Warragul & Baw Baw
MONTHLY // FRIDAY 12 DECEMBER 2014
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BOOTHBYBOOTH ANALYSIS OF NARRACAN 2014 INSIDE
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Follow leaders By William Kulich
BAW Baw will continue its advo cacyonly role in public policy development under new mayor Debbie Brown. Cr Brown's leadership is set to keep the council running in a similar vein to the conservative, backtobasics agenda set under former mayor Murray Cook, who held the position since he and a majority of present councillors were elected for the first time in 2012. The presently conservativedomi
No gender December
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Baw Baw mayors: we should copy the city and advocate, not create original policy
nated council has a markedly different attitude toward public policy to that of the previous council, which introduced Baw Baw's smoking bans, took the first steps toward more sustainable public lighting and implemented other progressive policies. The 2012 council initially rejected public lighting changes and, as its
Women in Gippsland
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first action, restored the start of meeting prayer which the previous council had recently removed. When Baw Baw introduced the smoking bans it was the first council in the state to do so, but not the last. A number of other councils have implemented similar policies and the actions of the pioneering councils has prompted more serious
What's next for Gary? Page 7
discussion of a state government enforced smoking ban. According to Cr Brown, that is where such big, new policies belong. "We're doing what we should be (advocating) instead of us taking the lead foot which we have no way of being able to fund," she told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. "I'll take the smoking ban as an
example. It's great to be an innov ator and say 'yep, we want to ban smoking, but we only want to ban smoking in particular areas of the council'. "But it's sitting there. We just haven't got the funds to enforce it. Let the government do the banning. "Our innovation comes in the way of advocating on the behalf of this community. If that's what they want, the no smoking, then we will definitely advocate the strongest we can to the state government for that to Continued on Page 4 >
LOCAL NEWS 2 | THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN 12 DECEMBER 2014
Gender norms tickled pink FORGET choosing between isles of pink and blue when deciding what to get your kids this Chris tmas social campaign No Gender December is encouraging parents to think beyond stereotypes this silly season in the name of equ ality. Organisers of the campaign are asking people to sign a pledge to ignore even the most basic stereot ypes while shopping for toys, saying simple gendered marketing shapes kids' perception of what is socially acceptable to play with, wear or do. The stereotypes pushed on children through toys may have even determined where you are reading this piece now. If you identify as a woman it is statistically unlikely you are reading this paper on a construction site, or if male it is unlikely you are reading while at home with the kids while your partner works. The link may seem tenuous at first, but the gender norms learnt while young that girls play with dolls and push prams, that boys play with cars are often reflected in adult employment figures. It is this Yarragon toy shop owner Melissa Donders wants to see change. "We're going into 2015, we should allow boys to cook in the kitchen if they like, or girls to play with cars if they like," she told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. "There should be no specifications like 'you're a boy, you can't cook an egg'. It should be about imaginative play, and you don't put those gender stereotypes
Melissa Donders (right) and daughter Bella are encouraging parents and grandparents to ditch gender stereotypes
into imaginative play. It should be whatever the kids are willing to play with." As a toy shop owner of two years, Ms Donders has seen many examples of people choosing toys based on something as simple as colour, but it's not the children making that decision. "It's the parents and grandp arents," she said. "We have a wheely bug that is a mouse. The mouse is grey and very often we have people say 'oh, we can't give that to the child because it's a boy and [the mouse] has got
pink ears.' "It's a mouse, it's an animal. Mice have pink ears! Ms Donders said many girls had shown interest in a wooden castle set up in the shop, but "I haven't sold any for a girl yet." Ms Donders has seen some traditionally gendered toys break through, just not often. "There hasn't been a huge breaking of the gender stereotypes except for the doll's houses," she said. "I've also sold felted fairy mats with toadstools on them for boys
[where] some customers would say that's a girly present. "I think the tide's changing a bit. I sold a car for a girl earlier this week because the mum said 'no, she loves things rolling on the floor, I'm going to buy her a car.'" Ms Donders said the onus was also on retailers to change generations of sales pitches, which often begin with finding out the gender of a child, and on toy manufacturers to be more gender balanced. "We've got to remember that these kids and one and two year
olds; they don't have specific things in mind that they're going to do when they're older. All they want to do is sit on the floor, be around their parents and loved ones and play with things that interest them. "If it is a kitchen that interests someone that's fine, if it's a tool set that interests someone that's fine as well. "Don't limit it to only being that boys are going to play with cars and trains and the girls are going to play with fairies and princesses. They're kids – it's not about what we think. "They might just find they love doing something their friends aren't doing and it can lead to broadening their horizons rather than limiting them to only building or cooking." "You see dads pushing prams down the street, so why can't we give a pram to a little boy? I don't think that's a problem, it's showing a nurturing side." Ms Donders' high schoolaged daughter Bella also works at her shop. She said she sees the gender divide continuing to be a factor in the school curriculum. "We had to read an article about the new trend where men are starting to work at home and be house dads, and we had to elaborate on it and how we felt about that," Bella said. "But then we also had to read another article that was specifically saying that 'boys work better and are smarter' or 'girls are better' and how we would prove that. "I personally don't think there should be that difference between genders, we're [all] humans."
