Fate of gumtrees
WHAT might Swan Hill council have already arranged without notice to residents, do to the beautiful big gumtrees along Monash Drive?
All along the boundary of Pioneer Settlement?
I ask because yesterday and today, a workman with clipboard and hi-vis gear has been suddenly measuring the girth of each big tree, then stepped out distances between each of the trees and their proximity to sites extending from PS Gem all the way to the entrance to historic Pioneer Village, and across to Pyap Wharf.
My front veranda overlooks this scene, as it has for 45 years I have lived here, where my neighbours and I have been blessed by the ambience and outlook of this natural river environment along Little Murray River.
These big native trees and natural environment have pleased and attracted tourists and holidaymakers whose parked cars periodically rest all over nearby plantation lawns where tall trees invited them for and shade during summer months.
Given local council’s existing plan in the near future, to build a huge modern building on nearby natural riverfront and open lawn space, why is this long row of 60-year-old trees suddenly being measured so methodically? And why has the workman spent two consecutive days to measure their girth, step out distances between them and the Pyap Wharf and gaze carefully at the height of each big tree between historic Gem and the present entrance to our Pioneer Village?
Yes, I am a concerned resident.
Does The Guardian have any information to share with all residents? Is there a plan to remove any or all of these beautiful shade trees?
I dread any prospect for this kind of drastic, imminent change to this remnant city area of natural riverfront ambience and its native vegetation.
Patricia Salau,
Swan Hill
Your vote will decide
IN the 2003 Swan Hill council elections, six of the seven councillors were replaced for various reasons and perhaps not all of them deserved that fate, but the campaign to remove them was based on the lack of transparency, that is, decisions being made which were hidden from the community, and the result was an almost clean sweep.
In recent times, one of these decisions has gone against the wishes of a sizeable amount of ratepayers (almost 3000 signed a petition against proceeding with the Our Place project), but the councillors were persuaded to follow the recommendations of the bureaucrats and allow the construction of a modern building inside the Pioneer Settlement, thereby disrupting and destroying the evolutionary theme of this renowned historical attraction.
This building could be constructed outside of the settlement without affecting the operation or visitor satisfaction of the settlement’s intention.
So far, no councillor nor project team officer has been able to tell me why it is necessary to build it inside the grounds of the Pioneer Settlement.
This situation has created a response from the opponents of the Our Place decision, some of whom have many years experience at Pioneer Settlement board level, where they have now sought advice from Heritage Victoria who has agreed to investigate if the Pioneer Settlement is worthy of being included on the register of Heritage Victoria and whom communicated with our council CEO and project team members in late August.
It is advisable that the community contact all current and potential council candidates to ascertain their attitude and intentions of some important, ensuing decisions (e.g. Our Place, replacement bridge, airport training school, swimming pool).
The question is, will history repeat itself in the absence of transparency? The answer, your vote will decide.
David Quayle,
Swan Hill
Excessive bill and open to abuse
VICTORIANS had a win this week with community pressure forcing Daniel Andrews and his Labor Government to abandon their latest shocking power grab by backing down on its controversial COVID-19 Omnibus bill.
This was a decision Daniel Andrews didn’t want to make.
In the past few weeks, I was contacted by hundreds of regional Victorians concerned that Daniel Andrews’ COVID-19 Omnibus Bill was excessive and open to abuse.
In that same time, former judges, lawyers and human rights experts labelled these laws a massive overreach.
Daniel Andrews’ Omnibus bill would have given anyone of his government’s choosing the extraordinary power to indefinitely detain a person they think might not follow a public health direction in the future.
Arresting someone on suspicion without an act being committed is an unprecedented overreach into the lives and safety of regional Victorians. Not to mention being a serious breach of human rights.
The Liberal-Nationals will continue to fight against Labor’s attempts to undermine the rights and liberties of Victorians and will heavily scrutinise Labor’s amendments to the Omnibus bill.
Victorians have lost confidence in Daniel Andrews’ Labor Government with its repeated and unwarranted power grabs.
