Hepburn Shire Council has a new Disability Action Plan that will guide its actions in removing barriers and making adjustments to help provide an equitable experience for people living with disability.
The plan was developed in partnership with its Disability Advisory Committee, with committee members helping to identify the most meaningful and beneficial priority actions.

The action plan includes a range of priorities, from raising community awareness and encouraging opportunities for employment and inclusion, through to advocating to other levels of government for improved health, housing and transport services.
Deputy Mayor Lesley Hewitt is chair of the council’s Disability Advisory Committee. Cr Hewitt said disability can be different for everyone.
“Disability can mean any kind of impairment, whether existing at birth or acquired through illness, accident, or the ageing process. It ranges from cognitive impairment and physical, sensory, intellectual, and psycho-social disability.
“Individuals may encounter physical barriers, digital barriers and barriers of attitudes and communication that impact on their ability to equitably participate in society. Our focus in this plan is on removing barriers and implementing changes that provide an equitable experience for people with disability,” she said.
The plan covers a range of priorities including inclusive communities, health, housing and wellbeing, fairness and safety, and opportunity and pride.
“A big shift with this plan is the focus on ‘invisible disabilities’ including neurological, cognitive and sensory disabilities,” Cr Hewitt said.
The plan has been created in the context of a raft of changes in recent years, including the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, development of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 and Inclusive Victoria: State disability plan 2022-2026, along with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
The action plan is available at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au

Haiku

dogwood days
two white butterflies
chase the breeze
weeping elm
a red bridge
straddles the stream
stagnant creek
after the storm
a police siren wails
cockatoos nesting
in the gums
breezes ruffle
picnickers
by the lake
a food truck roars past
an island
in the lake
she sits alone

Helen McDonald lives in the Macedon Ranges and writes poetry, memoir and short stories. She regularly reads her poems at the monthly Chamber Poets in Woodend.

Local Lines features poetry by locals about local and any other matters.
Please submit poems to Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com

By Donna Kelly

I HAD a nice compliment this week. The Powercor PR guy said my column in the last edition was the best power outage story he had read. Even showed it to his boss.
We were chatting because there was another power outage last Wednesday, planned for 9.15am to 3pm. We knew about it coming up for about a month so were ready. Sort of. For some reason I thought it was from 9.30am so really shouldn’t have put that shampoo in my hair while having a shower at 9.14am. Oh well. It’s going to be super squeaky clean by the afternoon. (For us, no power = no pump = no water.)
Oh, I even had bottles of water in the bathroom. Mostly to wash our hands but also, you know, you can fill the cistern if you really need one more flush.
Anyway, the day went past, slowly. It was a bit annoying because this edition is our ChillOut edition and our biggest of the year. So we really wanted to get things done. But it was planned so what can you do?
Mind you as the clock hit 3.30pm I started to get a little antsy. I might have posted something on social media and one person wrote back to say the times were just an indication. Hmmm. If I was Powercor I would have put a later time and then if the power comes on sooner, win-win. Not the other way around.
I also emailed the PR bloke who called back straight away. He was very nice, made the nice comment about my column and said he would call back, which he did, just as the power came back on at 4pm. So all good. And if you are reading this it means The Local came out in a timely manner too.
We are looking forward to ChillOut. We don’t go to many events but we are usually in the parade which is always a lot of fun but a bit strange. Sitting in the passenger seat waving to crowds always feels a bit like royalty. I find myself wondering if I have the wave right – too much, too little.
Last year the crowds went absolutely mad for us. They cheered and clapped and were really showing their support. It was so lovely until I realised it was all for Hepburn Shire Citizen of the Year Danny Moynihan, who was on the back of the ute. Danny is a long time ChillOut volunteer, as is his daughter Natalie and I am sure one day, grand-daughter Wynter. They are like real ChillOut royalty.
But we are back this year, with a twist, thanks to a lovely bloke called Tom. You will have to wait and see but feel free to give us a wave. We will be handing out The Local – and if you can find one unsigned by Jon Barrell it will be worth a fortune. That’s an inside joke.
Another funny one with Jon, who has hung up his stethoscope after 36 years, is that he came out to TL HQ for a chat about his work and retirement plans. That’s not the funny bit. We did the interview and then I went and found Kyle to take a photo. Kyle comes out, says g’day and then: “Well Jon, your photo appointment is 2.50pm (which it was) and I’ll be with you in half an hour.” We all laughed and laughed. It is a great read and with terrific photos of Jon away from GP work.
This edition is the biggest we have done for three years I think. It’s 80 pages, only because our printer can’t do bigger than that. But it seems like so much is coming back after stupid Covid. And that is fantastic. We have actually reinstated our Out & About section and dine reviews are back, the gig guide is really happening (thanks Darren) and there are plenty of things to do and see.
We worked really hard over the past three years to keep the community connected and will continue to do that – and keep prices affordable so even small businesses can advertise big. I hope you enjoy this edition as much as we did. Just sayin’…

