Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barnes/Supplied

Tourism stalwarts Carol White, Tina Banitska and Alla Wolf-Tasker, will be the guests of honour when the Rotary Club of Daylesford celebrates its 70th anniversary next month.
Carol created and owns Lavandula at Shepherds Flat. She bought the property 35 years ago and started out with just 1000 lavender bushes.

Carol then started up European-style festivals which saw up to 10,000 people attending.
“The police told us we had to stop because we had cars banked up on all the roads,” she told The Local.
Carol decided early this year that it was time to move on and Lavandula is now for sale.
Tina created and owns The Convent in Daylesford. It was in 1975 when she first saw the old building. She knew then one day it was going to be one of the best galleries in Australia – which it became after she bought it in 1988 from the Presentation Sisters.

Alla created and owns Lake House in Daylesford. An icon in regional dining, Lake House has long been
considered to be one of Australia’s best restaurants, championing local seasonal cuisine long before it became a mantra for many. Alla is widely credited for getting regional destination dining started in Australia – against all odds.
The celebrations will be held at the Daylesford Town Hall on Saturday, September 23 from 6.30pm. Tickets are $60. To book a ticket contact Danny Moynihan on 0407 501 994. Tickets are selling fast and the cut-off date is September 13.

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

A STOP the Towers rally went all the way to the steps of Parliament House in Spring Street, yesterday Tuesday, August 15.
A convoy of tractors, agricultural vehicles, horses and fire trucks departed Cathedral Place at 12.45pm and formed a distinctive procession along Spring Street and around Parliament House.
The event was organised by the Regional Victoria Power Alliance, consisting of farmers, their rural, regional, and suburban neighbours, retail and tourism business owners, and many other community members. Alliance members come from Central, Western and North Western Victoria and are deeply concerned about “the irreversible environmental, social, and economic impact that will occur from two 500kV overhead transmission line projects known as VNI West and Western Renewables Link (VNI West Stage 1)”.
The members say their fight is against the industrialising of the regional and rural areas with the message: The Victorian Government must Stop the Towers – save the environment, communities, and farms and find a better solution to transmit electricity and support the transition to renewable energy.
Spokesperson Glenden Watts, “the naked farmer” from Yeungroon, says that he and everyone else in the western and north-western regions only learnt earlier this year that they were in an area of interest for VNI West.
“Over the past few years whenever we heard about the people fighting the Western Renewables Link, we had thought ‘poor buggers’ but we never thought this would happen to us,” he said.
Glenden said to deliver both projects the Victorian Government, in consultation with AEMO, was proposing to construct over 800 steel towers up to 80m in height, around the same height as the MCG lights.
The steel towers will carry the high-voltage transmission lines for over 400km, running westwards from Sydenham on the edge of Melbourne to Bulgana near Ararat and then northwards to Kerang and beyond before crossing over the Murray River into New South Wales, he said.
“The farming families who will be impacted have already cared for their land over many generations. We grow and raise food and fibre for our state and our nation, and we look after our environment.”
Glenden said the alliance supported renewable energy, action on climate change and protecting the environment.
“But we want the transition away from fossil fuels to use environmentally sustainable energy solutions. A green generation solution requires a green transmission solution. Constructing more overhead electricity transmission lines using century-old technology is not in Australia’s strategic national interest, nor cost-
effective given its irreversible environmental, social, and economic impact.”
Ballarat federal MP, Catherine King said she had been deeply concerned about the project since she first heard about it “and my position hasn’t changed”.
“I have been clear from the start that our community should have been better listened to throughout this entire process. This is a beautiful, productive part of the world. While new transmission lines do need to be built to connect renewable energy into the electricity grid, this is not the way to do it.
“Through my submission to the most recent AEMO consultation process, I continued to encourage AEMO and the project’s proponents to properly consult with impacted communities.”
Macedon state MP Mary-Anne Thomas said new transmission was vital for securing affordable power for Victorians and enabling the development of the renewable energy industry as “we work towards net-zero emissions by 2045”.
“These transmissions projects will form part of the national electricity grid and deliver more affordable and renewable power to Victorians. VicGrid is already providing greater oversight of the development of the WRL and VNI West projects that are being developed by AusNet and AEMO. WRL is still subject to an EES, which will consider alternative routes and undergrounding.
“There will be full and fair compensation payment for landowners who host new transmission infrastructure. The details of these payments will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis with property owners once a final route for the project is determined.”
An AusNet spokesperson said AusNet was working with government and stakeholders to accelerate critical transmission projects that will secure affordable, renewable and reliable energy to Victorian homes and businesses.
“We continue to consult with communities as we refine the proposed route to minimise impacts on landholders, the environment and farming operations, and thank those landholders who are working with us.”

