative agency to further examine the allegations.

They say there are still questions to be answered.

They noted that no other patient at the hospital contracted listeria despite ICF supplying hundreds of meals a day for several weeks after Mrs Painter’s illness.

The department showed a “gross and actionable failure of communication and process”, the minority report stated.

“It is a matter of great concern that Professor Sutton’s incorrect evidence was allowed to stand as part of the record for 14 months.”

Continued page 4

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NEWS

VCAT rejects shisha lounge concerns

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Greater Dandenong Council’s refusal of a proposed shisha lounge in Noble Park on health and public amenity grounds has been overturned by the state’s planning tribunal.

The ‘1001 Nights Shisha Cafe’ had already begun operating without a planning permit in a row of six shops at 101 Lightwood Road.

According to the council, it sparked several complaints from several nearby residents.

They included litter of plastic shisha mouthpieces, shisha tobacco odour, music and patron noise and anti-social behaviour that required police callouts.

A resident objector said the lounge was a “honey pot” for undesirable people and poor behaviour such as fights up to 2am.

“The use is referred to as a night club in a residential area, especially on Saturday nights,” Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal member Cindy Wilson noted.

Upon advice from the council, proponent Wang Republic Pty Ptd submitted a planning application, which was then refused.

Wang Republic appealed the council decision at VCAT, seeking a permit to operate until a 2am closing time, seven days a week.

It would serve coffee, soft drinks, snacks and shisha to up to 30 patrons in several smoking rooms.

Wang Republic argued that some of the litter included alcohol bottles and some of the anti-social behaviour could come from other late-night businesses nearby.

VCAT Member Ms Wilson said the proposal was acceptable with conditions, such as closing the shisha lounge at 11pm, preventing shisha use outdoors and complying with legislated noise limits.

She noted the operator installed CCTV and a rubbish bin at the exit.

“This is not a night club. It does not include live music or serve alcohol or provide gaming facilities.

“The numbers catered for are confined.”

Ms Wilson agreed with a VCAT ruling that approved a shisha lounge in Cheltenham Road, Dandenong in 2020 that public health grounds were irrelevant.

It was not the role of the planning system to “effectively outlaw” a “legal and legitimate activity” in Greater Dandenong, VCAT ruled last year.

Greater Dandenong Council has rejected planning applications for shisha lounges in the past.

It has also lobbied for the regulation of smoking shisha in 2013 and 2015.

Greater Dandenong city planning acting director Brett Jackson said the council was re-

A shisha lounge in Cheltenham Road Dandenong approved by VCAT last year. 210015 Picture: GARY SISSONS viewing the decision. “(We) will consider it as part of any similar applications in the future.”

Smokes spark neighbourhood feud, home invasion

By Cam Lucadou-Wells An apartment resident’s annoying wafting of cigarette smoke has escalated into her son being jailed for a violent, retaliatory home invasion.

Matilja Garic, 32, and two other males stormed into a Dandenong family’s flat and repeatedly punched, kicked and slammed a man into a wall on 8 November, 2020.

The victim’s wife screamed in terror and tried to intervene, while the couple’s twoyear-old daughter slept in another room.

After the three-minute bashing, the man was taken to Dandenong Hospital with numerous bruises and cuts.

On 8 October, Garic was convicted in the County Court of Victoria and jailed for home invasion and recklessly causing injury.

It started with a neighbourly feud, the court heard. A couple complaining about Garic’s mother and friends smoking outside a downstairs apartment last year.

The smoke was being drawn into their daughter’s bedroom, the couple claimed.

Garic’s mum disregarded the complaints,

as did the body corporate.

The day before the home invasion, the female neighbour tipped cigarette butts from Garic’s mother’s ashtray onto the nearby doormat.

In retaliation, Garic’s mother deposited the butts in the neighbours’ empty car spot.

And so then the male neighbour picked up the butts in a plastic bag and poured the contents onto Garic’s mother as she smoked with friends.

After words between the neighbours, the mother called her son Garic, claiming that the male neighbour had assaulted her or tried to assault her.

Garic drove across town and rounded up at least one of his accomplices to go to the neighbours’ flat that night.

About 9.20pm, they knocked at the door, barged in and beat up the husband, smashing his head against a wall.

“This will teach you,” one of the attackers said.

Judge Frances Dalziel noted Garic’s “selfcongratulatory” texts with his accomplices the next day.

His mother sent him a text that 80 per cent of people in the building would consider him “a king in their eyes”.

After his arrest, Garic claimed he intended to “scare” the neighbours. He wanted to “rough up” but not kill the husband - just so he knew that someone would defend Garic’s mother.

As a result, the couple and daughter moved out of the flats.

The woman described the home invasion as the scariest experience of her life. She thought the intruders were going to kill her husband.

“Our entire lives have been turned upsidedown because of one cruel and planned attack in the place where we should have felt safest.

“If my daughter was awake she would have witnessed her mother’s terrified screams and her father punched and shoved against a wall repeatedly and with no remorse.”

The male victim stated that it “frustrates me and distresses me that someone I’ve never met before can suddenly have such a terrifying impact on my life and my family”.

Judge Frances Dalziel noted Garic’s child-

hood trauma, including witnessing horrors in the Bosnian War and his mother being domestically abused.

At the time, Garic was stressed by Covid depleting his business and his ability to provide for his wife and newborn child.

He was then triggered into fear and anger by his mother’s distressed call.

“While it is understandable that you would take your mother’s side and protect her, the way you went about it was entirely inappropriate.

“People must be deterred from acting in this way when they have a grievance with another person.”

Garic had no prior convictions, was of previously good character and latterly showed remorse with a letter-of-apology to his victims.

Judge Dalziel said Garic would find his first prison stint “confronting and frightening”.

Home invasion carries mandatory jail without a community corrections order, with some exceptions.

Garic was jailed for up to three years. He will be eligible for parole in 18 months.

Making a difference in Greater Dandenong

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Do you know someone who is making a difference and deserves to be celebrated?

Nominate now on: greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/australia-day-awards Email austday@cgd.vic.gov.au or phone 8571 1000 to find out more. Closing date: Sunday 24 October 2021.

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NEWS

Slap for authorities

By Cam Lucadou-Wells

Ian Cook in the I Cook Foods commercial kitchen in Dandenong South. 202497 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

I Cook Foods director Ian Cook says the latest Parliamentary inquiry report into the Dandenong South commercial caterer’s closure raises a lot of questions.

“There’s not one thing in that report that’s critical of us. It’s critical of the City of Greater Dandenong, it’s critical of the health department.

“It said that things were done wrong or things weren’t investigated.

“But they don’t find against (Chief Health Officer) Professor Sutton even if it’s crystal clear that he misled them the first time.”

Mr Cook has protested his company’s in-

nocence since being closed by authorities in response to the death of a Knox Private Hospital patient Jean Painter with listeriosis in early 2019.

It has led to a Parliamentary inquiry and several police investigations.

The inquiry was recently reopened after evidence alleged that Mrs Painter didn’t eat ICF products.

In June 2020, Professor Sutton “misled” the inquiry’s first hearings with a claim that ICF was Knox Private Hospital’s sole supplier.

It was one of four main reasons given by the CHO for closing the business, Mr Cook said.

After contradictory media reports, Prof Sutton admitted at the inquiry’s second hearings

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Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

that ICF was one of several food suppliers at the hospital.

The report found along party lines, with Labor Government MPs “ignoring obvious crimes”, he says. “If anyone wants to read the truth, read the dissenting report by the Liberal members.”

The report acknowledged serious allegations, which needed to be investigated by bodies such as Victoria Police or IBAC, he said.

Greater Dandenong Council CEO John Bennie said council was extremely concerned about the detrimental impact the false claims continue to have on the health and wellbeing of staff and on the organisation’s reputation.

“Council looks forward to Victoria Police addressing the allegations of corruption and criminality as part of their investigation – all of which are vehemently denied,” Mr Bennie said.

ICF has launched a $50 million Supreme Court lawsuit against the health department and Greater Dandenong for what it asserts was its wrongful shut down.

Mr Bennie said the council looked forward to further testing the claims further in the Supreme Court.

Among its findings, the Parliamentary inquiry found there was a lack of Health Department protocol over council environmental health officers wearing body cams during inspections and how the footage is retained.

“Council has already acted upon the recommendations made by the Parliamentary committee in its first report on this matter in relation to the approach of local councils to food safety regulations,” Mr Bennie said.

“Greater Dandenong City Council has only ever acted in the best interests of public safety and wellbeing by enforcing the State Food Act and will continue to do so in future.”

Clear on Slug-gate From page 1 Opposition health spokesperson Georgie Crozier said in Parliament that the Health Department provided “selective reports”.

Ms Crozier said she was still fighting for FOI documents in VCAT, as well as 400 pages of redacted pages from Knox Council that weren’t provided to the inquiry.

“I think it is shameful that they did not come and give us all the information.”

Liberal MP Matthew Bach said Prof Sutton “grievously” misled the first inquiry by stating all suppliers of food were thoroughly investigated for traces of listeria.

“This was not true, and what is worse is senior officials within the Department of Health and Human Services knew it was not true.

“Now, the story from senior people in the department, including the chief health officer, is that this information was never passed to him.”

Labor MP Tien Kieu said the closure was based on “very strong scientific evidence” – a close genomic match between samples from Mrs Painter and ICF. “That has been scientifically determined to be very unique and has not been found anywhere in Victoria.”

“I certainly understand that Victoria Police may be continuing investigations, and I would say other anti-corruption and other oversight agencies would possibly be in a very good place to conduct these types of investigations.”

ICF has launched a Supreme Court bid against the health department and Greater Dandenong.

