That’s not a ficus…this is a ficus!
Hi Glen,
I’ve just been reading your article in The Local regarding indoor plants in winter. Our ficus has been
slowly taking over the corner of our lounge room. I’m loath to trim it but seek your advice on the best
way of keeping it under control.
Kind regards, Wendy

Hi Wendy,
Thanks for the question. The fiddle-leaf ficus really should be called the finicky ficus – quite often difficult to get started but if placed into the right environment once they get going they’re almost bullet proof.
I’m glad you had the foresight to attach that (rather boastful) photo, because it enables me to give you a more detailed answer, which is yes, you can keep it under control and remove those mammoth arching branches.
As we are now entering the wintry season, and almost all growth slows to a stop, within reason you can really get going on the tidy-up. But it should be done in stages and with sharp secateurs, cutting just above a healthy stem, leaf or bud.
For starters take off the three or four long branches back to top of the cluster of leaves. That should be enough for the plant to take.
After a few weeks you might like to shorten the rest of them, perhaps even completely removing any spindly stems to encourage the rest. And generally tidy it up. I don’t need to tell you anything else, you are obviously already doing everything right.

Evergreen bulbous plants
Generally when gardeners think of bulbs, it’s probably daffodils or tulips and all the
others with an annual resting period.

However there are a great number of bulbous plants with the advantage that,
being evergreen, their foliage is a permanent feature in the garden. No long months
of bare spaces.
The most common and most widely known of these, of course, is the ubiquitous
agapanthus in all of its forms and colours, from the stately A. Praecox, with its tall,
slender-stemmed crown of white or blue flowers, down to the dainty variegated-leaved miniatures. Widely known as African lily, agapanthus proudly grace many
an Australian country front fence, including our own, and thrive with little or no
attention.
An interesting and worthwhile evergreen is arthropodium cirratum, the New
Zealand Rock Lily. This bulb produces arching sprays of attractive little flowers above
slender, evergreen foliage. It will grow quite happily in full sun in cool climates, but
needs semi-shade in warmer areas.
An excellent evergreen which can be grown as a pot specimen is clivia miniata,
(left photo above), which produces 50-60cm stems, topped by large balls of vibrant orange,
trumpet-shaped blooms. Clivia comes in many forms and colours, all hardy and
thriving in shady conditions.
Extremely hardy and exceptionally free flowering is tulbaghia violacea (centre
photo). Its narrow foliage is quite neat and it quickly forms a reasonable-sized clump.
Small heads of lilac flowers are borne on 30cm over a period of many months. They
will tolerate a wide range of soil conditions and grow well in full sun or partial shade.
Dietes is a group producing luxuriant strap-like foliage. D. Bicolor (right photo)
have 5cm lemon-yellow, iris-like flowers with three distinct brown and orange spots
in the centre of each flower. Growing to a metre in height they are adaptable to easily
grow in sun or shade.
Got a gardening query? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

Work has started on a $6.148 million upgrade of Daylesford Hospital’s operating theatre.
State minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas was at the Daylesford Campus of Central Highlands Rural Health on Friday, May 19, to ‘turn the first sod’ on the multi-million-dollar project.
Funded through the fifth round of the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund (RHIF), the project will upgrade
Daylesford Hospital’s operating theatre, patient waiting area, sterile stock storage area, recovery and admission areas.
The project will also replace ageing patient monitoring medical equipment, along with equipment in the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) and refurbish the CSSD processing area.
Once the upgrade is complete in March 2024, the dedicated doctors, nurses and healthcare staff at Daylesford Hospital will be able to get more locals off waiting lists and into surgery and treatment, sooner – and closer to home.
Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas: “The Victorian Government is ensuring people in the Central Highlands have access to the best possible healthcare services, close to home.”

