New rates levy
So, let me get this clear, The shire sensibly tries to recoup the cost of the holiday trash/disruption with a modest parking fee at three primo beaches, and gets howled down.
But frankly, no amount of metering will balance the onslaught of rude, borish behaviour and eye watering amounts of ill advised rectal-floss bikinis.
Now we have a special levy added to peninsula rates to cover the end of season and ongoing clean up. How dumb are we?
For perspective, try parking anywhere in the inner suburbs adjacent to stores or points of interest. A visit to a concert at The Palais in St.Kilda will set you back around $18.
Shire council, grow a pair and try again with some basic user-pays options.
David Martin, Mt Martha
How to vote
Who to vote for? Being a social democrat I usually vote Labor, although, if extremely disappointed, I once would have voted Liberal, who used to have some democratic socialist leanings.
But now, the Liberals are decimated to just a small minority party. Why, I’ve had bigger parties in my garage at home, but I would have turned away at the front gate, some of today’s Liberal politicians or some aspiring to be one.
I’ve never forgotten, and never will, the disastrous (expletives deleted) foul act by Liberal leader Jeff Kennett in selling off our entire state-owned electricity system. I could never vote Liberal again.
So, who to vote for? Too many independents are in fact just fronts and financed by other political parties; or by wealthy organizations with an agenda who want a few puppets in parliament.
The voter is in fact deceived into voting for something possibly held in disdain or contempt.
Some are true independents but are impotent unless they make alliances with others. Some are good. There are some good very small parties, who don’t have the cash to splash on publicity, so you never hear about them.
Don’t be a donkey and vote for the preferences given on each candidates how to vote card. Many parties do deals and boast that they’ll win on preferences.
Think. I do my own preferences, selecting my preferred candidate as number one, then MY second best as two then I put the worst last and work back.
Brian A Mitchelson, Mornington
Broken social contract
For fifty years, Australia has undergone a radical transformation. While the political duopoly points to decades of GDP growth as a sign of success, a look at the lives of ordinary Australians on the peninsula reveals a different story: declining social trust, crumbling infrastructure, and the systematic erosion of a once-unified way of life. By prioritising the “Big Australia” model over the quality of life of its citizens, the government has unilaterally breached our “social contract”.
Labor and Liberal governments have used population growth as a “cheat code” to mask economic stagnation. This reliance on importing taxpayers is a calculated abandonment of their primary duty: investing in our own. Rather than fully subsidising the training of Australian doctors and tradespeople, they have deliberately chosen to import labor as a cheaper alternative, knowingly doing so at the expense of our own people and leaving our education system to focus on fringe topics rather than the fundamentals.
The material consequences are most visible in the stolen dreams of our children. High-volume immigration keeps housing demand artificially high, pricing local kids out of their own hometowns. This creates a vicious cycle where birth rates drop because young couples cannot afford a home—a decline the government then uses to justify even more immigration. We are essentially telling our kids they are replaceable.
Being Pro-Australia is not anti-migrant; it is about sovereignty. A healthy nation must look after its own first. We must break the “Big Australia” dependency, protect our high-trust culture, and prioritise the education and housing of Australian-born citizens. We do not need a catastrophe to force us to be self-sufficient; we need a government that serves the Australian people, not the global market, ensuring the “lucky country” remains a reality for the children we are raising today.
B Parker, Mornington
You’re voting for a brand
You don’t vote for a person, you vote for a brand. Political Parties are brands they decide how they spend, how they regulate, and who they protect. The direction is set long before the individual opens their mouth. Predictability, even when it’s wrong, the vote is decided before the debate even starts. That’s not representation, That’s alignment.
Decisions follow square boxes already drawn. And dare not to color outside the lines. So when you vote for a party, you’re not choosing a voice, you’re signing onto a script.
An independent is different. No party room, No factions, No script handed down at 8am.
Every vote becomes deliberate, Conscious, Chosen, Not automatic.
An independent doesn’t inherit a position. They build one, issue by issue. That means more work, more scrutiny, more accountability in real time.
With an Independent you’re not buying into a machine. You’re backing judgment and a position you help develop.
With a party brand, you get consistency and conformity and blind obedience. With an independent, you get flexibility and responsibility. No party room. No faction deal. No instructions.
