Star Weekly - Wyndham - 24th April 2024

Big results in big read

According to the results of this year’s Big Summer Read junior reading program, Wyndham is home to an increasing number of book worms.

Out of 60 library services across Victoria, Wyndham libraries had the sixth highest number of registrations, with 798 children participating between December 1 and January 31. In total, 9013 books were read and 978 book reviews were submitted by Wyndham participants in the statewide reading program which aims to increase library loans, engage young people in reading for pleasure and support literacy development.

Efforts to improve child literacy in Wyndham were recently given a boost when Hoppers Crossing library reopened at Pacific Werribee at the beginning of March after rectification works at the shopping centre forced it out in the middle of last year.

The reopened library features a dedicated kids area with resources such as children’s ipads, allowing youngsters to improve their literacy while scrolling on a screen rather than turning a page.

Holiday health nightmare

By Cade Lucas

A Point Cook man stranded overseas after falling sick while on holiday, has launched a gofundme page to cover his medical expenses and get he and his family back to Australia.

Point Cook’s Ki Kim is currently stuck in South Korea where he is recovering from a viralinfectioncaughtwhiletravellinginChina and which resulted in him being admitted to intensive care with multiple organ failure.

A hospitality worker, Ki, his wife Angela and baby were staying in the northern Chinese city of Dalian late last month when he suddenly fell ill.

“I went out for dinner and I had a few drinks and I felt uncomfortable,” recalled Ki of how the ordeal began late on the night of March 24. “We came back home around 10 or 11

o’clock that night and at 12 o’clock on the 25th of March, I started vomiting and having diarrhoea all night.”

After taking medication, Ki’s condition briefly improved, before rapidly deteriorating the following afternoon.

“At lunchtime I started shaking a lot,” he said of the moment he decided to go to the local hospital near where they were staying outside Dalian.

“As soon as I got into hospital my temperaturewaslike39.5degreesandIwasnot feeling good. I was vomiting and everything was going wrong from there,” Ki said. “My heart rate was 185, my liver was 1915, I was short of oxygen, I had low blood pressure and just everything added up together and was failing.”

His dire physical state soon affected Ki’s

mental health too as he began halucinating. “I was just going off saying stupid stuff, talking weird and three or four times I stopped, stunned, for three or four minutes. I couldn’t move.”

Transferred to one of Dalian’s major hospitals, Ki was sent straight to ICU where he spent three nights while doctors tried to work out what was going on.

Eventually Ki was diagnosed with sepsis, acute gastroenteritis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome or MODS. After two weeks he was well enough to take the one hour flight to his native South Korea, where he was bornbeforeemigratingtoAustraliaandwhere unlike China, he knew the language.

Now staying in an apartment in Seoul while having regular treatment at a nearby hospital andtakingmedication,Ki’smedicalcondition

has improved, but he and his family’s finances have not.

“I don’t have travel insurance and I’m a foreigner so in China and Korea, everything coststimeandahalfortwotimes.InAustralia, everything’s free, but here even just blood tests are like $300 or $400. In ICU it was a couple of grand for per-night and just in the hospital it was like $1,000 every night.”

Then there’s the cost of changing flights, accommodation and medication, leading Ki to start a gofundme page which has has so far raised $7500.

The family hope to return to Australia next month and Ki said any donation would be appreciated.

“Just a little help will be better than nothing.”

https://gofund.me/2e77262e

From left: siblings Lucas (9) Hannah (6) and Oliver (7) use the children’s ipads at the reopened Hoppers Crossing library. (Damjan Janevski) 402164_01

TK Maxx breaches child employment laws

Department store chain TK Maxx has pleaded guilty to breaching Victoria’s child employment laws by employing children under 15 at its Werribee store.

Wage Inspectorate Victoria, the state’s child employment regulator, began investigating TJX Australia Pty Limited, trading as TK Maxx, as part of a compliance blitz in December 2022.

On December 8 2022, the Wage Inspectorate found TK Maxx Werribee was employing a child under 15 without a permit, so it warned the business that the child must cease work immediately.

However, TK Maxx Werribee proceeded to

employ another child without a permit the very next week.

The investigation also found the parental consent form used by TK Maxx noted that children would be working in line with child employment restrictions. Restrictions they have now admitted to breaching.

In the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 16 April, TK Maxx Werribee pleaded guilty to employing two children under 15 without a permit on 12 occasions; failing to ensure a child was supervised by someone with a Working with Children Clearance on four occasions; employing a child for more hours than they are permitted

to work on three occasions; employing a child later than 9pm on three occasions and failing to provide children with a 30-minute rest break for every three hours worked on 11 occasions.

The offences took place between September 28 and December 26, 2022.

In sentencing, Magistrate Gregory Thomas said he considered the offending to be inadvertent, and noted the company had no prior convictions and had entered an early guilty plea.

TK Maxx was placed on an adjourned undertaking for 12 months with the condition it pay $5,000 to the court fund.

Heart health crusade

Werribee’s Michael Czajkowski was enjoying a party at a friend’s place in October 2021, when suddenly the fun stopped and so (very nearly) did his heart.

“I just started having a bit of chest pains,” said the now 40 year old of when first noticed he was having a heart attack.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on and then I sortoftoldmywifeandshewasthinkingmaybe I’d had a few too many beers or something.” But when the pain continued and he began vomiting, Mr Czajkowski asked his wife, Paris, to call an ambulance. “As soon as I asked that shewaslike,‘hangon,theremustbesomething wrong because you would never ask that’, Mr Czajkowski said of his wife’s, instincts which proved to be correct.

“I had to get rushed to hospital and then within an hour I was actually on the table had

a stent put in to open up about 100% blockage in my front LAD (left anterior descending artery).”

Michael Czajkowski was a fit, healthy, footballer and father and now, a heart attack sufferer. While he improved physically doing rehab at IPC in Hoppers Crossing (“they’re just amazing” said Paris Czajkowski) the mental and emotional scars proved harder to recover from.

“I’djustsortofgotreallydowninthedumps,“ said Mr Czajkowski of the period following his heart attack. “I got depressed and I didn’t really want to talk to anyone. And then I had a few weeks at home sort of just sitting around, I couldn’t pick up the kids, I couldn’t mow the lawn. I wasn’t able to do anything.”

Itwasn’tuntilweekslaterthatMrCzajkowski realised he was actually okay and rather than

wallow in grief over his brush with death, he was going to talk about it instead.

Before long this desire to be open and upfront about his heart attack morphed into Mr Mr Czajkowski’s very own heart health foundation: StickFat Collective. “We made a few T-shirts and beanies and stickers and cards then I’ve done a few talks for the Rotary Club and I’ve done a little bit of work with the Heart Foundation,” he said of the work he’s done with StickFat which focuses on raising awareness about heart attacks happening at any age, not just to those who are overweight and over 50.

“It doesn’t discriminate on age,” Mr Czajkowski said.

“I was so young so at 38. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It can attack anyone.”

https://www.facebook.com/ stickfatcollective/

Speaking after the court hearing, Wage Inspectorate Victoria commissioner Robert Hortle said the parents who gave permission for their kids to work at TK Maxx Werribee had every right to feel let down. He said sioner Hortle said the outcome should serve as warning for other businesses, that employing children comes with strict conditions.

“Kids don’t have the same mental or physical stamina as adults, so they can’t work the same hours and need to have regular rest breaks. It’s concerning to see a workplace of this size fail to take the welfare of kids into account.”

Water Week comp returns

Entries for this year’s National Water Week poster competition are now open and Greater Western Water (GWW) is inviting all primary, kindergarten and early learning students to enter.

Students across Melbourne’s west, including in Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay are encouraged to apply for the popular competition.

Last year, GWW received more than 800 entries from 35 schools and early learning centres, across five age categories, with three local students going on to win statewide prizes.

This year, students are being asked to design, draw or paint a poster that reflects this year’s poster competition theme, “Water for all, inspiring action” which highlights the important role water plays in bringing individuals and communities together.

First prize winners from GWW’s local competition will automatically be entered into the state competition, with winners announced during National Water Week in October.

GWW strategy and partnerships general manager Kessia Thomson said the competition serves as a great opportunity for students to learn about the value of water.

“We’ve seen some incredible entries over the years that promote water saving tips, highlight how water connects communities and the need to protect water as a precious resource,” she said.

Students can win a voucher of up to $100 for themselves or $500 for their school to spend on a sustainability project.

Therearecategoriesforeachagerange, from early learning and kindergarten to grade 6. Entries close on September 6. Details: https://www.gww.com.au/ about/community/national-water-week

Nowhere to hide for family violence offenders warn police

Victoria Police is warning the state’s most dangerous family violence perpetrators there’s nowhere to hide – as a crackdown leads to a record number of offenders being arrested and brought before the courts each day.

Victoria Police said frontline police and specialised teams – including family violence investigation units and the family violence command taskforce – are proactively targeting andapprehendingoffendersforfamilyviolence crimes to ensure the safety of victim-survivors.

Crime Statistics Agency figures show 29,233 family violence offenders were either arrested or summonsed to court last year. It equates to

an average of 80 arrests or summons to court each day.

The figures are up slightly on the prior year when an average 79 arrests or summons were made each day. That’s one person arrested or brought before the courts for family violence offending every 18 minutes.

The vast majority of offenders were arrested for serious family violence crimes, as well as actively avoiding police detection, outstanding warrants or unserved family violence intervention orders (IVO), stalking and making threats, according to police.

Family violence command assistant

commissioner Lauren Callaway said these figures highlight Victoria Police’s continual efforts in tracking down family violence offenders, some of the worst in the state.

“We have thousands of police officers across Victoria working tirelessly to apprehend family violenceperpetratorsandbringthembeforethe courtstoensurethesafetyofvictim-survivors,” shesaid.“Weneedfamilyviolenceperpetrators to stop and really think of the damage they are doingtotheirpartnersandchildren.Somegoto greatlengthstoavoidapprehension–including blackmailing victim-survivors or using friends to keep them in hiding – but they’re always in

the sights of police.

“Ourmessagetofamilyviolenceperpetrators is clear: closed doors will not protect you from being tracked down and held to account.”

If you are concerned about your own or someone else’s behaviour support services are available. No to Violence runs a Men’s Referral Service which helps men who use violence to change their behaviour and can be contacted on 1300 766 491.

Support for victims is available 24-hours-a-day through Safe Steps by calling 1800 015 188 or emailing safesteps@safesteps. org.au

Michael Czajkowski of Werribee is a recent heart attack survivor and has started his own heart health foundation, StickFat Collective. (Damjan Janevski) 402441_02

Bad parking causing congestion

Residents near Wyndham Vale station fear chronic traffic congestion and illegal parking in the area could have tragic consequences. Morning traffic jams have become the norm along Cumbrian Road in Manor Lakes as commuters hurrying to catch V-line services to the city, park illegally along the already narrow street.