RECENTLY we got ChatGPT to write up a piece of editorial, which it quite frankly penned from its electronic anus. See below.
The horse has bolted out of the stable gates and spilt the milk which was in the bottle with the genie – who just won’t get back in. I am talking about artificial intelligence (AI) and its role within our society.
This stuff is here to stay. There is no pulling the plug and it is likely to become self-aware within the next decade or so. In terms of medical breakthroughs it will be nothing short of a Godsend, of that I am sure, however when it, AI, no longer needs us to keep its battery topped up and feed it information, what happens then?
Right now, here at little old TL HQ we get paid a small fee by the tech giant Google to put up four stories a day onto Google News Showcase, 365 days a year and we are a small community newspaper. Imagine all the other newsrooms and sites that are getting paid by Google to do the same but on a massive scale of seven or more stories a day per organisation year round.
Think about the massive scale of information that is feeding the monster and the frightening part is that started last year and will now go on almost indefinitely or until we are no longer required. So in a manner of speaking it’s like the AI baby is in the high chair and we (the news organisations) are feeding it with lots of yummy news to grow up to be a nice and strong cyborg.
Apparently, one of the new AI applications we should see rolled out shortly is the lack of pricing on the shelves at the supermarket as we hurtle towards “smart pricing” (SP). SP will determine how often you buy a product or if you rely on a certain product, and will price it accordingly. There will be no visible pricing, just a barcode you can scan, and the pricing is decided for you along with stock and availability.
The way forward for me is to legislate against the corruption of power from the people that own the tech (our future masters and commanders). To pass laws on what is coming will take years to implement and argue about, and we do have time, but we need to start now. Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to the “I” part, that is the intelligence bit of it, because that part of the human brain seems to be
diminishing into the phones, tablets and TVs that deliver our entertainment. Please young’uns, get off your phones and enjoy the world as it is. Look at that young fella who rescued the bus driver and all the kids onboard in America as he was the only one not staring at a phone. Hold this guy up as your saviour of the future, the Kyle Reese of your generation – think human enemy of terminator from the
future goes back to save himself dude. The end is nigh rant over

200 words on Kyle Barnes in Glenlyon, Victoria please…

Kyle Barnes had always loved living in Glenlyon, a small town in Victoria, Australia. He had grown up here, playing with his friends in the local park and exploring the nearby forests.
As he got older, he became a familiar face in the community, known for his friendly nature and willingness to lend a hand to anyone who needed it.
One summer day, Kyle decided to take a hike in the nearby mountains. He packed a backpack with some water, snacks, and a first aid kit, and set off early in the morning. As he climbed higher and higher, he marvelled at the stunning views of the surrounding landscape. But as he reached the summit, he heard a faint cry for help coming from a nearby cliff.
Without hesitation, he rushed over to see a hiker who had slipped and fallen injuring her leg. Kyle quickly assessed the situation and used his first aid skills to help the woman, making sure she was stable and comfortable before calling for help.
Thanks to Kyle’s quick thinking and bravery, the hiker was rescued and taken to the hospital for further treatment.
Kyle received numerous accolades from the community and was hailed as a hero for his selfless act. But for Kyle, he was just doing what came naturally – helping someone in need.
Words: ChatGPT (Ed’s note: “Friendly nature?” Talk about fabrication.)

By Donna Kelly
PUTTING together our education feature took me on a trip back to my school days. Mostly good memories – I was what you would call a “goody-goody” – and loved most of my teachers and was pretty much a straight A student from prep to Year 10. The wheels fell off then but that’s a
story I have already told.

