Mail - Ferntree Gully Star Mail - 4th June 2024

20 children involved but police say..

Cartel is smashed

A crime syndicate of teenagers has been dismantled after the arrests of a gang’s ringleaders linked to cigarette and cash burglaries across Melbourne.

Eastern Region Crime Squad detectives arrested four adults, including a 19-year-old Ferntree Gully man and a 53-year-old Silvan man, on Wednesday 29 May who allegedly orchestrated a network of child offenders to steal over $2 million worth of cigarettes and cash from service stations and supermarkets across Melbourne.

Investigators will allege two 19-year-old men recruited more than 20 children aged between 12 and 17 to carry out over 140 cigarette burglaries and armed robberies across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs since the start of this year.

These burglaries and armed robberies occurred at service stations, supermarkets, and tobacconists in suburbs including Blackburn, Balwyn, Boroondara, Burwood, Clayton, Camberwell, Doncaster East, Hawthorn, Lilydale, Oakleigh, and Somerville.

Police will allege the two 19-year-old men would provide children with stolen vehicles and specific locations to carry out the burglaries and steal cigarettes. It’s alleged the two men, who have known links to youth gangs, would pay the children a couple of hundred dollars cash in return for the stolen cigarettes.

The cigarettes would then allegedly be onsold to two cigarette vendors – a 33-year-old man and a 53-year-old man - with businesses

in Silvan, Burwood, and Cremorne.

Sixteen early morning warrants executed on Wednesday led to the arrest of these four men, as well as three other adults aged 19, 19, 18 and a 15-year-old boy. Two of the men and the 15-year-old boy have previously been arrested in connection to cigarette burglaries, however their arrests today relate to an aggravated home invasion in Bulleen where they allegedly forced entry to a home while armed with knives.

The other 19-year-old was arrested in respect to weapons related charges.

Eastern Region Regional Crime Advisor Acting Inspector Dale Maxwell said these arrests proved that police were also prioritising the charging of those responsible for the planning and coordination of these crimes.

“Children as young as 12 have allegedly been recruited by adults intent on lining their own pockets without getting their hands dirty,” he said.

“These adults are intentionally preying on youth to offend on their behalf in the misguided hope they won’t be linked to the offending while they profit substantially.”

BeforeWednesday, police had already made 38 arrests in relation to the 140 cigarette burglaries committed since the start of the year –37 of which related to children under the age of 18. These people were charged with more than 270 offences.

Continued page 3

Uniting for reconciliation

National Reconciliation Week from 27 May to 3 June was marked by the youth, community and representatives from Cardinia Shire and Yarra Ranges Council on 28 May in Emerald.

Primary and pre-primary school students from Emerald, Selby, Gembrook and Kallista came to perform on the day and artist Emmy Webbers launched a new exhibition at the Hills Hub.

The Patch resident, Djirri Djirri dancer and proud Wurundjeri, Djadjawurrung and Ngurai Illum-Wurrung woman Stacie Piper opened the ceremony with a Welcome to Country.

“Wominjenka - it’s been a pleasure to welcome you all,” she said. More on page 11

Hamish, Maitreya and Bodhi from Gembrook Pre School with their banner. Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

NEWS IN BRIEF

Police say 20 kids stole for syndicate

From page 1

The investigation into the alleged ring leaders has been running since February this year.

The 19-year-old Ferntree Gully man and his 19-year-old Burwood counterpart were arrested and expected to be charged with armed robbery, burglary, theft of motor vehicle and other charges. Both men are currently being interviewed by police. Police will allege these two individuals were the main orchestrators behind this offending.

The Silvan man and a 33-year-old Burwood man were both arrested and expected to be charged with handling stolen goods. Both men are also currently being interviewed by police. Police will allege these men were aware of the origins of these cigarettes and on sold them for a profit.

Seized items from the properties searched included a significant amount of cigarettes, tobacco and vapes, $243,000 cash from the residential address of the 33-year-old Burwood man, over 200 cannabis plants, luxury items suspected of being proceeds of crime, including designer handbags and shoes and weapons including a machete, sword, imitation firearm, nunchakus, extendable metal baton, knuckle dusters and a hunting knife.

Police have observed a sharp increase in cigarette burglaries across Melbourne this year, with around 80 per cent of those arrested for these crimes under the age of 18.

Police intelligence also indicates more than 40 per cent of child offenders arrested in connection to cigarette burglaries were already known to police as part of Operation Trinity, due to their involvement in committing aggravated burglaries and car thefts.

“As part of this investigation, police have identified a sophisticated network of child offenders carrying out serious and violent crimes on behalf of adults with known youth gang links,” acting inspector Maxwell said.

“Concerningly, a significant proportion of these children were already known to Victoria Police for sneaking into homes and stealing cars to joyride across the city.”

Police understand and will allege that “as little as a couple of hundred dollars” is what was offered to these children, enticing them to steal millions of dollars worth of cigarettes and cash.

Most recent cigarette burglaries have seen closed service stations, supermarkets and tobacconists targeted, however armed robberies targeting cigarettes while stores are open have also increased.

During the investigation, police have maintained regular communication with retail businesses across Melbourne to provide support to store owners and employees, in addition to high visibility patrols.

Collision at Tecoma Pizza Store Police have appealed to the public for any information surrounding an alleged collision in front of Big Al’s Pizza, Tecoma on 10 May.

On Friday 10 May at around 5:45PM a bronze coloured 4WD allegedly collided with a parked Silver Mitsubishi ASX on Burwood Highway Tecoma.

The incident occurred out the front of Big Al’s Pizza and police reported via Eyewatch that the bronze 4WD failed to stop and exchange details.

Police stated that a male witness spoke with the victim however no details were obtained.

Belgrave Police Station are asking the public that if someone you know witnessed the collision, to please contact Senior Constable DUNSTAN on 9754 6677.

Measles and Mpox from overseas travel

Department of Health are asking Victorians to ensure their vaccinations are up to date.

An increasing number of returned travellers to Victoria are presenting with vaccine- preventable travel-related illnesses, such as measles and mpox.

Ten measles cases have been reported inVictoria this year, five from returned overseas travellers, with a further five linked to those cases.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Clare Looker said anyone planning travel overseas should seek advice from their doctor before booking.

“It’s best to see your doctor six to eight weeks before you travel to ensure you have the best protection,” Dr Looker said.

Those planning travel to countries with active mpox outbreaks should make time to receive two doses of the vaccine, 28 days apart, for optimal protection, with those most at risk including men who have sex with men.

Mpox vaccine is free for those eligible and available through more than 250 providers acrossVictoria.

Electronics theft in Ferntree Gully

Police are investigating a theft from an electronics store on Burwood Highway, Ferntree Gully. It’s alleged at about 8pm on 29 April an unknown male entered the store and removed security bolts to steal a displayed MacBook Pro computer worth over $4000.

Investigators have released an image of a male who may be able to assist with their enquiries. The male appears Caucasian and is wearing dark clothing and wearing a baseball cap in the captured image.

Police are asking the public if you can identify this person or may have information to help police, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or file a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

Bike recently found in Ferntree Gully.

On Friday 16 May aTREK Marlin 6 Black Mountain Bike was found near Jacobus Walk in Ferntree Gully.

Police are asking the public to come forward if you own this bike or know the owner of this bike - and to please contact the Boronia Police Station on 9760 6600 where it has been handed in.

Proof of ownership will be required.

Sixteen early morning warrants were executed at a range of commercial and residential properties.

Victoria Police executed warrants on Wednesday 29 May leading to the arrests of four people. Pictures: VICTORIA POLICE

Police seized large amounts of cigarettes and cash from the properties.

Are you gambling more than once a week?

Research shows if you are gambling more than once a week, you are more likely to develop an issue.

‘Doctor-shopping’ warning

By Tara Cosoleto, AAP

GPs should be required by law to follow realtime prescription monitoring to ensure their patients are not “doctor-shopping“ for medication, a coroner has recommended.

A 16-year-old Ferntree Gully boy, known as LI, died from a drug overdose after obtaining pain medication from 70 doctors in the year before his death.

Coroner Ingrid Giles was tasked with investigating the cause and circumstances surrounding his 2019 death during a four-day inquest in March.

He obtained 60 opioid tablets the day before he died after going to three different doctors and three different pharmacies, the court was told.

On the evening of 28 January, 2019, LI died from a drug overdose in his own bed and his grandmother found his body the next morning.

In the year before his death, the teen had visited 70 different doctors and managed to obtain 64 prescriptions from 31 practitioners.

The 16-year-old was also admitted to hospital several times between 2015 and 2019 for drug issues and self-harm, including swallowing batteries and needles.

In findings released on Friday, Ms Giles said she was satisfied that while LI intended to ingest the medications, it was likely an impulsive act rather than a suicide attempt.

But she found the doctors who prescribed him with opioids, on a one-off or short-term basis, had missed an important opportunity to intervene in his “doctor-shopping“ cycle.

“It was a cycle that ended in LI’s death,“ Ms Giles said in her report.

The SafeScript system, a central database that allows a doctor to see a patient’s current prescriptions, was first introduced in Victoria in October 2018 but only became more widely used in April 2019.

The coroner found if the system was as available at the time of LI’s death as it is today, there could have been a different outcome for the 16-year-old.

“The GPs who saw LI would have had crucial information pointing to LI’s drug-seeking behaviours, and he would likely have been refused access to certain of the highly addictive

medications that he was prescribed,“ she said.

The coroner made a recommendation to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to consider making doctors’ compliance with real-time prescription monitoring a national standard.

Ms Giles also recommended Victoria’s Department of Health develop additional strategies to improve its oversight and compliance

role in checking SafeScript.

The coroner noted the moving statements made to the court by LI’s family and friends, especially by his grandmother and father. She acknowledged their grief and devastation, and offered her condolences.

· Lifeline 13 11 14

· Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)

WHAT’S ON AT THE YORK WHAT’S ON AT THE YORK

A Ferntree Gully teen obtained pain medication from 70 doctors in the year before his death.

Picture: FILE

‘Logging’ battle kicks on

By Callum Ludwig

Warburton Environment (WE) has lodged a case in the Federal Court against the Victorian Government following the death of a greater glider in the Yarra Ranges National Park in what has been a turbulent few months in the local forest.

WE is seeking injunctions from the court to halt what they call ‘logging’, and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) insist is the ‘removal of hazardous trees for bushfire risk mitigation’, carried out by Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic).

President of WE Nic Fox said it’s outrageous that community groups are forced to take legal action to stop the Victorian Government killing endangered wildlife.

“Community groups shouldn’t have to continually fight their way through the legal system to make the government accountable to its own laws and policies,” she said.

“Logging clearly isn’t finished inVictoria, it’s just business as usual under a different name, and even Victoria’s most iconic National Parks aren’t safe from the government’s logging industry.”

The forest in the Central Highlands, including the Yarra Ranges National Park and the Yarra State Forest, has been caught up in the furore of what steps should be taken next following the end of native forest logging in Victoria that began on 1 January. The Victorian Government declared that an advisory panel would determine opportunities to qualify the 1.8 million hectares of forest previously slated for logging for expanding National Parks, land management byTraditional Owners and recreation opportunities such as camping, hunting, hiking, mountain biking and four-wheel driving.

In the immediate aftermath of the native forest logging announcement, the Star Mail spoke to the Founding member of the Great Forest National Park (GFNP) proposal and Toolangi resident Sarah Rees, who said the proposal had been a long process.

“What came to the public in 2013/14 as a result of the Black Saturday fires was a push to conserve the last unburnt and unlogged areas, to ensure species persist in the landscape, we protect our water, we keep our best carbon stocks in the land and ultimately to also rebuild and reenergize regional communities with recreational opportunities,” she said in May 2023.

“What will also be important is the deployment of people who are really good at managing this land to get out there, we’ve got to keep our fire breaks open, we’ve got to keep our roads open so hopefully we will see jobs increase, not decrease.”

The Victorian Government’s Eminent Panel for Community Engagement began targeted initial conversations in November and December 2023 before opening up public consultation from 18 March to 6 May this year, which included local community engagements in the Yarra Ranges, Cardinia, Mitchell, Murrindindi and Baw Baw areas. The panel’s report is set to be handed down in June 2024 with the State

Government to consider it over the coming months.

On the other side of the coin, a significant movement has also started to keep state forests accessible for recreational activities, with hundreds gathering at a rally in Drouin on Sunday 26 May.

Bush users fear that the Eminent Panel report will favour the recommendation of the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC), which put forward that 300,000 hectares of state forest would be suitable to be considered national parks, similar but not quite as expansive as the GFNP proposal.

In late May, a coalition of the Australian Deer Association, Australian Bowhunters Association, Field and Game Australia, the Gippsland Deer Stalkers, The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Victoria) and Dog Hunters Victoria announced they are united in retaining public land access, representing a membership of over 70,000 Victorians and the interests of a quarter of a million recreational shooters and hunters in Australia.

The Australian Deer Association’s head of Advocacy, Sean Kilkenny told the Star Mail this is a huge amount of public land that recreational users have sustainably used for over a hundred years.

“The groundswell of public support to maintain the status quo is a testament to the value placed on this land by recreational users and we are encouraged by the govern-

ment’s establishment of the Great Outdoors Taskforce; it demonstrates a recognition of the sustainable use of recreational activities in the bush,” he said.

“A national park was only floated to end native timber harvesting; with that now ended, the campaign for a national park ends with it.”

In April, environmental groups including WE, Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH), Forest Conservation Victoria and the Victorian Forest Alliance began to raise concerns about tree removal works being carried out by FFMVic in the existing national parks, including the Yarra Ranges National Park, with peaceful protests held to campaign against works being done in areas that the endangered Southern greater gliders and critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possums among other species call home. The groups also claim they reported areas and specific trees that greater gliders were spotted in which were still cut down.

A spokesperson for WOTCH Hayley Forster said they’ve had enough.

“Victoria’s own Environment Department is knowingly killing threatened wildlife,” she said.

“They are logging our iconic wildlife into extinction under the guise of fire management, all whilst marking their own homework to greenlight dodgy loophole logging operations.”

WE allege that the removal of trees is a fed-

eral offence under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), including pointing to one tree cut down on Friday 24 May measured almost 9.5 metres in circumference and should have been protected according to state prescriptions to preserve large trees with a diameter over 2.5 metres as well as the death of the greater glider.

WE’s solicitor Jamie King said the Commonwealth, in keeping with its international treaty obligations, has enacted laws prohibiting unauthorised actions likely to have a significant impact on threatened species.

“The Victorian government is engaging in criminal conduct by its unauthorised destruction of important habitat for the endangered Southern greater glider and critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum,” he said.

The group also hopes the court action will put pressure on Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to enact compliance and enforcement action, having also pointed to inconsistencies in the actions of FFMVic the Ms Plibersek’s ‘National recovery plan for Leadbeater’s possum’ released in March. The environmental groups have also warned Ms Plibersek in a letter that former VicForests contractors ‘cannot be trusted to protect critical habitat.’

The Victorian Forest Alliance and its President Dr Sue Lewis have also pledged support for its member group, WE.

The future of the forest remains uncertain.

Picture: ON FILE

Blackspots still grey area

By Callum Ludwig

The future of the Federal Government’s Mobile Blackspot Program (MBSp) remains unknown after no funding was announced in the 2024/25 Budget, despite an audit into the funding declaring it met fairness guidelines this month.

