A suspicious fire, which left a section of the grandstand at Lilydale Recreation Reserve unusable, was not unexpected after months of damage and vandalism.
At around 5.30am on Wednesday 12 February, Lilydale CFA Brigade firefighters were paged to the blaze in the grandstand, believed to have been called in by a passing train driver.
The brigade’s First Lieutenant Ron Haines said the fire was “well alight” when the responders arrived within five minutes of getting the call.
“It did manage to start in the floorboards. It spread to the chairs in this grandstand, then it went up into the part of the roof,” he said.
“We were able to contain the fire very, very quickly and we contained the fire to approximately an area of five by five metres, plus there must have been about 30 chairs damaged, and a small portion of the roof was scorched by fire.
“It was a very quick save by the fire brigade backed up by CFA Chirnside Park and also CFA Mooroolbark.”
With no one around and no evidence of how
the fire started, the CFA called police identifying the fire as suspicious.
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed “no one was injured” and “an investigation into the circumstances is underway”.
Lilydale Cricket Club president Steve Oxley said unfortunately “we’ve been preempting the bad news” with a group of young people hanging around, using the grandstand as a place to gather.
“For weeks now, it’s been coming. They’ve been breaking the seats, leaving a stack of debris up there, having copious amounts of drugs, and
with no real consequence, because there’s not much we can do but talk to the police,” he said.
“We get the PSOs over there and the police themselves but for the police, there’s not much they can do which leaves us in a terrible predicament.”
First seen using the grandstand at the start of football season last year, Lilydale Football Club president Anthony Simmons said the activity picked up throughout summer and the school holidays.
Continued page 3
Chairs in the grandstand, the adjoining back walls and the floorboards were damaged in the fire on Wednesday 12 February. (Lilydale CFA)
NEWS General bulk-billing falls
By Callum Ludwig
Health directory Cleanbill released the third annual Blue Report in 2025, scoping out the availability of bulk billing for an adult without concessions in communities across the country.
It is a mixed bag for the federal electorates of the Outer East, with the changes in bulk billing clinics over the last three years varied between Casey, Aston and Deakin.
Sincetheendof2022,Cleanbillhascalledeach GP clinic they could across Australia to gather pricing and availability information for bulk billing across the country, checking in with the 6925 clinics yearly to account for any changes. Only 64 clinics nationally either didn’t provide their pricing and availability information or didn’t answer Cleanbill’s multiple attempts to contact their clinic or the report.
Aston’s previously strong availability of bulkbilling has nosedived, having sat at 36 per cent of 25 available clinics in 2022-23 and 32.4 per cent of 37 available clinics in 2023-24, it has now tanked to a concerning 11.1 per cent of 36 available clinics in 2024-25. The average out-of-pocket cost for a consultation has only risen by $2.28 to $36 during this time.
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) President Dr Michael Wright said all Australians need affordable access to a GP who knows them and with a federal election fast approaching, we should be seeing bold commitments from all political parties to achieve this.
“With proper investment in Medicare we can increase bulk billing, and reduce out-of-pocket costs for people who aren’t being bulk billed, both of these things are crucial,” he said.
“We know funding works, government data and the RACGP’s Health of the Nation report have shown the tripling of incentives has helped GPs bulk bill more children and concession card holders, particularly in rural and remote areas where the incentives are highest,”
“But most Australians aren’t eligible for higher incentives and they’re missing out. A recent report in Nine newspapers found those aged 16 to 64 are paying more out of pocket, and it’s putting many people in a tough spot.”
The electorate of Casey has been one of the biggest improvers in the country in availability, albeit having risen from a low base of 11.8 per cent of the 34 available clinics in 2022-23 to 15 per cent of 40 available clinics in 2024-25. This is however a reduction from 18.4 per cent of 38 available clinics in 2023-24, while the average out-of-pocket cost for a consultation has risen by $6.53 to $41.81 in the last three years.
Deakin’s availability remains largely unchanged, slightly down to 13.9 per cent of the 36 available clinics currently from 14.3 per cent of only 28 clinics in 2022-23. It dipped in between those years to 12.5 per cent of 32 available clin-
ics in 2024-25 before rebounding and the average out-of-pocket cost for a consultation has risen by only $2.46 to $39.33 in the last three years.
Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler was asked for comment on the report in January and said a ring around of general practices by this private company is no substitute for core Medicare data though Medicare data shows that there aren’t as many bulk billed visits as they would like.
“I’ve been very clear we need to do more, and what we have done has made a meaningful difference, but it is still tough for general practices, and importantly, it’s tough for patients to find affordable access to a GP when they need it,” he said.
“The general increases to the Medicare rebate have started to take some of the financial pressure off GPs, not only allowing them to bulk bill, importantly, age pensioners, concession card holders and children under the age of 16, but also to take some of the pressure off out-of-pocket costs for other Australians,”
“Obviously that group of other Australians are a big focus of ours, they were a big focus of our
cheaper medicines policies, those Australians who don’t qualify for concession cards.”
The Australian government tripled the incentive for GPs to bulk bill children under 16, pensioners and other concession cardholders from 1 November 2023 and nationally 77.5 per cent of all GP visits were bulk billed in December 2024, an increase of 1.9 percentage points on October 2023 before the incentive took effect. However, the Cleanbill report found the percentage of practices bulk billing new adult patients without concession cards has fallen to 20.7 per cent nationwide.
Australian Medical Association President Dr Danielle McMullen said GPs are facing rising costs pressures to keep their practices going, pay staff, cover rapidly rising rent and insurance, and deliver first-class care to their patients following the release of the Cleanbill report.
“We for many years saw a Medicare freeze, and so that rebate the patients get back for general practice care really has not kept pace with the cost of providing that medical care,” she said on ABC Radio.
Dr McMullen also told media the report did
not provide a full picture if bulk billing rates in Australia, saying it measured only how many practices fully bulk bill every single patient that comes through the doctor’s door for every single service.
“The federal government made a significant downpayment of around $6 billion for primary care in the 2023 budget, which has slowed the decline of bulk billing rates,” she said.
“We welcomed this investment and we continue to advocate for further reform and investment to ensure the system continues to support improved access and affordability for patients.”
Cleanbill considered bulk-billing clinics to be:
Clinics with at least one doctor who is taking on new patients and is bulk billing, even if the clinic has other doctors who do not bulk bill.
Clinics that are bulk billing during regular, weekday business hours, but which do not bulk bill outside of these hours
Clinics that bulk bill without charging a oneoff, yearly, or monthly fee to access bulk billing.
Ambulances still not hitting 15 minute callout targets
By Chelsea Szabo
Ambulance Victoria’s quarterly data shows response times to Code 1 callouts in the Yarra Ranges have increased to an average of 17 minutes and 41 seconds, an increase of 27 seconds from last quarter.
The quarterly statistics also show Code 2 callouts have increased by 1 minute and 44 seconds.
Healesville did not come close to achieving a Code 1 response time of 15 minutes for 90 per cent of callouts, part of Ambulance Victoria’s response time targets implemented between 2016 and 2017.
“October to December is commonly one of our busiest times, and last year was no exception as our crews were called to 99,799 Code 1 emergencies,” Ambulance Victoria executive director of regional operations Danielle North said.
“This was also the third quarter in a row close to or above 100,000 cases.”
While the total number of Ambulance Victoria Code 1 callouts grew by 128 calls last quarter, the number of Yarra Ranges residents calling Triple Zero for Code 1 emergencies decreased.
Surrounding areas like Knox saw a 13-second increase in their Code 1 response times, Cardinia saw a one-second increase and Ma-
(File: 303384)
On Tuesday 11 February, Victoria’s health minister
set of 10 standards whose aim is to “improve whole-of-hospital flow so that patients arriving via ambulance can be consistently transferred
to the care of a hospital in a timely manner”.
The Standards detail efforts to focus on efficient ambulance distribution, prioritise alternate care pathways that don’t require ambulances, and strengthen processes required to clear patients at hospitals so ambulances can respond to new calls faster.
Specifically, once the care for a patient has been transferred to the hospital, it should take no more than 40 minutes for the ambulance to leave the hospital under Standard 1.
The Standards for Safe and Timely Ambulance and Emergency Care for Victorians will start their implementation this month, to be rolled out into all Victorian public hospital emergency departments.
More new paramedics are also being recruited to help cope with demand.
“Since last November, we have welcomed 84 new graduate paramedics to our ranks and a further 15 new recruits will start soon including qualified paramedics from New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and New Zealand,” metropolitan regional director Michael Georgiou said.
“We know there is more work to do. AV continues to work with hospitals to promptly transfer patients and ensure all Victorians receive the right care at the right time.”
roondah’s decreased by one.
Mary-Anne Thomas announced a
Ambulance Victoria response times in the outer east are still over the targeted 15 minutes.
Cleanbill’s annual Blue Report has been released, revealing the rates of bulk-billing availability across the country. (File)
NEWS IN BRIEF
Grandstand burns
From page 1
“They have no respect for the building or the facilities. Graffiti sprouts as soon as they start hanging around there,” he said.
The grandstand, built in 1923 and fitted out with seats acquired by the two clubs from the MCG’s southern stand, was the main viewing area, as well as housing the visitor and umpire change rooms underneath.
“(The fire was) directly above the shower area for the visitor rooms…whether or not the fire damaged the roof structure, we’re not sure but the water that was used to put the fire is possibly going to do some damage,” Mr Simmons said.
“It’s an old building, I’d be very surprised if there’s not some damage associated with that whole process.”
As a Yarra Ranges Council managed and owned building, the structural assessment falls to its engineers who have since carried out make-safe works.
“The site has now been cleaned, and temporary fencing erected. The tiered timber steps will be replaced over the coming days, however, some of the seating was not able to be saved. The seats that were salvaged have been relocated,” a spokesperson said.
Mr Oxley said however, with approaching cricket finals and Lilydale a potential host of these matches, as well as the position of the training nets, it jeopardises both viewers and players.
“The premier grade cricket around the eastern suburbs is the RDCA Trollope Shield, and we’re on top of the ladder. So we would have had a packed grandstand there,” he said.
“The damage has impacted the safety of any players who train around the back of the grandstand because we’ve got our nets there.
“So the state of the grandstand, obviously, is now going to come into question. The roof is definitely unsafe, it’s been burnt, and the two side walls.
“So if the walls become classed as unsafe, and obviously anything within the vicinity, I don’t know what their safety rules are going to be, but they’re going to cordon off our nets, and then we’re going to be in trouble.”
Aside from the fire, Mr Simmons told Star Mail late on Wednesday that the new coaches’ box, paid for and installed by the clubs, had also been damaged after someone had appeared to gain access and “bent the door on its hinges” from the force.
Trying to work with the young people to come up with a solution, Mr Oxley said a couple of Saturdays ago he approached them to chat, where they said “we just need a space we can sit”.
“That didn’t work because they burned the place down,” he said.
“If I think about it, they’ve just done themselves an injustice because now, they’re not going to be able to go up there at all and the police will crack down.”
This fire has reignited calls from both Mr Oxley and Mr Simmons for new club and community facilities that were not accessible to the public like the grandstand is.
“We’d like to see the place turned into something like what Mount Evelyn now has or what Montrose has, where it’s locked up, we’ve got a viewing facility that’s not accessible to the general
public,” Mr Simmons said.
“We’ve been calling out for new club rooms for a long time where we’ve moved up the scale, down the scale. We don’t really know what the protocol is, but other clubs locally to us are getting the funding. Something like this makes it prevalent and only shows how much we really need something there,” Mr Oxley said.
Like opening a can of worms, both presidents said there were countless issues with the current facilities, like having no air conditioning nor suitable change rooms for the female players.
Although the ground itself has been repaired and maintained by the council to a standard that makes it one of the best, with barely up to scratch facilities, Mr Oxley asked why would parents choose Lilydale for their child based on the cur-
rent clubrooms.
“It all starts with juniors. We get the juniors looking at the club room saying, ‘we’re not going to play at that club’, or ‘we’ll go to the next big thing’ and ‘who’s giving us the best facilities’. That’s how clubs fail. 1864 we started and it’d be sad to see a club like ours go down the gurgler,” he said.
“There’s nostalgia there, and there’s a heart, you can feel it but if you’re a parent of a child these days, and you look at the change rooms you’d think, ‘I’m not going to send my kids into a dungeon’, it’s not a good look.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident, has CCTV/dashcam footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au
Teens arrested for cigarette burglaries
Five teenagers have been arrested after allegedly stealing cigarettes from two Croydon locations before running rampant across the eastern suburbs.
Police believe the teens allegedly stole cigarettes from a Dorset Road service station and a store on Mount Dandenong Road, as well as attempting a burglary at a service station on Bayswater Road in Bayswater North around 9.30pm on 10 February but the offenders were disturbed by a staff member and fled. No threats were made and there were no injuries.
Officers spotted the allegedly stolen white Range Rover Discovery, which was said to have been used in these earlier incidents, driving erratically on Capital Avenue in Glen Waverley about 11pm.
The car was stolen from the Albert Park area on 8 February.
The Range Rover was followed from Glen Waverley through multiple suburbs by Air Wing, Operation Trinity units and uniform police on the ground.
A short time later, the occupants dumped the Range Rover in Wantirna.
They allegedly attempted to steal a vehicle at the intersection of Burwood Highway and Stud Road but were unsuccessful.
The teenagers allegedly stole a Ford Focus during an aggravated carjacking on Stud Road, where the driver was threatened with a knife.
The driver was not physically injured during the incident.
The teenagers fled in the Focus towards Box Hill and stop sticks were successfully deployed.
The car came to a stop on Belmore Road in Mont Albert North where the five male occupants fled on foot.
Four boys from the Dandenong area, aged 13, 14, 15 and 16, and a 15-year-old boy from the Moorabbin area were all arrested nearby. They were taken into custody and will be interviewed by Maroondah Crime Investigation Unit detectives.
Operation Trinity has been specifically targeting burglars and car thieves each night since March 2023.
The operation, which runs from dusk until dawn across Melbourne, is easily Victoria Police’s most well-resourced operation.
On top of standard patrols, there are another 70 police including members of the Dog Squad, Public Order Response Team, and Air Wing, specifically tasked with preventing and responding to burglaries and car thefts each night.
Bayswater blaze
Firefighters worked through the night to battle a significant factory fire in Jersey Road, Bayswater, which began in the early hours of 14 February.
Around 24 crews from CFA and FRV were called to the scene just after midnight, finding the building ablaze.
Bayswater CFA was supported by brigades from Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Upper Ferntree Gully, Lilydale, Montrose, Narre Warren, Scoresby, South Warrandyte, Upwey, Yellingbo and units from Fire Rescue Victoria.
The factory, believed to house recycling materials, sent large amounts of smoke into the area, prompting the CFA to issue a series of warnings.
By 2.25am, the fire was brought under control, with safety declared at 9.52am.
Crews remained on-site, and an investigation into the cause is underway.
Firefighters were onsite within five minutes, saving majority of the structure but still seeing extensive damage. (Lilydale CFA)
The seats and burnt flooring have been removed by Yarra Ranges Council during make-safe works. (Stewart Chambers: 459251)
The grandstand was built in 1923 and was fitted out with seats recovered from the MCG’s southern stand. (459251)
DV victims hurt by levy
By Callum Ludwig
Reporting from the Herald Sun has revealed that domestic violence victims are being inadvertently hit with the Victorian Government’s short-stay levy as they use short-stay accommodation, such as Airbnb, to escape their violent circumstances.
But leading university researchers state that this only identifies a bigger problem across the whole housing sector.
“It’s symptomatic of a much deeper set of challenges that we’re facing across the broader housing system… the majority of short-term accommodation offered on platforms such as Airbnb or Vrbo is residential housing that has transitioned out of the residential housing sector, such as the private rental market for example, into this quasi-tourism accommodation sector,” Dr Adam Crowe, Research Fellow at Curtin University’s Centre of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), said.
The Herald Sun cited an anonymous shortstay operator who couldn’t waive the levy for a victim of abuse and who showed documents and records indicating a domestic violence service was using their accommodation to house women feeling domestic abuse, as well as ‘sector sources’ who confirmed this was widespread as traditional hotels and motels and dedicated crisis accommodation remain in short supply.
In response, a Victorian Government spokesperson said people fleeing domestic violence have suffered enough and they will always support them.
“We set out exemptions so that this levy does not apply to temporary crisis accommodation providers and any organisation that is being subject to the levy and shouldn’t be, needs to contact the State Revenue Office for assistance,” they said.
“This policy is unlocking more homes for real rentals and more funding for social housing. This is an important step towards making more properties available for long-term rental – and giving Victorian families more opportunities to find a home.”
The Victorian Government also pointed to $150 million which has been provided to improve and expand refuge and crisis accommodation, including undertaking the refuge redevelopment program.
The refuge redevelopment program has been ongoing for almost a decade with the aim of replacing 17 communal refuges across the state with core and cluster models that allow for independent living combined with comprehensive support services. It also supported the construction of three new Aboriginal refuges and two additional core and cluster refuges in areas of high demand and took the state’s total to 35 refuges which can service nearly 200 families at any given time.
Eildon MP and Shadow Minister for Family Violence Cindy McLeish said these services are doing their best to help the growing number of domestic violence victims, and they can’t afford to be paying an extra tax.
“The victims fleeing by themselves often have very little and need all the help they can get getting back on their feet,” she said.
“Victims of family violence are certainly not having a holiday, they are looking to find some-
where safe,”
“Accommodation is a key factor in women’s decision to flee family violence. They should not have to choose between a family violence crisis and homelessness crisis.”
Ms McLeish cited the 17 October 2024 Legislative Council discussion of the Short-Stay Levy Bill where Liberal Member for the Northern Metropolitan Region Evan Mulholland raised the potential to include tax exemptions for people who utilise short-stays for medical treatment (where short-stays are seen as more accommodating for people with disabilities) or due to perceived mental or physical health threats to their safety or wellbeing, such as domestic violence incidents.
In the discussion, Attorney General Jaclyn Symes said that the proposed amendments were ‘not able to be implemented in a workable way because anyone could claim that they meet one of the exemption criteria and it would be therefore impossible to verify that.’
Regardless of the levy, the question remains as to why victims and domestic violence support services have to turn to short-stay accommodation to house victims fleeing their circumstances.