Frankston born and bred, and living in The Range, we four Kelly kids went to Overport Primary School. It was a big school, about 1000 students I reckon, and about 35 in each class. A bit of a shock to the system but we all settled in pretty well.
Mum would drop us off in the Holden Premier (KEO 505 – funny how you remember some old stuff but not what you had for breakfast) and off you would go to your respective classroom. We were all two years apart so when my brother started in prep, I was in grade 2, my sister was in grade 4 and my other brother was in grade 6.
Dad was on the school committee for a while but by the time I was the oldest at the school he had quit so I never got to take home the important looking letters for him which I was quite annoyed about.
Mum did canteen duty now and again which was always great because you got free lollies and a school lunch order. I think I mostly had a sausage roll and maybe a bag of chips. Don’t worry, little lunch was mostly healthy, a bunch of grapes. And be assured there was not a bento box in sight.
School was different then. Most of the teachers smoked, they still had the strap for the boys and the other punishment was often sitting with both hands on your head for long stretches of time or having to write lines on the blackboard.
We had different “houses” and you could win points for your house with the principal’s myriad competitions. I learned all of the poem My Country for one of them and had another win in maths by learning how to not look down when writing answers to equations on the blackboard. Shaved seconds off the time it took – yes, it was about accuracy but also speed.
When primary school came to an end I found myself at a very newly built Mt Eliza High. That was a bus ride away and I only knew one other student. Most of the others were already in cliques from their own primary schools but I slowly made a group of good friends, all quite different but all good value. Some are still friends.
I still did well and enjoyed most of the classes but found it quite tricky to traverse the moving from classroom to classroom depending on the subject for that period.
Kyle would say I still have geographical issues but who did not turn the Melway sideways and upside down as they navigated?
It was the late 70s and Mt Eliza was in an experimental stage. We learned 10 different languages over the first two years – for a long time I could ask “where is the toilet?” in Swahili. We were meant to be immersed but I think overwhelmed would be a better word. We were also perhaps among the first schools where everyone did both wood and metal work along with cooking and craft. Boys and girls. I joined both the Scrabble and religious education clubs – both because they were held inside
during winter lunch times. I also edited the school newspaper, no surprise there, and continued on with my straight As. It was going well until a friend mentioned they were moving to Frankston High for year 11. Hmmm, I thought, that sounds fun. What could go wrong? And that story has been told before.
Anyway, I hope you have a look through our feature, check out schools if that is on your agenda and maybe relive your old school days. I get the feeling, even with rose-coloured glasses, they might be better now. Just sayin’…

Well hello there! I’m Gypsy and I’m a sweet affectionate gal. I’m of bull arab extraction with a bit of mix into the bargain making me a robust pooch.

As you can see I’m sporting a good looking tan and white coat. I’m four and a half years old so many good years are ahead to share with the right person or household.

I’m a smart gal too and I’ve already had some basic training and socialisation, though, like anyone with taste, I can be selective with my friends. I’m good with children and I enjoy company, and both indoor and outdoor living.

If you’d like to meet me please get in contact with the Mount Alexander Animal Welfare Shelter in Castlemaine quick smart. Hope to see you soon. Microchip No. 953010003421720

The federal government has announced the members of the National Respectful Relationships Education Expert Working Group that will support the delivery of respectful relationships education in schools.
The expert working group will be chaired by the chief executive officer of OurWatch, Patty Kinnersly (pictured above) during its first year and meet for the first time next month. The group will guide national collaboration between states, territories, the non-government schooling sectors and experts to support the delivery of ageappropriate, evidenced-based and expert-developed respectful relationships school education. This is in line with Recommendation 10 of the Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report.
Advice from the group will support the implementation of the government’s
$83.5 million Consent and Respectful Relationships Education program.
The working group will guide a rapid review into existing delivery approaches of
RRE in schools to identify best-practice and opportunities for improvement.
National Respectful Relationships Education Expert Working Group members
include: Patty Kinnersly (Chair), CEO of OurWatch; Professor Peter Buckskin,
Aboriginal Engagement and Strategic Projects, University of South Australia; Chanel
Contos, Teach Us Consent; Heather Clarke, National Association of Services Against
Sexual Violence; Associate Professor Michael Alan Salter, School of Social Sciences,
University of New South Wales; Dr Fiona Martin, Educational and Developmental
Psychologist; Dr BJ Newton, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW; and Katrina
Marson, Relationships & Sexuality Education Alliance ACT.
The working group will also include a representative from the federal government,
a member from each state and territory government, and representatives from the
National Catholic Education Commission and Independent Schools Australia.
Minister for Education Jason Clare said teaching respectful relationships
education in schools assisted students build the skills, values and attitudes required to
develop and maintain positive, healthy, and respectful relationships.
“This expert working group will work to ensure that age-appropriate, evidencedbased respectful relationships school education is delivered. Evidence shows that
improving attitudes and understanding is a key way to prevent sexual harm and
violence. If we want to see a societal shift in attitudes, we need to start with young
people.”

Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Contributed

AN ALMOST century-old silent masterpiece of documentary filmmaking will be given new life next month when an acclaimed singer performs a “sound-track”.
Grass, made in 1925, recounts the yearly migration of 50,000 tribespeople into Iran, taking 500,000 animals across fierce wide rivers and snowy peaks to fresh pasture. The trek has been going on for a thousand years.
The film will be shown at the Castlemaine Documentary Festival, which runs from June 16 to 18, with the music by ZOJ, a Ballarat duo comprising acclaimed singer Gelareh Pour and her partner on drums, Brian O’Dwyer.
Festival director Claire Jager found ZOJ, which is modern Persian for couple, through a computer search for Iranian musicians in Central Victoria who might compose an original score. To Jager’s knowledge, such a silent film-live music collaboration has not been done before.
Born in Iran, Gelareh is a singer and songwriter, who also plays a bowed lute
called a qeychak. She has performed in Iran, Tajikistan and across Europe. In
Australia she has appeared at festivals and venues across the country, collaborating
with leading innovative musicians as well as producing three albums.
So how did all this come about? “Inadvertently,” says director Jager. “A Turkish
woman got in touch with me to suggest a festival of Iranian films, which led to Grass.”
Another happy coincidence: it will be shown during Refugee Week.
It is one of the first films to study a culture. Jager says she knew of it through her
30 years in the field of documentaries and was able to track down a new print in the
US.
Under its full title, Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life, the documentary was chosen
for preservation by the American Library of Congress as “culturally, historically or
aesthetically significant”.
Another reason for Grass having such fame is that Merian C. Cooper, one of its
three directors and producers went on to make the classic King Kong.
Another producer was Marguerite Harrison, who also worked as a reporter and
translator as well as spying for the US in Japan and the Soviet Union in the 1920s.
She was held for 10 months in the notorious Lubyanka prison.
She first met Cooper at a ball in Warsaw during the early days of the war between
Russia and Poland, giving him food, blankets and books when the Russians jailed
him in 1920.
By contrast, another documentary takes the viewer into the world of descendants
of camel drivers in Australia, commonly called Afghans, although most were from
the far west of British India, including today’s Pakistan. Others came from Egypt and
Turkiye.
Watandar, My Countryman centres on an effort by a descendant of the cameleers,
Muzafar Ali, to film them to try to understand his new Afghan-Australian identity. It
is directed, written, and produced by Jolyon Hoff who, like Ali, lives in Indonesia.
Journeying far from his favourite surfing beaches, Hoff undertook a type of road
trip looking for the cameleers and filming Ali on his mission.
Another festival highlight is Weed & Wine, described by Jager as an intriguing
account of a French family with centuries-old vineyards and a son who runs a staterecognised cannabis farm in California.
And this year C-Doc introduces a second venue – The Yurt – a beautiful microcinema located in easy walking distance to the Theatre Royal. The Yurt features
an alternative program of family-friendly sessions across the Saturday and Sunday
mornings and enticing programs for young people in the afternoons and evenings.
It will also host an immersive interactive parlour game, Werewolves, for more daring
festival-goers.
Link and tickets: www.cdocff.com.au