It is seeking $50 million compensation for what it asserts was its wrongful shut down.

Victoria Police is currently investigating allegations of corruption against public officials. dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

NEWS

MP’s office ‘shambolic’

By Cam Lucadou-Wells A former staffer for State MP Adem Somyurek has described the electorate office in Dandenong as “shambolic” and “dysfunctional”.

Mr Somyurek’s father was paid to clean the MP’s electorate office in Dandenong, the staffer Adam Sullivan told an IBAC Operation Watts hearing on 13 October.

But he only saw the father there on “one or two occasions” – and that was primarily to ask where his pay was.

The “decrepit, rundown” office “complete with cobwebs” didn’t appear to be regularly cleaned, Mr Sullivan said.

The bin liners and “once-over” of the toilet and bathroom sink occurred about once a week.

Mr Sullivan said he took it on himself to clean up the office, such as tidy up stacks of boxes of papers in one of the chambers and to use the broken vacuum cleaner.

His role was to “literally” and “figuratively” clean up the office.

“It was somewhat shambolic when I first entered it.”

When Mr Somyurek offered him the job in August 2017, Mr Sullivan said he was hesitant to transfer from Holt federal MP and factional ally Anthony Byrne’s office.

“By that point Mr Somyurek had some bad press in 2015. He had something of a coloured reputation even amongst our own circle there in the South East in Mr Byrne’s office.

Adam Sullivan told of allegedly rorting an electorate office budget to divert stamps towards another MP’s re-election.

“It was generally well known… that Mr Somyurek’s electorate office was dysfunctional.

“I had a feeling of being set up to fail, that it was a lost cause. Frankly I don’t think Mr Somyurek desired to have his electorate office to be functional.”

He said he feared his political ambitions would be thwarted if he declined the offer from the “titular head” of the Moderate Labor faction.

Mr Sullivan said in his nine months’ fulltime tenure, he only saw Mr Somyurek at his electorate office once. At the time, Mr Somyurek was a back-bencher.

“Outside of business hours, I think he might have dropped in.”

In a “functional” electorate office, an MP

would regularly attend to oversee things, checking on staff. There would normally be an office manager. It would normally be a “hive of activity”.

But for Mr Somyurek’s several employed electorate officers, there was little constituent work to do.

It was “entirely possible” that they were doing party factional work, though Mr Sullivan couldn’t think of specific examples.

“There was negligible foot traffic in Mr Somyurek’s case.

“There was very little to occupy oneself with in that environment.

“I know in my case I just busied myself with trying to tidy up the office.”

Former Greater Dandenong mayor Pinar Yesil was employed five-days-a-week casually in early 2018. But Mr Sulllivan saw her for “maybe about an hour or two here and there” several days a week.

She was doing “nothing that would approach typical electorate office work”.

“She was logged into the computer. As to exactly what she was doing, though, I can’t rightly say.”

In early 2018, Mr Somyurek was seeking election to the ALP’s national executive.

During work time, Mr Sullivan wrote a letter to be sent to members enlisting their support.

But Mr Somyurek didn’t think it was required because his staff would pick up the ballot papers from members and fill them out themselves.

“Ballot harvesting” was time-consuming, and done during office hours, Mr Sullivan said.

It was an all-hands on deck situation involving taxpayer-funded ministerial and electorate staff.

Mr Sullivan said the activities were run through Mr Byrne’s office because of the “dysfunction” at Mr Somyurek’s.

He said he also did factional work during stints at offices of former state Cabinet Minister Marlene Kairouz and Upper House state MP Tien Kieu.

He’d been directed to work at the offices by Mr Somyurek, he said.

Upon resigning in January 2020, Mr Sullivan referred to Mr Somyurek as “Mein Fuhrer” in private text messages to friends.

“Mr Somyurek had accumulated quite an amount of power and influence over the party.

“He could be a quite, I suppose, overbearing person at times, a volatile person at times.

“And of course anyone in that situation who has that amount of power tends to become a bit of a megalomaniac.”

Mr Sullivan was disappointed in his own role.

“We chose repeatedly to do the wrong thing again, and again, and again, and again.

“And ultimately the choice was that we put our own interests and our own loyalty to a factional machine and a system of patronage above the interests of the public and, speaking as a former public servant, there can be no greater failure.”

Stamps election ‘rort’ More than $10,000 of stamps were allegedly misappropriated from South East Metropolitan MP Adem Somyurek’s electorate office to help another MP’s re-election, an IBAC inquiry heard on 13 October.

Adam Sullivan, a former electorate officer for Mr Somyurek, said a Labor staff member suggested in early 2018 to start buying stamps to “re-route” to Mordiallac MP Tim Richardson’s election campaign.

Mr Sullivan said he was advised by staffer Nick McLennan to incrementally buy between 1000 and 2000 stamps a fortnight to avoid scrutiny from the Department of Parliamentary Services.

“I think at the end of that process personally myself I would have purchased around $11,000 to $14,000 worth of $1 stamps,” Mr Sullivan said.

“I imagine a fair number of them were then rerouted to political purposes for the re-election of Tim Richardson in Mordialloc in 2018.”

Mr Sullivan said he was told by Mr McLennan that Mr Somyurek had given “tacit approval”.

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named as part of an informal ALP factional group South East Alliance.

Mr Byrne told the inquiry on 11 October that he and state MPs Luke Donnellan and Mr Somyurek formed the alliance, with Mr Richardson latterly joining.

At the inquiry, Mr Byrne said he, Mr Donnellan and Mr Somyurek paid about $2000 each for other people’s memberships as part of a branch-stacking enterprise.

He said he was “not exactly sure” if Mr Richardson paid for memberships.

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be out of the ordinary to occur in Mr Somyurek’s office.

“It didn’t seem like it was the sort of thing that would be frowned upon or would be otherwise not permitted by the member.”

The electorate office funds used to buy the stamps were supposed to be “strictly apolitical” and used for purposes like “constituent outreach”, Mr Sullivan said.

They were not to be used for “partisan purposes”.

Mr Sullivan had earlier worked as an electorate officer for Mr Richardson as well as for an inquiry person-of-interest Holt federal MP Anthony Byrne.

He said 100 per cent of his role at Mr Richardson’s office was focused on legitimate “constituent work”.

Such as liaising with community groups, drafting letters of support and walk-ins.

However at Mr Somyurek’s “dysfunctional” electorate office, there was “very little to do”. There was “negligible foot traffic”.

Later that day, Mr Richardson issued a statement denying that he breached his electorate office communications budget requirements.

He also denied being part of branch stacking or paying for memberships after being

In a statement, Mr Richardson said: “I have not been involved in branch stacking nor have I paid for any memberships.

“I have always complied with the requirements of my electorate office communications budget.

“My focus has always been working as hard as I can for the wonderful Mordialloc constituents, which I have the privilege and honour to represent each and every day.

“I will not be making any further comment on active inquiries.”

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Branch-stacking ‘wrong’

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Holt Federal MP Anthony Byrne has admitted to ALP branch-stacking, including holding a ‘kitty’ for membership funds in his own electorate office.

He paid for other people’s ALP memberships and membership renewals since the start of his Parliamentary career in 1999, he told a Operation Watts hearing on October 11.

He also told of employing staff who didn’t turn up to work at the request of South East Metropolitan MP and factional powerbroker Adem Somyurek.

Mr Byrne reluctantly complied out of fear of “retribution”, he said. He broke off the work arrangements after several months, he told the inquiry.

At one stage, Mr Byrne hired Mr Somyurek’s son, the inquiry heard.

Again, this was at Mr Somyurek’s suggestion, with the salary used to pay off the father’s debt, Mr Byrne believed.

Mr Byrne’s electorate staff were also involved in collecting and filling out blank membership ballots for the election of ALP delegates, and worked on other MPs’ election campaigns, he told the inquiry.

He agreed branch-stacking had been “endemic” in the ALP, despite a change in party rules after a critical 1998 report by now-Isaacs MP Mark Dreyfus.

More recently, the State Government endorsed all recommendations from a Victorian Ombudsman’s report into the ‘Labor red shirts’ affair.

Mr Byrne said he took steps to “demilitarise” branch stacking in the South East by “reaching out” to rival faction, the Socialist Left, in 2002.

Holt MP Anthony Byrne admitted to being a part of branch-stacking at an IBAC inquiry on 11 October. 253542 One of the Socialist Left members involved in the “South East Agreement” was an MP, he said.

“I believed … that branch stacking is wrong, branch stacking is corrupt, branch stacking rips the soul out of the Labor Party and the community.

“And we were quite successful.”

Mr Byrne said ALP members in his seat of Holt, as well as Bruce and Isaacs, “dropped substantially” as a result.

However, in texts with his former staffer in late 2019, Mr Byrne described Mr Somyurek as a “vandal” trying to “ramp up branch stacking in the South East”.

At the time he believed Mr Somyurek was seeking to replace sitting Labor rival-faction MPs Gabrielle Williams (Dandenong) and Pauline Richards (Cranbourne) with Moderate Labor members.

The party was being taken over by Mr Somyurek “whose sole objective was power and power alone.”

“It was the alliances that Adem had cobbled together of different sub-factions within the Right and also within the Industrial Left that he believed gave him control or substantial influence over significant sections of the party.”

Mr Byrne was part of an informal South East Alliance, which included Mr Somyurek and state MPs Luke Donnellan and Tim Richardson from the same Right faction ‘Moderate Labor’.

He said Moderate Labor was led by “convenor” Mr Somyurek, as well as Robin Scott and Marlene Kairouz – all who departed State Cabinet after branch-stacking allegations by 60 Minutes and The Age in 2020.