Since the first round of funding was announced in 2015, 1400 projects have been funded through the program including building new mobile towers, upgrading existing towers to 5G, adapting towers to be used by multiple telecommunication providers and making towers more disaster-resilient.

Casey MP Aaron Violi is calling for the program to be reinstated and said it could still have a significant positive impact if it was brought back.

“We’ve seen the long list of areas from the Hills to the Upper Yarra and East Warburton to Healesville, a lot of communities have benefited from the Black Spot Program, but the work’s not finished,” he said. “We recently saw in Kalorama the issues with the Chestnut Festival, and I’ve been working to try and get a temporary fix, but that’s another location where we’d actually funded a tower under the program but couldn’t find a location that suited the community.”

After the Labor Government was elected in 2022, the administered funding for the MBSP was reallocated; $40 million ending 30 June 2025 to the Improving Mobile Coverage Round (IMCR) and $39.1 million for additional rounds of the Peri-Urban Mobile Program over three years. The Government identified 54 target locations and announced them during the 2022 election campaign; 40 of those were in Labor electorates (74 per cent), 11 in Liberal electorates (20 per cent), two in an electorate held by the Centre Alliance (four per cent) and one in an electorate held by Katter’s Australian Party (two per cent) prior to the election. Forty-one grants in 42 locations were also announced in September 2023.

Mr Violi said despite the findings of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) that the awarding of funding met guidelines, it absolutely could have been allocated more fairly.

Despite the ANAO finding the design and award of funding was ‘largely effective’, it recommended that the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts should in future collect data and undertake strategic analysis to guide the program (accepted by the Government) and provide advice on the relative merits for selecting targeted locations over other mobile black spot areas (accepted in part).

It also recommended that the department review program objectives, update the grant

opportunity guidelines, develop an evaluation plan and conduct an evaluation in the next 12 months, all of which were agreed to.

In a summary response to the report provided by Department Secretary Jim Betts, he said the department agrees and agrees in part with the recommendations and acknowledges the areas of improvement.

“The department is confident in its approach to implementing the Government’s priorities, including election commitments, through well considered grant opportunities to deliver on policy objectives, such as was done through the IMCR,” he said.“The department acknowledges the opportunity the audit provides to improve our processes as part of our continuous approach to grants administration and to address the areas for improvement raised in the report.”

The lack of further funding for the MBSP also comes as concerns arise about the shutdown of Australia’s 3G, with Telstra pushing back its closure date by two months as major telcos struggle to confirm with customers that they have upgraded to 4G or 5G compatible devices.

Mr Violi said he has invited Shadow Minister for Communications David Coleman to visit the community in the next few weeks to hear first-hand about the challenges in Casey.

“I’m concerned about the 3G shut down and I’ve been working with Telstra and Optus and the relevant authorities to make sure that we can minimise the impact on our community. I know it’s been delayed a couple of times and until the Minister can assure all community members that their communications won’t be impacted, I don’t think we should move forward with it,”

“I’ll certainly be lobbying internally with Shadow Minister Coleman and others, my wish is that we reinstate the program or come up with another option that can help fix black spots because it is a huge issue for our community.”

Sassafras resident Dr Peter Brennan has advocated for telecommunications resilience in the area and previously worked with ConnectingVictoria in the wake of the 2021 storm, said he believes Australia needs an integrated strategy to improve connectivity going forward, bringing together our mobile, electricity and internet coverage.

“Moving everything online and on to the internet means that in terms of telecommunications, electricity and NBN internet access, all of those things have to be sustainable, reliable and probably just as importantly, affordable,” he said.

Winter fires warning

With the official start to winter here, Victoria’s fire services are warning the community not to be complacent when heating the home as it is the peak time for heater fires.

In the past five years, CFA responded to more than 640 house fires caused by a heater. These types of fire mainly start either due to a mechanical fault, or because the heater is placed too close to flammable materials in a lounge room or sleeping area.

Home heating systems vary and can include fixed electrical or gas-powered appliances, portable electrical, gas or kerosene heaters, as well as open fires and wood heaters.

CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said as we begin to spend more time indoors, Victorians should make sure their gas and electrical heaters are serviced every two years to safeguard their loved ones from fire.

“Last year CFA responded to 87 house fires caused by heaters and in 2022 there

were 119 fires. This decline is encouraging to see but ideally, we want to see a figure of zero,” Mr Heffernan said. “A common mistake we’re finding is households are keeping their drying clothes too close to heaters and fireplaces, so it’s best to ensure they are at least one metre away from all heating. Regardless of when you turn a heater on, just be mindful to turn it off before you leave the house or go to sleep.”

FRV Deputy Commissioner Community Safety Joshua Fischer said having smoke alarms installed in all hallways, sleeping and living areas is the best line of defence.

“In an emergency, every second counts and having working smoke alarms in the sleeping and living areas of your home will ensure you are alerted promptly in the event of a fire, buying you and your family precious time to escape,” he said.

“We want all Victorians to be aware that the colder months are some of the riskiest times of the year for fires in the home.”

This

Further funding is yet to be announced through the Mobile Blackspot Program despite connectivity concerns persisting. Picture: UNSPLASH

New tactics in landfill fight

By Gabriella Vukman

With the official hearing coming up in July, locals accompanied by the Yarra Ranges Council have changed tactics in their rallying to prevent the 400,000 cubic metres worth of clean fill from being deposited in the Lysterfield Valley.

After contesting that the clean fill deposit would be a‘normal farming practice,’ it was established at the preliminary hearing on March 27 that a planning permit is required for the clean fill to be deposited at the Lysterfield site. Later, at the compulsory conference on May 17, a mediated agreement was not achieved, moving the case straight to the hearing in July.

President of Knox Environment Society Richard Faragher said: “At the moment we are trying to firm up some expert witnesses. We’ve got expert Mary Cole, who is going to talk about the dumping of the soil.”

“We are also engaging doctor Graeme Lorimer to do our ecological survey. These two people will be our two expert witnesses,” Mr Faragher said.

“We will have to fundraise in order to afford the ecological survey. There will potentially be a fundraising page soon.”

The hearing is scheduled to commence on July 8 and run until July 16.

Mr Faragher said, “We are expecting the people who want to dump the soil to come out with their legal team and expert witnesses and argue strongly for being able to dump the soil.”

“We are going to push very hard that no soil should go onto that site whatsoever, it’s not something that that area should undergo,” Mr Faragher said.

“We’ll get support from the Yarra Ranges council and we are hoping Melbourne water comes to the party as well although they have been very disappointing so far.”

Mr Faragher noted that roughly 200 metres

away from the Lysterfield site lies the Monbulk Creek which contains the last population of platypus in the entire area.

“This entire area is controlled by Melbourne Water who have done a lot of work near the Creek but as per usual, the utility has come armed with complete apathy and are unwilling to support their community whatsoever,”

Mr Faragher said.

With the lodgement of the original application to deposit the waste in 2023, the Knox Environment Society among other groups has been sending submissions to the Yarra Ranges Council ever since.

Mr Faragher said, “You’re going to have

400,000 cubic metres of soil go into a valley in Lysterfield which is up to 200 truck movements a day along Lysterfield road.”

“It’s also the damage done as they drive up to the site and then they are filling in a valley up to a 5 metre depth with soil and this is an area that is significant heritage wise. The result will be the smothering of a wonderful valley,”

Mr Faragher said.

“We don’t know what the flow-on effects will be. They will tell you that it is all hunky dory but you don’t want to get ten years down the track and go ‘oh the platypus have all died, it must have been that soil dumping.’ It’s just too late then.”

Since 1981, the Lysterfield Valley has been protected by the Australian National Trust as certified Green Wedge, agricultural and scenic land close to Melbourne.

President of the Dandenong Branch of the National Trust of Australia, Carolyn Ebdon said, “We’ve been interested in the Lysterfield landscape for a long time. It was classified by the national trust in 1981 so it has always had that protection over it to try to maintain it as a scenic landscape close to melbourne.”

“It’s a significant landscape. It is designated as a significant landscape in the planning scheme as well. The fact that land owners try to get around things like this by going to VCAT is quite disappointing because often, VCAT don’t have that local knowledge and they just see it from a distant perspective and often ‘ok’ things that really shouldn’t be ‘okey’ed.’”

“It is a worry if it is going toVCAT but we are hopeful that common sense will prevail and that the VCAT tribunal will realise the significance of this landscape and protect it. It is necessary to protect it for biodiversity and wildlife habitat. The platypus in monbulk creek would be under threat. It is a really serious application,” Ms Ebdon said.

The Dandenong Branch of the National Trust of Australia was established almost 30 years ago and protects properties and landscapes around the Dandenongs region.

Ms Ebdon said, “The Lysterfield site is green wedge and is a significant landscape but there are always continuing threats to this landscape.”

“Landowners just keep going ahead and applying for permits to do all sorts of things which are so inappropriate and they somehow get away with it.”

“We just hope we can keep looking after these special places for future generations to enjoy,” Ms Ebdon said.

After a preliminary hearing and compulsory conference the VCAT landfill hearing is scheduled for July. Picture: FILE

NEWS Masterplan finally adopted

By Mikayla van Loon

After what has been nearly two decades of advocacy to improve Mount Evelyn’s Morrison Reserve, the next phase of planning has been approved by the council.

Yarra Ranges councillors accepted the master plan for the reserve on Tuesday 28 May, an exciting moment for Cr Tim Heenan.

“I started this journey on trying to take what was a pretty dilapidated area in Mount Evelyn all those years ago with Brendan Dixon, who was connected with the Yarra Ranges Athletics Centre to make it better for the children, to make it better for the sporting clubs,” he said.

“There was an enormous amount of vandalism…I believe police would come and visit the car park because of all the wheelies that were being done there and some very dangerous people and inconsiderate people chose to drive their four wheel drives down on the athletics ground.”

Cr Heenan said while there had been immense progress in improving the reserve since 2006, these next stages would boost the safety, connection and recreation for the community.

“The creation of youth activation space incorporating an upgraded district level play space, social spaces, informal active recreation opportunities and a bike park offering a range of skill development opportunities for beginner to advanced riders,” he said.

“It talks about improvements to the path network for walking, dog walking, fitness and cross country running activities which is going to be vitally important to Yarra Ranges Athletics. Upgrades to the netball and tennis courts and club rooms, more car parking improvements.”

The 15 year master plan also supports “advocacy for the construction of a four court stadium for basketball but also for multi use at Yarra Hills Secondary College”.

With just the one athletics facility in the shire, Cr Heenan said ensuring it has the upgrades it needs to cater to the participants who travel far and wide would be essential moving forward, as well as providing a multi use and functional recreation facility.

“There’s so much that we’re going to be able to do now up at Morrison Reserve over the next couple of years. It’s just wonderful,” he said.

“It’s also important it’s got a family friendly area adjacent to the community house up the top there.”

Cr Richard Higgins supported the motion to approve and said the efforts of both Cr Heenan and the planning team had finally

come to fruition.

“The people of Mount Evelyn and the rest of the shire will benefit greatly from your endeavours.

“[I just look at the] master plan and to me it says all these 25 things are going to happen at a huge parcel of land over, admittedly a couple of years which is probably good staging, and the end result is going to be a precinct…that is going to benefit everybody and be the envy I would suggest of many other councils and areas.”

Congratulating Cr Heenan for his “persistence over all that time”, Cr Len Cox said the master plan would ensure Morrison Reserve

would become “a first class reserve”.

Gaining extensive engagement from the community about the plan and what was needed in the upgrade works, Cr Johanna Skelton was a really valuable resource in forming the plan.

“I was very thankful for the 250 people plus that were involved in the engagement. They really brought up that the majority are actually using it for their walking and walking the dog and socialising and all the kinds of nonspecific groups,” she said. “It’s great to see that things like connection paths are just as important as the more formal club use facilities.”

The master plan was passed unanimously.

CheersTotheShortestLunch

Your favourite winter wine festival is back on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd of June to bring you all handcrafted wine, delicious bites & live music over two days!

Get a taste of the hidden gems of the Valley with a weekend full of wine tasting, live music, delicious bites and stunning scenery across nine participating family-run wineries for the 2024 Shortest Lunch!

It's the perfect way to enjoy a break from winter hibernation with your whole family, best friends, and even your fur babies (with most venues being dog-friendly)!

Adding to the excitement, your Star Mail has 3 double weekend passes to giveaway to readers!

The netball will get a facelift with court upgrades in the master plan. 350071

Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

NEWS Budget pressure ramps up

By Callum Ludwig

Yarra Ranges Council have heard from community groups on their draft budget for 2024/25, holding a submissions hearing on Tuesday 28 May.

Representatives of the Kallista Flood Watch group, Warburton Advancement League, the Heritage Golf and Country Club, the Lilydale FloodWatch group, the Olinda Bike Trail Committee and a resident with concerns about Edinburgh Road all spoke at the meeting.

Mark Kestigian from the Kallista Flood Watch group said Kallista has fallen into decline and dilapidation through a lack of sustainable infrastructure upgrades over the past four decades.

“Residents seek relief from third-world conditions existing on Gleghorn Road, Emberson Street and Rivington Avenue, all three should be declared priority roads if not already and receive much-needed drainage and sealing infrastructure,” he said.

“What we face is unfair and unreasonable with roads that pose risk to safety and well-being, where emotional anxiety is linked to every storm pattern that is announced and where because there are no footpaths, residents of all ages fall into gravel roads sustaining injuries.”

The Kallista Flood Watch group hope for Yarra Ranges Council to pledge to seal 5.7 kilometres of roads in the township, complementing a potential upgrade on Monbulk Road by the State Government and recent drainage works on Emberson Street and the sealing of 100 metres of Gleghorn Road carried out by Yarra Ranges Council.

David Pratt spoke on behalf of the Warburton Advancement League and the Cerini Centre for Social and Affordable Housing Development project next.

Mr Pratt said he’d like the Council to seriously look at investment in social and affordable housing and dealing with homelessness

“Back in the 1970s and 80s the state government would identify areas where there was a lack of social housing, but we don’t live in that world anymore, they’ve outsourced it to registered housing providers, and those housing providers do have the money to build homes, they just don’t have the money to find sites,” he said.

“You guys have got all the tools, and we’re

not asking you to solve homelessness, but if you can deliver a package to these registered housing providers that have the pre-planning done, the cultural heritage management plan, the arboricultural assessment and all of those, they are willing to snap it up and they are willing to fully fund it.”

Mr Pratt also mentioned that the Warburton Advancement League is ready to pledge $1000 to Stable One’s Winter Shelter program, where $42 sponsors a night in a bed at a winter shelter for someone experiencing homelessness and challenged Yarra Ranges Council to consider a donation.

Mr Pratt also said that once a Cultural Heritage Management Plan is in place, Catholic Care Housing will submit a planning permit to Yarra Ranges Council for the Cerini Centre project and once approved, will pursue the $6 million in funding from the Federal Government to fund it.

Chairman of the Owners Corporation at the Heritage Golf and Country Club in Chrinside Park John Wyke spoke next and called for the resort to get a rate rebate.

“We are requesting an annual rate rebate due to the non-provision of services by Coun-

cil and to be on the same effective rate as the surrounding rural area,” he said.