Peter Walsh,
Leader of The Nationals
Member for Murray Plains
Pick up the phone, pick some fruit
WITH COVID-19 threatening to impact the nation’s summer food crops because of difficulties finding seasonal workers, I’d like to share my experience as a young person growing up in the country who threw himself into fruit picking from the age of 15.
My goal is to start a conversation about the opportunities for young people who are on holidays or without work at the moment, to get out and do something which will benefit themselves and the nation.
My family settled in the Goulburn Valley, the food bowl of Victoria, Australia.
Every year at harvest time, local orchardist Santo Varapodio would be on the local news lamenting the fact that the Goulburn Valley had high levels of unemployment and yet local fruit growers struggled to find enough pickers.
This problem has not gone away, so I’d like to encourage more people to get out and give it a go, as I did 37 years ago.
In 1982, I couldn’t wait till I turned 15, the legal working age so that I could go and earn a few extra dollars during the school holidays.
My goal was to save up enough money to buy a canoe, a goal I achieved after two weeks of picking fruit.
Picking fruit on contract rates or for wages is damn, hard work.
Up at 6am for a 7am start, working in the elements, heaving a picker’s bag up and down a ladder all day, will leave you feeling exhausted. You will never enjoy a better night’s sleep.
Picking fruit was more than achieving a financial goal; it was a transition into the adult working world, having somewhere to be on time, working to expectations, interacting with people of all ages and nationalities.
Whilst the work is not the most stimulating, I enjoyed listening to the cricket on the radio and stirring up our fellow pickers, the Poms and the Kiwis working side-by-side as our teams battled each other over the summer.
Picking fruit is a skill, which if you are prepared to persist at will be rewarding. The first year I picked two bins a day, the next year three, the following year four and then five.
Hard work does pay. That first year saw me earning $150 a week, not bad for a 15-year-old when the minimum adult wage at the time was about $140 a week.
Compared to what I would have earned sitting around the local pool and watching the cricket on television, I was miles ahead.
While the money was okay, the life skills I learnt along the way were more valuable, even if it was that I never wanted to have a lifetime of hard, physical work.
In addition to picking fruit during my high school and university years, I delivered catalogues, worked in my parent’s mixed business, fruit packing sheds and a nursing home.
Having a job, however menial, is an obligation to turn up on time, ready to put in a day’s work for a day’s pay.
Furthermore, it’s a display that you’re not afraid of hard work, which is a quality I look for in people when making hiring decisions.
To those young people out there wondering what to do with their school and university holidays, get on the phone, find out where the work is, adjust your expectations, help feed the nation and go pick some fruit.
Michael Kanizay,
Northcote, Victoria
Need for awareness
ON International White Cane Day (October 15), we at Guide Dogs Victoria want to highlight the need for awareness of white canes.
White Cane Day was created to highlight the important role mobility assistance devices play in helping people with low vision or blindness lead safe and independent lives. This year, our campaign is celebrating the fun, fearless and adventurous spirit of our young clients and cane users who live life to the fullest, with many engaging in everything from skateboarding to gymnastics.
For many people with low vision and blindness, a white cane is one of the first tools they may learn how to use as part of orientation and mobility training, and for children, a white cane is often the key to their first experiences of independence and freedom. It is a tool they will count on throughout their life.
A white cane is the mobility tool of choice for the majority of Guide Dogs clients because of its practicality and the way it can give sensory feedback about the surrounding environment, but also its importance as a visual signifier to others in the community of low vision and blindness.
But right now, a white cane is more than a visual symbol that someone has low vision or blindness. It is also a visual symbol that the person using the white cane can’t easily maintain a 1.5-metre distance from others.
We’ve heard many stories from our clients who are being increasingly cautious about what environments they travel in with their white cane, aware of the fact that they can’t easily see others to socially distance.
This International White Cane Day, we are asking the community to be aware of people using a white cane. You can help them continue to move safely, confidently and independently through any environment, by giving them 1.5-metres of space.
I’d also like to thank everyone who has extended their support to Guide Dogs or our clients, or to anyone who has shown an extra bit of kindness to someone in need this year.
Karen Hayes,
Guide Dogs Victoria CEO