By Donna Kelly
OK. THIS is my last instalment on aged care provider Benetas. Well, for a bit.
You may remember we started doing articles about three editions ago when we were contacted by a woman who said the price had gone up – and the service had gone down. The service had moved from Hepburn Shire Council to Benetas.
So we ran that story and then quite a few other people got in touch and said they were also having issues. Some had not had anyone cleaning their homes for six weeks – and some were still being charged for the service anyway.
And so we ran another story with those people and Benetas kept doing the public relations thing saying they were doing their best and were very surprised to hear that some of their clients were not happy.
Then I wondered who I could reach out to. People were reaching out to me and I was reporting on that, but that wasn’t really helping anyone, except they felt perhaps they were being heard.
The last story I ran was with comment from Ballarat MP Catherine King who said the Health Department were onto it – that’s pretty impressive – and she also provided lots of numbers where complaints could be lodged or other providers could be found. Great, I thought, at last some movement at the station.
The edition came out on July 17 and on July 18, Peter, not his real name, called. He said he had just read the story, he was one of the earlier callers, and just wanted to let me know…drum roll please…no, no good news. He just wanted to let me know he had been waiting all day for his cleaner and no-one had come.
The wait started at 9am and it was 4pm when he called me. Peter didn’t want to leave the house in case the cleaner turned up but “I did have other things I wanted to get on with”, he said.
Peter has decided to quit the service. He had been ill, very ill, but said he was on the mend and could do better himself. I mean, he is still not great, but after beating cancer he is tired of spending days inside, waiting. Perhaps his cleaner is called Godot?
Anyway, always looking on the bright side, I am blood type B positive after all, I decided that things must be looking up. The only call I had was from Peter so maybe all the other people were fine now?
I decided to write to that first woman, the one who said the prices had gone up and the service had gone down. So I found her emails and sent one saying she had done a good thing, and that as a result of all those numbers from Catherine King MP – and the Health Department being onto it and all that, that all must be mostly good in the aged care sector in Hepburn Shire.
She wrote back: “That is excellent news – as an aside I did all the things Catherine King said (prior to her saying them) and rang My Aged Care who gave me new service numbers and the names of other providers to see if I could get a new provider. None of them got back to me (and they were out of district) so I assume either they don’t have the capacity or are unable to come as this is Benetas’s territory.”
Hmmm. I have nothing to add. Unless you have read Kyle’s latest Rant …
The poor thing thinks I shop just twice a year. One day he will find a thing called online shopping and I will be done for. Or he will pick up on the surprised tone I manage when he says “is that new?” and I say “this old thing, I’ve had it for years”.
And life rolls on. Just sayin’…

Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barnes

Want to warm up for winter? Head to the Guilly. A friendly family pub just this side of Castlemaine.
The pub is well back up and running after a little incident, ok, they had a small fire, and ready to receive locals and visitors alike.
There is always a friendly welcome from owners and hospitality triple threats Tom and Megan, who know how to provide great food, drinks and atmosphere.
We always choose to sit in the front bar which has a fantastic fire roaring away during the cooler months but there’s also the refurbished dining room and plenty of people still opt for outside if the winter sun is shining.
On a recent visit with good friends Mr and Mrs B, we opted for a bar corner, so we could chat, ordered drinks from Tom and checked out the menu.
I chose, as I always do, the chilli & garlic prawn spaghetti ($32). It is so good, full of plump prawns, just the right amount of chilli and garlic and pops of cherry tomatoes.
Being a Sunday, Kyle went for the Sunday roast. A huge piece of pork, loads of veggies, a corker of a gravy and topped with crunchy crackling.
Our friends decided to both enjoy the lemon pepper calamari ($28) served with salad and chips. Now, everyone has had those 1970s stringy calamari rings but this is not that. It is lightly dusted, big pieces of calamari and it’s just perfect to the bite. I know, because it’s my other go-to meal here.
We weren’t up for desserts, perhaps because we started with a couple of serves of the cheese & garlic bread ($10) but there are three to choose from, all $14. The chocolate pudding, creme caramel or the vegan apple and rhubarb crumble.
The Guildford Family Hotel is open five days, with dinners on offer from Wednesday through to Saturday, and lunches on Saturday and Sunday. It’s also a great spot to just chill with a drink and watch the world go by, Wednesday to Friday from 3pm, and the weekends from noon.
If you are feeling lucky, make sure you head there for the Friday Night Raffle drawn at 7.30pm, supporting many local organisations and charities. So even if you don’t win, they do.
See you at the Guilly!

By Donna Kelly

IT’S funny. Not ha-ha, the other one.
I have run a couple of briefs, back on page 11 (of the latest hard copy edition of The Local) if you want a look, about a positive ageing expo and another program called Living and Ageing Well in Hepburn. As in Hepburn Shire.
They are all about living well as we age, having fun, making connections, staying healthy etc. Positive stuff. Mind you, between us, I don’t find getting older that great. I know the alternative is not much fun but even at my age I am waking up with a few creaks and groans, and what the hell are those age spots doing on my hands already?
(You do know the photo above was taken about 15 years ago and I refuse to update it…oh, and my driver’s licence photo is also about 20 years old. They had a time when you could keep the same photo for another 10 years and then Covid hit and they didn’t want anyone turning up at VicRoads offices – winning.)
But back to positive ageing. Just as these media releases came in I also got calls and emails from older people, and in some cases their children, who are meant to be receiving assistance from home care organisation Benetas – but they are not. Some have waited six weeks for help with cleaning their house. Some are so frustrated they just want to stop the service altogether – even though they need some help. And in some cases, they are still being billed even when no-one turns up to their home.
But who do you go to? Who listens to the complaint? All of these people have talked to someone at Benetas but pretty much with no result. I wrote to state health minister Mary-Anne Thomas, who is also our Macedon MP, and received an email that said: “Thanks for getting in touch. This falls info (sic) Federal Government jurisdiction, I have now forwarded to the office of Catherine King and someone will be in touch. Kindness.” That’s helpful, not.
Of course, I had already written to Catherine King, the federal Ballarat MP, and she did reply with some information and contacts. Back to page 11 again if you want a read.
I also went onto this website – www.health.gov.au/topics/aged-care – which does have a lot of stuff about aged care, rights of older people and how to complain. But if you don’t know how to find your way around a website you are stuffed. I clicked onto a fact sheet about the complaints process and it led me to an Adobe page which needed me to enter a password. I don’t have a password. It also had a pretty dodgy looking domain name and I don’t like clicking on things that look dodgy.
Anyway, who will help these people? One woman rang on behalf of her mother saying she was a middle-aged daughter doing her best to keep her mum happy and healthy at home – all that positive stuff. But the reality is that if services are not being provided then no amount of wonderful positive ageing expos are going to really do anything. Lots of good words I am sure, and “engaging guest speakers” but what is the point if our most vulnerable people are being neglected.
Hepburn Shire Council, who passed the service to Benetas a year ago after deciding to get out of the aged care field, say it is a federal service and not their thing. But surely when they handed that responsibility over it was done with due diligence and some assurances that all would be well. They did eventually email and say people can talk to the council’s Positive Ageing Officer. Hmmm.
I really feel the frustration of these people. I don’t imagine they like even asking for help. I wonder if there is room for a volunteer/person link up. Someone who checks in on vulnerable people. Maybe do a few dishes. Have a chat? I know there are liability issues but we as a community might be able to do better. Just sayin’…

Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Kyle Barnes

It’s always a great meal at the Daylesford Bowling Club. It starts with a warm welcome as you walk in, sometimes from the manager Neil, or the bar staff, and the good vibes continue.
The bistro is run by chef Lenny Giri who clearly loves his career choice – and is always working towards more flavour and flair. His latest move is a food carving course in Thailand – just to keep things interesting.
We chose a table overlooking Daylesford – with most of the restaurant ready for a big group from Woodend celebrating Christmas in July. It’s a great view and one that Neil says many of the members enjoy for their evening tipple.
We leave the menu choice to Lenny and it’s fantastic. A little bit of many things finishing with the huge lamb shanks.
We start with chicken lollipops with a special schezuan sauce. They are delicious and crunchy on the outside with really tender chicken inside. The sauce is sweet with a fair bit of heat. Just right. ($19 for four, $30 for eight with chips)
Next up is the bruschetta with tomato, basil and extra virgin olive oil topped with a little parmesan sitting on a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Really fresh and mouth-watering. I could just enjoy a plate of these on their own. ($14)
Lenny’s special lamb and parmesan meatballs are up next. Lovely bite-sized flavour bombs with a little rocket on the side. Yum. ($16)
Finally, out comes the lamb shank. It’s a huge serve on top of mash with loads of sauce and vegies. The bone just comes straight out – no wonder seeing it has been cooked for 24 hours. Lenny also makes the sauce from scratch and that takes 48 hours which accounts for the massive flavours. Perfect winter fare. ($29)
Ok, it wasn’t the last dish. Lenny then brings over the tiramisu with rose water and whipped cream. It is really light and rich, if that is possible, and it’s devoured in minutes. I think we are starting to become dessert people. ($18)
Now, those who know me know I like a little wine and I like it even more at the Daylesford Bowling Club where it is just $6 for a glass of Hanging Rock Chardonnay. Same for the Duck Shoot pinot noir. Yep, just $6. That must be the best value for a drink in the region.
As I said Lenny likes to keep things happening and every month there is a Thursday to Sunday change of menu from somewhere around the world. We just missed Italian and before that was Greek but Egyptian is the next one coming up – so keep an eye on the club’s Facebook page. Could be very interesting. Belly dancing anyone? Oh, and don’t forget Wednesday, it’s steak night. A 300gm scotch or porterhouse for just $29. There’s that value again. See you at the bowlo!