“All major roads at the Heritage are listed on Council’s road register with the Owners Corporation responsible for maintaining those roads and the heritage is open for tourist-related activities for the visiting public at least 12 hours per day, seven days a week plus after hours for conventions, weddings and things like that.”

“The Heritage has two world-class golf courses and a wellness retreat that attracts visitors to the Yarra Valley and hosts several PGA events during the year that attract professional golfers and their entourage for weeklong events.”

The Owners Corporation amended their initial request for a 50 per cent rebate down to 30 per cent. Under the Local Government Act, councils can grant a rebate for land where the general rate applies if it is being used for public benefits.

A number of Lilydale residents spoke about their continued flooding concerns and the relative lack of funding in the draft budget for specific areas prone to flooding in the township.

“The camber of Chapel Street, a Council

road, is angled so that the flow of street water is directed back into our properties instead of draining away into Olinda Creek,” Rosemary Mosely said on behalf of residents of Chapel Street.

“I live on Morokai Grove, it constantly floods for 64 houses…it’s flooded three or four times in the last 12 months,” one of the founders of the Lilydale Flood Watch group Jodie Thexton said.

“28 Nimblefoot Way is the area and the site that we are proposing you increase your draft allocation of $150,000 to $400,000 to fix the under-road drainage on the corner here and also to install a detention basin,” said Nimblefoot Way resident Michelle.

Chairman of the Olinda Bike Trail Committee RonThomas attended to once again call for the Council’s support for the proposed project.

“There’s just a few little spots that need to be connected, a couple of road crossings, upgrade of the surface and we’re asking only for a tiny bit of money, less than $150,000 for a feasibility study which is going to give this shire and everyone in this room, an asset that will be there forever,” he said.

“The project is not only to improve access to and foster a greater appreciation of our unique environment, but also to allow our community to travel to local villages without relying on cars, by doing so, it will simulate existing local businesses, who are many of our supporters, and encourage the creation of new enterprises like baggage people.”

Malcolm Tulloch was last to speak, once again raising his concerns about Edinburgh Road in Lilydale to the Council.

“Every time I leave my home to go anywhere I must transit via Edinburgh Road and as such I’m acutely aware of the inadequacies of said road particularly as it affects morning and evening traffic servicing the various schools either on or in close proximity to it,” he said.

“We’ve proposed that a less expensive but safely adequate project could be implemented with what we have described as the three-step process… Stage One Hull Road to Allenby Road, Stage Two Allenby Road to Belfast Road and Stage Three Belfast Road to the presently completed Swansea Road connection.”

Residents of the area want to see the road width increased and drainage improvements delivered with swales.

Council aged-care services set to cease by July

By Mikayla van Loon

With Yarra Ranges Council set to transition out of some aged care services at the end of June, volunteers and residents were still without answers of the new services less than a month ago.

A meals on wheels volunteer, who spoke to Star Mail on the condition of anonymity, said their client base had dropped from 22 to five by March but barely any communication had been delivered on what was happening.

“We received a letter in September and then another in October but we haven’t heard anything,” they said in early May.

The volunteer said at that time it was rumoured the council was“trying to find someone to take over” the service which they said left “recipients stressed and unsure” about the future of their meals.

Receiving an email onWednesday 22 May, the volunteer said that was the first lot of communication about the new service provider and the official end date of the council’s meals on wheels operation which would be 30 June. The Australian Government’s Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) which has provided local councils with funding since 2015 to provide in-home care and other support was given an overhaul after the Royal Commission into Aged Care.

Yarra Ranges Council confirmed the Federal Government had now appointed the service providers for meals, transport and social support, all ceasing as a council service at the end of June.

Anglican Aged Care Services Group, better

known as Benetas, will take over the delivery of meals.

EV Strengthening Communities, formerly known as Eastern Volunteers, Bridges Connecting Communities Limited (Bridges) and Healesville Interchurch Community Care Inc (HICCI) have been appointed as the transport service providers.

Bridges and Tabulam and Templer Homes for the Aged (Accent Home Care) will be the provider of social support group services.

“All providers are experienced in delivering the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and Home Care Packages (HCP) and have a good reputation in the aged care sector,” a council spokesperson said.

“This is a reassuring outcome for our current clients and ageing population as these providers can offer a range of services from entry level to high level complex care as peo-

ple’s needs change.”

Each individual’s aged care package determines the type of service they receive, particularly for the meals.

Yarra Glen resident Noel Buchanon aired his worries with the Star Mail in October last year when the decision was made.

“Most human beings, men and women, as they age do begin to experience a preference for the familiar,” he said at the time.

“When you hear in a two page letter that this is all changing, I suggest, many older people begin to worry.”

Mr Buchanon told Star Mail recently that “people received letters saying they wouldn’t be getting meals from 1 March” and others were “scared to say anything in case their aged care package would be altered”.

Having sparked quite the friendship with his delivery driver, Mr Buchanon said he was told some recipients would start getting Lite n’ Easy meals instead which would be delivered in a box.

“It leaves out the welfare check. There needs to be a procedure to provide assistance,” he said.

The volunteer also raised concerns about the potential lack of communication between the volunteer and recipient under a new provider.

“It’s not just a meal, it’s a welfare check,” they said.

“They get to see someone for a chat and it’s really sad to think that may not happen anymore.”

The council spokesperson said Benatas delivery drivers would be trained to ensure social connection and contact with the re-

cipient is made to offer that welfare check.

“Benetas manages meals services for many older people across Victoria offering a Lite n’ Easy range of meals nutritionally created for older Australians,” they said.

“This model has received high praise and reflects the increasing demand from older people for this service due to the wide range that is offered and the convenience.

“Benetas’ meals service is an adaptation of the meals-on-wheels model and continues to offer the three core principles of a mealson-wheels model: a nutritious meal suitable for older people, social connection and welfare checks.

“Social contact calls from volunteers will take place at least weekly to ensure two opportunities per week for welfare checks and social interaction.”

More than that, the volunteer said it was the logistics of Lite n’ Easy that may not be suitable to individuals given their fridge space or ability to order meals, as they would “sometimes sit and order the meals” for their client.

Having chosen to volunteer because of their own“life threatening experience” which made them“want to give back”, the volunteer said they loved their volunteering but was unsure what it would look like come July.

Yarra Ranges Council confirmed each of the new service providers across transport, meals and social support would have volunteering opportunities available.

As for transport, the council said clients would receive letters in the coming weeks to confirm their new provider from July.

YarraRangesCouncil’stransport,mealsand socialsupportgroupservicewillfinishon30 June. Picture:PIXABY

Community togetherness

By Tanya Steele

The Cardinia and Yarra Ranges community came together recently in Emerald to share and learn about First Nations culture, with the theme ‘Now, More Than Ever’ for 2024.

National Reconciliation Week from 27 May to 3 June was marked by the youth, community and representatives from Cardinia Shire and Yarra Ranges Council.

On Tuesday, 28 May at Worrell Reserve in Emerald primary and pre-primary school students from Emerald, Selby, Gembrook and Kallista came to perform and artist Emmy Webbers launched a new exhibition ‘Dancing with the Echoes’ at the Hills Hub.

The Patch resident, Djirri Djirri dancer and proud Wurundjeri, Djadjawurrung and Ngurai Illum-Wurrung woman Stacie Piper opened the ceremony with a Welcome to Country along with her cousin Mikayla, a proud Wurundjeri and Gunai woman.

“Wominjenka - it’s been a pleasure to welcome you all,” she said.

Ms Piper spoke the traditional Welcome to Country in Woi Wurrung language and the children in the audience picked out some of the words they knew - Birrarung (Yarra River) Wah (crow) and Bunjil (eagle).

“It’s incredible to see the work being done with the next generation - these are our future leaders right here,” she said.

“When it comes to reconciliation – I feel like the work is really being done in these spaces and bringing the next generation through.”

The ceremony was mc’ed by Nadia Douglas a Proud Yamatji/Awabakal Woman who is the community-strengthening facilitator of Aboriginal engagement at Cardinia Shire.

“I grew up with community and mob from as far north as Bundjalung,” she said.

Both Mayors addressed the crowd and Cardinia Shire Mayor Jack Kowarzik said it’s not often two different councils get together to celebrate at share at events.

“Together, we’re here to reflect on this country’s shared history to celebrate Indigenous culture and look towards a more inclusive future. It’s a time for all Australians to learn how we can contribute to achieving that reconciliation,” he said.

“Our community thrives when we build bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.”

Yarra Ranges Major Sophie Todorov said it was important to listen to Indigenous voices,

especially after the recent referendum.

“There was a lot of disappointment about that – Yarra Ranges Council supports the notion of the Voice,” she said.

“We share a very high population of Indigenous community members in theYarra Ranges and we ensure that we’re always working with them and hearing their voices about how we move forward together to care for this country.”

Both Mayors acknowledged the honour of being at the event and said that it was positive to see kids learning about Indigenous history in school.

“It’s really cool to see that change and to see things getting better for generations as we move forward,” Mayor Kowarzik said.

“We need to work together to achieve great outcomes for our future generations and be grateful and acknowledge the Indigenous history of these lands. We’ve got a lot of things to still tackle,” Mayor Todorov said.

Students recited some words they put together on reconciliation - some schools reading and others reciting and singing to the crowd.

“We recognize that the true reconciliation is a journey that requires understanding and respect – it is a journey that asks us to face uncomfortable truths, to listen with open hearts and to commit to meaningful action,” a Selby Primary School student read.

“It is very important to respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people because they were on this land first and we stole it from them without asking permission,” read a student from Emerald Primary School.

Artist and proud Gunai/Kurnai person Emmy Webbers (also known as Wurruck Yambo) invited attendees to witness their new exhibition ‘Dancing through the Echoes’ which will be will be showing from Friday 24 May to Friday 12 July during ReconciliationWeek until the end of NAIDOC Week.

Children and community got the chance to participate in colouring, early style weaving, gumnut and leaf decorating activities along with the art exhibit upstairs.

Ms Piper said on the day that for her reconciliation is an ongoing conversation and it’s an important one.

“We just need you to walk with us on this journey and help us wake up our practices help us wake up our language, and maybe sing and dance with us more as well,” she said.

Adara from Selby PS with Yarra Ranges Mayor Cr Sophie Todorov at the ‘Dancing between the Echoes’ exhibition.

Hamish, Maitreya and Bodhi from Gembrook Pre-School with their banner.

Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS

Nadia Douglas the Aboriginal Community Engagement officer for Cardinia Shire Council welcomes everyone on the day.

The crowd enjoyed performances and reflections on reconciliation.

Welcome to Country by Stacie Piper and Mikayla George.

Food on table and some for thought

By Prue Licht, Casey Grandmothers for Refugees

Refugee Week begins on 16 June this year. At this time we must recognise that many people from across the world, who live in Australia, remain in extremely difficult, insecure and often perilous circumstances.

While some people have been given extended visas and even permanency, many are left waiting for years for their applications to be processed in a quagmire of inconsistency and unending bureaucratic red tape.

There are still thousands of refugees, who

left war and unimaginable danger and hardship in their countries of origin and came by boat over 11 years ago, who still remain without any certainty in their future.

On Sunday 16 June Casey, Deakin and Latrobe’s branches of Grandmothers for Refugees are holding a Feast of Foods lunch at Emerald Evergreens Senior Citizens Centre, 8 Church Street Emerald, at midday, to raise money for 50 men, some of whom have wives and children, about 100 people in all, still living in Papua New Guinea.

These men were on Manus Island and were moved to Port Moresby several years ago when

the Australian detention Centre closed. Several of the men are extremely ill and need to be brought to Australia to receive medical care.

The men and their families have no support from either the Australian or Papuan Governments so are reliant on charity for their daily expenses. Some are waiting for third country placements.

There will be delicious food, a belly dancer and music to delight you. You can book with Erica on 0423 615 662, or donate to support the men by contacting Prue on 0447 546 327.

Olinda brigade elects first female captain

By Virginia Porter

Olinda Rural Fire Brigade has recently elected a new Captain, Deb Weber.

Deb’s journey from brigade member to Captain reflects her dedication and commitment to community service and it’s an exciting milestone for her and the CFA.

Deb said she would like to express her gratitude for the support from her brigade.

“To be the first female Captain for the brigade is a real privilege,” she said.

“My hope is to see more women become involved in the CFA and work their way up through the ranks.”

Deb first joined as a member of the Kalorama-Mt Dandenong Brigade. After moving to the Olinda area in 2014, Deb started responding for Olinda Rural Fire Brigade, eventually transferring to the brigade in 2019.

Deb is taking over from Phil Skiller who has been Olinda CFA Captain for 10 years.

“Phil should be very proud of his achievements to date with the Olinda Fire Brigade, and I look forward to him continuing as an important cog in the progression of the Brigade going forward,” Deb said.

Phil Skiller, the outgoing Captain has been a member of the brigade for 42 years, over 27 as an officer and 10 years as Captain. Phil has done a lot over his time as Captain and has built a cohesive and inclusive team.

He is proud of the members’ contributions to the brigade and believes that the community sees them as being there when needed to assist in all types of emergency situations, whether they be complex or simply providing a basic level of reassurance and/or education.

Phil said he would like to thank the com-

munity for all its support, whether it be financial, or the giving of time and skills, and hopes this will continue.

“CFA volunteers are a mixture of opera-

Pushing hard for mental health boost

Doing 3249 push-ups in 24 days may seem like an impossible task but the staff at headspace Lilydale and Knox are dedicated to the cause.

Throughout the month, headspace Knox and Lilydale are encouraging Knox, Maroondah and Yarra Ranges locals to push for better mental health by participating in Australia’s largest mental health and fitness event, The Push-Up Challenge.

Participants will take on 3,249 pushups across 24 days in June, putting the spotlight on the tragic number of lives lost to suicide in Australia in 2022.

Thousands of Australians across all ages and walks of life participate in the event which engages people in mental health through connection, physical activity and education.

“The Push-Up Challenge is a great opportunity for Australians to talk about their mental health, learn how to best support each other and recognise when they might need to put their own hand up for help. We know

The Push-Up Challenge is going to be a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to connecting with our local community throughout June,” headspace Knox and Lilydale spokesperson Jasmine said.

“headspace is proud to be trusted by young people and their families across Knox, Maroondah and the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the funds raised through The Push-Up Challenge will help us continue to support their mental health and wellbeing.”

From 5 to 28 June, participants of all ages and abilities will do push-ups while learning about mental health, with the number of daily push-ups changing to reflect a vital mental health fact.

And if completing 3,249 push-ups feels out of reach, participants can set their own push-up goal, which can also be done as sit-ups, squats or tailored exercises, with progress tracked through a dedicated app.

“The Push-Up Challenge is a great way to get fit, connect with your community and learn about mental health, all while honouring lives tragically lost to suicide,” The Push-Up Challenge founder Nick Hudson said.

“It’s likely everyone will experience a mental health issue at some point in their lives, so by getting down, pushing up and learning about mental health, we hope to break down the stigma attached to mental illness so that Australians don’t think twice about reaching out for help.”

headspace is encouraging people of all ages, local businesses, gyms, clubs and schools in the area to join Team headspace Knox or Lilydale

tional and non-operational, and all are highly valued,” he said.