Do you want predictability, even when it’s wrong? Or do you want someone forced to think every single time?
A brand exists with an independent. But it’s not imposed. It’s earned. Built from decisions you can track, not slogans you’re sold.
That’s why your vote matters more. Because without a party to fall back on, every decision is exposed. Every vote is owned. No hiding. No blaming the party line. Just a record. It forces something rare in politics. Thinking.
And that, my friend, is the purest form of representation there is.
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
Rosebud Hospital
There’s been a lot of commentary re local members being big on advocating for Rosebud Hospital but not delivering.
That’s true and it’s at the heart of this election.
Anthony Marsh’s commitment to rebuilding the hospital is official party policy and has been personally backed by Jess Wilson as party leader as well as senior members of the shadow cabinet.
It’s government that gets major infrastructure built.
Independents and minor party candidates can advocate but can’t deliver.
They can’t commit funds or approve projects.
So do you want more talk or back a candidate who is aligned with a party who can deliver?
Labor in all the years they have been in power they have not delivered.
Back the candidate who is supported by party leadership and official policy.
Robb Hampson, Sorrento
High Court decision
This week powerful evidence for voting independent emerged. The legacy party’s collusion to bestow unfair electoral advantage to themselves was outrageous, and it turns out, unconstitutional.
This is why Nepean voters need a local member who works for them and is answerable only to them… not remote billionaires or party hacks who don’t know us and care even less about us.
An independent member who can work with whomever wins government but understands the needs of this community and strongly advocates for it is the only sure way to have our voice heard in state parliament, federal parliament and the shire.
I urge you to consider voting for a community backed independent candidate in every upcoming election.
Phil Riley, Somers
Editor’s note: Phil Riley is the president Independents for Mornington Peninsula.
Hanson visit
I was shocked to see that Pauline Hanson was hosted by the Rosebud Football and Netball Club on Friday evening in an event for One Nation.
As an 80’s/90’s kid I’ve grown up watching Hanson sow seeds of division in Australian life – first it was that we’re being “swamped by Asians”, and more recently we were told by her that there are “no good Muslims”.
In her 30 years as an on-off Senator (with jail time in there too), Hanson has delivered not one piece of legislation that has materially improved the lives of the forgotten Aussies she claims to represent.
Campaign gatherings and “meet the candidate” events are not new to the peninsula during election season, but to see such a divisive Senator welcomed into a local community sports club is a new turn.
Sporting clubs are for the whole community – they are places of inclusion and belonging for adults and children from all walks of life.
Does this signal that our local footy and netball club aligns with Hanson’s politics of fear, hate, racism, islamophobia, exclusion and bigotry?
In an age of “social cohesion”, public funded sporting clubs must remain politically neutral, open and inclusive to all community members. Hosting Pauline Hanson signals this may no longer be the case, and that should concern us all.
Kerri McCafferty, Dromana
Editor’s note: Kerri McCafferty is a former councillor of the Mornington Peninsula Shire.
Fair-minded voter
Surely no fair-minded Australian will vote for any candidate in the Nepean election whose masters preach discriminatory practices and blatant racism.
Maureen Donelly, Mornington
Stick to the facts
Ray Aspinall and Peter Monie both urge voters to scrutinise Anthony Marsh’s record. Fair enough. But the claims being made should also be tested against the facts. Do the research and comment impartially.
What’s missing from both letters is that these exact issues have already been tested. Five councillors chose to take the mayor through a drawn-out and damaging legal process rather than work through normal democratic channels. The result? The case was dismissed in full. Even the independent arbiter didn’t agree with them, and the whole exercise achieved nothing other than entrenching them further in opposition, instead of working as a team. This is politics at its worst.
Six councillors have been getting on with the job delivering outcomes and making decisions, while five have consistently opposed and escalated matters instead of working constructively.
A number of the other claims don’t stack up either. Public questions have long been submitted in advance of meetings. That didn’t suddenly change. The council meeting timetable was adopted by council on officer recommendation, and the minutes even show the mayor didn’t vote for it. Attendance arrangements at meetings sit with the CEO.
On funding, the mayor can’t move motions or amendments to the budget. He’s one vote, same as everyone else. So blaming him for budget outcomes others don’t like just doesn’t make sense.