“There’s cars parked on footpaths, there’s cars parked on grassland, there’s cars double-parked, parked the wrong way, you name it,” said Cumbria Road resident Grant Burton who pointed out that there was sufficient parking 200 meters away, but that

motorists preferred to park illegally near the station, creating gridlock.

“You’ve got two way traffic trying to get through a single lane at best, so you’re getting cars stuck halfway in the middle,” he said.

“I’ve probably on 10 occasions, gone halfway down and then had to reverse back because the person coming at me doesn’t know how to reverse.”

Mr Burton, who works in the security industry, said it was only a matter of time before pedestrians get hit or cars get damaged and that the road was already too narrow for emergency vehicles to get through.

“A fire truck wouldn’t need a turning circle ofmorethanthatspacegivensoitwouldnotbe able to get through, It wouldn’t be impossible to get through. An ambulance, same thing. The turning circle for an ambulance with a car right on your hard left, hard right and straight in front of you, no paramedic would be able to turn the wheel on that angle in sufficient time to get through without cleaning up 10 mirrors and then they would have to stop because they hit a car.”

In response, Wyndham council said it was aware of the problem and was taking measures to address it.

Scouts out and about in Canberra

Scouts from across Australia, including Wyndham, descended on Government House in Canberra last week, where they were invited to camp on the vista lawn at the home of the governor-general David Hurley.

More than 1400 scouts across Australia, ranging from five through to 25-years-old, spent the week based on the lush grounds of Yarralumla, the governor-general’s official residence in the nation’s capital.

Activities ranged from excursions to explore the natural surroundings and flora and fauna, to deep dives into Indigenous history and culture, emergency services simulations, photography sessions, theatre and performing arts workshops, archery and rogaining.

Among the scouts participating was Wyndham’s Lucy Matheison who represented the CRC Venturer Unit - Sydenham.

“I’m really enjoying the chance to bond with my friends and meet new Scouts from across Australia,” said Lucy during her stay in Canberra.

Australia, the focus on outdoor education delivered through the scouting experience provides significant wellbeing benefits to young people.

The study found scouts indicated a healthier mental state than non-scouting peers of the same age.

“Wyndhamcityisintheprocessofinstalling eight No Standing signs and poles along Cumbrian Road. The works will be completed over the coming weeks,” said a council spokesperson, who warned commuters that if they park illegally near Wyndham Vale station, they will be caught.

“Wyndham City’s enforcement team has been patrolling the area and taking enforcement action against vehicles that are parkingillegally.Thisincludesvehiclesparking within 10 metres of an intersection, within three metres of a solid white line, and vehicles facing the wrong direction.”

Help extended to Apex owners

Customers of failed construction company Apex Homes are now covered by the state government’s Liquidated Builders Customer Support Payment Scheme after it was extended to include them.

The support scheme, which was established following the collapse of home builder Porter Davis last year, provides payments to customers of insolvent builders who failed to take out insurance on their behalf.

The scheme covers customers of builders who went into liquidation this financial year and has now been extended by eight days to February 28, 2024, the same date Apex Homes was liquidated.

The Victoria Supreme Court ordered the North Melbourne based builder with projects in Wyndham, Geelong and Melbourne’s north, into liquidation after six creditors, including the State Revenue Office, sought a winding up order over more than $200,000 in unpaid debts.

Matthew Blum from insolvency firm BDO was appointed liquidator.

The first sign of trouble at Apex Homes came a few weeks earlier when concreting company Aerolink Pty Ltd, trading as Midway, lodged a winding up application against the builder over unpaid debts of more than $46,000.

“But what excites me the most is embracing this brand-new adventure and the unique opportunity to explore Government House and Canberra. The activities here are far more interesting than anything we would have been doing at school this week!”

According to data collected by Resilient Youth Australia in partnership with Scouts

Speaking before the scouts arrival, governor general Hurley said he was pleased to welcome the large cohort.

“I am delighted that the grounds of Government House will be the backdrop for so many scouts from across Australia to come together,immersethemselvesinteam-building activities and forge lifelong friendships,” he said.

The application was lodged on January 29, but only made public on February 15.

Some Apex customers are believed to have paid deposits to the builder in the meantime.

WIN WIN TICKETS to the 47th Historic Winton Races...

Australia’s longest-running and most popular all-historic motorsport event, Historic Winton, will be held on 25th and 26th May 2024 at Winton Motor Raceway, near Benalla.

Spectators will see more than 40 historic car, motorcycle and sidecar races and the traditional Sunday Parade Lap of selected display vehicles.

Organised by the Austin 7 Club, the 47th Historic Winton invites spectators to bring their historic cars, bikes, trucks, buses, caravans and other vehicles for a massive car park display.

Wehave20weekend doublepassesupforgrabs!

Wyndham’s Lucy Mathison (left) with members of the CRC Venturer Unit - Sydenham, in Canberra last week. (supplied) 402557_01

Police make arrests at station

Police arrested and charged two men in relation to separate incidents at Werribee train station on Wednesday afternoon. WithassistancefromtheSpecialOperations Group, police arrested a 20-year-old Altona man at about 4.15pm on April 17 in relation to an alleged aggravated burglary and ramming of a police vehicle in Williamstown earlier this month.

At the same time, a 32-year-old Altona man also present, was arrested and charged with possessing cannabis. He was bailed to appear at Werribee Magistrates’ Court on September 10.

The 20 year old is the second man to be arrested in relation to the Williamstown incident on April 5 and was charged with a string of offences including:

• Two counts of home invasion (firearm)

• Two counts of armed robbery

• Reckless conduct endangering life

• Three counts of common law assault

• Six counts of theft of motor vehicle

• Two counts of prohibited person possess firearm

• Prohibited person use firearm

• Use firearm in dangerous manner

• Carry loaded firearm in town or populous place

• Possess loaded firearm in public place

• Possess cartridge ammunition

• Five counts of handle stolen goods

• Theft from motor vehicle

• Three counts of drive whilst disqualified While investigating the aggravated burglary, police seized three vehicles, all believed to have been stolen, including a grey HoldenStatesmansedan,awhiteToyotasedan and a silver Nissan Pulsar, as well as assorted ammunition (12 gauge, 410 gauge and .22 calibre), suspected stolen goods, assorted registration plates, as well as 19 cartridges of

Augie to march into Wyndham

Augie March have played gigs in cities, towns and suburbs across Victoria and right around the country in their near 30 years as a band, but lead singer and songwriter, Glenn Richards, said their April 28 show in Werribee will be their first in Wyndham.

“It was always a place (Werribee) you just passed on through, but as it turns out, one of the members now lives out there and another one of them works there pretty regularly,” said Richards of keyboardist Keiran Box and bass player Edmondo Ammendola who’ve now given the acclaimed band, originally from Shepparton, a Wyndham connection.

Ironically, neither are likely to be involved

in Sunday night’s show supporting Eskimo Joe at the Wyndham Cultural Centre.

While Keirnan Box may join on keyboards for a few numbers, Richards said Augie March would just be a duo for the night, with Dan Kelly joining him on guitar.

With Richards now based in Hobart and Adam Donovan (guitar) and David Williams (drums) also busy with other projects, getting the five-piece together is less common these days than at the turn of the century when Augie March were a staple of Melbourne band rooms and then festivals and concert halls across the country.

Their 2006 hit ‘One Crowded Hour’ came in at number one on the Triple J Hottest

100 and the album it featured on, ‘Moo You Bloody Choir’ won the Australian Music Prize for album of the year.

While that proved to be the zenith of the band’s popularity, Augie March have continued on, with a new album recorded and set for release later this year or early next.

“Until you’ve been completely driven crazy by it, I think you just keep on doing it,” said Richards of why Augie March endure.

“I’m a songwriter so I don’t really have a choice. It’s what I do.”

https://www.wyncc.com.au/whats_on/ eskimo_joe

Cade Lucas

.22 calibre ammunition and a single round of ammunition wedged in a small copper tube.

On April 5 police charged a 23-year-old Corio man with home invasion, two counts of armed robbery, reckless conduct endangering life, three counts of common law assault, three counts of theft of motor vehicle and dangerous driving whilst pursued by police.

He was remanded to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on July 1.

Anyone with information on illicit firearm activity can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.

Energy kits available

To help Wyndham residents power their homes and keep themselves warm while avoiding bill shock, a new ‘Home Energy and Water Efficiency Kit’ is being made available at the end of this month.

The kits, which can be borrowed from Wyndham libraries, allow residents to check where and how they are using energy at home and identify causes of high electricity and water use.

Theyincludeenergymeterstomonitor electricity consumption, thermal imaging cameras to identify areas of heat loss and water-measurement devices to help reduce water usage.

The kits also come with a carrying case, USB cable and instruction guide.

While they come with instructions, Wyndham councillor Robert Szatkowski invited residents to attend an online launch, which includes a demonstration of how to use the kits and get the most out of them.

“Our May Green Living theme is ‘Energy Smart Wyndham’ which coincides with the ‘My Home Energy and Water Efficiency Kit’ launch.

This initiative is supported by our Resilient Wyndham Strategy 20212025,whichaimstohelpourcommunity lower greenhouse gas emissions and reach net zero by 2040,” he said.

The launch will be held on Tuesday April 30 from 7-8.30pm, with expert Lucinda Flynn not only demonstrating how to use the kits, but also providing information about how to prepare homes to ensure they stay warm throughout winter.

For bookings and more information, visit: www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/ energy-water-efficiency-

New Orygen program for students to tackle suicide and self-harm

Leading youth mental health organisation Orygen is preparing to start a new program, which will work with international students to build a digital program to bring down disproportionately high rates of suicide and self-harm among that cohort.

Orygen Youth Health is a mental health service for young people aged 15 - 25 in the western and north-western metropolitan region, which specialises in youth mental health research, education, advocacy and policy organisation.

Program lead researcher, Dr Sam McKay, leads the international student suicide prevention research programs on a number of

things, the latest being this new program.

“We know that international students report more suicide attempts than domestic students even if they have similar amounts of thoughts to domestic students,” he said.

“And we also did another piece of research that showed there’s no evidence based suicide preventionprogramsavailableforinternational students.

“So this is like a major gap in available prevention programs. And that’s particularly concerning given the risk of suicide attempts.”

Dr McKay said with three separate grants, Orygen will create a new suicide prevention, digital programs specifically co created with

and for international students.

A $75,000 grant from the Study Melbourne Inclusion Program will continue, Suicide Prevention Australia has donated $99,000 and the University of Melbourne provided Orygen an early career researcher grant for $38,000.

“There’s a little over $200,000 to do the work, which is pretty exciting,” Dr McKay said.

