The News Headlines

A systematic ecological approach is the hallmark of the new draft management plan for the 49,000-hectare Wilsons Promontory National Park. Victorian Conservation and Environment Minister Sherry Garbutt launched the 50-page draft plan during a ceremony held on the banks of the Darby River 18 kilometres south of the Yanakie entrance station on Wednesday December 13.

On the same day the Minister also released the two-volume State of the Parks 2000 report, a study of every park and reserve in Victoria that establishes strategic priorities for their on-going protection. More than 100 people attended the launch of the two documents, including Gunai elder Albert Mullett, Parks Victorias Prom rangers and representatives of the newly appointed community-based Wilsons Promontory Advisory Group. Gippsland South MLA Peter Ryan and Gippsland West MLA Susan Davies were also there, as were members of interest groups and organisations such as the Friends of the Prom and Coastcare/Coast Action.

Inside a large marquee set up for the occasion, Parks Victoria chief executive officer Mark Stone welcomed those present before announcing the appointment of Jim Whelan as the Proms new ranger-in-charge. A hearty round of applause erupted at this piece of news, as Mr Whelan has had a professional association with as well as a personal affection for the Prom that stretches back for more than 20 years. Mr Stone then invited Mr Mullett to speak as a representative of the South Gippsland indigenous community, which was consulted extensively during the preparation of the Prom draft plan. Theres one thing about Parks Victoria people, theyre learning many things, including not worrying about keeping to schedule, he said, referring to the late start of the launch.

Koori people would say to them to take a little more time anyway to appreciate the Prom for what it is and to pay respect to my familys ancestors who came here to Wamoon too. I'm glad to see that this is a joint management plan that includes indigenous rangers as part of its structure, because the Prom is a very special place, Mr Mullett said. This is a place that is shared by a lot of people and I like to believe that it is respected by all who come here. I have spent many years of my life in Gippsland and Ive come to know that the best way of looking after land is based on doing it right.

I've seen the damage that can be done to the land through mismanagement rather than working from a position of respect, both for the land and for the people. The heritage of indigenous people is embedded in the landscape, and that applies to all areas of Australia, from the Prom, the coastline, the high country, the deserts. If we dont work together to look after it for our kids and their children, its natural beauty and its spirit will be lost, he said. This country is ours and we need to educate the people that come here from other places how to look after it properly, and to respect it. Once that is achieved then we can share the Prom and other areas of equal significance, knowing that it will remain as it has done for a long time to come.

PROM PLAN

Mr Stone then introduced the Minister to the gathering, saying that the Prom had a place in her heart. Ms Garbutt said she was happy to come to the Prom to deliver an important tool in the form of a brand new draft management plan that is both detailed and integrated. Today marks the start of a three-month consultation period, during which both Parks Victoria and I will appreciate input from the community.

The draft plan forms the foundation for the future interdependent management of the Prom, with high levels of protection for the parks natural assets, and no commercial development. Parks Victorias Prom rangers will also be based at Tidal River. The emphasis of the plan is one of conservation, with no areas separated out.

The regions indigenous people are included in the plan and in fact they have already been involved in projects such as the water treatment and sewerage plants and the redevelopment of the visitor information centre. Gunai tribe member Russell Mullett has been appointed to the Prom Advisory Group and will help Parks Victoria build a partnership with this areas traditional people, she said.

The Gunai have a 6500-year history here at the Prom and the plan recognises the need to protect sites of particular indigenous importance such as Mount Oberon and Norman Bay. Parks Victoria will seek to teach the cultural significance of the Prom to the many thousands of visitors who come here each year and the only way to do that is to have the indigenous people of the area do the teaching.

Victorians have a deep and abiding friendship with the Prom and the rebuilt information centre at Tidal River will ensure that visitors have a more vital and fulfilling experience. People wishing to stay at the Prom will also enjoy better campsites and facilities, restored walking tracks and new nature trails, too.

We are planning to develop the existing track networks by linking them to form a long-distance track along carefully selected alignments that wont damage the environment, as well as providing guided as well as independent walking experiences. Ms Garbut said the Prom was one of the States best-loved parks and that the protection of its natural value was crucial to its long-term wellbeing.

The draft plan should and does concentrate on the environment through managing the park holistically, she said. The new plan adopts a more systematic approach to the ecological management of the Prom through fire management, programs for the protection of rare and threatened species and restoration of the parks healthlands and grassy woodlands. The Prom and Citadel Island Lightstation reserves will also be incorporated into the park to simplify their management and protection.