It is unsurprising that these attacks come from the same people supporting the latest Teal candidate in this by-election. In Peter Monie’s case, he was a founding board member of the local Teal movement. Let’s not pretend these are impartial observers. They are anything but.
People can disagree with decisions. That’s part of local democracy. But there’s a difference between disagreement and rewriting what actually happened.
The letters page is once again being used by operatives aligned to the “independent” (teal) campaign to attack their opponents and mislead unsuspecting voters. People should read it with that in mind.
Peter Clarke, McCrae
Marsh can deliver
As the by-election approaches, it is worth focusing on the qualities that genuinely matter in a candidate. For me, that is a proven ability to make decisions, manage responsibly and deliver outcomes for the community. That is why I support Anthony Marsh. I have met him a couple of times on the campaign trail and have learned something of his background in the military, as an entrepreneur and in local government.
During his time in local government, Anthony demonstrated a clear focus on getting the basics right. From improving local roads to restoring discipline to council finances, he showed that careful management and practical priorities can make a real difference to everyday life.
Importantly, he has not shied away from difficult decisions. At a time when many are concerned about rising costs and government waste, that willingness to take a responsible approach is both necessary and welcome.
The only way we are going to see action on Rosebud Hospital, safer communities, and sustainable financial management that puts downward pressure on inflation is with a change of government.
And that starts with electing Anthony Marsh as the next Member for Nepean. We need representatives who are focused on outcomes, not noise.
R Gregory Melgaard, Portsea
Marsh best placed
While many councils struggle financially, councillor and mayor Anthony Marsh has made the tough decisions needed to rein in ballooning deficits.
He has a proven track record of redirecting funding to local roads and infrastructure, addressing long-overdue maintenance and unravelling abstract policy issues.
This represents a deep understanding of the everyday concerns that affect how people live, work and move around the community.
At the same time, he has loudly advocated on social media and in the community for the upgrades to Rosebud Hospital and to improve the condition of state government managed roads, including Point Nepean Road, Mornington-Flinders Road, the Mornington Peninsula Freeway, and Boneo Road.
Like Victoria itself, our roads have suffered years of neglect under the current state government – and their attempts to fix it are not good enough.
For many, owning a piece of this beautiful district, with the freedom to enjoy what Nepean has to offer, is becoming a pipe-dream.
And so, no longer willing to let the community area and its members be overlooked by the state, his candidacy in the upcoming byelection on May 2nd is made with the intention to ensure Nepean receives a fairer share of Victoria’s funding, to improve livelihoods at the most fundamental level.
I believe this reflects a passionate leader who makes careful, strategic decision making. This willingness to reassess and provide genuine local leadership should be welcomed.
Isabella Montagliani, Safety Beach
Can’t trust Marsh
I just can’t trust Anthony Marsh to put our community interests first, listen to constituents and work for open governance and community dialogue. Why?
Marsh said he was not in Council for a career in politics yet that is what he is trying to do, costing ratepayers maybe $200,000 for a Council by-election. These Liberal party induced by-elections are costing the community money taken away from much needed community services.
He said he would freeze rates yet he voted to increase them by the maximum allowed once on Council.
He doesn’t live in the electorate and when on Council, voted to direct funding to projects away from Nepean into his North ward. Where will his priorities be?
He voted against transparency measures for Council, was party to reduced Council meetings, abolition of the community consultations citizens panel and voted against making briefings public.
His environmental credentials are non-existent at a time of extreme weather and urgent need for environmental policies and programs on the Peninsula.
Think carefully when you vote.
J. Hansen, Rye
‘Dog whistle’ policies
There’s a scene in the new film Project Hail Mary where astronaut Ryland Grace encounters something completely unknown, an alien, from a different world, speaking a language he’s never heard. His response isn’t fear. It’s curiosity. It’s wonder. It’s the instinct to understand, to connect, to solve a problem together.
I’ve been thinking about that scene a lot this week, watching the Liberal Party’s renewed campaign against immigration.
On Saturday morning I was at Rosebud Hospital, and met a patient who is a Maltese-born man who’s lived in McCrae for years. He was friendly, funny, and deeply proud of this peninsula he calls home. He is exactly the kind of person Angus Taylor wants us to be suspicious of.