“The aim is to start the co-creation process this year with our program and have a working prototype by the end of this year with testing to happen in the first part of next year.”

InternationalstudentslivinginMaribyrnong or Hobsons Bay, they will have the chance to be a part of the program and get paid while

doing it.

“We will be spending a lot of time with international students and people from the sector to create something that’s adapted to their needs, that makes sense and is approachable,” he said.

“We’re going to be looking for a lot of international students, so if they’re living in that area that can be great for them to join the program, work with us and get paid for it.”

Dr McKay is happy to be contacted through the Orygen line for those interested.

Details: 9966 9100

Jennifer Pittorino

Augie March frontman Glenn Richards will perform with Dan Kelly in support of Eskimo Joe at the Wyndham Cultural Centre on April 28. (supplied)

Prison program is kicking goals

An eight-week soccer coaching program at the Metropolitan Remand Centre (MRC) in Ravenhall is striving to help people in prison break the cycle of reoffending Melbourne City Football Club (MCFC) has partnered with Corrections Victoria to deliver the program, known as the Twinning Project. The program is being delivered to 16 participants at MRC by the charitable arm of the MCFC, City of Community.

Backed by a $30,000 investment, the pilot program delivers interactive training that focuses on teamwork, leadership, respectful

relationships and engagement to increase employment opportunities and reduce reoffending upon release.

The program is delivered by coaching staff, mentors and various guest speakers who come from a range of cultural and professional backgrounds, each bringing different lived experiences to their coaching and sessions.

Last week, Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan joined MCFC to congratulate the graduates from the second round of the Twinning Project at the MRC.

“The Melbourne City Football Club

Participate and learn

Young people in Wyndham are being encouraged to participate in the 2024 Wyndham Youth Civic Participation Project.

Applications for the project, which is aimed at young people aged 18 to 25 with an interest in government and who want to get close-up experience, are now open.

Participants will have to opportunity to speak with councillors, senior public servants, and council staff, about their responsibilities and the work they do.

The project also includes travelling to Canberra for a four-day tour, visiting Parliament House, Museum of Australian Democracy, High Court of Australia and the Australian War Museum, as well as a full day at Parliament House Victoria and visiting Wyndham City Council.

Wyndham’s Fynn Groves and Kaylee McCulloch were selected for the 2023 Youth Civic Participation Project and encouraged others to apply.

“I learnt so much about the workings of government, how politicians get elected,“ said Kaylee.

“I enjoyed making new friends and getting to know the local politicians.“

Fynn said the trip to Canberra was the highlight of the project as well as meeting other young people with an interest in government.

“It was great to be around like minded young people with similar ideas from all different backgrounds with a whole range of perspectives.“

Interested young people are encouraged to submit an application detailing their future goals and interest in Australian politics, previous community involvement and how they would benefit from participating in the project.

Applications close June 11, after which a selection panel will assess applications and select successful project participants.

Coaching Program offers people in prison a crucial opportunity to develop important skills that they can use in the real world,” he said.

“Engaging in teamwork and leadership exercises means people can leave prison with skillsthatboosttheirjobprospects,enrichtheir lives, and help reduce their risk of returning to prison.”

MCFCisownedbyManchesterCityFootball Club, which founded the Twinning Project in the United Kingdom. The Twinning Project is now delivered in over 70 prisons in the UK, the United States of America, Africa and now

Australia.

The state government said the Twinning Project was one of a number of local education, training, employment services and community reintegration programs offered by Corrections Victoria to provide people in prison with the best chance of leading safe and productive lives when they return to the community.

The Victorian recidivism rate of former prisoners returning to prison under sentence within two years has remained lower than the national rate for the last five years, according to the government.

Fynn Groves and Kaylee McCulloch were selected for the 2023 Wyndham Youth Civic Participation Project and are urging young people to apply for the 2024 version. (Damjan Janevski) 402113_03

Important road rescue training

An interagency response to a road crash rescue incident was the focus of an emergency services training exercise at Werribee on Thursday, April 19.

Personnel from Ambulance Victoria (AV), Country Fire Authority (CFA), and Victoria Police braved the cold and rainy night-time conditions to practise their on-scene skills by undertaking two simulation exercises.

AV Wyndham senior team manager Blixa Webster said the learning opportunity was designed to mimic real-life scenarios that first responders may face and to stimulate their stress response, just as a real incident would, but in a controlled environment.

“These scenarios are very stressful – you have multiple people injured and trapped that require treatment, its confronting even when simulated, and you’re working in messy, confined conditions that is a mangled car,” Mr Webster said.

“We want to elicit a stress response from the paramedics and firefighters responding, because that’s what they are going to face on

the road. We do these exercises in real-time, in low light, and make the exercise as close to the real thing as possible.”

Both scenarios imitated a car that had been involvedinacollisionandflippedontoitsside, with multiple patients injured and requiring extraction and emergency treatment for time-critical patterns of injury.

Paramedics practiced assessing and managing patients in the realistic mass casualty scenario, building their capability to better respond to scenarios they may face on the road.

Mr Webster said the training provided valuable information for all agencies involved.

“We each have our competing priorities at an incident, so exercises like this help us to understand where the friction points are and what we can do to alleviate those,” Mr Webster said.

“This training is a great opportunity for paramedics, firefighters, and police officers to practice their response to these high-stress, high-risk scenarios.”

The exercise imitated a situation in which a car had flipped onto its side. Picture: Supplied

Paramedics and a firefighters worked together during the exercise.

Two paramedics during the exercise.

Three paramedics work to free a manikin trapped in a car.

A group shot of everyone who took part in the training.

Running a healthy brotherhood

By Afraa Kori

While the method might be unorthodox, an inclusive run club is changing the culture of running and improving men’s health.

NasRunparticipantsmeetonThursdayand Saturdays at 8am for a 5km run at Victoria University Aquatic and Fitness Centre in Footscray.

Williams Landing local and director of Nas Run, Kuti Kalo, said he’s been running with friends for a while, but late last month they decided to involve the wider community.

“I noticed a couple of us guys were already training separately in different places and I asked ’why don’t we make this open for a lot of guys?’ I think it’s something that they could really benefit from. So we came together to invite the community, put a name to it and get guys around that.”

Mr Kalo highlighted the need for male-based programs and community-led running clubs.

“When it comes to mental health, we don’t reallyhaveanoutletthatinvitesguystoaplace where they can not just get physically fit but a place they can talk, offload whatever they feel like and they can just outsource the stresses of life. Also a place they can be a part of the community which reduces social isolation, depression, anxiety and stress. So Nas Run is a place they can come and they might not talk about their feelings straight away, but it’s a place they can at least feel safe to kind of talk about what’s going on in their lives.

“Another thing is that our youths have so muchenergyandthere’snotenoughprograms to cater to or channel that energy. Our aim is to also create a healthy outlet where they can put all that energy into working out.

“I think representation matters especially when it comes to programs. When you don’t

see someone that looks like you, you’re more reluctant. So I really wanted to show that we’re not Bob and Harry from another state, we are actually guys active in the community. For example the guys running the program, the coaches look like us. I think that’s what separates us from other men’s programs, we are involved in the community, especially the African Sudanese community as a whole in Melbourne.”

Mr Kalo said his overall aim is to impact participants’ decision making especially when it comes to alcohol and drugs.

“These things are contributing factors to a decline in health and wellness in our community. I was telling one of the guys that when you come to the program, I can guarantee that you will think twice about what kind of food you have, how much alcohol you’re going to have and whether you want to

The Victorian Government is making it easier for families to find a three and four-year old kinder learning program they can count on.

LED BY A QUALIFIED TEACHER

The Kinder Tick recognises kinder programs that are led by a qualified teacher.

PLAY-BASED LEARNING PROGRAM

It highlights kindergartens and long day care centres that offer play-based programs to help children learn and grow, before they start school.

take those drugs. When you train you’re a lot more careful about what you put in your body. I’m hoping as we see more people come to our programs regularly that this will impact them in making healthy choices.”

Meanwhile Nas Run is receiving positive supportfromthewidercommunity,including female participants.

“So far we’ve seen guys and girls attend our program, which have been predominantly of African descent. We’re not exclusive to a particular race, skin color or men. It’s about whoever wants to be part of our program, but our target audience will always be men, especially men in our communities.”

Footscray photographer and loyal club member Duoth Rambang said Nas Run is “verypositive”andhelpshimwithconsistency and “has an amazing community and people behind it”.

“The word nas means people [in Arabic] or in Nuer the word ‘Naath’. Also with this new fitness journey I’m on, running was a major factor which helped me stay consistent and beat the mental barriers of procrastination and laziness. So once you combine something that’s part of my identity which is the Nuer culture and also something that helps me with my personal development and growth, it’s the ultimate combination. So yes, it does live up to its name.”

Mr Kuti encouraged people of any fitness to give running a go.

“People think they have to be in top shape to join our club when you don’t. A run club is like a hospital– you don’t go to the hospital if you’re fit or feeling great. You go to the hospital when you need help regardless of what your illness or symptoms are like. So we see ourselves as a hospital in our community, helping people regain control of their fitness, health and wellness as a whole,” he said.

FUNDED AND APPROVED BY THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT

It also identifies services that are approved for Victorian Government funding.

Run with purpose, run with a community and run with Nas Run Club. (Rambang Photography)

Senior centre now open

GradefiveandsixpupilsatHoppersCrossing’s

St Peter Apostle Primary School now have shiny new surroundings to spend their final two years at the school in.

St Peter Apostle recently opened its new senior learning centre, a double storey building that houses the school’s grade five and six pupils as an art room and project spaces.

Funded by St Peter Apostle school and parish community, the learning centre took 12 months to build and replaced an older building at the school which could no longer be used.

“We’dalwayswantedtobuildanewbuilding however the need became more pressing when one of our older buildings suffered damage in storms in 2022 and had to be demolished,” said St Peter Apostle principal Karen Wilson of how the new building came about.

Ms Wilson said the centre was built in a way that encourages active and collaborative

learning among students, rather than just housing a number of classrooms.

“It’s designed for senior students so the spaces are quite flexible, the children can either independently in small groups or in larger groups depending on their learning needs. All the classrooms lead onto an open project space which allows for the whole year level to meet or children to break out into smaller groups.”

And while the centre is primarily for grades and five and six, she said the addition of art facilities meant it would be used by all year levels.

“We didn’t have a dedicated art room before this building so this is a large art space which looks over our oval and all the children in the school have the opportunity to use this space.”

The senior learning centre doesn’t occupy the same site as the demolished building it replaced, with that space set to be converted into a basketball court and playground.

