THE cashless welfare card program would cause “significant hardship” if rolled out nationwide, Dunkley MP Peta Murphy says. The program sees 80 per cent of welfare payments made to an individual put onto a card, where it cannot be used on alcohol or gambling products. The government is trialling the card in four communities – Ceduna, SA, Bundaberg and Harvey Bay, QLD, Goldfields, WA, and East Kimberley, WA. It moved last week to make the trials permanent in those locations, but could not gain the support it needed in Parliament. The trial has instead been extended for two years. Ms…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
A REPORT commissioned by Kingston Council into the potential rezoning of the Dingley Village Kingswood golf course site has been completed. PRAXIS Planning conducted the report, which assessed a proposal to move the site outside of the state’s Urban Growth Boundary. It read that the estimated consultant, legal, and operational costs to fully progress a proposed change to the UGB would be approximately $442,500. On 30 November, Kingston councillors voted to “initially seek a formalised position from the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning to inform the merits of progressing any future work, given the significant costs involved in…
FRANKSTON line trains will skip the City Loop for the next five years. Major changes to train services were locked in last week. Passengers on the Frankston Line will skip the City Loop and travel straight through to Flinders Street until the opening of the Metro Tunnel in 2025. An extra 45 services a week have been added to the Frankston Line. Cranbourne and Pakenham line passengers will get 90 new services each week, and will now travel anti-clockwise through the loop. The changes come into effect 31 January, 2021. Other changes have been made to encourage passengers to travel…
ALEX Fraser Group has been permitted to operate its Clarinda concrete crushing plant for another 10 years. The recycler’s permit to operate was set to expire in 2023. Council had rejected its bid for a longer stay last year, but the planning minister has stepped in to grant an extension until 2033. An advisory committee had been appointed by the planning minister to assess the case. The News understands that the committee recommended that the permit to allow material recycling and a refuse transfer station on the site be extended until December 2038. Kingston mayor Steve Staikos said he is…
PENINSULA A TOP order collapse saw Somerville fall short of victory in their clash against Heatherhill on Saturday. Heatherhill chose to bat first, and opener Don Pulukkuttiarachchi was in impressive form. He scored a half century, with his side making 185 before their innings came to a close. Somerville struggled, with five of their top six batsmen dismissed for scores of less than ten. Three of those batsmen went out for just one run. Number four batsman Bradley McDonald tried his best to drag his side over the line, but his knock of 57 wasn’t enough. Somerville ended up losing…