A FIFTH candidate has now entered the race to win the seat of Flinders at the May federal election. Susie Beveridge, a former Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor, announced last week that she would stand as an independent for the seat held for the Liberals by Greg Hunt since 2001. As well as Mr Hunt, Ms Beveridge will be opposing former Liberal Julia Banks (currently MP for Chisholm) who is also standing as an independent, Labor’s Joshua Sinclair and Nathan Lesslie of the Australian Greens. Although not backing any one candidate, the left-wing lobby group GetUp! Last week announced it would…
Year: 2019
A PUSH to rid the Mornington Peninsula of plastic straws is gaining traction. The Peninsula’s Last Straw community group promoting the use of less harmful paper straws asked cafes in Dromana to replace their plastic straws with paper ones – for free – to reduce plastic pollution. This followed the success of the Peninsula’s Last Straw project which won a Keep Victoria Beautiful Gift Fund award of $1000 last year. Afterwards the project was launched in Rye and is now included in the shire’s Best Bites food award program. Mornington Peninsula Citizen of the Year 2019 Josie Jones said the…
Mt Martha Primary School plays host to LEGO exhibits from Brickvention’s Master Builders as part of the School’s Carnivale this Saturday 10am to 3pm. Around 15 LEGO exhibits will be on free public display including the Phantom as pictured by Trevor Clark and Sue Ann Barber from MUGS (Melbourne LEGO User Group). Martin Page, Principal at Mt Martha Primary says ‘we are delighted to have teamed up with MUGS this year and be able to offer a unique and interactive LEGO experience for our school and community. Visitors can try their hand at the speed LEGO building competition and even help…
Wildlife carers say the deaths of hundreds of possums earlier this month could have been avoided if suburban gardens were made more wildlife friendly. The aftermath of successive days of high temperatures will see young orphan possums needing care for months to come. Wildlife carers and educators Janet Wheeler and Paula Rivera, from Living with Wildlife, say gardens can be easily modified to provide wildlife with food, water, shelter and “pathways to find a mate”. Their organisation Living with Wildlife will hold a free Gardening for Wildlife workshop 10am-midday this Saturday (23 March) at Karingal Place Neighbourhood Centre, 103 Ashleigh…
LIKE the fabled Mouse That Roared, Main Ridge Bowls Club is standing tall and winning pennants. Last Tuesday 12 March the club won the Division 5 pennant premiership. Playing at Karingal, the Ridge came from behind to beat old foes Mt Martha by four shots – a feat they also achieved last year. Not content with that, Main Ridge last Saturday (16 March) beat West Rosebud by 16 points at Belvedere to win the Division 3 pennant premiership. The same eight players represented the club in both premierships. One, Cesare Bonacini, is a regular bowler at Main Ridge. “He is…
MEMBERS of the Somerville Community House and several community groups and the Sage family met on Saturday 23 February to share insight into the late Annie Sage. They watched on as a copy of her portrait, originally painted by Nora Heyson, the first woman to win the Archibald Prize, was unveiled by her great nephew Alan Sage. The print was bought from the Australian War Museum in Canberra with money raised by the Somerville Family Day Committee. Annie Moriah Sage was born in 1895, schooled at Somerville and worked in the local grocer’s shop. Encouraged by her grandparents, she moved…
PENINSULA BADEN POWELL have put themselves in pole position for a grand final spot with a good day one performance against Moorooduc at Overport Park. Three batsmen made scores of over 40 runs, with Rhys Elmi passing his half century off 130 deliveries. Although slow scoring at times, Baden Powell will be happy to finish the day at 6/200 off their 80 overs. The semi final between Main Ridge and Red Hill looks set to go down to the wire, with Red Hill batsman Simon Dart holding the fate of the match in his hands. Main RIdge opened the batting,…