“It takes a lot to get a big red truck out the door, whether it be training, cleaning, station maintenance, equipment replacement, fund raising, or paperwork”.

Phil’s expertise and knowledge is not leaving the brigade and he will be supporting the brigade in the future.

Deb said she is truly humbled and grateful to have been voted into this important position, and will do her utmost to ensure she keeps the brigade progressing along.

“The opportunities are available to everyone and if you have a passion for something, just as I do for the CFA, the sky is the limit,” she said.

The Push-Up Challenge is a free event, and you can register as an individual, a team, or get your whole workplace, club, gym or school involved following the QR codes on the Flyers directly supporting our centres or chose who to support through www.thepushupchallenge. com.au.

Young people aged 12 to 25, as well as their family and friends, can visit headspace Knox and Lilydale for support. Help is also available via phone and online counselling service eheadspace seven days a week between 9am–1am (AEST). The number is 1800 650 890.

If you’re looking for someone to talk to immediately, Lifeline (13 11 14) and Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) are available to talk 24/7.

Olinda Rural Fire Brigade has just elected their first female captain and Deb Weber will be taking over on July 1. Pictures: SUPPLIED

Deb has been a CFA volunteer for 25 years, and first joined as a member of the Kalorama-Mt Dandenong Brigade.

The event will raise funds to support the work of Sister Brigid from Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project. Picture: MIKAYLA VAN LOON

Feast of Foods will also see a belly dancer join the festivities. Picture SUPPLIED

MEDICALLY SPEAKING Healthcare focus on you

At Belgrave SurgiCentre, Dr John Gyorki strives to provide healthcare that focuses on the individual person.

All staff of the practice work as an integrated team to provide the highest level of healthcare to the community, to maintain this standard in all areas and also deliver continuous health care in a friendly, welcoming and personal environment.

Dr Gyorki has been a dedicated presence in the Belgrave community since 1986.

This practice is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your personal health information. Your medical record is a confidential document.

It is the policy of this Practice to maintain the security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff.

Appointments:

· All consultations require an appointment.

· Emergencies and accidents will be given priority.

· lf you need to cancel an appointment please let us know ASAP.

· Longer appointments on request.

Services available:

· Pathology

· Skin cancer screening and removal of Skin Cancer and Skin lesions

· Cancer Screening

· Annual Health Assessments

· GP Management Plans

· Continuous medical care

· Routine check-ups

· Blood tests

· Immunisations

· Health checks

· Travel Medicine

· Nail surgery

· Vasectomy

· Accidents (including Industrials)

· Haemorrhoids

· Anal Fissure and Anal Fistulas Fees:

· Fees are payable at the time of the consultation by Cash, Visa, Mastercard or Eftpos.

· Bulk-billing is available to patients who hold

a Pension or Veterans’ Affairs card.

· Our staff will advise patients of any out-ofpocket cost prior to any service being performed, patients must have a valid Medicare Card.

Care of the highest standard at Belgrave SurgiCentre.

Picture: FILE

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Telling a collective story

Displaying a profound connection to the land, spirituality, and community renowned First Nations Artist Emmy Webbers (also known as Wurruck Yambo) spoke with journalist TANYA STEELE about the process behind curating the exhibition ‘Dancing Between the Echoes’ and generating a sense of community from interactive art pieces that tell a collective story.

Emmy Webbers is a Proud Gunai/Kurnai person living on Wurundjeri Cuntry and was thrilled to present the exhibition of canvas, murals and hand-cut and painted wooden sculptures, along with some interactive exhibits to the Cardinia Shire community.

Responses has been positive so far and Webbers said there’s a been a really beautiful genuine interest in the exhibition.

“It’s nice to kind of get that feedback,” they said.

Opening on Reconciliation week 28 May at the Hills Hub Emerald, Webbers presented ‘Dancing Between the Echoes’ as well as a variety of activities for community members to explore.

“There are things within culture that we do routinely week in week out that is stunning and there’s an entire culture and group of people that stand behind me that influence so much of what I do,” they said. “Sometimes it’s very, very obvious in your face, like the power community idea. And sometimes it’s a bit more subtle.”

The public was invited to participate in colouring, early style weaving, gum nut and leaf decorating activities, and viewing the art exhibit upstairs. Presenting a ‘whole story’ within the exhibition, Emmy Webbers has delivered a fresh perspective on life and culture as a First Nations person and said they went in with very specific aims for the curation.

The exhibit was designed specifically to launch with the commencement of National Reconciliation Week and run right through to Naidoc Week in 2024.

The theme for Reconciliation this year is ‘Now, More Than Ever’ and Webbers said that every piece they create is inspired by their culture in some way, either from being on Country and the incredible visuals and feelings it creates, or through their own children.

“I refer to all my art as First Nations because it is all very much inspired in some way by my culture,” they said.

When approached to commission the exhibition Webbers said they wanted to present something ‘very real and tangible’. A blend of Webber’s works are playfully juxtaposed with interactive pieces designed specifically for the exhibition, presenting a celebration of rich cultural heritage blended with contemporary expression.

“I knew immediately that while it would be predominantly my own work, it would be really important to me to include pieces that are from community groups,” they said.

Several of the pieces were created by local First Nations women’s group and include weavings created during Covid lockdowns.

“If we were going to have something that spoke to people, it needed to be a whole story – and not just me and my work, but also stuff that’s very real and tangible from community,” they said.

Webbers hand-painted a mural directly onto the gallery wall for ‘Dancing Between the Echoes’ and said that playing with live and temporary artworks is a lot of fun.

‘Hopefully it invites you into culture and community and to connect with the land in a different way.’

EmmyWebbers

“I love the idea of having live pieces and this mural will only exist for the sake of this and I think there’s always something that’s quite special about that,” they said.

The mural includes three gathering circles –building back to the idea of how people come together as a community. There are deliberate colour and theme choices within the mural to symbolise the connection to the land and the ground.

“It has these kinds of circular shapes to represent footprints,” they said.

Physical sculptures and artefacts made by First Nations women’s groups and traditional artefacts in the form of weavings and shields form the cornerstones of the ‘Dancing Between the Echoes’ exhibit.

“It has this overarching theme of protection,” Webbers said.

The artefacts include a coolamon - which is used in a myriad of ways within Aboriginal culture from traditional smoking ceremonies to baby business. Coolamons feature in a number of traditional gatherings and also link to shields and scar trees, reflecting protection,

culture and practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

“So all of my babies have been in coolamons, I have always really loved them - we have always gathered around our young ones, so it has that multi-dimensional element,” they said.

The gallery invites a wandering eye to view the coolamons inside the space and they are represented both in a sculpture and painted format. The exhibit features shields and weaving and Webbers said that there is also a larger coolamon and shield that other women’s groups made to reflect their practices.

“It felt very well-rounded to me,” they said.

The gallery has an interactive exhibit as well which Emmy said it was really special to include. A sand space set centrally invites people to kick off their shoes and stand or dance in the middle of the exhibit.

“I really wanted it to feel like a community space,” they said. “When I go to community, when we dance and when we gather it is on a circle. The sand space in the middle - that is so special to me and my family because it is how we dance.”

The sand space includes a photograph of Webber’s children dancing on Country and invites people to ‘Stand, Dance and Be Free (Barefoot is best)’.

“We dance in circles, the gathering circles are a part of all the really wholesome moments that happen when we come together with community – that’s the space we’re in,” Webbers said.

The artist said they wanted people to explore feeling the earth between their feet and connect to Country.

Webbers said that also they wanted it to feel a little less like a standard gallery space and more like something you could experience in multiple ways, especially if you had children with you.

“ I often go to galleries with my kids – and so just having something that also they can experience differently too, you just understand it a bit differently.”

The artist said they were a little concerned about whether people would engage with the piece.

“For me, this feels really beautiful and spe-

cial – But I can understand people coming through and maybe saying no thank you,” they said.

At the opening shoes were kicked off and many people young and old got their feet into the sand space.

“At the launch, it was so great to people engaging with it, I saw adults getting in it as well,” Webbers said. “The feeling I was trying emulate was coming out,’ they said.

‘Dancing Between the Echoes’ features a special print called ‘Power of Community’ that won the Metro Tunnel Creative Program 2D Award in the 2022 Koorie Art Show. The piece was featured in Scott Alley, Melbourne from June to August in 2023.

“I love that piece – in a lot of ways, it looks really powerful, which I think is beautiful,” Webbers said. “I wanted to include that because that piece has done so much.”

The print was blown up to a three-metre by three-metre display and has a strong activism theme.

“It looks like a bunch of protesters, basically all layered on top of each other and it is also just another way our community gather now,” they said. “In it, I can see people that I deeply care about, doing amazing work coming together as communities,” they said.

Webbers said that ‘Power of Community’ was inspired by the 2022 NAIDOC theme ‘Get up, Stand up, Show up’. The piece is a relatable and powerful addition to the exhibition and Webbers said that these powerful demonstrating moments are also community gatherings within themselves.

“I have drawn so many inspirations from people in my life, it looks in parts to me like a child on top of a person’s shoulders,” they said.

Webbers has always been interested in art and mostly did it for themselves and said they have only professionally emerged in the last five years or so.

“I have always enjoyed art, but as a younger person I spent a lot of time doing it just for me,” they said.

Holding a Bachelor’s in Indigenous studies Webbers has a passion for their culture and sharing it to create a safe space for understanding and learning for everyone. The artist works in covering canvas, digital mediums, murals and hand-cut and painted wooden sculptures.

Webbers loves the hills is a parent to four and said their whole life is up in the Yarra Ranges, with their children attending schools in the area. Their work will continue to feature throughout Melbourne, with future sculpture works going into a group exhibition in Collingwood by the end of August this year.

Webbers also recently created a piece for the Cardinia Cultural Centre called ‘Now More Than Ever’ and is an artwork created in response to National Reconciliation Week.

Handprints featured in this artwork are done by children from local schools, reiterating the importance of young people in the recognition of, and engagement with, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

‘Now More Than Ever’ will also be on display until 28 June at the Cardinia Cultural Centre.

The ‘Dancing Between the Echoes’ exhibition will feature at the Emerald Hills Hub until Friday 12 July 2024, at the end of NAIDOC Week.

Yarra Ranges Mayor Cr Sophie Todorov and student Adara from Selby Primary School.

Artist Emmy Webbers with her award winning work Power of Community. Emmy Webbers with Cardinia Mayor Jack Kowarzik at the launch.

Artist Emmy Webbers was excited to present ‘Dancing Between the Echoes’. Pictures : STEWART CHAMBERS

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Healing from the trauma of an emergency like that of the June and October 2021 storms has been deeply rooted in creative recovery for the Dandenong Ranges community. Very much at the centre of this has been Olinda-based fine artist Emma Jennings. Star Mail journalist MIKAYLA VAN LOON spoke with Jennings about her upcoming exhibition Stories of Giants and the process it took to tell the challenging but beautiful stories of the time.

Healing Stories of Giants

By Mikayla van Loon

For Jennings, the need to create and invite the community to be involved was “intuitive”, a way for that powerful connection not only between people but the environment to be drawn upon.

The focal point of the exhibition, opening 5 June and launching on 8 June at Yarra Ranges Regional Museum in Lilydale, is the six individual stories of people and places who represent a cross section of the broader community impacted in some way, shape or form.

Weaving together the “grief and destruction” among the “regrowth and the beauty” was all part of Jennings’ vision, to tell a tale of hope, of recovery and of resilience.

“I just really wanted to document these stories. There’s only six here, I wanted to do a lot more but they represent hundreds of people in the community who had similar stories,” she said.

“I really wanted to paint this weird and conflicting thing that happened. Throughout this whole period there’s been awful destruction and trauma and grief of people losing their homes and cars and living out of the area and moving several times.

“But then there’s this beautiful stuff that’s happened as well. The connections in the community, the friendships, the regrowth in the forest, the colours.”

The subjects of the artworks, many formed from the connections Jennings made throughout the initial recovery period at the Olinda emergency relief centre, include Kalorama CFA captain Bill Robinson,Yarra Ranges Council community recovery officer Deb Sargentson, Emerald SES unit controller Ben Owen, Red Cross volunteer Sharon, Jennings’ former neighbour Errol and Mount Dandenong Preschool.

Despite each one of these people being impacted by the storm themselves, they shifted their focus to supporting the community in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Jennings said people like Deb were “immediately taking cups of tea out to the emergency services” but it was the ongoing support through her program via the council called Healing Our Gardens that inspired the artwork.

“The council supported community volunteers to go around as a group and have working bees in each other’s gardens. Obviously, houses were damaged but the gardens as well and there’s a lot of people out here who care deeply about their gardens,” Jennings said.

“It’s the reclaiming of a small space that is manageable while there’s chaos all around everywhere else

“She’s just one of those people who is truly generous and kind and compassionate and has taken care of lots and lots and lots of people in their community who’ve been really impacted. She goes above and beyond, clocks off her regular shift at work and then keeps working through to do all the other extra stuff to help people.”

Belgrave resident Sharon, who had a tree fall through her home on the night of 9 June, “was up the next day with her friend doing welfare checks with trauma teddies the Country Women’s Association knit”.

In the background of the painting, Jennings said it “a hint of the view that has now opened up” is depicted, another conflicting notion of beauty and sadness where sunshine now peaks through “these big gaping holes” where trees once stood.

The story of former Kalorama resident Errol shows the all too common presence of blue tarps covering roofs where fallen trees had left openings in the once solid structures.

“He had five trees come through his place when they were in it. The blue tarp over the house signifies everyone’s struggle with the

I was given.

Throughout this whole period there’s been awful destruction and trauma and grief of people losing their homes and cars and living out of the area and moving several times but then there’s this beautiful stuff that’s happened as well.”

rebuilding process, with insurance and inadequate builds and repairs that people have to often redo or just choose to live with because it’s just so painful going through that process again when something’s not done properly.”

Errol and his family decided to sell the property completely and move from the mountain.

Revisiting the house when Jennings was in the early stages of the artistic process, she said although the beauty was all around him Errol found it hard to witness.

“There was mess and chaos because it was so overgrown and there were logs and debris everywhere but it was spring and so there were these beautiful bulbs coming up and the blossom was hanging over the roof,” she said.

“He remembered planting a lot of these things with his children when they were little but he was so stuck in his trauma, he couldn’t see it.”

Deb said for her, each piece offered hope and “enables us to rest in each piece and to see what we have experienced reflected” but through a lens of connection, support and a feeling of not being alone.

“We are a really tight community anyway and the storm pulled us together in ways that many of us didn’t expect, it tore us apart, but it also brought us together in many ways,” she said.

“To have someone who is from within our

community actually help express what we have experienced in a way that is deep and beautiful and raw and healing is really powerful because it helps each of us move forward in our own way.”

Every painting started with a raw conversation about what was lost but also found during a time of such destruction.

“They have to feel comfortable sharing their story with me and so it’s about building trust with the person and then I’ll visit their place and sit down with them and just listen to their experience,” Jennings said.

“I take a lot of notes and do some sketches. I’ll take photos as we walk around their place because I wanted it to be about them in their experience and being in their space is really important.”

Back in the studio, Jennings then sketches and drafts the concept before putting paint to canvas, which in this project were sheets of salvaged timber from Treasuring Our Trees and Rescue Logs.