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Women stand strong WOMEN in Gippsland, a new networking, support and advocacy group for women formed from the former Gippsland Women in Business group, launched last week with up to 300 people atten ding the inaugural event. The event at the Warragul Cinema and Cinema Arcade told interested women what the group was about and encouraged netw orking and participation. Dubbed "White Christmas," the launch was just the first of many Women in Business events that will champion antiviolence against women charity White Ribbon. In addition to speeches on how the group would work, the night featured a talk by Baw Baw Shire's Kerry Irwin on the statistics behind domestic violence. Committee member Kelly Koochew told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen the direction of the group in 2015 would be determined by its members. "I'd like to think that that will come from the broader community as much as it will from the committee itself, so I think that's not predetermined," she said. "We've got our own ideas for events and our own ideas for things we would like to see happen, but we want it to be really consultative, really collaborative, because there are so many clever, creative, inspired women and so we want next year to be shaped by them as much as us. "I think where it was a business group it is now a women's group.
Women in Gippsland committee members with Baw Baw mayor Debbie Brown in front of the White Ribbon organisation oath board
"We want mums, retirees, we want to involve teenage daughters, stayathome Mums, people who are entrepreneurial and people who are working behind a desk and not really interested in that part of it. "It's really broad and really inclusive."
Ms Koochew said she hoped the group would become a hotbed of id eas, new projects and advocacy. "I think the focus of the group is about connecting women, empow ering women, nourishing women, creating a structure for people to bring their ideas to life," she said.
"People might have ideas, or might want to do things and don't know where to go, and I think we can put some structure around it and help make it happen. "I think it's going to be an awarenessraising group. The White Ribbon campaign will be for the
whole of 2015, and then a different cause will be chosen for subsequent years." Ms Koochew said she was surprised by the number of people who came to the inaugural event. "We're rapt, we're really rapt," she said. "We were thinking 50 was ambitious and that's what we worked a budget to." Baw Baw mayor Debbie Brown also spoke at the launch event and, while noting the strong repres entation of women at the event, lamented the poor representation of women in federal cabinet and business leadership. "It's good to see that out comm unity has such a strong strength of young women in business in our shire," she later told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. "It's fantastic to see. They're all talking, which means they're networking, and that means ment oring each other to even better things. Fantastic! During her speech, Cr Brown said "inequality and sexism [leads to] violence against women, but awareness, information and action will help." "People can speak out if they hear about violence or sexism. Together we can end violence against women." Ms Koochew encouraged anyone interested in joining the group or finding out more to follow and make contact via the Women in Gippsland Facebook and Instagram accounts.
LOCAL NEWS 4 | THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN 12 DECEMBER 2014
Baw Baw should not go alone on policy: mayor <from Page 1 happen. "We've got to be financially responsible, and let's be realistic about what's going on. "It's no different with the kinders, for example. We can't afford to be building kinders, but we've shown that with very good advocacy... we are able to provide and hence we've got the funding to do the one in Drouin. "To me that is being innovative." Cr Brown said Baw Baw needed to tread carefully and focus on its essential roles. "It is a growing community and it's not going to slow down, so we're going to have to be doing more advocating and not take on things that are not our role to do at a local government level." "We can't continue to just build kinders or make policy, and that's one of the things you will find with our new performance reporting that we have to do from this year." "Quite simply, if we're going to make policy we've got to be able to show that we can fund it." Cr Cook agrees. "I can only speak as an individual and I've stated it before that I believe you work within your means," he told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. "As a mediumsized rural council
it isn't our place to lead the pack. "We are in a position where we are well situated to keep our eye on new things that happen [closer to Melbo urne], take those ideas, modify them for our use and hopefully improve on them. "We haven't got a lot of money to do a lot of new developmenttype work." Cr Cook said the no smoking areas policy, while well received, was a good example of a policy the former council should not have imple mented. "The new council had the opinion that it was up to the state governm ent to take it up and do it on a state wide basis. They have the money to do that whereas we haven't," he said. "The state government had been gradually working toward that decision, and there was no need really for individual councils to take it up and spend ratepayers' money." One of the progressive members