Words: Donna Kelly

COMPLAINTS about in-home aged care provider, Benetas, continue to rise with concerns the organisation is sending out bills even when a service is not provided.
The Local first raised the issue in the June 19 edition after a woman called to say the cost had risen by 130 per cent and there was a lack of support workers.
Since then many people have contacted The Local to say they are not happy with the service. Benetas took over the Commonwealth Home Support Programme from the Hepburn Shire Council 12 months ago.
A number of people said, especially in relation to cleaning services, Benetas staff often failed to turn up for an allocated time – and the next service would be a fortnight away. Bills for the “non” services were still received in some cases.
A Trentham woman last week said Benetas had “pushed for direct debit” but she had refused. “I noticed on the previous bill that I was charged for three days when no one turned up. I then deducted those and paid what was due. However another bill has turned up for even more, and does not include the payment I have made.”
Another woman, from Daylesford, said her 87-year-old mother’s doctor had recommended a package for her. “Benetas assigned a cleaner for Mum but in the past eight weeks, Mum has had one visit from a different cleaner. Mum only has been assigned 45 minutes every fortnight, no-one has turned up in those times and calling Benetas is a waste of time, they either don’t answer or don’t call you back.
“If you miss your turn that’s it, you might or might not get someone else in the next fortnight. I have asked Benetas repeatedly to call me so that I know if someone is coming but they say they will and don’t do that either. There is the potential there for it to be a good service but at the moment it is a shambles unfortunately.”
The woman also said her mother had received an account saying she had domestic assistance on June 19, which was not true, and no-one had come since that date.
Another woman, also from Trentham, said she believed there were not enough staff. “We didn’t get cleaning done for about six weeks, and I am only getting an hour and a half each fortnight, but I wasn’t contacted to say they didn’t have someone to send. So you just sit around waiting and when no-one turns up it is up to me to call them. The contract says if I don’t call them to say we won’t be home, and someone turned up, I have to pay for that, but if they don’t let me know no-one is coming then that is just too bad for me.”
Ballarat MP Catherine King said she was concerned to hear that there continued to be dissatisfaction with Benetas. “I have contacted the Minister for Aged Care’s office and I have been advised that there have been some disruptions to services due to workforce issues, however Benetas advises they have accessed staff from surrounding areas to support service delivery.
“The Commonwealth Department was advised that clients have not been invoiced for services they have not received. All CHSP providers, including Benetas have access to additional CHSP funding to address issues relating to barriers for accessing services in aged care planning areas.
“If existing Benetas clients are not satisfied with their current services, they are encouraged to raise their concerns with Benetas directly to seek a resolution. My office is also happy to hear from anyone with concerns. If issues are unable to be resolved then the next step is to raise any service delivery concerns with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
“The Commission can be contacted on 1800 951 822 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday or at www.agedcarequality.gov.au Alternatively, Benetas clients can seek an alternative provider in their local area and My Aged Care can provide support. My Aged Care can be contacted on 1800 200 422 (free call) between 8am and 8pm weekdays and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays.
“The Older Persons Advocacy Network is also a good source and provides advocacy services. OPAN can be contacted on 1800 700 600 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm on Saturdays.”
A Benetas spokesperson said: “We acknowledge that there have been service challenges in the Hepburn (Shire) area due to resourcing and recruitment of carers. To address these challenges, we have conducted a local recruitment drive to attract new carers as well as brought in new carers from other regions to provide interim support. We have increased resourcing in the scheduling department to help relieve those pressures and provide additional support for the team to work through any system and process issues being experienced by clients.
“We would like the opportunity to support our clients and we encourage them to contact us directly on 1300 23 63 82 so we can resolve any concerns they have.”
A Hepburn Shire Council spokesperson said the council had an ongoing role in supporting older people in the shire and clients could contact its Positive Ageing Officer on 03 5348 2306 for a confidential chat.
Comments: donna@tlnews.com.au

By Donna Kelly

I WAS going to write about The Voice. It seemed appropriate given this week is NAIDOC Week. I know, National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee Week. I guess one day was not enough.
But then I started researching, even more than usual, and I don’t know enough about The Voice to write about it. And I think that could be the problem. A lot of Australians don’t know enough about it – even though millions will be spent on the referendum later this year.

And that is where, and I never, ever, thought I would say this, I agree with Peter Dutton. The referendum should be delayed. Of course, we all know that Yes is the correct answer to: “A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”. But a lot of us, myself included, would like a
little more detail.
I think, as it stands, with the detail left until after the referendum, that the vote will be No. Australians are a suspicous lot and let’s be honest, there is still racism and ignorance to overcome. I have very good friends, who would do anything for us, salt of the earth, but were always going to vote No. Mind you, they also watch Sky News.
Anyway, I thought instead I could write about the pandemic – and all those lockdowns. I have even got a TL tee-shirt that says “We’re Victorians – We know lockdowns”. Who knew it would ever be a bit of fun.
So during the lockdowns some people rearranged their pantries, or painted their walls or learnt how to make sourdough – hands up if you have now thrown away your starters? You know what I am talking about. Feeding them was only fun for a while.

But other people, like former ABC legend Jon Faine wrote a book, and personal trainer Beth Whiting got herself ready to become a kettlebell world champion.
Millie Gouldthorpe, as she went blind, literally threw herself into painting and Clunes’ Karen Heap continued her amazing work as Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative CEO and has just been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.
These are some of the stories we have in this edition and I am, as ever, always amazed by the talent of the community. I know, Jon Faine does not live here, but he is a regular visitor and loves his time in the Central Highlands. So he gets a pass.
I have probably said before that when we first started The Local, Kyle asked what would happen if we ran out of stories. I told him that was never going to be a problem. And it hasn’t. This is Issue 283 and I reckon we do about six feature stories in each edition. So that’s roughly 1696 stories featuring people, places, history, festivals and events. And a total of 596 Just Sayin’…s and Kyle’s Rants.
(Those plural ss are annoying to look at – yet we must resist the temptation to make them possessive.) And we’ve even run 283 of Glen’s garden columns – might have to double his wage when we get to 300.
We are quickly heading towards our 10th anniversary in September this year. Never thought about that when we started but there you go. There will be a little bit of a celebration – invites are going out in a few weeks. (Let me know if you want an invite…) But I guess the main celebration for most of our readers has been 10 years of free reads each fortnight – and weekly for the first year of the pandemic. We just
felt we needed to keep our community informed. Will we be around for another 10 years? Why not? Powerball hasn’t come up yet. And even if we won, we would still be here for the community. Wouldn’t we? Just sayin’..

Words: Donna Kelly

Jon Faine left the ABC after 20 years as morning radio host in September 2019 – just a few months before Covid hit.

Used to a busy life, he had plenty lined up. First there were publishers knocking at the door looking for a memoir – to which he said no.

“I told them I was not going to leave a job I loved and immediately start reliving it, I wanted to look forward through the windscreen, not into the rearview mirror.”