The evidence is clear; every additional 1,000 migrants contributes around $124 million in annual economic value through labour, taxation, entrepreneurship and consumer demand. They fill critical workforce gaps in healthcare, aged care, construction and education. They start businesses. They pay taxes. They are vital to Australia’s economic success and social fabric, not a burden on it.
Here on the Mornington Peninsula, this isn’t abstract. Many of our neighbours, our local business owners, the people who staff our medical centres and build our homes, came here from somewhere else. They are homeowners. They are parents. They coach junior footy and volunteer at the school canteen. They are us.
The Coalition’s response to this reality is to stoke fear of it. That’s not policy. It’s a distraction, dressed up as concern.
I’d like to ask our federal member, Zoe McKenzie, directly: do you endorse this? Does the Liberal Party’s anti-immigration fearmongering represent the values of the people of the Mornington Peninsula? Because from where I’m standing the answer should be an unambiguous “no”.
Kim Robbins, Safety Beach
Liberal dirty tactics
Typical isn’t it. When the liberals think they’re going to lose a seat, they pull out the book of dirty tricks.
Received a flyer in the letter box from A. Hannam (the newly elected state director of the Liberal Party) dissing Tracee Hutchison.
The Libs are quaking in their Jimmy Choos as they know they are going to lose. They will throw as much mud as they can in the next 2 weeks to try to get back the momentum. Too late.
Peter Marsh (sic) can’t even ensure our local roads are navigable let alone run a state portfolio.
Independents and Greens don’t bow to corporate power like the Libs and Labor.
Vote how you like but remember it’s the ‘two-party’ system that has gotten us into an energy crisis, high inflation and debt. If the previous “Laberal” governments hadn’t given our resources away to their rich corporate mates, we’d have a Sovereignty Fund like Norway worth trillions of dollars.
Jon Greening, Rosebud
Power play
That fake One Nation brochure was bad enough. Now I get the Tracee Hutchinson one. Disgust overtakes astonishment that the Libs could again be so brazenly dishonest and destructive. But then that’s how they kept hold of Flinders, so I guess they believe that works.
Anyone who is surprised by their underhanded tactics should watch a documentary made in 2004 by Gary Newman about the extraordinarily corrupt election held by the Melbourne University Student Union in 2003. It is called The State of the Union, and clearly demonstrates just how low the Young Libs were prepared to go to keep their power over the Union.
When the election was all over and the movie was shown at Melbourne Uni, the film- makers were apprehensive, expecting defensiveness and possible backlash on the part of the most corrupt players. To their surprise the most devious and crooked actors crowed with delight and pride at their ability to win the election once again. Any moral compass was conspicuous by its absence.
Echoes of how the Liberal Party works even now at election time. Perhaps the inability to co-operate with society’s norms of decent and fair play also explains their own in-fighting.
If they are voted in again, I suppose they would be unconcerned that this may be due to hoodwinking the public, rather than the democratic process.
Paula Polson, Dromana
Tracee support
Every election, we hear the same promises—cost of living relief, better services, more accountability. Yet somehow, things don’t change in ways that matter to everyday people.
It’s no surprise many voters are frustrated or looking for something different.
For me, the real question isn’t who can list the right issues. It’s who will stand up for this community after the election—when party pressure kicks in and decisions are made behind closed doors.
That’s where an independent like Tracee Hutchison offers something different.
She’s not new to local issues. Tracee has been working in the community for years, including on the channel widening project—well before any campaign. That kind of commitment matters.
Without party bosses to answer to, an independent can push for practical outcomes that reflect local needs, not party priorities.
For those of us who feel let down by the major parties, this isn’t about promises. It’s about choosing someone accountable to the community.
It’s time to try doing politics differently.
Pam Pitt, Rosebud
Best buddies?
This week’s reveal that both the Pauline Hanson One Nation Party and the Liberal Party have chosen to preference each other despite their declared political hatred says it all about these candidates.
Darren Hercus and Anthony Marsh deserve condemnation for their cynical How to Vote cards. It seems they would rather hold their noses and direct preferences to each other than face the possibility of electing a woman be the first MLA representative in the history of Nepean.
Come on Nepean voters let’s put these blokes back in their boxes and get an outstanding, local woman, Tracee Hutchison elected to Spring Street.
Renske O’Brien, Rye
Look to policy
Cameron McCullough has interesting and important insights for voters in the upcoming Nepean by-election, particularly with regard to One Nation (Elections can create strange bedfellows”, The News 14/4/26).