Briefs

Armed robbery

Police are appealing for public assistance following an armed robbery in Werribee South last week. It is understood the offender, armed with a tire iron, entered a general store on Duncans Road about 2pm on April 15 and demanded cash from the shop keeper. Officers have been told the 63-year-old shop keeper declined and chased the man out of his store. The offender fled empty-handed and was last seen travelling in a white Toyota Camry with no registration plates. No one was injured. Detectives have released CCTV footage of a man who they believe may assist with their inquiries.

Machete fine

A Tarneit teenager has been fined $1000 after being found with a machete at Pacific Werribee shopping centre. Police responded to reports of six children causing trouble inside the shopping centre in Hoppers Crossing late on the afternoon of April 17. At 5.45pm, officers located a group of boys at a nearby bus stop on Derrimut Road. Police found a machete on one of the group, a 16-year-old boy from Tarneit, who was then arrested to confirm his identity and released. He was issued with a penalty notice for possessing a controlled weapon and fined $1000. FOR

St Peter Apostle Primary pupils (from left) Harper, 10, Joseph, 10, Juan Jose, 11 and Chelsee, 11, at the school’s new learning centre in Hoppers Crossing. (Ljubica Vrankovic) 401056_13

Book helps foster inner strength

By Gerald Lynch

The Orange Door is set to stock a fantastic new resource for young victims of family violence.

The Orange Door is a support service available to adults, children and young people who are at risk of experiencing or have experienced family violence, and for families who need support with the development and wellbeing needs of children.

Originally from Mildura, 20-year-old author Connor Pall has relocated to Melbourne, and has published his first children’s book ‘The Shadow That Follows’ which will now be made available for free at all Orange Door centres, after officially launching at the Broadmeadows centre.

The book deals with complex topics, as it follows the journey of a young boy who finds inner strength to battle difficult situations that no child should ever have to face.

Writing a book that discusses topics of such sensitive material in a way that children can understand seems like a tough task, but for Mr Pall it was simple.

He wanted to create the resource he wished he had through his own history of dealing with family violence as a child.

“Withmylivedexperienceasamalesurvivor of family violence, growing up in an unsafe home… I never had the language to express what I was experiencing,” he said.

“I wish I had something like this book when IwasgrowingupsoIcouldgetthesupportthat all kids and all people deserve.

“I have created the book from my own experience, to make sure kids know they have a right to safety and freedom in their own homes.”

As someone who was provided support by the Orange Door himself, Mr Pall said he hopes his book can lead children to speaking out and finding the help they deserve.

“If a kid has read this book at school or at a library… Speaking to a safe adult about their experience is always a good place to start,” he said.

“These adults will be able to help out and point kids in the right direction.”

Prevention of Family Violence Minister Vicki Ward said that although she understands itcanbeverydifficultforfamiliesinvulnerable situations to reach out for help, she wanted to assure them that there are services available.

“Every door is open, walk in, there are a number of people here who can wrap around, triage the support that you need and find services that will help in the longer term.”

“The police should always be a point of call for families who are feeling unsafe, but you can utilise the Orange Door without involving police,” she said.

Family Violence incidents and breaching of Family Violence orders continue to be some of the most prominent offences in Hume, and sat second highest as per the latest crime statistics.

With less than 40 brand new homes left, all within walking distance to a resort-style clubhouse and incredible views of the bay, you'll be able to enjoy the luxurious coastal lifestyle you've always dreamt of with like-minded neighbours and friends.

We're located at 711 Portarlington Road, Leopold. Contact us today and we can help you plan a visit. Walk ins welcome.

Author Connor Pall with Prevention of Family Violence Minister Vicki Ward and Broadmeadows MP Kathleen Matthews-Ward. (Gerald Lynch)

Trekking for chances at success

Over the weekend, five purpose-driven organisations and individuals participated in a three-day fundraising trek.

Western Chances is a non-for-profit organisation empowering young people in the west who are facing financial barriers to achieve their potential.

The Western Chances Three Peaks Trek was held across three days from Friday, April 19 to Sunday, April 21, trekking through the Victorian alps to reach the summit of the three peaks; Mt Buller, Mt Stirling, and Mt Timbertop.

Activations and communications co-ordinator Anthony Tran said the Western Chances team was blown away with the fundraiser. which has already surprised its $50,000 goal.

“As it currently stands, the fundraising amount has greatly surpassed our goal of $50,000 and is currently sitting over $65,000,” he said.

“We’re anticipating reaching $70,000 by the end of it.”

All of the funds raised will go towards the Western Chances scholarship program, which Mr Tran said will fund 70 or more scholarships, as one scholarship is usually worth $1000.

“Seventy thousand dollars is equivalent to supporting three classrooms of talented and motivated young people with scholarships,” he said.

“Everyone who participated on the trek developed a lifetime bond with Western Chances, the alumni who participated were the stars of the show.”

Across the three-day trek, six teams of 20 people in total and five alumni contributed to raising $10,000 for the cause.

Sponsored by Multiplex, the other teams were Pan Pacific hotels, legal firm Maurice

Blackburn, Melbourne Airport and Victoria University.

The Western Chances alumni invited were Sadiya Tabassum, Jemmah Nix, Archie Dinh, Katharine Nikolic, plus a Pan Pacific member. “Thealumnigotalongwellwiththeteamsand hadthechancetosharetheirstories,”hesaid.

“They also displayed great resilience and courage to act as proud ambassadors of Western Chances.”

One of the alumni, Ms Tabassum, led the trek on day two and three and said, “Thank you for the amazing experience, taking back the strength I didn’t know I had.

“SuchgreatworkWesternChancesisdoing, always ready to help young people. Thank you for the opportunity.”

ThefundraiserwillcloseonFriday,April26. Details: https://western-chances.grassrootz. com/westernchances-3peaks-2024?tab= donations

The Western Chances team and alumni during their trek to Mt Timbertop on day one. WC Corporate Partnerships and Events Manager Frank Scifo , Western Chances Chair Terry Bracks , Archie Dinh, Katharine Nikolic, chief executive Zac Lewis, Jemmah Nix, Sadiya Tabassum.

Multiplex team during their trek to Mt Timbertop. Regional director Chris Szambelanczyk, regional managing director Ross Snowball, project co-ordinator Amber Shiel-Jones and design manager Lina McIvor.

Group shot at the summit of Mt Stirling on day two.

MY PLACE

Dr Hassan Younes is an aerospace engineer, entrepreneur, business coach, publisher and keynote speaker. He’s also a Wyndham resident. He tells Cade Lucas about his life.

What’s your connection to Wyndham?

In2005,Imovedwithmyyoungfamilyofthree children at that time, to the Hoppers Crossing area and have lived in Hoppers Crossing ever since. My connection with Wyndham is through its friendly and diverse multicultural community.

What do you like about where you live?

I just love how Wyndham has such a vast and diverse set of businesses that cater for all the various needs of the community. Living in Wyndham is so convenient as everything that we need as consumers and residents is located within close range of the municipality.

What, if anything, would you change about where you live?

The only element that I would change in Wyndham, especially near the area where we live, is the road infrastructure. Some roads are unable to cater for the increased level of traffic in the area.

Where is your favourite local place to spend time?

WelovethestaterosegardenparkinWerribee. It is a beautiful place to relax, unwind and soak the beautiful nature of Werribee and its gardens.

Tell us something people would be surprised to know about you?

I am a spontaneous person who loves to travel and be on the move, to see new places, admire new environments, meet new people and new experiences, in Australia and abroad.

Cakes, coffee for cancer

The kettle will be warm and the cakes ready for the Eynesbury Biggest Morning Tea.

Running for the sixth year, the morning tea raises funds for the Cancer Council which will go towards vital cancer research, prevention programs and advocacy.

Oneoftheorganisers,AnneWarren,saidthe tea was a true community event.

“There’s six of us ladies who organise it each year,” she said.

“Last year we had about 70 people and it was a really big event with morning tea into lunch.”

The group raised more than $12,000 last year, the biggest amount they’ve raised.

This year the group is focusing on just morning tea instead of the bigger event like they held last year.

There will be raffles and games to raise money, along with plenty of cuppas, food, smiles and laughs.

Ms Warren said they would be aiming to raise $6000 this year, but with money tight for many people at the moment they don’t know what to expect.

Entry to the morning is $25 which includes entry and a ticket into the door prize.

Guests are encouraged to bring along gold coins to be involved with the raffles and the games.

The Eynesbury Biggest Morning tea will be held on May 1 at the Eynesbury Discovery Centre from 11am.

Entryisviaticketonly. Tickets:https://www. facebook.com/EYBMT/ or DM Anne Warren on Facebook.

YOUR NEW CAREER ... starts here

Star Weekly seeks an enthusiastic Full or Part Time sales executive to work across our print, digital, social and online platforms.

Star Weekly is an independently owned company which prides itself on its long history of community experience but also its investment in the future.

The successful applicant will need to possess good people skills to enable them to meet with local businesses to sell solutions through our advertising platforms to help promote their business.

Applicants will need their own reliable vehicle for which we will provide an allowance.

The position is salaried, plus we offer an open ended commission scheme.

Send your application letter and resume to: Advertising Sales Manager, Mandy Clark mandy.clark@starnewsgroup.com.au

Margaret Scholten, Anita Smith, Anne Warren, Julie Dixon and Bev Christie are among the organisers of the Eynesbury Biggest Morning Tea. (Damjan Janevski) 401195_01

Dr Hassan Younes at Arndell Park Early Childhood Learning Centre in Truganina, one of his many business interests. (Jacob Pattison) 392381_04

Pesutto and Libs woo the west

At this rate, Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto will know his way around Watton Street better than Spring Street. It was down Werribee’s main drag on Thursday, April 11, that the Liberal party leader walked and talked shop with shoppers and shop owners, while a phalanx of advisers and colleagues hovered nearby.

Earlier in the day, the alternative premier visited a number of local sporting clubs and businesses where he addressed functions, posed for photos and provided a sympathetic ear to their concerns while accusing the state Labor government of taking them for granted.

Justfourdayslaterhewasbackagain,butthis time with the whole shadow cabinet in tow for a meeting at the Wyndham Park Community Centre on Monday, April 15.

The meeting featured presentations from localbusiness,communityandcouncilfigures, before a meet and greet session over lunch and a press conference where Mr Pesutto once again bagged the government for their neglect of Wyndham and the west, a message he said he’d heard during his ‘many’ visits to Wyndham in recent months.

Many visits?

A reminder: Wyndham and the broader north-west of Melbourne is an area where the Liberals hold precisely zero lower house seats, either state or federal.

The last Liberal to represent the state seat of Werribee left office when Dick Hamer was premier and in any case, the next state election is still the best part of three years away.

So why then are the Liberals regularly beating a path over the West Gate Bridge, through roadworks and traffic jams, to a place that has for decades been an electoral desert?

“I would argue that the most important reason to be out is to hear from locals about their priorities,” said Mr Pesutto when asked this question by Star Weekly following Monday’s shadow cabinet meeting.

