The inaugural Macedon Ranges Puppy Pride In The Park was a great success.

The event is a project from Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health’s (SCCH)’s CLIP – Country LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Program and WayOut program that continues a longstanding commitment to connect the LGBTIQA+ community and allies, increase LGBTIQA+ visibility, champion positive health and wellbeing outcomes, and celebrate PRIDE in the Macedon Ranges.
SCCH hopes that Puppy Pride will be added to the annual LGBTiQA+ calendar of events in Central
Victoria. In partnership with Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Puppy Pride will also form part of
SCCH’s broader response to the Healthy Heart of Victoria 2019 Active living Census results that
showed that people who identify as LGBTIQA+ were less likely to meet the national recommended
guidelines for exercise and physical activity.
Beginning with a dog walk from the Kyneton Velodrome to the Botanical Gardens for the official
launch, the community walked to celebrate the event and show their support for the LGBTIQA+
community in the Macedon Ranges.

The state government is boosting funding for Victorian schools to support kids with disability, to ensure they have the tools they need to learn and thrive in the classroom and in life.

Member for Western Victoria, Jaala Pulford, has announced that four government schools in Hepburn Shire will join schools across the Outer Eastern Melbourne, Mallee, and Central Highlands areas in receiving further funding support to make their school more inclusive for all students, under the Labor Government’s unprecedented Disability Inclusion reform.

Local schools joining the previous rollout are Clunes, Creswick, Creswick North and Newlyn primary schools.

Schools can use the funding to implement whole-school practices that support the inclusive education of students with disability and diverse learning needs such as autism and learning difficulties.

Initiatives could include professional development for staff, employing new disability and inclusion staff, and purchasing programs, interventions or specific equipment and technology – depending on the needs of their students and the school.

The schools receiving the funding boost are in the second year of the five-year Disability Inclusion roll-out and will all receive a base level of funding with additional funding provided depending on the individual school’s characteristics.

This new funding support is ongoing and is in addition to support already provided through other programs and initiatives, including the Program for Students with Disabilities.

Schools in the first year of the Disability Inclusion roll-out, including government schools in the Barwon, Loddon Campaspe and Bayside Peninsula areas, started to receive this funding in 2021 and will receive a new allocation for the 2022 calendar year.

Disability Inclusion will be rolled out progressively, reaching all Victorian government schools by 2025.

The Victorian Budget 2020/21 made a record investment of nearly $1.6 billion to make sure Victorian kids living with disability are supported at school through the Disability Inclusion package.

An Australian-first TAFE course for landscape designers will boost the profession and better connecting it with other Victorian industries.
Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney visited the Arid Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens to announce a $1.29 million investment to deliver the new Advanced Landscape Design and Construction course, developed by Landscaping Victoria alongside three Victorian TAFEs.
Advanced Landscape Design and Construction will enhance the skills of landscape designers by enabling them to legally apply for permits and submit construction plans directly to councils.
Landscape designers are currently limited due to regulator and council requirements, including needing to outsource design plans to obtain permits. The new qualification will help streamline the permit process, create stronger ties between landscape designers and local councils, and create a stronger workforce.
The industry will be further boosted by a new registration category that will formally recognise landscape designers as approved providers, implemented by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
About 36 practicing landscapers will undertake the pilot course through Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, Melbourne Polytechnic and Swinburne University of Technology from July.
Victorian TAFEs currently offer Certificate IV and Diploma level landscape design courses.

Round One Report

At last country football and netball was back at The Laurie Sullivan Reserve with confidence that we’re in for a full season. No wind, overcast and 20 degrees was perfect for sport as The Hepburn Burras played host to Ballan.

The game highlight came early as old, young and new combined for a goal in the first minute.

New Ruckman Sean Tighe palmed it perfectly to Mitch McKay, handball to old Rick Ferraro, handball to young Nathan Rodgers who nailed his left foot drop punt onto the chest of new playing coach Mitch Banner. Ballan got one back but it was all Burras after that with Hepburn running out winners by 197 points.

Final Score was Hepburn 31.20 Ballan 1.3

Mitch Banner was named best with ten goals. New co-captain Joe Clarke was in the best along with co-captain Jackson Hogan and Zac Kupsch.

The McKays were flying as always with Mitch getting the honours. Great debuts from Cooper Bath (5 goals) Brock Noble and home grown Burra Juniors Nash Robinson and Bill Pedretti.