IT ALL started innocently enough, writing that is, when this mild-mannered photographer started banging away on the keyboard to produce this rant back in September 2013.
I had been working for Fairfax as a photographer and had been asking if I could maybe start writing briefs (short stories) in the hope of furthering my journalism career. That was about the time we parted company, as this was viewed as demarcation and not permitted.
To date we have produced 274 editions of The Local, now that’s a lot of words, and to my surprise my last column was accused of being recycled. In case you missed it and were tidying your sock drawer, I was speculating on the lack of “whole of life” vision that the Hepburn Shire had when it came to roads and other projects.
Please let me assure the accuser that the column was not recycled. I may have dredged up some old facts in order to drive home my point and any thoughts you had of reporting me to the boss, you can shove where the sun don’t shine, I am the boss.
Now I have gotten that off my chest, I would like to push on and talk about Nicole Chvastek’s piece (this edition of the TL hard copy), and please note some of this has been mentioned previously, So, for those who can’t abide reading something they may have already seen, please skip the read.
It was many years ago at a barbeque that I first meet Nicole. Being of Kiwi origin I noticed a couple of words she used sounded like they came from across the Ditch.

We did the usual flip-flop conversation to see if we could place together one of the six degrees of separation. It wasn’t long before we landed on her father Dover Samuels, the famous NZ politician who fought for Maori rights in the 80s.
My father was a fisherman, fighting for quota in the tumultuous fishing industry. He was the largest quota holder in Northland at the time and had worked hard for it. He had no time for Maori historic fishing rights and no time for Dover’s ideas.
This time in New Zealand’s history to me was divisive and pitted fisherman against each other based on skin colour and upbringing. In short it was a fight to get as much future fishing tonnage (quota) out of the government as possible through historical data from the commercial fisherman. And the understanding of the original occupants of the land’s birthright to have their own fishing quota.
Skipping ahead to the early 1990s, with Dad retired from the fishing scene, I was desperate for work and armed with a skipper’s ticket and local knowledge I approached Dover for a job. He had a small fleet of fishing boats at the beach near the Marae and I lasted about one week.
Even though I was an independent adult my father refused to let me work for him and instead backed me into my own fishing boat.
So, that is my and Nicole’s brief history of how our fathers knew one another and I am glad to say that even though our fathers don’t share the same views, she and I are good mates.
Rambly rant over…

Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barnes

I RECKON the road to Castlemaine has probably never seen so much traffic since Megan Evans and Tom Allen took over the Guildford Family Hotel at the end of 2021.
In a story back then, Megan, who is well known to Daylesford locals after working at a number of hospitality venues in the town, said she was excited about running her own pub and “getting the old girl back to life”.
And they have certainly done that.

Open five days a week, it is a huge drawcard for not only locals but also for those making the short trip past Mt Franklin from over Daylesford and surrounds way.
The chef is Lee Littlepage, who also has a following from around the region, and she is doing great things in the kitchen with pub classics and a few surprises.
We headed there last Saturday for lunch and grabbed a table in the bar. There are plenty of dining spots to choose from – check out the dining room, it’s fab, the bar itself where Tom is always up for a chat, or the beer garden, where music is happening again.
Entrees
For entrees I chose the pea, mint and haloumi fritters with a mint yoghurt dipping sauce (4 for $16) while Kyle decided on the battered scallops with cauliflower puree, aioli, crispy bacon and lemon (4 for $22). Both were delicious with the fritters a really lovely texture, beautifully crisp on the outside and moist inside. Loved them. Kyle, who would happily eat seafood for three meals a day, said the combo of the cauliflower, bacon and scallop was a winner, with the scallops perfectly cooked.
Mains
Time for mains and it’s always hard to choose – especially with 15 really good options – something for everyone.
I decided to be boring and went for the chilli and garlic prawn spaghetti with olive oil, butter, cherry tomatoes, spinach and parmesan ($28). Yum! I am never going to call this dish boring again. It is a zinger with loads of flavour, big plump prawns and pops of tomato. A bowl of deliciousness.
Kyle chose the southern fried chicken burger with cheese, slaw, bacon, pineapple, chipotle mayo, onion rings and chips ($28). This is massive and delivers everything it promises. Kyle said nothing about this, he was just busy eating, but I stole an onion ring and it was crisp and fluffy and full of flavour. Maybe they should do a bowl of onion rings as a side?