“We understand fully that areas like Werribee are being neglected and we don’t think that’s fair or right,” he said, highlighting public transport, particularly the multi-billion suburban rail loop being built in Melbourne’s east, butwhichisn’t dueto reachWyndham for decades, if ever, as a prime example.

“Our concern with projects like that and blowouts on other projects is that it’s starving areas of like Werribee vital funds that they need to cater for growth. There’s enormous growth in areas like Werribee, far outstripping the growth that you’re getting in the inner suburbs. So it’s about doing what’s right and about how do we develop our state fairly.“

‘Fairness’, ‘neglect,’ ’being taken for granted’ – Mr Pesutto uttered these words and phrases almost as often as ‘and’ and ‘the’ during our conversation.

It was no accident.

The sense that voters in Melbourne’s rapidly growingouternorth-westfeeltakenforgranted by a Labor government who accept their votes but ignore their needs, is palpable and the opposition have clearly sniffed an opportunity.

A cynic might argue that they also have no other choice.

Out of office for all but four years of the 21st century and seeing their own heartland in the eastern and bayside suburbs eaten away by Labor, the Greens and the teal independents federally,theLiberalPartyhastomakeinroads into the outer north-west in order to survive, with even Mr Pesutto conceding that it hasn’t just been the ALP who have neglected the area.

“It’s because our party structure in terms of our membership hasn’t traditionally been strong out here,” he explained of why his party had performed so poorly in the area.

It’s a point backed up by Wyndham GP and former independent candidate for the state seats of Werribee and Point Cook, Dr Joe Garra.

“They (the Liberal Party) have their little branches and they just put up a candidate and you go ‘who’s this person?’ no one knows the candidate usually and then the candidate disappears once the election is over,” said Dr Garra of the Liberal’s lacklustre recent

campaigns.

“I think it’s pleasing that they’re making a concerted effort to be seen locally and listen to people.”

Dr Garra was one of the people the Liberals listened to on Monday when he addressed shadow cabinet about issues affecting the health system in Wyndham such as the GP payroll tax.

ButwhiletheLiberalsaremakingmoreofan effort to listen to the concerns of people such as Dr Garra, there’s still scepticism as to whether voters in Wyndham and neighbouring areas will listen to them.

Among them is pollster and former Labor strategist, Kos Samaras.

Mr Samaras said while the frustration among outer suburban voters with Labor was real, that didn’t mean the Liberals would necessarily benefit.

“There’s no real strong evidence to suggest that voter is being converted to the coalition,” hesaid,addingthiswaspartofanationaltrend of outer-suburban voters moving away from the two major parties.

“This is largely driven by what we define as millennialsandGenZ,whocomefromdiverse backgrounds. This is a complete move away from the major party system and hence, the Liberal Party is not going to capitalise on these defections.”

Rather, Mr Samaras predicts the biggest threat to Labor in the north-west, both at a state and federal level, will come in the form of well known and well funded independents.

“I suspect these communities are looking for an alternative. Sometimes that alternative manifests itself as a well known independent like we saw in the Sydney seat of Fowler (ex

Liberal turned independent, Dai Le won the seat from Labor at the 2022 federal election) and sometimes like what we saw in the state seat of Werribee in 2018.”

The independent candidate on that occasion was none other than Dr Garra, who gave long-time incumbent and state treasurer, Tim Pallas, a fright by securing almost 20 per cent of the vote and pushing the Liberals down to third.

But after contesting the neighbouring seat of Point Cook in 2022, something he now concedes was a mistake, Dr Garra saw his vote go backwards, as did other independents such as Melton candidate Dr Ian Birchnall.

“A lot of people seem to go back to minor parties rather than independents,” reflected Dr Garra on the difficulties facing independent candidates at a state level.

What all sides agree on is that there is an anti-Labor vote to be had, it’s just a matter of whether the Liberals can secure it . Afterall, the party has taken other outer suburban seats off the ALP, particularly in Melbourne’s south-east and Sydney’s west, so why not Melbourne’s north west too?

Mr Samaras said there are some key differences, particularly among migrant communities, that work against the Liberal Party in places like Wyndham, Melton and Craigieburn.

“If you think about the Indian-Australian community, for example, those Indian Australians living in Sydney are more likely to have supported the Liberal Party in the past versusthoselivinginMelbourne,”MrSamaras said,somethingheattributestohouseandland packages in these areas, being significantly cheaperthanequivalentplacesinSydney’swest

such as Camden.

“We got migrants who couldn’t afford the $1 million homes and hence were more likely to vote for Labor.”

Another hurdle for the Coalition is that for allthefrustrationandvoterfatiguewithLabor, the party still has deep roots and a formidable campaign infrastructure in Melbourne’s north-west. It won’t be surrendering it to anyone without a fight.

“The only time the Liberals pay attention to Melbourne’s western suburbs is when they’re cutting funding, closing schools and hospitals and going to war with workers,” was the typically combative response from Mr Pallas to the opposition stepping on his turf.

The government provided Star Weekly with blizzard of figures to counter the argument they are neglecting the west, including $1.5 billion for the new Footscray Hospital: $650 million to upgrade the Melton train line; nearly $700 million for upgraded roads and intersections across the west, $32 million for West Gate Bridge maintenance works; 50 new early learning centres; scores of new and upgradedschoolsanddozensof levelcrossings from Melton to Newport being removed.

Expect those and other figures to be repeated ad-nauseam between now and next state election in November 2026, when Labor will seek to win a fourth term in office while maintaining its hegemony on the north-west.

There’s no guarantee that Mr Pesutto will even make it to that election as Liberal leader, but when asked if the party will run a stronger campaign in places like Wyndham, with better candidates, more volunteers and more corflutes, he was unequivocal.

“You bet.”

Werribee MP and state treasurer Tim Pallas.

Liberal upper house member for Western Metropolitan, Trung Luu, at the shadow cabinet meeting in Werribee on April 15.

Opposition leader John Pesutto speaking with a Watton Street trader on a recent walk down the Werribee shopping strip.

Left: Mr Pesutto also visited the Werribee Football Club. Centre: GP and former independent candidate for the seats of Werribee and Point Cook, Dr Joe Garra, addressed shadow cabinet about health issues in Wyndham. (Pictures: Supplied) Right: Shadow cabinet members mingle with guests following their meeting at the Wyndham Park Community Centre on Monday April 15. (Cade Lucas) 402414_01

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Star Weekly looks back through the pages of our predecessors

40 years ago

April 28, 1984

Liberal candidate for Werribee at the next state elections, Peter Hudson, has no doubts about the future of the electorate.

30 years ago

April 27, 1994

Fresh doubt has been cast on the future viability of Centenary Hall as a gaming venue, following the release of a new report.

20 years ago

April 21, 2004

A horror smash on the Princes Freeway last Friday claimed the life of 29-year-old Werribee resident Nicole Maree Smith.

10 years ago

April 23, 2014

Dee Dee may look cute and cuddly, but she has the ability to change the life of someone with a disability. Wyndham dog trainer Dee Moore is seeking volunteer puppy-raisers after the black Labrador gavebirthtoalitterofseven.Withthehelp ofAssistanceDogsAustralia,thepupswill

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

WANT YOUR EVENT LISTED? Community Calendar is made available free of charge to not-for-profit organisations to keep the public informed of special events and activities. Send item details to Star Weekly Community Calendar, Corner Thomsons Road and Keilor Park Drive, Keilor Park, 3042, or email to westeditorial@starweekly.com.au by 9am Wednesday the week prior to publication

Laverton Community Choir

The choir is currently welcoming new members – especially male voices. If you love singing and would like to be part of a choir – come along and try out your vocal cords. There are no auditions and you don’t need to be able to read music. The group meets on Thursday evenings during school terms at Laverton P12 College, 91 Bladin Street, Laverton from 7-9pm.

■ Sue, 0418 386 147 or lavertoncommunitychoir@gmail.com

Live Well for Life

Live Well for Life is a free five-week program that provides support and information to Wyndham residents 18 and older, on a number of issues including how to make healthy behaviour changes, heart disease, diabetes and stroke, healthy eating, physical activity and sleep. The program will run at IPC Health, 117-129 Warringa Court, Hoppers Crossing in April and May. Registration is essential and participants must be able to attend all sessions.

■ livingwell@ipchealth.com.au or 1300 472 432

Point Cook Probus

A meeting to establish a new probus club in Point Cook will be held on Wednesday, May 8 at The Brook, Point Cook. Those interested in being part of the new club are encouraged to come along.

■ 1300 630 488 or admin@probussouthpacific.org

Point Cook VIEW

The Point Cook Day VIEW Club (for ladies) meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month at the Point Cook Library 1-21 Cheetham Street, Point Cook. Members enjoy afternoon teas and outings. New members welcome.

■ Catherine, 0407 726 852.

Watton Group

A support group providing a social space for carers to get together in a safe and compassionate environment. Gives carers an opportunity to connect, share their experiences and offers emotional and practical support. The group meets at the Eco-Living Centre at 10am every fourth Tuesday of the month.

■ Patricia, 0434 487 360, or wattongroup131@gmail.com.

All Abilities Netball

All Abilities Netball for 10-to-25-year-olds is run by Wyndham Netball Association every Saturday morning during school terms from 10.30am on outside court 14 at Eagle Stadium, Ballan Road, Werribee. Intellectual, physical and social disabilities are catered for in a fun and supported group. Come and try your first session for free, with stadium entry $2.

■ Phil, 0437 078 739

Walking Netball

Walking Netball is a low impact, no running, no jumping version for those that love the fun, friendship and activity of a weekly game of netball. Sessions are run every Thursday during school terms from 8pm at Eagle Stadium, Ballan Road, Werribee. Come and try your first session for free, with stadium entry $2.

■ Phil, 0437 078 739

Wyndham Rotary

Wyndham Rotary welcomes people interested in helping people in need in the community. Interested in finding out more, come to the Italian Sports Club each Wednesday at 6.30pm for a meal, to share ideas and to work for a common cause.

■ Julie, 0406 196 630

With One Voice Wyndham Choir

With One Voice Wyndham Choir is a community choir open to all. The community choir welcomes all ages, abilities, faiths, cultures and genders and is directed by a very experienced and friendly professional conductor. Fun weekly rehearsals and amazing performance opportunities are provided. They sing for an hour and then have a cuppa. The first two visits are free; and then payment is by tax-deductible donation. Tuesday evenings 7-8:30pm at Wayaperri House ,106 Duncans Road, Werribee.

■ wyndham@withonevoice.org.au

Adult community garden group

The group meets on the first Tuesday of the month 10-11.30am at Iramoo Community Centre, 84 Honour Ave, Wyndham Vale. Head down and join them as we maintain their rejuvenated community garden. Planting and harvesting produce that they grow.

