JUNE 30, 2015 \ NORTHERN.STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
Heads up for parrot pause Things are looking up, especially for bird watchers as a beautiful but endangered bird flits through the trees of Melbourne’s north. With its vivid green body, crimson throat and purple tail, you can’t miss the swift parrot as it darts between the eucalypts near La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus while on its migratory path up the east coast. Botany researcher Denise Fernando, who has had a life-long interest in the pretty parrots, was in the right place at the right time last Wednesday morning. She and a group of bird lovers spotted about 35 birds near Macleod train station. She said the parrots were drawn to the area’s greenery. “As a community, we owe it to these birds to look after what remnant habitat is left and celebrate that they’re here,” she said. “Protecting our big native trees is crucial to the survival of this bird, which is teetering on the brink of extinction. “Our parrots form an iconic Australian bird group that evolved here. Preserving this small, vulnerable group is not just a local issue; it’s of national importance and even globally important, given that swift parrots occur only in south-east Australia and nowhere else, with only 1000 breeding pairs left in the wild.” Lexi Cottee
Ursla Ellenberg, of La Trobe University, and (inset) the endangered swift parrot. (Shawn Smits)
Beveridge tower bid stalls By Lexi Cottee Despite a long-standing campaign for better coverage, Beveridge residents have missed out on the first round of federal government funding for new mobile phone base stations. The federal government has teamed up with state and territory governments and telecommunications companies to build and upgrade almost 500 mobile phone towers to provide better coverage for rural and outer metropolitan areas. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the recipients of the first funding round last Thursday. In the federal
seat of McEwen, the towns of Broadford, St Andrews and Kinglake West made the list, but to the dismay of locals, Beveridge did not. McEwen MP Rob Mitchell said Beveridge would receive absolutely no benefits from the three new towers. “They talk about the towers having a range of about 36 kilometres, but that’s line of sight, without mountains, trees and valleys in the way,” Mr Mitchell said. “I think they’ve got a good reason to be furious because they were played.” One-hundred-and-ten new mobile phone base stations are scheduled to be built around Victoria.
In a joint statement with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Mr Turnbull said successful locations were chosen after a competitive selection process, which had also involved mobile network operators. A state government spokesman said the Victorian government and Telstra analysed about 2000 sites as part of the site selection process. The first base stations will be built this year, and all 110 towers are due to be completed within three years. The combined federal, state and private sector funding allocated to the program is $385 million.
Better Beveridge Group president Greg Heffernan said the town’s misfortune was only to be expected as it had “some” mobile phone coverage. “There are areas in Victoria without any, so there are priorities ahead of us,” Mr Heffernan said. “So long as we’re in the queue … and it’s obvious we are.” He said fixing internet coverage was more of an issue in Beveridge than mobile black spots. “That’s our real gripe. What I’d like to know is whether the NBN will be timely and fix all of our problems,” he said. Round two funding for the black spot program was also announced last week, with $60 million allocated.