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The Sweeney Flats Post | The Voice Of The Mullum Mullum Valley and The Omeo Valley | Issue 12 1

THE VOICE OF THE MULLUM MULLUM VALLEY AND THE OMEO VALLEY • ISSUE 12

Two city councils in Melbourne and Sydney are increasingly spying on residents by finding out who they are calling

and emailing. Knox City Council in Melbourne’s east is the worst offender, followed by Bankstown Council in Sydney’s west. Knox made 15 “metadata” requests in the year ended June 2015, up from just five in the previous year, according to a federal government report. The metadata may include phone numbers of people who called each other and how long they talked to each other, or email addresses and what times messages were sent. Access to it does not require a warrant.

Sometimes a request might simply be for who the owner of a certain phone number is and what their address is. Bankstown was granted access to residents’ metadata on 13 occasions, up from seven in the previous period.Queensland’s Ipswich City Council, which made 21 requests in 2013-14, has cut down on spying. It made just three metadata access requests in the year.

Melbourne’s Darebin and Wyndham councils made one request each in 2013-14, but did not request any metadata this year. However the number of requests by councils remains relatively steady overall, at 32 this year compared to 35 previously.

Other government agencies accessing citizens’ private communication records include Australia Post, which made 625 requests in the period, down from 810. Various racing authorities, the RSPCA and the Tax Office are among other agencies that dip into metadata year after year.

A spokesperson for Australia Post said it requests phone records from telcos to chase people who steal phones or SIM cards from its stores, or to pursue people who make “serious threats” to staff or engage in corruption and fraud.

The overall number of request authorisations for telco data, including for requests from police and other law enforcement agencies, leapt 9 per cent to 365,728 in the year to June 2015. However the number of requests from non-law enforcement agencies, such as councils, fell slightly from 4018 in 2013-14 to 3941 this year. A spokesperson for Bankstown Council said it had only accessed call records to place people suspected of illegally dumping waste at the

scene of the offence, resulting in “a number of successful prosecutions”. In one case around 20,000 tonnes of waste was dumped at five different sites, the spokesperson said.

Knox City Council was asked to explain what it used metadata for, but has yet to respond. In previous years councils have admitted to using metadata to chase minor infringements such as unauthorised advertising, unregistered pets, and littering. Last year Sydney’s Hills Shire Council told Fairfax it used metadata to track down a roof cleaner who had polluted a river. The practice has become more common in a few short years. Back in the 2011-12 financial year, only two councils – Bankstown and Wyndham – were accessing metadata.

Before mandatory data retention legislation came into effect in October, a broad range of government agencies able to issue fines or “protect public revenue” had been automatically authorised to access citizens’ metadata. Since October – a period which will be covered in next year’s report – non-law enforcement government agencies are required to apply directly to Attorney-General George Brandis before they can access the data. The Attorney-General must consider a range of criteria when granting a request, including whether the agency has a binding privacy scheme, and whether the functions of the agency include investigating “serious contraventions” of the law. Fairfax is awaiting a response from the Attorney-General’s office as to which agencies, if any, have applied to access metadata. The Australia Post spokesperson said Australia Post was no longer accessing metadata.

Access to private internet, phone records up by 9 per cent - without warrants

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2 The Sweeney Flats Post | The Voice Of The Mullum Mullum Valley and The Omeo Valley | Issue 12

Director of Quadsafe Australia, Colin Lawson, did not agree with the recommendation that children should be banned from riding quad bikes during the inquest, and said that view had not changed.

Instead, he said helmets would be the best protection for children and adults.“The helmet that is currently available, that people are using, is designed for a Harley Davidson on the bitumen to be used at 100 kilometres an hour,” Mr Lawson said.“They don’t really work in hot, slow [conditions]... for example following cattle. They are just too hot to wear.

“Once slightly harsher rules are enforced to say everyone needs to be wearing a helmet if you are operating one [a quad bike] in a work place situation, then the market would follow and there would be more appropriate helmets being used.”

He said he would also like to see specific training programs for farmers, with government subsidies available to encourage more people to engage. “Dairy farmers [for example] generally operate quad bikes twice a day, every day and they know how to operate a quad bike in the sense that they know where the accelerator is, they know how the brakes work,” Mr Lawson said.

