WORKING remote has become “normal” for many since the onset of the global COVID pandemic. But author Mark T Rasmussen seems to have taken that working philosophy further than most – his remote desk is located in a “remote seaside village” in Mexico. An inveterate traveller (more than 60 countries and still counting) his movements were seriously curtailed in 2020 when COVID restrictions prevented his wife, Jennifer, from entering Australia. “She was unable to enter Australia during the COVID chaos and visa processing times and costs blew out,” Rasmussen said. “I found a loophole that allowed me to exit when…
Author: Keith Platt
THE Conservation Regulator has urged coastal visitors to curb their curiosity and keep their distance from resting and sunning seals. Seals, including leopard, elephant and fur, regularly come ashore on Mornington Peninsula beaches to rest and lie in the sun. A leopard seal was last week reported at the Rye back beach and in Portland an elephant seal was basking and swimming in the canal. Authorised officers are working with other relevant authorities, including Zoos Victoria’s Marine Response Unit (MRU), to monitor the welfare and movements of these seals. Officers will patrol known seal locations and can hand out $277…
THE Portsea Classic will be held over the weekend of January 20-21, starting on the Friday with the Portsea Bay to Surf – two twilight adventure runs and a walk through Point Nepean National Park. In the Bay to Surf an estimated 1000 competitors will tackle one of three events: a 4.5km walk, a 4.5km run or a 9km run through the national park. The walk starts from Jarman Oval at 5pm, followed by the two adventure runs, finishing at the Portsea Surf Life Saving Club. On the Saturday, the 37th Portsea Swim Classic will take place at Quarantine Station…
A BY-ELECTION by postal vote will held to replace the former Watson Ward councillor Paul Mercurio who resigned from Mornington Peninsula Shire Council following his November election as the state MP for Hastings. Voting in the Saturday 18 March by-election is compulsory and candidates must nominate by midday on 14 February. Voting papers will be mailed out by the Victorian Electoral Commission over three days from 28 February and must be received back by the VEC by Friday 17 March. More than 14,000 voters are enrolled in Watson Ward, which includes parts of Baxter, Somerville, Tyabb and surrounds. A countback…
MORNINGTON pier was the focus of the town’s attention on Saturday as it provided a safe berth for vessels from the past. Tied to the pier was the 27-metre Enterprize, a replica of the sailing ship used to bring European settlers from Tasmania to found the city of Melbourne in 1835. Unfortunately, offshore winds prevented the volunteer-crewed schooner from offering pleasure cruises that would provide insight into life aboard a 19th-century sailing ship. However, the attention of visitors to the pier was diverted as a boat from a completely different era was craned into the water to secure a mooring…
SEAWINDS Ward councillor Kerri McCafferty has resigned from Mornington Peninsula Shire. Her departure at the end of January will bring to three the number of councillors to have left the 11-member council since their election in November 2020. Her sudden resignation on Tuesday (20 December) follows Watson Ward’s Cr Paul Mercurio departure following his election to state parliament and Nepean Ward’s Cr Hugh Fraser’s decision to leave in March 2021. Fraser was replaced by Susan Bissinger, after a countback of votes from the 2020 council election. The Victorian Electoral Commission says a by-election will be held before March next year…
THE future of the Beleura cliff walking track at Mornington has never been under threat as much as it is now since it was opened 100 years ago. Now closed indefinitely because of ongoing landslides, further assessments, including drainage from nearby properties, are underway. Part of the track was temporarily closed in September after safety concerns were raised by Mornington Peninsula Shire engineers. Since then, other landslides have swept away part of the track and the entire path has been closed. The mayor Cr Steve Holland said closing the track was “unfortunate, but safety obviously has to be our priority”.…
CLEAN Ocean Foundation will continue to push for sewage and wastewater be reused after being made safe for human consumption, rather than pumped into the ocean near Gunnamatta surf beach. The foundation believes it can “work with” the Greens and the Legalise Cannabis Party to achieve its aims even though their pre-state election plan was not endorsed by any Labor candidates or MPs. Foundation CEO John Gemmell said the two smaller parties “now have the balance of power in the Upper House [and] both were open to an evidence-based discussion about our proposal”. Melbourne Water, which operates the outfall at…
A BY-ELECTION will be held by March next year to fill the vacancy on Mornington Peninsula Shire Council by Paul Mercurio, who is now the MP for Hastings. Mercurio won the seat for Labor at last month’s state election, ending 16 years of continuous Liberal representation by Neale Burgess, who did not seek re-election. Just days after Mercurio’s win was confirmed, he was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery for atrial fibrillation, a heart condition that causes irregular, sometimes rapid, heart beats. Late last week he was discharged from hospital and had posted a short video on Facebook as he…
ZOE McKenzie was elected as the federal MP for Flinders in May, replacing fellow Liberal Greg Hunt who had held the seat for the past 21 years and who chose not to seek re-election. One of nine women among the 42 Liberal MPs in the House of Representatives, McKenzie is now part of the 58 member Coalition opposition with the Nationals (the Labor government’s 77 MPs include 36 women). In her maiden speech to parliament in September, McKenzie expressed gratitude to her mother, Ann Shanahan, “a cardiothoracic surgeon and … practicing lawyer” who, along with “Molly”, raised her as the…