All points of the compass: Living in the Central Highlands of Victoria is like being in the centre of the universe. Well, in wine terms that is. Because at every point of the compass you can drive to a different wine region that offers you a diverse and interesting day out experience.
Travel an hour north and you can visit Bendigo. Here the climate is
considerably warmer and is ideal for producing cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.
Towards the north-east we have Heathcote. The rich, deep Cambrian soils
provide the foundation for delicious reds. These igneous soils were forced to the
surface by two fault lines that run through the region. The epicentre of the region
is just north of the township, and include classic producers such as Jasper Hill,
Munari, Sanguine Estate, Vinea Marson and Paul Osicka.
Staying more local, and lying directly east, we have the golden triangle of
vineyards around Lancefield, Kyneton and Mt Macedon. The cool climate dictates
that sparkling wines, pinot noir and chardonnay are the most commonly planted
varieties. Internationally renowned Bindi and Curly Flat make some of Australia’s
best wines. Hanging Rock ‘Macedon’ sparkling is superb. Other gems are Granite
Hills Riesling, Lyons Will Estate Gamay and Cobaw Ridge Lagrein.
In the south-east there is the tiny region of Sunbury and the renowned Craiglee
vineyard, a quiet achiever if ever there was one. Its medium-bodied, elegant shiraz
is listed on the Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine. Appointments only.
Driving directly south, and you pass through parts of the Ballarat region where
Eastern Peake reigns, before coming down to Geelong. You first hit the warmer
Moorabool Valley before ending up on the Bellarine Peninsula. The valley has
Bannockburn, Austin’s, Lethbridge and Clyde Park cellar doors. On the cooler
Peninsula there is Scotchmans Hill and Banks Road which both offer excellent
choices for lunch. Pinot noir features in both sub-regions. The peninsula wines are
lighter and more focused on red fruits, while the warmer Moorabool Valley has
more earthier, darker fruit-focused wines.
Turning west and north-west you enter the Pyrenees above Avoca, where more
full-bodied reds take over, namely cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. Top cellar doors
include: Redbank, Summerfield, Dalwhinnie and Taltarni. It is not much further to
reach Best’s Wines at Great Western. I might leave that one for another day.
Clive Hartley is an award-winning wine writer, educator and consultant. His Australian
Wine Guide (7th ed) is available for purchase – www.australianwineguide.com.au

The 5000 Club community luncheon volunteers are very heartened by the generous response from local individuals and companies to the recent article in The Local (April 24, 2023).
The article focused on the club’s future following the election of new president, Sandy Breen, when our founding president, Loretta Little, came to the decision to step-down from her leadership role after eight months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and recovery from the after-effects of treatment for cancer.
Recording the 5000 Club’s history was not the intent of the article and any omission of the role of the local Anglican Parish in the club’s founding is regretted.
However, it is incorrect, as stated, that Loretta “came on board at a later date”, after the 5000 Club was founded by the parish.
For the record, Loretta had volunteered at the Sacred Heart lunch in St Kilda for years and after moving to Daylesford felt that a mini version of the lunch would be welcome in Hepburn Shire. Speaking to an Anglican parishioner she was informed that the Daylesford Parish was considering establishing a lunch in Stanbridge Hall.
Loretta contacted Father Andrew Eaton and his wife, Monica, and together they put together the framework for the project with the support of the parish. The first lunch attracted 12 guests, with Fr Andrew helping with setup, Monica cooking soup, and Loretta cooking the rest of the food. Loretta bought groceries from her own funds to supplement the menu and was the organiser and planner for the weekly lunches. After Monica ceased cooking soup, Loretta assumed this task, and many years of soup came from her kitchen.
Until May 2019, the 5000 Club paid the parish for utilities and rent for use of Stanbridge Hall. The club then sought incorporation as an independent organisation and moved to the pavilion at Victoria Park.
Loretta remains as an ex-officio member of our committee and under the leadership of our new president, Sandy, the wonderful 5000 Club volunteers continue to do what they have done for over twelve years…to serve the people of Hepburn Shire.

From – the Committee & members of the 5000 Club.

Letters and musings are always welcome. Email news@tlnews.com.au

People could be forgiven for thinking English actor Jason Statham had taken up playing table tennis at Victoria Park in Daylesford.