Mr Byrne named Mr Somyurek, Ms Kairouz and state MP Kaushaliya Vaghela as being involved in branch stacking “to my direct knowledge”.

He, Mr Donnellan and Mr Somyurek - both Mr Byrne’s former electorate officers – had paid about $2000 a year on other people’s memberships and renewals.

The practice was against party rules purportedly to prevent branch-stacking – that prospective members pay for their own memberships.

But it was part of a “well-entrenched system” starting from the 1990s, he said.

The “multiple hundreds” of membership renewals cost between $30 and $90 each. The funds were kept in a “kitty” in Mr Byrne’s office.

Other aspiring MPs paid into the alliance fund, such as prospective Isaacs candidate Steve Michelsen with $5000.

Party fundraisers organised by Mr Byrne, Mr Donnellan and Mr Somyurek were also a source of “cash” for the ‘kitty’.

Examples were tabled at IBAC of sit-down dinners for up to $100 a head at a Dandenong

restaurant for Labor MPs Richard Marles and Tim Richardson.

“Most of the people that would have attended those functions had a pretty good idea that some of the money that was being raised would go to memberships,” Mr Byrne said.

This was against party rules that people should pay for their own memberships, he said.

“People believed, regardless of what the rules said, that they could game the system.”

Mr Byrne conceded that ALP head office was “by and large aware” of the practice.

“Factional heavyweights” had helped him win preselection for Holt as an “underdog candidate” in 1999.

Mr Byrne “rewarded” his electorate officer Mr Somyurek for “factional loyalty” with preselection in 2002.

He didn’t agree that he “trained” Mr Somyurek as a branch-stacker.

“He observed,” Mr Byrne said.

The two had been “close” but progressively fell out. Mr Byrne blocked Mr Somyurek from his phone in September 2019.

He was concerned about reports of Mr Somyurek’s treatment of people, including “berating, ringing all hours of the day and night, pushing people to do things that they didn’t want to do”.

“I had really hoped when Adem had become a Minister in 2018 that he would stop the factional activity.

“The branch stacking wasn’t stopping … it actually started accelerating, and then started coming towards the South East.

“As Adem was getting more and more power, it was almost becoming an existential threat for the Labor Party.”

‘Somyurek was in charge of just about everything’

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Holt MP Anthony Byrne has been quizzed about his alleged texts stating he wanted to ‘destroy’ and ‘kill’ an aspiring Labor MP. At an IBAC hearing into alleged ALP branch-stacking on 12 October, Mr Byrne faced cross-examination from the lawyer of his one-time factional ally and electorate officer Adem Somyurek.

He denied that he, rather than now-state MP Mr Somyurek, “ran the show” controlling people within the Moderate Labor faction.

“You would have had to have been on the dark side of the moon to not know that Adem Somyurek was in charge of just about everything.”

Barrister Remy Van der Wiel read out alleged texts sent by Mr Byrne to Mr Somyurek that “I really do what to kill” aspiring Isaacs’ preselection candidate and ALP staffer Steve Michelson in 2019.

“Wish we could destroy him now,” Mr Byrne texted.

“I also want to humiliate him at the same time as the preselection so that he is unemployable.

“It’s a just punishment for the grief he is causing us.

“I really do want to kill him. This is personal for me now.”

At the hearing, Mr Byrne said Mr Somyurek in previous conversations had “made it clear to me that he saw Steve Michelson as being a problem”.

“I think you would say Mr Somyurek’s feelings, and therefore my feelings, were pretty strong.

“But I think the tone of this was that Adem had said to me that Michelson was a threat, that Michelson wasn’t playing a team game and that Michelson needed to be dealt with.”

The inquiry heard that Mr Michelson, a former staffer for ex-federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, had been requested to pay $5000.

In earlier evidence, Mr Byrne agreed the payment was a way for Mr Michelson to gain factional support to succeed sitting Isaacs MP Mark Dreyfus.

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Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

Anthony Byrne, right, denied he “ran the show” in the Moderate Labor faction.

“I think he would have been led to understand that he would have been favourably looked upon,” Mr Byrne said.

The aspiring MP’s money went to “one of my staff members” for the paying of other people’s ALP memberships and renewals,

Mr Byrne said.

He denied that he would assist Mr Michelson in preselection on that basis.

“I would assist him with preselection? I would dispute that, Counsel.

“I think that the people by that stage that

were determining the preselections is the gentleman sitting next to you, Adem Somyurek.

“I think it’s fair to say, Counsel, that Adem Somyurek wanted to destroy Mr Michelson and he wanted my assistance to do so.” dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

NEWS

MP ‘lobbied’ mayor vote

By Cam Lucadou-Wells The then-Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek allegedly lobbied councillors and ‘did in’ a candidate at a Greater Dandenong Council mayoral election, an IBAC inquiry has heard.

Holt federal MP Anthony Byrne, in texts to a staffer, described Cr Loi Truong as being promised the mayoralty by Mr Somyurek in November 2019.

“I was in a room with him and Loi where he said (Loi) should be given an opportunity to be mayor.

“Then he did him in using the Cambodians.”

The “lie” was made in a meeting at Mr Byrne’s office between him, Cr Truong and Mr Somyurek, Mr Byrne told the Operation Watts inquiry on 11 October.

Mr Somyurek told Cr Truong that he’d do what he could to assist his mayoral election but was limited by his role as Local Government Minister, Mr Byrne said.

However, Mr Somyurek instead “lobbied” Greater Dandenong councillors Youhorn Chea and Sophie Tan – both of “Cambodian background” - to vote for victorious candidate Cr Jim Memeti.

Mr Byrne’s staff members told him that soon after the meeting Mr Somyurek met with Cr Memeti at a McDonald’s outlet “not far from my office” for two-and-a-half hours.

“So that led me to surmise something like that happened.”

Mr Byrne agreed with IBAC Counsel Assisting Chris Carr that there was a “relationship” between Mr Somyurek and Cr Memeti.

He said that with “some exceptions”, Greater Dandenong mayors had been Labor-aligned for years.

His ”long-term colleague” Cr Truong believed if he had been given a “clear run” that Crs Chea and Tan would have voted for him, Mr Byrne said.

“He was asking Adem not to intervene (against him).”

Later under cross-examination, Mr Somyurek’s lawyer asserted Mr Byrne, while a Holt MP, got Cr Truong a job at a migrant resource centre.

Cr Truong “was able to recruit some 200 people in the Vietnamese community to do your bidding”.

Mr Byrne said his purpose in getting Cr Truong the job was because he did a lot of “social work” with the Vietnamese community.

IBAC Commissioner Richard Redlich asked Mr Byrne if he’d experienced any other Local Government Ministers seeking to influence mayoral elections.

“No I don’t,” Mr Byrne replied.

Cr Truong believed that Mr Somyurek had “enormous power” over Crs Chea and Tan, Mr Byrne said.

“Cr Chea and Cr Tan I think through the Cambodian Association worked fairly closely with Adem Somyurek.”

The then-Local Government Minister also had a “close relationship” with former Cambodian-community MP Hong Lim and Mr Lim’s successor Meng Heang Tak. Mr Somyurek had been “fairly instrumental” in ensuring Mr Tak - a former Greater Dandenong mayor - was preselected in Mr Lim’s seat.

Mr Tak also shares the same Moderate Labor faction as Mr Somyurek, Mr Byrne told the inquiry.

By his own admission, Mr Byrne was asked to help coordinate branch meetings for the purposes of branch-stacking with Cambodian community members. He denied that Mr Lim or Mr Chea did his bidding.

Last year, Cr Memeti told Star News he had known Mr Somyurek since 2005, when the mayor was first elected to Greater Dandenong Council.

He had found Mr Somyurek to be “pretty business-as-usual” as a Minister, he said.

After the IBAC hearing, Cr Memeti reiterated his comments last year to Star News that Mr Somyurek had no direct influence in Greater Dandenong mayoral elections.

He said “I can’t recall” his alleged meeting with Mr Somyurek at McDonald’s. He’d never stayed at a McDonald’s for two-and-a-half hours, he said. dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

Jim Memeti soon after being narrowly voted in as Greater Dandenong mayor in 2019. 200886

Picture: CAM LUCADOU-WELLS

Cr Loi Truong allegedly requested Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek not to influence the 2019 mayoral election.

Holt MP Anthony Byrne at the Operation Watts inquiry on 11 October.

“I’ve never spoken to Mr Somyurek regarding elections. I’ve never heard of Mr Somyurek influencing the mayoral election - nor any other MPs. “It’s all done with councillors. All the councillors try to lobby their colleagues” Cr Memeti said he had a “relationship” with “all local MPs”.

“You’d catch me having a coffee and a lunch with all the MPs in the area.

“I try to work with the MPs as much as possible to advocate on things in the community.”

The mayoral vote in 2019 was “hotly contested” between Crs Chea, Memeti, Truong and Maria Sampey, Cr Memeti said.

On first count, Cr Chea was eliminated.

In the next round, Crs Sampey and Truong were tied for second. The latter was eliminated when he drew the ‘defeated’ ball from a pink hat.

Only on the third round did a councillor gain a narrow 6-5 majority – Cr Memeti with the backing of Crs Chea, Tan, Angela Long, Zaynoun Melham and Tim Dark.

Cr Sampey was supported by Crs Truong, Peter Brown, Sean O’Reilly and Matthew Kirwan.

Nine of the 11 Greater Dandenong councillors were Labor members, except for Crs Dark (Liberal) and Kirwan (Greens).

Cr Truong, who was admitted to ICU with Covid last week, could not be contacted for comment.