SOCCER THE quest for glory among local State League teams begins in earnest this weekend when the 2019 season kicks off. Frankston Pines is keen to open proceedings on Friday night under the new Monterey Reserve floodlights but its State 3 clash with Monash Uni was awaiting Football Victoria approval as we went to press. Monash was drawn as the home team in this round one fixture but a ground availability problem encouraged Pines to apply to have the fixture reversed and held as its home game. Pines has been on a roller-coaster ride throughout the off-season twice having to…
HORSE racing undeniably runs in young Campbell Rawiller’s blood. Growing up in a family steeped in racing history, the aspiring 17-year-old horseman is following the path which his father Nash (champion Australian and international jockey), uncle Brad (23-time Group One winning jockey), and mother Sarah have all trodden. And the youngster took his next major step to making his dream come true, with an induction into Racing Victoria’s Apprentice Jockey Training Program on Thursday 14 March. Campbell will join six female and three other male riders in the program which seeks to unveil the next stars of the saddle. Campbell…
HEY Rock & Roll music fans the wait is over – “Let’s go back to where it all began” as we relive the magic & the great hits of legendary music icons Buddy Holly & The Beatles Together Live In Concert. Buddy Holly & The Beatles shook the world in the 50’s & 60’s with their massive chart hits that are still timeless & popular 50 years on with over 400 million record sales between them this will be a concert experience not to be missed with hit after massive hit. After sold out concerts in Australia audiences will absolutely…
TO All Whom It May Concern. I WILLIAM WILLIAMS, of “Rupertstan”, Langwarrin, desire to inform the Cattle Buyers of this district that a Cow, forming one of my well known Jersey herd, was, in December last, sent to the yards of Messrs Brody and Mason, in Langwarrin, for sale by auction. Mr Mason directed my representative to return the cow to “Rupertstan”, stating that the cow was diseased. This statement came to the knowledge of several buyers, and I immediately had the cow examined by Mr S. Sherlock, Veterinary Surgeon, of Frankston, who pronounced her in good condition and showing…
DIRTY dogs don’t come cheap if the mess caused by one large canine in Mornington is any example. Empire Walk retailer Lindy Clark was so appalled by the large, smelly dump outside her shop that she covered it with cardboard before calling in the big guns, Saturday 9 March. “The owner had simply let the dog do its business without making the slightest effort to clean up the almighty mess,” she said. “We called VicRoads and the shire but they wouldn’t help,” she said. “Then we called the Mornington CFA who sent down a crew of four big blokes with…
A PICTURE-perfect Red Hill day set the scene for the announcement of the 2019 Montalto Sculpture Prize winner: Moonah by Kylie Stillman (above). Montalto owners, the Mitchell family, were joined by fellow judges, artists and guests at the event, Sunday 24 February. The $40,000 acquisitive award aims to encourage artistic pursuit in a public forum. Moonah is a free-standing stack of hand-cut fence palings. The imposing work maintains Stillman’s use of everyday materials and follows her use of books and papers to form the objects into which she carves. These often enigmatic “blocks” have a presence in themselves. In this…
A 24 YEAR old Frankston man was arrested in Hastings on 11 March after a series of alleged car thefts. Frankston Crime Investigation Unit Detective Sergeant Luke Holmes said the man had been “prolific in his offending in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula area.” It is alleged that the man would meet up with people looking to sell their cars on the website Gumtree, and ask to test drive their cars. The man would then allegedly drive off. Police allege his offences occurred in the Frankston, Seaford, and Hastings areas between 19 February and 11 March. The man allegedly would…
SOMERVILLE Highway Patrol nightshift had a busy time Wednesday 13 March pulling over five drivers with drugs in their systems. One had his car impounded. Leading Senior Constable Greg Wolfe said those intercepted included a 30-year-old woman from Southbank who tested positive to methamphetamines, and being an unaccompanied learner driver with no L plates. A Frankston North man, 39, tested positive for methamphetamine in Excelsior Drive, and a Baxter man, 24, tested positive for the same drug in Klauer Street, Seaford. His car was impounded as his licence had already been suspended. A Frankston man, 37, tested positive to methamphetamine…
