Why all the flags?
The official Australian Flag unites us all just as the Stars and Stripes united the multi-cultural USA.
We were disturbed to read and hear of the current flag controversy in Mornington Peninsula Shire – so much so much so that I drove down from Melbourne to check our Australian flag and pole proudly flying at our heritage home on Mornington’s Esplanade.
The property was owned by A.B. Balcombe, the founder of Mornington, and was a crown grant from Queen Victoria in 1860. I then attended your Queen St offices to put in a complaint about your divisive flag policy and to photograph the six flags flying on poles outside your offices.
One can only ask why are you excluding so many other sections of our multifarious society by only flying these? Where is the Chinese flag, Indian, Palestinian, Jewish, Sudanese and the flags of those many post war countries such as Italy, Greece and others from Central Europe who did so much to develop our country? Surely all these feel excluded and are offended and disrespected by your selective flag policy. Since the 1960’s I have been a ratepayer in the Shire and l am a proud citizen.
I suggest on the grounds of cost and inclusion you revert to the flying of the Australian flag alone which represents and unites us all just as all other countries in the world do!
Ian Armstrong, Mornington
Our international symbol
Mornington Peninsula Shire has made some sound financial decisions recently but is off key in its latest debate about the suitability of our Australian flag. The flag is one of Australia’s most significant national and international symbols. It should always be displayed whenever flags are deemed necessary on flag poles or on shire publications. No minority group, indigenous, religious or cultural should influence or prevent the display of this national icon.
As a returned serviceman, I suggest that any councillor that does not accept the universal and unrestricted use of our Australian Flag, for whatever concocted reason, does not represent the community majority wishes and does not deserve your vote.
John Renowden, Mornington
Cultural safety?
The Mornington Peninsula Shire has proposed a policy update that includes a clause suggesting our Australian Flag could be excluded from certain publications in the name of “cultural safety”, whatever that non-definitive suspicious term means (Flag decision delayed after staff seek override power, The News 22/7/25). It smacks of giving every kid in the race a medal, a flawed theory as it will not encourage effort which is a desirable trait in most instances.
Likewise, multiculturalism has been abused and is well past its use by date. We embrace new culinary foods and arts and music, and in return we offer peace and security and friendship. To assimilate is still the desired long term objective for all migrants; to become one with us, one people, one country under the Australian Flag.
For this absolute reason this proposed clause in the policy update definitely gets a “No”. I highly recommend the bureaucracy in our shire offices vigorously pursue every possible efficiency to be found in sensible concrete budget cuts and savings, (Insane waste of money, Letters 1/07/25 ) instead of wasting our rates and tax money on your employment time in our service dreaming up ideologically philosophical things to do, but have little if anything to do with bettering the wellbeing of our peninsula community.
Monica D Martini, Mornington
Shire budgets
It is interesting what a chore it is to get financial information from the shire. You would think that any entity with a budget of $326.3m would be on top of the information and could provide it at the push of a button. So bad that in many cases you have to file FOI to get it. How can they manage this budget if they do not have basic financial information at their fingertips? Why is it so hard and takes so long for a ratepayer to get financial information?
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
He has a name
It was disappointing to receive in the letterbox this week, the new edition of Zoe McKenzie’s taxpayer funded “Peninsula Post” and to see that nothing much has changed. That Zoe McKenzie is still unable to utter the name of the community independent candidate, Ben Smith, who ran a very close second in the recent federal election says much about character.
It is juvenile, ungracious and disrespectful behaviour more fitting of a character in a Lindsay Lohan movie than of a Federal member of parliament.
Let’s hope things improve from here.
Luke O’Brien, Rye
History in Flinders
I notice that Ben Smith and his followers are claiming he made history with his performance in the Federal election. I also note that Zoe McKenzie in her latest “Peninsula Post” has chosen to completely ignore that “history making” only acknowledging the performance of Sarah Race in achieving the second highest primary vote in the election.
In relation to making history, it seems that Ben and his supporters have ignored the actual history of the Flinders electorate where Labor has won the seat three times. Labor candidates who won the seat are: Jack Holloway, October 1929 to December 1931, Keith Ewert October 1952 to May 1954 and most recently Bob Chynoweth from March 1983 to December 1984 who then went on to hold the seat of Dunkley from December 1984 to March 1990.
Flinders is not a “natural” Liberal seat, and has a good record of Labor candidates winning. I look forward to Sarah Race being able to contest and win the seat again for Labor in the next Federal election.
Marg D’Arcy, Rye
A Call for Action
Good to see that the six regressive thinking Mornington Peninsula Councillors, who recently, rescinded Council’s progressive 2019 Climate Declaration and Climate Action Plan and voted to cut funding to the arts and to other grants and organisations – including the Willum Warrain Community Aboriginal Association – have had at least one positive effect on the Mornington Peninsula community; they have successfully galvanised eight environmental protection groups to form; a peninsula-wide alliance to discuss ways and means of counteracting the negative actions of these conservative councillors and find other ways forward.
This new Alliance is called the “Peninsula Climate Alliance” a now much needed spearhead for climate action on the Peninsula. The Alliance, in collaboration with “Save our Arts Mornington Peninsula” has called a public community meeting for Saturday August 2 at 3pm in the Flinders Civic Hall to hear updates on council budget cuts affecting the environment, arts and First Nations funding and discuss where to from here.