Adem Somyurek, pictured, allegedly lobbied councillors to vote for mayor Jim Memeti in 2019, according to federal MP Anthony Byrne.

Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

|

STAR JOURNAL 7

NEWS

Donnellan quits after IBAC claims

By Cam Lucadou-Wells

Adem Somyurek, whose son was allegedly hired at a federal electorate office partly to help a debt owed by the MP, an IBAC hearing was told. 201398 Picture: CAM LUCADOU-WELLS

Son hired for ‘debt’

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Factional heavyweight and MP Adem Somyurek allegedly requested for his son to be employed at an electorate office, with the MP pocketing his son’s salary, an anti-corruption hearing was told.

Mr Somyurek’s one-time factional ally Anthony Byrne told the IBAC Operation Watts hearing on 11 October that he hired the son on taxpayer-funded wages because “Adem asked me to employ him”.

The son turned up to work, his salary went to Mr Somyurek, he said.

Mr Byrne believed the money was used to pay off a “debt” owed by Mr Somyurek.

“It was put to me that that would be the purpose, but also, as Adem put to me, to help develop his son’s skills and to give him some work experience.”

Mr Byrne said it was “very unlikely” he would have employed the son on his merits, though adding he was “very well liked in my office and he did work”.

Electorate office positions were also used to reward people assisting in factional work, including those who didn’t turn up to work, the Holt MP said.

He claimed Mr Somyurek requested him to hire two staff Burhan Yigit and Hakki Suleyman for months without expecting them to show up at the office.

Mr Yigit was a long-standing ALP member with control of a large number of members and based in Melbourne’s West. He was Mr Somyurek’s “extremely close” friend, Mr Byrne said.

“I was not happy with the request.

“The alternative was to have a lot more requests from different people that I’d sort of get a relatively regular basis about putting people

on to my staff that were factional.

“I tried to reduce the number of people that were on my staff that had any direct connections to factions.”

Mr Suleyman’s hiring was part of a “deal” to bring his family over from another ALP faction to Mr Somyurek’s faction Moderate Labor.

He couldn’t work for a state MP because of an “adverse finding” as part of an investigation into Brimbank Council.

“Why did I do it? Because the consequences of not doing it would be that I probably wouldn’t be sitting here before you today as a Member of Parliament.”

He eventually ceased Mr Suleyman’s role.

“I said I can’t do it anymore, I just can’t keep on doing it”.

Mr Byrne said he implicitly understood that refusing the requests would jeopardise his preselection.

“I had assumed that someone like Adem would, as is his wont, get particularly upset and initiate some form of retribution.

“It could be abusing my staff.

“It could be - God knows. It could be arranging for my political execution.”

Under cross-examination, Mr Byrne was questioned about staff appointments Adam Sullivan, Nick McLennan and the son of former Greater Dandenong mayor Youhorn Chea.

“These are all people who you specifically asked Somyurek to employ, right?” Mr Somyurek’s lawyer Remy Van der Wiel asked.

“I was trying to minimise as much as possible those people that I guess you’d say were involved in factional activity,” Mr Byrne replied.

“So I may well have, on that basis, asked Adem to take those people on.”

In earlier evidence, Mr Byrne said his for-

mer staffer Mr McLennan was later being directed to do “factional activity” by Mr Somyurek as part of his day-to-day work as ministerial adviser for State Minister and factional ally Marlene Kairouz.

Mr Somyurek appointed Mr McLennan as Ms Kairouz’s ministerial adviser, Mr Byrne said.

Mr McLennan also worked on “factional matters” during his working day as Mr Byrne’s electorate officer. Other members of Mr Byrne’s paid staff did the same, Mr Byrne said.

“If I’d felt that I’d had a choice it wouldn’t have happened,” Mr Byrne said.

Mr Byrne had told the inquiry his electorate staff were also inappropriately tasked to assist other ALP candidate’s election campaigns such as Tim Richardson and in the seat of La Trobe.

His staff were also involved in collecting and filling out blank membership ballots from “stacked” members to elect delegates for the ALP national executive.

This task was done during the staff’s day to day work as well as weekends, and may have occurred at his office, Mr Byrne said.

On occasions, “stacked” members had filled out their own ballots and sent them to head office.

They were then told to sign a letter to head office and say they “made a mistake” and request a fresh ballot paper – which would be then filled out by “factional operatives”.

Mr Byrne believed pro-forma letters and signatures were forged.

According to IBAC, about 40 per cent of ballots were reissued in Holt.

Mr Byrne agreed that ALP’s head office was “willfully blind” to what was going on behind the scenes.

Federal MP quits his intelligence role

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Holt MP Anthony Byrne has resigned from his long-held intelligence and security committee position in the wake of his branch-stacking testimony at IBAC. In a statement on 14 October, Mr Byrne said he offered his resignation as Deputy Chair and member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

The offer was accepted by federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese.

“The work of the PJCIS is crucial to Australia’s national security and its integrity should never be questioned,” Mr Byrne stated.

“I have always put the work of this bipartisan Committee first and have always served in its best interests.”

Mr Byrne was appointed the committee’s 8 STAR JOURNAL

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chair in 2010. He had served as deputy chair since 2013.

At the IBAC Operation Watts inquiry three days earlier, Mr Byrne had outlined explosive allegations of his role in ALP’s use of taxpayerfunded staff for branch-stacking in Victoria.

He also described the role of factional colleagues in the South East, Adem Somyurek and Luke Donnellan. The latter resigned from State Cabinet on the same day.

“I will continue to fully cooperate with the IBAC inquiry and will not be making further comment while proceedings are underway,” Mr Byrne said.

Anthony Byrne has resigned from his longstanding post on the joint parliamentary intelligence and security committee.

Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan has sensationally quit the State Government Cabinet after being named by his former boss at an IBAC inquiry on 11 October.

Mr Donnellan, who was serving as a Disability, Ageing, Carers and Child Protection Minister, was a former electorate officer to Holt Federal MP Anthony Byrne.

At the Operation Watts inquiry into alleged ALP branch-stacking, Mr Byrne said his former electorate officers – and now State MPs – Mr Donnellan and Adem Somyurek formed a ‘South East Alliance’.

All three bought scores of ALP memberships and membership renewals contrary to party rules, Mr Byrne told the inquiry on Monday.

Mr Byrne estimated he spent $2000 a year on the memberships, and that the other two MPs spent the same.

They all belonged to the ALP’s ‘Moderate Labor’ faction – of which Mr Somyurek was ‘convenor’, Mr Byrne said.

Soon afterwards, Mr Donnellan announced his immediate resignation from the ministry.

“I accept that I have previously breached party rules while a Minister.

“But let me be very clear: I never misused public funds or resources in any way. And this has absolutely nothing to do with my staff.”

Mr Donnellan said it was not “possible or appropriate” to remain a Minister given the rule breaches.

“The work to support vulnerable Victorians is too important, especially during the pandemic.”

He is the fourth Andrews Government Minister to leave Cabinet in the wake of explosive allegations of branch-stacking by 60 Minutes and The Age in June 2020.

The others are Mr Somyurek, who is a person of interest at the inquiry, as well as Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott.

In reference to Mr Somyurek, the ALP had been “basically taken over by one person whose sole objective was power and power alone”, Mr Byrne told the inquiry.

The party was “completely out of control” with “branch-stacking” and the “coercion” of taxpayer-funded staff who were “made to do things they didn’t want to do”, Mr Byrne said.

He said Mr Somyurek had threatened to get rid of sitting MPs from a rival faction, Dandenong MP and Cabinet Minister Gabrielle Williams and Cranbourne MP Pauline Richards.

He named Mr Somyurek and Ms Kairouz as MPs that coerced electorate and ministerial staff into performing factional political activities while on the ‘taxpayer dollar’.

After Mr Donnellan’s resignation, Premier Daniel Andrews said Mr Donnellan was a “passionate advocate for vulnerable kids, people with disability and older Victorians”.

“He leaves a legacy of reform of which he can be proud.

“Luke’s work has seen a transformation of the system for children and families in Victoria, investing in hundreds of dedicated child protection workers and navigators to do their important work supporting families and kids – making sure they have the stable foundation to begin their lives.

“Due to inquiries currently on foot, I will not be making further comment.”

Mr Donnellan’s ministerial portfolios have been allocated to Cabinet members James Merlino and Richard Wynne. dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

NEWS

Doveton lags

By Cam Lucadou-Wells and Danielle Kutchel Doveton residents live in one of the lowest Covid vaccinated areas of Melbourne, according to state data.

As of 13 October, between 35-40 per cent of the postcode’s residents 16-and-over were fully vaccinated.

Between 75-80 per cent had received a single dose.

It’s significantly behind the Victorian average of 61.5 per cent fully vaccinated and 86.7 per cent single dosed.

In neighbouring postcodes Dandenong, Hallam and Hampton Park, there were belowaverage 40-45 per cent double-vax rates.

Keysborough, Springvale and Endeavour Hills (50-55 per cent) and Noble Park (45-50 per cent) are also below par.

Most of the above postcodes have more than 100 active Covid cases, with Dandenong hardest hit with 378.

The silver lining is that Greater Dandenong’s double-vax rate surged 7.3 per cent in the week up to 11 October. But its 48 per cent fully vaccinated figure is still one of Victoria’s lowest.

The combination of surging active cases and low vaccination rates continue to concern health authorities.

On 12 October, there were 1544 active cases recorded in Casey, including 133 new cases that day.

In Greater Dandenong, there were 811 active cases and 68 new cases.

Postcode hotspots are Cranbourne (434 active cases), Dandenong (378), Noble Park (227), Hampton Park (146), Hallam and Doveton (both 114), Endeavour Hills (109) and Keysborough (107).