‘He’ was snapped by internationally renowned photographer and Hepburn resident Margund Sallowsky.
The man in the photo is actually Julian McLucas, also from Hepburn.

You can meet him and others at the Vic Park Table Tennis Centre on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 10am to noon. www.msphotographics.com.a

with Eve Lamb

Acclaimed arts couple Julie McKenzie and Malcolm King (above) have further enriched the Hepburn Shire’s rich arts scene after moving here from interstate last year. Julie is particularly renowned for her landscapes and Malcolm for his travel poster works. They are both widely collected and exhibited, and their studio has screen-printed works for some of the biggest names in Australian contemporary art.

Eve: When did you move to Newbury, from where, and what motivated the move?
Julie & Malcolm: We moved in January ’22, basically to spend more time with our daughters in Melbourne and Ballarat.
Eve: What genre of art do each of you practice?
Julie: We both paint and Malcolm is also printmaker. I make landscape-inspired work and Malcolm is more eclectic, figurative and abstract – and mixed media.
Eve: Are you both full time professional artists?
Malcolm: We have been working as professional artists as long as we have been together – 40 years or so. Julie worked part-time in the music industry and community based services until 2002. Since then, until
last year, we had been operating our own artist run gallery, Kingstudio, in Milton and then Maclean in New South Wales.
I have an extensive career facilitating community-based art and artists in schools programmes over several decades, and also teaching printmaking and graphic design for TAFE NSW.

Eve: As a couple, how do the two of you get along artistically speaking?
Julie: There is no rivalry, mostly collaboration. Our work is so different, although we now have separate studios. Malcolm is my best critic. Over the years we’ve worked on a lot of community-based arts projects together, or separately, in Sydney, regional NSW, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. These projects have included murals, mosaics, graffiti, textiles, theatre sets and music production. The latest
collaboration was last year with a commission, painting a large honour board/mural at the Victorian Trades Hall – which got a bit feisty.
Eve: You each have your own studio at Newbury. Are they open to the public?
Malcolm: Yes. We’re at 538 Blackwood Road, Newbury and will open the studio on random weekends, the next being the King’s Birthday weekend in June, or by appointment. People can contact us on 0415 836 194 or 0432 719 402.
Eve: What motivates and inspires each of you in your personal creative practice?
Julie: Waking up each day. Landscape. I love the diversity of the Australian landscape, from the tropical to the pastoral and everything in between. I like to think my work is like a record of landscapes that are rapidly being destroyed by over development and now the impacts of climate change.
Malcolm: The relentless busy-ness of the world and a low boredom threshold, provides a rich canvas both to draw from and on.
Eve: Can you tell me what have your (respective) arts world highlights been?
Julie. Meeting the people that buy my work, people from all over the world from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. I’ve won a few prizes in exhibitions promoted by groups in all the places I’ve lived. Winning the Bentley Acquisitive was an unexpected highlight. Having the inaugural opening of the Milton ARTFest in NSW at our gallery was another.
Malcolm: Over the years I’ve been exhibited twice in the Wynne Prize and have received Australia Council funding for numerous projects, and had works in national, state and regional collections. Our print studio has screen-printed for other artists including David Boyd, Charles Blackman, Wendy Sharpe, Adam Cullen, Ken Done and others…
Eve: Which artists, living or past, do you each most admire?
Julie: So many. Kandinsky. The Blaue Reiter group. My knees went to jelly when I saw my first Kandinsky at the Tate in London in 1980. Margaret Preston, Margaret Olley. Too many to name here.
Malcolm: The German expressionists, Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse, (particularly the cut-outs), many contemporary indigenous artists, Rover Thomas, Judy Watson. Ian Fairweather, William Kentridge, Reg Mombassa. The list could go on and on, so I’ll stop there.
Eve: Do you have any special arts events or projects coming up?
Julie: We’re both working on new works in paint and print, interpreting our new surroundings here in the hills. The Macedon Ranges, Central Victoria and the Goldfields provide a rich social, political and natural history to inspire and comprehend.
Malcolm: The open studios for the Kings Birthday from June 10 to 13, and throughout the rest of 2023.