“What we need to do is come up with a training package that is relevant and is going to have the uptake of farmers. “Currently there is no subsidy for quad bike [training] at all, so that really is the next most important thing.” Mr Lower said while he agreed training was necessary, the was no evidence to suggest it would reduce deaths or accidents in any great manner. He said trying to eliminate the regular use of quad bikes with other vehicles, such as side-by-side varieties, would be most useful.

Quad bikes are again a farmer’s number one enemy - for the fifth consecutive year. A report from the Australian Centre

for Agricultural Health and Safety has shown 69 people lost their lives on farms last year, up from 54 in 2014. Quad bikes and tractors accounted for 40 per cent of those deaths, with 9 per cent being children.

It was quad bikes that were at the top of the list, with 15 people killed while using the vehicles in 2015, compared to 12 the year before.

Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety Associate Professor Tony Lower said it was frustrating to see the numbers. He said the emotional toll on families, friends and communities as a result of farm accidents involving quad bikes was indescribable. “Look at any death regardless of whether it is a farm-related death, an on-road death or some incident where something is not expected ... I think everybody would have experienced that in one way or another and knows the impact it has,” Mr Lower said. He also said people who were not killed were often left with life-long injuries.

“We see some serious and really terrible trauma that does occur, and this has an impact that flows right on down through not just the family but also the community,” Mr Lower said.

“These people are not able to undertake work and family life and social activities in the way in which they normally would, and that has a major impact on the way they lead their life.”

NEED NEW SAFETY MEASURES IN PLACE NOW

Two coronial inquests into quad bike deaths were held last year, one in Queensland and one in New South Wales.The Queensland inquest heard that one in five people killed in a quad bike accident in Australia was a child. Suggestions were made to ban children under the age of 16 from riding the vehicles and other safety measures included mandatory licensing, roll bars, safety rating systems and specialised training.

According to Mr Lower all of these suggestions would save lives.“All of those things in combination would actually make a difference, there is no one single panacea that is going to make a difference.”

Quad bikes are still a farmer’s worst enemy claiming most lives in 2015

Article Courtesy http://www.abc.net.au/ Story posted online 13 January, 2016. Story by Lara Webster. Photograph shown above supplied by Tom Edwards.

“The helmet that is currently available that people are using is designed for a Harley Davidson on the bitumen to be

used at 100 kilometres an hour.”Colin Lawson, Director of Quad Safe Australia director


QUAD BIKES AN ESSENTIAL FARM TOOL

However AgForce Queensland vice president Georgie Somerset said quad bikes were a necessary tool on the farm. She said agricultural industries, from horticultural to beef and everything in between, needed quad bikes for a range of tasks.

What Ms Somerset and AgForce Queensland would like to see is a safety rating system, which was a recommendation made by the peak lobby group during the Queensland coronial inquest. Ms Somerset said the major problem was that quad bikes were not all-terrain vehicles.

“We want our producers to be able to purchase a quad bike that they understand is fit for the purpose that they are going to use it.

“At the moment we seem to not have that clarity around how safe certain models are for the purpose that they are going to be used,” she said.

“I walk in and buy a fridge and I know how efficient it is and I buy vehicles knowing how safe they are, [but] I cannot currently go in and buy a quad bike with a safety rating.”Ms Somerset said she would like to see the quad bike industry engage with AgForce on the idea of safety ratings. She said AgForce Queensland would still not support any move towards mandatory licensing or bans on children.

WHO IS THE LEADING EDGE IN CORRUPT BEHAVIOR?

Photograph shown above supplied by Lara Webster.

“I walk in and buy a fridge and I know how efficient it is and I buy vehicles

knowing how safe they are [but] I cannot currently go in and buy a quad

bike with a safety rating. ” Georgie Somerset, Agforce Queensland vice president

EDITORIAL BY PAUL SLATTERY

We all know that some Police in all States are CORRUPT, and, also we are aware most CORRUPTION is contributed to by INDIVIDUALS. When I received a media release from the Independent Broad Based Anti Corruption Commission on the release date of 2ND DECEMBER 2015, about encouraging people to report predatory behavior by police against vulnerable persons, I thought that at last ‘all my Christmas’s had come at once. But I was mistaken!

I lodged a complaint about the predatory behavior with the IBAC in December 2016, and, I received a response from Terry Gaylard, seeking further information from me. In a return email to Mr Gaylard, I stated that because of many impairments, including an Acquired Brain Injury, I needed assistance in making my complaint, and, could I get help.

In the accompanying letter, there was a complaint form attached, which stated should an applicant require help in lodging to notify the IBAC, there would be a facility for the IBAC to help.

