Kirsty Sword Gusmao kicks off SWAN’s 30th anniversary
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Southern Women’s Action Network (SWAN), the guest speaker at their first general meeting for 2026 was the former First Lady of Timor Leste, Kirsty Sword Gusmao AO, who spoke about the unstoppable power of women’s solidarity.
Kirsty is well known on the peninsula. She supported the establishment of “Friends of Lospalos”; a relationship between the shire and the Timorese sub-district. Since 2000, this partnership provided much needed solidarity and financial support to the Timorese community, as well as reciprocal benefits to our region, by way of awareness raising and connection.
The room was full of women from all over the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston areas who heard Kirsty’s amazing story of community activism and political experiences in Timor Leste and Australia.
Her clear message was whether separated by oceans or connected by shared purpose, social justice relies on the same fuel – the relentless solidarity of women. She emphasised that “this is the thread that weaves through every struggle and every victory”. This powerful message struck a strong chord with everyone in the room, committed to equality, human rights and justice in their local communities.
SWAN women were acknowledged for the role they play in working for social change, including supporting First Peoples, promoting housing justice, and advocating against family violence and for gender equality, both locally and beyond.
Kirsty presented some of the SWAN members who have made a special contribution over the years, with beautiful tais – woven by the women of Timor Leste as part of an economic empowerment project of the Alola Foundation which she established 25 years ago.
Local government is accepted as closest to community
You can speak to most officers, including the CEO, about your council concerns with an expectation of a personal reply.
You have elected councillors to speak to, assist and represent you.
Under the Local Government Act day to day operational decisions are an officer legal responsibility with councillors only able to make decisions at public council meetings.
Municipalities do not operate under a constitution instead they are governed by the state government which has control over all basic aspects of local government.
Civil societies have equal rules for everyone. Disputes are decided by arbitration or courts after consideration that is bound by evidence rules and lawful procedures.
I believe that other key community aspects of local government should include:
- Meaningful consultation
- Transparency in decision making
- Judging issues on their merits
- Ensuring everyone is equally heard
- Freedom of expression for councillors raising community concerns and the ability to raise matters for debate on your behalf
- Scrutiny and accountability should be encouraged
- Confidentiality rulings should be subject to strict regulation and appeal
David Gill, Coolart Ward councillor
Climate stand
When Mornington Peninsula Shire Council voted 6-5 to scrap its Climate Emergency Declaration without community consultation, local advocacy group Independents for Mornington Peninsula took matters into their own hands and organised their own climate action forum. Attended by over 100 people at Mt Eliza Community Hall on Sunday 22 February, it was community engagement at its best.
With speakers including internationally recognised climate scientist Dr Sue Barrell AO and Dr Greg Holland from the Peninsula Climate Alliance, the presentations were frank, evidence-based, and free of political spin. Climate change is frightening, but the message from the room was clear: it’s not unsolvable, if we’re willing to act collectively and demand better from the people we elect.
The timing of the forum feels significant. Mayor Anthony Marsh, one of the six councillors who voted to dump the declaration, has announced he’s taken leave to contest the Nepean by-election as the Liberal candidate. Nepean residents now face a choice: a candidate who walked away from a climate plan that had 92% community support, representing a party with a long history of resistance to climate action, or an independent who actually answers to the community.
Sunday showed what an engaged community looks like. The speakers gave us the knowledge. What we do with it is up to us.
Kim Robbins, Safety Beach
Failed leadership?
Despite a thorough, evidence-based report from council officers recommending objection to the proposed expansion of the Arthurs Seat Eagle facility, the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council chose not to. This week, the state approved the project, allowing it to proceed despite significant officer and community concerns.
The council’s own report identified serious issues, including a lack of demonstrated value to the community, lasting environmental impacts on biodiversity and habitat connectivity, bushfire and landslide risks, and critical gaps in the application relating to noise, fauna, vegetation clearance, parking, and traffic management.
The proposal also appears inconsistent with the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Plan 2025-2029, which prioritises environmental protection, sustainability, and responsible governance.