The day will be remembered for the 250^th game of club legend Dan O’Halloran.

No surprise to see the ex-captain, best & fairest and premiership player in the best again.

Great to see the Ballan players supporting Dan as he ran onto the ground.

With a new sports pavilion being built at Ballan Football Netball Club they face a year of away games. It gives the Ballan supporters the opportunity to name the best canteen in the Central Highlands League.   

New netball captain Briony Ferrier led the team as Hepburn and Ballan played out a thrilling 30 All Draw.

This Saturday is everyone’s favourite clash, Hepburn v Daylesford at The Laurie Sullivan Reserve. It’s going to be a big day of premiership reunions including the 2010 Senior Football and the 2011 Senior Netball.

Victorian first-home buyers are being supported with millions of dollars in grants and concessions each week to help them realise their dreams.In the first three months of the year, 10,000 stamp duty exemptions and concessions totalling $185 million have been approved across the state, and First Home Owner Grants of $10,000 paid to 3,500 homebuyers.
The total of more than $220 million follows a record benefit of $1.1 billion shared by Victorian first-home buyers last year – comprising more than 51,000 stamp duty concessions and exemptions and 21,000 First Home Owner Grants.
First home buyers are exempt from paying stamp duty if they buy a property for $600,000 or less, with the concession reducing for properties valued up to $750,000.
Victorians buying or building a new home valued up to $750,000 are eligible for the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant.
More Victorians are accessing the benefits to help them buy their home – the benefits approved in 2021 were up almost 20 per cent compared with the previous year.

The largest scientific research organisation in Europe has established its Oceania office in Melbourne, an
acknowledgement of the state’s outstanding industry, research and higher education capabilities.
Minister for Economic Development Tim Pallas confirmed the opening of the new Oceania Representative Office of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS – French National Centre for Scientific Research) in Parkville – Australia’s world-renowned research hub.
The strategic investment will foster international collaboration and partnerships with universities and research centres in fields extending to energy, hydrogen, artificial intelligence, engineering, environment biosciences, astronomy, climate and oceans.
CNRS chose Melbourne for its renowned R&D capabilities with demonstrated commercial impact and dynamic multi-sector research ecosystem. The Oceania office will be headed by volcanologist Dr Jean-Paul Toutain.
Headquartered in Paris, CNRS has 32,000 researchers, engineers, technicians and administrative staff working across more than 1,000 laboratories. It collaborates with the best research centres and universities across the world and has been awarded 21 Nobel Prizes and 12 Fields Medals.
In 2021, Scimago Institutions Rankings ranked CNRS as the second most important global research institution in terms of scientific publications. In 2020, CNRS produced just under 1,800 co-publications and about half of them were Franco-Australian co-productions – making Australia the leading international academic partner of CNRS.

A fleet of free buses will transport more than 2500 people to and from the Shrine of Remembrance for this year’s Anzac Day Dawn Service.
Over 50 additional buses will be in service to transport passengers along 12 Melbourne routes, including selected RSLs, to ensure they arrive at the Shrine before the 6am ceremony on Monday 25 April.
Buses will pick up and drop off passengers from routes starting at Chadstone, Croydon, Dandenong, Doncaster, Essendon, Greensborough, Mitcham, Mordialloc, Templestowe, Thomastown, Wantirna and Williamstown.
Each metropolitan train line will also deliver an early ANZAC Day service to get people into the city for the Dawn Service.
The ANZAC Parade along St Kilda Road and Swanston Street will commence after the Dawn Service.
Extra trams will run along St Kilda Road to ensure people can travel straight to the Shrine.
Following the conclusion of the Dawn Service, bus shuttles will depart the Shrine half an hour earlier than previous years, at 7am, 7.15am and 7.30am from Birdwood Avenue.
A number of free regional buses will also transport people in Mt Macedon to and from local ANZAC Day services.
Later in the day, there will be 24 extra train services to get sports fans to and from the AFL game between Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG and the NRL match at AAMI.
Veterans and War Widows can travel for free in economy class on Victoria’s public transport network on 23, 24 and 25 April, to help them attend ANZAC Day commemoration activities.
Free travel is also extended to Australian Defence Force members, Scouts and Guides and school students on ANZAC Day, Monday 25 April, provided they are in uniform.
Passengers are required to book their seat on one of the wheelchair-accessible buses via the PTV website by 4pm on Friday
22 April. Bookings can be made at https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/more/anzac-day-2022/anzac-day-free-dawn-serviceshuttle-bus/ or by calling 1800 800 007.

