EARLY voting has begun in the Dunkley by-election. Polling day for the by-election is on 2 March with eight candidates on the ballot – in ballot order they are Nathan Conroy (Liberal), Bronwyn Currie (Animal Justice), Chrysten Abraham (Libertarian), Reem Yunis (Victorian Socialists), Darren Bergwerf (Independent), Alex Breskin (Greens), Heath McKenzie (Australian Democrats), and Jodie Belyea (Labor). Early voting centres have been set up at Lyrebird Community Centre in Carrum Downs, Functions by the Bay in Frankston, and 1st Ranelagh Scout Group in Mt Eliza. They are open from 8.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays (6pm on 1 March), and from…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
THE state government is moving ahead with plans to introduce single-member wards across most Victorian councils. After the Local Government Act 2020 was implemented, councils statewide began gradually shifting to single-member wards. Kingston Council was among those that made the switch at the 2020 local government elections. A review into Frankston Council’s structure was undertaken last year. Last week, the state government confirmed it had accepted the recommendation of the Electoral Representation Advisory Panels and would proceed with implementing single-member wards at 39 councils. Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Shire councils will both elect one councillor per ward at the local…
CONSTRUCTION has begun on Hawthorn Football Club’s new Dingley Village training facility, which has been partly funded by taxpayers and Kingston ratepayers. The club purchased the 28 hectare Dingley Village site in 2016. When finished, the facility will house an MCG-sized oval with lighting, an indoor training field, aquatic facilities, unisex change rooms, a function centre, public amenities and a carpark with lighting. The training facility is projected to cost $113 million. The federal and state governments have put in $15 million each, and Kingston ratepayers will fork out $5 million. Hawthorn FC will spend $73 million, and the AFL…
THE state government says it is working to provide free pharmacotherapy training for GPs so that more people can access the prescriptions they need. The planned closure of the private Frankston Healthcare Medical Centre has left hundreds of pharmacotherapy patients in limbo. The centre’s director says that it treats between 400 and 500 patients a week on methadone, sublocade, and suboxone. (“Drug treatment access a big problem” The Times 2/10/2023) Private medical practices are overwhelmingly carrying the load of pharmacotherapy services in Victoria. A Monash University report released last February found that 50 of Victoria’s 14,804 pharmacotherapy patients were in…
THE federal opposition’s promised $900 million for the extension of the Frankston line to Baxter could be used to complete the project in stages, Liberal Dunkley candidate Nathan Conroy says. A business case completed before the COVID-19 pandemic found that it would cost up to $1.5 billion to electrify and duplicate the Stony Point line from Frankston to Baxter. With no work undertaken in the four years since the business case was finished, it will likely cost a lot more. Last month the federal opposition promised to spend $900 million on the project if it forms government next year. The…