the state government," she said. "At the same time every comm unity is unique. All those councils acr oss Victoria are not exactly the same, so you can assume needs in each community are going to be a little different." "The language of the act certainly suggests you're not just there to admi Baw Baw mayor Debbie Brown nister state govern ment services and of the former council was Warragul laws and whatever, but also to look ward's Julie Grant, who argues the after your community. present councillors do not unders "The smoking bans were a matter tand why the former council pushed of public health policy. It's really into new territory. foolish to argue that you can't do Ms Grant told the Warragul & anything unless everyone else has Baw Baw Citizen councils have a done it first." responsibility to look after the "If you've got evidence that there people, whether that meant being is a public health need, you have the first to introduce a new policy or high smoking levels and high obe not. sity levels, [you do something.] "Councils have a lot of things in "There are councils over in common [and] one of their western Victoria for example that responsibilities is to administer have recorded some of the highest those services delegated to them obesity levels in the state. They are under the Local Government Act of putting in active programs to try to
address that. Should they just sit back and wait until a city council does that? That would be really silly." The 2012 council is now half way through its term, and looking back Ms Grant said many of its actions so far have been reactions to changes made by the previous council. "It's a reactionary council," she said. "They came in and tried to undo all the work the previous council had done. "They initially made a real boo boo with the whole lighting stra tegy, and they recounted on that. They started off saying 'they're not our poles, why should we pay for it' – a pretty blinkered little narrow view. "But there was a deliberate mind set of reacting to the previous council because it was more progr essive. It was also more science based, this council seems to make its decisions based off how it's feeling and their attitudes, they don't seem to have great arguments for their decisions. "Coming in and reinstating the prayer was just a kneejerk reaction – Murray wanted to show how different the new council was going to be from the old council, which was a nice little conservative thing."
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WRC awash with aquaponics experts
YEAR 9 aquaponics students at Warragul Regional College have demonstrated their knowledge and skills with a public showcase of their work. The students have been learning how to create a vegetable growing system with nutrients provided by fish, and passed on that knowledge to parents and other interested people at an information evening last week. Students sold fish and tomato plants grown during the year at the event. During the semester students not only constructed the systems, but also planted various edible plants and worked to control the water pH levels to create a thriving aquaponic garden. Student Jett Murphy told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen he had “learnt quite a bit” from the aquaponics class. “I've learnt how to board up planks on an ICB tank, and I would have never figured out how the pumps keep all plants and fish alive,” he said. Keeping everything alive has been a key challenge for the students. “If you've got too much of something the fish can die, and if the fish die the plants can end up dying.” Wondering how the fish, plants
and pumps work together? Jett explains: “The system is like a cycle. The fish rely on the plants, and the plants rely on the fish, and the rocks the plants grow in have a bacteria which helps keep the water clean. “The plants are just planted into the rocks and the water is underneath.” The aquaponics class has broad appeal. Jett is hoping to have a career in psychology "but I chose this to learn new things about life and the eco system, and how things work around here." “It's just a new topic I wanted to learn about,” he said. The class has also allowed student Mitchell Wolswinkel to plan and build a solar powered aquap onics system for the Yarragon Community Garden, which he is involved with outside of school. The build has just been approved for a $2,000 grant from the Baw Baw Shire Council. “It's going to have a few grow beds and a pipe with lettuce growing in it. It probably won't be as big as [the one at the school], and it probably won't have as many fish,” he said. “I've learnt all about pH and water, nutrients and the nitrogen cycle, and how fish and plants grow.” Mitchell said home gardeners
should have a go at building an aquaponics system. “It's really fun and you learn lots and the food grows a lot faster,” he said. “The ability to grow plants and fish in a more sustainable way rather than having to dig up stuff all the time and having to use fertiliser a lot [is good].” Mitchell also said Warragul Regional College teacher Jayendra Birchall had got him interested in aquaponics. The project has been a learning curve for Mr Birchall too – he usually teaches music classes. “I learnt about it a year ago on online forums, not wanting to water my garden,” he said. A wide range of students responded well to the agriculture classes and the aquaponics project. “There's different types of students, some like the scientific side, others really like the building side, and other students really enjoy the planting side. Some students really enjoy the fishing and gutting side too,” Mr Birchall said. “I think they've responded really well.” “The most surprising thing for me was the lessmotivated kids. Some of them are really good at building, and some of them are really involved. I had one student who gutted 30 fish. He's highly interested, wanting to go on camps.