The plan highlights the intention to improve and expand information, interpretation and education services for visitors. It also establishes a Centre of Excellence for Park Management program for research, monitoring and the teaching of park management skills, Ms Garbutt said. The Victorian Government understands that no park will survive on love alone and many of them are either recovering from earlier land uses such as grazing and the effects of the resulting weed infestation. The new draft management plan is big step in the right direction for the Prom and we look forward to hearing the communitys views on the document, she said.

Copies of the draft plan are available from Parks Victoria offices.

STATE OF THE PARKS

Mr Stone also introduced the author of State of the Parks 2000, Parks Victorias western region manager David Young, whom he described as, the architect of the report for the past three years. Mr Young has been responsible for setting up and implementing the Victorian Governments Parks Research Partners program and the extension of many of our conservation and environmental management programs, he said. Mr Young agreed with Mr Mullett that the Prom was special, as were all of the 311 parks and more than 2500 reserves in the State.

However theres no doubt that the Prom could be regarded as first among equals, he said. Parks Victoria has the responsibility of protecting biodiversity in this State and that includes all 3.6 million hectares that are within the parks and reserves system.

In 1995 the Victorian Auditor-General identified impediments to the necessary assessment and monitoring of all parks and reserves. Funds were set aside and in 1997 Parks Victoria began the job of preparing the State of the Parks report, something which had never been done before anywhere in Australia. At that time we had no idea of the scale of the project nor the challenge it represented, and if we had we would have been daunted, Mr Young said.

The document launched today is unashamedly about the conservation of biodiversity, with ecosystems and native flora and fauna species as its central focus. State of the Parks 2000 brings together information from thousands of sources and presents it in two volumes; Parks Profile is 347 pages long, while the second is entitled The Parks System and runs to 86 pages. One highlights the importance of biodiversity conservation within the parks and reserves system and the way they need to be managed, as well as detailing how Parks Victoria will go about monitoring and reporting about the lands in its care over the next 20 years. The other volume describes specific parks and reserves and looks at the role each plays in biodiversity conservation, he said.

Together the documents information about the state of the parks as they are today into the public domain.

The project has found major gaps in our knowledge and understanding of Victorias parks and reserves and we want people in the community to read the report and to make contributions towards its subsequent editions, Mr Young said. Its been fantastic to be able to look at the parks at a system-wide level. Ms Garbutt said, with appropriate management, such as that set out in the report, most of our national and state parks and reserves should be able to sustain their current range of species and ecosystems.

This is the first time we have had a consolidated view and approach to preserving biodiversity across the State and the report represents a major step forward in managing our precious natural resources, she said. A better environment contributes to a better society.

The Country Fire Authoritys Fish Creek Brigade has received an early Christmas present, a new fire truck worth about $190,000. The district turned out in force on Friday evening December 15 to witness the official handover of the state-of-the-art Isuzu four-wheel-drive diesel truck to the Brigade by Gippsland Province MLC Peter Hall.

However the truck wasnt quite as brand spanking new as the Brigade members had expected it would be at the ceremony for earlier that day the truck had been blooded for the first time when it attended a grass fire at a Waratah North property. The fire burned out about a quarter-hectare before it was brought under control by CFA firefighters from Fish Creek, Yanakie, Sandy Point and Foster.

The fire truck and its extensive range of equipment performed perfectly, delivering a powerful stream of water from its 3000-litre tank via a diesel pump. The Fish Creek Brigade also took formal delivery of two 12,000-litre collar tanks on behalf of the CFAs South Gippsland Group, that were purchased with grants from the South Gippsland Shire, and Hancock Victorian Plantations. The portable collar tanks are made of heavy-duty vinyl and can be used to store water near a fire-front after filling to top up tankers and knapsacks.

Even firefighting helicopters can reload with water from them, according to Fish Creek fire captain Neil Hamilton. Mr Hamilton said Friday evening was a big night for the South Gippsland Group, receiving the two collar tanks, and a new truck at Fish Creek, which can be called upon to come and assist at a fire by the other brigades in the Group. One collar tank will be kept here at Fish Creek while the other will go to Welshpool, he said. They are a tremendous asset to the Group, but I hope that they will not have to be used very often, if at all.

Shire Drumdlemara Ward Councillor Bob Newton told the gathering a story about the funding for the collar tanks, saying that he had received a call from Group officer Neville Pulham. Neville said he had found a company called Fire Logistics at Ballarat, which supplied the tanks, and that he could get two for the price of one, he said.However the price kept going up and the Group needed more money to buy them, so I asked how much more?

The answer was between $1000 and $1500, so I put in an extra $250 from my ward allowance and hit Crs Brian Dwyer, Gerard McRae and Ross Svenson for the same as their wards all border on Fish Creek, Cr Newton said. Even though she doesnt know about it yet, Corner Inlet Ward Cr Jeanette Harding is also going to chuck in $250, so thats $1250 towards the cost!