As McCullough explains, One Nation won four seats in the lower house in the recent SA election. They are polling better than the Liberals in most instances and should be taken seriously. Commentators suggest that Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, backed by Gina Rinehart, is built on grievance.
Can this party present coherent policies that would improve lives? Some suggest One Nation offers strong views, particularly as anti-immigration and climate change deniers, but is weak on policy detail.
In a democracy, voters and outcomes can benefit from the public examining not just the rhetoric but the substance behind it.
Amy Hiller, Kew
Look to Hamer
Your article (Elections make strange bedfellows, The News 14/4/26) was most timely.
The recent Senate Select Committee report, The Integrity Gap: Restoring Trust in the Climate and Energy Debate, found that rising mis- and disinformation, accelerated by the speed and reach of digital platforms, can erode trust between citizens and governments. Concern about misinformation in Australia is high — at 74 per cent — the highest globally.
With a Victorian election looming in November, these issues are especially relevant given the rise of key climate misinformation proponent, One Nation.
As you note, Opposition Leader and Member for Kew Jess Wilson has not ruled out preferencing One Nation. She is also yet to commit to strong emissions reduction or climate action.
If Wilson and her colleagues hope to regain government, they must take a more proactive stance on climate policy and forest protection. The environmental legacy of the former premier and Member for Kew, Sir Rupert Hamer, provides a clear and credible model.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn
One Nation’s rise
That One Nation has become a political force is undoubted as shown in the South Australian election (Elections make strange bedfellows, The News 14/4/26).
How long it will last, time will tell. But how did it happen? Pauline Hanson has been spewing the same xenophobic, populist, anti-climate change nonsense for 30 years, and it has never really caught on, so why now?
The answer sadly may probably be found across the Pacific. Donald Trump, along with Nigel Farage (remember the Brexit campaign), has given credibility and voice to those that seem to think that all their problems are the fault of somebody else – probably an immigrant.
People who might have found some of Hanson’s utterances in some way appealing but wouldn’t vote for her now feel it is OK to do so.
Hopefully, they will wake up when they realise that Hanson has no answers, just as the Americans are coming to realise that Trump has no answers to their problems and grievances.
Grievance politics is an easy way out for parties with no actual policies like One Nation.
Ross Hudson, Mt Martha
Absurd suggestion
Your article last week suggesting Labor tried to discredit the Climate 200 candidate at the Federal election is absurd (Elections can create strange bedfellows, The News 14/4/26).
Labor’s candidate was photographed in the front rows of the Teal candidate’s launch, and there was healthy and mutually supportive dialogue between both leftist candidates in the lead up and during the campaign.
It only broke down when the full misinformation of the $2m Teal campaign, and their bullying tactics at the polling booths, became apparent.
Labor came second in first preference votes, that is, more people wanted a Labor than a Climate 200 candidate. The Member for Flinders, Zoe McKenzie, got almost double the number of primary votes of both leftist candidates.
Climate 200 made it to the final count due to a long preference chain from the far-right, and the extremist left support.
A third of Clive Palmer’s Trumpets of Patriots went directly to the Climate 200 Teal. Of the 40% of Trumpets preferences flowing to One Nation, 23.2% of the One Nation votes bounced back to Smith – and less than 10% went to Labor.
We all remember The Australian front page article showing the Teal trying to do a deal “over prayers” with the One Nation candidate.
Almost half of all Green preferences went to Climate 200, no surprise given they are the political arm of the renewables lobby. 80% of Labor preferences went to the Teal as well – no sign of Labor fighting Teal there!
So it is with extremist Green, One Nation and Trumpet of Patriots preferences, together with Labor’s almost 100% support, that Climate 200 moved into the final two-candidate count despite coming third in primary votes.
So, who is helping who, really? Elections really do create strange bedfellows.
Marg Hawker, Mount Martha
Put One Nation last
Well done to Cameron McCullough for his very interesting political analysis of the current by-election about to take place in the seat of Nepean (Elections can create strange bedfellows, The News 14/4/26). The article states that most letters sent to The News have been attacking the Liberal Candidate Marsh (deservedly so in my opinion) while the One Nation candidate, Darren Hercus, has been largely untouched, and he is right.