“Everything being grown here is being used in the kitchen in school and sold and given away to staff and community members.” Mr Birchall said the most surprising part of the aquaponics project was the students wanting to build their own systems. “There are five systems that were built by different groups and they had to do a budget, a parts list, and a portfolio assignment that showed that they understood how it worked so they could keep the fish safely.” “Some of the students will take their systems home after paying for the parts.” Mr Birchall will be less involved in the agriculture department next year but the project will continue. “The senior kids are also really interested and some might take it on as their VCAL project.” “But I'll be growing veges here over the summer and eating them!” Mr Birchall is also involved in the Warragul Community Garden, at which he has overseen other aquaponics projects. The aquaponics program was aimed at Year 9 students, and this year's group is hoping next year's students will pick up where they left off. “We are hoping that the agriculture class next year will take over and build on what we created,” Jett said.
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LOCAL NEWS 6 | THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN 12 DECEMBER 2014
Shades of blue How each town in Narracan voted on 29 November
Larger towns 足 Warragul, Drouin and Moe 足 had multiple booths. The figures from those booths have been combined for the 'Key town totals' section. Early voting figures have not been included in the Warragul total as that booth attracted people from across the electorate. Towns north of Noojee and Rawson did not have voting booths.
EARLY VOTING RESULTS: Liberal: 7,172 votes Labor: 3,351 votes Greens: 969 votes OVERALL RESULTS: Liberal: 22,907 Labor: 12,223 Greens: 3,720
Greens second party in small central booths GREENS candidate Malcolm McKelvie received more votes that Labor's Kate Marten in a number of booths north and south of Warragul and Drouin. Dr McKelvie, himself Yarragon足 based, earned the Greens a 1.1 per cent swing towards the party at the election.
Where things get interesting is looking at the small towns in the central part of Narracan. At the Lillico booth, the Greens scored 25 votes to Labor's 15. At Tetoora Road, 24 to 20. In Bona Vista the greens narrowly beat Labor at 45 votes to 44.
Rokeby had more of a gap: 31 votes to 25. And in Jindivick: 38 votes for the Greens to Labor's 33. The party narrowly missed matching Labor's vote in Ellinbank, receiving 27 votes to Labor's 28, and was not far behind in a number of other booths.
There are a lot of factors to consider when looking at this data. Firstly, early voters only had the option of voting in Warragul, so Labor voters who would usually vote at one of the booths mentioned before may have voted in Warragul at a higher rate than the Greens, skewing the results for election
day's count. If the data is representative, however, it could indicate people in the areas most concerned about key environmental issues like coal seam gas were attracted to the party, or a large number of tree足changers from Melbourne, usually a more left wing voting part of the state, living there.
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Blackwood in opposition LIBERAL MP Gary Blackwood was returned as the member for Narracan at last month's state election while his party lost gover nment. The Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen sat down with him this week to discuss what he has planned for the term ahead. WBBC: You had a number of key funding announcements during the campaign for a reelected coalition government; what are your hopes of getting some of the ones that weren't also proposed by Labor through as an opposition member? Blackwood: That's a challenge for me. My first four years in this job were in opposition and I worked very hard to develop working relationships with Labor ministers at that time, and I was successful with a number of those relationships. That's what I propose to do going into oppo sition this term. I have a good working relationship with a num ber of them already and I will endeavour to use those relations hips to put my case for health, education and public transport in this area. And CFA. With the hospital, the really urgent thing for me is the expan sion of the midwifery and the third operating theatre, which was a $2.5 million commitment from us. The first chance I get I will be sitting down with [health mini ster] Jill Hennessey and asking her if she can keep that on the radar. During the campaign we had pretty much bipartisan support for the needs of the
hospital here so I see no reason why Labor won't still support those issues. I will also continue to push for the duplication of the Longwarry Bunyip section of the rail line, and also for extra carriages for V/Line services. W: I don't think you need to lobby on that one, Labor has already committed. B: They have, but I need to make sure we are fairly well up the list. W: Isn't it difficult to promise rail infrastructure for this line given how much needs to happen in the city before improvements here? Duplication is good, but it does depend on metropolitan projects. B: That's true. I'm still hopeful that the DandenongCranbourne rail corridor upgrade will proceed. A big part of Labor's plans are to remove level crossings anyway, and the high capacity signalling system is a nobrainer, that has to proceed. That will open up opportunities for Gippsland trains going in. W: You mentioned you had a good working relationship with a number of new ministers and you mentioned Jill Hennessey just before. The person in her position in opposition was Gavan Jennings. There have been a lot of changes between the shadow ministry and the new ministry – where there any surprising appointments? B: Not really. I come from the point of the view it's not about politics, it's about getting the outcomes for my community. There will be different positions