The nature of painting to scale on timber, although telling a story in and of itself, was not without its challenges.

“The composition was a real challenge because it’s so tall and skinny and the scale, so I wanted them all to be actual size but they would have been too broad for the slabs

“Then also how do I fit their story around them.Where do you place the figure and which parts do you focus on or leave out?Which parts are more important? And how do you make it flow?”

With the timber an essential part of the artwork and the idea for the viewer to be at eye level with each subject, the exhibition will allow the viewer to walk around the artworks which will be propped up on boxes.

“The timber itself is a really important part of the story. It’s acknowledging the life of the tree as well and the story of the tree.

“So you get the story of the person and the community and what they’ve been through but this is also the story of the forest.”

In an irony only known to Hills residents, Jennings said even with all the devastation and loss caused by the forest, she and much of the community have such a connection to the land of the Dandenong Ranges that the consideration of leaving the area was unfathomable.

But having the space to accept and move forward with love of place, to heal, to remember and to reflect, were all intentions Jennings set when starting the project two years ago.

She passed on this ability to the community through creative recovery workshops, allowing groups of people to tell their stories through art - a second and important aspect to the exhibition.

Residents from across the Yarra Ranges are invited to experience the exhibition, to walk in peace with the artworks and to find comfort in their depth.

Yarra Ranges Regional Museum is located on Castella Street in Lilydale. Stories of Giants will be open until 8 September.

Kalorama CFA captain Bill Robinson is just one story portrayed in the exhibition. 407488

Hearing individual stories first, Jennings was able to immerse detail into each portrait. 407488

The timber salvaged from the wreckage of the storms is just as important to the artworks as the paintings. 407488

Olinda-based fine artist Emma Jennings has told the stories of six people and places impacted by the storms of 2021. 407488

Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Art thrives in exhibition

By Emma Xerri

Attracting entries from all over Australia, this year’s Sherbrooke Art Society awards garnered 108 entries from 50 artists, proving the arts scene continues to thrive in the hills, where namesake artists Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin worked and visited over 100 years ago.

“A lot of exhibitions seem to be suffering from dwindling numbers, but we managed to get over 100 entries, which was really good, and it shows that there’s a lot of people who are still active out there painting,” Sherbrooke Art Society member and local artist Leanne Vassallo said.

“My favourite thing about the awards is that it covers all aspects from still life, portraits, landscapes and seascapes. And this year we have a wide range of works across all mediums. We have oil, watercolour, acrylic, pastel and drawings. There’s just such a diverse range of works and in every medium, so every artist can participate.

OPINION

“We’ve also seen more contemporary work this year. The Streeton Award used to be for the ‘best traditional landscape,’ but because of the great contemporary entries, we’ve opened it up to ‘best landscape’.”

And while this year’s Streeton Award winner, Ben Winspear, may have won the award with a

more traditional landscape piece, his minimal but dynamic brush strokes reflected the once groundbreaking style of Streeton himself.

Other major award winners were Barbra McManus (Master’s Circle), Caroline Lewallen (Roberts Award) and Kayleen West (McCubbin Award), who finished first in their categories, among the other finalists selected by coveted judge and Archibald Prize finalist, Paul McDonald Smith.

“I was nearly in tears when I received the award,” Kayleen West said, after taking home the McCubbin award for her painting ‘Lost Innocence - Sima Rubenshovski.’ “It was my first exhibition back after having stepped away from the art world for a couple of decades, so to take that plunge and qualify first was very exciting. And small works are so often dwarfed in a show, so when I dropped it off and saw all of the large pieces, I thought: ‘Better luck next year’,” she laughed.

After having “squirrelled” away in her studio for quite some time, Kayleen’s return to the

public art world was spurred on by a “heartsickness” at the “separation and disunity” she observed around her. “I came across these images of children who had been killed in the holocaust,” she added. “And there was something about this particular child’s eyes that just drew me in. Her little face said everything; that beautiful things can be destroyed when division creeps in. But when I painted her, I didn’t go for an exact portrait, I just wanted to capture the feeling of her eyes - the innocence.

Her painting of the Palestinian-Jewish girl serves as a “a cry for the innocent children who have no choice but to deal with the consequences of adult behaviour.”

Drawing on her experience as a children’s book illustrator, Kayleen’s works stem from a desire for better, consistently aligning her work with the themes of“hope and encouragement.” “We’re meant to be a community, and we’re meant to care for each other.

The exhibition is on now at the Sherbrooke Art Gallery until 15 June.

Never understimate the power and influence of poetry

By Maria Millers

When was the last time you bought, borrowed and read a book of poetry?

Or heard someone recite a memorized poem at an event: a wedding, funeral, or birthday.

Or heard poetry at a public event such as the opening of a Parliamentary year or the swearing in of a Prime Minister?

Today there are still many who think poetry is only about flowers and emotions (though of course they can be part of a poem), and others who see poetry as an elite intellectual and academic pursuit.

But humans since ancient times have crafted, memorised and recited poetry as part of daily life and the means of communication: for passing on important information, and of course for celebration. Moreover, not just embraced by the elite but belonging to all, including the illiterate.

Undoubtedly, too many have been turned off poetry because of past classroom experiences.

Too few were lucky enough to have had a committed and inspirational teacher like Mr Keating in Dead Poets Society.

Sadly, they have come to see poetry as irrelevant to the many problems and challenges we confront, particularly in the digital age.

This could not be further from the truth Spoken word and performance poetry is flourishing, drawing crowds of young people who respond enthusiastically to a predominantly oral, communal-based poetry and to non-traditional ways of being heard.

When Amanda Gorman stood up in 2021 at the inauguration of President Biden and recited her poem, The Hill we Climbs she brought poetry back to popular culture.

It resulted in poetry making a comeback to many an American classroom.

Regrettably, it still remains marginalized in our schools, though the young have embraced the spoken word in the form of Slam Poetry performances.

Today, poets write about the most pressing issues: personal as well as about the often confronting stories we see daily on the evening news or, more likely, any time of the day or night on our smart phones. housing, cost of living, job insecurities.

Or the wider issues of racism, climate change, gender issues, Islamophobia, unsettling overseas conflicts… because of its form poetry can capture the essence of these stories which leads to discussion and hopefully to understanding and perhaps resolution.

What may have escaped some people is how in the last few years, poets have been walking away with major literary prizes, previously the domain of novels, memoir and other

WOORILLA WORDS

prose writing.

Could this be because poetry is the literary genre more suited to our times with its immediacy and conciseness?

Yankunytjatjara poet Ali Cobby Eckermann has just recently won the top prize at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards for her ‘stunning’ verse novel She Is the Earth.

The prize judges described the book as ‘ a series of poems about a woman connecting with both nature and thousands of years of history — as ‘sometimes gentle and sometimes sharp, both beautiful and terrible, and always profound in its exploration of healing, hope and the earth’..

This is the second year in a row that a First Nations author has won recognition after Gudanji and Wakaja author Debra Dank won a record four out of 14 awards in 2023 with her memoir We Come With This Place.

In 2023 The Stella Prize was won by Sarah Holland Batt for The Jaguar, a collection of poems about her father’s struggle with Parkinson, some of the most powerful written on this subject.

Her experiences of her father’ s physical and cognitive decline and unacceptable treatment in an Aged Care facility has led Holland Batt onto a road of activism for improving conditions in many facilities.

In her own words: ‘I was contemplating] what happens when someone you love becomes someone else, and observing those moments of frailty in old age, those moments of vulnerability’. There are many carers of elderly loved ones who would identify with her words.

In the opening poem My Father as a Giant Koi, Holland-Batt describes her father in a nursing home as if he is ‘at the bottom of a pond / perfecting the art of the circle’.

He surfaces

Three times a day when the nurse brings a tray –cold blanched carrot and beef,white sauce fillet of whiting, pound cake.”

Who better than a loving daughter to write about the cruelty of a disease that can destroy the personality before the body gives up.

Holland Batt never turns away from facing up to the experience of ageing, illness and death she witnesses in her father’s fight against

theis ravaging illness.

She recalls her father’s defiant if impractical acquisition: of a sports car “A folly he bought without test-driving, / vintage 1980 XJ, a rebellion against his tremor”. [I]t sat like a carcass

In the garage, like a headstone, like a coffin –but it’s no symbol or metaphor. I can’t make anything of it.”

Her father proceeds to drive it dangerously on the edge of legality and modifies it in destructive ways.

“Finally his modifications / killed it, the car he had always wanted and waited / so long to buy, and it sat like a carcass / in the garage, like a headstone, like a coffin / but it’s no symbol or metaphor. I can’t make anything of it.”

Though lyrical and compassionate it is not mired in sentimentality but brutally frank and therefore honest.

In February 2024 Melbourne poet Grace Yee won (against a field of prose writing) the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for her debut verse novel, Chinese Fish.

It is the first time a poet has won the prize, which is Australia’s richest literary award.

This multigenerational family saga is about a Chinese family migrating to New Zealand from Hong Kong in the 1960s where they are at the receiving end of all the discriminations based on stereotypes of Chinese people.

Many migrants will recognize these uninformed prejudices towards some ethnic groups which still persist today.

In Yee’s New Zealand, Chinese immigrants are characterised as unwashed lepers from unsanitary villages who are trying to infiltrate the Garden City paradise.

‘Yet they are faced with daily doses of European food with the life cooked out of it, and left to clean “the s**t” from other people’s long johns.’

For these immigrants

From the impoverished unsanitary villages of China, where beggars and vagabonds are numerous, and lepers particularly wretched, where the coast is infested with pirates, children kidnapped and sold, and whole families live on boats, New Zealand is a paradise.

Migration politics and past policies in Australia and New Zealand are brought up, as well as to how some of the citizens treated the immigrants.

All this makes Chinese Fish a very confronting book which forces the reader to feel the pressures faced by migrants as they try to adjust to new ways and assimilate.

To read Rob Wallis’s 2021 Down Rainbow

Road,, New and Selected Poems is to enter into a life that for many may not be their lived experience but that does not in any way diminish the universal and shared aspects of this collection: the human need for love, intimacy and acceptance.

To read about the bigotry, cruelties, injustices and hypocrisies of the past, and not so very past generations, told for the first time in the conciseness of the poetic form is uncomfortably challenging.

Here we have a man responding to a world where difference was marginalised, responding sometimes with pain, sometimes with pleasure but always with honesty about his own sexuality.

During the Covid lockdown Rob Wallis spent time researching the treatment of homosexual men from the early days of settlement under Governor Philip whose belief was that only two offences deserved the death penalty: murder and sodomy.

My solution to imprison the convicted felon until the opportunity offered to deliver him to the natives of New Zealand and let them eat him.

A collection published in March 2024 titled Stellar Atmospheres by Alicia Sometimes has in her own words ‘made scientific research the basis for a great deal of my poetry.’

Her poetry poses those questions which fascinate us: what happened before the Big Bang?

How will the universe end?

Andrea Russell in her introduction to the book says:‘ Poetry is as valid a method of integrating the universe as any other’. In the first three minutes of the universe everything that would be anything started to ferment. clump together. ready to sing at a recital.

began to develop lips to form the word poem.. it all moved towards a Christmas card that got people we don’t know back together. after this – one star dreamed of turning away another just because it needed time to shape clay.

the universe became a rogue gallery of jigsaws fighting for space and in softer moments, mango juice squeezed from the heavens sparkled like iridescent jellyfish suits

The examples above show that poetry is alive and well and unafraid to handle the difficult topics that form part of our existence.

The Woorilla International Poetry Prize 2024 is now open to receive entries Competition Opens:1 June. Closes: 30 September For further details, visit woorilla.org.au

2024 McCUBBIN Award winner ‘Lost Innocence - Sima Rubeshovski’ by Kayleen West.

The 19th century pioneers went in for large families. Even with the high infant mortality of the time, a mother might still rear a dozen to adulthood. With marriages between neighbours common, an entire district could be inter-related within a generation or two.

Mighty matriarchs Looking back

The Clegg,Taffs, Sies, Herbert, McKillop, Birtles, Parr, Overton, Green, Axford, Collier, Ratcliffe, Rexter, Tegart, Turner and Sellick families of Wandin/ Silvan/ Mt Evelyn/ Lilydale/Montrose/ Croydon were all related by marriage.

Ann Clegg, one of the pioneers of Wandin from the 1860s, had 13 children and raised 11.

When she died at the Hotham Benevolent Asylum in 1906, aged 85, her death certificate stated only ‘widow, two sons and two daughters, other particulars not known’. Presumably there was not one descendant present to provide details.

The Parrs settled in the Shire of Lillydale in the mid-1870s. Jane Parr nee Axford bore 16 children, raising 12. Jane’s eldest daughter Elizabeth married Ann Clegg’s son Joseph. After

Atlas (Shrugs) OPINION

Atlas

Starring Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu and Gregory James Cohan

Rated M 3.25/5

Atlas is an unfocused but enjoyable sci-fi throwback starring Jennifer Lopez as Atlas, an analyst who must bond with her AI companion Smith (Gregory James Cohan) as she hunts the renegade AI Harlan (Simu Liu) on a distant planet.

While the plot is a generic pastiche of The Terminator, Aliens and Avatar, the film has some poignant and witty exchanges and a committed lead performance from Lopez, and Smith develops an endearing smartaleck persona as he bonds with Atlas.

The action sequences overall feel like impersonal video game cut-scenes, but still have several cool moments, and the film ends with an over-the-top but exciting combination of mech gunplay and android swordplay in a lava flow.

The process of Atlas syncing with Smith is a decent framing device for revealing Atlas’s backstory, but the film still heavily relies on blunt exposition, with an illogical, ridiculously extreme motivation for the AI villain Harlan.

The visuals are stunning, but the enemies are some of the most uninspired AI characters in a long time; AI or androids can look humanoid, which may make them sympathetic (Ash from Aliens) or deceptive (take your pick of Terminators), but Atlas’s AI look and behave too much like regular people to stand out.

Atlas awkwardly juggles pathos and laughs, and despite Atlas’s rough-andtumble journey and Harlan’s genocidal goals, much of the film progresses with a strange lack of urgency.

The film’s message of learning to trust “good AI” also feels naïve when AI is such an ethical minefield today.

Insubstantial but entertaining, Atlas feels like a big-budget version of a silly, scatterbrained ‘90s sci-fi B-movie, which isn’t a bad thing, and is available for streaming on Netflix.

Karen Phillips

Mount Evelyn History Group editor

Elizabeth’s death, Joseph married his widowed sister-in-law, Susannah Green nee Parr. Johanna Sellick, a pioneer of Croydon from the 1870s, had 14 children and raised all but the youngest – 10 daughters and three sons.

Eldest daughters Annie and Margaret married two sons of a Mt Evelyn family, Francis and John Collier. Son Arthur married Dorothy May Turner, a granddaughter of Jane Parr.

The seventh daughter, Rose, died at 19.‘Miss Rose, as she was popularly called … was held

CARTOON

in high esteem by all who had the good fortune to make her acquaintance.’ (Reporter, Box Hill, 29/4/1910).

The bevy of maidens sounds like a Jane Austen novel: ‘Miss Sellick, Miss Margaret Sellick, Miss Edith Sellick … Miss Rose Sellick … .’