Oh, we had a friend with us, on the sly, and they went for the chicken parma with a housemade Napoli sauce and cheese blend with chips and buttered vegetables ($28). Did I mention Lee very kindly added a couple of extra sauces – pepper and mushroom. Served oozing with goodness, it was proclaimed “one of the best parmas ever”. And this is someone who has had more parmas than Kyle.
Desserts
We were done but there are three desserts to choose from, all are $14 and they all sound good. Chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce and cream – chocolate coma-inducing perhaps, my favourite, vanilla panna cotta with mixed berries and housemade lemon tart with cream and strawberries.
Kids
It’s a family hotel, so children are happily catered for with parma and chips for just $11, napoli pasta, or nuggets and chips for $12, or fish and chips for $13.
Drinks
This is a pub so there is plenty to choose from. I chose the 2021 Cloud St chardonnay from King Valley which was $12 for a glass, the same price as all the many glasses of wine available. Meanwhile bottles of wine range from $45 to $75 – very nice pricing I think.
Another thing
We have known Megan and Tom many years and they are lovely people who have taken the “old girl” and really breathed life back into her. It’s been lovely to watch the pub get the love it deserves and also give people another option in this region.
There is a Friday night raffle for various charities, which is always fun, and Tom has got music happening again – something the pub was known for in an earlier life.

I really recommend making a booking or calling in to see what many people have already discovered. A lovely old pub with great food, service and atmosphere.
See you at the Guilly!

G’day. I’m Sasha. I’m a female (desexed) six-year-old blue Australian cattle dog.

The folk here at the Mt Alexander Animal Welfare shelter say I am an
absolute sweetheart. That’s nice. I do really love being around people and
I am well trained and always looking to please.
I would love a home where my new family can spend a lot of time
with me but I am a bit picky with other dogs so need to be an only pet.
So if you are keen for a new best friend, just contact the shelter in
Castlemaine on 5472 5277 and we can meet up.
Microchip No. 900032002771967

with Eve Lamb

Creswick’s Lyn Cooke has established herself as one of Victoria’s leading wildlife artists. Her work is admired for its detail and beauty as she challenges herself to capture not just the physical appearance
of her subjects but also their intrinsic nature – or “jizz” as the birdos call it. Here this talented local artist shares some insights into her love of portraying our exquisite native wildlife.

Eve: How do you prefer to describe your artistic style?
Lyn: Realism, in that I attempt to represent the natural world in a detailed and accurate manner. I don’t always succeed, but at least my subjects generally have the appropriate number of eyes or legs.
Eve: How did you come to art?
Lyn: In common with many artists, I have had an enthusiasm for drawing ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I am largely self-taught.
Eve: Which artists have influenced your own work?
Lyn: Too many to list, but I will mention Ray Harris Ching and William Cooper. There is a long tradition of wildlife art in Australia beginning with the illustrations of Lewin and the Goulds, and continuing until the present day.
Eve: What is your media of choice?
Lyn: After sketching my main subject matter, backgrounds are usually done with an airbrush and pigmented inks. Watercolour paint is then applied, often combined with gouache (an opaque water based medium). Detail is gradually built up using very fine brushwork and a lot of patience.
Eve: What is your subject matter of choice? Why so?
Lyn: I am known for my wildlife paintings. This is a consequence of my interest in natural history. Nature offers a vast range of subject matter and inspiration. Australian fauna, particularly our beautiful and varied birdlife, is my preferred subject matter.
Eve: Have you ever worked in any other area besides art?
Lyn: I was a primary teacher for a couple of decades, but I think I survived largely unscathed.
Eve: To date, what have been your career highlights as an artist?
Lyn: Finding that I could make a living from my art was a major achievement. I’ve always been passionate about not starving to death.
Eve: Do you have any exhibitions or special events coming up?
Lyn: My studio is open most days by appointment and work can also be seen at Overwrought, Blampied. Other exhibitions and contact details can be found on my website www.lyncooke.com
Eve: What do you think are the main challenges for practicing artists today? And the main rewards?
Lyn: Art allows me to share the beauty of our natural environment and, hopefully, help people to appreciate its beauty and the need to preserve it. On a personal level, it is a creative, absorbing and relaxing activity – when things are going well. I don’t know how an artist retires: old artists never die; they just draw flies.

Attention all spud lovers. The Great Trentham Spudfest is gearing up for Saturday, May 6 – and it’s not just potatoes!

Vendor coordinator Susie Wyatt, pictured, said the day would not just be about
“our awesome spuds” but include music stages, community groups, a growers market
and loads of vendors.
And that is where Susie steps in.
“We pretty much already signed up all the vendors we had last year so I think that
really shows how much they enjoyed it last time,” she said.
“And we also want to expand our focus from the awesome spuds to a lot of other
really cool produce and people from around the area – we want to make the event
bigger than ever.
“Last year we had a smaller event, because of Covid, but this year we will fill the
whole of Market Street and the Railway Station along with a growers market in the
town square so those business owners benefit from the foot traffic that is generated.
“We are definitely looking for people who grow things and the more local, the
better. We want to keep it as Trentham-y or Hepburn Shire-y as possible.”
Susie said there were already quite a few new vendors but more were needed and
she had been doing the rounds of local markets and putting feelers out on Facebook
pages to find people. “Maybe those little makers who don’t have a shopfront – this is a
great opportunity for them to come and join in.”
Susie said community groups were also welcome to come along to create a
fundraising opportunity for themselves or just help out on the day.
“Everyone is looking forward to it and the committee is really excited that we are
going to have a big event again – and we really hope as many people as possible come
along and enjoy themselves. It’s going to be a great day.”