on policy and direction and certainly I will voice my opinion, but where we can come together and have a bipartisan approach on things that's the best outcome. W: What about bus services? B: Once again, just have to keep pushing. I have been pushing for the last four years for the expansion of the Warragul town service and for a town service to be provided in Drouin. That's similar to the need for an ambula nce station in Drouin – it's all based on population growth. Drouin is the largest country town that doesn't have a town bus service and it's well over the trigger point in terms of being given an ambulance station, so both those issues we will keep pushing for. W: You mentioned Labor's front bench and of course there has been a reshuffle for the Liberal party too and a new leader put in, Matthew Guy. He is a personal friend of yours, represents a new generation of the party and has taken different approaches to what some might have expected in the past; where do you see the party heading under him? B: What we will get with Matthew Guy is someone who's 40 years of age, a young family man, but someone with lots of energy and enormous capacity to articulate on whatever the issue is. He's a very good speaker, very quick on his feet, not frightened to back his own judgement. He has enormous support from within our parliame ntary group, as did [other
leadership contender] Michael O'Brien, and I'm not sure what the final votes were but I'm sure it would've been close. All my colleagues have enormous respect for both, and that bodes well for a united party going forward. W: On that united party: another friend of yours who you used to hang out with on the back ben ches, former premier Ted Baillieu, resigned as leader during the last term. What was the division that caused that? There's a lot of com mentary suggesting he was pus hed and there would have been camps supporting different leaders. B: No no no, that's not the way it played out. Ted made the decision at the time around the twoyear mark to step down. W: That doesn't usually happen. B: No, and that was very much orchestrated between him and [subsequent premier] Denis Napt hine. Ted... felt he couldn't cut through in the media and it was time for a change. There was no division or blood letting, and that's why the transition was so smooth. W: But that wasn't the only tran sition to occur – the polls and pro blems did from one leader to the next too. Do you think the election would have been the same under Ted as under Denis in the end? B: It's hard to say. Ted and I have always been good friends. He supported me a lot... so he's a very good friend and always will be. But so is Denis. I support whoever the party room elects as leader.
W: You have been in parliament for eight years now, next election it will have been 12. Do you see yourself as being on the front bench at some point? B: That's a decision for others. If I was approached I would say yes, if I'm not approached it doesn't bother me. There are a lot of younger members of the coalition team now than me. I also see my role as being a slightly older person in the group... I have a lot to offer in supporting the younger people in the party. W: You had a swing against you despite a redistribution that incre ased your margin from 12 to 16 per cent. What do you put that down to? B: Any firstterm government that has had to make tough decisions... there's bound to be a backlash from that. I think the federal scene did have an impact on voting patterns. I think the Labor government was very clever with muddying the waters with federal issues as well as state issues to try to trash the Liberal party brand. W: Wasn't that happening the other way around during the 2010 state election with the Gillard government in place though? B: Oh yes, it would have been. That's the way you play politics, that's what I'm saying – they were very good at it. But I had 12 per cent before, I've got nearly 12 now – you've got to bear in mind this was a 6.8 per cent seat in 2006 so we've come a long way. The challenge now is to hold on to that.
PROPERTY & LOCAL LIVING 8 | THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN 12 DECEMBER 2014
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Claus couple brings Christmas to Baw Baw
IF YOU have bumped into two people dressed in red asking if you have been bad or good this year somewhere in the Baw Baw region, chances are you met William and Coral Slegers. The pair of former dairy farmers from Drouin have been volunt eering to play Mr and Mrs Claus at many community and private eve nts, including primary school visits and the recent Drouin Lights Up Christmas event, for a long, long time. "I've lost count of how many years we've been doing it, and my Dad did it before me," Mr Slegers told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. You read that right; Mr Slegers is a second generation Santa Claus, and his role has become bigger over the years. Especially after he started volunteering as Baw Baw's official Santa almost a decade ago. "They didn't have one here in the shire and I was doing it already, so I approached the shire and said 'hey, where's Christmas in the Baw Baw Shire? I'll volunteer to do it, so long as you supply the lollies,' and that's what they did." Playing Mr and Mrs Claus has become a full time job for the couple, who also visit kinders, shops, girl guides and other groups across West Gippsland. "It's get up, check on the calendar
William and Coral Slegers in costume Photo by Rayleen Slegers
what we've got on every day," Slegers said. It is a team effort too, with Slegers often taking care of younger children they meet. "Their little eyes and
Ms Ms the the
excitement in their faces, it's wonderful," she said. "You do get the babies, when they're 18 months to two years old, who can be quite frightened. Usually I can win them over and
maybe I'll nurse them instead of Santa, but apart from that, the little ones, the bubbles in their faces is worth all the time we've spent doing it," Ms Slegers said. "I guess in some ways it allows us
to be like children again, to play a game. We love it. "It's also a chance for us to teach some more naughty children who help themselves to lollies some manners!" Even when performing at private functions the pair do so for charity. "The private ones I ask for a donation to the Lions club so we can give some money to the two primary schools in Warragul money for food," Mr Slegers said. When not in character, Mr and Ms Slegers do other volunteer work and travel. No, not by reindeer hauled sleigh, but by caravan. "We travel around Australia," Mr Slegers said. "We're doing things for children. I make toys for children and some of them I sell and some of them I give away." "And I do a lot of sewing, I sew clothes for the orphanages overseas," Ms Slegers said. The couple has also cared for children as part of the Legacy program. "We've always had time for kids, they're the generation of the future," Ms Slegers said. The couple recently bought a new caravan and are looking forward to travelling, "but they wanted to deli ver it on the 17th, and I said 'I can't take it until after Christmas,' beca use it's full on, Mr Slegers said.