Dr Crowe said short-term stay or short-term accommodation is certainly not an appropriate housing option for people fleeing domestic violence as it’s expensive, time-limited and doesn’t offer the required level of security of tenure for victims.
“The social housing wait list has ballooned where some eligible households are waiting up to 10 years for a placement, and this means they’re seeking housing across the private rental market, and they’re also competing with people who 10
years ago would have already moved into home ownership but are also seeking housing in the private rental market,”
“More important to this case study, it means that people are living much longer in crisis and transitional housing which is supposed to be the first port of call for people experiencing homelessness or people on the edge of experiencing homelessness, or in this case fleeing unsafe homes through domestic violence.”
According to data from AirDNA, an analytics platform that tracks performance and market data from short-term rental sites like Airbnb and was cited by Dr Crowe, today there are currently more than 23,000 active short-term rental listings in Melbourne alone.
“It’s essential to not only ensure that we have dedicated crisis and transitional accommodation, but we really need to increase the proportion of social and affordable housing across the country, but specifically in those high-cost urban areas,” Dr Crowe said.
“One of the key barriers to that, one of many, is that state governments now play a much smaller role in the direct provision of housing, state governments unlike 30 or 40 years ago are not the builder and the tenancy manager of the majority of our social housing, instead, it’s fallen on the non-profit community housing sector,”
“However, for the non-profit community housing sector to deliver the social and affordable housing that we urgently need, they have to compete on the private market for land and construction costs.”
According to AirDNA, the majority of the
short-stay listings are full house listings and are two, (23 per cent), three (36 per cent) and fourbedroom (19 per cent) houses.
Dr Kate Seymour from Flinders University is an expert on gendered violence and said because of how short the supply of accommodation is in general across Australia, particularly the lack of rentals and social housing, when a domestic violence victim gets into crisis accommodation, she can’t be moved on until there’s somewhere else for her to go.
“Shelters and domestic and family violence services work on the basis that people come into the shelter and have a maximum time in which they can stay, whether that’s a month, two months, three months, and then they move on so you can get somebody else in,” she said.
“It turns all that on its head when there’s nowhere to go to move people on, it just creates a big bottleneck that slows everything down and also then increases reliance on things like motels and short-stay accommodation as the alternative to shelters, which means that there are more costs associated with funding it,”
“It’s going to be a further drain on the very limited resources that Jask and family violence services have, they’re already working on very limited funding and are having to make really hard decisions about who to help and how to help, given that they just don’t have enough housing or funding,”
“We’re still left with a huge problem in Australia around the lack of services with crisis accommodation for the women escaping domestic and family violence, levy or no levy.”
Short-stay accommodation, such as Airbnbs, are being relied upon to shelter victims of domestic violence. (Shutterstock)
Watch out, scams abound
By Dongyun Kwon
To prevent putting more Australians at risk of scams, the Parliament of Australia passed the Scams Prevention Framework Bill on 13 February.
The Star Mail delved into the scam cases that happened locally to raise awareness of the risk of scams as well as inform the best way to solve the issue this week.
While the Star Mail crew were busy finishing up everything for the newspaper that was going to be printed the next day, an email was sent to Star Mail’s editor’s email inbox at around 11am on Monday 10 February.
In the email, Healesville resident Alan Honeycombe was asking for help.
“Would you be open to a brief email conversation?” it reads.
“I would have preferred calling, but I’m currently managing shingles, and, unfortunately, my phone screen went black after a fall.”
The Star Mail contacted Mr Honeycombe and noticed it wasn’t him who had sent the email.
His email account was hacked and the hacker sent the email to all the people in his contact list.
Mr Honeycombe said he knew about it when he got a phone call from his sisters.
“They asked me if the email, that they believed they got from me, was true,” he said.
“If you replied to this person on the other end, which was not me, that person would direct you to go and buy 10 $50 Apple vouchers at the shop that could be delivered to this person.
“That person also said my niece had breast cancer and needed money for treatment. None of them were true.”
As soon as he noticed his email account was used for scam, he sent everybody in his email address book a second message, saying that this was a scam and not to take any notice of it.
He also reported it to Telstra and called a technician to solve the issue.
internet, will think ‘I better do that, or something terrible will happen.’,” he said.
“That’s when the trouble starts, so fear is a common ingredient but wasn’t in my case.”
Another Healesville resident, who asked for their name not to be used, went through a similar scam experience last December.
An email was sent to Star Mail’s editor email inbox on 23 December.
“I apologise for bothering you. Can I communicate with you by email for a little period of time?” it reads.
“I have terrible throat pain, so I can’t even make calls.”
The Healesville resident said the email was sent to everyone in her email address list including a person from Western Australia.
“They all replied in some way. Several people warned me straight away to get my password changed,” they said.
nally supplied the last bit of information, I could hear their relief and see $5000 went out from my bank account.”
IDCARE is Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and cyber support service, which is a not-for-profit charity that was formed to address a critical support gap for individuals confronting identity and cyber security concerns.
IDCARE national manager outreach and engagement Kathy Sundstrom said emails contain a treasure trove of information from personal contacts, to emails containing valuable information and more.
“Criminals target email accounts because of this, and it is why it is so important people protect their email accounts with multi-factor or two-factor authentication,” she said.
Mr Honeycombe said he was not sure about what caused it but he thought it might have been caused by a suspicious email he received a couple of days before it happened.
“The email was purportedly from BigPond, asking me to put some information in to get the BigPond account sorted out,” he said.
“When I looked into it, it was not from BigPond at all, somebody else was trying to get access to my details.”
Fortunately, Mr Honeycombe said nobody took up the offer from the scammer as far as he knew of.
“Be very wary of organisations or people that are pretending to be organisations that aren’t. If you look at the email address that they’ve come from, there’s usually some indication that it’s not really Telstra, bank or whatever because there’s something wrong with the email address.”
Mr Honeycombe said many scammers work on fear like ‘if you don’t do this within 24 hours, this will happen’.
“Older people, who are not familiar with the
“There was another group of people who were worried about me, saying ‘Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that you are ill, I hope you’ll be all right.’, but nobody fell into that trap; (The scammer asked them to buy a gift card and send it to them).
“The other group turned out to be very sensitive and believing the scam, sending me texts like ‘We’re always here to help you.’.”
This scam victim had been scammed before this, through which they lost $5000. The Healesville resident said it was due to their ignorance of the scam.
“When this call came in, they said they were from Telstra and they’d noticed a fault in my email,” they said.
“It went on and on for about half an hour and I was blasted with requests. I was a little bit suspicious, but not enough to hang up.
“The man (the scammer) failed a bit, and a woman jumped in and pressured me to comply with what they were asking.
“I started to provide my details, and when I fi-
“Microsoft has estimated that having multifactor authentication enabled on an account like an email stops over 99 per cent of account compromise attempts, yet so many people don’t have it enabled on their personal emails and social media accounts.
“It is easy to set up. We have fact sheets on how to do this in our learning centre on our website at idcare.org”
Ms Sundstrom shared the best ways for scam victims to take when they notice the scam.
“Your first step is also to ensure your financial accounts are secure and contact your bank,” she said. “With access to your email, a criminal may have enough information to impersonate you so it’s important you don’t ignore it.
“You can also use your email provider’s recovery service and change your password and then set up two-factor authentication. Check your other accounts for indicators of compromise too, particularly your social media accounts.”
The recently passed Scams Prevention Framework Bill aims to enhance protections across the economy by setting out consistent and enforceable obligations for businesses in key sectors where scammers operate.
Scams Prevention Framework Bill aims to enhance protections across the economy by setting out consistent and enforceable obligations for businesses in key sectors where scammers operate. (File)
Safety, education needed
By Mikayla van Loon
A Croydon man, who succumbed to a traumatic brain injury after an e-scooter accident, has sparked calls from a state coroner for safer use of these popular modes of transport.
Daniel McNeill, 39, was found unconscious on Maroondah Highway in Ringwood by passerby Gregory Kerr around 6.14am on 2 February 2023.
Mr Kerr noticed Mr McNeill was not wearing a helmet and his phone and e-scooter were on the pavement several metres away.
Calling emergency services, Mr Kerr was advised there was a 40-to-60-minute wait for an ambulance, according to the coroner’s report.
Mr McNeill eventually regained consciousness but was rather agitated and abusive.
Victoria Police were alerted to a reportedly verbally abusive male who had “collided with a letter box” at around 6.24am.
Moments later Mr McNeill was said to have mounted the e-scooter and rode off in “zig-zag fashion” down the nearby Mullum Mullum Creek trail.
Mr Kerr told police he believed Mr McNeill was drug-affected and was concerned he would have another collision.
This happened at around 6.30am when Leora Dobia was in bed and heard someone outside “moaning and swearing”.
At 6.45am she located Mr McNeill in her driveway in a reduced conscious state and bleeding from the mouth and nose.
Police and paramedics arrived around 7am but Mr McNeill resisted treatment for his injuries and refused a cervical collar and C-spine precautions, requiring police assistance to get him on the stretcher and into the ambulance.
He was taken to Maroondah Hospital where he was searched by police where a mobile phone, car keys, a knife, a pipe, measuring scales, a piece of straw, and multiple resealable bags containing approximately 15.5 grams of an opaque white crystal substance believed to be ice
(methylamphetamine) were located.
A toxicological analysis of a blood sample taken upon admission revealed the presence of methylamphetamine (~0.30mg/L).
Emergency physician Dr Erin Woodward identified a head injury and ordered a CT scan which showed “a large extradural haemorrhage with associated midline shift (bleed around the brain causing build-up of pressure”. A base of skull fracture and subarachnoid were also apparent.
At 9.15am, Mr McNeill was intubated and sedated with morphine and midazolam. He was also given mannitol to reduce intracranial pressure and was prepared to be transported to The Alfred Hospital via Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedics.
Mr McNeill underwent an emergency craniotomy and evacuation of the haemorrhage.
But after slowly being weaned out of sedation, Mr McNeill showed no signs of neurological improvement and doctors and his family made the decision to stop active treatment.
He was transferred to the Palliative Care Unit of Wantirna Hospital for end-of-life care on 28
February 2023.
His mechanical ventilation was switched off the following day and Mr McNeill subsequently passed away at 2am on 2 March 2023.
The forensic examination confirmed Mr McNeill’s death was a result of “complications following extradural haemorrhage (operated) sustained in an electric scooter incident (rider)”.
Coroner Ingrid Giles echoed concerns expressed by fellow coroners that improved education “about the conditions and requirements for the safer riding of e-scooters” was critical.
“This ought to be done with a view of swiftly improving the safety culture of a mode of transport that otherwise appears promising in terms of its ability to reduce environmental impacts, improve urban mobility, and to constitute a more affordable form of transport when compared with cars and other vehicles,” Coroner Giles said.
Victorian law requires anyone operating an escooter to be wearing a helmet, abide by the same blood alcohol content and drug use restrictions as motor vehicle drivers, not ride on footpaths, and not exceed 20 kilometres per hour, with e-scooters
capable of exceeding 25 kilometres per hour being classified as an unregistered motor vehicle and illegal for use in public settings.
Coroner Giles, however, also referred to the high number of presentations to emergency departments recorded at both The Alfred Hospital and the Royal Melbourne despite these enforced safety measures.
Between January 2022 and January 2023 the Royal Melbourne Hospital had 256 presentations because of e-scooter accidents, with 53.1 per cent of patients having cranial, facial and cervical spine injuries.
Fractures were observed to be the second most common type of injury (47.7 per cent), followed by head injuries (16.4 per cent).
The use of recreational drugs and alcohol were observed in 11.3 per cent and 33.6 per cent of riders, respectively, and 26.3 per cent of presenting patients reported failing to wear a helmet.
The Alfred Hospital saw 272 presentations between 1 January 2017 and 31 May 2022 noting that 18 per cent were without helmets and traumatic brain injuries were sustained by 24.5 per cent of patients who had failed to wear a helmet.
Alcohol and illicit drug use also equated to approximately 23.9 per cent of presentations.
“The power output and speed capability of this scooter have the potential to, very quickly, place a rider in a situation where they are at the limits of controllability,” Coroner Giles quoted from Coroner Lawrie following an investigation into the death of a 51-year-old man from Cranbourne North.
“The consequences of a crash at the high speeds these vehicles are capable of, particularly when the rider has no head protection, are all too likely to be catastrophic.”
Coroner Giles agreed with Coroner Simon McGregor’s recommendation that the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) should liaise with the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) to design the best approach to educate and inform riders of safety.
A state coroner has echoed calls for improved education about the requirements when riding e-scooters. (Unsplash)
Deferred decision on roos
By Callum Ludwig Kangaroos
were the topic of a lengthy discussion during the Tuesday 11 February Yarra Ranges Council meeting.
During a councillor motion brought by Walling Ward Councillor Len Cox, Cr Cox and Woori Yallock resident Peter Preuss put forward a plea for Yarra Ranges Council to formally request to be removed from the Gippsland Harvest Zone under the Kangaroo Harvesting Program (KHP).
Mr Preuss said 10 other councils in what used to be the Central shooting zone have asked for and been given an exemption and he’s calling on Yarra Ranges Council to do the same.
“The reality is, if you pass the motion, the minister will probably say ‘ No, you’re too late, you should have done it last year’, you’re now in the Gippsland shooting zone and there’s a quota of 120,000, and the shooters that get tags for that region can start shooting them from here all the way through to Mallacoota,” he said.
“You’re not going to be able to control that, and it’s happening all over the place already, but if he says yes, what’s happens is our farmers, and there’s only a few of them that might want to shoot, they can still do it under the old system and at least our kangaroos will be safe.”
Commercial kangaroo harvesting was reintroduced in Victoria in 2019 through the KHP, which sets a limit on the number of kangaroos which can be killed by harvesters.
Cr Cox, having joined Mr Preuss for a ‘Walk and Talk’ he held at the Yarra Valley Living Centre in late 2024, asked Mr Preuss a couple of questions about the wellbeing of the kangaroos at the centre and the reports of kangaroo populations increasing.
Mr Preuss said those kangaroos aren’t doing well and he fears for them after not being able to find one of the over 200 kangaroos for over 20 minutes on Australia Day.
“Finally when we found one she was as skittish as anything but in an indirect way, she led us to the rest of the mob that was left and they were so frightened that they just took off, you (CR Cox) know how calm they were just standing there, but they had been shot at,” he said.
“I’m afraid I might not do any more of those ‘Walk and Talks’ because I think the kangaroo shooters can read too, it was advertised and they knew where they were so I feel really bad about opening that up,”
“Counting kangaroos is just really quite difficult, you can go to that property on a rainy day like you were and see 250 of them and extrapolate that across all the paddocks…the real telling thing is the number of carcasses coming in has gone down, in 2023 the shortfall was 57 percent so in other words they only got 43 per cent of the kangaroos that they were allowed to kill so it doesn’t make sense.”
The KHP quota for 2025 has been set at 106,750 kangaroos throughout Victoria (combined eastern and western grey kangaroos), including 11,900 eastern grey kangaroos in the Gippsland harvest
zone which includes the Yarra Ranges.
Cr Cox said the Yarra Ranges is an obvious one for shooters to concentrate on because they take the bodies to Coldstream and so it’s easy, it’s quick and it’s convenient for them to shoot here.
“The trouble with the shooting too, not only is it killing kangaroos is that a lot of them get shot but don’t get killed so you’ve got this awful issue where you’ve got kangaroos laying and dying on the land, eventually they die, but they die in agony,” he said.
“You’ve also got the problem too with joeys, because mum gets shot and the joey is left, and a lot of the shooters solve that problem, they just club the joeys to death which is killing a lot more than what some of the figures we’ve got would tell you,”
“We’ve got a prosperous tourist industry in Yarra Ranges, and a lot of people coming from overseas, and a lot of those people, I would suggest a large percentage of them, want to see some of our wildlife, the obvious wildlife for them to see during the day is a kangaroo, and they need to be able to see those kangaroos but the way things are going, they won’t be able to see them if this shooting continues long-term.”
Councillors Tim Heenan and Fiona McAllister both spoke in support of the motion.
“I’ve always been sceptical about figures that come out of a particular department that obviously has an interest in another way and I’ve been ap-
palled to read substantially on how the kangaroos are killed, and the appalling way that they’re left to die,” Cr Heenan said.
“It feels this isn’t an intellectual or analytical decision, even if we look at the facts and the data, it doesn’t stack up, it doesn’t make sense and we can delay and ask for more data and it’s still not going to stack up, but it’s not an intellectual or an analytical decision, it’s a moral one,” Cr McAllister said.
Councillors Jeff Marriott, Richard Higgins, Mitch Mazzarella, Peter McIlwain spoke against the motion, with a view to deferring any decision.
“I’m still wondering whether we need to get some more information, just purely from due diligence, I’m not saying this is from a point of view of saying we’re saying yes or no, but I just want to make sure that we’ve got everything lined up,” Cr Marriott said.
“We’ve asked twice, sent questions off to the State Government to find out some more detail so we can make an informed decision, I appreciate that their heart is very strong and I appreciate that very strongly in myself, however, I ask for the details,” Cr Higgins said.
“The evidence that’s been presented through the state government is serious peer-reviewed research and I want to make it clear that process is the science by which we make important decisions about how to protect our environment,” Cr McIl-
wain said.
“I want to hear exactly why the Minister thinks that we should be in this harvest site, once we have that information, then I am comfortable in making a decision on this matter, until that time, I don’t believe that we’ve done the due diligence in hearing from the Minister,” Cr Mazzarella said.
Cr Gareth Ward did not speak to the motion and Cr Jim Child was excused from the chamber due to a conflict of interest.
The Council took a break to check with the governance team whether a procedural motion to defer the decision could be introduced and it was allowed.
When the new motion went to vote, Cr McIlwain, Cr Mazzarella, Cr Marriott and Cr Higgins voted in favour of the deferral motion, with Cr Cox, Cr Heenan, Cr McAllister and Cr Ward voting against.
The split vote took it to a casting vote, to be made by the acting chair for the item (in the absence of Cr Child) Cr Higgins, who voted in favour of the motion, deferring it to the 8 April 2025 Council meeting. This marks the second occasion Yarra Ranges Council has heard the issue in a Council meeting, following a first submission by Mr Preuss in July 2023 and a subsequent councillor forum in October 2023, though now there are four new councillors in the chamber.