Health Minister Martin Foley on 13 October attributed Dandenong’s vaccine lag to a “range of issues”.

Seventeen residents at Belvedere Aged Care in Noble Park have been infected by Covid-19.

Covid-19: Noble Park aged care outbreak

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Palm Plaza pop-up clinic was installed to boost the region’s lagging Covid-vaccine rates. 252244 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS “Firstly younger more diverse communities who became eligible for vaccination later, then there’s a whole range of opportunities for points of distribution for the vaccine.

“The people of Dandenong, when given the opportunity, have come forward really strongly.

“It has been older communities that became eligible earlier in the rollout and now what we’re seeing is as we’ve finally got that widespread localised distribution, those communities coming forward in great numbers.”

In an effort to boost the region’s vax rates, pop-up clinics have been opened for walkup jabs. Such as in Palm Plaza in Dandenong, where 463 people were vaccinated on 12 October.

Neighbourhood pop-up clinics are also expected to soon open at shopping strips, cultural and community centres and popular retail, food and gym outlets.

Seventeen Noble Park aged-care residents and three staff have been infected by a visitor who had tested negative to Covid-19.

Belvedere Aged Care stated that all infected residents and staff were fully vaccinated.

One of the residents has been hospitalised, all of them are described by Belvedere as being in “stable” condition.

The cluster is contained to one wing of the 60-bed home.

According to the home, a “regular visitor” attended while infectious with the Covid Delta-variant on Tuesday 5 October.

They had complied with Belvedere’s testing requirements, providing a negative result within 48 hours prior to arrival.

The visitor contacted Belvedere on 7 October that they later tested positive.

The home, which is under “restricted access”, has been since deep-cleaned, Belvedere stated.

Infected staff are in home quarantine,

with staff cohorts working in designated wings to minimise transmission risks.

Belvedere stated it was the first instance of Covid entering the home.

Nursing director Carmel Drobnik said it was “extremely unfortunate that, despite the rigorous controls we have in place, the Delta strain of Covid-19 has entered our facility”.

“Our systems and procedures are operating in accordance with all regulatory requirements and our own high standards of care.

“Our first responsibility is to our residents and their loved ones. We are working hard to ensure lines of communication remain open and our actions are transparent.“ As of 12 October, 671 Victorian aged-care residents had died with Covid-19.

The vast majority occurred in 2020, prior to vaccinations.

Belvedere stated that three residents opted to remain unvaccinated. All staff are vaccinated, it stated.

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Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

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STAR JOURNAL 9

LOOKING BACK

Compiled by Dandenong and District Historical Society

100 years ago 20 October 1921 Public Notices Dandenong Improvement Association A special meeting of members will be held in the council room, Friday evening, October 21 at 8.30. Business: Band proposition and Swimming baths. The meeting called for Friday last, to consider the erection of a band rotunda in the park lapsed, because nearly everyone interested had forgotten.

50 years ago 19 October 1971 Mothers on Warpath The Journal published allegations last week of a local baby show being rigged. The resulting outrage made the front page of this week’s edition. Opening quotes including “You can’t

rig a baby show” and “a storm of protests from mothers“. The article goes on to quote a number of individuals who strenuously rejected the claims. An anonymous women labelled the accusations “a lot of rot and rubbish”.

The organisers are more to be admired than abused. Mrs V Pigdon described the complaints “fantasies … kicking up a stink”. A number of responses came from women who themselves had organised such competition.

In their opinion, rigging is not possible. The children are only identified by numbers, and that each judge has a personal opinion of what makes a baby “beautiful”. Even Sigrid Scherrer, proprietor of a city modelling agency, commended the organizers Mrs Churchill and Mrs Ansell for the work they have done.

She goes on to point out that some parents can be upset and disappointed with the decisions make.

20 years ago

5 years ago

15 October 2001 Taliban ‘may be here’ claim An Afghan anti-war crimes campaigner believes it would be “naïve “to think Taliban sympathisers could be living in the Greater Dandenong. Sayed Hassib Moslin, a member of the Afghans Against War Criminals organisation formed in 1994 and also operating in three other countries, said sympathisers could have been here for years. “We oppose Taliban, we oppose Osama bin Laden, and when I heard that America had attacked bin Laden I thanked God,” he said. “Bin Laden has nothing to do with Islam, he has his own desire for power, driven by hatred of the West” he said. “It would be naïve not to think that Taliban sympathisers could be living in the Dandenong region.”

17 October 2016 Quarter of a century of service Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie placed a box of tissues at retiring councillor John Kelly’s seat before his final council meeting got underway. The 25-year local government veteran spoke with plenty of emotion but managed to get through his goodbyes without shedding a tear. He even managed a few laughs as he reflected on his decision to not recontest his Silverleaf Ward seat at the Saturday 22 October council elections. Cr Kelly’s youngest son Matt was just two weeks old when he attended his first meeting in 1991.

“Matt’s about six foot three now,” he said. In a public question time, resident Colin Riddiford wished Cr Kelly “all the best on behalf of thousands of ratepayers he’s helped”.

NEWS

Stitches keep us together

By Reverend Father Jean Mawal Having just become the most locked-down city in the world, we are at once reminded of the pains and strains we have come to know and experience as everyday life.

Reflecting over the last 250-odd days we find ‘messages of hope’ that have helped us endure what we thought was unendurable and what seemed to be infinite.

Being an Orthodox Christian parish priest and working with other faith leaders through the Interfaith Network, we have seen and been called upon to offer support during the most difficult circumstances for our communities.

Those who lost loved ones during the lockdowns and unable to offer them traditional

MESSAGE OF

HOPE or fitting funerals. Those who have lost and or have had work hours reduced. Those who have endured loneliness and without another to depend upon.

Those who have had to struggle through home-schooling and work, carrying what seemed like the world on their shoulders.

And those who have been struck with dis-

tress because of the world’s condition.

It has been a trialling time for everyone in their own unique way.

There is an idiom which states, ‘a stitch, in time, saves nine’. For those who have endured to this point perhaps feel as though they have become the most proficient needleworkers.

It is in the small things that we have discovered what is in fact all things.

We have seen ‘messages of hope’ in children enjoying time with their parents.

People praying for and supporting one another during trials. People stepping out into the fresh air and breathing a sigh of relief in creation.Humans providing emergency relief and necessities for those who are left without.

And the joys of simple phone calls to those

who don’t have someone to communicate with. The hope for tomorrow comes in the message of hope that we have seen today and yesterday.

What I have learnt throughout this experience is that beauty lies in the small things that connect us together.

The small things that do not cost much, that don’t require so much effort, the things which bring the greatest joy to humanity.

When the world is open once again, let’s not let go of the small stiches that we have sewn that kept us intact during this time and that will bring us much more in the future.

Reverend Father Jean Mawal is from St Paul’s Antiochian Orthodox Church Priest and Interfaith Network Dandenong President

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Selba Luka, centre, receives her award from Mayor Angela Long and Deputy Mayor Sophie Tan.

Pictures: HAS MEDIA

Selba (front) and volunteer Veronica in the Afri Aus-Care veggie garden.

The organisation provides cooking classes for vulnerable members of the community. 213664

By Danielle Kutchel A tireless champion for African and CALD communities has been named Greater Dandenong’s Citizen of the Year.

Selba Luka, founder of Afri-Aus Care, received the award at an invite-only event at Springvale City Hall on Tuesday 26 January.

She admitted the award was a total shock, but a welcome one, and dedicated it to the community, staff, volunteers, supporters and

NOW OPEN

sponsors of Afri-Aus Care.

Born in Malawi, Ms Luka often says her heart is in South Sudan as she works closely with the south-eastern South Sudanese community.

Afri-Aus Care was born of her experiences when she arrived in Australia, where she experienced difficulties and hardship in her first years in the country.

The not-for-profit provides mental health

support, outreach and skills development for members of the African and CALD communities.

It works closely with youth offenders, providing them with a pathway out of these behaviours and into a more positive contribution to society. During the pandemic for example, ex-offenders helped create food hampers and deliver these to the most vulnerable in society.

Afri-Aus Care also works with “the mamas“,

African women who are new to Australia and need assistance to find employment and learn English. Many of these women are survivors of domestic abuse, and Afri-Aus Care provides mental health support too as they build a new life.

Speaking at the Australia Day ceremony, Ms Luka said she was honoured to have received such a prestigious award.

“May we continue to be united. Dandenong is a great city to be,“ she said.

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Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

Reverend Father Jean Mawal. 253264

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Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

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STAR JOURNAL 11

NEWS

Cr Truong out of ICU

By Cam Lucadou-Wells

Loi Truong was in hospital for nine days with Covid-19. 209156

Picture: GARY SISSONS

Greater Dandenong councillor Loi Truong is back at home after spending nine days in hospital with Covid-19.

On 6 October, Cr Truong was put on oxygen support at Monash Medical Centre due to his oxygen levels dropping to 92 per cent.

After two days, he was taken off oxygen assistance.

But remained under observation at the hospital until late Thursday 14 October.

“Thanks to all the nurses and doctors at the hospital. They worked so hard, they help many people and make them happy.

“They’re very kind, they work from the heart.”

Though feeling “bad and awful”, he clarified that he wasn’t required to be in the hospital’s ICU. Cr Truong, who had received a single dose of Moderna vaccine, thinks he may have caught Covid from a customer at his Springvale South milk bar.

“I don’t know who the customer is, but it’s not their fault.”

He had initially suffered coughing, sneezing and breathing difficulties. His symptoms have since cleared.

“I feel normal. There’s no temperature or cough.

“People say I’m lucky that I have no symptoms but it makes me worried. It’s very very dangerous to not have symptoms.”