Hepburn Shire Council is bringing in a dusk to dawn cat curfew enforceable from 1 July 2023. From that date cats must be securely confined to the owner’s property between sunset and sunrise.

The fine for a first infringement will be $184.92 with that amount tripled for subsequent offences. If a cat is found wandering during curfew hours and it is not registered, owners will be required to register it before it is released.

Mayor, Cr Brian Hood, said a cat curfew is a key action in Council’s Domestic Animal Management Plan, which was informed by community feedback. Cr Hood said community consultation had shown strong support for the curfew.
“Throughout the community consultation there was strong support for a cat curfew, with 90% of
the 450 respondents in support of a curfew,” said Cr Hood.
“We know our community loves their pets. The curfew will help to reduce the risks associated
with allowing cats to roam outdoors between dusk and dawn. Keeping cats indoors at night will
reduce the chance of them breeding, fighting, becoming injured or killing wildlife.”
“Organisations including the RSPCA and the Cat Protection Society of Victoria are supportive of
curfews and many Victorian councils have already introduced these types of curfew measures,”
he said.
From 1 July 2023 enforcement activities will commence, in line with the process already applied
to wandering dogs. This will include: Education for cat owners of their responsible pet ownership requirements, Issuing Warnings and Notices to Comply where appropriate, Issuing Infringement Notices to offenders where appropriate. The infringement amount will be 1 Penalty Unit for first offence and 3 Penalty Units for second or subsequent offences. A penalty unit is currently $184.92.

“Ensuring cats are registered with Council and contained within an owner’s property at all times
is not just responsible, but a requirement under the Domestic Animal Act,” Cr Hood said.

“The dusk until dawn curfew is a good further step as we move towards the 24-hour containment of cats by 2025.

The 2023 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize has been launched by Holmgren Design with
a major prize of $1000.
In her late 50s Venie Holmgren began to write poetry and her first published anthology, The Sun
Collection for the Planet in 1989, became a poetry best seller.
At the same time, she applied her environmental activist skills and commitment to the campaign to save
native forests near her home on the far south coast of New South Wales, where she was arrested twice for
obstructing log trucks.
After 16 years of solo self-reliant living she moved to the local town of Pambula where she penned her travel memoir, several more books of poetry and travelled widely as a performance poet.
In 2010 Venie moved to Hepburn where she wrote her last poetry collection, The Tea House Poems. In January 2016, Venie “caught the bus” at the age of 93.
The judges for the newly launched poetry prize named in her honour are Hepburn Springs resident Peter
O’Mara and Alison J Barton.
Peter’s long friendship with Venie Holmgren is still held close. Peter has poetry work published in magazines, literary and critical writing journals, anthologies and online both in Australia and overseas.
Alison is a Wiradjuri poet whose work is widely published in myriad journals. In 2022 Alison’s poetry
was recognised in the Queensland Poetry Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poetry Prize, the WB Yeats Poetry Prize for Australia and the Liquid Amber Press Poetry Prize.
All entries must be received by Monday, August 7 with the winner announced at the Words in Winter
festival in Daylesford on Sunday, August 27.
*In a tribute to Venie after her death, journalist Kevin Childs started his piece in The Local’s February 15,
2016 edition with the following:
“The farewell to Hepburn poet Venie Holmgren was as spectacular an event as many she saw in her 93 years.
“From her astonishing coffin, to the graveside where a bloke jumped into the hole, it was a day for some tears, much laughter, stories, and such warmth and affection that, were the day not so hot, would warm you through.
“For instance, how many funerals are there where, prominent among papers marking a life, is an ASIO
file, noting that Venie and her late husband Jack ran a specialist magazine business opposite the Perth garage where the spooks parked their cars?”
Read the full story at www.tlnews.com.au
Poetry prize link: holmgren.com.au