ARTS & RECREATION
12 DECEMBER 2014 THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN | 11
Five minutes with
Photo and words by Zanzii Bowers WILL Shiels, also known on Facebook, YouTube and SoundCloud as Liberoceans, is a young musical talent from Lillico. With a sound which is a mix of folk and alternative, his music is unique. Talking about his song writing process, Will said: "my melodies usually just come from jamming." "Basically, when I come across a melody that I like, I hone in on the mood which created it and base my lyrics on what that mood makes me think about." That is just one method Will utilizes when creating music, another method he has found effective is matching his melodies with poetry he has written previously. "I don’t do it very often, but I do like it! I wouldn’t mind dabbling in the process a little more." As most performers do, Will has a wide variety of other artists from which he draws inspiration for his music; from Josh Pyke, Gotye, Moody Blues, Kate MillerHeidke and many more. "I definitely want an element of big vocals [as well as] a soulful element; which I like to use in my songs to make the most of my deep voice," he said. Will has played various gigs over the past couple of years, frequenting the 303 bar and busking occasionally on both
Will Shiels
Flinders and Swanston Streets in Melbourne. His favourite show so far was at the Purple Emerald in Northcote. Most recently, Will appeared as a showcasing performer at Rad UrDay; a concert held at the West Gippsland Arts Centre in October by Headspace's HYPE team. That
performance prompted him to think about the local music scene. "I loved what I saw at RadUr Day," he said. "It would be great to see more events like it. I think the music scene around our area is perhaps a bit disjointed, or maybe I’m out of
the loop, [but] there are some amazing musicians around here." "I hope Warragul’s music scene becomes more diverse and encompasses more original music rather than covers… I think that’s how an area establishes a music scene, with artists paving the way to new places, especially when
they have such defined different sounds." On the topic of his own future musical direction, Will said he would enjoy making more ambient electronic music. "I've got melodies running through my head all the time," he said." Will is currently knuckling down, writing more music and trying to familiarise himself with a recording program to make his music more accessible. New free downloads could be on their way soon. It's no secret that Will is in the business for the music, not profit, and his donations policy proves that. "I would love to do gigs and such [where] people come and do nate to various good organizations like Oxfam," he said. "Not for my own profit, that’s what I'd like." You can catch Will playing live at the Farmers/Arts market in Warragul's Civic park on Saturday 17 January from 11.00. You can also check out his music on YouTube at youtube.com/sheldon4350, and soundcloud via soundcloud. com/williamsheils
LOCAL MUSICIAN?
WBBC would love to hear from you. Just email editor@warragulcitizen.com
WHAT'S ON IN BAW BAW 12 | THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN 12 DECEMBER 2014
GIG GUIDE
MR BEN SMITH 20 Dec @ BANK Warragul
The Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen supports local live music.
MR LUKE MATTHEWS 12 Dec @ BANK Warragul
NOMAS TEGRO 20 Dec @ The O&H, Warragul Acoustic folkpop covers. Free.
EVENTS
IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE DATE
BAD ELF + THE HEDONISTIC PLEASURES 13 Dec @ Royal Hotel, Drouin Hard, psychadelic and stoner rock. Free. Times: 21:00 to 00:00
CHARLIE BEATS 21 Dec @ BANK Warragul
LOBES OF JULIA 13 Dec @ The O&H, Warragul Playing contemporary covers. Free.