Details: Vendor coordinator Susie Wyatt at vendor@trenthamspudfest.org.au
or 0420 554 217.

Words: Eve Lamb. Image: Kyle Barnes

BASALT grandmother Verna Baker is flexing her forearms to compete
in the Australian Gold Panning Championships at Blackwood this
Saturday, March 4.
Verna is a dab hand with the gold pan. She’s been honing her gold panning
prowess since the age of five.

Over the years she’s found “probably 100 specks” of gold – enough to have turned
into a lovely little gold pendant.
“I’ll be competing in the women’s skilled, the veterans’ and the teams’ categories
on Saturday,” says Verna, 68, who has plenty of other “golden” aspects to her life as
well, including farming daffodils.
Another golden facet to Verna’s life is the fact that this year marks the professional
childcare educator’s 50th anniversary of working at local kindergartens.
“I love my work,” says Verna who has worked at pre-schools across the shire and
beyond, including Daylesford, Hepburn, Franklinford, Glenlyon, Creswick, Clunes
and Wallace.
And there’s no doubt the kinder kids at Daylesford Preschool, where Verna
currently works three days a week – and at all the other little local kinders where she’s
worked over the years – return the love.
For one thing, Verna not only teaches the littlies how to gold pan, sharing her
enjoyment of the sport that gets her out into some beautiful places, she also brings
in small animals from her Basalt farm to teach them about caring for critters and to
impart her own love of nature.
Verna has won many firsts and seconds in the women’s skilled gold panning
competition and team event prizes over the years she’s been competing in the gold
panning competitions.
The mother of three and grandmother of four – who also runs a native tree
nursery and volunteers with Franklinford CFA – is keenly anticipating this Saturday’s
competition.
“It’s a really, really fun day,” she says.
Run by the Victorian Gold Panning Association, the annual Australian Gold
Panning Championships are expected to draw around 100 competitors from near and
far.
Victorian Gold Panning Association president Marcus Binks is also keenly
anticipating the event which he says offers good competition for all skill levels from
established champs to those who have never wielded a gold pan before in their lives.
“It’s a great family event and really we’re trying to preserve the history of gold
panning,” says Marcus, a geologist by profession who has a couple of national gold
panning championship titles to his name.
“I’ve been gold panning since I was a kid and I started at the first Australian
championships that were held at Sovereign Hill in 1993,” he says.
This year’s event will see gold panners racing against the clock to find a number of
tiny golden pieces that have been carefully pre-counted and hidden in sand buckets.
“We even provide pans for those who have never panned before,” Marcus says.
At the top end of the competitive spectrum the competition is keen and close and
the addition of an electronic timing system in recent times comes in handy.
“We have a heap of prizes on offer including two metal detectors,” Marcus says.
The championships are taking place at the Blackwood Cricket Ground on
Recreation Reserve Road and getting along to watch the competition as a spectator is
free.
“It’s a great way to come and learn about panning,” Marcus says.
“We’ll have catering by the Ballan First Scouts and a coffee van. We’re affiliated
with the World Gold Panning Championships and we get competitors from New
Zealand coming over. They really like our competition. We also get them from
interstate – Queensland and Western Australia.”

by ABC broadcast journalist Nicole Chvastek

BEAMING with pride my brother proudly showed me the most lurid tie I’d ever seen – all colour and movement. It had been a treasured Father’s Day gift and while I saw lurid – he saw beautiful because the giver was a beloved son.
It is a magical relationship, that bond between parent and child. As a kid growing
up in New Zealand I’d never known who my biological father was. That meant I
never quite knew who I was either, although fate sprinkled us in chances we passed by
each other unknown.