It is getting harder for academic cheating services to target Australian higher education students with another 100 academic cheating websites blocked.
This is the third time the higher education regulator TEQSA has used protocols with Australia’s major ISPs to disrupt access to websites targeting students studying with an Australian higher education provider.
This brings the number of illegal cheating websites blocked under these protocols to 250 since August 2022.
Cheating websites offer to sell students essays or assignments or accept payment
for someone to sit exams on a student’s behalf. Illegal cheating services threaten
academic integrity and expose students to criminals, who often attempt to blackmail
students into paying large sums of money. Blocking these websites seriously disrupts
the operations of the criminals behind them.
Analysis shows that after TEQSA began using these protocols in August 2022,
web traffic from Australia to illegal cheating services halved in semester 2 2022
(September – November) compared with the same time in 2021.
The federal government is working with the higher education sector to reduce
the risk posed by cheating services. Australia’s anti-cheating laws make it illegal to
provide or promote academic cheating services. Penalties include up to two years in
prison and fines of up to $110,000. Students who are found to engage in cheating are
subject to their institution’s disciplinary penalties.
In addition to TEQSA’s enforcement action and work with providers and
international partners to share intelligence, the agency has also developed a range of
resources for students and staff.
These include advice on avoiding cheating services for students and a new
training course to upskill academics and staff within institutions to deter, detect and
respond to cases where students outsource work to third parties.
Suspected cheating services can be reported to TEQSA for investigation at www.
teqsa.gov.au/cheating

The Local is running a producers’ series over the next few editions. Here Kevin
Childs talks with Peter McQueen from Red Hare Estate Vineyard.
Black-faced Suffolk sheep graze in Denver, with alpacas not far away. Nearby the grape-stripped vines are shutting down.
Here, at the Red Hare Estate Vineyard, the grapes were on the vine longer thanks to late flowering, followed by wet conditions, then dry and cold.
Despite the unpredictability of the seasons, and with the passion that often seems to come from those in the wine game, owner Peter McQueen is not afraid to talk of his love of the land.
Mind you, this is from a bloke who seems unafraid to take a punt. Having lived
in Queensland and Melbourne, he took his family, including children aged four, six
and eight to the south-west of France, where he spent two years renovating a chateau.
“Through my oldest son’s schoolfriends I got involved with wine,” he says. “I’m
not a winemaker, our business is architecture, business development and real estate.”
(His wife, Kim McQueen, has a Daylesford real estate firm.)
Over 18 months the vineyard was totally renovated, reopening in July. It now
opens Friday to Monday (Thursday by appointment), has a new bar outside and a
pizza oven. From experience I can say it’s a casual and enjoyable place, with delicious
charcuterie plates and dogs welcome (up to 10 one weekend).
An extra attraction in October is the romping of black lambs in the vineyard.
“City people can get a country experience, as well as the wine.”
We turn to the name of the winery. There’s a lot of red, in the autumnal leaves
and the soil. There are hares in the vineyard. Apparently, they keep down the rabbits
and their young, they have no scent to draw the vineyard’s two dogs.
Grapes were first planted here by John Fontanella about 17 years ago, says Peter.
Just over two hectares are under vine and another 2.4 hectares are being planted. One
vineyard has pinot grigio and pinot gris and another the only prosecco in the shire, he
says.
“This is one of the highest (level) proseccos in Australia. The cool climate means
the grapes ripen extremely slowly, leading to subtle wines.” His new vines will be
gamay and pinot noir.
The wine is, he says, “a reflection of us: very fresh and not sweet…”
Having just had 14 people pick four tonnes of grapes last weekend, Peter gets a hearty laugh out of the notion of the romance of wine. “You’re asleep by six.”
Next day the aching muscles and backs are memorable. But worth it.

Words: Kevin Childs | Image: InkdFoto