Had council supported its officers’ recommendation and community concerns, the state would have assessed the application with a clear, documented objection from the local authority — a position that can hold significant weight in planning decisions.
The voting outcome itself has also drawn attention. Councillors who chose not to follow the officer’s recommendation to object were among those previously described by some as part of the so-called “block of six”. While the mayor has publicly denied that such a voting bloc exists, as reported in a recent news article, some observers have noted that voting patterns during the current council term appear consistent. Others, including the mayor, reject any suggestion of coordinated decision-making.
When elected representatives deviate from clear officer recommendations, they must provide transparency on how the decision advances long-term strategic priorities. Diverging from expert advice and community feedback requires a robust explanation to ensure public trust and uphold governance principles.
By not following its officers’ recommendation and community concerns, council missed an important opportunity to demonstrate strong, responsible leadership.
Anja Ottensmeyer, Mt Martha
The wrong priorities
What do we need in our current situation when science and daily extraordinary weather events increasingly warn of an impending tipping point into an irreversible climate calamity?
Apparently, what we need is another “premier year-round tourist destination” (Eagle greenlit as opponents vow to fight, The News 24/2/26) in the form of an adrenaline-boosting rollercoaster luge ride that neatly cuts a precious and vulnerable State Park in half, leaving threatened wildlife stranded and progressively more exposed to shrinking habitat and escalating traffic.
We are told by the spin doctors from the developer, the DTP, Visit Victoria and the Environment and Tourism Minister that this will provide a “exhilarating, family-friendly ride through the bushland”, and “will help us connect with nature” (!), all the while assuring us of “long-term environmental care”.
However, the scale and extent of the development clearly demonstrates that in their eyes there is no need to protect and grow the forest that’s critical to absorb greenhouse gas emissions. Neither is there a need to protect the natural beauty and the flora and fauna diversity of this State Park that enriches the human experience of nature and boosts mental health.
No, what is needed is another “big build”; why, this Arthurs Seat $25m mega redevelopment even features a huge “observation tower”, which is supposed to represent a giant tree! Surely, that’s so much better than an ordinary everyday living tree!
Clearly, money and profits are what really matters to this government and their lobbyist overlords. Meantime, our own shire urges us to get involved in the Climate Resilience Plan. Sounds good, but sadly it doesn’t mention emissions reduction and addressing the causes of climate change.
If we are to have a truly sustainable future, a change of priorities from rogue capitalism is sorely and urgently needed.
Henk van Leeuwen, Mount Martha
Eagle development
Congratulations, to the Allan Labor government on turning Mornington Peninsula into something evermore crass.
Last week you gave the go-ahead to the Luge. May I suggest you endow the project with a more fitting and catchy name. I suggest “Mar-a-Lago on Mornington Peninsula”.
John Haliczer, Dromana
Strengthen each other?
I’m yet to see any real‑world example where “development and environmental care strengthen each other”, as Environment and Tourism Minister Steve Dimopoulos suggests (Eagle greenlit as opponents vow to fight, The News 24/2/26).
The approval of an observation tower, a mountaintop luge ride, a café expansion and an indoor immersive experience centre at Arthurs Seat State Park follows the same pattern as the Harry Potter experience at the Briars: commercial attractions placed inside bush areas, with wildlife and nature left to absorb the cost.
If tourism on the peninsula needs to be boosted, there are far better ways to do it. Improving the immersive outdoor experience — maintaining tracks, restoring habitat, enhancing signage and access, and supporting guided walks — would encourage visitors to see koalas, kangaroos, blue‑tongue lizards and other wildlife while soaking in the views along Arthurs Seat’s trails.
These are the experiences that make the peninsula unique, and they don’t require turning bushland into a theme park.
Amy Hiller, Kew
Government sell off
Well, the Allen Labour Government are now so strapped for cash that they’re selling off our State Parks!
What an absolute disgrace! Nobody in the local community wants it, the shire voted against this over development, and yet it is given approval to proceed.