Parking petition lodged with Yarra Ranges Council
By Mikayla van Loon
The Lilydale Township Action Group (LTAG) formally submitted and presented its petition to Yarra Ranges Council calling for “fair and reasonable carparking signage”.
Having foreshadowed the lodgement of the petition at the previous council meeting, LTAG secretary Sharyn Manning spoke to the 178-signature document on Tuesday 11 February.
“Our petition (asks) the council to provide the people with the fair and reasonable car parking signage that is agreed by the council and disabled parking where appropriate, untimed and well placed parking spaces to suit the needs of the community,” she said.
“This or a traders permit system is particularly important for the traders and their staff, who often don’t have their own private car parks, and this leaves them particularly vulnerable to parking infringements. The community does not believe we currently have this.”
The petition also seeks the “rescinding of all fines” prior to an agreed consultation process, as well as publication of the consultation results and the method of recording of infringements.
“We want transparency and no reduction of statutory private car parking requirements on
Ranges Council calling for better parking transparency. (Rob Carew: 453683)
commercial builds without face to face consultation with township groups and traders as a minimum,” Ms Manning said.
“Approving planning permits, within the major activity centre, that have less than their statutory car parks put additional pressure on car parking by reducing capacity of the existing off street parking.”
Appreciative of the effort of the Township
Group, and Ms Manning in particular, for collating their voice in the petition, councillor Tim Heenan expressed his thanks and desire to achieve a better outcome.
“I’d like to acknowledge, obviously, the time taken to gather the signatures of those people. I’d also like to acknowledge the different points that you have written,” he said.
“I further like to acknowledge the angst that people have gone through, certainly this year and sections of last year, in relation to what has panned out in Lilydale.
“I know we can find a better way, and I’m hoping the council will work with the Lilydale Township Action Group, businesses and other interested parties going forward to be able to find a solution that will be appropriate for the township.”
This sentiment was echoed by fellow councillors Mitch Mazzarella and Fiona McAllister.
“Certainly we need to acknowledge the quite significant effort LTAG has gone to to obtain the nearly 200 odd signatures on your petition,” Cr Mazzarella said.
“(We) appreciate you making the time to come and speak to this in person. Obviously, there’s a sense of urgency for Lilydale, but given
we’re in the process of a parking management plan review or creation, it’s hugely valuable for us to hear your experiences, to make sure that actually, when we look at the whole of municipality approach, it’s different,” Cr McAllister said.
A secondary petition to seal Stanton Grove in Lilydale was also heard, with eight signatures, calling for a special charge scheme to provide an asphalted road, with no curb and channel.
Cr Heenan moved the motion to accept both petitions and ensure they are referred to the appropriate officer.
“(We) make that commitment that the seriousness of the nature of what has been put to council needs to be unpacked and dealt with in the way that I would hope the community would expect of this council,” he said.
“It’s very important that we get the parking in Lilydale correct, we get it right, and we future proof Lilydale…it’s really good to hear the persistent comments from LTAG to keep us on our toes and to make sure we’re aware of exactly what the community want and what the community need,” Cr Mazzarella said in seconding the motion.
It was passed unanimously.
A petition, led by the Lilydale Township Action Group and signed by 180 people, has been submitted to Yarra
Kangaroo harvesting was the subject of a lengthy debate in the Tuesday 11 February Yarra Ranges Council meeting. (Dave Hunt/AAP)
Lightning hits antenna
By Mikayla van Loon
In an uncommon but not unlikely incident, a Yarra Ranges community broadcaster had to act quickly after a lightning strike hit its antenna causing momentary interruption to the airwaves.
3MDR’s head technician David Miller said in the 40 years of operating, lightning has never struck the antenna “so it’s not something that we had ever planned for”.
While the bolt of electric current didn’t impact the antenna itself, the “specialised piece of equipment” known as radio frequency amplifier was a casualty of the strike.
“We went off air, and we thought the FM signal went off air, as opposed to the stream, because it’s both. I figured it was because the generator hadn’t started because there was a power cut at the same time up in Kallista,” Mr Miller said.
“So I went up to see if the generator was faulty but the generator was fine…but our main amplifier, the output transistors of it had been blown up, which is always a lightning strike. That’s the only way you can do that to one of the machines.
“The fact there’d been a storm through and caused the power to go off up there, clearly also had a lightning strike to the antenna.”
When broadcasting, 3MDR sends its signal from Upwey to Kallista, which is then turned into the FM signal to be sent across the airwaves. The amplifier amplifies that signal to ensure it can be heard everywhere.
As a short term fix, Mr Miller said an FM exciter was employed to keep the radio station going but just with a weaker transmitted signal until the amplifier could be repaired.
Because of the specialised nature of the equip-
ment, Mr Miller said “there’s only a limited number of places you can take it to get it repaired”.
Luckily a local business in Ringwood was able to slot in the repair and get it back to the station in a fairly quick turnaround.
Looking ahead, however, the community broadcaster will be aiming to fund a new amplifier, which can total a few thousand dollars, to ensure there’s always a back up plan.
“The amplifier, now that it’s been repaired, we’re looking at maybe retiring that amplifier, because it’s fairly old anyway, it’s about 15 years old and getting towards the end of its life,”Mr Miller said.
“So we’re thinking that we might try and raise some funds to get a new, replacement one, and then we will keep that one as a spare just in case it ever happens again.”
Fires keep brigades busy
By Mikayla van Loon
Fires, sparked by lightning, have in recent weeks been popping up across the Yarra Ranges and around the state, from severe to minor.
Early on Sunday 9 February, CFA brigades responded to a lightning fire in Mount Evelyn, requiring the swift response of local firefighters to keep the blaze contained.
The 1.40am call out to the grass and scrub fire required the manoeuvring of fire trucks down a narrow road, with firies from Wandin and Montrose there to assist.
Comments from the local community said the fire started roughly 10 minutes after the strike hit, with most nearby waking to the sound of the crack.
“As beautiful as lightning is, it’s certainly scary too,” one person said.
Firefighters in Cockatoo also responded to a similar scenario, as a storm rolled across the Hills.
“Our Brigade responded to a lightning strike which hollowed out a decent sized gum, requiring a swift response and a good deal of teamwork and hard work to bring it under control, all while dealing with heavy rain, high winds, periods of darkness and lightning, and slippery ground,” the brigade posted to social media.
A CFA spokesperson confirmed that just this year, over 200 fires caused by lightning have occurred in Victoria.
“From 1 January 2025 to 11 February 2025 there have been 235 fire incidents occur throughout the state where the ignition factor was lightning including the fires that have occurred in the Grampians National Park and Little Desert in the states West,” they said.
This includes 71 incidents in the North East Region, which covers the Yarra Ranges, and 67 incidents in the South East Region.
Melba Highway landslip repair works
Recently, a fire in the Yarra Ranges National Park was also suspected to have been ignited from lightning.
It required upwards of 60 firefighters and three waterbombing aircraft to contain the blaze. A multi-brigade response was also required at the end of January in Macclesfield when lightning struck in bushland, quickly spreading among the grass.
“When the lightning struck it didn’t take much to start a fire and spread to the surrounding bushland,” Macclesfield CFA captain Sharon Merritt said.
The CFA spokesperson said a network of members are situated throughout Victoria to monitor dry lightning, caused when thunderstorms carry little to no rain.
“To help manage dry lightning strikes, CFA and FFMVic have members in a network of fire spotting towers across the state and activate reconnaissance flights following lightning storms during the fire season,” they said.
“Fire management is a joint responsibility and we ask the community to remain alert and in tune with warnings if there is a dry lightning storm in their area.”
We’re completing critical landslip repairs on the Melba Highway in Dixons Creek, between Healesville-Kinglake Road and north of Hunts Lane. Melba Highway will be closed to traffic and detours will be in place from 17 February to late March.
Labour Day long weekend
Melba Highway will open in both directions for the Labour Day long weekend from Friday 7 March until Tuesday 11 March with reduced speed limits.
Please support local businesses which remain open during works and are accessible by travelling via Yarra Glen.
Scan the QR code or find out more at transport.vic.gov.au/melbahighway
A lightning fire required a coordinated response from three brigades to contain the blaze in Mount Evelyn. (Mt Evelyn CFA)
A lightning strike, which hit 3MDR’s antenna, was a once in 40 years occurrence but something they are now preparing for. (Unsplash)
Delays are hurting wildlife
By Callum Ludwig
Animal rescue groups and the chief animal rescue authority in Victoria are at odds, with delays blowing out and leaving injured animals without quick and adequate care.
Wildlife Victoria has operated as a non-profit charity since 1989 and is the first port of call for its 24/7 wildlife emergency response service to incidents of sick, injured, or orphaned native animals.
However, according to a report by the ABC on Monday 10 February, animal rescue groups and carers are angry, with Wildlife Victoria’s responses blowing out to more than a day after receiving reports of injured animals.
Raewyn Jeganathan operates the Waratah Wildlife Shelter in Big Pats Creek and has volunteered for Wildlife Victoria for a number of years and said the current situation is infuriating.
“Over the past six to 12 months I’m hearing from a lot more people that they have tried to contact Wildlife Victoria and have been on hold for an hour or more and these people have often called me directly, but I’m just one person and two volunteers, and if I can’t help, I would generally direct them to Wildlife Victoria because they have a much broader reach than I do,” she said.
“I know it’s difficult when they’re getting a large number of calls in but people’s goodwill only stretches so far and because it’s a really difficult and drawn-out procedure for them to report this animal, I’m sure there are a certain number of people that put it in the ‘Too Hard’ basket and walk away.
“And the reason the workforce isn’t there, I believe, is more around stupid little interpersonal politics than actual, genuine issues that would require someone to be stood down.”
12 Wildlife Victoria volunteers have been ‘let go’ due to breaches of Wildlife Victoria’s code of conduct.
Ms Jeganathan said they need to recognise
that people who volunteer with wildlife are generally quite passionate people who do it because they love and care about the animals.
“There are going to be times when people disagree and they should be able to voice their opinion without fear of being stood down or let go,” she said.
“Ultimately it impacts the animals because they’ve got ‘x’ amount of rescuers and experienced carers being stood down and there just isn’t a workforce there to attend to the number of calls that they’re getting,”
“And because they have this whole policy thing of not liking to refer things on and all that, they won’t call other rescue groups, for example, if there’s something up in the Yarra Valley, they don’t like to call up a Yarra Valley wildlife shelter and refer it to them and you end up with cases sitting on the board for hours if not days without getting any attention.”
The pathway to becoming a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or shelter is through the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) before the shelter can then register with Wildlife Victoria. According to the ‘Help for Injured Wildlife’ tool on the DEECA website, the nearest registered rehabilitator to the Yarra Ranges is based in Kinglake.
Wildlife Victoria CEO Lisa Palma said as a volunteer wildlife rescuer and carer herself, she understands the distress wildlife rescuers experience every day responding to sick, injured, and orphaned native wildlife.
“In the face of significant increase in demand for our services and despite operating as a charity in a chronically underfunded sector, we are working incredibly hard every single day of the year to ensure the best outcomes for our native wildlife and would like to assure the public that every call for help is appropriately responded to,” she said.
“Wildlife Victoria receives less than seven per cent of its annual operating costs from the state government and is reliant on the support of the
public to continue to operate.
“Without systemic change and an uplift in funding across the entire sector, Victoria’s native wildlife will continue to bear the brunt of the escalating impacts of climate change, habitat destruction, and urbanisation, and those volunteering and working to help them will be placed under increasing pressures.”
According to the Wildlife Victoria website, in the 2024 calendar year, Wildlife Victoria received 160,063 calls to their Emergency Response Service, including 3145 rescues in the Yarra Ranges, the third most of any LGA in the state. The organisation also had 134 foster carers, 161 shelters, 1093 rescuers and 1072 transporters volunteering for them.
With potential solutions such as professionalising wildlife rescue and an internal review of Wildlife Victoria being suggested, Ms Jeganathan said she can’t imagine the service being professionalised in her lifetime.
“There would be so many things to organise and it’s so fractured at the moment, there are so many little groups and independent shelters and to try and unite them all is going to be very difficult,” she said.
“I think Wildlife Victoria needs a real overhaul and review on how they’re operating, who they’re involving and why they’re standing people down and if they’re actually valid reasons or if they’re just interpersonal drama.
“Wildlife Victoria has the potential to be the key to wildlife care and at least be the organisation that facilitates communication between the wildlife carers but at the moment it’s just not doing that, but I don’t know what the solution is and I’m realistic enough to know that there is no magic solution and that no organisation is going to be perfect.”
The wellbeing of injured wildlife is a concern, with rescuers pointing to delays in Wildlife Victoria’s responses. (File)
NEWS Plan welcome
By Callum Ludwig
The Victorian Government’s 10-year Cat Management Strategy was launched at the end of January, marking the first time a statewide approach to monitoring our feline friends.
There are more than 227,000 registered cats in Victoria, not accounting for a significant number of unregistered, unowned or feral cats in Victoria, all of which pose a significant threat to native wildlife.
Animal Aid CEO Mark Menze said a coordinated strategy is crucial for improving outcomes for cats, owners, shelters, and wildlife.
“Animal Aid sees the impact of unplanned litters, abandoned cats, and increasing numbers of semi-owned cats, a statewide approach will encourage responsible pet ownership, support animal shelters, and protect native wildlife,” he said.
“With the rising cost of living, many people are struggling to afford vet care, desexing, and microchipping, a strategy that provides funding and practical solutions will help create long-term, sustainable change,”
Mr Menze and Animal Aid have welcomed a number of initiatives in the Cat Management Strategy which will make a difference, including:
• Desexing, microchipping, and registration for households who need assistance
• Support for semi-owned cat desexing to reduce stray populations
• Shortening shelter hold times to rehome cats faster
• Encouraging cat containment and providing subsidies for enclosures
Mr Menze said the biggest challenge is changing attitudes around cat ownership.
“Many still allow their cats to roam freely, which contributes to overpopulation, injuries, and predation on wildlife,” he said.
“The main issues include; high numbers of unplanned litters, semi-owned and stray cats not receiving proper care, overcrowded shelters leading to longer stays for cats and the need for stronger community awareness about the benefits of cat containment,”
“Responsible ownership means planning
ahead; desex cats early to prevent accidental litters, microchip and register them to ensure they can be returned if lost, keep them indoors or in a secure outdoor enclosure for their safety and to protect wildlife, stay on top of vet care, vaccinations, and parasite prevention and adopt from shelters rather than buying from breeders.”
According to the Victorian Government’s 2023 Pet Census, there are an estimated 914,00 pet cats in Victoria despite only 227,000 being registered across the state’s 79 Councils. While 95 per cent of registered cats are desexed, the status of the estimated 680,000 remaining cats is unknown, highlighting the importance of registration and management efforts.
Mr Menze said Animal Aid is committed to supporting cat owners and reducing the number of homeless cats.
“This strategy is an opportunity to bring lasting change, but success will depend on collaboration between government, councils, and the community,” he said.
“We encourage cat owners to be proactive in their pet care and support these initiatives to improve outcomes for everyone.”
To read the cat management strategy, visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/livestock-and-animals.
Community panel set to inform stormwater decisions
By Chelsea Szabo
The Stormwater Community Reference Panel (SCRP) was formed without opposition at the Yarra Ranges Council meeting on Tuesday, with all applicants securing a seat on the body.
The SCRP is part of Action 26 in the council’s Stormwater Management Plan 2024-2034, a landmark policy announced in 2024 alongside $16 million of funding in the latest budget for drainage infrastructure.
The newly formed SCRP is intended to provide a platform for community voices to help shape council decisions regarding stormwater management in the area.
“I’ve got every faith in these community members to make sure that we are held accountable for what we need to do in upgrading aging infrastructure to make sure we can face those challenges with flooding,” council-
Community Bank
Mt
Evelyn | The RSL says thanks!
Community can mean something different for everyone. For some it might be a particular place – where they live, work or visit. For others it’s a group of people that come together to share similar interests and experiences – like the members of the Mt Evelyn RSL. To us at the Community Bank Mt Evelyn, community is what we do. We support groups by strengthening them and building their capacity to do more in our community, working together to provide infrastructure and equipment so they can be more effective and reach more people. And we believe that by working together, in partnership, we are building a stronger, more connected network of communities across our local area.
For the past 23 years we’ve been providing sponsorship, grants and donations to many groups, clubs and organisations, including the Mt Evelyn RSL. Usually, it us making a presentation out to the community, however this time, Matt Crymble, President of the Mt Evelyn RSL and Chris McAleer, Vice President, presented our team (represented by Charlotte, Lauren and John) with a plaque to recognise the support we’ve provided them over the many years.
“We wanted to show our gratitude to the Community Bank Mt Evelyn and emphasise how their support strengthens the local RSL” said Matt Crymble.
“It’s a great relationship and we’ve been able to undertake some great programs, including our ‘Vets for Fishing’ program that is now going nation-wide.”
John Stroud, Chair of the Bank thanked the RSL and commended them for their work in the community, calling them ‘the glue’ for so many.
lor Tim Heenan, who seconded the council’s motion, said on Tuesday.
“The effects of flooding have been far and wide for far too long.”
The selected members represent eight of the nine wards in the Yarra Ranges Shire, with Walling being the only ward not represented.
Councillor Mitch Mazzarella also noted on Tuesday that a diverse number of community members are represented on the panel.
“It’s great to see that we’ve got representatives from all backgrounds and all manner of different experiences including many people with professional experience in the sector,” he said.
Meetings will be held three times per year and panel members will be appointed for a two-year term with the opportunity to reapply for another.
When it comes to banking that has a big impact, our bank in Mt Evelyn is proud to say that over the past twentythree years we have given over $4million back to the Mt Evelyn, Montrose and surrounding communities including Coldstream, Lilydale and the Hills. We’re making good things happen for people of all ages across our area.
“It’s local banking supporting local people - making good things happen.”
Let’s see how we can help you.
Mt Evelyn Bendigo Community Bank: Find us at Shop 2, 35-39 Wray Crescent, Mt Evelyn, call on 9737 1833, or send us an email at mtevelynmailbox@bendigoadelaide.com.au
A panel has been approved and appointed by Yarra Ranges Council to consult on the stormwater and drainage needs of the shire. (File: 295256)
Victoria’s Cat Management Strategy has arrived. (File)
NEWS VCAT rules on ECT consent
By Callum Ludwig
VCAT has made a decision in favour of a patient subjected to compulsory electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), with Senior Member G Nihill not satisfied that the patient RVL (anonymised name) lacked the capacity to give consent to the treatment at the time of the hearing.