A few gave up but eventually Jon agreed to write a “thinly disguised memoir” about a disputed deceased estate – with materials he had been collecting for four decades.

The book, Apollo & Thelma, A True Tall Tale, published last year, is the story of the Mighty Apollo, a strongman and circus performer and his sister, Thelma, the publican at Top Springs in the NT for more than 20, who died in 1981.

To tell their story, Jon says, he must tell some of his. But back to Covid.

“I had been collecting materials for this story for 40 years and whenever I found stuff that was relevant I put it in this box and tucked it away for later. Or I might meet someone I thought could add to it and would put in a cassette in those days. I had a lot of oral history. And it was one of those backburner things I could do when I retired.

“Eventually when I did leave the ABC I had a number of things lined and then because ofr Covid they all collapsed. There was one time when I had absolutely nothing in my diary except a dentist’s appointment. That was it for the rest of my life and for someone who has been really busy that is actually quite confronting. I don’t mind telling you I got a bit miserable and felt sorry for myself and retreated into my shed where I started pulling things apart – I play with cars.

“But after a week or two I gave myself a kick up the arse, told myself to get a grip and to find things to replace the ones that had vanished. So I climbed up a ladder, pulled out the box and started going through it. I thought if I am ever going to do it, now is the perfect time, and if not now, when. So I got myself an office at the Abbotsford Convent and put in a second standup desk and acomputer and I used to lock myself in the room. The offices there are the old nun’s bedrooms and the walls are about a million metres thick and they are absolutely silent. Just read things, whole lots of books and interviewed people over the phone to fill in the gaps and it was very therapeutic. It was the opposite of what I used to do and for someone whose entire working life had been talking to people all week it was pretty different and probably good for me in hindsight.”

Jon said he delivered his first draft to his publisher who read it and said the first third was fine but then it fell apart. That was when Jon’s father died. The second draft was returned with the comment that the first two thirds were good but then…and that was when Jon’s mother died. Both were in their 90s “and it was horrible but it’s what happened”.

Jon was also told to give more of himself in the book which he found difficult as a private person and very much in charge during his radio work of how much he shared of his personal life. But he says publishers exist to save authors from themselves and editors “to tell you are not as good as you think you are”. “Once a book is printed it can’t be fine tuned – fresh eyes are vital.”

Jon said he was happy with the finished book but Apollo’s sons and Thelma’s nephews are not despite being interviewed on the record. Apollo, says Jon from his many interviews and personal knowledge was extremely vain, and Thelma, who he never met, was widely known in the 50s, 60s and 70s as a racist redneck.

“The sons are not happy with the final product. They view their father and aunt differently to everybody else. I describe their father in very complimentary terms but also as vain and they are furious that I have sullied his memory, yet he was the vainest person I have ever met. Families are complicated but I am really sad about that. I asked the oldest son if he would launch the book and he said no, he couldn’t do it.”

Jon, who also wrote a travel book about journeys with his son back in 2012, From Here To There, said he had no plans for another book but “you never say never”.

Currently he is working half-time at the University of Melbourne and “pretty much working harder than I have ever been”.

At 67 he says he is too busy and young to retire and it’s also not a good idea to go from “100 miles at hour to zero – a lot of people who retire are miserable”.

He left the ABC, a lifestyle, because he was tired of waking up at 4.15am and also wanted to choose his own time of stepping away. “Some people never recover from that shock when they get tapped on the shoulder. I never wanted to be one of those and I am quite saddened by what is happening at the ABC now but that is someone else’s problem.”

Jon is the guest speaker at Words in Winter and will be in conversation with Marieke Hardy at The Palais-Hepburn on Saturday, August 26.

He first met Marieke at her grandfather Frank Hardy’s funeral, just one of the many stories in his book, but said he had talked many times since. As to their August conversation, Jon said he had no wish to try and decide where Marieke would take that – “it could be as unstructured as my mind or as creative as hers”.

“Marieke is going to interrogate me and anyone who has been on the other side of a conversation with Marieke would be very brave to predict where it might go and I am not that brave. I have know her a very long time, she was just a teenager at the funeral, but then to reconnect in her glittered, celebrated media life and to host her in the ABC studio many, many times over the years is nothing short of a delight. When they said would you come and speak at our festival and we will ask Marieke as well, I just thought how wonderful that would be. I am really looking forward to me.”

Jon said he was also a regular visitor to “your delightful neck of the words as long as I can remember” and Hepburn was a go-to destination for holidays.

“So also to be invited to come and speak in a community that has been so consistently a place we have visited is just lovely and it doesn’t get much better.”

“These regional festivals are a really important part of the cultural life of a town or regional or state and they happen all over the place. They are a wonderful celebration of your community and what it has to offer and it is great to be asked to be invited to me a small part of it.” Link: www.wordsinwinter.com