THE Dolphin Research Institute is asking boaters to “give dolphins a fair go” in Port Phillip. The institute says the bay’s dolphins are inquisitive and may approach boats, but that is natural – chasing or following dolphins for a closer look is not. Boat owners and beachgoers are this summer being asked to commit to Dolphin Distancing, which means boats (including paddle craft) not getting closer than 100 metres to dolphins and jet skis staying at least 300m away. Swimmers should not be closer than 30m and dogs 300m. Dolphins can, and do, break the rules. “It’s a shared space…
ALTHOUGH the state government has yet to decide on Esso Australia’s bid to build an ethane gas-fired power plant, the company has already bought and is storing the necessary equipment at its Hastings plant. The presence of the three Solar 10 generators and ancillary equipment was revealed during a tour of the site by members of a planning panel appointed to review Esso’s power generation application. Save Westernport spokesperson Julia Stockigt said the panel chairperson “made it very clear that Esso’s decision to purchase equipment before the project’s assessment would not sway their decision or influence their recommendation to [then]…
A REPORT to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has revealed how many buildings are regarded being a fire safety risk because of combustible cladding, but their locations remain a secret. Work required to make safe two buildings listed in the highest risk category is being overseen by the Victorian Building Authority while another 11 properties have been issued with notices by the shire to be made safe. The two buildings being supervised by the VBA are unlikely to qualify for financial help from Cladding Safety Victoria because they are not residential apartments or publicly owned. In a report to council’s 22…
THE Langwarrin owner of a severely neglected British bulldog has been prohibited from being in charge of a dog for three years, given an 18-month good behaviour bond and ordered to donate $1500 to the RSPCA. The orders were made after owner, who pleaded guilty, faced one charge of animal cruelty when prosecuted by the RSPCA in Frankston Court on Thursday 17 November. Evidence was given that Nelson the British Bulldog was suffering multiple acute health concerns when he escaped from his home in Langwarrin on 20 September 2020, all of which were a direct result of neglect, and preventable.…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is offering a helping hand to residents affected two weeks ago by flooding, landslides and storms. The mayor Cr Steve Holland said the Monday 14 November storms had led to “significant flood damage and distress” with 270 calls for help being to the SES “many of whose homes were inundated”. Holland said roads had been closed and residents evacuated because of landslips. “The safety of our community is always our first priority, and we are working hard to assist those in need, assess damage and begin repairs and recovery,” he said in a statement last Thursday (24…
RENEE Heath, the Upper House candidate that Liberal leader Matthew Guy says will not be sitting in the Liberal Party room if elected on Saturday, is no stranger to the Hastings electorate. Liberal candidate for Hastings Briony Hutton has posted photos online of herself and Heath campaigning in the electorate. “Thanks to Renee Heath and David Burgess, the two Upper House candidates for this region, for their help today,” was posted by Hutton on 23 September after campaigning in Langwarrin. The Liberal Party has said Heath would not be sitting in the Liberal Party room if elected because she had…
STATE election candidates have been reluctant to back Clean Ocean Foundation’s call for a parliamentary inquiry into ocean pollution and sewerage disposal. The foundation says the need to upgrade the treatment of waste water has been highlighted by sewage being pumped into the ocean for weeks at Gunnamatta because the South Eastern Treatment plant could not cope during recent heavy rains. It wants the wastewater treated so it can be used for drinking by humans. “Once it’s out in the ocean you’ve lost control over it. It’s a dirty conversation, but it’s one we must have,” Clean Ocean CEO John…
WITH early voting now well underway, Saturday’s state election will see the culmination of months of campaigning by candidates and their supporters. The photo “opportunite” were sometimes colourful, but always staged. The bid for votes by those seeking election to the Mornington Peninsula’s three state seats could easily be summed with: they seek them here, they seek them there, they seek them anywhere. A vote is a vote and they all count. Small halls were always good for a gathering of, hopefully, the faithful and those that could be persuaded. Visits to eroded beaches or rotting piers provided context for…
A “WHIRLWIND 48 hours” followed the election last week of Cr Steve Holland as Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor. Wild weather across the shire caused landslides, flooding and beach erosion. Holland’s introduction to being given the council’s top job included a crash course by shire engineers into the causes of the landslides and visiting some of the peninsula’s worst hit areas. He says “there’s a need to educate people about the warning signs” of an impending landslide, one of which caused eight houses to be evacuated at McCrae. Holland was elected mayor at a special council meeting on Tuesday 15 November…
A SECTION of Mount Martha North beach has again been closed because of fears that the cliff could collapse. According to Mornington Peninsula Shire erosion caused by high tides and rainfall has created “a significant safety risk”, forcing it to close the beach and access to 49 beach boxes. “A recent assessment has found the cliff poses an unacceptable safety risk. This week’s intense rainfall is likely to have further increased the risk that the cliff may collapse,” an unattributed news release from the shire stated. “As the committee of management for the beach, the shire has temporarily closed the…