Mornington Peninsula Shire has agreed to a developer paying $5000 for a thin strip of land overhung by a first-floor balcony. The balcony is part of a three-storey building on the Esplanade, Mornington that has been built next to the shire-owned car park in Vancouver Street. Senior property officer Jonathan Chivers told council’s Tuesday 12 March meeting that it “is not possible” to remove the offending tensioned steel reinforced concrete balcony. He said the solution to the overhanging balcony was to sell the developer a 25-centimetre-wide strip of the shire’s land. The development at 786 Esplanade has shops on the…
THREE men off Carrum were lucky a boat was passing when their five-metre Devil Cat sank one kilometre from shore, Sunday 10 March. Water was flooding both hulls and the boat was almost under when the trio of work colleagues jumped overboard and were picked up about 11am. The rescuing skipper, David Garrett of Pearcedale, reported the incident and stood by as Volunteer Marine Rescue vessel AK1 arrived from Mornington. VMR Mornington’s Tim Warner said “all occupants were found to be wet and shaken … but in good health”. With the upturned vessel getting closer to sinking, AK1 skipper Sean…
Labor candidate for Flinders, Joshua Sinclair, has moved quickly to climb aboard the electrification of the rail line to Baxter project. With the results of a $3 million federal government-financed business case due soon, Mr Sinclair last week “reaffirmed that a Shorten Labor government will move quickly to deliver the much-needed Frankston to Baxter rail upgrade”. “A federal Labor government will electrify and duplicate the track [from Frankston] to Baxter, giving commuters better access to high quality public transport and park-and-ride options,” he said. “Shadow Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese said the project was part of Labor’s commitment to increase public…
IT’S been an “extraordinarily busy” start to 2019 for members of the Rye CFA – and especially the 16 firefighters who have spent more than 650 hours fighting fires and saving homes outside the Rye area in the first two and a half months of the year. Their work was made even more difficult by hot and windy weather in a summer labelled by the weather bureau as the “hottest on record”. But Brigade Captain Glenn Diamond said the crews were still able to respond to more than 100 local calls, with most of the fires marked down as avoidable…
“IT was good to see people still have good hearts.” Elderly Rosebud resident Maureen Baldwin was speaking after strangers came to the aid of her husband Ron after he fell and cut his head last week. “They were holidaymakers from West Footscray camping on the foreshore for the weekend, but they came over and did all they could to assist us,” she said. “One went and got my car while the others comforted Ron and another waited at the end of the street to tell the ambulance where we were. “Even their little children came over to see if they…
SAFETY Beach will be the scene of frenetic athletic activity when the Sufferfest Triathlon takes over the foreshore on the weekend of 23-24 March. Organisers hope the new location will be more of a safe haven after they were criticised last year for basing their races in Mt Martha and closing the Esplanade between Mornington and Safety Beach on Clean-up Australia Day. Competitors dodged shoppers, beachgoers and clean-up volunteers and leading to Mornington Peninsula Shire amending its events policy to prevent any future clashes of dates (“Policy to avoid event clash” The News 3/4/2018). The shire’s communications and events…
The left-wing lobby group GetUp! Has selected Flinders Liberal MP Greg Hunt as one of its main “targets” in the May federal election. The group says Mr Hunt’s “repeated attempts to block urgent action on climate change puts him at complete odds with voters in Flinders and it’s time he was turfed out”. Mr Hunt told The News that GetUp! had “only ever campaigned against Liberal members of Parliament and it uses viscous and false personal attacks”. Other candidates to have put their hand up for Flinders are the Liberal-turned-independent MP for Chisholm, Julia banks, Labor’s Joshua Sinclair and Nathan…