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

Daylesford’s Beth Whiting has returned from the World Kettlebell Sport Federation championships in Hungary – with a swag of medals.
Beth walked away with six medals – three gold, one silver and two bronze. On her Integrate Fitness Facebook page Beth said the championships had been an incredible experience.
“To be a member of the Girevoy Sport Australia Association (GSAA) Australian Kettlebell team has been
nothing short of amazing.
“To make the team is one thing. To be a part of this team is another. I am honoured to call each of these
incredible humans my friends. We have shared the highs, the lows, tears, bloody hands, amazing experiences and so much more.
“On a personal note, I am so proud of what I have achieved in this competition.
“When my coach (Shannon Pigdon) asked me years ago what my goal was, to which I replied with a shrug ‘to make the Australian team’, I never quite understood the gravity of that statement. Whilst standing with him in the stadium it finally sunk in.
“I am a world class athlete and had just won gold at a world championship level. Standing on the podium
alongside other insanely strong women had made the years of hard work to get here absolutely worth it.”
Beth thanked her coach, her friends and family including her “rock”, her husband Brett, the Australian
crew and her Integrate Fitness family.
Beth told The Local back in early May, after qualifying for the world championships, that being good
at kettlebells was all about a combination of mental and physical resilience and the ability to keep going, no matter how tough that going gets. In competition, once you start, you never, ever put a kettlebell down.
Competitions include single and double lifts and range from 10 minutes to half marathons of 30 minutes
and full marathons of 60 minutes. The competitor’s weight, the weight of the kettlebell and repetitions
completed all come into the winning equation.

By Donna Kelly

I HAVE been thinking about two things this week. Yes, you know me, multi-tasking yet again.
The first was after chatting with Anneke Deutsch. Anneke received one of the King’s Birthday honours, for her services to the community.
A proud lesbian herself, Anneke has spent many years working towards improving the lives of lesbians, especially older lesbians – along with a great career in prosthetics.
She is very inspiring to talk to – kind of makes you wonder what you have been doing with your own life – but it was also quite confronting.
I think here in some areas of the Central Highlands we live in a bit of a bubble. Same-sex relationships are common and I think nothing of seeing two women or two men hugging it out in the street. Of course, being of my generation, if it gets too involved I think ‘get a room!’ but that’s the same for hetero couples as well. There is only so much I want to see.
But Anneke reminded me that up until 2008 you could not put down your same-sex partner’s name on your superannuation form – and in the 70s and 80s a single woman needed a man as a guarantor on a mortgage. And as she said, that was unjust but doable if you had a father or brother who had not disowned you – because you happened to be born a lesbian.
Anyway, it is great that her work in this field – hopefully you have read the story on page 5 – has been recognised by such a mainstream award. I am sure King Charles would approve.
The other thing I have been thinking about is The Block. There are lots of rumours swirling, locally and in the metro media, that Scotty Cam and his crew are heading our way for the 2024 series of the housing renovation/building show.
From what I can gather, they are after 3/4 acre blocks ready and waiting for period homes to be moved onto them. And then you need room for lots of crew and cameras and building equipment and cranes etc. And fans.
So, for possible locations, I am thinking around the Smith Street development in Daylesford – very near Mitre 10, one of the show’s main sponsors. Or there is apparently some land at the back of Hepburn, which is just down the road from the Mitre 10. Or, drumroll please, the back subdivision at Glenlyon, of one-acre blocks, where bitumen has only just been laid down for some of the back lanes and driveways. I mean, who lays down bitumen in winter and why would you change the lovely, gravel laneways into city streets – unless city folk were making their way here.
This year The Block is coming together at Hampton, as in Melbourne, not Little, but last year it was in Gisborne, the first time it had been held in a regional setting. It was awful – the winter weather was crap, the mud was metres deep and the landscaping looked like a nightmare.
I talked to some Gisbornians (is that right?) and they agreed it was awful – mainly because it took them so much longer to get to and fro from their home, just a few doors up, not only because of the works but the rubberneckers driving by to try and catch a glimpse of Scotty and his merry men and women. But, on the plus side, they said real estate prices had now gone up again.
Good or bad news? I don’t know. If they do hold it here it will be a great tourism win for the region, which is always good. But it might mean an influx of new residents in a region already struggling to provide enough infrastructure for those who are already here, including older lesbians. We could try to have some input perhaps, but it might be already too late to down tools. Just sayin’…

The Local is hitting the airwaves with the return of its Country Life podcast.
The fortnightly podcast unwraps each edition of The Local, and is brought to you by general manager, or
Ranter, Kyle Barnes and editor Donna Kelly. Kyle said the podcast was a down-to-earth look at the stories and their backgrounds, published in The Local.
“A couple of years back we ran a podcast four times a week during Covid to keep the community informed.
The podcast included many interviews and a wrap-up of the paper which was weekly at the time.
“This fresh approach is to have a bit of a look at the story behind the stories using plain speak and the
experience of the editorial team. There are also a few colourful anecdotes along the way.
“It’s all about being local and real. We are not comedians swearing and carrying on, just an editorial
team doing a wrap-up at the end of each production.
“And if people are a bit time poor but want to keep up with their local region, it is an easy way to do that.
“Like with all podcasts, and there are so many out there, you can check it out in the car while driving
around the region, at home while you are doing the boring stuff like the dishes or gather the family
around the wireless after dinner for some wholesome entertainment. Jokes.”
Tune in at www.tlnews.com.au and scan the QR code, which is always within the top four posts. Or head
to Spotif