On the 15TH JANUARY 2016, I received a further response from Elizabeth Lee, the Manager, ASSESSMENT & REVIEW UNIT, REF CF/15 /2913, Tony Gaylard’s boss, advising that the IBAC would not be investigating my complaints.

I have been vulnerable as a person for many years, because of my disabilities, but, I have grown up with an insatiable appetite to improve the lot of other vulnerable people, and, when I received the press release from the IBAC, advising they wished to hear from people with disabilities who wanted to report abusive situations contributed by Victorian Police, I took them at their word to report it. I have yet to report any thing because the IBAC, via Elizabeth Lee, has chosen to throw a spanner in the works because of her ineptness.

At this stage I have all the correspondence, including the record numbers both to, and, from the IBAC. The VICTORIA OMBUDSMAN, Deborah Glass, and, the IBAC, are in cohorts with each other when it comes down to the wire, the are on the same floor, in the same building, and, to me they are in an incestuous relationship, because they feed off each other.

Further, when one complains to either one, you get a negative response from both. Therefore, if this is the case, why does the Victorian Government have these two peak bodies in the first place. If the Ombudsman, and, the IBAC have no apparent appetite to help the rank and file public , to understand why they wont investigate their complaints, especially when those complaints are made by a person with profound disabilities like myself, then one can call those people CORRUPT also.

We need a peak body that will show no fear when it comes to investigating all forms of CORRUPTION, as this is the only way we as a society can be satisfied our voices are being heard.

Finally, it is my opinion, the likes of the Ombudsman, and, the IBAC, should think seriously about their roles because are they there to do their own bidding, in their own time, and, be answerable to no one. enjoy the chase - carpe diem


guitar and the considered lyric. He became more curatorial, using the studio as an instrument, his musicians (often in incongruous combinations – the professorial sound designer and the funk rhythm section) as cyphers for his experiments in musical interference and cultural jamming. Instead of starting with a song mostly composed, the song would emerge at the end of the process. While acting with exquisite taste and judgement, he allowed accident and happenstance to lead him to surprising new configurations of rock music. He often chose exceptional collaborators; Mick Ronson, Brian Eno, Tony Visconti, Robert Fripp to name a few notables. They came and went but the music was always compelling because Bowie was the curator.

David Bowie showed, and still shows us, that there are other possibilities. We are not stuck with a given mindset, a singular process, a known destination, a predetermined sexuality, a linear destiny. Life is way more mysterious, replete with resonances, echoes and unexplored expanses. This was a heady notion for kids lost in the ’70s – it still is.

A few years ago Bowie released the track Where Are We Now?, a meditation on cloudy memory and dimming consciousness. For an artist who kept the personal at a distance he hits a peak moment of elemental emotional purity as the song closes:mandatory licensing or bans on children.

David Bowie, who died [recently] aged 69, took conventional notions of identity in pop and rock, already long-haired

and drug-addled after the 1960s, and hyper-blasted them into orbit, creating an explosion of myriad shapes and possibilities. He was a cultural figure who gave many souls in the 1970s and beyond the permission to explore ‘other selfs’; alternate versions of themselves, not constrained by social norms.

Rather than perform as an ‘authentic self’, David Bowie, through a number of concocted personas and striking performance ambits and gestures, explored the outer reaches of personal identity: male, female, weirdly normal, drug-fucked, spaceman, alien. In terms of Western popular culture this was revolutionary.

For some adolescents sunk in the deadened suburbs of Melbourne in the 1970s, Bowie’s provocations were a beacon. Melbourne (yet alone Australia) did not do ‘different’ in the ’70s. ‘Different’ was Bowie’s calling card. A small, diffuse cadre responded, not only to the obvious poetic and musical brilliance, but to the implicit challenge or, at the very least, permission to consider ideas and action outside the norm. While there were other contributions to this cultural provocation (Pipe Records – the ‘cosmic music’ import store, Kraut Rock, Lou Reed’s belligerent and transgressive persona, Roxy Music et al) it would not be an overstatement to say that Bowie was the figurehead. By the time he toured here in 1978 a gaggle of devotees camped outside the MCG for three weeks. The excuse was to get good tickets but really a tribe had found itself. A large part of the Melbourne punk and post-punk scene had some connection to this infamous queue. It was a notable enough cultural phenomenon to warrant a place in the recent David Bowie is … exhibition at ACMI.