THE state government has been called on to declare the Mornington Peninsula “drought affected” to quickly help businesses hit hard by water shortages. The drastic move aims to gain easier access to cheaper water for drought-hit farms, businesses and recreational and sports grounds. Cr Antonella Celi moved the urgent item at last week’s Mornington Peninsula Shire Council meeting. The move also included a plea for the government to support the shire’s recycled water projects, including gaining access to the Class A recycled water flowing into the sea through to the South East Outfall near Gunnamatta. This Eastern Treatment Plant water…
BITTERN’S Patrice Hunder is writing her own chapter in the book of animal husbandry. There are no grand stud farms, DNA manipulation or special breeding techniques for this amateur cattle breeder who feels love on both sides is behind her success in the show ring. It must be working. Ms Hunder, who leases a small property at Balnarring, won the supreme champion at the All Breeds Beef Classic at Red Hill Show over the Labour Day weekend with her miniature Scottish Galloway Torcroft Sylvia. Nicknamed the “Animal Whisperer” by friend Bob Bates, Ms Hunder, 74, is a vegetarian and a…
FARMER Eddie Matt is leading the push by Mornington Peninsula farmers for easier access to Class A treated water going into the sea from the South East Outfall near Gunnamatta. His irrigated grazing and lucerne property at Rye has produced only half last year’s yield of hay and silage because of a lack of water, but he still faced the same high water and diesel overheads. “If you have got water you have got security,” he said. “In the peninsula hinterland there is no water and if the pasture is dry there is no feed and the hay is of…
FRANKSTON MP Paul Edbrooke has remained tight lipped on the progress of a business case investigating the extension of the Frankston line to Baxter. Mr Edbrooke did not answer questions from The News asking for an update of when the case would be completed. The $3 million business case, paid for with federal funding, was started in April of last year. The media release stated it was expected to be completed by “early 2019”. The state Labor government is the missing piece in the project, with both major parties at federal level committed to the project. Dunkley MP Chris Crethwer…
PENINSULA CRIB Point have fallen agonisingly short of Pines in the final match of the home and away season for 2019/19 MPCA Cricket. Batting first Pines were impressive in the one day match, putting 191 runs on the board off their 40 overs. Harley Peace-Stirling was pick of the batsmen, scoring 71 runs to help put his side in pole position for a win. In response Crib Point did not take the loss lying down, keeping touch with Pines and taking the match to the final over. With just two balls left to bowl and 4 runs left to chase…
SOCCER THE blue wave of Langwarrin engulfed much fancied opponent Bulleen at Lawton Park on Saturday and gave home fans a taste of things to come. Langy gaffer Scott Miller hasn’t hidden his ambition for the club he played for as a junior and his pre-season mantra of an up-tempo, slick, interpassing style of soccer rang true last weekend. Bulleen succumbed to the blue tsunami 4-1 in Langwarrin’s most impressive performance yet of the 2019 NPL2 East season. Spectators had been given an insight into Jordan Templin’s capabilities with two stunning goals against Northcote a fortnight back and he continued…
MORNINGTON Pirates Baseball Club has been part of the Mornington sporting scene since 1975. Based at C B Wilson Reserve on Wilsons Road, they fielded eight teams last year across mens, womens and juniors. With the 2019 season just around the corner, they are having two ‘come and try’ days to attract new participants to the sport. “We are hoping to grow the number of teams we field this year, so are calling for anybody out there who’d like to come and see what we are about”, said Jo Schutt from Mornington Pirates. Mornington Pirates pride themselves on being a…
THE newly re-branded Southern Peninsula Sharks could be in for a big year if their pre-season matches are anything to go by. The Sharks’ men’s Big V team have won all three of their pre-season games with their most recent victory coming over Mornington on Saturday 23 February while their women’s team is going just as well having won all bar two of their matches. Those two games were a draw against Frankston and a loss against Waverly who are both NBL 1 league teams. Despite losing several key players at the end of last season, Southern Peninsula Sharks basketball…