FEBRUARY 21, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
Homegrown is top choice
(Shawn Smits)
Brian Woodstock’s passion for Australian garlic started while trying to impress his girlfriend, Helen, over a romantic dinner. He had a great piece of whiting, but needed some garlic for seasoning. “I went to the cupboard and my garlic was all dried up,” Mr Woodstock recalled. “I went to the supermarket, but couldn’t find good Australian garlic. “By the time I got back home to dinner, the fish was ruined, but thankfully I still had Helen.” Five years ago, Mr Woodstock and Helen (pictured) moved to Gordon, planted their first garlic bulb a year later, and their business, Harmony Garlic, has blossomed since. The couple now plant more than 80,000 bulbs each year, and are urging everyone to support the Australian garlic industry. “Good quality garlic may cost a little bit more, but you’ll use less compared with imports,” Mr Woodstock said. “And the big problem with imported garlic is that it sits in shipping containers for several weeks. “And god knows what it’s sprayed in and grown in.” Garlic growers celebrated the opening of Victoria’s 2017 season this month, as demand for good quality Australian garlic continues to grow. Sumeyya Ilanbey
Tackle gangs, lawyer calls By Sumeyya Ilanbey People have buried their heads in the sand under the guise of political correctness, rather than tackling the youth gang crisis gripping the state, a Melton-based lawyer has claimed. Hayden Legro is calling for a youth summit in Melbourne’s west, bringing to the table local, state and federal government representatives, welfare workers, immigration officials, police, youth workers and community leaders. The summit must be convened in the western suburbs and focus on the particular issues facing young people in this region, Mr Legro told Star Weekly.
He stressed the urgency of such a move after reports a group of about 30 teenagers gatecrashed a recent Caroline Springs festival and stole mobile phones. “The government, sadly, simply wants to build more prisons to deal with the problem,” Mr Legro said. “This seems a defeatist and a political response to a much deeper issue. “A gathering of key stakeholders … is required to focus on this issue in a comprehensive, not a piecemeal, way.” Mr Legro said he is concerned that, if underlying issues aren’t dealt with, there could be serious consequences in the near future, including vigilante groups taking the law into
their own hands, or a backlash against ethnic minorities. In the 12 months to September 2016, there were 336 crimes involving young people reported in Melton – 9.3 per cent of overall offences. While this was a slight increase from the year before (244), it was a decline from 2014, Crime Statistics Agency data shows. Melton council community services general manager Maurie Heaney said a youth summit is something the council would support. He said the council ran a number of programs and support services for young people, including the Reconnect program, which helps young people at risk of homelessness, and
the youth mentoring program, which links “disconnected” youth with an adult mentor. “The youth services team also participates in a wide range of community events, including Djerriwarrh festival, Summersault, and MyCity, My Say listening posts,” he said. Meanwhile federal Liberal MP Jason Wood has called for anti-gang squads to be permanently located in Melbourne’s west and south-east. The squads would be made up of Victoria Police and Australian Federal Police officers, immigration officials, and Sudanese and Islander youth workers. “This is just going to get worse – early intervention is key,” Mr Wood said.