Bowie inspired Glam, dumped it as it slid into cheesy self-parody, foreshadowed disco, helped create the seminal DNA of post-punk and, as the ’70s came to a close, created many of the sounds and mannerisms that were co-opted and imitated by both the worthy artists and poseurs of the 1980s.

On a more specific, musical level he started out writing quirky, poetic pop songs in a roughly conventional manner and gradually broke apart and reformulated the process of song writing and record making. As he moved into the ’70s he ditched the well-prepared song, the strummed twelve string

David Bowie (1947 – 2016): Where are we now?Article Courtesy http://dailyreview.com.au/ Story posted online 12 January, 2016. Story by Peter Farnan. Photograph shown above supplied by Tom Edwards.

A few years ago Bowie released the track Where Are We Now? ...a meditation on cloudy

memory and dimming consciousness.

For an artist who kept the personal ata distance he hits a peak moment

of elemental emotional purity as the song closes:

As long as there’s sunAs long as there’s rainAs long as there’s fireAs long as there’s meAs long as there’s you


Acceptance of mental health issues drives record number of callers to Lifeline crisis line in 2015Article Courtesy http://www.abc.net.au/ Story posted online 13 January, 2016. Story by Eliza Laschon.

Crisis support service Lifeline recorded more than one million calls for help in 2015, the highest number in its 52-year history. The 24-hour telephone support line also recorded its busiest four months on record from September to December.

Lifeline Australia chief executive officer Pete Shmigel attributed the record to both an increase in awareness and acceptance of mental health issues, as well as the pressures of a technology-driven society.“On the one hand Australians are more aware of mental health issues than they ever have been before,” he said.

“With every article that’s published on the internet, people get a little bit more confident perhaps and a little competent about talking about their mental health concerns. “On the other hand I suggest that it’s also because of the society that we’re living in.”

ONLINE TECHNOLOGY ‘CAN INCREASE ISOLATION’

Mr Shmigel said factors other than mental health issues such as depression and anxiety were at play. “Australians spend upwards of 10 and 12 hours a day on average online nowadays,” he said. “They have three digital devices and sometimes that technology, as great as it is, can also enhance our feelings of loneliness, our feelings of isolation. “That sense of, ‘am I the only unhappy person on Facebook?’”

He said Australians’ emotional wellbeing was not in sync with their material wealth. “Perhaps it’s because we are living too fast we are not actually staying in the present,” he said.

“We’re not actually subscribing to strong and specific values that guide us through those moments of darkness and those moments of isolation and loneliness.”

TEXT MESSAGING BEING CONSIDERED

Lifeline is working to keep up with the increasing demand of calls. “We have to get better at providing that help so among the things that we’re looking at is how do we use technology for good,” Mr Shmigel said. “How do we use the digital world for the good of our emotional worlds? “We’re looking at things like extending our services if we have the right funding support, to things like text messaging which can be an easier and more convenient way for some people who are in crisis to reach out to us.”

According to Lifeline, suicide claims almost seven Australian lives a day, and two thirds of those are men.

“Blokes in particular sometimes feel that the anonymity of text gives them makes it a bit easier to say, ‘look, I’m not doing that well, I could use some help here’, so we want to be here to meet their needs,” Mr Shmigel said.

If you or anyone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

In the tiny town of Carinda in western New South Wales, the phone at the pub is ringing off the hook. Bartender Marie Draper is fielding calls about the death of a former patron, who 33 years ago forever linked this quiet outback town to rock and roll history. That man was David Bowie, who came to Australia and fell in love with the country.

The smoke-filled public bar at the Carinda Hotel was the setting for his iconic film clip for Let’s Dance — with a blonde-haired Bowie mixing it with the locals. The pub has since become a pilgrimage for tourists, with Bowie fans making the journey out west to pose against the same yellow tiles the Thin White Duke once leant against.

“When we have tourists come through they always ask where David Bowie did the video clip,” bartender Ms Draper says. “I would say now that he’s passed away there would probably be a lot more that would come.” Ms Draper says that when owner Malcolm George renovated the hotel there was a lot of interest in making sure the tiles stayed, and so they were carefully removed and returned to pride of place after the renovation. Lena Peacock worked behind the bar in 1983 and said they were “dumbfounded” when Bowie and his crew turned up.