My adopted family and I holidayed in Keri Keri, a stone’s throw from his village.
Everyone in the district knew him. My holiday snaps show me as a grinning teenager
casually draping my arms around family friends who lived near the town. They
knew him well. But no-one knew he was the father of a white girl who visited from
Auckland.
When I moved to Melbourne as a teenager he moved to Sydney to perform in a
band called The Polynesians. I later saw publicity shots of him – four boys, all white
smiles and brown skins draped in Hawaiian leis. I guess it didn’t matter that the
publicity shots got the Polynesian origins wrong. Apparently you’ve seen one native
you’ve seen em all.
The patronising ‘happy natives sing us a song’ stereotype really grated. Why was
his worth diminished because he had brown skin? So he battled bigotry while I grew
up in my white bread world. But he got through. He was handsome and charismatic
and boy could he sing. No-one knew his pitch-perfect English was the result of white
teachers who beat him as a six-year-old in the 1930s as punishment for daring to
speak in his native Maori tongue. Dishing it out to the local little barbarians was de
rigueur in those days.
I was a city-dwelling broadcast journalist, chasing newsmakers and deadlines in a
daily frenetic blur, when I was given the information I needed to make contact.
I could not have imagined the story that emerged. He’d been born on a sandy
white beach into the Nga Puhi tribe. His mother – my grandmother – was a
fisherwoman whose husband drowned in a violent storm at sea while trying to reach
a boat which had sent out a distress signal. Suddenly a single mother but determined
her bright young boy would get his education, she caught fish every day from her
ocean backyard, loaded it into saddle bags and then walked beside her pony for miles
into the nearest town to sell it.
It was a tough way to make a living, but, when it was time the money was there
and my father was dispatched to a nice white private boarding school in Auckland.
Life in New Zealand’s biggest city was alien for a Maori boy from the Bay of
Islands. His wild environment taught him all he’d needed to know and his bay’s
sapphire seas and ancient Kauri forests were his instructors. So, as he’d done in his
small village primary school, he showed up at his first city high school class in bare
feet. The teacher was outraged and ordered him to stand.
“Look at the savage!” she announced to his guffawing classmates.
He quickly learned about the humiliation and antipathy you can generate just by
looking different. He’d already learned how to attract a belting by speaking another
language. He learned how to fight. And he got his education.
Our first conversation was on the phone. It was painfully stilted. How do you talk
to the man who is your father? Do you make nervous jokes? Do you adopt the reserve
you would keep for a stranger? Or do you relax into the loving but manufactured
banter of family conversation with someone you’ve never met?
The compromise was polite warmth.
He said it was lovely to hear my voice.
I could hear the exhaustion in his. My father had joined the Labour Party. By the
time I’d found him he was a member of the New Zealand government.
In fact the Parliament was sitting and having a new daughter sprung on him
while juggling the issues of state was the last thing he needed.
He apologised for the rushed call with a fatigued graciousness.
But we agreed that we should meet. And so I packed my best tourist t-shirts and
flew over to Matauri Bay, the breathtakingly beautiful seaside village where he lived.
Getting there is a five hour trek north from Auckland. But the effort is rewarded.
As you make your way to the top of the last hill at the end of a winding road, the
landscape drops away dramatically to reveal the sparkling expanse of the Bay of
Islands, its sea framed by a soaring blue sky and lush endless hills. Little picture
postcard islands lie dotted off the coast where volcanic fury hurled them millions of
years ago.
I drove down into the valley towards the sea at a crawl (my father warned me
that tourists have been known to crash off the edge of the hill after being stunned
like rabbits in headlights by the view). I stopped only briefly at a tiny white wooden
church.

In its grounds were crumbling headstones with names and messages etched in the
rock in that mystical Maori language. I tried to imagine the lives of the people who
had lived in this beautiful but remote place. Who were they? In the silence I thought
I felt wives, husbands, brothers, sisters. I also thought I’d never get this done if I
didn’t snap out of it.
I continued on to find my father’s house. It wasn’t far away from where I’d
stopped at the church, around a small headland and tucked into a cove overlooking
the sea. On one side a line of giant grey rocks reached up from the waves and then
tumbled down again into the next bay. In front me was the stretch of white beach
where his mother had given birth in her rudimentary hut made of New Zealand fern.
At the end of his driveway was a modern cottage he’d built for her when he decided
she was too old to live in her tribal hut. Word was his mother never did like the
shmick running water and the new-fangled electric light.
I pulled my standard issue hire car into a park and drew breath. He’d given me
life but owed me zero. Who was I kidding? A couple of random genes entitled me to
nothing. Here stands a white girl with a journalism degree from Australia.
A muscular Maori man appeared on the verandah and strode down the stairs
towards me. His dark eyes were glowing and his face creased into a wide smile.
“Hello” he said and pulled me into a hug.
I stood uncomfortably in my silly tourist clothes with my silly suitcase on wheels
behind me. But I recognised the line of this man’s jaw. Something about the timbre
of his voice was profoundly familiar. So I hugged him back. And while it is true I
remained a ring-in in that village, I was, in that moment, no longer a stranger.
Finding my own father has changed the way I see other people’s fathers. I’m
endlessly in awe of how many people have ‘normal’ relationships with their dads.
They see each other all the time. They get picked up from school. Their dads make
speeches at their weddings. They play backyard cricket. They front up at Christmas in
a red suit and a white beard.
I watch in delight as my adopted brothers here in Australia – now fathers
themselves – receive their gifts of love from their own children. The rapturous
celebrations over an ‘A’ plus for an essay written in that cute kiddie lettering. The
gentle goodnights. I see that these are the greatest of stories.
And me? I’m happy with just a quiet nod in the direction of a little village in the
north of New Zealand to the Maori bloke with the big smile who lives by the sea.

Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barnes and contributed

JON Barrell says he didn’t know what retirement looked like, so a few
years back he took some time off, headed to the outback with wife
Maureen and “sat under a tree” for a bit of thinking time.