Australia’s fertility rate declined in the 20th century, as Margaret Trist wrote in her short story ‘Twenty Strong’ (1946). Della, the only child in a depopulated countryside, is sent off to boarding school. The elderly buggy driver points out the homesteads that once housed large families. ‘Nine kids here, ten kids there, twelve somewhere else … five little girls used to wave to me over the bridge railing.

They used to wear pigtails and pinafores.’ Della arrives at school, fortified by the knowledge. ‘She was twenty strong. The kids everyone should have had, but hadn’t.’

The fertility rate dropped below the replacement rate in the 1980s.

By 2022 it had fallen to 1.63 births per woman.

Exciting entertainments

Burrinja Theatre

Greece Lightening – Garry Stars, Zeus, Fools and Drachmas. One idiots Mythical Quest for Prosperity.

An overzealous idiot attempts to perform all of Greek Mythology in order to save his Hellenic Homeland from economic ruin.

Never before has Medusa been loose, Achilles more sillies or Uranus so heinous.

Having single handedly saved the performing arts in 2018 with his multi-award-winning debut show Garry Star Performs Everything, comic wunderkind Garry returns with another anarchic masterclass not to be mythed.

Season: 7.30pm, Thursday 13 June.

Venue: The Lyre Room.

The Princess theatre

Sunset Boulevard

Opening this review I feel a quote from the program and Fiona Allan CEO and Jo Davies Artistic Director of Opera Australia, “Welcome to 1950s Hollywood, where dreams can be made and broken in a heartbeat. Where silent movie star Norma Desmond longed for a return to the big screen and where a chance encounter with struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis leads to a passionate relationship – and an unforgettable conclusion.”

As Norma Desmond Sarah Brightman who is an International singing star and is the world’s best soprano which she certainly showed in her performance. As Norma Desmond Susan really caught the essence of the character giving an outstanding performance as the fading star. Susan also worked well with her screenwriter Joe Gillis and her butler/chauffer Max Von Mayerling.

Joe Gillis was given an outstanding perfor-

Verse novel bends genre PASSION FOR PROSE

WITH CHRISTINE SUN

A review of Chinese

by

Chinese Fish, a verse novel by Melbourne-based

Grace

was the winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature and the Prize for Poetry at the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

While a novel is told through prose, a verse novel combines story with poetry.

Published in June 2023, Chinese Fish tells a multi-generational story of a migrant family in the Land of the Long White Cloud – Aotearoa New Zealand.

Readers are introduced to the Chin family, starting with great-grandfather who arrived in New Zealand to work as a laundryman in 1896 after the gold rush ended.

His son arrived in 1921 but resettled in Hong Kong after the Second World War.

Grandfather and grandmother have five children. Yet, it is the second son’s wife Ping and her daughter Cherry who are the story’s focus. In 1963, Ping, described as having “a face like a BBQ pork bun”, was told by a fortuneteller in Hong Kong that “she would live a life of unimaginable prosperity on the New Gold Mountain at the bottom of the earth”.

But life in New Zealand is not the prosperous paradise she was led to believe it would be.

Like all migrants, she is terribly homesick and has difficulty adapting to the local language, food, lifestyle and work environment.

Adding to Ping’s trouble is her wayward husband: “Stan returns at three am, falls into bed reeking of beer and cigarettes, reaches under Ping’s nightgown, her elbow in his gut, his vomit all over the pink candlewick. every night he / go out come / home two three / clock I can’t sleep / I waiting for him / use the vacuum / cleaner try to SUCK / all the bad thing out”

Kemp’s curtain call

mance by Tim Draxl.

Tim really captured the role as envisaged and worked well with Suan.

ThethirdofthemainstarswasRobertGrubb as Max Von Mayerling. Robert was the butler, chauffer and devotee of Norma Desmond.

A superior performance, and Robert was perfect in the character.

All three had wonderful voices and as the production is a musical the three rally came over with their great voices. The fourth main star was Ashleigh Rubenach as Joe’s co-writer and possible girlfriend. Ashleigh added to high standard of the production giving a wonderful portrayal of her role.

A great evening of theatre with magnificent sets which moved smoothly and showed each aspect of life n the movie world.

The balance of the cast kept the high standard of the expected performance.

As the performance was so great the audience gave it Melbourne’s highest honour.

A standing ovation.

REMEMBER: The 182 Theatre Centrestage Youth Theatre presents Radium Girls Season: 2 – 15 July. Bookings: 9758 3964

As this quote demonstrates, the verse novel is narrated in multiple voices, with Ping’s words written in italics and often interspersed with Hong Kong written Chinese.

In comparison, the third-person narrative is “laced with archival fragments and scholarly interjections” and often contains passages borrowed and adapted from media reports and opinion pieces of the middle decades of the 20th century, which are printed in grey colour.

Indeed, the book derived from the creative writing component of the author’s PhD on the experience of settler Chinese women in New Zealand, who faced discrimination not just from their own patriarchal family and community, but also from the mainstream society in their adopted country.

In the author’s words: “Because the settler Chinese community’s experience of this word [‘Chinese’] was for so long associated with stigma, the instinct to refrain from making overt displays of ‘Chineseness’ and assimilate into the P?keh? mainstream was strong. The title feels a little treacherous, almost illicit: a talking back that flies in the face of the ‘model minority’ imperatives we were brought up with – be quiet, lie low, know your place – all of which were amplified for women and girls.”

Chinese Fish is an honest and innovative probe into the inner workings of a Chinese family.

Highly recommended.

Fish

Grace Yee

poet

Yee,

each letter may only be used

No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural nouns ending in “s”.

LUXURY LIVING IN AN IDYLLIC, PEACEFUL SETTING

LUXURY FAMILY LIVING IN AN IDYLLIC, PEACEFUL SETTING

EXPERIENCE luxury living at its finest in this meticulously renovated, high-end home, boasting 4 bedrooms and executive finishes throughout.

With every detail carefully curated, this sophisticated family home offers unparalleled comfort, style and perfect lifestyle choice.

Both expansive living zones are bathed in natural light, allowing you to stare out across distant views of Cardinia Reservoir and on a clear day, even the sparkling waters of Port Phillip Bay.

Surrounded by a useable half acre garden setting, this quiet street location is the perfect choice for any buyer looking for a lifestyle retreat. The gourmet kitchen is an absolute showstopper, equipped with Bosch appliances, custom joinery and both an oversized butler’s pantry plus spacious island bench.

Adjacent to the kitchen, the elegant dining area provides the ideal setting for family gatherings and is highlighted by bespoke designed cabinetry, purposely built for wine lovers and an excellent talking point for dinner guests.

Retreat to the luxurious master suite, a sanctuary of serenity complete with walk in robe plus

a lavish ensuite featuring a terrazzo soaking tub, glass-enclosed shower area and under floor heating. Three additional bedrooms offer ample space for family and guests, each thoughtfully designed with comfort and style in mind.

Ducted heating and split system heating/ cooling have been included for convenient temperature control and along with a modern fireplace in the main lounge, allows you to be comfortable and cosy all year round.

Indulge in outdoor living on the expansive decking and whether you are relaxing in the spa, or hosting a barbecue for family and friends,provides you with space and privacy whatever the occasion.

A triple garage, double carport and extra parking, once again shows the meticulous attention to detail this renovated home has been given and exemplifies luxury living at its finest. Only minutes from both the Emerald and Belgrave townships, train station plus many local schools, this family friendly home offers a convenient location and an enticing blend of character, tranquillity and utter luxury. ●

OVER 55’S UNIT IN A CONVENIENT LOCATION

PERFECTLY located within an easy stroll to Tecoma’s shopping village and public transport, this well maintained, two-bedroom over 55’s lifestyle unit comes complete with views of the nearby Ranges and is without doubt, certainly one of the best in the area.

Nestled in a unit complex of only four lovely, well-kept units, this much-loved home has a spacious kitchen with stainless steel upright oven and rangehood, main bathroom and good sized laundry / utility room.

The sun filled lounge room sits adjacent to a large dining / meals area and creates an open plan design which is perfect for day to day living and includes a reverse cycle split system that has been added to keep your temperature under control all year round.

The beautiful backdrop of the nearby hills awaits from your front window, and you can take it in while enjoying an afternoon cuppa on your front decking.

Outside, a lovely, paved courtyard has been carefully designed at the rear of the block for low maintenance care and great outdoor enjoyment while a single garage plus extra parking bay are also included in this fantastic opportunity.

We all know that units in the Dandenong Ranges are very hard to come by so we know this will be snapped up quicklyContact us today for your chance to secure one of Tecoma’s best units. ●

HOME FOCUS

‘COLLIS HOUSE’- ALMOST AN ACRE OF GARDENS AND CONTEMPORARY LIVING

OVERLOOKING a peaceful view of the nearby valley, ‘Collis House’ Sits on over three quarters of an acre, surrounded by beautifully maintained gardens whilst offering both a character and contemporary finish both inside and out.

Elevated over two levels of versatile living space, the home includes a practical, versatile floorplan that includes four bedrooms, the master suite boasting full ensuite and parents’ retreat. There are two living areas, with the oversized fourth bedroom potentially a third. Open plan in its design, the central, sun filled family room adjoins the relaxed dining area and the expansive kitchen that is certainly a talking point, with its large island bench, stunning granite bench top, butler’s pantry, and quality appliances. Perfect for either growing or extended families, and also ideal for those who work from home, this well designed and well-maintained home offers a quiet space for everyone including a separate studio that is

ideal as a music room, office, or hobby space.

With gas ducted heating, along with a split system and refrigerated cooling, temperature control has been well taken care of, and along with beautiful French doors that allow you to open up the home to the fresh afternoon breeze, makes heating and cooling convenient and cosy all year round. Outside is a garden lovers paradise with bursts of colour, hidden seating areas and pretty pathways take you on a tour of this delightful property. A sealed, circular driveway with a double garage with workshop, single carport and large 3 car parking bay will be a bonus for those with extra cars, trailers, and other toys and along with a garden shed, offers a great amount of space and storage.

With access to local bus route almost at your front gate and within only a few minutes’ drive to Belgrave train station, shops and local schools, ‘Collis House’ is steeped in local history and offers an executive style property in an absolute sought after location. ●

EMERALD NEW BRANCH TO OPEN

DANDENONG Ranges Community Finance Limited, which operates Bendigo Bank Community Bank Upwey, Belgrave and Cockatoo-Gembrook branches, has made the decision to move its Cockatoo branch to Emerald to fill the hole left by one of the big four who recently closed there.

Company Chair, Deb Weber advised “it is an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up and we are very excited. The transition to Emerald from Cockatoo will happen in a couple of months once the building (the old NAB site at 344 Belgrave-Gembrook Road) has been fitted out to our requirements. We anticipate that this will be in August/ September. The Emerald Bendigo Bank Agency will continue to operate until that time. We are so grateful to the Emerald & District Co-Operative for their support in this process. They too wish to see better banking options for the people of the area. This move is a big commitment by our Company. We have been huge supporters of the Emerald district since our Cockatoo branch opened in 2005. During this time, we have contributed to many projects, including $250,000 towards the Hills Hub building, $50,000 towards the Emerald Football Netball Club building rebuild at Chandler Reserve and many other worthy projects. More than $750,000 has been given.”

“We hope that this new branch will help support the businesses and residents of the region. Part of the community bank model is to put money back into the community and this is only possible when the business comes in the door. We already have a great connection with community groups, businesses and residents, and we are hoping to build on that,” bank Chair Deb Weber said.

Emerald and District Co-Operative Chair, Ric Holland said “we are delighted that there will be a Bendigo Bank full-service branch in

Emerald. We have been running the Agency since 2009 and we are so pleased that the people of the Emerald area and beyond will have this new facility right on their doorstep.”

Dandenong Ranges Community Finance Limited Company Chair Deb Weber advised, “as with all things in business, there are challenges and sometimes changes have to be made. We are taking the opportunity to

update our business model and consolidate our Upwey and Belgrave operations. The two sites are only 2.4 km apart. The Belgrave branch will cease operations once the new branch is established in Emerald. This will enable us to relocate staff from both Cockatoo and Belgrave to either the new branch in Emerald or to our flagship branch in Upwey.

ATM’s at Cockatoo and Belgrave will

remain for the time being. We are certainly not walking away from the Belgrave area with our commitment to contributing to community groups in the area. We will still be providing support, both banking and through sponsorships. Hundreds of grants and sponsorships have benefitted groups in the Belgrave area also, and this will continue,” she said. ●

The site of the new Bendigo Bank Community Bank Emerald and District.

HOME FOCUS

PRIVATE TRANQUILLITY ON ½ AN ACRE

THE moment you drive down the private concrete circular driveway you realise that this property is unique and very special. Backing onto crown land, the Cockatoo Creek and surrounded by natural Australian flora, suddenly this ½ acre property seems more like 10 acres but without the burden of maintaining acreage. Embrace nature from almost every room or from the decking or courtyard and enjoy the tranquillity and the daily song of the many species of birds that come to visit.

Home Features:

· High vaulted ceilings with exposed trusses in the living room and master bedroom

· Modern kitchen with predominantly drawer cabinetry and an upright gas stove/oven

· Wooden floorboards throughout

· Ducted gas heating with a brand-new heating unit

· Slow combustion radiant heat wood fireplaces in living and studio

· Economical Heat Pump electric hot water system

· Reverse cycle air-conditioning and fans in living and bedroom 2

· Hard-wired Genesys remote-controlled Inverter Generator 9.3KVA which can run the whole house

· Dry, well drained under house storage with concrete flooring and lockable storeroom Outdoor Features:

· Private and hidden from street view

· Concrete circular driveway with excellent drainage

· Single garage, single carport and plenty of off-street parking

· Merbau decking, perfect for that morning cuppa or entertaining

· Established gardens and mature trees for privacy

· Six raised ‘Vege Pod’ style 2m x 1m garden beds and flat usable terraced areas

Location Features:

· Short drive (1.1km) or walk to Cockatoo Township which includes the new IGA, eateries, Post Office, Pharmacy, Community Centre, Sporting Facilities, Off-leash dog park, Skate Park & Bowl, BMX track, bus 695 & 695F and Cockatoo Primary School.

· Wright Forest walking tracks that also lead to Emerald Lake and surrounds

· Hear the famous Puffing Billy train in the distance

· 17-minute drive to Pakenham, Wellington Road access only a 10-minute drive which takes you to the M1 freeway Come and enjoy the tranquil lifestyle this beautiful home and property has to offer.

Investor Information:

It is our opinion that if this property were offered for rent in the current market it would achieve an approximate return of $620 - $660 per week. ●

$690,000-$759,000

Nestledonover2/3ofanacreofuseableland,establishedgardens &accessedvia asealeddriveway,thiswelcomingpropertyisa havenoftranquility& contemporary comfort.Featuring, amodernkitchen,wooden floorboards,plushcarpetstobedrooms, wood fire,ductedheating,S/System,fantasticentertainmentwith afirepit,serveryfrom thekitchen,a carport, aspaciousshedattheback,anexcellentchickencoopandan expansivebackyardwhichextendstoa creek.Enjoybeingsurroundedbynaturehere!