“He just walked in and introduced himself to us,” Ms Peacock said. David Bowie stands shirtless, posing with a Carinda local woman and her baby for a photo. “Carinda is a small town and we’re all friends, and they couldn’t understand why I didn’t tell them that David Bowie was coming. “And I just explained to them, I just didn’t know myself.” Some of Let’s Dance was filmed on Victor Webber’s property and he said the experience was memorable.

“It was interesting to see the man in action, and obviously you don’t forget,” Mr Webber said. While the vast landscapes of the outback entranced Bowie, what he saw as the country’s endemic racism angered him, and became a central theme in the Let’s Dance clip.

It is not known why Bowie chose Carinda and its circa 1930s pub, but his message in the video was clear. “My idea was to present an Indigenous people in a capitalist, white - mainly white - society and the problems of the interrelationships between the two,” Bowie said during a contemporary interview.

Article Courtesy http://www.abc.net.au/Story posted online 12 January, 2016.

Story by By Tim Leslie, Philippa McDonald and staff

Bowie at the bar: How Let’s Dance put an outback pub in the spotlight


In many cases, the consumers that hold the gift cards may wish to spend more money to buy specific good above the value of the gift card, which would help with stock reduction and cash flow.

If Dick Smith is not able to be restructured (what is known as a scheme of arrangement) and continues as a going concern, the specific rules of liquidation are then applied. At that point in time, it would be more reasonable for all creditors, including the gift card holders, to be treated in the same way.

It is not good to make changes to laws on the basis of neither anecdotal changes or “knee-jerk reactions,” but there are sufficient examples of retailers that sell such gift cards and become insolvent to warrant corporate law reform. The technology for the gift card sales to be held on escrow (effectively like a trust account until the money is applied to the relevant goods or services supplied) could be easily created without heavy compliance costs for the company.

One of the additional complexities with this area of consumer law is that the purchaser of the gift cards (the person actually contracting with Dick Smith or the agent like Coles or Woolworths) is not the actual consumer (the gift card is often a gift provided to a third party for no contractual consideration – payment). This concept of escrow or trust would enable the gift card holder to get their money back as cash in a situation such as voluntary administration or receivership.

A review of this area of law is needed for the benefit of Australian consumers.

The corporate collapse of Dick Smith has many people, including cross-bench Senator Nick Xenophon, angered at

the treatment of gift card holders as unsecured creditors.

The concept leading to this situation is more than 100 years old and was borrowed from the laws of bankruptcy before corporations existed. Companies that are in financial trouble have a variety of methods to help them systematically either trade out of trouble or methodically be wound up as an entity. Legally, these processes are known as external administration and involve receivership, voluntary administrators and liquidators, depending on which route is taken by the various groups of creditors.

The classic case that established the principle of a corporation being a separate legal entity from its shareholders, is Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd in 1897 House of Lords (UK). The case was between two creditors. The first was an unsecured creditor that had lent Salomon Ltd money and Mr Aaron Salomon himself who had lent his company money as a secured loan. The end result was that Mr Salomon as a secured creditor would rank in priority ahead of the unsecured other creditor.

Today’s legislation also provides for certain creditors to be given priority such as employees and government creditors collecting tax (state and federal). The liquidators or receivers or administrators all have legal responsibilities to realise the company assets and pay the creditors. If the company is insolvent, it simply means the assets are less than the debts and some creditors will only receive a few cents per dollar of debt.

There has been appropriate outrage over the fact that Dick Smith, and through its agents of Coles Supermarkets and Woolworths, gift cards were sold for cash and now the administrator of the Dick Smith company will not honour those sales. There have been some specific examples of hardship for sums in excess of A$1,000, although in reality there will be many A$50 and A$100 gift cards left over from Christmas presents sitting in people’s desks.

Not honouring the cards is a simple application of the priority rules as set out in current law. But as Senator Xenophon has publicly stated, this is inequitable and unreasonable, and there should be law reform. The Senator has also called for a Senate Inquiry into the collapse of Dick Smith, but similar lessons were already learned from the HIH Insurance Royal Commission in 2001.

Senator Xenophon also wants corporations law to be amended to make directors of companies that collapse personally liable for the value of gift cards purchased or deposits paid for goods.

He makes a very valid point in stating that the receivers, Ferrier Hodgson should consider honouring the gift cards while the shop is still trading and that the goods are for sale.

Xenophon is right to call for

LAW REFORM ON GIFT CARDS

Article Courtesy http://theconversation.com/ Story posted online 12 January, 2016. Story by Michael Adams. Photograph shown right supplied by Gemma Najem/AAP.