■ 8742 3688

Seniors House of Fun

The Grange Community Centre invites seniors of Wyndham to its weekly Seniors House of Fun. This is a free program running every Friday 11am-12.30pm, at The Grange Community Centre, 260-280 Hogans Road, Hoppers Crossing.

programs. The free groups are organised by Genwest and provide a social space for women, gender diverse and nonbinary people, who have a disability, chronic health issues and/or mental health challenges.

■ https://genwest.org.au/what-we-do/ health-wellbeing-programs/

U3A Werribee

The group is a not-for-profit community organisation for semi-retired and retired Wyndham residents. They hold a variety of classes-activities specifically designed for seniors, including, light physical and mental wellbeing sessions, arts, games and craft, and general classes such as current affairs, history and lunch groups. Most classes-activities are held at Wyndham community centres.

■ Rick, 0402 299 220

Lions Club Lions Club of Werribee meets at the RSL Club, 2a Synnot Street, Werribee on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 6.30pm.

■ Jorge, 0433 566 575

Bingo for all

The Werribee RSL hosts Bingo every Monday between 12.30-2.30pm.

■ 9741 5525

Western Budgerigar Club

The Western Suburbs Budgerigar Club meets at 7.30pm on the third Thursday of each month at Masonic Hall, 223 Watton Street, Werribee. Meet other members who are also passionate about breeding Budgerigars.

■ Don, 0414 975 862

Wyndham Ladies Probus

Are you recently retired or semi-retired? Looking for fun, fellowship and to increase your social networks. The Ladies Probus Club of Wyndham meets on the first Wednesday of each month at Hotel520, Sayers Road, Tarneit, and normally has an outing or event on the third Wednesday of each month.

■ Rosa Sanderson, 0410 303 046

Wyn FM

■ Vanessa, 8742 8000, or enquires@grangecommunity.org.au

Seniors club

The Werribee Senior Citizens Club meets at 80 Lonsdale Circuit, Hoppers Crossing. The group is open to all people 55-plus and it runs on Wednesdays, 10am-noon. Entry: $2, includes morning tea.

■ 0403 041 499

Diabetes Support Group

The Werribee Diabetes support provides an opportunity to hear from experts on how to manage your diabetes, to share information on diabetes and to engage with other diabetics Meetings are at the old council shire buildings at 10am every second Friday of the month.

■ Bob, 0409 252 872

Hoppers Crossing Ladies Probus

The friendly and vibrant group meet at Hotel 520 on the second Wednesday of each month from 10am. They have a guest speaker each month as well as social lunches, outings and theatre trips.

■ 0408 123 669

Sunrise Social Groups

GenWest Sunrise Social Groups are currently seeking new members for their Melton, Brimbank and Wyndham

Wyn FM is Wyndham’s community radio station, broadcasting on 88.9 and online from its studios at the Victoria University campus in Werribee. It offers a wide range of programming including music, sport, news and lifestyle shows as well as broadcasts in languages other than English. New broadcasters, volunteers, members and sponsors are always welcome.

■ 9919 8089, or wynfm.org.au

Wyndham Combined Probus Club

Wyndham Combined Probus Club has been providing friendship and fun for retired people for 22 years. They have recently moved to a new home at Iramoo Community Centre in Wyndham Vale and offer speakers, lunches, brunches, shows, trips and tours. Newcomers are welcome on the second Tuesday of the month at 1.30pm.

■ Judy 0411 034 311

Werribee River Association

New volunteers to support Landcare work along the Werribee River. A great way to give back, get outdoors and work at your own pace.

■ Lisa Field Community & Business Development Manager, 0433 559 530, admin@werribeeriver.org.au, or visit the Werribee River Association website www.werribeeriver.org.au

This week’s photographer’s choice picture is of comedian Lisa Gatenby. (Damjan Janevski) 401135_01

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.

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included and each letter may only be used once. No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural nouns ending in “s”.

of Without a Trace with which other Australian?

2 Plov is a rice dish otherwise known as what?

3 Who wrote the books that inspired the movie Die Hard?

4 Saint Kitts and Nevis is located in which ocean?

5 Chidi Anagonye is a character from which sitcom?

6 The

SPORTS QUIZ

1. Which Major League Baseball team has won the World Series a record 27 times?

2. Who did Shane Warne dismiss when he delivered his 'ball of the century' in 1993?

3. Who is the current captain of the Australian men’s national soccer team?

4. The disbanded Jaguares franchise were a Super Rugby team based in which country?

5. According to a recent decision, in which sport have transgender women been banned from international competition?

6. Who was the last AFL player to kick over 100 goals in a single season?

Which Kiwi fast bowler is the all-time leading wicket-taker in T20 international cricket?

Which is the only Formula One team to have competed in every season since the championship began in 1950?

The 1904 Olympic Games in St Louis coincided with which other event in the same city?

Andy Murray has been runner-up in which tennis tournament on five occasions?

How many FIFA continental zones are there?

12. An NBA basketball court is how wide to the nearest metre?

13. What nickname does the Australian bowls team go by?

14. Which capital cities in Australia have not hosted the Commonwealth Games?

15. What substance is a pool cue often dipped in?

16. How many women’s football clubs are taking part in the 2024 Sapphire Cup?

17. What is the minimum age for an Olympic archer?

18. What are curling stones made of?

19. Matildas star Caitlin Foord and which other player scored in their friendly against Mexico?

20. True or false: ice resurfacers used for winter sports are called Zambonis in reference to their inventor?

21. Steve Smith signed with which Major League Cricket team in the US?

22. Who did the Indiana Fever select with the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft?

23. 223cm (7ft 4inches) tall basketballer Jongkuch Mach represented which state at the 2024 U18 National Championships?

24. Which team finished top of the table at the end of the 2023–24 A-League Women regular season?

25. In which track and field throwing event does Mykolas Alekna hold the men's world record of 74.35m?

26. Who won the 2024 US Masters?

2.The proposed works include the addition of new 4G & 5G equipment and associated works including a new triangular headframe; Installation of total 6 new panel antennas (less than 2.8m in height) on new antenna mounts on the existing monopole; Installation and reconfiguration of 9 new remote radio units; Installation and reconfiguration of ancillary equipment; and a new Optus 2 bay outdoor unit within an existing compound/by the base of monopole.

3.Optus regards the proposed works as a Low-Impact Facility under the Telecommunications (Low-impact Facilities) Determination 2018, based on the description above.

4.The proposed infrastructure will comply with the ACMA EME regulatory arrangements. An EME Report and further information can be obtained from www.rfnsa.com.au/3030009

5.In accordance with Section 7 of C564:2020 Mobile Phone Base Station Deployment Code, we invite you to provide feedback about the proposal. Further information and/ or comments should be directed to: CPS Technology & Infrastructure, (02) 9300 1700, submissionsVIC@cpstech.com.au by 5pm on Monday 13 May 2024 12685214-MP17-24

27. A jacket of what colour is traditionally awarded to the winner of the US Masters?

28. Chance the Gila monster is the costumed mascot of which NHL team?

29. The Australian men's national team of which sport is known as the Kelpies?

30. Recently retired footballer Nathan Murphy played for which AFL club?

MG4 XPower Hatch

– is it hot or not?

By Alistair Kennedy, Marque Motoring

As we began this review of the MG4 XPower the company announced that it was switching to national driveway pricing for its entire fleet.

In the case of the MG4 range the new driveaway prices replace the previous manufacturer’s RRP and equate to savings of around $3000 to $5000.

The fully-electric MG4 was added to the MG range midway through 2023.

Unlike the ZS and HS EVs which are modified versions of the respective petrol vehicles, MG4 is a dedicated EV and the first to use the innovative Modular Scalable Platform (MSP) that will underpin a new generation of MGs.

MSP features rear-wheel drive, 50:50 weight distribution and thin battery technology.

MG4 comes in a choice of five variants: Excite 51 kWh, Excite 64 kWh, Essence 64 kWh, Essence 64 kWh, Essence 77 kWh Long Range and XPower 64 kWh.

The first four models have a single, rear-mounted motor, while XPower – the one we’re reviewing here – adds a front motor for all-wheel drive.

Driveaway prices now range from $39,990 for the RWD Excite 51 kWh through to $59,990 for the high-performance AWD XPower.

Styling

While the MG ZS and HS models follow the predictable and functional SUV styling, MG4 is easily the most attractive vehicle we’ve seen yet from the Chinese carmaker.

A sleek profile is topped by a two-tone roof and there is an active intake grille shutter – no need for an ugly radiator intrusion up front. It rides on 18-inch alloys with aerodynamic covers, with LED rear lights, distinctive rear centre light bar and a twin-aero rear spoiler. There is no specific badging to distinguish the XPower from the rest of the MG4 range, apart from the name being shown on the tinny orange brake calliper covers.

XPower also gets re-tuned suspension for

25 percent extra stiffness, beefier anti-roll bars front and rear, re-calibrated steering and torque vectoring.

Interior

There’s little inside the XPower to distinguish it from the rest of the MG4 range.

Only the inclusion of a Track Mode feature activated from the touchscreen allows the driver to check lap and stage times, giving a clue to its performance alter ego.

The aforementioned Modular Scalable Platform creates good cabin and storage space, bearing in mind that it’s a compact hatchback and slightly smaller than Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30 and Mazda3.

The two-level boot floor caters for 363 litres with the rear seats in place and 1177 litres when folded.

Infotainment

Infotainment features across the MG4 range include a 10.25-inch multifunction colour touchscreen, configurable 7.0-inch LCD digital instrument cluster, four-speaker audio, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB and FM Radio, multi-function steering wheel controls and three USB ports.

XPower adds satellite navigation with voice control and EV trip planning, 360-degree parking cameras, six-speaker premium audio with sound field calibration, and wireless smartphone charging.

The MG iSmart system integrates car, internet and communication enhanced by voice activation and remote-control features on XPower and Essence models.

Powertrain

XPower is the only MG4 variant to have electric motors for both the front and rear axles to provide the benefit of all-wheel drive.

All others have rear-mounted motors powered by either 51 kWh (Excite), 64 kWh (Excite or Essence) or 77 kWh (Essence Long Range) batteries.

The dual-motor, all-wheel drive MG4

XPower uses the mid-range 64 kWh battery to produce 320kW (150 kW from the front motor and 170 kW from the rear).

This, together with 600Nm of torque, makes it the most powerful production MG in Australia to date, capable of 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds.

Range is listed at 385km on the WLTP cycle. Not surprisingly that will drop down under aggressive driving.

There are four regenerative braking levels down to one-pedal mode.

Safety

MG4 received the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating when tested last year.