How did this happen?
People head to the Mornington Peninsula for our beautiful environment; it’s not the Gold Coast, full of theme parks and concrete, for heaven’s sake!
It’s exactly what our locals and Mornington Peninsula tourists, don’t want. This ugly, noisy eyesore will keep the taxes rolling in for broke Jacinta, and keep the business owners, concrete suppliers, and Instas happy. But nobody else!
Sharon Forrest, Mount Martha
Homeless reality
The idea that homeless people are lazy or made bad choices is comforting if you own several investment properties. Less so if you’re a woman fleeing a violent partner with nowhere to go.
ACOSS, Australian Council of Social Service, recently crunched the numbers from the Productivity Commission’s own data. The Federal Government spends $12.3b on tax breaks for property investors. Social housing, homelessness services and rent assistance combined receive $9.6b.
Family violence is now the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Australia, not due to bad choices or personal failure, but because of a system that prioritises investor returns over people’s safety.
When public housing waitlists stretch for years, private rentals are unaffordable and crisis services are at capacity, victim survivors face a brutal choice: stay in a dangerous home, or leave and end up on the street. That’s not a personal failing. That’s a policy failure.
Blaming individuals for homelessness lets governments off the hook. It’s easier than asking why we subsidise a landlord’s seventh property while a mother sleeps in her car with her kids.
Housing is shelter and a safe space. It used to be treated as a right. Somewhere along the way it became an investment class, and the people at the bottom are paying the price.
John Hayward, Somers
Amalgamation date
The last couple of weeks there have been letters referencing the amalgamation of the three peninsula shires in 1998.
Councils were shut down in December 1994, and Administrators were appointed to the new MPSC.
Nigel Austin, The last Shire President of the Shire of Hastings
Thanks for the support
I wish to express the gratitude of the Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad Opportunity Shop to the wonderful customers who have donated funds to help cover the losses we incurred by accepting a counterfeit $50 note.
All the volunteers were deeply moved by the generosity of these people, and because they remained anonymous, I would like to reach out to them via your pages, which is how they learned about our situation.
It is a reminder that we live in a beautiful and supportive community.
Pamela Taverniti, Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad Opportunity Shop
Who owns hospital?
I was recently informed that the new Peninsula University Hospital is owned by a private company and is in fact leased to the PUH. This to me would create major issues with who decides what can be subsequently modified, maintained, rent rises etc.
Looking forward to an answer.
Adrian Elderhurst, Langwarrin Sth
Koala slogan
I was shocked to read that, after only two months, the number of koala deaths on peninsulas roads is already approaching half of last year’s total (Push to reduce speed on Westernport Hwy after koala deaths, The News 24/2/26).
The koala population on the Mornington Peninsula is considered to be in trouble and faces significant challenges from habitat loss and fragmentation, road accidents, dog attacks, disease and climate change.
As the climate becomes hotter and drier, eucalyptus trees are unable to provide the necessary hydration and nutrition koalas need forcing them to descend from the canopy and travel more frequently across dangerous terrain.
Surely dropping speed limits to 70 kmph is the least we can do to minimise road kills. It’s far cheaper than installing koala proof fencing like that along the freeway near Mt Gravatt in Brisbane, or vegetation-lined underpasses like those underneath the Peak Downs Highway in Central Queensland.
And what’s the loss of a few seconds of travel time compared to the loss of a koala? Perhaps we need a slogan. What about “Knock off 30Ks for Koalas”?
Chris Cook, Essendon
Protect the skink
Kudos to shire councillors for supporting protection of the endangered Swamp Skink (Council endorses submission to protect Swamp Skinks, The News 24/2/26). Climate change — heat, drought, fires and floods — and habitat loss from clearing and development are the main drivers of biodiversity decline. In the proposed 250-lot housing development at Dromana, about three-quarters of the skink’s 23-hectare habitat would be lost, along with almost all tree canopy, with only nine trees retained.
