Renewables are right Mornington MP Chris Crewther’s parliamentary speech on 20 June glossed over and ignored problems with nuclear power as an energy source.Australia is the driest inhabited continent and, in the southeast and southwest of the country, it is getting even drier. Nuclear power plants require huge amounts of water to stay safely cooled. At Three Mile Island, United States, a cooling malfunction caused part of the core to melt, destroying a reactor. At Fukushima, Japan, the failed power supply disabled cooling systems causing all three reactor cores to melt. Overseas, drought has forced reactors to shut down. The…
Browsing: letters to the editor
Domestic violence causes most homelessness’ The shameful truth revealed in Victorian police statistics is that there were more than 2000 incidences of domestic violence right here on the Mornington Peninsula in 2022/2023. The majority of victims were women and, in almost one third of cases, children were present.The largest cause of homelessness is domestic violence. It also represents the largest demand on police time and the economic costs are enormous. Yet, with increasing media exposure to incidences of such violence, we are currently at risk of becoming complacent or feeling helpless. Don’t let this happen. Change is well within our…
Potter review needed to restore faith in shire Thanks Cr Anthony Marsh for continuing the push for scrutiny on Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s decision making processes about the Harry Potter: A forbidden Forest Experience being held at the wildlife sanctuary at The Briars.At the January Save Briars Sanctuary public meeting the mayor Cr Simon Brooks advised the packed venue that councillors were in favour of undertaking an analysis of the process that led to the approval of the largest event in the peninsula’s history being held in the sensitive and precious wildlife sanctuary at The Briars. This commitment was well…
Shire officers’ reports lack ‘depth and quality ’Congratulations Cr Anthony Marsh for having the intestinal fortitude to publicly record the honest assessment as to the quality and effectiveness of management reports that are provided by Mornington Peninsula Shire officers to enable councillors to make informed decisions (Potter review takes centre stage, The News 21/5/24).I, like many other observers of the shire’s operational activities, have over the past three to four years noticed a marked reduction in the depth of analysis and quality of advice contained in management reports. It appears to my observation that the shire’s management consider their elected…
False claims of unanimous vote for Harry Potter It’s been a long time coming, but after receiving external advice on my obligations under the Local Government Act, I am now able to disclose that I did not vote in support of the resolution on 22 August 2023 [to allow the Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience to be staged in the wildlife sanctuary at The Briars, Mount Martha].My vote was not a result of exceptional foresight or a comprehensive understanding of the issues that have since come to light. Instead, it reflected my consistent stance on various matters – a…
Call to remove ‘forever chemicals’ from water A coalition of more than 50 academics, experts, and concerned citizens have signed Clean Ocean Foundation’s open letter to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek about PFAS contamination, which is of fundamental importance to Australia’s environment. The letter calls on Plibersek to take a bold leadership stance in relation to water recycling in Australia.The signatories understand that, done well, recycling water to produce purified recycled water can help provide water security, reduce ocean and riverine pollution and reduce energy use. They include Australian Water Association (AWA) Professional of the year 2022 Adjunct Professor Ian…
Shire should disclose answers to Potter questions Mornington Peninsula Shire’s transparency surrounding Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience at The Briars has again come under scrutiny, and so it should (Events denied sanctuary at The Briars, The News 16/4/24).Heavily redacted minutes have been added to the shire’s website. Councillors who vote one way or another should not be redacted from the minutes, and they must have the courage of their convictions made known.The website also fails to publish the cost to the shire – us the ratepayers – so what is the use of an expensive website that provides no…
Need to protect the ‘gem’ that is Western Port I was shocked to read that “the Ramsar information sheet for Western Port has not been updated since 1999” (“Forum a chance to protect Western Port’s future”, Letters, 9/4/2024). In that 25-year period, climate change has worsened considerably, and several species have moved from vulnerable to endangered, even critically endangered – the step before extinction.Growing industrial pressure, all energy related, has also increased the threat to the internationally acclaimed wetlands and heightened the need and urgency to conduct new “baseline environmental studies”.I sincerely hope that the Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has…
Removing seastars to help the bay’s health On Saturday 16 March, 25 residents, ecologists, ecology and marine biology students gathered on Mothers Beach, Mornington to do what they’ve been trained to do. That is to identify and remove as many northern Pacific seastars as possible from Mornington harbour.These invasive pests are decimating parts of the bay where they aggregate in their thousands. They have a voracious appetite, especially for small marine organisms which would ordinarily be the food source for many other marine creatures.In the absence of these seastars, the bay has a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem which is what helps…
Shire’s advertisement lacked information It should be noted that Mornington Peninsula Shire Council had a full page ad in this newspaper only a few days before the free green waste weekend (News dumped, Letters 12/3/24). This ad raved on about all the services the shire had to offer and all that it was doing, but not a hint of the approaching “freebie”. The council never mentioned its previous free weekend either, so I’ve been monitoring its home page on the internet ever since.The lack of the normal traffic congestion made it easy to get to the check-in point but you…