MR LUKE MATTHEWS 24 Dec @ BANK Warragul
MR LUKE MATTHEWS 23 Dec @ BANK Warragul
STEPHEN McCULOCK 16 Jan @ BANK Warragul
MR GRAHAM HAWES 13 Dec @ BANK Warragul
MICK & GRAHAM 17 Jan @ BANK Warragul
MR BEN SMITH 14 Dec @ BANK Warragul
WILL SHIELS 17 Jan @ Warragul Farmers'/Arts market, Civic Park See profile on Page 11 Time: 11.00. Free
KARAOKE LIVE 18 Dec @ BANK Warragul SPITTING SWALLOWS 19 Dec @ Euphoria (BANK) Tix $15 at door, $10 presale. Doors: 19:30
SESSIONS WITH GRAHAM HAWES 18 Jan @ BANK Warragul
DEAN RAY (SUPPORTED BY BONNIE ANDERSON) 20 Dec @ West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul Australian audiences became aware of Melbournebased singer Dean Ray on 4 April during the auditions for XFactor Australia. Dean had the crowd cheering to his own rendition of "Bette Davis Eyes", with Redfoo tellinghim to "check your passport, because you’re out of this world man." On 20 October Dean was announced the runner up of the 2014 XFactor series. Tix: $54.90. Book: wgac.com.au. Starts 20:00
THE ANIMATORS + MERCURY WHITE + LOBES OF JULIA 24 Jan @ The O&H, Warragul Animators EP Launch. ANDREA MARR & BAND 4 Feb @ BANK Warragul Blues & Roots club gig ZAC GOODWIN TRIO 7 Feb @ The O&H, Warragul Covers. Free. HAVE A GIG COMING UP? Get it listed here. Email deets to editor@warragulcitizen.com.
CRYSTAL WATERS Until 24 Dec @ West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul This exhibition by Natalie Jade features an abstract representation of one of the most inspiring and mysterious elements of nature and its beauty. It is based on the unique and universal lines and blending of colours found in crystals, rocks and water. Natalie aims to express this beauty by surpassing the everyday consciousness and allowing her spirit and the paint to create what they will. Open 09:00 17:00 Mon Fri. WILD DOG WINERY NEW YEAR'S EVE 31 Dec @ Wild Dog Winery , Warragul Come and celebrate New Year's Eve with family and friends at the Wild Dog Winery. The night will be full of dance and fun with legend ary rock 'n' rollers, Issi Dye and his band, who will play all the greatest hits of rock 'n' roll and country. Times: 19:00 to 00:30 1 Jan 2015 Tix: $60. Book: wilddogwinery.com BACK IN TIME AT THE NOOJEE HERITAGE CENTRE 11 Jan @ Noojee Heritage Centre Celebrate with us and indulge in the past with steam roller traction engines, crosscut saw display, classic car and bike display, an appearance by members of the small Ford car club, sausage sizzle, new historical displays and face painting. Times: 11:00 to 16:00 E: info@noojeehistorical.org.au
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About Formerly The Warragul Citizen ADMINISTRATION Editor & general enquiries William PJ Kulich editor@warragulcitizen.com PO Box 1111 Warragul, VIC, 3820 Also designer and owner Articles and photos without author credits are by the editor ADVERTISING For advertising please contact admin@warragulcitizen.com Please support those who support WBBC NEWS TIPS Know something you think WBBC should cover? Please email editor@warragulcitizen.com with your suggestion
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ARTS & RECREATION 14 | THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN 12 DECEMBER 2014
Radio Ga Ga with Greg Pretty
Backyard Tourist with Greg Pretty
No emergency Take a hike ONE of Australia’s best broadc asters of news and public affairs, the ABC, became news itself last month because of the Abbott Government’s substantial cuts to its funding. The cuts will add up to $254 mil lion over the next five years and all departments, on air and back office, will be affected. Reaction has been varied and sometimes a little hysterical, and some of that hysteria has been delivered right here in Gippsland. The ABC is closing five sub offices around the country, inclu ding its Morwell newsroom. In all cases, the offices are outposts which house just one staff member. One journalist, currently Rhiana Whitson, works at the Morwell shopfront. She will be transferred to the ABC’s Gippsland headquarters in Sale in around four month’s time. A small group of protesters gathered outside the Morwell office two weeks ago, claiming ABC Gipp sland will be unable to provide ade quate coverage of news in the Latr obe Valley and surrounding areas from Sale. But in reality, our local ABC manages to cover the vast Gippsl and area from Sale fairly well. One ABC insider told me shutting down the office actually makes sense. They don’t need a whole George Street shop for one person. It is rundown and the equi pment is ancient. It would be hard to justify spending any money on it in this new age of mobile technology
for reporting. Another insider told me the cuts are forcing some necessary re structuring. She currently answers to six people, all with different expectations of her work. That will soon be cut back to one person as the topheavy management struct ure is thinned out. Expect very few changes to ABC Gippsland’s service. It is already a barebones operation and there is no excess fat to trim. Questions have arisen about how the cuts will impact on the ABC’s ability to provide emergency coverage as we enter the highrisk period for bushfires. As a taxpayer funded organisation though, the ABC receives government funding specifically to help pay for such coverage. The ABC is ‘an’ official emerg ency broadcaster, not ‘the’ official emergency broadcaster. After Black Saturday, the government and fire authorities came to realise that as much as they would like people to switch to the ABC when fire threatens, many do not. People continue to listen to their favourite stations and many would not even know where to find an ABC local station on the dial. Since then, Memoranda of Unde rstanding have been signed with a number of Commercial radio networks. However, the level of coverage provided by a station depends on the amount of staff and other resources available, as well as network considerations.