Cr Truong was planning to get his second vaccine dose as soon as he tests Covid-negative. He had no immediate plans to re-open the milk bar.

“The safety of the community is more important.”

He is the second Greater Dandenong councillor infected by Covid, with Cr Tim Dark testing positive on 23 September.

In August, Cr Truong’s milk bar in Darren Street had been named as a Tier 2 Covid site due to a brief visit by an infected customer.

On that occasion, Cr Truong isolated and closed his store until he received a negative test result.

He said at the time he was waiting to be vaccinated with Moderna because of its high effectiveness.

Cr Truong has also given away more than 30,000 re-useable cotton masks at his shop.

In the meantime, Cr Truong had been named at an IBAC hearing into taxpayer-funded staff being used for ALP branch stacking.

He said he’d been privately examined by IBAC but could not comment further.

Casey’s digital framework

Maria Janac with a photo of her late husband George. 248564

Picture: GARY SISSONS

Home alone in lockdown

By Cam Lucadou-Wells Lockdown’s end can’t come soon enough for Springvale retirement-village resident Maria Janac.

The 78-year-old widow lives alone, largely confined to her Lexington Gardens unit during Melbourne’s series of hard lockdowns.

In 2018, her husband for 57 years George passed away. She has no children, no family to visit.

Due to a stroke, she’s unable to go out for daily walks.

As a self-described people’s person, she still keeps in touch with friends on the phone but they are unable to visit one another due to Covid restrictions.

Her best friend lives 65 kilometres away in country Victoria.

“I’m just surviving this – but that’s it.”

Her most regular companion has been her support worker from Australian Multicultural Community Services.

They’ve helped her with meals, cleaning and weekly trips to the shops.

Mrs Janac was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1943 – a hard childhood deprived basics such as food or a car.

She remembers constantly “starving” as families lined up for bread and milk rations.

12 STAR JOURNAL

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Sometimes she’d give her scarce food allotment to her younger brother.

“We’d spend two days just eating bread.

Imagine how hard that was for a child.”

After her sixth grade in school, she left to work as a housekeeper.

Soon after marrying in 1964, she and George migrated to Australia without a word of English.

Initially, they communicated with hand gestures. They quickly picked up the language on the ship out to Australia, and later through watching TV – “especially the commercials”.

She speaks Hungarian, Serbian and English, while also understanding Polish and Russian.

In Australia, she worked at a range of delicatessans including in Endeavour Hills and Fountain Gate.

“I loved to be with people. You met a lot of a people.”

The couple loved the new-found spaces and affluence, moving from St Kilda, Tullamarine to a two-storey house with a view in the then-new suburbs of Endeavour Hills in the late 1970s.

“It was a beautiful place. We had a two storey house on top of the hill.

“Now I’m in a one-bedroom unit.”

Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

The City of Casey has launched its first Digital Equity Framework to improve digital equity and empowerment in the municipality.

Digital equity refers to ensuring everyone has fair access to the internet and other digital technology, while digital empowerment refers to having the access and ability to use the internet, smart devices and other technology, so everyone can thrive in the digital age.

The Framework is a priority driven by both the acceleration of people’s use and dependence on digital technologies since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the Outer South East region (of which Casey is part) having the lowest rates of digital inclusion across Greater Melbourne according to the Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2020.

Developed in consultation with Casey residents, businesses and community groups in June this year, the framework sets out guidelines and activities to deliver digital resources and infrastructure to improve online access, confidence and literacy across Casey.

City of Casey chair of administrators Noelene Duff said that all community members deserve fair access to digital resources and the associated benefits, which in turn builds digital empowerment and digital democracy.

“Council is committed to building digital equity in Casey through ensuring community members have access to digital tools, skills and the confidence needed for full and ongoing participation in our increasingly online society, democracy, and economy,“ said Ms Duff.

“Given the importance of digital channels in our lives, we hope Casey’s Digital Equity Framework will inspire other councils and government bodies to adopt a similar framework to increase the access, affordability and digital abilities for communities around Australia.”

As part of the Digital Equity Framework, initial activities include: Increasing internet access: identifying key

·

locations to install free public wi-fi stations in Doveton to improve internet access in the area.

Map free wi-fi points: creating an online map for community service organisations, schools and the general community to use to support people to find free public wi-fi across the city.

Building digital skills: implementing a digital activation program to overcome the vulnerable population’s social isolation and digital exclusion exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Digital Equity Framework is also a priority initiative of the Smart Casey Launchpad – a strategic approach to smart city action developed in consultation with the community in 2020. The launchpad guides how Casey Council and the community can harness data, technology and innovation to build a connected, sustainable, inclusive and innovative community.

The Digital Equity Framework supports the launchpad’s focus area of Connecting Communities, which aims to ‘build digital connectivity to increase digital inclusion, participation in Council decision-making and community building.’

Throughout the development of the framework, a digital empowerment insights paper was developed to promote further conversations about how to embed actions and principles that enable communities to be empowered in the digital age.

In the coming months, the council will launch a Digital Equity Lab to test and pilot innovative ideas to increase digital access, affordability and abilities in the Casey community.

If you or your organisation has an innovative idea that can build digital equity, please email smartcity@casey.vic.gov.au for more details.

· · ·

The Digital Equity Framework will help build digital skills. dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

NEWS

Timber legend marks 60 From a lineage of sports champions, Jeff Harvey has scored an incredible 60 years with Hallam timber company Bowen & Pomeroy.

Mr Harvey – or ‘Harvs’ – is admired as a “champion of timber” at Bowens and throughout the timber industry.

He was said to have done “nearly every job we had on offer”, who “touched thousands of lives” and was loved by colleagues young and old.

A colleagues said Mr Harvey was known as “honest, hard-working and loyal” to the company, colleagues and customers.

“He forever represented the company and himself with the highest level of integrity and garnered respect from all.”

The Harvey name is well known in cricket circles. Mr Harvey’s uncle Neil played 79 tests for Australia – part of six brothers who played for Fitzroy-Doncaster.

Mr Harvey himself was an accomplished batsman and captain. He still continues as chairman of selectors at Fitzroy-Doncaster, a club he’s been part of for 60 years as well.

The workplace has been well and truly central to his life and part of his family.

It was where Mr Harvey first met his wife Marilyn, who was personal assistant to manager Jack Dowling.

And his three sons Robert, Anthony and Steven have also worked at Bowen & Pomeroy.

Eldest son Steven celebrated 33 years with the company this year.

Robert worked there part-time before kicking on as a champion AFL player and dual Brownlow medalist at St Kilda.

Anthony was also part of the business before forging a successful career in Adelaide.

Their father has been offered a job at Bowens for as long as he wished.

But he has shown no inclination to take it easy.

Jeff Harvey in the timber yard, circa 1990.

FOCUS ON … RETIREMENT LIVING

The power of volunteering When the idea of retirement rolls around, some people are overjoyed by the thought of freedom, others look for the next thing they can do in their life.

Volunteering at an organisation has been proven to offer seniors great benefits for their physical and mental health, as well as social connection.

A report released by VicHealth in 2012 identified volunteering can help alleviate depression, increase satisfaction with life, lower the frequency of hospitalisation and boost a person’s ability to cope with illness.

Volunteering doesn’t only improve the health and wellbeing of the volunteer but for those who are on the receiving end, there are also undeniable benefits.

Volunteers help contribute to social change, bridge the gap between young and old, help engage people in the community and raise awareness around certain issues.

The State of Volunteering Report released

by Volunteering Victoria in 2020 showed the

majority of the 2.3 million people who volunteer in Victoria are over the age of 65, totalling 78.9 per cent.

The percentage of people who volunteer when they are out of work or only work part time was highest of all employment situations at 74.4 per cent.

Programs for volunteers can range from emergency relief, opportunity shop staff members, youth support officers, animal welfare, meals-on-wheels, soup kitchens and in-school support roles for disadvantaged students.

Enjoying senior life doesn’t just have to mean travelling Australia in a caravan, it can be finally exploring that hobby or interest that has just been at the back of the mind.

Passing on knowledge, skills, expertise and wisdom may be the thing that most rewards you.

Head to the Volunteering Victoria website to find an opportunity to suit your interests, https://www.volunteeringvictoria.org.au/forvolunteers/search-for-volunteer-roles/

HCP Level 1 & Level 2 only

HCP Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 & Level 4

The benefits of volunteering are endless. dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

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NEWS

Eagles hunt for new home

By Nick Creely Cranbourne will officially depart the Outer East Football Netball League next season, with the league opting to formally clear the Eagles out of the competition in a huge development in local football.

The Outer East has written to Cranbourne, informing the club that the position of the Commission is that they cannot continue to have disruptions, and that the league is no longer an option for them in 2022, informing them that they will clear them to the Southern Football Netball League.

The decision, according to the Outer East, relates to the desire to create more stability for its clubs and the competition’s future beyond 2022.

The Southern league has been informed of this decision, who have already accepted Doveton into the competition next season.

The Doves are entering Division 2 of Southern.

This comes after the Eagles’ long and exten-

sive application process with the MPNFL, and after informing the league that they intend on meeting with Southern, but essentially the Outer East has taken the decision out of Cranbourne’s hands.

This comes as news became official of fellow Outer East club Beaconsfield joining the Eastern Football Netball League for season 2022.

After a strong majority vote at the league’s recent SGM, which saw Beaconsfield voted in by clubs with 87 per cent in favour of the move, AFL Victoria ticked off the massive transfer last week with the Eagles to becoming Eastern’s 47th senior club.

The Eagles had initially intended to apply to join the MPNFL once again, but withdrew the application before it went to a vote.