Two Victorian police officers charged with Vermont assault

as video clears teen

Studies show dogs can detect emotion

in human voices

Article Courtesy http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ Story posted online 13 January, 2016. Story by James Dowling and David Hurley. Victoria Police badge image supplied by Herald Sun (number removed).

Article Courtesy http://www.foxnews.com Story posted online 22 February, 2014. (REUTERS)

THE family of a teen once accused of assaulting police paid $4000 to recover a deleted video from his mobile phone

and clear his name. Instead, two police officers have now been charged with assault and suspended from operational duties with pay. The family of one of the boys originally accused has told the Herald Sun an officer allegedly grabbed one teen by the ear and punched him in the head.

The video, seen by the Herald Sun, features audio of what appears to be the teenagers and police officers arguing. After sounds of a scuffle, officers are heard yelling “you do not assault police”. “You touched me first, man, what is with you?” the teen says. A police officer then can be heard saying “because you are being a smart-arse”.

Later in the altercation a teen is heard shouting “you are twisting my arm”. Clear vision of any alleged assault does not appear to have been captured. The police officer confiscated the teen’s possessions and locked him in a police vehicle.

The then 16-year-old alleges that when he was handed back his phone, the footage had mysteriously disappeared. The boy’s father told the Herald Sun the Professional Standards Command was investigating how the video had been deleted.

The teens were charged with resisting arrest and possession of marijuana, but all charges were later dropped.

Leading Senior Constable Dennis Gundrill and Senior Constable Simon Mareangareu will face the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court in May over the alleged assault on the morning of Christmas Day 2014 near a convenience store in Vermont.

The father said he paid an IT consultant, used by the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police, to recover the video and clear his son’s name.The father said police had “covered up the investigation”. “The video will be used as evidence in the upcoming court case,” he said.

“The policeman grabbed my son’s friend by the ear, then he leans forward and punches him in the head. “It shows the cop accuse him of being a smart-arse before it happens.“He is a skinny little kid and the policeman is really big.“When they saw my son filming, he was wrestled and his arm was twisted,” he said.

Think your dog can tell when you’re feeling sad or happy? You may be right. Dogs are sensitive to cues of emotion in

human voices, according to a new study from Current Biology. Researchers suspect the area of the brain responsible for voice and sounds in both dogs and humans evolved at the same time, 100 million years ago, when the two species shared common ancestors.

“Dogs and humans share a similar social environment,” Attila Andics, of MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Hungary, said in a press release. “Our findings suggest that they also use similar brain mechanisms to process social information. This may support the successfulness of vocal communication between the two species.”

For their study, researchers trained 11 dogs to sit still in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The researchers than analyzed the brain activity of both dogs and humans as they listened to 200 different dog and human sounds, ranging from crying to playful barking and laughing.

While the brains of both dogs and humans responded most strongly to noises produced by their own species, they processed emotionally-loaded sounds in similar ways. For example, both species experienced a greater activation of the brain’s primary auditory cortex when hearing happy sounds.

Some differences were noted as well: Dogs responded more strongly to non-vocal noises, compared to humans.

The researchers believe this study may lead to a better understanding of why dogs are so in tune with their owner’s emotions.

“This method offers a totally new way of investigating neural processing in dogs,” Andics said. “At last we begin to understand how our best friend is looking at us and navigating in our social environment.”

Walter, a Golden Retriever, lies in a MRI scanner in order to help researchers understand how dogs can be so remarkably good at tuning into the feelings of their human owners. (REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo)


A $1 billion redevelopment of the Nylex silos in Richmond has been thrown into disarray after the state’s heritage

authority banned developer Caydon from demolishing buildings on the heritage listed site.

The heritage body’s decision came as a state planning tribunal case began on Monday between Caydon and Yarra Council and residents, to decide if the project could be approved.

The case was almost abandoned after Heritage Victoria’s decision became public at the start of the hearing.

Developer Joe Russo, who recently failed in his bid to blast his way onto the Richmond football club board, runs Caydon.

He wants to demolish the silos and other buildings on the site and replace them with 1000 apartments next to CityLink and the Yarra. He has named the project The Malt District.

The silos - built from 1952 and completed in the 1960s - are not heritage listed although the older malting buildings and the Nylex sign on the silos roof are.

Mr Russo will now launch a separate appeal against Heritage Victoria’s decision.

Heritage Victoria executive director Tim Smith was highly critical of Caydon’s plan to demolish some buildings and build towers on the site.