The Mental Health Tribunal (MHT), made an order on 23 December 2024 granting an application for 12 treatments of ECT to be performed on RVL up until 11 May 2025. A consultant psychiatrist from Eastern Health, which was also a respondent, attended the hearing.
RVL did not want to have ECT and requested VCAT review the case, and the hearing was also attended by two of her treating psychiatrists Dr N, the consultant psychiatrist and Dr M, a registrar in the inpatient unit at the hospital, as well as Ms D, RVL’s community drug and alcohol counsellor.
Under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act (MWHA), the MHT can authorise an application to conduct ECT treatment if the patient does not have the capacity to give informed consent and there is no less restrictive way for the patient to be treated. If the patient can understand, remember, weigh up whether to provide consent and communicate that via any means, they have the capacity to give informed consent.
The Supreme Court case of PBU & NJE v Mental Health Tribunal was referenced in the case by Nihill and RVL’s legal representative Mr Ibaceta, where Justice Bell found that ‘the test of incapacity is a functional one’.
“It should not focus on the outcome of the decision, that is, not on what is best for the patient in the minds of others,” the decision reads.
Mr Ibaceta argued that RVL should be presumed to have the capacity to give consent, and did not have to demonstrate her capacity to give or decline consent but had regardless and ‘consistently understood the explanations about the procedure given to her by the treating team’.
VCAT has ruled in favour of a patient forced to undergo electroconvulsive therapy. (Unsplash)
“Her reasons for not wanting the ECT were not based in delusional thinking, or to the extent that delusional thoughts may have been involved these did not overwhelm the decision-making process,” the decision reads.
RVL gave evidence at the hearing and said she believed had been put in the hospital for her own safety, as part of ‘some kind of witness protection program’ because of her neighbour’s illegal activity. RVL said the treatment team had diagnosed her as having schizoaffective disorder, but she did not believe this. When asked, RVL said during ECT ‘she was placed under an anaesthetic with a muscle relaxant, and that an electric impulse was applied to her brain’ with the intention of easing her mental illness symptoms.
RVL said ‘she felt tired and muddled, and her muscles ached’ after the four rounds of ECT treatment she received by the time of the hearing on 6 January and that her current concerns about ECT were that she would ‘lose her short-term memory’ and ‘the spark in her personality.’ Previously, she had concerned at home ‘someone had been breaking into her house and drugging her body’
Doctors recommended ECT having tried other options. (Shutterstock)
of her house, people were intruding her house at 4am to drug her and these people can come after her post discharge if they have not been arrested by police’.
The treating team identified that RVL had a history of depression and anxiety which had been compounded by alcohol use, including a first episode psychosis event in 2021 where RVL was admitted to hospital distressed and frightened. RVl underwent inpatient treatment and was discharged on a community treatment order with medication. She later stopped taking the medication and disengaged with mental health services after the treatment order was later revoked.
In November 2024, RVL’s psychologist noted severe symptoms of illness, with RVL having smoked ice with a housemate and became fearful the former housemate had been tracking her and hacking into her technology, with her fears worsening to the point that RVL attempted to travel overseas due to extreme fears for her safety, despite having no ticket or passport.
Following RVL’s ECT on 2 January, Dr N said RVL’s delusional thoughts were less intrusive, she was following management plans, she was sleeping better and was less anxious.
“This was an improvement from the earlier period before the ECT treatments, when RVL was highly agitated, unable to sleep, distressed and afraid,” the decision reads.
“Dr N said that she regularly conducted assessments as to RVL’s capacity to consent to ECT and had done so as recently as 2 January 2025,”
“She remained certain that while RVL was able to understand the information about ECT that was given to her, and remember it, she was unable to use or weigh that information because her delusions interfered to a significant extent with her capacity to make an informed decision.”
Dr N noted after ECT treatment for RVL on 2 January that RVL ‘feels more relaxed and less anxious’ as well as ‘safe’ in the ward and ‘had good night sleeps for the last week.’ According to Dr N, RVL ‘still believed that there is a lab at the back
RVL declined to accept the benefits of ECT for her mental illness and the treatment team believed there was no less restrictive alternative and that pharmacological treatment had failed with only limited improvement ‘in RVL’s paranoia, anxiety and auditory hallucinations’ on different, trialled antipsychotic medications.
Mr Nihill had two criterion for the decision: ‘Did RVL lack decision making capacity with respect to giving or declining to give consent to ECT?’ and ‘Is there a less restrictive way for RVL to be treated?’
In the decision, Mr Nihill set about clarifying the application was not about if RVl had a mental illness and needed treatment, not about if ECT could benefit RVL and not about if the doctors, nurses and others on RVL’s treating team were ‘drawing on their considerable expertise and experience, and working with careful attention and compassion’ to treat RVL. If it was, based on the evidence, Mr Nihill said to all of the above their ‘answer would likely have been yes’.
“I could only make an order authorising the ECT if I was satisfied to the expected standard, taking into account the impact on RVL’s human rights of imposition of the proposed treatment without consent, and applying the law set out in detail in the MHWA and the case of PBU & NJE, that RVL did not have capacity to give informed consent to ECT and that there was no less restrictive way for her to be treated,” the decision reads.
“I was not satisfied about at least one of these two criteria, and so could not make an order authorising the ECT.”
MooroolbarkLibrarywasahiveofactivityaschildren aged eight to 14 tried their hand at stop motion animation.
The art of filming small movements over and over again and then compiling it into a short movie was a great learning experience, while getting to put technology to use in a fun way.
From action figurines to rubber ducks, storylines were crafted by each individual, with no two the same.
Sunday 23 February 2025 9.00am to 4.00pm
Star Mail photographer Stewart Chambers captured the fun.
Mooroolbark Library Children’s Services Officer Hanna teaches Theo the art of stop motion. (Stewart Chambers: 455376)
Max enjoying the activity. (455376)
Vardaan from Chirnside Park. (455376)
Hannah with her daughter Isla Capri. (455376)
Hazel films a section of her stop motion. (455376)
Penny loved learning the basics of filming a stop motion movie. (455376)
National service honoured
By Dongyun Kwon
While Australians were celebrating Valentine’s Day with their loved ones, Mount Evelyn RSL paused to honour the contribution of young Australian men called up for national service.
The local RSL sub-branch hosted a National Servicemen’s Day Service at 10am on Friday February 14, at the Mt Evelyn Memorial Gardens.
Mount Evelyn RSL committee member Chris Thiele said it was a commemorative event to remember those who were called up for national service.
“We honoured those people with a short service and a floral tribute,” he said.
The national service scheme was introduced four times between 1911 and 1972.
The Universal Service Scheme, Australia’s first national service scheme, began in January 1911, which involved boys from the age of 12 through to men in their mid-20s and ran throughout World War I.
The young boys were trained at school while the older boys were trained at various times throughout the year.
Some 636,000 men were called up to serve in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) during the first four years of this scheme.
No men were conscripted into the First Australian Imperial Force for service overseas.
Amid widespread debate, Australians voted against two referendums to introduce conscription during the war, and this first scheme was suspended in 1929.
In 1940, the national service scheme was revived shortly after World War II began.
Under this second scheme, unmarried Australian men who turned 21 in the year ending 30 June were called up for three months of military training in the CMF.
By mid-1942, some 290,000 men were enlisted in the CMF.
At first, any conscripts, who were called up, only served in Australia but it was changed in
1943 as the federal government passed a bill to use Australian conscripts in the war in the South West Pacific Zone.
The second scheme was closed down in 1946.
In the national service scheme between 1951 and 1959, all males aged 18 were required to register for national service and to undertake various training obligations in the navy, army or air force.
Once training was completed, national servicemen were required to remain in the reserve for five years.
Those called up under the third scheme did not see active service.
The last one ran from 1964 to 1972.
In this scheme, men aged 20 were selected by a birthday ballot for the army.
A year before the ballot, teenagers could choose to do their national service by enlisting in the CMF.
Some 35,000 chose this option.
If balloted out, they could resign from the
CMF immediately.
From 8 December 1965, people who enlisted in the CMF had to complete six years of service.
The service period was reduced to five years in 1971.
Between 30 June 1965 and 7 December 1972, over 63,000 men were called up for a period of full-time service and integrated into regular army units.
The initial service period of two years was reduced to 18 months in 1971.
Mr Thiele was one of the men who took national service for 18 months between 1971 and 1972.
“What they did was they pulled you apart, reassembled you and moulded you into the type of person they needed you to be in the armed forces,” he said.
“You came out of it a different person in some respects.
“To go back into assimilation into private life and business again was a whole new experience and wasn’t easy.”
Chirnside Park apprentice wouldn’t trade for anything
For Chirnside Park local Ebony Eagleton, 17, a career in trades was a natural choice, one new figures show to be a growing trend.
Coming from a family of tradies, she realised early that she thrived in a hands-on learning environment.
Leaving school in Year 10, she enrolled in a 14-week pre-apprenticeship at Box Hill Institute to test the waters.
“I decided to do a pre-apprenticeship to give myself a feel of the trade first,” she said.
“I loved it, so I applied for an apprenticeship at Specialised Plumbing Group and got the role.”
For employers, apprenticeships are a great way to grow a capable workforce while bringing an injection of fresh ideas.
Director and Owner of Specialised Plumbing Group, Anthony Naismith, has hired several apprentices from Box Hill Institute and said it was important to employ people with the right skills and attitude.
“I think finding the right apprentice is critical, and the apprentice has to find the right employer who will teach them and provide a good working environment,” he said.
As the only female apprentice in an all-male team, it was essential for Ebony’s employer to ensure she felt comfortable and could manage her fair share of the workload.
“I told Ebony on her first day it’s not an easy job so you’ll need to get your hands dirty. To her credit, she’s never complained. In fact, she loves it. I wouldn’t hesitate to employ another female apprentice,” Mr Naismith said.
From constructing homes to repairing vehicles and even styling hair, apprentices play a vital role in the economy. Their contributions are being recognised during National Apprentice Week, celebrated from 10 to 16 February, highlighting the opportunities and benefits of vocational training.
Recent data by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) showed the number of new apprentices and trainees surged by 14.3 per cent, with
“There’s
Chirnside Park apprentice, Ebony Eagleton, on the job at her plumbing apprenticeship. (Supplied)
Mt Evelyn RSL’s National Servicemen’s Day Service, L-R: secretary Iain Townsley, president Mattew Crymble and committee member Chris Thiele. (Dongyun Kwon: 459624)
The Mt Evelyn RSL hosted a National Servicemen’s Day Service at 10am on Friday February 14, at the Mt Evelyn Memorial Gardens. (459624) Floral tribute by Mr Thiele. (459624)
Girls go behind the scenes
By Dongyun Kwon
Healesville Sanctuary welcomed five girls who came to visit to learn about opportunities for women at the zoo.
This year marked the 10th anniversary of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February.
To celebrate this special day, the local zoo invited five members of the Zoos Victoria Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) to give behind-thescenes experiences at Healesville Sanctuary.
Chloe, Gracelyn, Meabh, Ruby and Zoe were chosen based on their strong interest in conservation and their curiosity about the role of a zookeeper.
Zoos Victoria education innovation leader Cheryl Laks said the students worked alongside specialist keepers at Healesville Sanctuary, assisting with animal feeding, habitat maintenance, and observing animal procedures and gaining a first-hand understanding of how science is applied in everyday operations, throughout the day.
“The experience not only allowed them to explore potential career pathways but also strengthened their ability to represent young voices in conservation through their work with the YAC,” she said.
“The selected students bring a diverse range of experiences and passions to the committee, from leading school conservation initiatives and advocating for environmental change, to inspiring their peers to take action for wildlife.
“Their participation in this initiative reflects Zoos Victoria’s commitment to youth engagement and education, ensuring the next generation is actively involved in shaping the future of conservation.”
Five mentors volunteered their time to introduce their jobs and how each role is integrated into the science; amphibian keeper Meg Lane, helmeted honeyeater keeper Monique Winterhoff, bird keeper Sarah Carter, veterinarian Dr
Chloe Steventon and platypus specialist Dr Jessica Thomas.
Dr Thomas said science is a big part of almost everything they do.
“In the Life Sciences department, there’s some more typical roles like the veterinary department where it is all about diagnosis and treatment, which has a very strong science background,” she said.
“All our threatened species programs have a very strong research component, ranging from genetics and mate selection through to dietary analysis and even breeding outcomes. The display rounds do data collection so that we can learn, grow and improve how we care for many species.
“There is so much we don’t know about basic biology, and we have a wonderful opportunity here to study some of their behaviours and advance science in a way that we can’t from studying wild animals.”
Zoos Victoria is inviting students in year 9 and 10 with leadership potential to apply for its Youth Conservation Leaders Program.
Students will develop leadership skills through a real-life conservation initiative for the Leadbeater’s Possum; participate in field science, including overnight stays and night-spotting in protected areas around the Healesville area; gain valuable experience in wildlife conservation, communication and project management; work with Zoos Victoria mentors to lead a community project with real impact.
Dr Thomas encourages young girls or women wanting a science-based career to follow their dreams.
She said it could be such a rewarding career.
“One of the reasons I was very passionate about (International Day of Women and Girls in Science) is because it’s all about women, supporting other women. Not competing with them,
but lifting each other up, and really being that supportive base for each other,” Dr Thomas said.
“What I like most about today is that for those of us that have been through it and now have our careers established, it’s a way that we can support the next generation coming through, and hopefully, provide some opportunities that we would have loved to have had when we were their age.”
Youth Conservation Leaders Program applications close on Tuesday 11 March.
Find out more and apply here at zoo.org.au/ melbourne/whats-on/events/youth-conservation-leaders
Healesville Sanctuary specialists and Youth Advisory Committee members celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science, L-R: helmeted honeyeater keeper Monique Winterhoff, Chloe, bird keeper Sarah Carter, Ruby, Gracelyn, veterinarian Dr Chloe Steventon, Zoe, amphibian keeper Meg Lane, platypus specialist Dr Jessica Thomas, Méabh, keeper Angelica Aguilar. (Zoos Victoria)
Chloe assisting bird keeper Sarah Carter with scale training in Land of Parrots. (Zoos Victoria)
Méabh making frog observations with amphibian keeper Meg Lane. (Zoos Victoria)
The Flying Solo program helps new students to bed into secondary school life at MLMC. (Supplied)
The Peer Support program is another way MLMC helps Year 7 students settle into secondary school.
OPEN DAYS
Discover a great beginning
At Mount Lilydale Mercy College (MLMC), we understand that selecting a school for your child is an important decision. We warmly invite families to visit the College on our Open Day, Sunday 16 March, and discover how we can be the difference for your child. You will have the opportunity to see first-hand all that the College has to offer them through hands-on activities, displays and tours of our amazing grounds and facilities. Staff and students will be available to answer your questions, allowing you to discover how your child can thrive at MLMC.
Principal Mr Philip Morison said he believes it is our task to develop the innate talents in every child who enters the College to ensure they leave us with the resilience and confidence to fulfil their potential.
“We want MLMC graduates to live their best lives and be the difference in the lives of those around them,” he said
From its beginnings, MLMC has embodied a distinct Mercy spirit which deepens respect for each individual. This spirit lies at the heart of the College’s Catholic identity and an education at MLMC will see your child immersed in a culture that highlights our Mercy Values of compassion, justice, respect, courage, service, and hospitality. We believe these good Christian values will help guide them as they navigate an increasingly complex world.
Commencing secondary school can be a daunting prospect and we make every effort to welcome new students through key events in the lead-up to starting at the College, ensuring they feel comfortable, prepared and welcomed. Public events such as Open Day and our annual College Musical give your child an opportunity to experience the breadth of choice that will open up them when they move into secondary education at MLMC.
Once enrolled, students have the opportunity
to participate in the Flying Solo program and Orientation Day prior to commencement, followed by Year 7 Camp and the Stepping Forward program in the first weeks of Year 7. Each program is designed to initiate and build upon connections with peers and teachers and makes the primary to secondary school transition less intimidating.
Our Year 10 Peer Support students play a vital role in ensuring a smooth and positive transition for our Year 7 students as they settle into College
life. By attending transition programs and then Year 7 classes weekly, Peer Support Leaders provide guidance, reassurance, and a friendly face to help younger students navigate new routines, academic expectations, and social connections. This structured support fosters a strong sense of belonging and well-being within the College community.
We look forward to welcoming your family to our Mount Lilydale Mercy College community.
All smiles for the first day of Year 7 at MLMC. (Supplied)
Year 7 Camp is always a hit.
Families are invited to the MLMC Open Day on Sunday 16 March.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Freedom and discovery
By Mikayla van Loon
Experimenting with paints, colour and texture has led Olinda-based artist Jamie Saxe on a discovery of being in a flow state.
It was that act of complete mental concentration, and the natural environment, which inspired a collection of artworks now on display at the Round Bird Art Space in Lilydale.
Saxe’s exhibition combines a series of works finished in the last 12 months, alongside some older pieces.
His exhibition, rightfully named Flow, explores aerial landscapes, clouds, nebulae and the movement of water through the abstract.
“I’m trying to work on that idea of flowing movement. That’s the main thing that I’m trying to achieve through this and it’s replicating a lot of the patterns we see in nature,” he said.
For 15 years, Saxe’s artistic style was rooted in using alternative methods, where he would avoid touching the canvas.
“That was very much because as soon as I did, it started to look contrived, and what I’ve been trying to do is replicate all of those patterns that you might see in clouds or nebula or sand and soil,” he said.
“Then in about May I thought this is a really limiting rule so I decided to break the rule, which has allowed me to start to experiment with applying different techniques.”
This came about in the form of natural resources like soil and turmeric, as well as manufactured products like gauze, to bring various textures and colour to the works.
“I had a lot of trouble getting earthy colours for a while, and started using a lot of dirt from the Yarra Ranges,” Saxe said.
From asking his partner to pick any coordinates, one which turned out to be a huge glacier in the Himalayas, to just entering his studio and “looking at a canvas and going, ‘what do I do today?’” Saxe’s approach differs each time.