Cr Newton said he too hoped the tanks would only be used for training purposes, but it looks like were going to have a rotten fire season this year. Mr Hamilton said Fire Logistics had also been generous and had delivered the tanks to Fish Creek that afternoon. They also threw in an adaptor worth $150 for nothing too, he said.

Fish Creek Lieutenant Mal Gibson then spoke about the new truck, which replaced what he described as, a brigade favourite, which always brought us home. The old truck served the district and saw three generations of captains Percy Pulham, Neville Pulham and now Neil Hamliton, he said. CFA Gippsland area manager Ian Symons thanked all of the members of the Fish Creek Brigade and their families for their service to the community. Every time the fire siren goes off, somethings delayed; the dinner, the milking, while the firefighter goes to do their duty, leaving families to keep things going at home, he said.

The CFA has a policy of replacing trucks after 20 years of service and its a credit to Fish Creek that the truck this new one replaces has kept going reliably for that entire period. Its just a pity that you blokes had to dirty the new truck before tonight!
Mr Hall said he was pleased to be able to hand over a new truck paid for by the Victorian Government to the Fish Creek Brigade. Its an honour to be able to pass on the keys of the truck to Neil, he said. I spoke about the CFA in Parliament three weeks ago, just to express on record the community and the Governments gratitude to the CFA for the work that it does.

The army of 64,000 volunteers and 830 career staff of the CFA help in so many ways; fighting fires, undertaking road rescues, servicing fire extinguishers and educating the community about fire prevention. This work is done without recompense in the vast majority of cases, Mr Hall said. The risk of fires is great this summer, and while the community must be diligent, todays effort wont be the last time the CFA turns out to protect life and property. Mr Hamilton said the new truck was the fifth in the history of the Fish Creek brigade and that the one it replaced had seen service at the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983. He thanked the brigade members, both old and new, as well as the womens auxiliary and the staff at CFAs Region 9 headquarters at Warragul for their support.

Group officer Neville Pulham congratulated the South Gippsland Group brigades and said they worked well together. When I retired as Fish Creeks secretary, Neil told me I had been given the job of special projects officer and that I was to work out how to raise the rest of the money needed to buy our support vehicle. I'd like to thank Esso-BHPs Barry Beach Marine Terminal superintendent Anton Moore for the $4000 donation his company made and his colleagues for the $500 from the Barry Beach Charity Fund, he said. Esso BHP has also let the Group use its training facility at Longford, too. Mr Hall handed the keys of the new truck over to Mr Hamilton and then Father Christmas himself arrived at the fire station full of good cheer and ready to hand out icy poles to the children. The brigade members were happy too, for they had got the best present ever.

"Foster Police officers will be stationed at Sandy Point, and at Tidal River in Wilsons Promontory National Park during the summer holiday period, from Boxing Day on Tuesday December 26 until Saturday January 27. At Sandy Point a police station will be set up in the Country Fire Authority building on the corner of Sunshine Rise and Surfers Walk to the north of the coastal townships main commercial area.

Residents and visitors alike who require police assistance may call at the station in person, or ring 5684 1551. At Tidal River police will be located in the Parks Victoria Visitor Information Centre on the Ring Road, and the telephone number is 5680 9540. The Foster Police Station in Main Street will also be manned, and the telephone number there is 5682 2407.

A Foster Police spokesman said police may always be contacted in an emergency situation by ringing 000. A call to 000 will get you through to the Victoria Police 24-hour communications centre D-24 in Morwell, he said. We urge everyone to take the greatest of care while out on the roads and to have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

DRIVER IN COURT

A 43-year-old Dandenong North man will be summonsed to appear in the Korumburra Magistrates Court at a later date to answer a charge of driving with a blood alcohol content higher than the prescribed limit of 0.05. A Foster Police spokesman said the man was given a preliminary breath test at the scene of a single vehicle accident that occurred on the Meeniyan-Promontory Road at about 6.10 pm on Friday December 15.

The man told police he was travelling south towards Yanakie when he lost control of the vehicle he was driving about 50 metres north of the Harmon Road intersection. The car left the road and ploughed through scrub before coming to a halt. The driver and a 20-year-old Dandenong North man who was a passenger in the car at the time of the accident received minor injuries. A 16-year-old Dandenong North girl who was also in the car was unhurt. The police spokesman said the car was extensively damaged and was towed from the scene. The driver was brought to the Foster Police Station where he was given a further test to determine his blood alcohol content. The reading produced resulted in the man being charged and he will face court shortly, he said.