Having a holiday just got easier for older Victorians with a further 10,000 vouchers awarded as part of the popular Seniors Travel Voucher scheme.
The vouchers are being distributed to eligible seniors who have previously applied through the ballot – creating more opportunities to travel and enjoy all Victoria has to offer.
The Victorian and Seniors Travel Voucher Scheme provides vouchers to encourage people to travel around Victoria. The eligible travel period for the vouchers commenced on Friday, 8 April, and will run through until Friday, 27 May. Vouchers can be used for accommodation, tours and experiences across the state.
The $60 million Victorian Dining and Entertainment Program allows Victorians to claim 25 per cent rebates when they spend at least $40 on entertainment any day of the week, anywhere in the state. The rebate can also be claimed for meals from Monday to Thursday anywhere in Victoria except the City of Melbourne municipality.
Since the program launched, there have been more than 83,000 successful claims for dining and 47,000 successful claims for entertainment.
For more information on the Dining and Entertainment Program and Travel Voucher Schemes, go to
vic.gov.au/business-stimulus-package.
Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas: “Victorians have embraced the travel vouchers and the dining and entertainment programs, demonstrating that people are ready to get back to experiencing the best our state has to offer. It’s terrific that more Victorians have been able to access more travel vouchers – with plenty of places in regional Victoria and the city to explore.”

The Echuca-Moama Bridge Project opened to traffic this morning, months ahead of schedule. The new
Murray and Campaspe River bridges have been named in recognition of the region’s rich and proud
Indigenous heritage.
After more than 140 years with a single Murray River crossing, drivers and pedestrians will now enjoy safer and easier trips between the border towns via a new river crossing connecting the Murray Valley Highway in Echuca, Victoria, with the Cobb Highway in Moama, NSW.
The new Murray River crossing will be known as Dhungala Bridge and the new Campaspe River crossing will be called Yakoa Bridge – with Dhungala and Yakoa the respective names in Yorta Yorta language for the Murray and Campaspe rivers.
Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation, Moama Local Aboriginal Land Council and Cummeragunja Local Aboriginal Land Council collaborated to name the Dhungala Bridge with Yorta Yorta Nation endorsing the name for the new Campaspe River crossing.

The introduction of paid family violence leave in Victorian government jobs should lead the way for the leave to be implemented in the private sector, according to the state government.
The government is calling for at least 10 days’ paid family violence leave for ongoing employees to support women’s safety and financial security as part of the Fair Work Commission’s Family and Domestic Violence Leave Review.
The submission to the Fair Work Commission provides new details about the take-up of Victoria’s paid entitlements.
An average of 0.3 per cent of Victorian public sector employees across three of the largest departments accessed paid family violence leave in the past year.
Family violence leave has been included in all Victorian public sector enterprise agreements since 2015, meaning public sector employees including nurses and teachers have access to 20 days of paid family violence leave, or unpaid family violence leave for casual employees.
Paid family violence leave can enable employees to take time away from work to attend to urgent matters, seek safe housing, attend medical appointments, court hearings or police stations, or organise care and school arrangements for their children, while maintaining employment and not exhausting their other forms of leave.
Minister for Industrial Relations Tim Pallas: “Paid family violence leave provides practical, immediate support to help victims of family violence. It’s been an integral support for women in public sector roles in Victoria since 2015 and common sense and decency says that it should be extended to all workers.”

AFTER two sell-out seasons in Guildford and Newham in 2019, Jane Cafarella’s hit show Uked! – the first play-along ukulele musical is coming to the Creswick Courthouse Theatre in June.
Uked! is the hilarious and poignant story of Karla, who is dumped on her 50th birthday by her violin-playing boyfriend, Brian. Desperate to belong and prove her musical worth, Karla buys a ukulele and joins a dating site – learning that love and the ukulele have a lot in common.