The first move was to sell his share of Springs Medical Centre – that happened in
2021. And then in February this year he hung up his stethoscope after 36 years in
general practice – in Daylesford, Trentham and surrounds.
Many long-term patients, some belonging to generations he has cared for, have
wished him well saying they knew the day would come along eventually. They are
pleased for him, but sorry for themselves to lose a much loved doctor. Others, Jon
says with a wry smile, “are probably happy to see grumpy Jon go”.
Jon says he wasa sickly infant and child, which ultimately led to his medical
career, but not in the way you would think.
“I was going to be a maths teacher but with my parents in grave fear for my
health, I was home-schooled by Mum and did three years in two. That meant I
was young in year 12, just 16. I thought I would go wandering but Dad said: ‘No,
university’.
“I thought I might do marine science and get a job in Townsville, as far away
from home as possible, but I got my results and thought ‘I could be a doctor’. I wasn’t
really keen to do medicine, but I thought if I didn’t like it I could change to science.”
He did like it, and already thinking about becoming a country GP, Jon graduated
in 1980 and headed to Dandenong to do a two-year internship. “I thought a
suburban hospital would be better grounding than a tertiary centre in the city. I did
obstetrics, anaesthetics, intensive care and emergency and then went to England to do
obstetrics because there was a lot more hands-on experience.”
Jon returned to Dandenong for another year in anaesthetics – all the skill sets he
believed he needed to be a GP in the country.
With their first child Michael on the way, to be followed five years later by
Stephanie, Jon and Maureen chose Daylesford for their next chapter and moved on
Australia Day 1986 and started work with Dr Fred Eggleston and Dr Brian Coles – at
the business that would eventually morph into Springs Medical – the next Monday.
Jon says the work of a GP changed enormously over his career. “People live longer
so they have more chronic disease, and the level of intervention has significantly
increased. The treatment once for heart attack was lie in bed and wait until you
got better, now there are stents and angioplasty…the number of vaccines has vastly
increased.
“When I went to medical school there was no HIV or Hepatitis C, and of course,
Covid had never been noted. I presumed if you read the textbook you would learn all
the things you needed to know. Being a GP today is vastly more complex and detailed
but I still love the work.”
Jon said he chose to move to the country to be involved in the community. He is
a stalwart at the Hepburn Springs Golf Club where he is “indebted to the friendship
and support network for both myself and Maureen” and also did a four-year stint as a
councillor with the Hepburn Shire Council. He re-nominated, failed to get the votes,
“was sorry for about a day” and then got on with life. Maureen has banned him from
standing again.
Being a part of the community means there are also a few “tricky questions”
out of hours but on the whole people are respectful of boundaries, he says. “During
Covid and all those phone consultations, no-one ever rang me inappropriately. And
doctors aren’t special. Electricians, carpenters, all manner of people in the service
industries do the same thing. People have emergency needs and I say it is not a
bother, it is part of living in the country.”
Patients Googling symptoms before they see him doesn’t both Jon either. “People
have always done that. When I was a child, families would save up for a set of World
Book encyclopaedias to look up things, or Ma Evans’ herbal textbook. My job is to
nut things out and give advice. What’s going on here, what are the serious red flags,
what is the most appropriate path – and then arrive at a diagnosis.”
Like everyone, but perhaps more than the general public, Jon has been navigating
Covid for the past three years and says it has “been horrible”. “For the nation, for
the people, for the health professionals, for every other industry, it has been horrible.
There are just so many different components, the fear of getting Covid, vaccine issues,
the mandate issues, hand hygiene and PPE. The logistics of going into a healthcare
facility – everything takes longer.
“Working in full PPE is awful. It has changed general practice remarkably but full
credit to the government of the day and to general practices and the health industry, I
think we were all surprised at how nimble the government and general practices were
to find different ways to do things like iso pods and telephone consultations.

“But sitting in your spare bedroom at home with your feet in the cupboard,
facing the wall with your laptop and mobile phone and wobbly internet and wifi
connections, and wondering how you are going to print and scan and post – the
novelty wore off after about two days.
“Thankfully I think we are on the far side of things but the notion that health
professionals will wear a mask for the rest of our days is challenging to me. Let’s hope
that doesn’t happen.”
So, after those days under the trees, what does retirement look like after 36 years?
It turns out Jon has not quite given up the stethoscope.
Jon says he will get some travelling in, mostly around Australia this year, but also
take on some locum work as both a GP and in emergency medicine. He already has
his first post lined up at Alexandra and will be back at Springs for Good Friday.
“I still feel like I have another 10 years of work in me and finally I will get to
choose when and where. I think after 36 years I have earned that right.”
And also after 36 years of a “sometimes difficult and very demanding life”, Jon
thanks Maureen, Michael and Stephanie for their support.
“I could not have done what I have done without their support. The life of
a country GP can be very demanding on the family. Maureen was a mothercraft
nurse before we married, she has always loved children, and it was her choice to be a
stay-at-home mum at our place at Coomoora. And we know we were very fortunate
to be able to do that. Horses were always her interest and she has passed that on to
Stephanie. And Michael always played golf with me. It’s been a wonderful life.”