There will now be 23 senior football clubs in 2022, while the Outer East continues to work with both Berwick and Beaconsfield’s netball clubs regarding next year and beyond.

Outer East plans to provide some clarity in coming weeks to clubs, but remain adamant the decision was made to settle the league into the future and are confident in what the competitions look like from a competitive balance perspective.

However, it has been confirmed that Outer East is planning on retaining three divisions next season, though two will be supported if that is the view of clubs. Concerns surrounding the gap between sides in divisions is being considered.

From a fixturing perspective, 10, nine and seven-team divisions are the most equitable, according to the letter.

Outer East has sent clubs a competition survey for the structure of next season, with the results and official position to be released in coming weeks.

Cranbourne president Shane Baker said the club met on Thursday night, and said there was overwhelming support for the

move to Southern.

“They reserve the right to do it as much as we deserve the right to do our due diligence, so it is what it is now,” he said.

“We’ve made it clear that our future lies elsewhere, and that’s what we’re focused on now - we’ll make sure we do what’s right for the club.”

The club sent the application off on Friday and the league met on Monday, where it should be a seamless approval. The Eagles are hoping to enter Division 1 in 2022.

Baker said there was no bad blood with the Outer East, and wants to move forward for what’s best for the Cranbourne Football Club.

“It’s always been about getting the best fit - we’ve spoken to some leagues because if we don’t do the full research then we never know what’s out there,” he said.

“It’s nothing against Outer East, they’ve been great to deal with, and wish them well.

We just need to find an area that suits us.”

Lamenting the growing divide of football’s great rivals

By David Nagel I have a confession to make.

While thoroughly enjoying and totally immersed in a first season of covering the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC)…at this stage it’s impossible for this new found love to surpass the memories of the glory days of the Casey Cardinia/South East Football Netball League.

As a Pakenham resident I clearly remember being in awe of my local heroes, like our leader and coach Michael ‘Jock’ Holland, Luke Walker, Daniel Fry, Cory Lenders, Nathan Brown, Dan and Tommy O’Loughlin, and the tough-as-nails Trent ‘Yardy’ Fairclough, as they went head-to-head with the powerhouse teams of the day in Beaconsfield, Doveton and Narre Warren.

There were great battles…and apologies to Jock for giving ill-considered and alcoholfuelled coaching advice over a cold beer late on a winter-Saturday afternoon!

Back then, my mates Bill Connolly, Dave Power and I loved nothing better that meeting on a Saturday afternoon – home or away – sinking a few tins and watching our beloved Lions play.

Then having the absolute privilege of covering this league - when first beginning at Star News in 2011 – and watching the battles between Cranbourne and Narre Warren, the Battles of the Creek between Beaconsfield and Berwick, and the hard-hitting contests at Robinson Reserve in Doveton was a great experience…one not to be forgotten.

The premiership reunion days were particularly special, watching the players and coaches of days gone by – from opposition clubs - reminisce about their battles. The Cranbourne – Doveton days were great!

Through both experiences, as a spectator and particularly as a journo, it was great to learn about the great rivalries of the old South West Gippsland Football League (SWGFL), where Beaconsfield, Berwick, Cranbourne, Doveton and Narre Warren were the heart and soul of the competition since the mid to late 1950’s.

With all this in mind it’s incredibly sad and very difficult to get your head around the fact that none of these five great rivals will play football against each other in 2022.

It’s absolutely staggering to think that we’ve got to the point where these five iconic clubs will not be walking through each other’s gate next season.

None of them!

Apart from a few short eras in their history, these clubs have been connected at the hip bone for the best part of 70 years!

Doveton didn’t join the SWGFL until 1959, and had a brief dalliance with the Federal League from 1972 to 1976, but has always been a regular foe.

Berwick was a founding SWGFL club in 1954 and only went missing with a five-year stint in the VFA from 1983 to 1987.

Beaconsfield, who was also there when dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

It’s sad that epic battles between great rivals Cranbourne and Narre Warren are now a thing of Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS the past. 106294 the whips first started cracking in 1954, spent nine years in the West Gippsland Football League (WGFL) from 1993 to 2001, but reconnected in 2002.

And Cranbourne and Narre Warren have only spent five seasons apart in that 68-year journey since 1954, when they spent time in different divisions of the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (MPNFL) from 1996 to 2000.

The history these clubs have with each other is incredible.

In a historical sense – this most recent demise has been rapid since 12 clubs came together to form the Casey Cardinia Football League (CCFL) in 2005.

Those teams were Beaconsfield, Berwick, Cranbourne, Devon Meadows, Dingley, Doveton, Hampton Park, Keysborough, Narre Warren, Pakenham, ROC (now Officer) and Tooradin-Dalmore.

Dingley was first to go, lasting just two seasons, heading to the Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) in 2007, with Devon Meadows playing seven seasons in the CCFL before joining the MPNFL in 2012.

That left 10 Keysborough joined Southern in 2015, with Hampton Park doing likewise for the beginning of the 2018 season.

Just eight teams remained at the conclusion of 2018 with a clear division between the powerhouse clubs – Beaconsfield, Berwick,

Cranbourne and Narre Warren – and the remainder led by Doveton, Officer, Pakenham and Tooradin-Dalmore.

Tooradin-Dalmore found a new home – a perfect fit – in the WGFNC in 2019, with the remaining seven clubs moving to AFL Outer East.

Beaconsfield, Berwick, Cranbourne and Narre Warren were locked in to Premier Division, with Doveton, Officer and Pakenham earning their stripes in the secondary-tier Division One competition.

But the demise since the move to AFL Outer East has been even more rapid.

Berwick got the ball moving by transferring to the Eastern Football League (EFL) Premier Division in August 2020, competing for the first time in 2021 in that competition.

Just last week, Doveton was accepted into Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) Division Two, while just a few days later – Thursday, 7 October - both Beaconsfield and the EFL confirmed that the Eagles will play in Division One of that competition next year.

And now Cranbourne has made the decision, endorsed by AFL Outer East, to make the switch to the SFNL competition – likely division one - for the 2022 season.

Of those seven great clubs – that all held hands and joined AFL Outer East in 2019 – only Narre Warren, Officer and Pakenham remain.

All clubs, except Officer and Pakenham,

have been like a cat on a hot-tin roof in recent times, all assessing their options when it comes to a suitable league to house their football clubs in.

It’s incredible to think that as late as August 10 this year, that MPNFL clubs were asked to fill in a survey to assess the viability of accepting Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Doveton and Narre Warren into their competition.

At that point in time – just two months ago – those four clubs had all officially expressed interest in joining the MPNFL in 2022.

Now, just a short time later, three of those four clubs have a different home.

But more importantly – if things go as expected and Cranbourne is admitted into division one of Southern for 2022 – none of these clubs will play against each other next year.

Beaconsfield (EFL Div 1), Berwick (EFL Premier), Cranbourne (SFNL Div 1), Doveton (SFNL Div 2) and Narre Warren (AFLOE Premier) will all have different homes.

Cranbourne’s likely new home – SFNL Division One – last year housed (in ladder order) Dingley, Cheltenham, St Kilda City, Port Melbourne Colts, East Malvern, St Paul’s McKinnon, Bentleigh, Mordialloc, Oakleigh District and Highett.

Oakleigh District has since moved to the EFL, but Cranbourne will now play against clubs that it has little or no history with.

This is not an exercise in pin-pointing clubs or leagues for allowing this to happen, but surely something has gone horribly wrong when those five great clubs, with incredible history, are all playing in different competitions or divisions next year.

How do we fix it?

It would take a collaborative and open approach from all leagues in the region, and clubs, to draw a line in the sand, allow a blank canvas, and move forward from there.

This is an impossible task, and Cranbourne’s recent aspiration of joining the MPNFL – which appears the ideal fit for the club - gives a clear indication of the difficulties involved.

The MPNFL has 22 clubs, with a change to competition structure requiring 75 per cent of those clubs to agree before any change can take place. Even a clear majority vote of 16 to 6 (72 per cent) would not be enough to see Cranbourne included in the MPNFL for next year.

The clubs have the power there…not the MPNFL! And that’s just one hurdle of many that would hinder any type of common-sense approach to fixing a problem that now sees five great clubs – with incredible history - all waving to each from a distance for the 2022 season.

And to Cranbourne…I love you as a club… but good luck finding a suitable opponent when you host one of your many premiership reunions over the next few years!

Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

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STAR JOURNAL 17

SPORT

Rangers in great hands

By Nick Creely The Dandenong Basketball Association has made two key coaching appointments, with two of the association greats, Michelle Gubbels and Shaun Groenewegen signed as head coaches of the BigV Victorian Youth Championship Women’s and Men’s teams.

Gubbels, who started her basketball journey as a Rangers juniors in 1980 and would go on to play WNBL with the club, has returned to Stud Road after strong stints as coach at Wesley College and with Bulleen Boomers VYC team.

A true Ranger at heart, DBA general manager Larissa Anderson said they were delighted to welcome Michelle back to the club.

“Michelle has an extensive history with DBA and she’s a great coach and a great person,” she said.

“I know how passionate she is about the Rangers and basketball as a whole and I’m really looking forward to seeing what she and our VYC Women can achieve together next season.”

Groenwegen, a Paralympian and World Cup representative for Australia, has enjoyed a distinguished basketball pathway with the Rangers, playing in the National Wheelchair Basketball League for the Rangers, winning the title in 2000, and serving as playing coach.

Since retiring from basketball, he has been a successful junior coach at the Rangers and served as assistant coach to the NBL1 men’s team last season, which was coached by Darren Perry.

“It’s wonderful to have two great basketball people, who have had strong links with the Rangers, involved with our Youth Championship program,” Anderson said.