ErinDavies 0493136937

LARGESTUDIO/RETREATWITHPRIVATEENTRY

Themomentyoudrivedowntheprivateconcretecirculardrivewayyourealisethatthis propertyisuniqueandveryspecial!backingontocrownland& theCockatooCreekand surroundedbynature youfeel like youare milesaway.Featuring alight andairy flexible floorplan,stunninghighvaulted ceilingswith exposed trusses, privatelyzoned master bedroom, modernkitchen,timberflooringthroughout,12m x5mstudio with separate entry,6 raised gardenbeds, concrete circulardrivewayandsomuch more!

MickDolphin 0429684522 COUNTRYSTYLEHOMEON1200sqm

Forthosewhohaveconsidereda TreeChange,thisinvitinghomepresentsanexciting opportunitytocapturethatruraltranquility.Whisperquietbutenjoysproximitytobelgrave Southshops &theprimaryschool.Timberaccents& aflexible floorplanarethehighlights here.Featuring aMiele-equippedkitchen,casualmealsarea,wood-burner, aseparate diningzone/sittingroom,upstairsextralivingarea,alfrescopatio,DGH,s/system,massive under-housestoreroom,dblcarport,150,000-litrewatertank, 8solarpanelsplus astudio.

GrantSkipsey 0418528102

APERFECTLOCATION

$1,150,000-$1,260,000

A 2 B 2 C

Nestledwithina quietcul-de-sac,whereprivacy,securityandpeaceofmindcome standard.Here,theworriesoftrafficandnoisearereplaced bythegentlehumofnature andthecomfortingembraceof aclose-knitcommunity.Thefabulousfloorplanoffers twoseparatelivingzones,twomaster suitesovertwolevels,spaciousloungewitha quaint balconyofferingpanoramicviewsofnaturalparklandandtheDandenongranges. Surrounded bylowmaintenancegardens &includesa doublegaragewithrearaccess.

JanBrewster 0409558805

EXPANSIVE FAMILY HOME WITH STUDIO

THIS fantastic home is situated on approx. ½ an acre and offers beautiful views, established gardens, sealed dual access driveways and so much more.

The established gardens welcome you to this solid brick home. Stroll along the verandah and enjoy the views across the valley before entering the home. This home offers zoned living with two bedrooms at each end of the home, and a spacious open plan layout that gives two living areas. All of the bedrooms are a great size, and the master bedroom has a walk in wardrobe, ensuite and split system air-conditioner.

The open living spaces feature high vaulted ceilings, sky lights and plenty of windows offering a home flooded with natural light and cosy with ducted gas heating. The kitchen has plenty of bench space, a dishwasher and an induction cooktop.

The kitchen spills out to the first living space, and continue through the home to the second living space to discover a study nook, a wood fire, and more space to relax and unwind in this hills home. The family bathroom has a bath and a separate shower. There is also a spacious laundry complete with a doggy door for your 4 legged friends.

Externally there is plenty to enjoy with lots of off street parking on the asphalt driveway that leads to a four car under house garage with power and lights. There are also vegetable gardens, and a fantastic paved outdoor entertaining area with large pergola and built in pizza oven.

This property also offers a large new solar power setup. A further delight is the converted shipping container with its decking that would make a fantastic home office with direct entry from the front of the property.

This property has it all so don’t miss outcall to arrange a private inspection today. Please note: All property details shown are correct at time of publishing. Some properties may have been sold in the preceding 24 hours and we recommend that you confirm open for inspection times with the listing agent direct or the listing office. ●

ExpansiveFamilyHomeintheHeartofMonbulk!

PerfectlylocatedintheheartofMonbulkthisfamilyhomefeatures 4robedbedrooms, &2 bathroomsincluding afamilybathroomcompletewith abathtub,thishomehas afunctionalfloor plan.Themasterbedroomhasanensuite &WIR &islocatednear alargeformallivingroom,whilst2 oftheremainingbedroomsarelocatednearthespacious,openplankitchen &familyroom.Thereis aseparatediningroomwhichcouldbeutilisedas ahomeoffice/study.Addtothefeatures atoasty woodfireinthefamilyroom,gasductedheatingthroughout,floorboards, awell-appointedkitchen &securityshuttersonnearlyallwindows &doors.Outsideisthehuge,private,undercoverdeck, perfectforentertainingallyearround,a DLUG,2 furthergarden/woodsheds&alovelysideyard.

Thisoutstanding3 bedroom,3 bathroomhomesituatedonapprox.23Acresoffersgorgeousviews acrossclearedpaddockstoCardiniaReservoir.Thisstoneconstructedhomehas awoodfireheater, acousticstrawboardvaultedceiling,giantwindowssoakingintheview &plentyofnaturallight.The kitchenisvast,with agasstovetop &electricoven, &plentyofbenchspace.Unwindinthesecond loungeroomwithanopenfireplace&astunningstudyarea.Thereisa masterbedroomfeaturinga walkthroughwardrobetotheensuite.Thefurther 2bedroomshaveBIRs& areservicedby afamily bathroom.Externallythereisa clearedpaddockwith acentraltreedgully.Thegroundscontaina pizzaoven,a highdoublecarportattachedtothehome, &inthebackyardareais adoublegarage withpower,lights &concretedfloor.Thispropertyhasmainspower,gas &water.

Over35AcresofPrimeGembrookLandjust ashortstrolltotown! InvestheretoenjoythecharminglifestyleGembrookhastoofferwiththecafes,restaurants,walking trails,freshair& thePuffingBillyRail!The3 bedroom,2 bathroomsolidbrickhomeispositionedwell backfromtheroad& hasanidealviewinglocationforthePuffingBillyRailwayLine.TheMaster bedroomhasanensuite,whilstthefurther2 bedroomsareservicedbythefamilybathroom.There is alargekitchen,withspaceforyourdiningtable, &thekitchenflowstotheloungeroom.Thereis also ahandymudroomtotherearofthehomewithit’sowntoilet.Externallyis agreatshedwithtwo openbays,& anenclosedshedwith 3phasepower.Thereisalsoa singlecarporttotherearofthe homewithconcretefloor &a light,aswellasa furthershedtotherearofthehome.

&ispositioned tothefrontofthisflatparklikefullyfencedblockwithclearedlawnsamongstestablishedtrees. Featuring:leadlightfeaturefrontdoor,splitlevelliving, 2bedroomswithBIR,Mastersuitewithensuite, WIR& ceilingfan,familybathroomwith adualvanity,shower &bath, &a 4thbedroom/studywith ceilingfan.Thereis agranddiningroomthatisopenplanwiththekitchen& hasviewsouttothe expansivedeck.Thereisa secondlargeloungeroomwith acosywoodfire &splitsystemAC.The deckisgorgeous&floodedwithsunlight.TotherearoftheblockisaninsulatedAmericanbarn, with 1bayrollerdoor,a pedestriandoor,concretefloor,power,lights &a mezzanine.Thereisalsoa handytapnexttothebarn,assortedfruittrees,a shedwithpower, &6 solarpanelswiththehome.

THE PERFECT PROPERTY PACKAGE

PERFECTLY located on the fringe of Sherbrooke Forest, in a quiet, end of court location, this property offers a secluded retreat for young families, first home buyers and down sizers alike.

Set amongst a colourful garden setting of over 1300m2, the location alone is sure to sell this great package.

There are three bedrooms, neat and tidy main bathroom, separate toilet and plenty of character throughout.

Open plan in design, the main living area has a great amount of space along with plenty of natural light and opens up to an additional alfresco indoor / outdoor living area providing not only a second lounge but also a great entertaining space.

A wood fire, split system and ducted heating combine perfectly for efficient temperature control, giving this home warmth and comfort all year round. The kitchen, although original, is neat, clean and tidy and will certainly accommodate any aspiring cook.

Outside, the useable block has a canopy of mature trees and a sealed driveway that leads to multiple parking bays – Perfect for your extra cars, trailers and toys.

Within a pleasant walk to Tecoma’s main street, local bus route and schools, this property offers a perfect package you simply cannot miss. ●

History restored, relaunched

By Tanya Steele

Western history in the hills has been diligently compiled into a modernised version of a photo history book which was initially launched 25 years ago.

Dedicated volunteers from the Sherbrooke Foothills Historical Society (SFHS) have officially launched the release of a revised second edition of “Reflections of the Past” A photographic history of Belgrave, Tecoma, Upwey and Upper Ferntree Gully (Volume 1).

A mammoth effort with three years of preparation has seen a beautifully restored second edition released to the public over speeches and afternoon tea in Upwey on 30 May.

“I am wrapped that so many people could make it,” said the President of SFHS, Lance Fishman.

With around 90 attendees including members from Sherbrooke Arts Gallery, Yarra Ranges Council and the History Trail leader students from Tecoma Primary School, the book launch saw 45 books sold on the day.

In his opening speech detailing the history of the first edition, Mr Fishman said the the group had several setbacks in getting the project finished.

Mr Fishman said that after realising the amount of work to be done another setback occurred with the untimely death of their dedicated president at the time Phil Garland.

“We later created a working group and it was decided that the book would emulate the 1998 book as closely as possible with changes restricted to corrections and updating of text and improvement in the quality of the illustrations,” Mr Fishman said.

Researcher and Vice President Anita Walker took the crowd through some of the photos and said as she began her speech that the view outside the window at the Upwey and Tecoma Community Recreation and Sports Hub (UT-

Trades & Services

CRASH) Pavilion which was also in the book.

“I was so pleased to be doing this here today at this venue,” she said.

Ms Walker told an amazing tale about society’s post box, which after nearly being closed down received an amazing bundle of memorabilia and photos from the 1860s.

“ It was personal memorabilia and documents of the late John Tullidge, who had an early connection with Upwey,” she said.

Ms Walker said she almost had to be picked up from the floor when this bundle arrived.

“The family were from Dorchester itself and they would holiday in Upwey – they came to Australia in 1852, living in St Kilda and the three sisters ran a private school for 30 years,” she said.

Streeton Ward Councillor Andrew Fullagar officially launched the book to much applause

from the attendees.

“How lucky are we to have people so devoted to our local history,” he said.

Mr Fishman said the current volume required 233 images to be converted to digital format as the original volume one was printed using the now outdated, offset printing system rather than the current digital one.

“I would like to thank the members who have worked so hard as a co-operative team to make this all possible - Jennifer, Janet, Margaret,Tricia and Anita for meeting in the Belgrave Fire Brigade rooms week after week under Anita’s guidance to re-write the text; myself for preparing the images, and Tricia for the layout and printing co-ordination.” he said.

“We have shown our Historical Society to be a cohesive unit which was up to the task which we set for us.”

The Sherbrooke Foothills Historical Society has been active for over 31 years and released this current edition with the help of a Yarra Ranges community grant applied for by previous society President Robert Jungwirth in 2022.

The group remain very active and are always looking for new members and memorabilia and Ms Walker said that if people have any old photos, or documents the group would like them.

“To us it is the most amazing gift,” she said. This year SFHS will likely be very busy this year as Tecoma’s residents begin to plan centennial events for the township that got its name when the local train station opened. SFHS can be found online, on Facebook and at their email sherbrooke.foothills.h.s@ gmail.com

If you prefer post the address is PO BOX 1160 UPWEY VIC 3158 Australia.

Mr Fishman said that all in all, they are extremely proud of their updated book.

“We hope that it will satisfy those seeking a copy of the first of the Reflections series and new readers who will find much of historical interest within.” he said.

Carolyn Ebdon, Lance Fishman and Anita Walker of the Sherbrooke Foothills Historical Society. Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

Lance Fishman, President Sherbrooke Foothills Historical Society holds up the new release. Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

SPORT Local rookies get a break

By Mikayla van Loon

The eastern suburbs were well represented in the AFL’s mid season draft with two former Montrose Football Club players selected for the sport’s top league.

At pick number four, Box Hill Hawks VFL player Max Hall was chosen by St Kilda for his midfield and half forward talent.

St Kilda’s talent identification and player movement manager Simon Dalrymple said the club had its eye on the 22-year-old for some time and “we’re thrilled to have him as a part of our list”.

“He’s a tough midfielder/half-forward who comes equipped with speed, endurance and tenacity, but also has good football smarts and the ability to make sound decisions under pressure,” he said.

Receiving the phone call from Dalrymple, he congratulated Hall for “sticking at it” and said the draft pick was “well deserved”.

A spot on the Saints’ list opened up after defender James Van Es was moved to the inactive list due to injury.

Hall began his junior career notching up 82 games at Yarra Glen Football Netball Club before transferring to Wandin Junior Football Club where he played another 30 games.

Taking a leap from the Outer Eastern League to the Eastern League to play out his junior football days at Montrose, Hall became a dual best and fairest winner and a junior premiership player.

In 2021 he was selected by the Eastern Ranges where he was awarded runner up best and fairest.

Come the 2022 season, Hall signed to Montrose’s senior side as well as being picked for the Box Hill Hawks.

The accolades kept coming for the young gun, receiving back to back best first year player awards for both his local club and the VFL side.

Hall played 30 VFL games for the Hawks over the last three seasons and took his game to another level in 2024, averaging 24 dispos-

als and four tackles across seven appearances, while also kicking five goals.

Following a similar path, despite some injuries, 18-year-old Iliro Smit became Collingwood’s newest draftee on Wednesday night coming in at pick number 10.

The 200cm tall ruckman was selected for his hitouts, physicality and aggression, with the club’s head recruiter Derek Hine commenting he would sit nicely as “a developing ruck” behind current listed player Oscar Steene.

“He’s going to be a guy who can work into

our system. We’ll give him the time to develop in our system and athletically, I feel, and the group feels that he’s a player that can play the way we play,” he said.

Hearing the news surrounded by family and friends at home, Smit said when his name was called he thought “no way that’s my name”.

“It was a great surprise, crazy, surreal,” he said.

Smit said it was “up in the air” whether he was going to be selected mid-season or during the end of year draft.

“We had an interview and we talked but it wasn’t set in stone…I’m just stoked it’s happened,” he said.

As to his playing style, Smit confirmed the recruitment team’s interest in him and said he was someone who liked “putting pressure around the ground not just in the ruck”.

“I love playing with an aggressive nature, going hard at the ball, following up and repeat efforts, especially around the ground,” he said.

Women’s athletics team lead the way at Lakeside

By Jamie Strudley

Perfect road racing conditions greeted a large contingent of Yarra Ranges Athletics athletes on Sunday morning. Round 3 of the XCR season was an opportunity to run a fast 3km or 10km road race finishing on the athletics track at Lakeside Stadium. A cool morning with no wind made for some exciting racing around the fast Albert Park circuit.

The Division 2 women’s team will finish top of the division once results are updated. Outstanding runs from Olivia Twining, Rebecca Gilmore, Katrina Winger and Grace Muller earned the team their first win of the season.

The men’s team finished in sixth place after a sensational effort from Harry Norman. Harry ran with the lead group for the entire race but missed a change in pace less than a kilometre from the finish, recovering to claim third place, running a blistering 29.42 for the 10km event.

Brigette Rice continued her return to form with a solid third place in the Women’s U18 3000m road race. Briar Keyser (sixth) and Maddie Laven (ninth) were both top 10 finishers in theWomen’s U20 10km race.