A founding member of Daylesford Speedway has spoken of the shock in the
wake of last month’s tragic death of a driver following a high speed crash.

Poowong resident Stephen Douglas, 48, was competing at the Daylesford
Speedway track around 7.30pm on Saturday, February 11 when his Ford Falcon
crashed, horrifying spectators.
“It was a very, very unfortunate accident,” Daylesford Speedway founding
member, past president and promoter Harry Carman says.

“It’s the first time there’s ever been a tragic accident at the speedway in all of
the years since it began in 1956 so that’s about 67 years. It’s subject to very rigorous
scrutineering and safety protocols. It’s very strictly controlled.”
Harry was at the track on the Saturday night when the accident happened,
but was working on the gate and did not personally witness the high-speed crash.
However, he saw the aftermath with Mr Douglas’ vehicle left upturned, while
onlookers described the incident as “surreal”.
Mr Douglas, a Poowong resident and CFA volunteer known to friends and family
as “Dougo”, began racing almost three decades ago in 1994. A photo had been taken
after he won a heat just hours before the fatal crash.
“We’re just very sorry for the family,” Harry said. “My personal condolences go to
the family. And I would also like to convey my gratitude to all the emergency services
who attended – including ambulance, Vic Police, SES…they were really on the ball.
All the emergency services were very fast on the scene.”
Having previously served as the Daylesford Speedway president and promoter for
26 years, Harry is a Daylesford local whose personal history with the speedway dates
back to his own childhood. He is among local residents and Speedway community
members left shocked and saddened by the incident.
“The speedway started in 1956 and it all started to raise funds for the RSL,”
Harry said. “It’s been going for so many years and it brings a lot of money into the
town. I helped my father and grandfather plant pine trees there as a little kid. The
trees aren’t there now though.
“It’s got a good track record. We may have had a broken arm or leg over the years,
but this is the first time we’ve ever had a tragic accident in all those years.”
Race tragedy shocks speedway community
Left, the late Stephen Douglas after winning his heat in the Chivers Memorial
race, right, Daylesford Speedway founding member, past president and
promoter Harry Carman
Mr Douglas, who worked in the agriculture industry, was an experienced driver,
having raced competitively for around 10 years and volunteered at Nyora Raceway.
He was also a member at Drouin Speedway and a Country Fire Authority
volunteer for his local community of Poowong, 116km south-east of Melbourne.
A second man was taken to Ballarat Base Hospital in a stable condition with upper
body injuries.
Daylesford Speedway held a gathering on February 16 for those struggling to cope
with the incident, calling for any volunteers, helpers, officials, drivers, spectators and
their families to attend. Counsellors were on hand to help.
If this story has raised any issues you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or head to
Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au
Images: Contributed & Kyle Barnes

SOME fresh faces and feel-good favourites join the line-up as ChillOut
Festival approaches.
Choir of Hard Knocks and Lion will perform at the annual LGBTQIA+
pride festival event.

Australia’s most famous choir was introduced to the public in 2006 in the award-
winning ABC TV series Choir of Hard Knocks. Now in its 16th year, they continue
on their journey, with some of the original members from the award-winning
documentary, to ChillOut Festival’s annual carnival day.
The choir is an incredible tool for members to overcome social isolation and
homelessness through the joy and connection of singing.
Also joining the line-up is queer, black electropop/alt artist, singer, songwriter,
producer and dancer Lion who recently wowed audiences at Big Sound festival and
the Midsumma Festival Victoria’s Pride street party.
They join a star-studded rainbow line-up including MCs Nate Byrne and Art
Simone, Kate Miller-Heidke, Karen From Finance, The Lost Girls, Cerulean (Miss
First Nation 2021), Jude Perl, Elektra Lite, Tuck Shop Ladies, Greg Gould, Freddie
Merkin, Dean Arcuri, DJ Eddie, Diamond and York and DJ Du Jour.
Festival ambassadors Rudy Jean Rigg, commissioner for LGBTQIA+
Communities Dr Todd Fernando, Sally Goldner and Jude Munroe will also make
appearances.
Festival director Emma Ireland said that ChillOut Festival was for the whole
LGBTQIA+ community, young and old, city and country. “We’re so excited that
Lion will bring his high energy, joyful performance to the stage in Daylesford.”
The ongoing and regular contact the Choir of Hard Knocks provides to the
members has had a profound effect on their lives, leading many of the original 52
back to either part-time or full-time study or work.
Many had become socially excluded due to their socio-economic circumstances,
and the choir has enabled them to acquire new skills and rebuild personal confidence
and self-esteem, which Ms. Ireland said “is the goal of ChillOut Festival for the
broader LGBTQIA+ community, and the essence of this year’s theme ‘Find Your
Wings’”.
“ChillOut Festival was founded on the principle of being a safe space for people
to be themselves, connect, to create and celebrate community. The Choir of Hard
Knocks is a gorgeous example of that in action. ChillOut is a space for people to
overcome social isolation to connect with community. We are thrilled to have them
perform at ChillOut Festival.”
The full festival program features over 50 events running over five days around
Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. Events will range from large late night outdoor
dance parties, circus, drag and comedy shows, and a Sunday morning street parade, to
the more intimate, like art gallery exhibitions, social drinks, speed dating, all-gender
sport events, and rainbow storytime.
ChillOut Festival will run from March 9-13 (Victoria’s Labour Day long
weekend) in Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, with events also organised in nearby
towns Clunes and Creswick.
Lion will perform at Ballroom Blitz on Saturday, March 11, 8pm–midnight.
Choir of Hard Knocks will perform at Carnivale, Victoria Park on Sunday, March
12, 11am-5pm.

