Established in 1875 as the
proudly serving Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay
9 FEBRUARY, 2022
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SIG N U P N O W!
Floating art A new art installation featuring 14 sea flowers floating in the water at Williamstown will open on February 12. ‘Sea Flowers and Sea Stories’ invites residents to come down with a picnic or some fish and chips and take in the display that will be floating on the water’s edge between Stevedore Street and the Ferguson Street Pier. Director of the project, Donna Jackson, said the project was funded by the Hobsons Bay Make it Happen, Recovery and Reconnection grant. “When I heard about the recovery grant, I thought it would be fantastic to celebrate some of the assets that we have in this area, and during lockdown, I noticed that lots of people were spending time walking by the sea or swimming in the sea, even in winter.” she said. “It seemed that the sea was a real resource that lots of us were using to get through the COVID lockdown.” Spotswood signwriter Tony Mead has been in charge of making the 14 flowers. “I think it’s a really valuable thing especially to do coming out of COVID when people have been … sort of locked down for so long.” The art installation will run until February 20. Details: http:// artandindustryfestival.com.au/ Signwriter Tony Mead and director Donna Jackson with the seaflowers.
267130_01 (Damjan Janevski)
Refugee RATs disappear The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) is trying to find out what happened to its order of rapid antigen tests (RATs), which has yet to be fully delivered more than five weeks after the order was placed. ASRC founder and chief executive Kon Karapanagiotidis said the Footscray-based organisation ordered RATs on January 3 in a bid to keep staff, volunteers and clients safe. Mr Karapanagiotidis said the order was meant to take three to five days to arrive but
the supplier contacted him to say that the order had been taken by the federal government.The Department of Health has denied the claim. “The Department of Health reaffirms that the department has not requisitioned all RAT supplies within and entering Australia,” the department said in a statement. “These claims are categorically untrue.” While Mr Karapanagiotidis received a third of his order last week, he is demanding to know what happened to the rest of the order. He said the ASRC is not the only charity affected.
“We’re not isolated as the only charity that this has happened to but we’re the only charity willing to publicly talk about it,” he said. The issue is being investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). In a statement, the ACCC said information provided to it suggests that because of the strong demand for RATs, suppliers at various levels in the distribution chain are making decisions about which customers to supply. “ACCC investigators are speaking with the suppliers involved and will look to address any
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misrepresentations identified,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said. “The ACCC takes this opportunity to remind suppliers about the importance of honouring any contractual arrangements for supply, and of being honest about the reason why rapid antigen tests may currently be unavailable. Suppliers must be able to substantiate any claims they make about test availability, and we are asking them to do so.” Mr Karapanagiotidis said the issue should never have occurred in the first place. The ASRC’s supplier was contacted for comment.
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By Molly Magennis