Directed by Jeffrey Bryant Jones, Uked! stars Castlemaine actor/singer Rebecca Morton reprising her critically acclaimed role as Karla, with charismatic Bendigo musician and ukulele teacher Pete Gavin starring as her love interests Wade and Maestro – plus cameo appearances from band members Tex Turkey and Fi Chant.
Bring your uke and sing and play along with Karla and the Uked! band, or just sit back with a drink and enjoy the show. Easy chords and lyrics displayed on screen.
Or be on stage with Karla as one of her fellow ukulele club members. (Register your interest at uked.beintheshow@gmail.com)
Writer/producer Jane Cafarella says Uked! is a fun, uplifting story, touching on themes of ageing and social isolation, and which celebrates the power of the humble ukulele to connect communities.
“Karla, our heroine, has fallen through the cracks of life. She’s never married, never had kids and never had a career. The world is changing and she’s struggling to find her place in it. I wrote the show for all the Karlas out there, and as an antidote to the misery of the news.
“This season we’re excited to welcome three talented new cast members – Scott Sanders, Daniel Keohan and Dawn Bamforth – playing Karla’s YouTube ukulele teachers.
“The historic and intimate Creswick Courthouse Theatre is the perfect venue for our show, and we are enormously grateful to Regional Arts Victoria for funding this season, to Judy Turner for facilitating it and inviting us to Creswick and to the Guildford Grumpies for their tremendous support.”
Above, Rebecca Morton, (Karla) and Pete Gavin (Wade and Meastro)
Image: Courtesy of Castlemaine Mail
Bookings for June 24, 7.30pm, Saturday, June 25, 7.30pm and Sunday, June 26, 2pm at www.ticketebo.com.au/uked Information: 0408 880 185

Estimated travel time: New Zealand to Melbourne – 23 hours. It’s not a flight you would choose. But sometimes they choose you. And you know what? Travel just isn’t fun anymore. A cautionary tale follows.

For those who haven’t taken the giant leap into overseas travel this decade, I stand before you to report on lands far away and how to get there. A couple of weeks ago with a heavy heart I set off to say goodbye to my stepmother in New Zealand who had as it seems, almost overnight, fallen sick to the ravages of cancer and has since sadly passed.
Putting the sadness aside, what I am here to report on is the whole travel experience. It is a whole new scary world out there. It started in Ballarat at a PCR testing clinic in Redan which costs $90 – it was a little hard to identify as I walked up the driveway of a bottle shop. Finally, I clocked the sign that asked me to remain in my vehicle, and I went back to my parking spot and collected my car.
There was some confusion over whether my details had been entered into an Eftpos machine. I declared I had already paid, but it turned out it was a repurposed Eftpos machine that was not quite keeping up, they explained, but by then I had a glazed dumfounded look on my face.
The person, who was unidentifiable because of the layers of PPE, assured me they would be gentle as they languorously draped themselves into my car in a close contact situation I hadn’t seen since my last proctology test.
Then off to the airport. I had downloaded the IATA travel pass, New Zealand’s preferred method of travel, which was about as handy as Australia’s digital contact tracing app, so it was a mixture of other apps, screenshots and good old-fashioned paperwork along with both my Aussie and New Zealand passports.
Arrived at the airport, which for mine is an overcrowded cesspit consisting of germ carrying children and half-mask wearing proud parents who want their offspring to run free and touch everything. And then there are the vast quantities of idiots who have the social distancing skills of a rugby ruck and a lack of basic manners upon entry to the security gates.
The Air New Zealand representative made sure he had sighted all my documentation and popped a yellow sticky dot that is obviously unavailable anywhere else in the world onto my freshly minted New Zealand passport. Shortly after that the crowd got too thick as the queue swelled and he decided to simply ask everyone about their PCR test results, relying on the honesty of the great unwashed.
Thank goodness I had a few travel vouchers I had cobbled together from various failed treks across the ditch to allow me to turn left into the amazing new lie-flat seats and that was where that leg of my journey had nothing more to report except for a luxe experience.
The family time was lovely after a three-year hiatus. I got to say goodbye to my stepmother and hello and cheers to my Dad and family, and the original five days quickly got extended to 10.
And then it was time to come home, which was two legs, Bay of Islands to Auckland and then Auckland to Melbourne, proceeded by a supervised RAT test which was valid for 24 hours but this tale is about to turn into schadenfreude.
The message came through 11pm the night before the 6am departure that the plane wasn’t going to fly due to the crew being sick, unfortunately I was getting my beauty sleep and didn’t know about this until I turned up with a couple of the other passengers at the airport.
This meant I would miss my connection at Auckland, but surely Air New Zealand, being a large airline, could have simply replaced the crew? As in turns out the skies aren’t exactly teaming with aircraft so the next available flight was the following day out of Wellington.
So I waited for my 8am boarding call still seated at the Bay of Islands hangar, without any staff in sight or any delay announcements. The crew wandered out to the plane around 9am calling for us to board and I made it to Auckland. Next was to get to my Wellington connection and because of the tardiness of the first flight I was the final passenger called as I came thundering up to the gate red-faced and sweating.
In Wellington I got my second RAT test, a further $90, and of course I had to get a cab as there were no testing facilities in the airport. The Wellington to Melbourne route was relatively easy, however you need to make sure you have all your ducks in a row with your various declarations, tests, tickets, passports and patience.
Come fly with me rant over…

Green men

Mum would sneak
health into
us as boys.