He described the project as a “high-yield development with very little positive heritage outcomes”.

The height of around 20 storeys of the proposed buildings on the predominantly low-rise landscape would not add to the streetscape, while the project would have negative impacts on “significant views” to the Nylex sign, Mr Smith wrote.

Because the site is on the State Heritage Register, a separate permit from Heritage Victoria is required for anything to do with heritage matters.

At the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing on Tuesday, the barrister for Caydon, John Cicero, said Mr Russo’s firm had been trying for several years to get a project on the site approved by the council.

NYLEX SILOS $1 BILLION DEVELOPMENT THROWN INTO DISARRAY AFTER HERITAGE RULING

Article Courtesy http://www.theage.com.au/Story posted online 14 January, 2016. Story by Clay Lucas. Photograph shown supplied by Benjamin Cebon.

Caydon’s plan for an apartment tower would replace the Richmond silos. The dormant Nylex clock, which sits atop the silos, would be reinstalled and switched on above the apartment tower if it is built.

He said the Heritage Victoria ruling had caused issues for the developer, coming after the VCAT hearing had started.

“We’ve been gazumped at the last hour. But so be it, that’s life and we have to deal with it,” Mr Cicero said.

The National Trust argues that the silos crowned by the Nylex Sign were one of Melbourne’s most recognised industrial landmarks, and an important reminder of the city’s industrial past in gentrified Richmond.

“There is no good reason why the silos should not be incorporated into the development,” said the National Trust’s Felicity Watson. “There are many excellent examples of silos being adapted for residential use, not least the nearby Richmond Silos by Fender Katsalidis, who are also the project architects for the Nylex site.”

In 2004, the Victorian Heritage Council included a policy on the silos that allows for their demolition.

Ms Watson said the refusal by Heritage Victoria of Caydon’s application should “open the door for a rethink of this important development, which could be great because of the landmark silos, not in spite of them”.

Caydon spokesman Brian O’Neil said that “notwithstanding the recent heritage refusal, the stage one VCAT appeals process is proceeding. Heritage matters will be dealt with through a separate heritage appeals process”.

Yarra mayor Roberto Colanzi said the heritage refusal supported the council’s decision not to grant Caydon a permit for the site.

“We are in agreement that the heights proposed adversely affect the low-scale industrial setting and that the proposed development offers little in the way of heritage outcomes,” Cr Colanzi said in a statement.


Why our Prime Minister needs to look beyond the capital citieshttp://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/ Story posted online 6 January, 2016. Story by Joel Fitzgibbon.

IN THIS election year, more than anything, what Australians are looking for most is certainty.

They want security of employment, a chance to build wealth and every opportunity for their children. It’s a statistical fact that securing all those things can be more difficult for those of us who live outside our capital cities.

Unless government is content with the idea of an even greater share of our population living in the capitals, it needs to have clear and coherent strategies to retain - if not grow - regional populations.

Every town exists for a reason: a key point on a railway line, on the highway before the bypass was built, where miners entered the dark underground or where gold was won. Others were selected by our early explorers for their rich endowment of water, productive soils, forests or seafood. Some are simply a natural inland extension of another; others found wealth in food manufacturing.

Sadly, many of these townships have lost their main source of economic activity: the coal mine has run its course, the timber mill closed, the manufacturing plant no longer is competitive, the railway long ago became a relic, or climatic conditions have made farming harder.

These towns too often have fallen into dynamic decline. That is, with the demise of the primary local employer, those who can go elsewhere seeking work do so, leaving those who have retired or who hold limited skills behind. This has too often been the story of rural Australia.

Of course, it’s not the only story - many rural and regional communities are thriving on new opportunities and innovations driven by the private sector and strong local leadership.

This last point is an important one — work by Regional Institute Australia has identified the quality of local leadership as a key difference between regions that have done well and those that continue to underperform. But the regional communities can’t do it all on their own.

They need the help of government: infrastructure and assistance getting projects that will drive future economic activity off the ground.

Most aren’t asking for handouts, just a recognition that sometimes an early leg-up is necessary to secure success which, in turn, saves government money in unemployment benefits and delivers government tax revenue.

Former Labor governments have recognised this with a dedicated regional development minister, the establishment of Regional Development Australia and a dedicated think-tank in the form of Regional Institute Australia.

Further, it made sure infrastructure projects were funded on merit and on the recommendations of Infrastructure Australia.