BIN STOLEN

A rubbish bin valued at $100 has been stolen from outside a house in the Boulevard in Sandy Point. The bin was thought to have been taken between Saturday November 4 and Monday December 4.

Corner Inlet Motorcycle Club members Chris Hetherington, 17, of Woorarra and Luke Whittle, 14 of Barry Beach have both had a top season on the motocross track. Chris came first in his first season competing in Motorcycling Australias Victorian Division pre-1980 senior clubman event on his 1977 Honda CR 125. He also took the national title in the pre-1977 all powers series on board his 1976 Suzuki RM 250B.

Chris has been riding motorbikes since he was six years old, but didnt venture onto the racing track until last year. This season he has won 12 of the 15 races he entered, coming second in one event and not finishing two because of mechanical problems.

Luke came second for the 2000 season in the junior clubman pre-1980 series. He has been riding since he was four and believes that a lot of his success stems from those early years practising his skills over paddocks and along trails. Both youths travelled extensively to compete in the Victorian Pre-80 Racing series, with races held at Colac, Wonthaggi, Barrabool near Geelong, Ravenswood and Ballarat. Both will be back on the track next year, with plans to do even better.

The arrival of summer not only brings with it the promise of warmer weather - for the music fan, it heralds the beginning of the music festival season. Fishstock is back in 2001 promising to be even bigger and brighter. A two-day musical extravaganza to be held over the weekend of January 13 and 14 featuring 20 bands, two-days of camping and fun for all.

To be held a month earlier than this year, the organisers hope to capitalize on the thousands of visitors to the area during this holiday time. The organisers who include locals Kim Albert, Andrew Farrell and Albert Mook welcome all ages to this exciting event.

The Saturday line-up includes rock, pop, metal and dance whereas Sunday had a laid back blues, rock and country feel and is described as an ideal day to bring the family (Sunday only passes will be available on the day for $20 per person). The location is the same as this years festival, set in the lush surrounds of Fish Creek, 4 km out of town on the Yanakie-Prom Road on Farrells dairy farm. This year market stalls, including clothing and jewellery, have been introduced to the event and are sure to add to the festival atmosphere.

A priority has again been given to local involvement with the local Football Club and fire brigade providing plenty of support as well as local band Gavin forming part of the prestigious band line-up. The event is b.y.o. (no glass please) with a courtesy bus doing regular bottle shop runs to The Fishy Pub. A wide variety of food will again be available including plenty of vegetarian options. Fishstock 2001 is shaping up to be a feast of fun and good times being held locally, so if you missed out last time, dont miss this one!

January 1 2001 marks the start of not only the 21st century but also the end of 100 years worth of profound change.

At the turn of the 20th century South Gippsland dairy farmers walked their dozen or so cows into the bail and milked them either by hand or by rudimentary machine. The resulting milk, cream and butter were transported in cans on horse-drawn wagons.

With the advent of electricity, the internal combustion engine and information technology, the district now sees herds of 1000 cows and more being milked in giant rotary sheds. Each cows production is computer-recorded and her supplementary feed requirements are automatically calculated and delivered to her in the shed. The milk is taken from farms to factories in refrigerated tankers.

Correspondence written by hand in pen-and-ink sometimes took weeks or even months to arrive, but now the click of a button sends a letter electronically anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. Students once rode their ponies to their local one-teacher schools, chalking their lessons in writing, history, arithmetic and Latin on slates. Now there are computers in nearly every classroom helping students learn about human development, society and the environment, mathematics and sciences.

The pace of life seems to have sped up considerably since Federation in 1901; distances have shortened and choices have broadened. However people, and their need for friendship, security and something to look forward to, remain essentially the same.

The Mirror believes that an optimistic view of the future is one of the best things for people to bring with them from the old millennium into the new. The Macquarie Dictionary states that the word optimism comes from the Latin optimus meaning best and a tendency to look on the bright side of things. Life will always bring difficult times, but always having something to look forward to, even if it is just the next cup of coffee, is one way of surviving anything.

The Corner Inlet district has lots of things to look forward to during the coming year the rebuilding of the South Gippsland Secondary College, rain!, new businesses and industries and therefore job opportunities, better roads, even a Federal election. Therell be babies born, birthdays celebrated, show ribbons won, new books published and clear sunny days.

There is nowhere safer to live in the world than in Australia in the country, and nowhere more beautiful and rewarding than South Gippsland.

The management and staff of The Mirror, would like to thank all of their readers, advertisers and regular contributors for their interest and support, and to wish them the compliments of the festive season.

We look forward to going on together in 2001.