Standard features include six airbags, enhanced ABS brakes with electronic brake force distribution and emergency brake assist, and electronic stability program, reversing camera, hill start assist with auto hold, automatic door unlocking and a collapsible steering column.

Also, standard is the MG Pilot advanced driver assistance system which adds lane keep assist and departure warning, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, automatic emergencybraking,trafficjamassist,intelligent headlight control, speed assistance system and driver inattention alert.

Unfortunately, MG has followed the growing trend to switch various controls to the touchscreen, including the most commonly-used audio and air conditioning.

While it might suit the stylists it takes far too much of the driver’s attention away from the road ahead.

Interestingly, there’s a move underway in Europe where Euro NCAP are planning to deduct points where certain functions are not easily accessible via physical knobs and/or buttons.

Let’s hope that Australia’s ANCAP assessors follow that lead.

Driving

The first thing that you notice when you’re

ready to set off in the MG4 is that there’s no starter button or ignition key.

Rather, the car is ready to go within a few seconds of the driver sitting down and once the ‘Ready’ light shows on the driver information screen, it’s simply a case of moving a circular knob from ‘P’ to either ‘D’ or “R’.

One of the most appealing features of all electric vehicles is the instant acceleration that can see them leap ahead of the traffic from standstill.

The MG4 XPower raises the bar even further withitsstunning3.8-second0-100km/hsprint.

The jury’s still out on whether the XPower meets the hot hatch pub test.

While it clearly ticks most of the boxes in terms of its spectacular acceleration and speed, it doesn’t provide the same driver input and feedback as its petrol-powered rivals.

For a start there’s no manual gearbox – well, no gearbox at all – which is such an important ingredient for the driving enthusiast.

Likewise, while silent running is a positive feature for most EV buyers, the XPower misses out on the characteristic hot hatch engine sound track.

Ride and handling, although very good, lacks the feel of established hot hatches nor is it as balanced through corners.

Summing up

Ever since the first of the new Chinese MGs arrived here in 2018, we’ve found ourselves cringing a bit when cornered by devotees of the classic British sportscars that carried that iconic badge for decades.

Notanymore…becausetheMG4ingeneral, and the XPower in particular, can hold their own in any company.

With prices breaking through the key $40k barrier and range over 400km, depending on thevariant,theyopentheEVmarkettoawhole new customer base.

At just under $60k the XPower offers almost supercar performance at a fraction of the price.

But does it qualify as a hot hatch? We’d say no – not enough driving enjoyment.

Falcons roll over Waves

By Tara Murray

The City West Falcons took the rolling sub to a new level as they did a demolition job against the Peninsula Waves on Wednesday night in the Victorian Netball League championship.

Facing a winless Waves side, the Falcons had more than a win in their focus as they entered the match.

Coach Marg Lind had hinted in the lead up that she would throw the combinations around and get everyone plenty of court time and she did exactly that.

Midway through the first quarter, the Falcons made five rolling subs at the same time and it was a sign of things to come.

Every player played at least 22 minutes as the Falcons rotated heavily in every quarter.

While it prevented them from pushing towards the 100 goal barrier, the Falcons still came away with an 85-34 win.

Lindsaidtheywerehappywithwhattheygot out of the game.

“Itwasabitofatestbecausewedidrollalot,” she said. “Our goal tonight was to get everyone on and make sure everyone got exposure in a few different positions.

“I think when you do throw as many subs, it’s really hard to maintain discipline and momentum, but that was the theme of the night to be disciplined

“We probably achieved, because we scored a pretty tidy sum.”

Lindsaiddespitethenumberofchangesthey made, they were happy with the pace that they played at.

ShesaidthegoalingcombinationofShimona

Jok and Jane Cook did a few nice things together.

Cook, the competition’s leading goal scorer last season, spent time in defence late in the game as a tall defender.

Other changes included Sussu Liai and Gena Ogier both spending time in centre.

LindsaidtheywerestilltryingtofindOgier’s best position.

“I’mnotcertainwhereherpositionisbecause she came from basketball, but before that she was a bit of defence, bit of goals.“

Defensively, Melissa Oloamanu had a strong game as she continues her return from an ACL injury.

Lind said she thinks Oloamanu still has plenty of growth to go. She said she was also impressed with Lucia Fauonuku did a good job on the circle edge as they tried some different things defensively.

The win takes the Falcons to 5-1.

Lind said while they’re happy, they’re not content. “I still think our team has got a lot of growthnotsatisfiedwithwherewe’reat.Ithink we’ve probably out of all the clubs have got a bit more scope to go.

“I don’t think we’re near where we need to be.”

The Falcons under-23 suffered a one goal loss to the Waves, 41-40. It was the Falcons second loss for the season.

Lind said it was a terrible game of netball.

“I think there were 34 errors from our end, that’s not good enough. It could be a costly game.”

The Falcons this week face Melbourne University.

Shimona Jok. (Robbab Photography)

Clubs calling for changes to the WFL structure

A Western Football League coach is among those calling for changes to be made to the competition structure, or risk losing clubs and players.

In the off season, the league moved from three divisions to two divisions. The top division increased to nine teams, while division 2 has 14 teams after Glen Orden failed to get a team up.

Concerns about blowouts in the scores were circulating before the season started and they were validated in round one.

Sunshine beat North Sunshine by 252 points, while Albion and Newport also had 100 point wins, while Braybrook won by 92 points.

A coach of a division 2 side, who didn’t want to be named, is calling on the league to make changes now.

“Had they listened to the people, this wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “When you

have the top teams in division 2 that could comfortably beat some division 1 teams, it’s hard.

“Multiple clubs want it to be changed and it needs to be fixed before it is too late.”

The coach said that they believed that it needed to return to three divisions or if it was too hard in terms of fixturing, keep the same fixture but play two different finals series, with a finals series for the bottom seven sides.

The coach said if changes weren’t made it would have a massive impact on the competition. He said other clubs shared the same view and wanted changes.

“People are leaving straight away,” he said. “Some teams struggled to field teams in round one.

“Tarneit was calling out for players and it’s only round one.

“We will see senior teams forfeit this season.”

The coach said he was expecting 400-plus losses during the season and that fans would turn away from turning up if they knew they were expecting big losses.

“The WFL has to act and respond to this before it’s too late,” he said. “They will kill the participation of people in sport.”

Sunshine coach Ben Chapman said after his side’s big win against North Sunshine, that top teams from division 2 should not be playing the low teams from division 3 so early in the season.

Meanwhile a petition has been set up by one fan who has accused the league of deliberately forcing lower category recreational clubs to extinction.

“The heartless decision to take away the third division in 2024 will shut the doors for multiple clubs,” the petition said.

The WFL said it wouldn’t be commenting at this stage.

Falcons start to fire up

By Tara Murray

Wyndhamvale is hoping that things are starting to fall into place in the Western Football League division 2 competition. The Falcons have won both their matches despite not being out their best performances in either.

Co-coach Rob May said it was nice to have a couple of wins on the board after a slow start to the season.

“West Footscray was a bit of a struggle before we were able to run away with it after half time,” he said. “They didn’t go away.

“North Footscray are coming from a long way back and stuck around especially in the first half.

“They give 100 per cent contest.”

On Saturday against North Footscray, scores were level at quarter time before the Falcons led by 13 points at half time.

After half time, the Falcons stepped it up.

Eight goals in the third quarter blew the margin out to 35 points at three quarter time, before finishing strongly to win, 18.8 (116)-10.7 (67).

May said they were their own worst enemy at times in the first half.

“No disrespect to North Footscray, we made some basic errors,” he said. “Good teams will make us pay.

“In the third quarter we kicked eight goals and any time a side kicks eight goals in a quarter, they are hard to beat.

“We were able to pull away in the second half which was nice.”

Jack Tessari kicked four goals for the Falcons.

May said Cameron Morrison, who moved from the backline to the middle after half time, was a standout, along with Tessari and captain Liam Scarborough.

He said the back six didn’t panic and started to allow the side to maintain possession in the second half with several new players in that group.

May said they were hoping that the second half was a sign of things to come for the group in the coming weeks.

“Our pre-season was not great,” he said. “We only had one practice match which was six quarters… Bell Post Hill had to pull out of the second one.

“We played a lot of intra club scratch matches, but nothing beats a proper match. After half time, I feel like we were right back in it, only time will tell.”

The Falcons face the Suns on Saturday in round three.

May said the two teams have played a lot of practice matches against each other and this could be the start of a rivalry if they remain in the same division long term.

The Suns enter the match on the back of a

7.19 (61)-8.12 (80) loss to West Footscray. In other matches, Tarneit got its first win of the season, beating North Sunshine, 21.18 (144)-4.2 (26).

A league report released in September, said the WFL will work closely and provide club development staffing resources to those clubs that may need extra assistance as they move from division 3 into division 2 football.

“It is evident that youth football must be a key area of focus of the league for the future sustainability of clubs of the WRFL,” the report said.

“There are some clubs with no pathways from juniors to youth football at all, some that require strengthening of relationships between juniors and seniors and others that require assistance in recruiting and retaining players.

“There was an overwhelming amount of feedback that the grading for junior grades of football is currently not working as well as it could be.”

Tara Murray

Centurions enjoy big win

Werribee Centrals were one of the big winners in the Western Football League women’s competition on the weekend.

All four matches proved to be one-sided,startingwiththeCenturions win against West Footscray on Friday night.

The Centurions jumped out of the blocks with 11 scoring shots to none in the first quarter.

The momentum continued in the second and third quarters, with the margin beyond three figures at the last break.

The Centurions continued on in the final quarter, winning 23.16 (154)-0.0 (0).

Larissa Renaut kicked five goals for the Centurions while Kyleisha Kinces chipped in with four goals.

Julia Nash and Kinces were named theirbestinthewinfortheCenturions.

Wyndhamvale was on the other end of a big result, losing to Caroline Springs on Saturday morning.

With their top sides playing each other for the first time, there were a lot of unknowns heading into the match for both sides.

The Lakers experience shone through on the way to a 13.17 (95)-0.2 (2) win.

Chloe Prior and Ava Strathairn were numbed the Falcons best.

In the other matches, Parkside Spurs put on a show against North Sunshine, winning 28.17 (185)-1.0 (6).

Mary Sandral kicked 10 goals for the Spurs, while Tara Morgan kicked seven.

In the other match, Yarraville-Seddon kicked off its season in fine form, beating Laverton.

After a bye in round one, the Eagles were in control throughout on the way to a 19.21 (135)-0.0 (0) win.

Aisling Curley and Layna Porter kicked four goals each for the Eagles.

Curley was named their best.

The Suns had the bye after a win in round one.

The week Werribee Centrals plays North Sunshine on Friday night, while on Saturday, Caroline Springs plays Yarraville-Seddon, the Suns host Laverton and West Footscray plays Wyndhamvale.