ABC Gippsland provides fairly thorough coverage, although it is limited by a high amount of netwo rking. Local programming takes a break from Christmas until the end of January and any fires in Gipps land at this time will only be mentioned as part of statewide coverage. Even when local hours re commence, that’s only until 11am on weekdays. Resonate Broadcasting’s 3GG and Southern Cross Austereo’s Star FM broadcast ‘Watch and Act’ and ‘Emergency Warnings’ but low staff numbers and high networked hours prevent them from doing much more. The two radio stations operated in Gippsland by the ACE network, TRFM and Gold 1242, were recently recognised by the comb ined emergency services for prov iding a consistent coverage during last season’s bushfires and the Hazelwood mine fire. The ACE stations have a large staff and very low networked hours and are geared to quickly provide full coverage, 24 hours a day if needed. Fire agencies say getting infor mation to the public is paramount in keeping people safe, and apart from the CFA’s and DEPI’s various online tools, radio provides the most immediate avenue of commu nication when it critically matters. Greg has worked in the radio industry for 38 years and is presently employed by the ACE network.
... and if you do that up around Noojee way, you may just come across the Ada Tree, a giant mountain ash that's around 270 years old. There is much to do and see on and off the beaten track across Baw Baw. The Ada Tree, which towers over the landscape at 76 metres tall, is situated in the Yarra State Forrest and is one of the largest in the state. And while you are up that way, you really must wander across the old trestle bridge. Just follow the old railway line trail from Noojee, surrounded by tall forest, to one of the only remaining timber trestle bridges in Victoria. Summer is the perfect time to enjoy any of our great West Gippsland walks. It's also a good time to spend a day or two at Walhalla and scamper around Mt Baw Baw or Mt St Gwinear. They look rather different without snow! A bit closer to Warragul is the Glen Nayook Rainforest Walk, which takes you through a delight ful fern glen near Neerim Junction. There is so much to get you off your bum in the warm weather and it's not far away. Try cycling or spotting wildlife. Visit our national and coastal parks. We have hills in one direction and the sea in the other, offering everything from active recreation to remembrances of our past, day trips to longer holidays. In fact, to have an enjoyable holiday you do not need to look beyond Gippsland: popular beaches
at Inverloch and Phillip Island are not all that far away. If you prefer it a little less crowded, head east to Marlo or Cape Conran. There are many reasons people may not look to Gippsland for their holidays. You may remember dur ing the Aberfeldy bushfire almost two years ago, Melbourne TV news bulletins exclaimed "Gippsland is ablaze!" That kind of hysterical rep orting sent Melbourne visitors in directions other than ours. Gippsland is a big place and fire activity in one location does not make the whole region unsafe. As long as locals and visitors stay infor med, monitor emergency infor mation and seek advice if necessary, a fun summer in Gippsland can be enjoyed by all. Destination Gippland figures show tourism generates around $837 million in direct economic benefits for the region annually by attracting 1.7 million domestic overnight visitors and 61,000 international visitors staying a total of 5.83 million nights. And of course there are day trip visitors. As a result, tourism creates 4,850 full time jobs and supports over 1,300 businesses whose income is mostly from the visitor economy. Enjoying the many facets of Gippsland while doing our bit for the local economy is a winwin. Get into Gippsland these summer holid ays and tell your friends and family from elsewhere to do the same. For more my Greg visit his website, greatergippsland.com.
COMMENT
Polling
12 DECEMBER 2014 THE WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN | 15
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LAST month WBBC asked readers if they were happy with the direction councillors have taken Baw Baw over the past two years. Respondents were able to choose from one of five options. Here are the results:
TOTAL VOTES 38
This month WBBC asks: do you think Baw Baw should look to lead with new policies that might not have been tried elsewhere in the state? Head warragulcitizen.com and look for the 'Opinion' section to find the poll and vote.
o:
s te vo 3 : s: es Ye ty ha ew m es S o v ot n t : e 4 l va bi s : e no A m ot 5 v hat ew m s e t So o v s 9 te vo 17
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can make informed decisions. Paid articles will be avoided. If needed to fund the paper they will be clearly marked as advertorial. Positive stories on local businesses will be run when the editor sees fit, not when advertisers pay.
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