“Many players and coaches started as Rangers juniors and have gone on to achieve great things in their journeys, it’s fantastic anytime

DBA general manager Larissa Anderson said the club was delighted to welcome back two greats next season. 173518 they come home to Dandenong, to coach or give back to the program.”

In other news around the association, Dan-

denong Basketball has announced that the upcoming Summer Domestic Season will commence from Monday November 8.

Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

This projected date is in line with the current Victorian Government’s roadmap so is pending any further announcements.

Hebridean makes early inroads in quest for the cup

By Jason Adams Hebridean Black continued his tremendous run of form with a dominant win in the opening TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude Series at Sandown Park on Thursday night.

He found the lead earlier than expected and from there was unbeatable. Since he resumed racing in September he’s been undefeated from four starts and with his Prelude win has locked away a spot in heats of the world’s greatest greyhound race.

“I was hoping he would settle just off the speed and finish over the top of them but once he got to the front he was always going to be hard to beat,” said co-trainer Ian Cockerell.

Hebridean Black, or ‘Alex’ as he’s known named after Madagascar’s Alex the Lion, had a break from racing throughout the mid-part of the year after Cockerell identified an issue preventing him from performing at his best.

“He’s always shown a lot of ability for us since he was a puppy. It came to a point where we’d get a run out of him and then he’d be sore, we realised he had a fractured metacarpal which healed on top but there were still issues underneath.”

“We had it scraped, gave it time to heal and he’s come back a different animal. It took us a good five months.”

Cockerell co-trains with his wife Lisa and their 11-year-old twins Taylor and Morgan.

They own ‘Alex’ along with Lisa’s mother Marlene Dopper.

“They’ll be stoked. He’s Taylor’s dog, he’s brought him through since he was a puppy, Lisa and Morgan do a heap of work with him too.”

Cockerell said across their years in the sport they haven’t had a better TAB Melbourne Cup contender than Hebridean Black.

“The last three weeks he’s shown a bit of box speed which he’s never shown before, he can put times on the board that can be competitive with anyone but he does need 18 STAR JOURNAL

|

Ian Cockerell with Hebridean Black. a bit of luck.”

“We take things week by week with him.

We’ll give him a rest for a couple of weeks then give him some trials in the lead up to the heats.”

Their win was in the final TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude of the Series 1. The Prelude prior was won by Invictus Rising for trainer Gus

Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

Selkrig who was enormous when running down gun sprinters Koblenz and Barooga Smoke.

The opening Prelude was won by Carry On Angel for Tim Britton. He began beautifully and set up a race winning break, he won comfortably from the fast finishing Weblec Blazer.

The next series of TAB Melbourne Cup Preludes is on Thursday October 28. The four-dog Shootout and final Prelude Series will follow it on Thursday November 11. Heats of the TAB Melbourne Cup will be run Friday November 19 and the final of the world’s greatest greyhound race the following Friday November 26. dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

SPORT

Hibberd to call the cup

By Jason Adams Dan Hibberd will be the voice of the 2021 TAB Melbourne Cup as the caller of the world’s greatest greyhound race.

It was announced during Saturday night’s coverage of the Bendigo Cup that Hibberd will be stepping in as James Van de Maat takes a break from the role.

“It’s out of this world and a dream come true. It’s something I never thought would happen,” said Hibberd.

He’s been calling professionally for a relatively short amount of time but has impressed with his calls of the sport’s biggest names particularly at Bendigo’s feature events.

“I’ve called the harness meeting at Cobram on Melbourne Cup day for 10 years. I got the opportunity to call trials at Shepparton then greyhounds and from that point on it’s been crazy. I’m absolutely loving it.”

“I’ll be forever grateful for this opportunity.”

Hibberd works at Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton however race calling has been

Dan Hibberd (right) will call the TAB Melbourne Cup. a lifelong dream.

“I’ve always wanted to be a racecaller, as a kid I mucked around with Lego horses at home and tape recorded the calls. I think Mum has a

tape somewhere which she’s been desperate to find for one of my birthdays but had no luck.”

Hibberd has received full support from James Van de Maat.

“The first time that I heard Dan call it was clear he had talent. He’s progressed since then and this is a big opportunity for him,” said Van de Maat.

“I was able to advance myself by calling city meetings and the stars of the sport. They take you to a new level. He’s risen to the occasion on Pink Diamond night and last week for Bendigo Cup heats. I can’t wait for him to get underway.”

Adam White, Program Director at RSN, was also supportive of Hibberd.

“RSN is delighted that Dan will get the opportunity to call this year’s Melbourne Cup. He’s quickly become a highly respected greyhound caller because of his energy and excitement. It’s a credit to him and his passion for his craft.”

Dan Hibberd’s voice will be heard at the second TAB Melbourne Cup Prelude Series on Thursday October 28, for the Shootout and final Prelude Series on Thursday November 11, then for TAB Melbourne Cup heats on Friday November 19 and final of the world’s greatest greyhound race on Friday November 26.

Dandenong cricket stars selected to represent Vics

By Nick Creely LOOKING BACK TO 21 AUGUST, 2017...

Dandenong pair Sophie Molineux and Nicole Faltum are both set to wear the Victorian colours in season 2017/18 after Cricket Victoria announced the VicSpirit squad for the upcoming domestic season.

Molineux, 19, - who is Dandenong’s captain in the Women’s Premier Cricket competition - enjoyed a strong opening season for Victoria last year, hitting 75 runs and taking seven wickets from her four matches.

Her performances then translated into a stunning WBBL season with the Melbourne Renegades, where she went on to claim the Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year award at the Allan Border medal night earlier in the year.

With an injury to star player Meg Lanning, more responsibility will be placed upon the shoulders of the Dandenong star who is one of the brightest talents in the country and a future leader both at state and potentially national level with the Southern Stars.

Fellow Panther Faltum has also earned her first full Victorian contract after being highly impressive for the state through the pathway levels and showing immense progress at club level with Dandenong.

The impressive young wicketkeeper batter earned a rookie contract with the Melbourne Renegades last season as well as being named in the Cricket Australia Under-18 Female Talent Squad.

Her 2016/17 Premier campaign with Dandenong was solid, scoring 143 runs for the season across all grades while also taking seven catches and forcing two stumpings.

It continues great success for Dandenong in terms of players finding state contracts which only recently announced a merger with the Men’s team to form one club out of Shepley

Oval set to strengthen its playing list even further.

Current Dandenong Men’s players James Pattinson and Peter Siddle both have Victorian contracts while a number of their younger players - including dual-sportsman Ed Newman - have been named in Victorian representative teams.

“We’ve had a few changes this season and we wanted to give some of our young players an opportunity to learn from experienced players,” VicSpirit coach David Hemp said.

“The new players have been performing consistently well through the pathway and we want to reward that.

“I believe this group has what it takes to compete strongly in the WNCL and I know they’re all itching to get back on the park and win the title for Victoria.”

Five players from last year’s squad didn’t make the list for 2017/18 with Dandenong legend Sarah Elliot retiring at the end of last season.

Commonwealth Bank VicSpirit 2017-18 playing list: Kristen Beams (Captain) Makinley Blows Hayleigh Brennan Nicole Faltum Emma Inglis Alana King Meg Lanning Anna Lanning Sophie Molineux Rhiann O’Donnell Chloe Rafferty Molly Strano (Vice-Captain) Annabel Sutherland Gemma Triscari Tayla Vlaeminck Georgia Wareham

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Dandenong star Sophie Molineux has been contracted to Victoria for another domestic season.

Picture: GARY SISSONS 149894 dandenong.starcommunity.com.au

From captain to coach, Craig Black has done it all at the Dandenong Stingrays. 108402

Black... a Ray of light?

LOOKING BACK TO 21 OCTOBER, 2013..

Craig Black is a Stingray through and through.

The newly announced Dandenong Stingrays’ coach knows Shepley Oval well, having captained the TAC Cup side back in 1997, helping lead the team into the TAC Cup (formerly Teal Cup) grand final against North Ballarat.

Following his playing career with Carlton and Frankston, Black started his coaching with Somerville before advancing into the TAC Cup system with Dandenong fouryears-ago.

Going from captain to coach of the football club that has done so much for him, is a proud achievement for Black.

“It’s obviously a big honour - obviously the club meant a lot to me and helped me through my playing days to get to here, so it’s like I’ve done a big full circle,” Black said.

“I’m really happy for the opportunity to get out and coach a club that over the last few years has had so much success with players getting drafted.”

The running of a TAC Cup club altered dramatically since Black walked through the doors in his teenage years and admits the boost in responsibility for all coaching staff helped develop his abilities and give him the perfect foundation for the start of

his TAC Cup coaching career.

“I thought even in the last 17 years it’s changed a lot - the amount of input the assistant coaches get these days is absolutely fantastic,” Black said.

“It’s great to help their development Yeater (Graeme Yeats) gave me a lot of responsibility which has obviously helped me now to end up being the coach.”

The sting of last month’s 112-point TAC Cup grand-final belting at the hands of Eastern Ranges rings doubly loud for Black - having captained the Stingrays’ first grand final defeat at the hands of a young Adam Goodes and his Rebel team mates.

On the plus side, Black knows the loss will spur on his returning Rays and make them better players in the long run.

“Any time you lose a grand final it’s disappointing - I captained the first losing one and was involved in this one,” Black said.

“But the pleasing thing is that we’ve got a lot of players coming back from last season’s team and it will be really good to see how their attitude is ... and see if they can do something about it.”

Black is the fifth coach in the Dandenong Stingrays history and takes over from Graeme Yeats who coached from 2004 to 2013.

Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

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Tuesday, 19 October, 2021

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