Capsicum
slices could
crop up in

anything
but nothing
got by Dad.

Green men, he
would say as
he sectioned

the pieces
to one side
of his plate.

–Bill Wootton

Bill is partial to the full traffic light of capsicum colours these days.

Going to pot?

Hi Glen, Just wondering, I am escaping for a couple of months over winter and want to pot two plants before I go. They will be outside but near a wall. What survives our winters? I will be back in spring to give it some care. – Louise, Coomoora

Almost any new plant you choose to grow in a container, where its roots are isolated from natural shade, water and food supplies, will ultimately suffer without regular care and attention. If it is located on concrete or a stone base, or against an unshaded wall, the odds against it are even greater.
Obviously a deciduous plant – dormant for the major part of your absence – will need some care in the latter winter weeks, as the new buds appear ready for the spring growth and, of course, a drought veteran of a hardy species would probably have no problem in the interim.
As a suggestion, depending on the size and weight of the plant, pot and all, why not place your pots in a nice shady spot under a tree and relocate them when you’re back and able to apply a little TLC.
There are plenty of most suitable perennials and shrubs for growing in containers in all situations. Some of my favourites are listed below.

But I must first mention my all time favourites, once derided as “Granny’s pot plants”, always to be seen proudly guarding the tap by our grandparents’ kitchen door.
Recently, in a demon-like resurgence, and with a multitude of amazing varieties, these seemingly bullet-proof plants are again firm garden favourites in our garden….as you can see from the photo right. I would like to recommend that you choose a couple for your pots and providing you get them started right away, they’ll be still as good as gold when you get back. Providing you follow my instructions!
Purchase your plants from an outdoors nursery where they are already sun-hardened. Xerophytes, or succulents, have parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions and can literally survive for weeks without water. I’ll leave the choice to you.

To ensure success, you need to pot the plants up in the best suited potting mix, in this case, a crumbly, porous mix, in a container filled almost to the brim to avoid any moisture hanging around the surface to rot the stems or leaves. A good soaking drink just before you leave will suffice for several weeks. If succulents aren’t your thing, here are few of my favourite shrubs to choose from.
For the shade: Acer palmatum (Japanese maple aucuba (gold dust laurel), azaleas, begonias, boronia, camellia sasanquas, daphne, erica, fuchsias, gardenia, and, of course the many ferns.
Sun lovers: Obviously many to choose from including buxus (box), chaenomeles (flowering quince), choisya ternata (Mexican orange blossom), hebe (veronica) in all its forms, lavender, myrtus (myrtle), nandina domestica (Japanese sacred bamboo) and rosemary.
And let us not the forget the free-flowering, grow anywhere, geraniums and pelargoniums, nor the roses and particularly the miniature varieties and especially the standard ones.
Plant now: Evergreen trees and shrubs planted now should make good headway before the really cold, wet weather sets in. The soil is still reasonably warm so there is a little time left for them to begin root action before air temperatures are lower and transpiration is reduced. Keep them well watered though, because any dryness at the roots can cause a severe shock from which they may never recover.
If you still have a mind to plant spring bulbs, the same rules would apply.

Got a gardening question: Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health is running a six-week program which aims to explore the important role mentors play in guiding young people as they move towards adulthood.
The program, facilitated by The Man Cave Academy, will cover topics such as masculine stereotypes and the impact these can have, and the importance of encouraging boys to reach their full potential by focusing on their strengths. The sessions will draw on the knowledge and diversity within the group exploring heathy, positive alternatives to support boys on their journey into adulthood and it is hoped that the more people across the Macedon Ranges that take part, the bigger the impact will be on the whole community. “Societal influence and pressure is the major reason boys tell us they play into stereotypes that limit their potential,” says project coordinator Kathryn Chai. To register, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mentoringboysinMR or for information contact kathryn.chai@scchc.org.au