“Two turned into landscapes, which I’ve never really done before, but I’ve just come back from Tasmania and I went down to the Three Capes and some of the photos I’ve taken look like the paint-
Liam Neeson return is a
By Tanya Steele
It doesn’t matter who you are but you may have smiled to learn that international superstar Liam Neeson has landed in Victoria again.
Bringing skills acquired over a long career Neeson said he is honoured to be back in Victoria working on his latest film The Mongoose.
“With one of the best crews, again, that I have ever worked with in over 100 movies,” he said.
As production begins on The Mongoose, Neeson’s third film in the state in four years local Dandenong Ranges creative Isabel chatted with the Star Mail about the welcome news as press across the state covered the action megastar’s movements.
Isabel said that regular work in her industry is a good thing.
“It’s nice to know that productions from overseas are coming in, it’s good to have them spend here, ” she said.
This current project is expected to provide more than 1,300 jobs and generate more than $55 million in economic value for the state.
Liam Neeson’s previous Victorian-based productions Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky (2023) and Blacklight (2020) have given steady work to the Victorian community.
Isabel worked on Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky (2023), as a costumier and sewing machinist and she also worked across many other film and television series in both Victoria and Queensland, bringing her own very particular set of skills to set.
“There have definitely been patches where there’s no work, especially when there was the writers’ strike in LA,” Isabel said.
Costumier creatives like Isabel can sometimes step into other avenues like the theatre for work but she said some film roles don’t have transferable skills.
Victorians won’t have to look far to perhaps catch a glimpse of the production which will shoot all over the state in Bacchus Marsh, Castlemaine and Bangholme as well as the Melbourne CBD, North Melbourne, Kensington and Moorabbin.
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks visited the Bacchus Marsh Aerodrome on 12 February to meet the Taken and Schindler’s List star and production team on the action-thriller set.
“But then I realised this doesn’t look like me, it looks like Jackson Pollock. So I just started to endeavour to work out how to get that spontaneous, kinetic movement, but do it in my own way.”
That’s when he discovered leaf blowers and pouring paint as ways of creating water-like movement.
Finding himself uninspired during the pandemic, Saxe said in the last 12 months he has regained his desire to paint and exhibit his work for the first time in six years, not only at Round Bird but also at the upcoming Open Studios weekend in March.
“Hopefully this will give the impetus to keep going,” he said.
Enjoying the freedom of working with new materials and using art as a therapeutic outlet, Saxe said this was what art meant to him.
“The thing that I love about this, I mean, writing music is fun when you’re looking for the happy accident, but to me, doing this is the most immediate sense of being in the now.
ing.
“So I think I’m going to play around with things that allude to being a landscape, but aren’t really a landscape.”
Although always having a creative streak and studying art and literature, Saxe’s venture into painting was more personal and has developed over time.
“In about 2010 I just started doing something called Jackson Pollock Therapy, because he was a huge influence and just started dripping.
“Even if I set about trying to do something and it ends up not being that, because you just go with your gut and it takes you somewhere. You want to have a painting and have people relate to it, but just therapeutically, being in the now, is what I get out of it.”
Round Bird Art Space can be found at 174 Main Street Lilydale, above the cafe. Flow is on display until 12 March.
An artist talk is being held on Sunday 2 March, 1-2pm. Bookings for this event via website, roundbird.com.au/artspace
boost for local creative
Isabel has worked on a few special gowns for Neighbours and said seeing more period pieces filmed in Victoria would be a plus. (Picture: Museums Victoria. Photographer: Jon Augier. Designer: Nicholas Wakerley. Makers: Laura Stewart and Isabel.)
Mr Brooks said they’re thrilled to welcome Liam Neeson and the team back to Victoria to make yet another action-packed movie that will create hundreds of local jobs, engage local businesses and generate millions for our economy.
“The Mongoose is the first of a strong pipeline of local and international productions that will fuel our screen industry in 2025,” he said.
“We’re excited to see Victoria on the global stage once again, and we thank the local communities across Victoria who are hosting this major production in their hometowns.”
The Mongoose stars Liam Neeson as Ryan “Fang” Flanagan, a war hero wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
With nothing left to lose, he leads the police on an unforgettable televised cross-country car chase, aided by members of his former Special Forces Army battalion, while a captivated public cheers him on.
The Mongoose was attracted to Victoria by the government through VicScreen’s Victorian Screen Rebate and the film also received support from the Federal Government’s location offset.
VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitche said since the inception of Victoria’s Screen Industry Strategy in 2021 they have seen exceptional economic growth, creative success and cultural value delivered to Victoria.
The screen strategy has so far created 44,000 jobs and generated $1.9 billion in direct economic expenditure in Victoria.
Isabel said she loves and admires the work of her colleagues, especially art finishers.
“We make the costume and they will take them and break them down so they look worn or make it look as if a person’s lived in it, rather than it’s been off the shelf,” she said.
“They add finishes to it if there’s stunts or blood.”
Isabel said she has previously gotten quite a lot of work from the television series La Brea which was filmed in Victoria in 2021 and 2022, finishing in Queensland in 2023.
The project put more than $60 million into the Victorian economy at the time, creating jobs for 290 local cast and crew members, and work for around 295 local businesses.
“They came back to Victoria for another season, which was great,” she said.
Film sets can vary depending on their budget and Isabel said there are both positives and negatives with both.
“Sometimes smaller budgets, it can be good because you get to do more - there are fewer people, and you have to,” she said.
“With bigger budgets, that can obviously be a little less stress.”
With film sets popping up all over the state the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley have seen their share of the action in the last few years with series such as The Clearing and High
Isabel
Country filmed across locations in Olinda. Early last year, the Upwey community got very curious when a closed set was filmed in their suburb, later revealed to be the horror film Together starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco.
Isabel said local Aussie production is just as important to the industry as overseas production, with television shows like Neighbours based in Nunawading providing stability and vital experience to Victorians.
“It’s in the same place and it’s somewhat regular – people can have families,” she said.
“Neighbours is so welcoming and run so efficiently, it’s also a good training ground.”
The Mongoose is being directed by seasoned stunt professional Mark Vanselow and the film features an impressive international cast, including Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, Ving Rhames, and Michael Chiklis.
It also boasts a strong local cast, featuring Ryan Morgan, Maurice Meredith, Toby Truslove, Aisha Aidara, Zac Taylor, Yesse Spence, Mario Sayana, Geoff Paine, Elias Anton, Brett Tucker, Hamish Michael, Geoff Morell, and Louisa Mignone.
Isabel said a number of her colleagues are working on the current film although due to other work commitments, she is not on the set of The Mongoose.
“I know a lot of people who are working on it and they are people who worked on the last one,” she said.
The production base will be located at the Melbourne Screen Hub in Footscray and will also create around 450 jobs for Victorian screen workers and engage 150 local businesses –including aerial cinematography by globally renowned Melbourne drone specialists XM2.
Set to put more than $19 million into the economy, with an estimated $2 million being spent in regional Victorian communities, the project reunites Neeson with Code Entertainment, producers of both Ice Road and Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky and was written by Thompson Evans (Reckoning).
Isabel said she would like to see more period films come to the state in the future.
“I would love to work on a film that was period-themed because as a maker it can be more fun,” she said.
Liam Neeson is back in town for his him The Mongoose. (Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Jamie Saxe next to his artwork Opal Void. (Stewart Chambers: 458879)
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Toasting our Dame Nellie
By Mikayla van Loon
The culmination of two years worth of work to bring a contemporary view of famed opera singer Dame Nellie Melba to the Yarra Ranges finally launched with a Toast to Melba.
The exhibition at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum in Lilydale brings together many firsts for both telling the true story of Melba as a woman before her time and in collaboration to make it possible.
Described as the Taylor Swift or Kylie Minogue of her era, Yarra Ranges Regional Museum director Megan Sheehy and curator Maddie Reece said this fresh perspective of the singer, mother and revered woman was designed to cater to an entirely new audience.
“What we are trying to do with the exhibition, is to find the elements of her story that are of interest and relevance today particularly for young women who might look to different pop stars and social media influencers, and to really position her as the first person to do that, not just in Australia, but in the world, and to help people understand that she really was the Taylor Swift of her era,” Ms Sheehy said.
“She was that first celebrity. Celebrity and the concept of fame is coined off of Melba, not just people like Melba, but Melba herself,” Ms Reece said.
Engaging young people on the Yarra Ranges Council youth advisory committee, Ms Sheehy said it was their input that helped guide and shape the exhibition.
In introducing the exhibition at the launch on Saturday 15 February, Ms Sheehy said by delving into the contemporary aspects of Melba, she was certainly ahead of her time.
“We spoke to everyone we could and dug into the new ways of seeing Melba. What we discovered, you’ll see in the gallery, we learned that the global superstar loved Lilydale and the Yarra Valley more than any other place in the world,” she said.
“We learned about her being a strong business woman. She basically invented branding, personal branding, before that existed. She was a modernist and a really forward thinking woman, which is exciting to us, and who was a supporter of women’s rights and also really helped support other creative women.”
Hardened by the experiences of life before becoming a superstar across the world, the singer, born in 1861, separated from her husband just a year after marriage and became a single mother, raising a child overseas.
But despite all of this, she never lost her spark and so a ‘Toast to Melba’ also delves into her personality, the one she kept hidden from stage for just her family and friends.
“She was a hilarious, wise, fun loving, practical joker who was acutely aware of the role of play in life,” Ms Sheehy said.
It was this element that inspired Melba’s Vintage Playroom, inviting people of all ages to live by the singer’s most known quote, “let’s have fun”.
“She encouraged her students and everyone to indulge in a bit of nonsense to offset the harsher realities of life,” Ms Reece said.
Replicating a 1920s photograph of Coombe’s nursery, the playroom has costumes, puzzles, drawing and a play mat to engage yet another age group in Melba.
Aside from telling parts of the Melba story perhaps not known, the exhibition also shows items never seen on display before, including Melba’s son George’s racing silks in the traditional British suffrage colours of green, mauve and white.
Other items come directly from Melba’s chosen home of Coombe in Coldstream, like the handpainted lanterns that were uncovered in a trunk.
That link to the Yarra Valley, one that the region has always claimed Melba as one of their own, quickly shifted, “discovering that it’s completely the opposite. Melba loved this place more than any other in the world”.
“The true love that she feels for the Yarra Valley just comes through in everything she’s written, in the letters to her father, to people back home, to the newspaper interviews she’s done on it,” Ms Reece said.
The collection was sourced from the Museum’s archives, Arts Centre Melbourne and Coombe Yarra Valley, a collaboration first to ensure Melba’s legacy and influence carries through to the next generation.
“When we were planning the exhibition and curating it, our target audiences weren’t the people who love Melba, they will come regardless. It’s the millennials, the Gen Z’s. If they can leave knowing a little more about who Dame Nellie Melba was, we’ve done our job,” Ms Reece said.
From the chic streets of Paris and London to the tranquil beauty of the Yarra Valley, A Toast to Melba reveals intimate glimpses of Melba’s life.
Marvel at the creativity in her painting, enjoy the humorous tale of her son’s racing silks in British suffrage colours and celebrate the innovator who made history as the first internationally renowned performer to broadcast live on radio in 1920.
There will also be talks, tours, special events and more for individuals and groups throughout the exhibition which runs until 29 June.
Full details can be found here as programs are announced: yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Experience/ Events/A-Toast-to-Melba
Yarra Ranges Regional Museum director Megan Sheehy and curator Maddie Reece opened the event.
The contemporary view of Melba was curated to engage a new audience in her life and fame.
A Toast to Melba launched on Saturday 15 February. (Supplied)
Cr Tim Heenan, Museum director Megan Sheehy, curator Maddie Reece, Aunty Kim Wandin, historian Sue Thompson, Mayor Jim Child, Cr Peter Mcilwain and Cr Mitch Mazzarella.
The crowd was wowed by the exhibition as they wandered the gallery.
Special items like her costumes have been put on display.
Award-winning First Nations opera singer and Melba Opera Trust Scholar Nina Korbe performed some of Dame Nellie Melba’s most famed pieces.
Zonzo’s huge step forward
By Dongyun Kwon
After a renowned cellar door and restaurant left Healesville, a local winery purchased the property to fill the gap and keep the Yarra Valley’s fame as Australia’s top wine region.
Yarra Glen-based winery, restaurant and wedding venue Zonzo bought the Innocent Bystander’s hospitality venue at 334 Maroondah Highway, Healesville to start a new journey.
Zonzo Estate director Rod Micallef said he was pleased to have acquired the building because the space would work perfectly for Zonzo.
“We purchased it because we were looking to
have a home for our Zoncello (Limoncello Spritz) brand,” he said.
“It is very playful and fun, and we want to establish a venue that shows how that product is playful and fun.
“We have a lot of other new spritz products as well like Bellina and Cicchio.”
Zonzo is planning to renovate the property like a spritz bar including an Italian restaurant and a retail space.
At this stage, it’s not confirmed when Zonzo will unveil the new venue but the director hopes it to be “as soon as possible”.
Despite also serving Italian food, the same as
the restaurant in Yarra Glen, the new Zonzo venue will showcase a unique menu, diversifying the experience.
Mr Micallef said he hoped to make the venue vibrant and attractive to locals as well.
“I don’t have a desire to open a franchise restaurant. It will still be Italian but the menu will be different,” he said.
“It’ll be something new and exciting for everyone to visit.
“We are in the process of trying to get permits to extend the outdoor area in the back. Hopefully, we can offer some more seats out there.”
Zoncello Limoncello Spritz has become one of
Australia’s top-selling wine products within two years after it was launched.
It is the world first pre-mixed limoncello spritz.
The director said he was beyond excited to expand his business and his team.
“For me personally, it’s a beautiful thing to have the position that we can extend our restaurant offering,” Mr Micallef said.
“It’s nice that we’re committing to opening another venue in the local area in the Yarra Valley.
“Creating a new brand like Zoncello and opening its own venue is exciting for us.”
Yarra Ranges solves most accessibility-related issues
By Dongyun Kwon
Yarra Ranges Council claimed victory in the Inclusive Excellence Award at the Snap Send Solve’s 2024 Solver of the Year Awards.
The award is presented to the council and organisation that has solved the most accessibility-related reports, such as damaged footpaths and overgrown vegetation.
Snap Send Solve is a free app which allows users to identify and report issues to the relevant responsible authority.
Snap Send Solve chief executive officer Danny Gorog said he came up with the idea for the app in 2010 after visiting a playground with his son when he couldn’t find an easy way to contact the right people for the broken swing.
“Since then, we’ve done lots of versions of the app. One of the big learnings was that we realised it wasn’t just local councils who are re-
sponsible for the stuff in our community shared spaces,” he said.
“So, we’ve added all of the different solvers (organisations) into the network, and then we’ve slowly iterated over time.”
“It’s a really important tool because it democratises issue reporting. It makes it easy and quick.”
In 2024, over 1.5 million community issues were reported in Australia, alongside 139,676 in New Zealand via Snap Send Solve, and nearly 90 per cent of the issues were resolved.
Here’s how to report issues through Snap
Send Solve:
1. Download the Snap Send Solve app on either Google Play or App Store
2. Sign up with an email address
3. Log into the app and click the camera icon on the toolbar at the bottom.
4. Take a photo of the issue, confirm the location and select the incident type
5. Type descriptions of the issue and press send
Yarra Ranges Council spokesperson said the council receives approximately 210,000 customer service enquiries and requests each year, with about 3 per cent being reported via the third party Snap Send Solve app.
“A key part of the council’s commitment to our community is responding to any issues or enquiries as promptly as possible to ensure safe and accessible facilities and assets for our community,” they said.
Snap Send Solve is a free app which allows users to identify and report issues to the relevant responsible authority. (Unsplash)
Flashback to the past at Draught Horse and Yesteryear
By Callum Ludwig
The annual Draught Horse and Yesteryear Festival at the Mont De Lancey Historic Homestead is returning for 2025.
This year’s event will be held on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 March from 10am to 4pm, featuring the fleet of large draught horses at work as well as displays and exhibitions of old-school machinery and skills.
Event Coordinator Lewis Carlton said obviously, the draught horses are the main attraction.
“There’ll be a number of them working in the field and they’ll be in a position so people can have a pat if they wish, all the horses are good and they don’t bite,” he said.
“The sheep shearing is back again for the first time in a few years, we’ll have a man doing shearing of the sheep pretty much every hour on the half hour during the day,”
“Of course, we always hope it’s going to be a success, all we can do is hope for the best, we’ve had the numbers over the years go up and down, last year’s event was a little quiet on a Saturday, but substantially improved on Sunday.”
There will be displays of vintage machinery, a group of men exhibiting older-style hand tools, groups of ladies in the museum showcasing needlework, tatting and lace-making, a display of
handmade ceramics, quilts made by the Quilts for Orphans group, the market ‘in full swing’ with food vendors and a display of vintage vehicles, motorcycles and vintage Caterpillar bulldozers as the brand celebrates its 100th anniversary.
For the kids, there will be a jumping castle, activities and potentially donkey rides (yet to be confirmed).
Mr Carlton said the festival is a glimpse of how things were done in years gone by.
“Generally speaking life is a lot easier now than it used to be, whether it’s on the farm or in the suburbs because these days you can flick a switch and light your room or turn on a machine,” he said.
“Whereas in days gone by you had to maneuver heavy machinery around or to power equipment, you also had to replenish your kerosene lanterns on a regular basis so if you wanted light at night time because you didn’t have that wonderful thing called electricity,”
“People back in what we’ll call the old days, weren’t stupid, just the technology was a lot different to nowadays so this gives people an idea of the amount of manpower that was required to perform the tasks of the time.”
General admission is $15 and kids under 15 can enter for free. To book, visit montdelancey. org.au/event/draught-horse-festival-2025/?.
Head to Mont De Lancey Historic Homestead for the 2025 Draught Horse and Yesteryear Festival. (File)
Powerful draught horses will be on display.
Zonzo purchased the Innocent Bystander’s hospitality venue at 334 Maroondah Highway, Healesville. (Stewart Chambers: 457993) Zoncello was awarded the Product Innovation of the Year at the 2024 Endeavour Group’s Supplier of the Year Awards. (Supplied)
A Grow Show coming soon
By Callum Ludwig
The Upper Yarra Valley Garden Club (UYVGC) is hosting an exciting new event for growers across the Yarra Ranges.