Club results are:

· Female Open 10km: Olivia Twining 36th, 37:11; Rebecca Gilmore 56th, 38:44; Katrina Winger 59th 38:55; Grace Muller 62nd (TBC), 39.00; Georgia Laven 126th 42:20; Bonnie Morris 177th 45:28; Erica Purcell 264th 1:01:57

· 3km: Elisabeth Coffey 10th 14:07;

· Female 20 10km: Briar Keyser 6th 39:29; Madeline Laven 9th 39:39;

· Female 18 3km: Brigitte Rice 3rd 10:12;

· Female 14 3km: Brienna Coffey 22nd 12:27;

· Male Open 10km: Harry Norman 3rd 29:42; James Laven 58th 31:53; Max Savill-Bentley 65th 31:59; Angus Norman 173rd 34:06;

Sam Arnold 240th 35:21; Luke Hunter 250th 35:31; Chris Grundy 342nd 37:10; Matthew Morrison 373rd 37:45; Trent Ashton 490th 39:59; Michael Clarke 537th 41:12; Bryan Ackerly 631st 46:03; Craig Hewitson 694th 51:53;

· Male 20 10km: Reuben Johnson 22nd 34:43; Daniel Groves 23rd 35:06;

· Male 16 3km: Mitchell Pointon 21st 10:08; Blake Saloyedoff 36th 11:04;

· Male 14 3km: Ilikimi Tove 23rd 12:19

Club athlete, Tynan Mims took to the streets of Launceston on Sunday morning as part of the Launceston Running Festival. Tynan finished 15th in the 10km road race in a PB time of 30.03

YRA’s Saturday morning cross country continued with round 7 at Elizabeth Bridge Reserve in Kilsyth. The cool but calm condi-

tions helped 45 of the athletes achieve a PB. Thanks to all the volunteers for helping out on the day!

Next Saturday is LAVic’s Cross Country relays for 25 of our athletes. Everyone not competing has the weekend off and will return the following week to Morrison for Round 8! Results from round 6 at Margaret Lewis Reserve, Coldstream are: 500m

· Kylan Milne 2.13; Daisy Murphy 2.14; Sophie Ashton 2.32; Maisie McLeod 2.43; Grace Gibbs 2.49; Maeve Clarke 2.54; Pippa Stark 3.07 1000m

· Ivy Ingle 4.46; Angus Clarke 4.48; Angus Congreve 5.04; Elliott Dawson 5.13; Jasper Dean 5.28; Aaron Zuo 6.01; Noah Hewatt 6.03;Willliam Hastewell 7.13

1500m

· Riley Yorke 6.02; Lucas Pauly 6.10; Milly Hall 6.24; Victoria James 7.02; Levi Jones-Palazzolo 7.25; Imogen McMillan 7.31; Sadie Hewatt 7.40; Iola MacKay 7.46; Indi Budin 8.03; Tahlia Dawson 8.17; Cody Buckland 8.52; Winter Anderson-Bonsor 9.04; Etta Thoma 9.04; Byron Stark 9.25; Samuel Thomas 7.21 2000m

· Samuel Thomas 7.21; Theodore Lewis 8.05; Ilikimi Tove 8.20; Holly Yorke 8.36; Caitlyn McKerlie 8.39; Hugo Gibbs 8.44; Pippa Congreve 9.00; Lexi Aders 9.14; Dominic Nealon 9.21; Isla Haisma 9.25;Tess Hewatt 9.31; Zuri Dawson 10.01; Alice Sabo 10.13; Hugh Richardson 10.25; Kirsten Mcerlie 10.28; Meadow Anderson-Bonsor 10.35; Eamon MacKay 10.45; Jake Buckland 10.46 3000m

· James Crome-Smith 11.08; Ryder Holland 11.28; Cameron Yorke 12.14; Hamish Mcerlie 12.27; Uli Homann 12.39; Tim AndersonBonsor 12.40; Riley Yorke 12.53; Bryan Ackerly 13.59;Victoria James 14.26; Tori Kincaid 14.43; Adele Ellis 15.04; Lily Clarke 15.04; Ellise Hall 16.14; Hayley Corrigan 17.18; Bradley McMeeken 17.30

Crosscountrytrainingforallclubmembers is at Morrison reserve on Tuesday evenings from 5.30pm and Thursdays from 5.30pm at the Victoria Road Primary School gym. Yarra Ranges Athletics welcomes and encourages all athletes of any age or ability. Go to www.lavic.com.au or www.athsvic. org.au or email info@yarrarangesathletics. org.au for information about events and registration. Cross Country is here! For information on training, how to join or trial, photos, results and updated news, visit the website at yarrarangesathletics.org. au or check us out on Facebook. Run, Jump, Throw…too easy!

Harry Norman finished in third place in the men’s 10km helping the team reach sixth overall. Picture: SUPPLIED

Box Hill Hawks VFL player Max Hall was chosen at pick number four by St Kilda.

Picture: BOX HILL HAWKS Smit played as a ruck for the Eastern Ranges.

Picture: BANNERS

18-year-old Iliro Smit was drafted at pick 10 by Collingwood. Picture: COLLINGWOOD FC

All the action around Outer East ovals and courts

FOOTBALL

PREMIER DIVISION

· Seniors: Woori Yallock 15.14.104 def Gembrook-Cockatoo 6.10.46; Upwey-Tecoma 14.9.93 def Mt. Evelyn 7.8.50; Narre Warren 23.18.156 def Berwick Springs 3.8.26; Wandin 16.11.107 def Pakenham 5.7.37; OlindaFerny Creek 9.7.61 def Officer 5.8.38; Monbulk 15.8.98 def Emerald 9.13.67

· Reserves: Gembrook-Cockatoo 10.12.72 def Woori Yallock 2.7.19; Upwey-Tecoma 19.7.121 def Mt. Evelyn 5.3.33; Narre Warren 13.10.88 def Berwick Springs 4.6.30; Pakenham 7.5.47 def Wandin 3.9.27; Officer 15.6.96 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 5.5.35; Monbulk 12.11.83 def Emerald 3.3.21

DIVISION ONE

· Seniors: Warburton-Millgrove 12.21.93 def Yarra Glen 5.4.34; Alexandra 22.20.152 def Yarra Junction 4.1.25; Belgrave 22.26.158 def Powelltown 1.6.12; Healesville 17.13.115 def Yea 8.3.51; Seville bye

· Reserves: Warburton-Millgrove 21.27.153 def Yarra Glen 1.0.6; Alexandra 8.10.58 def Yarra Junction 6.5.41; Belgrave 26.19.175 def Powelltown 0.0.0; Healesville 8.6.54 def Yea 5.4.34; Seville bye UNDER 19s

Narre Warren 22.10.142 def Officer 2.3.15; Gembrook-Cockatoo, Pakenham, UpweyTecoma + Wandin byes UNDER 18s

Woori Yallock 18.18.126 def Seville 3.7.25;

Mt. Evelyn 10.10.70 def Upwey-Tecoma 8.2.52; Healesville 9.9.63 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 0.4.4

SENIOR WOMEN

· Division 1: Pakenham 6.3.39 def Healesville 0.5.5; Belgrave 6.8.44 def Berwick Springs 1.3.9; Upwey-Tecoma 5.1.31 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 4.2.26

· Division 2: Emerald 4.5.29 def Monbulk 4.3.27; Warburton-Millgrove 9.12.66 def Officer 2.2.14; Seville 6.4.40 def ThorntonEildon 1.6.12; Woori Yallock 4.4.28 def Wandin 2.5.17

NETBALL PREMIER DIVISION

· A Grade: Woori Yallock 51 def GembrookCockatoo 35; Mt. Evelyn 61 def UpweyTecoma 35; Narre Warren 104 def Berwick Springs 10; Wandin 59 def Pakenham 43; ROC 60 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 36; Monbulk 61 def Emerald 33

· B Grade: Woori Yallock 70 def GembrookCockatoo 36; Mt. Evelyn 57 def UpweyTecoma 35; Narre Warren 108 def Berwick Springs 12; Pakenham 57 def Wandin 42; ROC 71 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 32; Monbulk 64 def Emerald 36

· C Grade: Gembrook-Cockatoo 34 def Woori Yallock 23; Mt. Evelyn 36 def Upwey-Tecoma 23; Narre Warren 76 def Berwick Springs 5; Wandin 36 def Pakenham 30; ROC 52 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 37; Monbulk 25 def Emerald 17

· D Grade: Woori Yallock 36 def GembrookCockatoo 4; Upwey-Tecoma 18 def Mt. Evelyn 13; Narre Warren 59 def Berwick Springs 9; Wandin 35 def Pakenham 29; ROC 41 def Olinda-Ferny Creek 15; Emerald 29 def Monbulk 19

DIVISION ONE

· A Grade: Alexandra 52 defYarra Junction 46; Warburton-Millgrove 52 def Yarra Glen 40; Healesville 52 def Yea 27; Belgrave + Seville byes

· B Grade:Yarra Junction 34 def Alexandra 29; Belgrave 72 def Powelltown 36; Yarra Glen 51 def Warburton-Millgrove 47; Yea 33 def Healesville 32; Seville bye

· C Grade: Yarra Junction 35 def Alexandra 9; Yarra Glen 35 def Warburton-Millgrove 28; Belgrave 66 def Powelltown 15; Yea 38 def Healesville 11; Seville bye

· D Grade: Alexandra 28 def Yarra Junction 9; Yarra Glen 30 def Warburton-Millgrove 18; Belgrave 52 def Powelltown 8; Seville + Yea byes

· 17 & Under Premier: ROC 56 def Mt. Evelyn 2; Wandin 19 def Pakenham 12; Narre Warren 49 defWooriYallock 21; Berwick bye

· 15 & Under East: Beaconsfield 23 def Monbulk 19; ROC 30 def Pakenham 13; Berwick 25 defWooriYallock 19; NarreWarren bye

Hawks blitz Bombers

By Armin Richter

In Senior Football, Emerald is the oldest traditional rival that Monbulk has, having been regular opponents for just on 120 years. Emerald, who formed in 1904, played their first ever match against Monbulk on July 9 of that year, in the first ever Hills competition, the Evelyn Football Association, which also included Macclesfield and Woori Yallock.

In 2024 the Monbulk Seniors had been playing some good football without having seen any reward in return. On a cool, calm and occasionally overcast day at Avonsleigh, the Hawks came with a steely determination to kick-start their year against last years’ Division 1 premiers. Monbulk quickly went on the offensive and had nailed five goals to one by quarter time with quick ball movement. They controlled the ruck through Wensley and Evans, Hatherley was marking everything up forward, and the mosquito brigade, including Barge, Wall, Rak, Dekker and Spencer were mopping up anything around the packs. Lochie Beecroft dominated in the midfield while Linde, Veit, Savory, Hoare, Werts and Browne clamped down and rebounded out of defence. Every time that Emerald challenged, Monbulk would find a response. In a complete team performance with no weak links, the Hawks came away with a morale boosting 31 point victory heading into the King’s Birthday bye weekend..

Monbulk 15.8.98 def Emerald 9.13.67

· Best: Kai Linde, Ziggy Hatherley, Joshua Spencer, Campbell Evans, Lochlan Beecroft, Mitchell Veit

· Goals: Ziggy Hatherley 5, Pat Barge 2, Nic Wall 2, Joel Wensley 2, Lochlan Beecroft 1, Josh Wentworth 1, Joshua Spencer 1, Declan Browne 1

The Monbulk Reserves have been developing into a cohesive unit under playing coaches Dean White and Michael Langworthy. Both sides had been hit by injuries and Hamish Emmett led the team in the absence of Matt James. Against Emerald the Hawks were able to establish an early break and were never seriously challenged after that. Nearly half of this team comprises Under 19s from last season and the Reserves have now won 4 of their last 5 matches to move up to seventh.

Monbulk 12.11.83 def Emerald 3.3.21

· Best: Thomas Berman, Brodie Emmett, Tait Colee, Jack Downard-Pengilly, Tim Rickard, Hamish Emmett

· Goals: Thomas Berman 5, Michael Langworthy 2, Cameron Griffiths 1, Tait Colee 1, Jack

Downard-Pengilly 1, Michael Davies 1, Jesse Dodd 1

In the women’s game, Monbulk have just missed out on making it a trifecta in the football. The Hawks had won their opening seven encounters but it was Emerald that did most of the attacking early, scoring two goals in the opening term. Monbulk worked their way back into the match to hit the front in the third term, only to see the Bombers boot two early goals in the last. Monbulk kicked a late goal and just fell short by 2 points and registered their first loss for the year. Laura Gillard played

her 50th senior game while Helen and Scarlett Henderson created history by becoming the first mother/daughter duo to play together in the same match for Monbulk.

Monbulk 4.3.27 def by Emerald 4.5.29

· Best: Shania Turner, Madeline Caarels, Josie Ford, Scarlett Henderson, Jade McCormick, Matilda McDermott

· Goals: Jade McCormick 2, Scarlett Henderson 2

NETBALL

The A-Grade netballers were separated from

the footballers this week and met 5th placed Emerald on Pepi’s Land at Emerald. Monbulk (6th) has displayed some good form, however has not beaten a side above themselves on the ladder. The Hawks opened strongly with a 18-6 first quarter and were leading by 22 goals by half time. Emerald recovered their composure in the second half but the Hawks maintained their advantage to win by 28 as they set their sights towards securing a finals spot.

Monbulk 61 def Emerald 33

· Best: Stephanie Ferguson , Paige Whitworth, Georgia Himmelreich

· Goals: Stephanie Ferguson 28, Peri Reid 27, Sophie Stubbs 6

The B-Grade team currently has team has a threadbare minimum number of players and rely on a few emergencies every week. Against the last placed Emerald they put in their strongest performance since the opening round to run out easy winners by 28 goals.

Monbulk 64 def Emerald 36

· Best: Elizabeth Cutting, Dayna Walsham, Siobhan Munday

· Goals: Dayna Walsham 40, Jorja Wragg 20, Chloe Schmidtke 4

In C-Grade Monbulk and Emerald both carried a 3-5 win/loss record into this match. In a comparatively low scoring match, the Hawks grabbed an early lead and then maintained their advantage for the remainder of the match.

Monbulk 25 def Emerald 17

· Best: Sammi Kelly, Grace Sands, Chloe Carmichael

· Goals: Grace Sands 15, Chloe Carmichael 7, Jamie Sands 3

This week the development D-Grade squad are still searching for their first win as they push sides but just continue to fall short of opening their account for the season.

Monbulk 19 def by Emerald 29

· Best: Caitlin Utting, Zali Utting, Brooke O’Loughlin

· Goals: Ella Flynn 11, Hayley Donald 8

The Under 15s travelled further down Beaconsfield-Emerald Road to play the last placed and winless Eagles at Holm Park. The second placed Monbulk held a slight advantage for the first three quarters but were overrun 8-3 in the final term to go down narrowly in a somewhat surprise result.

Monbulk 19 def by Beaconsfield 23

· Best: Stella Dunstan, Stevie Mullinder, Kaitlyn Summers

· Goals: Kaitlyn Summers 15, Lara Stenhouse 4

Shania Turner of Monbulk marks in front of the scoreboard during the final quarter. Picture: SUPPLIED

Monbulk’s Mitch Dekker flies high. Picture: ANTHEA HEAGNEY

Monbulk’s Joel Wensley. Picture: ANTHEA HEAGNEY

Helen and Scarlett Henderson become first mother-daughter duo to play together at Monbulk.

Picture: ARMIN RICHTER