CR STEVE Holland has been elected mayor and Cr Debra Mar as deputy mayor of Mornington Peninsula Shire for the coming year. The mayor and deputy mayor were elected by their fellow councillors at the annual council meeting in Rosebud on Tuesday 15 November. Holland is the representative on council’s Australia Day Committee and the Mornington Liquor Industry Accord. He also serves on the executive of the Association of Bayside Municipalities and was elected to the board of the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA). Holland has a bachelor of communication from RMIT University and is now a self-employed web developer.…
THE pressure on politicians and state election candidates for more affordable housing on the Mornington Peninsula increased last week with a public forum in Mornington. More than 200 at the forum heard the CEO of Anglicare Victoria Paul McDonald say, “the government have been asleep at the wheel for over a decade on housing”. He said the raw reality of homelessness in Victoria was “not new, and it has been ignored in terms of significant policy and investment for too long”. The forum at the Peninsula Community Theatre was the second in a series of three by Peninsula Voice and…
TWENTY seven candidates are contesting for the three state government seats that cover the Mornington Peninsula in the Saturday 26 November election. There are eight candidates each in the Mornington and Hastings electorates and 11 in Nepean. In 2018 there were 13 candidates spread across the peninsula’s three districts. The three peninsula seats had for years been regarded as safe Liberal, but that ended in 2018 with Chris Brayne’s unexpected win for Labor in Nepean. Brayne is the only sitting MP seeking re-election following the resignation of Hastings MP Neale Burgess and David Morris being dropped by his own party…
AN outspoken critic of the state government selling houses instead of renovating or replacing them, Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Anthony Marsh has bought a house being sold from the public housing stock. Marsh is a part owner of a house in Hastings sold at auction by the housing ministry in February this year. The $595,200 sale was settled in April and ownership of a house in Hastings is included on Marsh’s registration of interests kept by the shire. The Salmon Street house is opposite land earmarked for Nature Lovers in the Hastings foreshore master plan. Under the plan, the…
FORMER MP for Flinders Greg Hunt has been appointed foundation chair of the Monash University-based Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health’s advisory council. Hunt’s appointment was made by the university’s chancellor Simon McKeon who said the former federal health and aged care minister would bring to the position “a wealth of knowledge and experience in international health care policy and research”. Research by the The Turner Institute is dedicated to preventative brain and mental health research, treatment and education. “I was delighted to be invited to assist the Turner as they build on their research and community role,” Hunt,…
MAYBE it’s not called the mayoral dance for nothing, as insider betting on who will be Mornington Peninsula’s Shire’s new leaders last week settled on three, two-person teams. Teams running equal favourites at 2:1 for the jobs of mayor and deputy mayor respectfully, are current incumbents Crs Anthony Marsh and Lisa Dixon and Sarah Race and Kerri McCafferty. Following close behind at 3:1 are Steve Holland and Debra Mar. The odds are the latest statistics to come out of the annual sweep run inside the shire. As earlier reported by The News the betting on Marsh and Dixon has remained…
AFTER 14 years the lights have dimmed and the final curtain has been lowered on Peninsula Home Hospice’s Fish and Film night at the Peninsula “Athenaeum” Cinema, Sorrento. Over the years, the annual night has raised more than $90,000 for PHH which offers a free palliative at-home care program with a team of professionals and volunteers providing clinical and practical support to people with life-limiting illnesses. PHH was established as a not-for-profit organisation on the Mornington Peninsula in 1984 and is now an accredited specialist community palliative care service covering the Mornington Peninsula, Frankston and south of Mordialloc Creek. More…
PUT together two friends, unexpected questions, spare time and what could sound like a recipe for a quiz over a very long afternoon has turned into publishing opportunity for two Mount Martha men. Don Kemp has always written poems, but it was time spent fishing and boating with his two sons that prompted one of them, Rob, to suggest a book based around questions youngsters ask. Rather just asking a straightforward question, the Kemps decided to frame it around “With friends like these, who needs an anemone?” Kemp then approached his friend Perry Fletcher with the idea of producing a…
NEPEAN Ratepayers’ Association has warned that it will not stop criticising the state government until it takes action to restore sand to the Portsea front beach. The association says research proves that the sand loss is the result of the February 2008 to November 2009 dredging and deepening of the shipping channel into Port Phillip. It says the solution – near-shore reconfiguration dredging – was recommended in a consultants’ report commissioned and paid for by the government. That option, one of six outlined in a report by Advisian, would divert the wave swell that had evolved since the dredging away…
LINES are being drawn in the sand, grassy areas, footpaths and even a memorial honouring fallen war dead, over changes to the foreshore at Sorrento. Mornington Peninsula Shire began a “stakeholder consultation” for a foreshore plan in December 2016 and added the final version of the plan to its website in May 2021. But all that could change this week when councillors decide whether to back changes proposed by Cr Susan Bissinger, who calls the council master plans “generic, even a little tacky”. She says Sorrento’s “beauty is classic simplicity and 100-year-old charm”. Water and coast team leader Laura Crilly,…