The Seville Public Hall will host the first ‘Grow Show’ on Sunday 16 March between 10.30am and 5pm.
Grow Show Manager Shirley Lahtinen said they decided to do the show to try and unify some of the gardening groups in the Yarra Valley.
“All of which are doing wonderful small-size promotions and collecting people who are interested in horticulture, but we don’t have any way we connect with each other in the one place at the one time,” she said.
“I’ve already been round to the Healesville people and the Wandin people, we’re actually connecting with people, Covid cut any links that we might have had so we’re really starting again from there and there’s lots of groups like Community Gardens and ECOSS up at Wesburn,”
“We have quite different requirements in terms of rainfall and soils and the like, but we still share this common interest in growing things, and that’s really what we’re out to do, and people like to show off what they grow so it’s an old fashioned flower and produce show.”
The event is open to all ages and for the community to contribute:
A children’s section for kids to enter their planting projects will be available
Groups and small businesses are encouraged to enter a trestle table to put on display as part of the show, anyone interested in doing so is encouraged to ring Mavis at 0412 855 805
Anyone from the community can enter flowers, fruit, vegetables and pots by bringing them to the Seville Public Hall between 3pm and 5pm on Saturday 15 March or 8am to 9.30am on Sunday 16 March.
Ms Lahtinen said it’s about displaying what the community can do.
“It’s a really old-fashioned concept I know but still quite popular in Gippsland areas and the like, and as a horticultural judge, it’s great to see lots of people just bringing in what they can do and they’re quite proud of their community,” she said.
“The aim is to grow and show and you take it along to make the show, not to win the first prize,
and that’s what old-fashioned shows used to be about,”
“It’s important because much of what we do supports small businesses just by word of mouth… the Royal Horticultural Society in the city used to have a list of people who come out and speak always with their box of products and
that just doesn’t exist now.”
Morning and afternoon tea will be available at the event and entry is only $5 for adults, or free for anyone who contributes to the show.
Anyone interested in getting involved in the event or finding out more can do so at upperyarravalleygardenclub.com/.
Vintage tool collection on show at historic homestead
By Callum Ludwig
The Mont De Lancey Historic Homestead is now home to a new display of vintage tools, courtesy of Charlie Chamberlain.
Mr Chamberlain is a retired builder and former president and life member of Eastern Woodturners and had accumulated the extensive collection before deciding to donate it.
Mr Chamberlain said he started the collection about 35 years ago or maybe a bit longer.
“(It started) with a few things that belonged to my wife’s great-grandfather, and then I’ve collected ever since; carpentry tools, plumbing tools, other bits and pieces, and some kitchen oil, so there’s a bit of everything, but a lot of building tools,” he said.
“When I was teaching in the TAFE system I did used to have students coming and looking at them where I had them displayed in the other house but the last few years there’s not been a room to spread them out so my main thing was to keep the collection together and that’s what Mont De Lamcey wanted to do.”
The tools are on display at the entry to the Eastern Woodturners, which has been based at Mont De Lancey for 16 years as of this year.
Mr Chamberlain said he would still be around the woodturners club and Mont De Lancey.
“All the school tours, which I just did one this morning, they all like to go through that room to go into the main room, so that’s going to be open for self-guided tours in Mont De Lancey,” he said.
“If they pay to have a tour, they can go into that area and have a look, they are secured beyond a wire cage, but they’re allowed to go in there themselves and have a look around at them all… it shows a lot of the younger ones what the tools that we actually used in building were and some of them are tools I started with when I was 15.”
“I’ll still be part of the woodturning club up there and I’ve just finished doing some work on the cubby house down the bottom there that needs redoing and Gavin McIntyre and I are going to redo the school house.”
Charlie Chamberlain has been collecting the tools for over 35 years, with the tools themselves dating back generations.
Charlie Chamberlain has donated his tools to Mont De Lancey. (Garry Byrne)
The collection can found at the entrance to the Eastern Woodturners club. Charlie Chamberlain is a retired building and life member of the Eastern Woodturners.
Display your planting prowess in the Upper Yarra Valley Garden Club’s Grow Show. (File)
Many eyes on youth crime
There seems to be a growing unease in the community as the media constantly reports car thefts, home invasions and high-speed chases, sometimes involving children as young as 10.
The statistics appear unnerving as the most frightening reports are of knife or machete wielding youths invading homes and terrorizing innocent people.
But statistics must be treated with caution and analysed beyond the attention grabbing headlines.
In Victoria they reveal a complex relationship between actual crime rates, public perception, and selective media coverage of the most violent crimes.
Many news reports overstate the extent of youth crime because they do not consider or communicate the extent of repeat offending.
And they prioritize violent crimes over non violent, even though the latter are overwhelmingly higher.
This selective reporting may lead to a heightened sense of fear and insecurity among the public and calls for tougher laws and longer prison sentences.
However that is not to ignore why many of our predominantly male youths are turning to crime.
Youth crime has always spiked during times of rapid technological and social change.
Dickens’s Oliver Twist reflected the reality of poor young homeless children in 19th century London.
Lyrics from Oliver (excerpt):
You’ve got to pick a pocket or two, boys, You’ve got to pick a pocket or two.
Why should we break our backs
Stupidly paying tax?
Better get some untaxed income—
Better pick a pocket or two!
This song is sung by Fagin, who teaches his gang of young pickpockets how to survive through theft.
While it has an upbeat tone, the lyrics expose the harsh reality of street children being groomed into crime.
Similarly, though not specifically about youth, T S Eliot’s The Hollow Men captures a genera-
LETTERS
Dear editor,
I have just read the article about the Servo being approved in Mt Evelyn by VCAT.
This is appalling to say the least.
Councils trying to promote good quality of life for residents, and VCAT overturning this time and time again. I saw this in Knox, as well, where the council wanted to keep a water body and surrounding green area for the use of people, but VCAT approved a housing development instead. VCAT is environmentally destructive. I donate to AMCS, Greenpeace and VNPA.
From now on, whenever I receive emails or phone calls from these organisations, I am going to vent my feelings about the environmental destruction wrought by VCAT.
It is such a shame for the school next door, the health of the children, and surrounding residents. I am still shaking my head in disbelief.
COMMUNITY DIARY
COMMUNITY DIARY
WHAT’S ON AROUND THE VALLEY
Got a bit of time next month? Time to give blood and change lives? One in three people in Lilydale will need blood, and they need people like you to give it.
WOORILLA WORDS
tion feeling lost and empty, much like disaffected young people today: This poem speaks to the feeling of being marginalized, which is often felt by youth in the criminal justice system.
“We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!”
Today we are living through similar times and seeing the breakdown of traditional family and community structures, as well as housing insecurity, economic pressures and the uncertainties of our times.
Additionally, untreated mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, and conduct disorders, are major risk factors for criminal behaviour among youth.
Often belonging to a gang is a response to abuse, neglect and an absence of parental guidance.
Add to that the power that social media has over young people as it glorifies risky and illegal behaviour.
We live in a society where manners are regarded as quaint relics with no place or purpose in our frenetic lives.
There’s an acceptance of coarse behaviour and a disregard for the feelings of others.
Today we tend to overlook youth behaving in a way that would not have been tolerated in the past.
Manners were always seen as part of socialization: how we learnt the behaviours, norms, and values of our society and how to show respect for others.
Regards, Sandra Worrall-Hart Wandin East
RIP Democracy
The Labor and Liberal Parties late decision to limit political donations to everyone except their own parties has confirmed the Death of Democracy as we know it.
This is most evidenced by the frantic activity of the sitting member for Casey. A member of the duopoly that is Liberal and Labor, without an election being called, has been able to produce, pay for and have erected hundreds of political signs, billboards etc right across the electorate.
Apart from Labor, no one else is allowed such largess in promotional advertising because both parties combined to prevent fair competition in the political area by limiting spending.
Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals.
As philosopher Edmund Burke wrote:
Manners are of more importance than laws. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe.
What he’s saying is that manners play a crucial role in shaping and upholding the law.
Manners reflect the attitudes and behaviour of individuals in their interactions with others and while laws provide a formal framework, manners contribute to creating a moral and ethical foundation upon which the law relies.
Manners are a sensitive awareness for the feelings of others.
If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.
When young people do not learn or are not taught manners they may struggle to understand boundaries, respect for others, and the consequences of their actions, which could increase the likelihood of antisocial or criminal behaviour.
And values are no longer being passed on to our children but left to their peers and social media.
Family dynamics, including domestic violence, neglect, and poor parenting, contribute significantly to youth crime.
It is hard to not be judgmental and ask why a young child of ten or twelve can be out at night armed with a knife carjacking or similar without parents being aware.
This of course assumes a situation where a parent is present and not working a night shift or under the influence of substance abuse.
Teachers cannot be expected to take on any more extra curricular activities so the only viable answer is to introduce teaching manners to the curriculum, beginning in primary schools.
Perhaps starting off with the basic concepts of how to say, Thank You to someone.
Nor can we let governments off the hook.
Over the years we have seen significant reductions in public spending on services such as education, housing, and youth support programs.
The message from these two parties, in power for over 70 years in this country, seems simple “We’ve stopped you from getting access to the money you need to challenge us. He with the most money wins! Good Luck.”
Fairness for the Aussie battler, level playing field, honesty and openness in Parliament and politics is not possible under this financial restriction.
Over the years Australia has seen some fantastic small party and Independent MP who have strongly represented their constituents. Don Chipp, Brain Harradine, Andrew Wilkie, Cathy McGowan, Bob Brown, the list goes on of solid strong MP representing their electorates who may never have achieved that if the playing field wasn’t level.
Under Labor and Liberal, Democracy is dead.
Ian Urquhart Lilydale
Lifeblood will be popping up in town from 10 to 21 March. Don’t forget to pre-book your spot at lifeblood.com.au, on the app or on 13 14 95.
Opening hours:
• Monday 10 March 10am – 3pm
• Tuesday 11 March 12 – 8pm
• Wednesday 12 March 12 - 8pm
• Thursday 13 March 8am – 3.30pm
• Friday 14 March 8am - 3pm
• Monday 17 March 12 - 8pm
• Tuesday 18 March 12 - 8pm
• Wednesday 19 March 12 - 8pm
• Thursday 20 March 8am – 3.30pm
• Friday 21 March 8am - 3pm
Find it located at Lilydale Baptist Church Complex on the corner Hull and Swansea Roads.
Yet youth are our greatest asset and should not be allowed to become a statistic of short sighted neglect, especially when money it seems is always available for sports stadiums and propping up major sporting events.
No boy is born with fists so hardened, no girl with eyes that burn with fear, the world has shaped them, carved their story, a script of anger, sharp and clear.
Who will reach before they falter?
Who will light a different way?
Or will we count them, cold statistics, numbers lost to yesterday?
Anonymous
Without early intervention, these issues often escalate, leading to involvement in the criminal justice system.
While a lack of manners alone is unlikely to be a direct cause of rising crime rates, it is often seen as part of a larger pattern of social disengagement.
Many psychologists argue that fostering better socialization, emotional regulation, and respect for others can play a role in reducing criminal behaviour and improving social cohesion, particularly among the youth.
And evidence suggests that addressing the root causes of youth crime through rehabilitation, education, and preventative programs offers a more effective long-term solution than punitive measures like longer sentences and incarceration.
Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken speaks to the choices we make and how they shape our paths.
For many young people, the choices made— often influenced by poverty, violence, or lack of guidance—can lead to a path of crime. As a community we must help our youth make the right choices for life
Excerpt: The Road Not Taken
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;”
Lifeblood will return to Lilydale with a pop up donor centre in March. (File:
The site of the former Mt Evelyn Garden and Produce was approved for a service station. (Stewart Chambers: 458138)
Stronger bail laws needed
Victoria is in a crime crisis.
Youth crime in late 2024 had risen to the highest level since 2009 with 23,810 incidents – up a staggering 16.9 per cent year on year.
Last year, Victorian youths breached bail 2770 times – the equivalent of once every three hours!
Every day, more serious crimes are being committed by young offenders while on bail, making people feel unsafe.
The Allan Labor Government made a grave error when it weakened bail laws.
It let down Victorians’ safety and left our community exposed.
By weakening bail laws in Victoria in 2024, Labor made it harder for courts to revoke bail for repeat serious offenders, creating the perverse effect of allowing offenders who repeatedly commit certain serious offences to repeatedly be granted bail without facing a tougher test.
From my From my desk
Bridget Vallence Evelyn MP
Now we see a continuous cycle of catch-release-catch-release for serious offences, with some offenders having been granted bail an astonishing 50 or more times!
With crime spiralling in Victoria and offenders on bail wielding machetes in shopping precincts, committing aggravated burglaries in people’s homes, or joy riding in stolen cars for social media
‘likes’, Labor finally conceded there was a problem. Their solution? A review!
This simply doesn’t pass the pub test.
Victoria does not need another review, a quasi review or sham review.
The community and police have had enough. Unequivocally, Victoria’s bail laws should be strengthened without delay.
It’s why in Parliament last week, the Victorian Liberal Opposition introduced a bill to amend the Bail Act to do exactly that – we wanted to work constructively with the government to immediately toughen bail laws. In fact, it’s the second time in six months we’ve introduced this bill seeking to reenact what Labor had repealed, including offences of contravening bail conditions and of committing indictable offences whilst on bail.
Bail is a privilege, not a right, and those who
abuse that privilege by breaching their conditions should be held accountable.
The law should reflect that very basic principle. Serious offenders caught re-offending on bail should not be able to simply get bail again.
An indictable offence committed whilst on bail should be an offence itself, and more importantly should lead to a tougher test for that person to obtain bail again.
Sadly, for Labor it is politics over people and Premier Allan and her Labor Government voted down our commonsense proposal to strengthen bail laws.
Instead of grasping the opportunity to constructively improve community safety and reduce people suffering harm from crime, Labor failed its duty of care to Victorians.
Into the Storm is the first of Irish author Cecelia Ahern’s books that this reviewer has read.
It offers a quick showcase of the author’s capability to shape her female characters by building conflicts into them.
A woman’s midlife crisis PASSION FOR PROSE
The story’s main character, Enya, is dreading the approach of her 47th birthday because it is the age at which her mother died.
Already fearing for her mortality, she is also emotionally vulnerable due to a suffocating marriage and what she feels is an increasingly remote relationship with her teenage son.
Right on this juncture, Enya, a medical doctor, becomes involved in a shocking event on a remote mountain road.
She saves the life of the victim of an apparent hit-and-run – a teenager who very much reminds her of her own son – but the incident leaves her deeply shaken.
As the story develops, we delve into Enya’s mind and slowly gain an understanding as to why she feels she has to flee her old life.
And it takes some convincing – why this rational, professional woman chooses to leave her family behind and move to a rural practice in the mountains.
Specifically – why she desperately tries to find some peace that will put an end to her anxiety, confusion and increasing paranoia, but only ends up making a bigger mess in the process.
Enya often seems clumsy and self-contradictory, and her attempts to confront life’s many inconveniences are not always successful.
Her numerous troubles are mainly her own doing, piling one lie on top of another in her efforts to avoid the truths and their consequences – until the whole castle in the sky collapses.
In other words, she is just an ordinary human being.
WITH CHRISTINE SUN
Which is an indicator of the author’s considerable skills in laying bare the complex nature of seemingly simple concepts such as love and responsibility.
We cannot help but like Enya, so much so that when we finally learn the reason why she is fleeing, hiding and lying along the way, it no longer matters.
What matters instead is the PROCESS in which she learns to be true to herself, including and especially all her flaws, mistakes and insecurities.
Enya’s relationship with her mother and sister is perhaps the most endearing part of the story.
Also eye-catching is the character Margaret, whose life is similarly burdened by her love and responsibility for her family.
An equally brilliant character is Enya’s mother, whose transformation from Brigid to Brighid is both informative and inspiring.
Ultimately, Into the Storm is about women’s self-empowerment and mutual support, about facing the consequences of their own decisions, and accepting the fact that they are far from perfect.
There is no vanity in this story.
Instead, it shows us it is never too late to admit our weaknesses, faults and failures.
Staging a variety of shows
Jesus Christ – Super Star
Is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series oof events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ, as seen through the eyes of Judas.
Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary score includes I Don’t Know How to Love Him, Germane and Superstar.
A global phenomenon that has wowed audiences for decades, Jesus Christ Superstar’s iconic 1970s rock score was originally released as a concept album and opened on Broadway in 1971.
Season: 16 March – 22 June 22. Burrinja Theatre
The Waifs – Regional tour 2025. Following the success of their recent Australiawide, sold-out 55 “Up All Night” 25th Anniversary album tour, The Waifs continue to forge a proudly independent path with no signs of slowing down.
The band are thrilled to add additional; regional shows on their 2025 touring plans.
The original independent avant-garde folk heroes turned multiplatinum-selling, multiple ARIA Award-winning international touring outfit have released eight LP’s.
From bustling cities to regional and coastal towns, The Waifs continue to share their folkinfused, feel-good sounds with adoring, multigeneration audiences thanks to their enchanting live shows and affable natures.
Season: Tuesday 18 March at 7.30pm at Burrinja Theatre.
Old Man Luedecke – Festival of Folk Old Man Luedecke is one of Canada’s best loved
and most intriguing toot’s singer-songwriters.
Known for his masterful banjo playing, he was born and raised in Toronto and now lives rurally on the south shore of Nova Scotia.
With a storyteller’s heart, his narrative0driven songs are playful, coy and soul-warming, his music appeals to anyone looking for new growth from old roots.
Season: Thursday 13 March at 8pm in the Lyre Room.
The 1812 Theatre
Spider’s Web by Agatha Christie Clarissa, the second wife of Henry HailshamBrown is adept at spinning tales of adventure for their bored diplomatic circle.
When murder takes place in her drawing room, she finds live drama much harder to cope, especially as she suspects the murderer might be her young step-daughter Pippa.
Worse still, the victim is the woman who broke up Henry’s first marriage.
Clarissa’s fast-talking places her in some hairraising situations as she comes to learn that the facts are much more terrifying than fiction.
Season: 20 February – 15 March.
Captain America excites
Captain America: Brave New World Starring Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez and Harrison Ford Rated M 3.75/5
Captain America: Brave New World is an exciting character-driven superhero action film with many conflicting elements that don’t quite fit together.
With the world at the brink of war, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the new Captain America, investigates a conspiracy surrounding President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford).