DR SANDRA Staffieri has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medicine as an orthoptist and vision researcher, and to paediatric ophthalmology.
The part-time Hepburn resident is a research fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Eye Research Australia and the Retinoblastoma Care coordinator/senior clinical orthoptist at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Her research is focused on hereditary eye diseases, including congenital glaucoma, congenital cataract, eye movement disorders and retinoblastoma.
Dr Staffieri’s PhD, with the aim of reducing delayed diagnosis of retinoblastoma (eye cancer in children), included the development and evaluation of an information pamphlet for new parents describing important early signs of eye problems in children.
Dr Staffieri said while her career had been “accidental” in many ways, she took her work very seriously and was privileged to be able to help families through journeys after days that were often their worst nightmare.
While she trained as an orthopist, gaining a diploma in 1984, she upgraded that to a Bachelor when it became available in 1992 and found herself working in paediatrics. “I actually wanted to be a paediatrician growing up so that was pretty lucky, and it was really just how my career unfolded. I am well known to have said I prefer working with children than adults.”
Dr Staffieri then found herself coordinating children with retinoblastoma in Victoria and Tasmania at the Royal Children’s Hospital – ensuring all screening appointments were kept along with tracking down any better available outcomes for the children and their families.
“We were giving families quite devastating news, that their child has cancer or is at risk of cancer, and that is quite harrowing and involves a lot of intervention for many years. Anyway, it was a conference in 2012 where it all took off and I realised that delayed diagnosis was really common even in a country like Australia.
“Children could be diagnosed earlier but parents sometimes did not know the signs that something was not right, and even health care professionals could be unaware. That is purely because the child is well and healthy and they keep doing what everyone else is doing – it is not like many other cancers.
“So it became my mission to try and improve things and the past 11 years I have had an incredible journey, doing a PhD in developing awareness for parents and trying to get that implemented on a large scale here and overseas.”
Dr Staffieri also went to Papua New Guinea earlier this year to implement more awareness strategies – a country where children still die from retinoblastoma.
Dr Staffieri is also kept busy doing genetic eye research at the University of Melbourne’s CERA and works on the characteristics of eye diseases, tracking down family members and getting DNA samples.
“If we can unravel the secret of why different eye diseases occur and why some people have greater vision loss than others, then we can look at different treatments, and better treatments.”
Dr Staffieri said working with children was challenging but not in the way many people would think. “It is just a different set of skills and there is nothing more rewarding than being able to talk around a really frightened child and being able to get all the information you need from them for the team to make a decision. That is quite rewarding.”
Retinoblastoma can run in families, which means many of the children seen 30 years ago are now coming with their own babies for screening, but for the most part there is no family history involved. But it remains the most survivable of paediatric cancers, offering very good long-term outcomes.
Dr Staffieri said her house in Hepburn was her “happy place” where she and her husband could retreat from their busy work lives and “catch our breath”. “It’s been a real godsend and we have been looking to move up to Hepburn for a long time now the kids have all flown the nest.”
The connection came years ago when her mother migrated at the age of 13 with her family after World War II. They ended up at the migrant camp at Bonegilla in Victoria and then her mother was sent to the Daylesford Convent as a boarder.
“Every year in autumn Mum would traipse us up to see the Presentation nuns and I loved the autumn colours. When we are here we watch the autumn evolve and then the leaves are gone and winter comes and then we see spring and the green fuzz of the leaves on the trees. We just love to be here, kick back and relax.”
Dr Staffieri said she had mixed feelings about her award because in some ways represented “someone else’s grief – but I also have the incredible privilege to be there for them and try and make it a little easier and then I watch their kids grow and that has been incredible. From that first day with the parents thinking the world has opened up and they have fallen through a crack, yet their children have got through all of that and grown up to be adults and do amazing things. It is overwhelming and pleasurable in equal measure. It is nice to be recognised, because it is not just a job, but I do what I hope someone would do for me if I was in their shoes.”
Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