The One Nation Party is a dangerously divisive party whose policies support and encourage racism in our Australian multicultural community.
Pauline Hanson, leader of the One Nation party has a long and documented history of making comments described as racist, discriminatory and Islamophobic often targeting Asian immigrants, Indigenous Australians and Muslims.
She has been censured by the Senate in the Australian Parliament for making racists comments and by the Courts for saying people of colour are “second class citizens”, views strongly held by white supremacists and the Nazi Party.
But there is more, with the world on the brink of war in the Middle East, fuel prices are through the roof, urea fertilizer unobtainable, that could see food shortages in our country in the near future, interest rates and unemployment about to rise, all caused by that madman Donald Trump and what does Pauline have to say on behalf of the One Nation Party, which includes Darren Hercus? She is on record of saying “I support what Trump has done” and “I congratulate President Trump and the United States”.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party and Darren Hercus support Trump over and above our families, if they had their way we would see our sons and grandsons being used as cannon fodder to prop-up an American maniac.
Whoever you vote for put One Nation last.
Rod Knowles, Crib Point
Put Marsh last
“Mayor Marsh” has had three recent terms as mayor – terms which we now know to have been self-serving, opportunistic – just waiting for the chance to further a political career – even after hand-on-heart statements about being there to serve the community etc, etc.
Now that he has shown his real colours by jumping to stand for the Liberal Party in the Nepean by-election, he has had the hide to authorise election signs next to our roads stating that, if he is elected Liberal Member for Nepean, he will fix the pothole problem. This is the Mayor Marsh who has failed to fix the potholes when he could!! As unlikely MP for Nepean in the State Parliament, do you think he’s going to do better there?? And surely an aspiring MP in the State Parliament should have something better to offer us than pothole filling? Improving public education? Solving the Homelessness crisis? Health issues?
The horizons of this candidate leave me boggling at his lack of vision.
Put Mayor Marsh last on 2 May. Even if it means we have him return and continue his visionless mayoral occupancy.
Peter Monie, Flinders
Bike path
I am just wondering how long it takes to build a bike path less than 6km long and what they are doing at the bottom of the Frankston Flinders Road and Hawkins Road. It’s an absolute nightmare and it doesn’t seem like anything’s happening down there.
Can somebody at least let us know what’s going on? Also I would like to know the day it’s going to be open (2030?) so maybe we can have a meeting and ride down there. One hundred bike riders for the opening would look pretty good in your paper.
Also the section between Robinsons Road and Golflinks Road is an absolute shocker it needs resurfacing.
Ray Anderson, Somerville
BarleyCharlie@90
An April Fool? Out ABC? Has anyone seen Richard (dodgy) Marles answer a television interview question? Should I pre-judge, facial or otherwise?
Welcome back Cotter, aka Tony Abbott’s nonsense in defence of Ben Roberts-Smith? And Gina Rinehart? Being rich and/or important does not necessarily equate with a good working brain, other than the money accumulation brain. Such a problem, behaviour, at a war? Surely not in a public court of law? Could you guarantee good conduct at a war, all wars, trained to kill, hopefully trying to arrive home safely, while we sit back in judgement?
Pauline Hanson; brains no, with cunning an over supply. Democracy has little to do with clear thinking. We are almost all charged with a feeling for it, but mostly (again, almost all) accept it as freedom?
I know people, (thinkers?) who believe politicians, I kid you not, alternatively, entranced by the score of a jackpot on their poker machines?
Angus Taylor’s view on “Australian Values” (white Australians?) puts him intellectually alongside former PM William McMahon; and Kath and Kim.
The Liberal Party hardline migration policy, nothing new here. Inequality and housing remain the top two, despite who holds power. Locally, a mere $137 cleaning fees increase; aka “us” sitting ducks.
Petrol rationing around the corner? No stress, time enough when it/if arrives. I have my scooter, no petrol, and like politicians, federal, state and local, I’m alright Jack, less that $137?
One wonders, the food quality, on those airplanes our PM Albanese takes to all those countries; a mad mad world.
Lastly, population growth, a necessity, they tell us, or mainly for politicians promoting, primarily to encourage more Australians to have babies? Best thing one feels at the end of a day; “I’ve done this.” Just saying…
Cliff Ellen, Rye