Let’s hope 2016 is the year Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull demonstrates a capacity to gaze beyond our capital cities and an ability to focus on our regions by recognising there is a role for government in driving greater success in our regions.

And while Mr Turnbull contemplates a replacement for his former Minister for Cities, why not a minister for rural towns?

Joel Fitzgibbon is Opposition spokesman for rural affairs.

Would you like to contribute to The Sweeney Flats Post Newspaper?

SEND YOUR SUBMISSION TODAY!Attention: The Editor

Email: [email protected] | Post: PO BOX 195 PARK ORCHARDS VIC 3114


On a typical Australian summer day, the temperature inside a parked car can be as

much as 30 degrees to 40 degrees hotter than the outside temperature.Imagine even on day of approximately 20 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car could be up to 60 degrees!

According to health experts, one of the most dangerous factors during excessively hot weather is the addition of humidity. Children do not tolerate the heat as well as adults as their bodies generate more heat relative to their size than adults do. They also lose more fluids because they have a greater proportion of skin surface in relation to their size.

Always ensure that children travelling in cars are not overheating and have adequate fluid intake.

LEAVING A CHILD IN A CAR CAN BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, SO NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN ALONE IN A CAR!!

CHILDRENUNATTENDED

IN CARS

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what’s great about Australia and being Australian. It’s the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It’s the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future.

Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788. Though 26 January marks this specific event, today Australia Day celebrations reflect contemporary Australia: our diverse society and landscape, our remarkable achievements and our bright future. It also is an opportunity to reflect on our nation’s history, and to consider how we can make Australia an even better place in future.

On Australia Day, over half of the nation’’s population of 23 million attend either an organised community event, or get together with family and friends with the intention of celebrating our national day. Many more spend the public holiday relaxing with family and friends.

Yet Australia Day is much more than barbeques and fireworks. It is more than another public holiday. It is more than the pride and excitement of new citizens who call themselves Australian for the first time on 26 January after being conferred citizenship.

At its core, Australia Day is a day driven by communities, and the celebrations held in each town, suburb or city – unified by the celebration of what’’s great about Australia and being Australian – are the foundation of its ongoing success.

NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN ALONE IN A CAR

OMEO AUSTRALIA DAY CELEBRATIONS

Everybody is welcome!8.00am Free breakfast

9.00am Flag raising / Anthem

10.30am Entertainment, children’s treasure hunt, games

1.00pm Close

Cost FREE

For all public transport options to this venue, please visit Public Transport Victoria. Get the best out of your neighbourhood and discover

more local events with nabo.com.au


Would you like to contribute to The Sweeney Flats Post Newspaper?

SEND YOUR SUBMISSION TODAY!Attention: The Editor

Email: [email protected] | Post: PO BOX 195 PARK ORCHARDS VIC 3114


Older people who get divorced report feeling relieved, excited, and more

confident following the split, a survey has found.

Far from stewing over the break-up, one fifth of over 45’s said they threw a divorce party, or enjoyed a night out.

Over a third remained friends with an ex-partner, and 65 per cent said any

bad feeling was in the past.

The Mittagundi Festival is a family camping event featuring a Bush Dance and Pioneer Skills Open Day. It’s a chance to take your friends and family up to Mittagundi, get away from the modern world, learn some new skills, meet some

interesting people and most of all have fun with friends!

Photos from our most recent event 8 & 9 January 2016:

Be sure to get your ticketsto attend next year!

www.mittagundi.org.au/events/

THE MITTAGUNDI FESTIVAL

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The Sweeney Flats Post is available online, and handed personally to readers in the area of the Mullum Mullum Valley. The Sweeney Flats Post accepts no responsibility for any claims made by advertisers in this newspaper. Responsibility for electoral comment in this issue is accepted by Paul Slattery, volunteer editor, 29 Milne Road, Park Orchards. People of all ages are invited to contribute to any section of The Sweeney Flats Post; so if you live in Templestowe, Loughnans Hill, Crystal Brook, Donvale, Park Orchards, Doncaster East, Burnt Bridge, Heatherdale, Deep Creek, Yarran Dheran, Ringwood East, North Ringwood, Wonga Park, Warrandyte, Croydon and Croydon Hills, make sure you get your copy of The Sweeney Flats Post. Help us to inform you and in turn you can help others with your voice being heard in The Sweeney Flats Post. Finally this newspaper is put together by volunteers. Like all citizens, we want the power of local people to change – to benefit you. carpe diem

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