Words & image: Tony Sawrey

IT IS comfortable to assume that local sporting clubs are a permanent
part of the fabric of any town. As if they have been there since the
beginning and will never disappear.
However the social disruptions caused by Covid over the past few years has seen
many community organisations fall by the wayside. Daylesford has been no exception
with several sporting clubs closing their doors.
However the Daylesford Table Tennis Association has proved to be an exception.
It continues to have regular social and competition gatherings as it has always done
since the 1950s.

“Cricket, basketball and squash have all folded,” says club president Monty
Osewald. “It has been tough the last few years but we have survived.”
The club is located in Victoria Park in a shed built by members in 1985. It has six
tables and holds regular sessions servicing the table tennis needs of over 30 people of
all ages and genders. Though that number is down slightly from the 40 or more who
used to duke it out in the ’50s it is still an impressive number of players.
“We take all comers and our members range in age from teenagers to over 60s,”
says Monty.
“People can be a little isolated out in the countryside at times but our club is a
great place to meet and socialise, even over the winter months.”
Table tennis first emerged in the middle of the 19th century in Victorian England
and due to its compact indoor layout, it is now enjoyed worldwide and even became
an Olympic sport in 1988. And because beginners can engage with the game almost
straight away it has become a common recreational pastime among players of all ages.
At the Daylesford club the oldest player is Ron Hewson who says; “Table tennis is
a game you can play all your life.”
Another senior player is Jane Bradfield who came to the sport seven years ago. “It
is dead easy,” she says, “and I got into it through U3A. I was a horse rider previously. I
have coaching every week and there is a lot to learn.
“The most important technique is brushing up on the ball, you don’t just whack
it; it is all art. I mostly play doubles, simply and purely because I’m not a chicken
anymore and you have more time between the shots.”
As Jane mentioned, the association has initiated a professional coaching program
for players of all levels to improve their game skills, which commenced early February
and is running for five weeks. It was made possible by a Hepburn Shire Community
Sporting Grant and costs only $1 per session. And there are more opportunities to
come.
“We are currently setting up a program in the second school term (early May) for
12- to 18-year-olds,” says Monty, “where we will have the participants bussed down
here to play and get coaching.”
If you are keen to have a go at table tennis, social play takes place every
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 10am to 12 noon with a competition evening
held every Wednesday from 7.30 pm to 9.30pm. Annual membership is $100
otherwise the walk-in cost is $3 per session. For more information or membership
queries contact Monty on 0448 667 738,
Link: www.facebook.com/DaylesfordTableTennis/

Hepburn shire residents are being invited to join with friends, family and community at a special evening celebrating local women and their contribution to Hepburn Shire this International Women’s Day.

Professor Paula Gerber, a Professor from the Faculty of Law at Monash University and leading expert on international human rights law, is the special guest speaker for the evening happening Wednesday 8 March from 6pm to 8pm at Daylesford Town Hall.

International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March each year. Since 2005, Hepburn Shire Council has held an annual event to celebrate this day and to induct new members onto the Heather Mutimer Honour Roll.

The honour roll was established to pay tribute to women in the Shire whose contributions, courage and examples have led to significant social change for women.

“This is a popular and well-attended event and I encourage everyone in the community to come along, meet our new inductees and also celebrate past inductees, which now number 66,” said Mayor, Cr Brian Hood.

“This evening is a prompt to acknowledge and celebrate the many women who have made a difference in our Shire. I urge people of all ages to come along to this free event,” said Cr Hood.

Professor Gerber’s focus is on children’s rights and the rights of LGBTIQA+ people. Active in the construction industry, she established the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) in Australia in 1995 and developed Australia’s first specialist tertiary education course in construction law in 2000.

Local students from around the Shire will also perform on the night.

What: Heather Mutimer Honour Roll International Women’s Day Event

When: Wednesday 8 March from 6pm to 8pm

Where: Daylesford Town Hall, 76 Vincent Street.

More information is available from the council’s customer service office.