THE balance of power in state parliament might be different today if Ted Baillieu had resigned as premier nine hours earlier on Wednesday 6 March. Frankston MP Geoff Shaw says he would not have quit the Parliamentary Liberal Party to become an independent if Mr Baillieu had been first out the door. Mr Shaw, under investigation by police and the parliament’s privileges committee over the alleged misuse of his taxpayer-funded vehicle and fuel card, handed his letter of resignation to the Deputy Premier Louise Asher nine hours before Mr Baillieu announced he would step down as Premier. “I was surprised,…
Month: March 2013
THE start of work on the Aldi store in Somerville brings to an end a long-running saga that revealed the loss of historical memory in the town, says historian Leila Shaw. Ms Shaw’s father Thomas Brunning, a First World War veteran, in 1946 donated land for an infant welfare centre at 1097 Frankston-Flinders Rd as a practical memorial for those who served in the Second World War. Residents worked hard during postwar austere times to raise money to build the centre, which was opened in July 1954 along with wrought iron memorial gates at the entrance bearing the word “Lest…
THE Arthurs Seat chairlift was removed on Wednesday last week and now lies in a Dromana storage yard awaiting transport to Adelaide. Its removal brings to an end a long and sometimes bitter battle between Richard Hudson, who has owned the chairlift for more than 30 years, and the state government’s WorkSafe Authority and Parks Victoria. The chairlift troubles started on 3 January 2003 when one of eight pylons collapsed, sending about a dozen people to hospital and stranding many of the 50 people aboard, some for up to six hours. A WorkSafe investigation found the collapse was caused by…
RESEARCHERS are excited and confused by early sightings of whales in Port Phillip and Western Port. Dolphin Research Institute executive director Jeff Weir said whales usually showed up in June “so this is quite extraordinary – but then again so is 25 degrees in Mornington harbour”. Mr Weir said the first report of whale off Seaford “sounded more like a false killer whale”. Since then reports of a humpback whale have come from sailors at Somers and Balnarring. “One of the people from Somers Yacht Club seems very knowledgeable about humpbacks. We also had a reliable sighting of a humpback…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has awarded expanded infrastructure maintenance contracts to Transfield Services. Transfield announced the contract last Tuesday, although the shire has not yet made a public statement. The decision is likely to see smaller contractors lose work from the shire. Graeme Hunt, Transfield’s managing director and chief executive, said the company would “continue its 15-year relationship with the …shire in three expanded 10-year contracts providing sustainable infrastructure maintenance services for $190 million”. “We are thrilled to be able to continue to apply our expertise in long-term asset management principles to the Mornington Peninsula Shire, in one of the company’s…
DRIVERS of electric scooters and people with walking frames are being forced onto the road by building works at the corner of Marine Parade and Church St in Hastings. The footpath is blocked by safety fences erected around the $6 million “affordable” homes project. Work stopped on the 20 homes last year after builders unearthed a disused fuel tank, forcing project owners Community Housing Ltd to have soil tested to gauge the extent of contamination from the tank left over from an old service station. However, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, with the state…