Mackie handily fills the shoes left by Chris Evans, conveying the Captain’s commanding yet humble persona while making the role his own.
Danny Ramirez is plucky and endearing as Sam’s sidekick Joaquin Torres, and Shira Haas is a stolid badass despite her tiny size as US official Ruth Bat-Seraph.
The later action scenes are CGI-heavy but still suspenseful (despite some iffy effects here and there), showcasing Sam’s aerodynamic fighting style, and the hand-to-hand combat has better framing and longer shots than in most MCU movies.
Ford takes over as Ross from the late William Hurt; essentially playing his own worst enemy, Ford is enthralling as a man whose anger, hawkish nature and damning secrets overtake him in an ever-worsening situation.
Brave New World is held aloft by its strong performances and thrilling action, but the disparate three acts feel like different movies (with Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, an extraneous minor antagonist added in reshoots).
I found the treaty between the US and Japan over an alien metal to be an abstract, impersonal framing device for the narrative, though you may feel differently.
Tim Blake Nelson is a disposable villain as the Leader, and the plot largely brushes past its most tragic aspect: Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumby), a supersoldier veteran who was imprisoned and experimented on by the government for decades.
A highly entertaining but not very cohesive debut for the new Captain America, Captain America: Brave New World is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
- Seth Lukas Hynes
Princess theatre
Melbourne
To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal rows and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.
ACROSS
1 Linen fibre (4)
3 Huge statues (10)
10 Holiday spots (7)
11 1970s band, – Lake & Palmer (7)
12 Bluetooth (8)
13 Horse’s call (5)
14 Chinese currency (4)
15 Medications given to a patient (10)
18 Synthetic (10)
20 – and cons (4)
21 Plant secretion (5)
23 Manacles or fetters (8)
26 New (7)
27 Dismiss (7)
28 County town of Dorset (10)
29 Black mineral (4)
DOWN
1 Stronghold (4)
2 Attacker (9)
4 Related to childbirth (9)
5 Auguries (5)
6 Breastbone (7)
7 Japanese dish (5)
8 Combination into a whole (9)
9 Conifer, e.g. (4)
14 Not seasonal (4-5)
16 Mountain danger (9)
17 From Oslo, e.g. (9)
19 From Helsinki, e.g. (7)
22 Lecher (5)
23 Teams (5)
24 Smooch (4)
25 French for prize (4)
13 ACRE PROPERTY WITH STUNNING RURAL CHARM
NESTLED in picturesque Macclesfield this 13-acre lifestyle property combines peaceful rural comfort with modern functionality, every element of this property is crafted to perfection.
Passing through the double electric entry gates and heading down the tuscan gravel driveway gives you your first glimpse of the distant mountain views and this outstanding property.
Step inside the front entry and into the formal lounge, where a wood-fire heater and a reverse cycle air-conditioner provide year-round comfort. Adjacent to the lounge is a tranquil office\study nook with charming garden views, continuing down the hallway to three good-sized bedrooms all with with built-in robes, a large luxurious bathroom featuring a claw-foot bath, double vanity and oversized shower all completed with a seperate toilet and ample storage.
At the heart of the home lies an exquisite open plan kitchen\dining area with beautiful sandstone flooring, a 900mm gas\electric Belling oven, a charming double farmhouse sink, reverse cycle air-con., integrated dishwasher and a spacious walk-in scullery making this kitchen both practical and beautiful. all complimented by a second lounge room with a second wood heater and more exquisite garden views.
Leaving the kitchen area behind and past a modern laundry that includes a Robinhood Ironing cabinet, plenty of storage and a seperate toilet, we arrive at the master suite which Includes a walk-in wardrobe\dressing room, and a seperate ensuite.
All this is complimented with full wrap around verandahs and an expansive undercover entertaining space complete with a built-in BBQ\Range-Hood, hot & cold running water, ceiling fans, bar fridge and pulldown blinds, perfect for hosting gatherings in style.
Outdoor Features That Elevate:
• A double carport that leads to the wraparound verandah,
• A double carport with direct access to a versatile home office or craft space, with a split system for comfort year round
Seven fully fenced paddocks with water supply, electric fencing and shelters, ideal for livestock or equestrian pursuits
• Manicured gardens, a thriving orchard, a productive veggie patch, and a charming chicken coop
A well-equipped machinery shed with a tack room, feed shed, (10.5m x 9m)
• An enclosed workshop with a concrete floor for all your practical needs (7.4m x 5.8m)
• 2 timber lined stables and yards
• A 20m x 40m grassed arena
A fire-pit area with sweeping views, perfect for starlit evenings
A dam with a pump servicing the house yard watering tank and paddock water troughs.
Sustainability and Convenience:
• A 6kW solar system, providing energy efficiency and reducing utility costs
The house is wired for a generator, ensuring reliable backup power and peace of mind
3 rainwater tanks with a total of 100,000 litres for the residence
• Instantaneous gas hot water systems to both bathrooms
This exceptional property is a harmonious blend of luxury, practicality, and sustainability, close to the local pony club, primary school and secondary college school bus pick up, Whether you’re seeking a serene family haven or a countryside escape, this rural sanctuary offers an unmatched lifestyle opportunity.
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.
HOME ESSENTIALS
HOME FOCUS
FAMILY LIVING WITH SPACE AND VIEWS
A
Offering
BRAND NEW TOWNHOUSE IN THE HEART OF TOWN - YOUR PERFECT HOME AWAITS
ONLY 2 years young and still under builders’ warranty, this beautiful modern townhouse is perfect for those looking for a low maintenance lifestyle right in the heart of town.
Step into luxury with beautiful presentation and the knowledge that all you need to do is move in and enjoy the wonderful lifestyle on offer. Offering contemporary living at its finest, this property boasts soaring high ceilings, 2 separate living areas and modern furnishings that exude both elegance and comfort.
Walk to everything you need with ease or enjoy time surrounded by nature at Emerald Lake Park or Pepi’s land and revel in the fact that all the hard work has been done here so you as the lucky purchaser can reap the rewards.
Perfect for downsizers craving easy low maintenance living, first home buyers looking for a stylish yet affordable entry into the property market or investors who value a fantastic location.
Don’t miss out on this exceptional opportunity to live in one of the most soughtafter areas. Contact us today to arrange a viewing and make this stunning townhouse yours.
SPACIOUS FAMILY RETREAT
SET on a generous ¼-acre block in a peaceful yet convenient location, this beautifully presented three-bedroom weatherboard home offers the perfect blend of modern comfort and country charm. Just a short walk from the town centre and local school, it provides an idyllic lifestyle for families, first-home buyers, or those seeking a relaxed retreat.
Step inside to discover a bright and airy open plan living, dining, and kitchen area, enhanced by new floating floors and large windows that fill the space with natural light.
The modern kitchen is a standout, featuring sleek stone benchtops, a 900mm SMEG gas cooktop and electric oven, a stainless-steel dishwasher, a fridge recess, and plenty of storage. Gas ducted heating and a split-system air-conditioner ensure comfort all year round.
Down the hallway, three well-sized, carpeted bedrooms all feature built-in robes, offering a peaceful sanctuary for the whole family. The updated central bathroom is stylish and functional, complemented by a separate toilet
and a spacious laundry with ample storage.
Outside, the expansive undercover deck complete with cafe blinds creates the perfect setting for entertaining or simply unwinding while overlooking the private, fully fenced backyard. Ideal for kids and pets, the outdoor space is both secure and spacious. A double tandem shed with a concrete floor and power provides excellent storage or workshop potential.
Combining charm, convenience, and contemporary updates, this delightful home is ready to move in and enjoy. Don’t miss your chance to secure a fantastic lifestyle in the heart of Cockatoo.
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.
A stylish sanctuary set to a backdrop of breathtaking views, “Baringa“ is a home you can be proud of. With eye-catching details inside and out, this inviting residence situated on a sizeable 1,839sqm (approx.) block offers the Dandenong Ranges lifestyle with all city conveniences close by.
The interior of this impressive split-level dwelling features vaulted ceilings, timber floors, and expanses of glass that capture the premium outlooks. The open concept kitchen has been updated to perfection to include a convenient island with seating, tiled splashback, impressive appliances, and updated double glazed windows and doors to the large deck. The neighbouring lounge has the added bonus of a wood fire for cooler evenings in the Hills.
On the upper level, the modern laundry that steps out to the front verandah is accompanied by generous bedrooms. The family bedrooms with built-in robes share a beautifully tiled bathroom with tub and WC. The main bedroom features a walk-in robe and private ensuite. With the additional inclusion of gas ducted heating and split system heating/ cooling, seasonal comfort is assured.
Peacefully positioned with welcoming neighbours and lovely community just a short walk from Upwey village, Upwey South Primary, Upwey Primary, Upwey High School and Upwey train station this property is the perfect place to call home. Plan your viewing today.
Near half-acre (approx.) allotment with exquisite views
• Contemporary open concept kitchen with island seating
• Lounge with vaulted ceilings, expansive windows, and a wood fire Upper level bedrooms including main bedroom with walk-in robe and fresh ensuite
• Stylish laundry with abundant storage plus outdoor entertaining areas at the front and rear of the residence.
• Restyled Main Bathroom and fresh stylish ensuite.
FAMILY SPACE IN A FANTASTIC LOCATION
OFFERING space and comfort inside and out this neat family home is the ideal spot for the growing family to live and enjoy.
Offering 3 bedrooms all with built in robes, plus a spacious family/lounge area with ample space for everyone.
The open plan kitchen is well appointed and has plenty of bench and cupboard space.
The whole family will love the outside with over 1650sqm of land to enjoy - there is plenty of space for the kids and pets to spread out.
Established gardens and numerous fruit trees and a large lock up garage complete this superb property.
A well maintained and well looked after property in a great location, just a short walk to the bus stop and the Yarra River.
A wet and windy day one of Eastern Region Track and Field Championships, this year held at Morrison Reserve, Mt Evelyn, home of Yarra Ranges
Athletics
Yarra Ranges Athletics athletes revelled in the carnival atmosphere to showcase our awesome venue to athletes from throughout the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Running, Jumping and Throwing (and Walking) never looked so good.
Day one saw an exceptional number of PB’s, despite the ordinary conditions, with Yarra Ranges athletes winning 13 Gold, 9 Silver and 7 Bronze, with our girls claiming 19 out of our 29 medals.
Not really sure if the weather gods were much kinder for us on Sunday, but amazing to once again hear about PB’s across a range of events in tricky conditions. Another 12 Gold, 11 Silver and 12 Bronze to make YRA’s two-day haul 25 gold, 20 Silver and 19 bronze.
Big thanks again to the parent volunteers - not sure if it was more or less stressful cooking the perfect snag versus chiefing, officiating at discus, firing a starter’s gun or quickly doing the dollar maths at the canteen - but all roles were essential to our success!
Extra shout out to the two Comp Directors Michael Clarke and Dannie McKinnon - can’t remember a region’s carnival that has run so close to schedule, especially considering the conditions. The last two weeks for Michael Clarke doing the logistics surely was a second full time job at the same pay rate as the rest of us this weekend - so many thanks to you both. Also not sure if Jane, Uli and Al slept at the track or at home - but the barbecue, canteen and equipment wouldn’t have succeeded without you.
Finally, to Ali, Laura and Lis for assisting Cam with the Team Managing along other Age Leaders - Thank You!
See you next Saturday back at Yarra!
Results from EMR Track and Field Championships Female 17
• Discus: Stephanie van Bemmel 24.74m (3rd); Keira Taylor 19.02m (4th);
• Javelin: Keira Taylor 21.22m (1st);
• Long Jump: Keira Taylor 3.45m (1st);
• Triple Jump: Stephanie van Bemmel 9.93m (1st); Female 15
• Triple Jump: Harlem Willis 8.44m (11th); Normal Saturday morning competition returns this Saturday with events starting from 8.30am
Training for our little athletes 5-12yo takes place on Tuesdays from 4-5pm with event specific training (where possible) for those competing at Region championships. All registered and trial members are welcome. Please check our website for more training session details.
Yarra Ranges Athletics welcomes and encourages all athletes of any age or ability. New members and anyone interested in trialling are always welcome.
Go to www.lavic.com.au or www.athsvic.org. au or email info@yarrarangesathletics.org.au for information about membership, events and registration.
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!
Competitive, well-matched play sees Lilydale gain a win
By Joanna Campe
Round 12 results for Lilydale Tennis Club in the Eastern Region Tennis Competition.
Junior Open Singles Doubles 3 v East Croydon-Kilsyth
After round 11 Lilydale was sitting on top of the ladder.
Lilydale was represented by Ari Marappan, Adam Paladino and Ryan Taylor.
Lilydale played at home this week against third placed East Croydon-Kilsyth. The teams were well matched with very even play throughout the day with 3 sets going to tie breaks. Lilydale eventually won the day 6 sets to 0 – winning 39 games to 26.
After round 11 Lilydale was just outside the top four.
Lilydale was represented by Ivy Pieper, Brodie Manger and Haady Aziz.
Lilydale played away this week against Blackburn. In a very competitive match, it was Blackburn that eventually won the day 5 sets to 1winning 33 games to Lilydale 20.
Result: 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
Open Rubbers 14 v Willison Park
After round 11 Lilydale was sitting in fourth place on the ladder.
Lilydale was represented by David Halkidis and Adam Johnson.
Lilydale played at home this week against third placed Willison Park. Lilydale fought hard but Willison Park proved too strong winning 4 sets to 2 – winning 27 games to Lilydale 16.
Result: 4-6, 6-3, 0-6, 1-0 (10-7 super tiebreak), 1-6, 4-6
Lilydale Tennis club welcomes all players of any age and ability. For information on how to join Lilydale Tennis Club please visit play.tennis. com.au/lilydaletennisclub.
For all coaching enquiries (Juniors and Adults) please contact Andrew at Pro Touch Tennis Academy ptta.com.au/contact
Athletes Bree, Lily and Tori competing in the 1500 metre. (Supplied)
Ari Marappan, Adam Paladino and Ryan Taylor had an incredible tie-break win against East Croydon-Kilsyth. (Supplied)
Powell leads Third XI bats
By Les Hutchings
It was a round of mixed results for Kilsyth’s senior and junior cricket teams on the weekend with four wins, a draw and three losses, including the Women’s epic game which went down to the wire. Jake Powell was Kilsyth’s highest run scorer with 78 not out (9 fours and 1 six), playing for the Fourth XI, and the best bowling performance came from Justin Smith, who took 4/70 off 31 overs (11 maidens) for the Third XI.
Kilsyth First XI resumed their innings on Day 2 at 1/12 off 8 overs chasing Croydon Ranges’ score of 191. It was an overcast, windy day with showers predicted. Kilsyth’s score had progressed to 1/31 off 14.5 overs when rain stopped play for 7 minutes. Upon resumption, Jack Childs and Hayden Pleming batted steadily to take the score to 1/38 off 22.3 overs when rain stopped play again, this time for 34 minutes. Almost immediately after getting back onto the field, Pleming was caught at cover by Blake Smith off the bowling of Mitchell Thomas, and Kilsyth were now 2/38 after 23.2 overs. Nightwatchmen Pleming had scored a patient 11 off 65 balls, and Jack Childs was then on 23 not out.
This brought Andy Solomons to the crease and he and Childs lifted the score to 2/59 off 27 overs when an early tea break was taken at 2.52pm, due to more rain tumbling down. At that stage Solomons was on 19 not out and Childs was on 25 not out. After a 27-minute tea break, the weather improved enough for play to get underway. Jack Childs played out a maiden over and then Andy Solomons, facing his first ball after the break, left a ball from spinner Jack Blyth that, to his surprise, clipped the top of the off bail and Solomons was out bowled for 19 off 20 balls. This was a big blow for Kilsyth. Captain Marcus Adams and Childs tried to steady the innings but with the score on 82 in the 40th over, Mitchell Thomas struck again, when he had Adams caught behind by Will Gadsden for 8 off 37 balls. From there the innings basically folded and Kilsyth were dismissed for 95 off 53.1 overs, losing their last 7 wickets for 13 runs.
The bright spot for the Redbacks was the innings of opener Jack Childs, who top scored with 46 off 151 balls. There is one more round left in the Trollope Shield competition, with Kilsyth on 31 points in second last spot, only 0.027 per cent above Ainslie Park. Hence, the Redbacks need to win their last match to avoid relegation.
The Second XI, after scoring 263 last week, resumed their match against Croydon Ranges Second XI at Pinks Reserve. Ranges lost early wickets to be 1/2, 2/8, 3/8 and then 4/38, before a 92-run fifth wicket partnership between Captain Michael Crosbie and Jake Bradley ended when Crosbie was bowled by spinner Kasun Ekanayake for 68 off 127 balls. Ranges were now 5/130. When Bradley was run out for 37 off 94 balls, Ranges had slumped to 6/144 with Kilsyth gaining the ascendancy. From there wickets fell regularly, 7/153, 8/158, 9/183 and all out for 183 in 62.1 overs, with Harrison Low scoring 21 off 21 balls. Kilsyth’s opening bowlers bowled well. Captain Daniel Stapelfeldt captured 3/37 off 14 overs, whilst Scott Nicholson snared 2/36 off 16 overs. Spinner Kasun Ekanayake was tidy, taking 2/55 off 20.1 overs, and medium pacer Matthew Young took 1/22 off 5 overs. It was a good win for the Second XI, who have won their last two matches, after losing their third last match very narrowly by one wicket in the last over.
At Kimberley Reserve, the Third XI resumed their match against Chirnside Park, who were 0/9 off 10 overs at stumps last week, chasing Kilsyth’s score of 218. Chirnside lost their first wicket with the score on 42 in the 26th over when Barry Collins was caught by Dylan Smith off the bowling
of Max Wills for 26 off 74 balls. At tea Chirnside had progressed to 1/71 off 43 overs, with 47 overs still remaining. Sugar Ray Turner was on 22 not out and Kaiden Holliday on 15 not out. After tea, spinner Justin Smith achieved the breakthrough with the score on 91 in the 51st over, when Holliday was caught by Kilsyth Captain Robert Hutchings for 23 off 91 balls. Turner and Scott Luckhurst then added 29 for the third wicket before Luckhurst was trapped lbw by pace bowler Joel Gibb for 20 off 31 balls. Then, another quick wicket, bowled by Justin Smith and Chirnside were now 4/124 after 56 overs with 34 overs remaining. The fifth and big wicket of Sugar Ray Turner came with the score on 147, when Turner was caught by Robert Hutchings off Justin Smith for a patient 54 off 211 balls.