Hope to see you all there.
Rod Knowles, Crib Point
Save Westernport Committee Member
Reduce plastic use
According to its website, Plastic Free July is the “largest plastic waste avoidance campaign on the planet,” with 174 million participants last year. So, it was especially disheartening to read in a July edition that plastic litter on peninsula beaches has surged (Rubbish surge hits Mornington beaches, The News 23/7/2025).
While Plastic Free July encourages people to avoid plastic, many Australians still assume the plastic they bin is recycled. In reality, only around 14 per cent of plastic waste in Australia avoids landfill. The Australia Institute says this is because recycling plastic here is “inefficient, expensive and hazardous,” and there’s little demand for recycled materials.
The Institute argues that what’s truly needed is a reduction in plastic consumption — through policies like capping production, phasing it down, or introducing a plastics tax. Victoria’s ban on single-use plastics is a step in the right direction, but more items should be added. By reducing plastic consumption, we also reduce the consumption of fossil fuels from which it is made, and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions.
Perhaps it’s time to follow Canada’s lead and formally declare plastic manufactured items “toxic” — recognising the harm they do not just to our environment, but also to our health.
John Godfrey, Cape Paterson
Housing crisis
When the Southern Women’s Action Network (SWAN) began highlighting the dire housing and homelessness crisis on the Mornington Peninsula one of our first requests for action was for our elected representatives to fund a Launch ZERO project to establish the facts about the situation. The provision of accurate data is essential to make the case for government funding. Along with the appointment of a Housing Projects Officer the decision by Mornington Peninsula Shire to fund a Launch ZERO project has been both pleasing and helpful.
The facts show that the housing and homelessness crisis on the Mornington Peninsula continues to worsen. The rough sleeping number is the second highest only to Melbourne CBD and the women’s number is second highest behind Port Phillip.
These facts alone strongly support the funding requests being initiated by the shire and other local organisations and social housing providers. We call on both federal and state governments to provide funding from what they are very willing to keep telling us is the biggest allocation of dollars ever committed to building social housing and crisis accommodation.
The Mornington Peninsula deserves our fair share of funding please.
Val Campbell, Mornington
Capel Sound let down
To discover that the recommendation for our precious parkland at Allambi Avenue is for only half the land to be parkland is a blow to the residents of Capel Sound. We have fought over the past two years to show that this parkland matters to our community – evidence a petition signed by over 700 residents presented to Council last year. The previous Council supported the rezoning of this land – which is the only open space for a large portion of Capel Sound – a valued space for recreation, walking the dog, observing nature.
This Council is a disappointment – it needs to learn to listen to their constituents, that people matter, not development, not tourists; but the people who live here who value this precious place where we live. And remember, we vote.
Bettyanne Foster, Capel Sound
Youth crime solution
Regarding Kevin Sack’s solution for youth crime in last week’s letters (Youth Crime, Letters 22/7/25), what a great thought! Perhaps the castration could be performed at half time on AFL Grand Final day.
Lots of viewers plus MCG crowd. I think you only need to do it once to get the message across.
Good luck!
Darryl Howard, Blairgowrie
Use the app
For all your readers who are concerned about unsightly or dangerous matters in their neighbourhood (Abandoned Trolleys, Letters 23/7/25) there is an excellent, free, reporting service available. Snap, Send, Solve is an app that you can download onto your mobile phone, and helps you photograph, geolocate and report all manner of problems.
From graffiti, to potholes to abandoned rubbish (including shopping trolleys) the app will direct your report to the appropriate authority to solve the problem and if you request it, you can get a report back when the problem has been solved. I use the app regularly and have found the Mornington Peninsula Shire particularly responsive to Snap, Send, Solve reports.
I have no connection to Snap, Send, Solve but as a user I have found it a great way to help keep Tyabb clean and safe.
David Chalke, Tyabb
Sea wall
The impotence of the Frankston City Council over the “illegal” sea wall being built on a Frankston South beach is bewildering. It even recently featured on the ABC news and the Herald-Sun website.
The council initially got a concession from the property owner that building would cease. It now looks like part of a coastal defence facility.
The council’s response has been to throw its hands in the air and run around like headless chooks not knowing what to do. The answer would seem painfully obvious. The wall has apparently been built on public land. If a car was dumped on the beach would the council seek the permission of the car owner before removing the car from the beach? Of course not. How is this sea wall any different?
The council can send in the bulldozers, remove the wall, and then present the land owner with the bill. Just requires some leadership. Over to you Kris Bolam.
Ross Hudson, Mt Martha
Misery?
The doctor said I must take a particular pill until September, laughing when I suggested I may not last?
Memories of the comic strip “Little Tommy Tring, who could walk through anything”, or males on dramas (television) the honest appeal, the caring look, followed by the famous one liners, “Trust Me.”
I discover the 4k ultra HD does NOT make the movies any better.
Do I know Fred Wild? Possibly, but I have this habit of calling all males “Mate” and all females over 40 “Darling” if thoroughly convinced they are not of the Woke variety.
Remaining positive, daily, despite the phantom submarines.
Cheers Fred. Keep punching mate.
Cliff Ellen, Rye