In division 1, Werribee Districts beat Yarraville-Seddon, Point Cook lost to Altona, while Hoppers Crossing fell short against Caroline Springs.

Connor McIntosh takes a mark (Ljubica Vrankovic)

West Point will be ‘competitive’ vows coach

West Point is embracing a bit of the unknown in the FV state league 4 west season this year. Playing in the division for the first time after being promoted, West Point has had a strong start to the season.

West Point coach Tom Petrevksi said they were happy with how the season had started.

“It’s been very tough, but I’m happy right now,” he said.

“There is a lot of unknown, but we have played Barwon which we played a couple of years ago and Balmoral we knew from last year.

“There are some unknowns, but it’s the same as last year. We’ve been keeping a close eye on everyoneandtheotherteams,soweknowwhat we are in for.”

Petrevksi said the biggest thing early on for them, was finding was a more even spread of teams. He said while last season there were

three or four teams at the top, this season there’s seven or eight pushing for spots.

“We always knew that we would be competitive,” he said. “We’ve always had faith in our ability and we knew what we were capable of.

“If you look at the table now there’s some good teams up the top and there’s a couple of good teams down the bottom.”

Petrevksi said they had kept the core group of last season together, adding a bit more depth and quality now they were going up a division.

Hesaidthebigthing for the club was making sure they weren’t only good players, but good characters as well.

Petrevksisaidexternallytheyweren’tputting any expectations on what they could achieve this season.

“We’ve set our own internal targets,” he said.

“Wewillbecompetitive.Wejustwanttotake

it a week at a time and break up the season into different segments, with their own milestones we want to hit.

“Whether we get there or not is still to be seen. We want to be competitive week in, week out and see where it takes us.”

West Point had a big test on Saturday night against ladder leaders Surf Coast.

Surf Coast got the win 3-1.

Speaking before the match, Petrevksi said they were looking forward to it.

“They have been really unlucky the last few years not to be promoted,” he said.

“We need to go there with a clear head.

“We have a bit of confidence and we know what we need to do to get the result.”

In other matches, Truganina Hornets lost to Keilor Wolves, 2-0.

Cashin’s ‘cherry on top’

By Tara Murray

A whirlwind trip home to Australia proved to be a winning one for Amy Cashin.

The Western Athletics star was home for just seven days to compete at the Australian National Championships in the 3000 metre steeplechase.

Cashin, who is based in America, proved too slick in the final to run away from the pack and claim her second national title.

Cashin said she was stoked and relieved to have raced well.

“2023 was a tough year for me mentally and physically, and so to be able to feel like myself again running was something I had worked really hard on,” she said.

“Just felt extra special to have felt that way at nationals and winning was the cherry on top.”

For Cashin it was her first steeple race of the year, with America in a different time of the season.

She said being the first race of the year can always be daunting.

“My fitness has been really good, however due to a minor hamstring injury in Feb, I had been very limited in my hurdling and water barriers,” she said.

“I had a few races indoors which showed me I was in a better place compared to last year, and all around I was just happier which I think made a huge difference.”

The trip was extra special for Cashin with her brother Liam Cashin, claiming bronze in the men’s steeplechase.

Amy said she’s super proud of her brother, “He has been working hard and it’s paying off for him. I think over the next few years we will continue to see him improve and emerge as one of Australia’s top male steeplers making some Aussie teams.”

With a national title under her belt, Cashin is focused on her big goal for this year, making the Olympic team.

She said she doesn’t have the time standard at the moment, however she is in a position to qualify in the points.

“My plan though is to get in a few fast steeples and run the standard which is 9.23,” she said.

“My PB [personal best] is 9.21, so I know I am capable of it, it’s just about getting all the small things right.

“Tokyo was a whirlwind as I feel like it happened so quickly from when I qualified to when we raced.

Briefs

GDFL

Werribee Centrals lost their first match of the Geelong and District Football League season on Saturday. The Centurions headed up to Anakie and trailed by 10 points at quarter time. The margin was increased to 19 points at the main break, before the Centurions won the third quarter and got the margin back to eight points. Anakie settled in the final quarter to seal a 12.16 (88)-8.14 (62).

Zechariah De Leon was named the Centurions best. The Centurions face Bell Post Hill this Saturday.

GDNL

Werribee Centrals fell just short of a second win in the Geelong and District Netball League on Saturday. Facing Anakie, the Centurions lost 48-41. There were several new faces on the court for the Centurions. Ashlee Brunato scored 25 goals in the loss. The Centurions face Bell Post Hill this Saturday.

VAFA

“I feel like I learned a lot from it that I could utilise this year. My experience at two world champs and the Comm Games also would help me to be better prepared and thus I would hope that I could perform better than Tokyo.

“It would also be super special as I could have family and friends come this year, who unfortunately were unable to come to Tokyo due to the pandemic.”

Havingbeenincollegefor11years,Cashinis set to finish her studies in the next six months.

She said she’s really enjoying it, but is ready to be done with school work.

“I did my undergrad in sport and exercise psychology, with minors in psychology and athletics coaching, my masters in clinical mental health counselling and currently doing my doctorate degree in coaching and teaching studieslookingatburnoutinhighperformance coaches,” she said.

“I am an assistant coach for the WVU track and XC team which I love and is a great experience, and I also work as a success coachhelping students to either adjust to college or helping students on academic probation to navigate college. I am not sure what is next, just taking it one step at a time.

Westbourne Grammarians opened their account in the Victorian Amateur Football Association competition. Facing the Aquinas, the Grammarians came away with the win, 5.4 (34)-1.5 (11) after failing to kick a goal in the first quarter. Hannah McMahon kicked two goals for the Grammarians, while Roxana Sefton was named their best. The Grammarians reserves side also got their first win of the season. The Grammarians face Williamstown CYs in the local derby this Saturday.

A-League

Western United goalkeeper

Kathrine

Larsen has departed the club after the end of the A-League Women’s season. The Dane will return to Europe for an opportunity to play closer to home, joining Swedish giant Malmo FF. Larsen joined United in late February after Hillary Beall departed to join San Diego Wave in pre-season training. The 30-year-old made her debut in United’s 4-2 win over Canberra United at the beginning of March and played again the following week against Sydney FC.

FOR BREAKING NEWS, VISIT Web: starweekly.com.au

Wyndham Star Weekly

Tara Murray West Point (Supplied)

Amy Cashin winning the national title. (Casey Sims/Athletics Australia)

Gallant Tigers go down in thriller

By Tara Murray

Werribee’s winning start to the Victorian Football League season came to an end on Saturday in an absolute thriller against the GWS Giants.

Having played some solid football in the first three rounds, the Tigers had their biggest test of the season so far against the Giants.

Not much separated the two teams all day, with the Tigers in front by two points at the first two breaks and the Giants in front by four points at the final change.

The match went down to the dying minutes with the Giants kicking two goals after the 28 minutemarkofthefinalquartertosneakhome with a 16.10 (106)-14.14 (98).

Werribee coach Jimmy Allan said they were beaten by one of the best teams in the competition.

“It didn’t quite go our way in the end, it was disappointing not to get over the line,” he said.

“We played pretty well and did a lot of the right things. We had chances, but a reasonably good side pipped us at the post.”

Allan said they wanted to face these sorts of teams early in the season to see where the side is at.

He said they showed that they could match it with one of the stronger sides in the competition.

“We did enough to win,” he said. “We didn’t takeourchancesandwegotbeateninareasthat we’ve been pretty good in early in the season.

“There’s things to work on. We led at the 28 minutemarkofthefinalquarterandkicked2.6 in the final quarter and had 18 more insides 50.

“We weren’t able to kick one or two more goals to put them under real scoreboard pressure.”

Nick Hayes kicked three goals for the Tigers and was having a real influence early in the game before a heavy collision left him and Izaac Hughes both injured.

Hayes was taken to hospital and has since been released.

“It was one of the most courageous acts I’ve seen,” Allan said. “We missed his influence.

‘He want back with the flight and Izaac was going the other way and they cannoned into each other.

“It was a bit scary and both stayed down for a while. Nick is up and about in and in good spirits and hopefully Izaac is doing the same. “Nick is at home and as normal, his main concern was how did we perform?”

Joining Hayes on the side lines will be skipper Nick Coughlan who did a hamstring late in the game.

Allan said Coughlan would miss a couple of weeks.

Jack Henderson, Kye Declase and Dom Brew all had plenty of the ball on Saturday, with 24 possessions each.

Allan said Brew was outstanding as usual.

The coach said he was also impressed with small forwards Jay Dahlhaus, Harry Grintell, Jack Riding and Angus Hicks who were challenged during the week and really stood up.

Werribee doesn’t have long to recover with its next match on Anzac Day against Williamstown.

Similar to the Tigers, Williamstown lost its first match of the season on Saturday.

Allan said they would change things up

this week with the short break.

“We’ll do an extra recovery session tonight [Monday], “ he said. “After a loss the best thing that can happen is a short break.

“Tomorrow [Tuesday] we’ll do our normal Thursday session and have tea afterwards.”

Allan said the Seagulls are probably their fiercest rivals and the players can’t wait to face them on the big occasion of Anzac Day.

“The boys are excited for the privilege of playing on Anzac Day,” he said. “We won’t draw on it too much, as football and going to

war are different.

“Being committed and being united are things that we hold clear at our footy club and we might tough on that.”

The match will be at 1.05pm on Thursday at DSV Stadium.

Jay Dahlhaus has a shot on goal. (Belinda Vitacca Photography)

The players listen into Jimmy Allan. (Belinda Vitacca Photography)

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Situated 150m to Werribee South foreshore, this unique real estate opportunity is sure to attract investors and owner occupiers alike.

Whether you’re looking to live in the property full time, a fantastic guaranteed rental return or perhaps combine both options this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

On offer an array of luxury 2-3 bedroom house and land packages, with full turn key inclusions, and options to custom design your perfect home.

Venturing just outside of Wyndham Cove is Price Reserve, featuring a fabulous kids adventure playground, skate park, and a large oval for all your family activities. Being only a stone’s throw from Werribee South beach, take advantage of this popular location for sunset strolls, fishing, and swimming.

Visit the Wyndham Marina, Werribee Mansion, The Werribee Open Range Zoo plus for those keen horse riders the famous Werribee Equestrian Centre.

Werribee South is surrounded by Market Gardens – fresh food and produce grown by market gardeners for generations.

The Werribee Gorge State Park attracts those wanting to do some mountain biking, hiking the 10-kilometre circuit, picnicking and rock climbing.

This is a truly unique opportunity that should not be missed.

G05, 22 Synnot Street, Werribee

03 9974 0000

| raywhitewerribee.com.au

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Michelle Chick 0416 007 949

Shane Bogdanowicz 0411 670 218

Robert Krnjeta 0438 495 515