When rain stopped play, the game was in the balance with Chirnside Park on 5/155 after 75.1 overs, needing 64 runs to win off the last 14.5 overs. After the resumption of play, the sixth wicket fell on 158, Jackson Lehmann being caught behind by Anthony Cook, bowled Justin Smith, for 15 off 26 balls. The score progressed to 176 after 80 overs when Dylan Smith picked up his first wicket, Reuben Johnson caught behind by Anthony Cook for 13 off 24 balls. From there the wickets tumbled and Chirnside were all out for 185 in 84.1 overs. The wicket takers for Kilsyth were Justin Smith, 4/70 off 31 overs, Dylan Smith 19.3 overs 3/33, Max Wills 1/21 off 11 overs, and Joel Gibb, bowling for the first time after recovering from an injury, 13 overs 1/13. The Third XI have now won six out of their last seven matches and this latest win has moved them up from fifth to third place, with one round remaining before the finals. The Fourth XI resumed their split innings match against Chirnside Park with Kilsyth 3/102 at the end of the first split, and in reply Chirnside were 3/134 at stumps. On Saturday, Chirnside resumed batting and posted 8/276cc off their 72 allotted overs. In addition to Darren Cameron’s 53 last week, Cameron Anderson scored 47 off 104 balls, Captain Paul Dryden 36 off 58 balls, Seth Mc-
Donnell 24 off 28 balls, and Joshua Singh-Sawyers 27 not out off 23 balls. The best of Kilsyth’s bowlers were Michael Sturt, who took 3/55 off 12 overs, Rhys Kearney 2/46 off 9 overs, Hayden Monds 1/30 off 9 overs, and Travis Tyszkiewicz 1/37 off 11 overs. In reply, Kilsyth batted well but fell 16 runs short, finishing on 9/260cc from 72 overs. After being 9/211, Jake Powell and Travis Tyszkiewicz (9 not out), shared an unbroken last wicket partnership of 49 when stumps were drawn. The previous week, Captain Anthony Sequeira scored 38, Shaun Goodwin 33 and Rhys Keaney 19. However, the standout innings on Saturday came from Jake Powell, who top scored with 78 not out off 120 balls, whilst Jamie Tooth scored 18 off 25 balls, and Michael Sturt 17 off 12 balls. The multiple wicket takers for Chirnside Park were Trent Summers, 3/40 off 8 overs, Seth McDonnell 2/48 off 9 overs, and Justin Moore 2/62 off 9 overs. Kilsyth’s Fourths are currently fourth on the ladder with one home and away round remaining.
The Fifth XI’s one-day match against Hoddle’s Creek was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the state of the pitch after heavy rain.
Kilsyth Women’s First XI (second), played Wandin (first) in a top of the table clash at Pinks Reserve on Sunday. The game was an absolute thriller that went down to the last over. Wandin won the toss and elected to bowl. A late start due to rain reduced the match to 28 overs per side. Kilsyth lost their first wicket on the last ball of the fourth over to be 1/14. It was soon 2/15, 3/18 and 4/19 in the 8th over with Tilly Pearce picking up 3 wickets. At 5/38 after 14 overs, Kilsyth were in even more trouble, but a 31-run partnership between Sarah Gibbs (11), and Captain Ashleigh Katoa, lifted the score to 6/69 in the 22nd over, but it soon became 7/72 after 23 overs. Ashleigh Katoa and Lecia Baldry then took the score to 8/104cc off 28 overs when Lecia was adjudged lbw on the last ball of the innings for 8 off 16 balls. Katoa finished on 36 not out off 38 balls. Wandin’s wicket takers were Tilly Pearce 3/16 off 6 overs, Olivia Edwards 2/13 off 6 overs, Charlotte Edwards 2/29
off 6 overs, and Lisa Vanderzee 1/10 off 3 overs. Wandin got off to a great start in the run chase, aided by five early dropped catches, and took the score to 0/48 off 14 overs when Gayle Burgi retired hurt for 17. The first wicket fell on 66 at the end of the 18th over with medium pacer Avanythi Jayawickrema achieving the breakthrough. When opener Charlotte Edwards was caught and bowled by Kilsyth Captain Ashleigh Katoa for 41 off 66 balls (4 fours), Wandin had advanced to 2/80 off 20.4 overs and were well on top. However, Katoa claimed another wicket with her next ball and Wandin were now 3/80. It soon became 4/85 and then 5/85 after 22 overs when Georgia Smith claimed two wickets in consecutive balls (both clean bowled). A run out in the next over with a throw by Avanthia Jayawickrema to Lecia Baldry at the bowler’s end, saw Wandin slump to 6/87 in the 23rd over. Georgia Smith then claimed another wicket (lbw) in the 25th over (7/93), followed by Lecia Baldry capturing the eighth wicket (clean bowled), to see Wandin 8/97 after 26 overs. Two runs came from Georgia Smith’s next over and Wandin were 8/99 with one over remaining. Lecia Baldry struck again with the first ball of the last over (clean bowled) and Wandin now needed 6 runs off the last 5 balls for victory with one wicket in hand. The last batter was opener Gayle Burgi, who had retired hurt earlier, and she came out with a runner. Unfortunately for Kilsyth, the next ball was an over the waist high full toss no ball that was dispatched to the boundary for four to level the scores. Then two dot balls increased the tension but a quick single off the third last ball gave Wandin the win in an epic finish. Burgi finished on 22 not out off 45 balls (2 fours). For Kilsyth, Georgia Smith, playing her 50th game for the Kilsyth Women’s Team, captured 3/16 off 6 overs, Ashleigh Katoa 2/10 off 3 overs, Lecia
2/19 off 5.4
and
Baldry
overs,
Avanthi Jayawickrema 1/13 off 3 overs. Well played to both sides in a game that was played in great sporting spirit. Despite the loss, Kilsyth’s women retained second place on the ladder.
Kilsyth Third XI scored 218 and had a good win against Chirnside Park Third XI 185, to keep their finals hopes alive.
Jake Powell top scored for Kilsyth’s Fourth XI against Chirnside Park with 78 not out off 120 balls (9 fours and 1 six). (Supplied)
Justin Smith bowled a marathon 31 overs (11 maidens) in capturing 4/70 for Kilsyth’s Third XI against Chirnside Park.
Georgia Smith captured 3/16 off 6 overs (1 maiden) in her 50th game for the Women’s First XI against Wandin.
Dylan Smith bowled 19.3 overs (6 maidens) in taking 3/33 for Kilsyth’s Third XI against Chirnside Park.
Kilsyth Second XI Captain Daniel Stapelfeldt captured 3/37 off 14 overs (5 maidens) to help his team to a good win against Croydon Ranges.
40th anniversary of flag
Whilst the past players at the Mt Evelyn Cricket Club celebrated the 40th Anniversary of their A Grade premiership, the present day Mounters celebrated some vital wins in their quest to feature in finals action.
The Community Bank - Mt Evelyn 1st XI scored a season defining win against arch rivals, and fellow finals aspirant, Seville in a hard fought contest at Gary Martin Oval. Entering day two of the clash, things were evenly poised as Mt Evelyn left a few runs on the table being dismissed for 259, before Caleb Hrabe made a mess of the Burras’ top order to have them teetering at 3/36 at stumps. With several stars still to bat, the visitors knew that if they could get themselves into the contest on day two, anything was possible.
Bailey Humphrey and Caleb Frankovic would navigate their way through the first dozen overs, and add some 30 runs, to give the Burras the steady start they strives for. Hrabe would make it four from four as he would dislodge the determined, and dangerous, Humphrey, but the visitors would continue unperturbed as Jon Williams would join Frankovic at the wicket. Another ten overs and 30 runs would pass, and with the score closing in on three figures, and plenty of batting still to come, the game had hit ‘go time’ for both teams. It would be the home team who would break it open.
Frankovic’s stout defence would be broken when he was inexplicably run out by the quick thinking Dan Giblin, whilst the Mounters were appealing for an LBW, and the game swung rapidly towards the home team. Bohdie Jones would remove Williams and his explosive uncle Kane Jones in successive overs, and the Burras were decimated, falling to 7/104. The visitors’ tail would show valiant resistance to string the game out, but the middle order collapse proved fatal. Seville managed to limit the final damage, but would still fall well short of the chase, falling for 181.
The Professionals Outer East 2nd XI missed a golden opportunity to consolidate themselves in the top four as they were outlasted by a determined Seville outfit. After posting a competitive total of 9/241, the Mounters would’ve entered day two full of confidence that their recent form with the ball would see them chalk up another victory.
Young gun Billie Laird would snag an early wicket with the score on 8, but a century partnership between Leigh Atkins (63) and Elkin Croydon (41) would deliver the momentum that the Burras required against a bowling attack struggling to deal with the tricky conditions. Kynan Yates would come on and capture wickets in consecutive overs to give the fielding team a much needed boost, and with the support of veteran Luke Jones, the pair would put in a marathon stint with the ball to keep the visitors in the contest. An unbeaten 64 run 8th wicket stand between Jarrod Carroll (62*) and Macca Hardy (26*) would finally break the Mounters as Seville would chase down Mt Evelyn’s total with four overs remaining. Jones (4/67) and Yates (2/80) would be the pick of the bowlers.
The loss has left the 2nd XI in a precarious position going into the final round, as a loss to Bayswater Park, could spell the end of a finals position.
The Rhead Group 3rd XI’s season has been hanging by a thread after slipping up against
some beatable opponents. It has left the team the task of winning the last two games to give themselves any chance of going beyond the final round. After day one of this split innings contest, both Mt Evelyn and Warrandyte would be relatively comfortable with their respective positions, as Mt Evelyn held a slight advantage at 1/164 just ahead of Warrandyte’s 2/139. The Mounters would continue their innings first, and would go about amassing a total too great for the Bloods to chase.
Dickie Hearn and Alex Brisbane-Flynn continued their century stand and both cashed in. Brisbane-Flynn would plunder 74 runs, before getting too adventurous when he was stumped within sight of a century upon his return to cricket. Hearn wouldn’t be denied his maiden century as his marathon 199-ball innings would take him to a match winning score of 133. Great reward for a great contributor to the club. With captain Graeme Foster adding a quick fire 58, the Mt Evelyn innings would be closed with the score on an imposing 7/375. Warrandyte would make a fair fist of the chase, but would struggle to maintain the run rate once Tom Ellis (137) and Banjo Smyth (79) were dismissed. Eventually, the Mounters would bowl the visitors out for 281, claiming an important 94 run victory. The win now has the 3rd XI within sight of a finals birth, with a win against Heathwood in the final round a must.
The Hop Hen Brewing 4th XI have finally clinched their position in the finals after outlasting a determined South Croydon outfit on ‘The Postage Stamp’ at Mt Evelyn. The game would prove to be an unusually low scoring affair as the batsmen would struggle to assert dominance. Mt Evelyn would win the toss and send South Croydon in to bat with some doubt on how long the weather would hold out. The Mounters bowlers would do well to contain their opponents, and would bowl them out for 175, a more than attainable target on the small surrounds. All the bowlers would contribute with Mark Shepherd (3/23), Jake Rigg (2/23), Angus Van Hoogstraten (2/30) and Mike Leonard (2/34) sharing the wickets. What should’ve been a relatively easy chase proved to be a real struggle as the Bulldog bowlers would heap the pressure on the Mounters limiting the boundaries and taking regular wickets. Captain Chris Doyle (51 not out), and young stars Jake Rigg (31) and Mason Jones (23) would contribute vital runs to the cause early, but it was left to cult hero Robert ‘Robdog’ Wilson to notch up the winning runs, in driving rain, on his way to an unbeaten 20. The win now locks in a finals birth for the 4th XI.
The Mt Evelyn 5th XI entered Round 15 with a point to prove after to succumbing to Kilsyth for their second loss of the season last week. Their clash against Seville couldn’t have filled them with great confidence as father/daughter duo
Eastern Golf Course ideal for return to tee
By David Waters
Battle recommenced on the open Eastern Golf Course. After negotiating the partial closure of Victoria Road, the combatants all arrived ready for the 7.30am start. A pleasing site and perhaps unexpected was the manicured, green fairways. Well, they were appreciated, unexpected when surrounding hills and paddocks were dry and brown.
A briefing on local rules set the tone and players were sent to the four points of the compass. Some had to trek up a few hills, others just had a long march to the hit off zones. Overseers in hot air balloons sailed colourfully and majestically by as we began smiting the little white defenceless balls. Pelicans in the pond by the tenth tee were happy to watch. Not one offered or needed to retrieve balls. Lucky for them and golfers. The kangaroos that inhabit the area did not intrude at all. There were no recorded snake sightings to upset concentration. Whew!!
As the day wore on, matches were sorting out who played consistently or erratically. Some players held the lead all day. Erratic players changed the lead with every hole and went the distance. Tentative putting, the bane of all golfers is the undoing of many good rounds and two shots in bunkers helps no one either.
The biggest winner for the day was Darryl Maher, (Heritage team manager) beating his Gardiners Run opponent 9 up with 7 to play. Only six squared matches were recorded. Joe Sykes (Box Hill team manager) slam dunked his pitch to win the last hole and the match. His amazed opponent had only a gimme to halve, but Joe didn’t want that.
Golf is a tough game for old guys but not rough. Tell that to Barry Lacy. He slipped in a bunker on 17, and hurting his elbow and arm was forced to retire and concede. Get well quickly Barry, Box Hill needs you.
Everyone finished by 12.30pm and settled in
for a terrific lunch and some rehydration. Sated and slaked, attention spans lengthened, it was time for thanks and presentation of results. All proceeded smoothly including advertising the Star News.
The day was another success for the Eastern Suburbs +55 Senior Pennant players and all were on the way home by 1.30pm to beat school traffic.
Here are the results.
Gold Group:
• Gardiners Run 5 def Heritage 3, Eastern 5 ½ def Box Hill 2 ½ Churchill/Waverley 5 ½ def Yering Meadows 2 ½.
Green Group:
• Eastern 6 def Box Hill 2, Yering Meadows 4 ½ def Churchill/Waverley 3 ½ ,Heritage 4 ½ def Gardiners Run 3 ½ .
Until next week keep smiling and look out for golf jokes.
Matt (4/6) and Kaylen Tilney (1/15) cut a swathe through the Mt Evelyn top order to have them decimated at 6/56. The Mounters have built their success this season through contributions throughout their team, so it was no surprise that the visitors dug in their heals courtesy of steadying knocks from Ezra Joyce and Paul Flavel who notched up unbeaten half centuries, whilst the rest of the batting order would push the score to a competitive 7/187.
The Burras would show great resistance with the bat, but they would never challenge Mt Evelyn total, and their innings would be closed at 4/127 after their allotted overs. Andy Cummins would carry his bat in an innings of 48, whilst Mark Kuhne would be the pick of the Mt Evelyn bowlers taking 2/24.
The Flowtec 6th XI, would field five new players in their lineup for their clash against Lusatia Park, and they found the task to great to overcome the Tigers. Batting first, the Mounters could only manage 123, being bowled out in the 30th over. Braidyn Doyle would show his fight scoring his best score of 35 not out, whilst Chase Missen (23) and Brett Hartman (21) would add some beef to the low total. Mt Evelyn’s total would prove to be light on, as despite some tidy bowling, the Tigers would reach the target with relative ease, losing just two wickets along the way.
David Hayes from Yering Meadows showing how to just miss the green. (Supplied)
Past players celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the 1984-85 A Grade premiership. (Supplied)
Q. Is QFF really in Victoria?
A. Yes, QFF used to be an exotic insect to Victoria, and the State government’s biosecurity team used to perform eradication. Some may remember the vehicle checks at the State borders?? Unfortunately, QFF has fought it’s way into Victoria too frequently, and spread too far to be able to eradicate. In 2013 the State declared the QFF pest no longer an exotic insect. QFF control is now the responsibility of all land owners and managers. The Yarra Valley is working hard to keep QFF free.
Queensland Fruit Fly questions & answers
Q. Do QFF infest vegetables?
A. Common home grown veggies such as tomato, capsicum and chilli are technically classed as fruit! They have seeds on the inside! The soft flesh is made of the fibre and sugars, which when rotted, is what the QFF larvae eat. Other produce commonly referred to as vegetables, but are technically fruit, include cucumber, zucchini, squash, eggplant. All of these need to be protected from QFF to avoid damage and prevent the spread.
Q. Do QFF infest citrus?
A. Yes, QFF lay their eggs in many types of citrus. Often, it is citrus fruit that the overwintering QFF first infest in the Spring! This leads to QFF populations building up in home gardens through out the fruit growing season. Sweeter citrus with thinner skins are preferred by QFF, e.g. Meyer lemons, Ruby grapefruit, Sweet Oranges. Because citrus fruit stay on the evergreen tree for
Queensland Fruit Fly netting solutions
Netting fruit trees is a big commitment for any fruit grower. It’s expensive, annoying and complicated. However, it is chemical free, reusable and it is adjustable to the fruit trees or plants requiring protection each season. The additional benefit is that it can protect the fruit from other insect pests, birds and possums!
Netting is the best defence against Queensland Fruit Fly because even with all of the cleaning up of fallen fruit, trapping, baiting programs and other controls, some pregnant female QFF can still lay eggs in fruit. Netting is the last line of defence!
Netting should be put over the fruit tree or garden when the fruit is small, green and immature. Wait until the flowering and pollination is completely finished.
Use a structure like a metal frame, or star pickets with plastic pipe arches, to hold the netting away from the fruit. This stops the QFF reaching the fruit through the netting holes, and the larger structure allows for better air flow around the tree, minimising the fungal disease risk under netting.
Netting comes in any length, at 3m, 6m, or 10m roll widths, or pre sewn into box shapes of various sizes e.g. 3m x 3m x 3m to cover a tree or tomato patch. Netting bags can protect a small cluster of fruit. Use netting that is 2mm or smaller in hole size. Ask your local nursery to help find a net solution.
Summer prune stone fruit branches. This helps manage tree vigour, and promotes increased fruit production. Keep all fruit production at a height that you can prune pick and protect!