DAYLESFORD’S Anneke Deutsch has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the community.
The 61-year-old, who identifies as a proud lesbian, said it was wonderful that her work had been recognised by the King’s Birthday award.
“I’m most proud that my service to older lesbians is being recognised with this mainstream honour. Social acceptance has changed so much over my lifetime. When I first started working in the early 1980s, I was closeted because coming out would have negatively affected my career. It’s easier now, but still there are other battles that we must fight as same-sex attracted, lesbian-identified women.”
Ms Deutsch’s professional career included working with Ballarat Health Services as a clinical leader and senior prosthetist, with LaTrobe University’s School of Human Biosciences as a sessional lecturer and with AusAID, Australian Business Volunteers and the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics as a prosthetist, tutor and co-ordinator. The last included establishing a prosthetic, orthotics and rehabilitation
service in Tarawa, Kiribati where they made the first leg prostheses for i-Kiribati people – teaching locals how to make artificial legs so that they could run their own rehabilitation centre.
And if that was not enough, Ms Deutsch also turned her hand to volunteering locally and with national and state organisations, much of her work aimed at improving the lives of lesbians, especially older women, around the country.
She was a founding member of Hepburn Wind, the first project of the Hepburn Renewable Energy Association and the first community-owned wind farm in Australia, later known as the Sustainable Hepburn Association or SHARE. One project was to organise the first of the bulk buy solar arrays including installing a free one for the Daylesford Community Child Care Centre.
Ms Deutsch was also a member of the Hepburn Health Service LGBTI Aged Care Advisory Committee and helped the health service achieve the Rainbow Tick Accreditation for its aged care services, a first in Australia.
From 2008, she has volunteered with the Matrix Guild of Victoria, a charity for older lesbians, taking on roles including Housing and Aged Care spokeswoman, secretary and president. Her work led to the creation of the first social housing specifically for older lesbians in Australia – establishing a partnership with the community housing provider, Women’s Property Initiatives.
Ms Deutsch is currently busy on her latest challenge, as the co-founder of Older Women In Cohousing or WINC. The not-for-profit group is creating a 32-home cohousing community in Castlemaine, based on sustainability, accessibility, architecture to enhance social interaction, inclusion for women with a range of
financial assets, a culturally safe place for older lesbians and the sharing of intellectual property to help others with co-housing communities.
Ms Deutsch, whose work this year was also recognised with her inclusion on the Heather Mutimer International Women’s Day Honour Roll for Hepburn Shire, said while same-sex relationships were now accepted it had not always been the case and many older lesbians had been through very difficult times.
“I have always been someone who volunteers, and started with sustainability
issues and Hepburn Wind, but then I realised I could use my personal experience
being a lesbian to help others. My own relationship is at about 35 years and while it
(same-sex relationships) is something now quite accepted, especially in a place like
Daylesford, that was not always the case.
“I was trying to organise a big lesbian festival in ’98 and it was hard to find a
venue that was happy to host us or was comfortable with us. And it wasn’t until 2008
that I could nominate my partner for my superannuation if anything happened to me.
“And in the 70s and 80s you couldn’t get a mortgage unless you had a guarantor
who was a man. That was alright if you had a brother or a father who had not disowned you, but a lot of lesbians were not in that situation – so you couldn’t house yourself.
“‘Queer’ was an insult and many old lesbians have not reclaimed that word,
myself included. My lesbian partner and I had friends who left straight marriages for
a woman partner and lost custody of their kids as a result. Their ex-husbands could
argue in court that their ex-wives were unsuitable custodial parents simply because
they were lesbian.
“I am 61 now and when I look back I realise how far we have come in many ways, but there is more to do.”
One of those is WINC, a project aimed at providing affordable housing for older
women, mostly lesbians. The group had hoped originally to buy land in Daylesford
but are now coming close to fruition on land bought in Castlemaine.
The 32 dwellings are almost full with about 80 per cent taken up by lesbians.
Older women who do not identify as lesbian are welcome to apply for the housing
which is partly social housing, partly fully paid and also for “middle women” who don’t have enough to buy a home but have too much to be eligible for social payments.
Ms Deutsch said the group was now looking at different means of offering shared
equity through either private investors or perhaps government investment.
“I think if it comes off it will be a great pilot for any women – older women, lesbians – who can’t buy a house. And we are at the planning permit stage, so nearly there.”
Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Dorothy McDonald

By Donna Kelly
IF YOU see me looking a bit dishevelled, don’t worry, it’s all about my new exercise regime.
Like many over Covid – and yes I know it is still very much here – I kind of gave up. Well, the gym was pretty much shut and when it was open I didn’t really fancy either working out in a mask or working out with people not wearing masks who were puffing a lot.

I did try walking Lake Daylesford and the Glenlyon Reserve quite a few times but
people running the other way always had me reaching for a scarf to cover my mouth.
Germs and all that. Anyway, I mostly gave up.
That is until earlier this year when I decided to buy some smallish, five kilo
weights and do a bit of a DIY home workout. Bit of music, bit of dancing, bit of
weightlifting. And I started to feel better about myself. I guess that’s how it works.
And then I took the next step and found a private trainer. And they are great. I
am not going to tell you who they are because then they might become too busy.
Kyle and I turn up once a week and exercise pretty much non-stop for an hour.
It’s a really great workout. Lots of variation to keep us interested and it’s more about
keeping moving and creating a fitness for all the things you do around the home and
in your life.
So no trying to bench-press 100kg or plank for 30 minutes. There is not a lot of
call for that in my life. But lots of stuff with three to seven kilo weights moving from
hand to hand, or through the legs, or over the head. And it’s a lot of fun. And when
you come to think about it, exercise should be fun.
As school kids we just piled out into the playground at lunchtime, ate as fast as
we could, and then ran around playing chasey or British Bulldog or anything on
the move. Before we got all politically correct we played on the bars, dangled upside
down and swung around and around. And then it was back into the classroom before
we headed home and did it all again in the garden or down the street or in the local
park.
And no-one called it exercise or even incidental exercise, it was just about having
fun and playing. I reckon if someone built an adult-sized playground it would be
overrun with people just wanting to have a bit of fun. And I am not talking about
those pieces of exercise equipment dotted along beachfronts and parks. Just some old
fashioned slides and climbing bars. I know, the lawsuits would be happening within a
minute, but if we didn’t live in such a litigious world I reckon people would be fitter.
Anyway, after a few weeks doing the personal training I decided to take it up
another notch and start reformer Pilates. How long’s that been going on? It’s fun, you
can feel your core strengthening up and you can literally do it lying down. I kid you
not. Again, I am not saying who or where. For the reasons above. And also because I
was specifically told only last week “what is said at Pilates, stays at Pilates” – which is a
bummer because there’s some great goss.
So between the personal training, the Pilates and the continuing home workouts,
I am feeling pretty good each morning. Less groaning and more springing. But that
is in the morning. When the workouts finish, which always seem to coincide with a
trip to the supermarket or greengrocers, I look a bit of a wreck. That’s the dishevelled
part. Bit sweaty (even in winter), red face, messy hair, maybe still panting a bit. That’s
my public face these days. But I will keep on keeping on and maybe one day I will
just come away with a healthy glow.
If you have given up a bit, it’s never too late. I know from experience. Just sayin’.