There is still no recovery plan for this unique reptile, despite its endangered status. In 2015, Peter Robertson (lead author of Reptiles of Victoria) and Nick Clemann of the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research prepared Guidelines for Management Activities in Swamp Skink Habitat on the Mornington Peninsula. Their first principle is unequivocal: continuous habitat should not be reduced or fragmented, for example by roads. Anyone viewing the subdivision map can see the opposite is proposed.
A land offset at Loch Sport will not save the Dromana skinks from bulldozers — it merely replaces the hectares lost. The Federal Environment Minister must intervene.
Maggie Cowling, Coburg North
Clean up
With another Clean Up Australia Day been and gone, we ask respectfully that each business and household kindly clean up around their yards, perimeter fences, bushes and home property boundaries to prevent rubbish entering our bay.
It is up to all of us, not just volunteers and we can all make a positive difference.
Susan Young,
Mornington Beach Patrol Leader
Cheaper than coffee!
My recent electricity bill for 3 days, mid January to mid February, was $74 which works out at $2.47 per day. Everything in my house is electric, aircon, fridge, washer and dryer, dishwasher, tv, lights, vacuum, hairdryer, oven etc etc, except my hot water which is gas.
I pay almost $5 for a cup of coffee – the cost of electricity doesn’t look so bad now.
Nerida Miller, Mount Martha
Australian values
I could never get anyone to tell me what the throw away words “Australian Values” were so I did some research. Core Australian beliefs: democracy, rule of law, individual freedom, equality, mutual respect, tolerance, a “fair go”, and mateship.
Visa applicants must accept and sign: “I understand that Australian society values: respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual; freedom of religion (including the freedom not to follow a particular religion), freedom of speech, and freedom of association; commitment to the rule of law, which means that all people are subject to the law and should obey it; parliamentary democracy whereby our laws are determined by parliaments elected by the people, those laws being paramount and overriding any other inconsistent religious or secular “laws”; equality of opportunity for all people, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, or national or ethnic origin; a ‘fair go’ for all that embraces: mutual respect; tolerance; compassion for those in need; equality of opportunity for all”.
As of mid-February 2026, the Liberal-National Coalition, under new leader Angus Taylor, is considering a proposal that would enable the deportation of non-citizens and prohibit visas to any who does or might breach an “Australian Values” statement “the door must be shut” to people who do not align with “Australian Values”.
There is a need to be able to revoke citizenship for Australian citizens who do not comply with “Australian Values” and then at least 25% of population would have to be deported.
Don’t forget: Australia is based on Christian values!
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
BarleyCharlie@Almost90
Merely 22 days till @90Plus? “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” (C.S.Lewis). Not quite, but I’ll settle for the dream, hope springs and so on.
MY Rules, numbers 1,2,3 & 4 – never seek approval, we are what we are, if not yet, take the plunge, similar to that feeling after drying off from a freezing ocean swim.
But did they turn their backs on Australia, ISIS brides? Did they have a choice, to stay home, alone? Some perhaps, but all, doubtful; ruthless politicians almost all, including male and female religious numbskulls.
Another joke? – “Australian values” Real meaning? People who agree with you, us? Often a pot (beer, local RSL) with a Turk, Italian, Russkie, Aussie, their values regularly aligned with the performance of their poker machines.
Hypocrisy; not forgetting the creation of the black market in cigarettes by the current government, helped along by the self righteous Kevin Rudd. Somebody should warn Albanese (albeit a stretch?) of the drug cartels in Mexico?
Perhaps not, currently advising on Royal Family matters; Australia would strip the former Prince Andrew’s right to succeed to the throne? He hasn’t been charged anything yet?
Albanese also sprouting budget cuts; easy, scrap AUKUS; stay under your doona Anthony? Any thoughts on neo-Nazi far-right and Muslim fringes? Not to worry, the world is full of people who not only know better, but will gladly attempt to change yours, if you’re silly enough to let them.
More importantly, March 8, St Kilda vs Collingwood, 7.20pm. Go Pies.
Cliff Ellen, Rye
