AN appreciative sell-out crowd at Frankston Basketball Stadium in Seaford watched the Australian Opals down Japan 85-64 last Wednesday evening (29 July) while an off court political game over funding for the stadium goes into overtime. Hostilities between the federal Coalition and Labor state government broke out again after Labor Sports Minister John Eren released a statement claiming Dunkley Liberal MP Bruce Billson and Prime Minister Tony Abbott “are yet to contribute a cent” to a planned $20-$25 million redevelopment of the basketball stadium. “We have committed $2.5 million towards the Frankston Basketball Stadium so this important expansion can begin…
Author: Neil Walker
CONCERNS around governance and transparency have caused Frankston Council to leave the Municipal Association of Victoria. Council decided not to renew its membership of the peak body representing councils across the state in the wake of an audit of the MAV by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office. The VAGO report, released in February, found the MAV’s board “has failed to fulfil its obligations to provide appropriate oversight of the operations, governance and performance of MAV, to the detriment of Victoria’s 79 councils, Parliament and the community”. Frankston mayor Cr Sandra Mayer said the decision to suspend its financial membership of the…
A WAR veteran’s family has bridged a gap between generations with the gift of a World War II era musical instrument to Patterson River Secondary College. A trumpet played by Neil Richard Webb, who passed away at the age of 91 in February last year, has been passed on to Patterson River Secondary students by Mr Webb’s son, Peter. Mr Webb wrote to school principal Maree Vinocuroff in May after reading an RSL magazine article mentioning Patterson River Secondary student Bernard Field playing The Last Post on the bugle at Anzac Day commemorations. The Geelong resident decided there and then,…
PROMISES to preserve as much vegetation as possible while building the Kingston portion of the Bay Trail have failed to measure up, according to a Mentone resident. Stephen Calvert-Smith reckons contractors hired by Kingston Council to build the Bay Trail section between Charman Rd and the Mentone Life Saving Club have cut an excessive amount of vegetation from the foreshore at Plummer Rd where a new parking lane is being installed. “I reckon they’ve put it down about another 0.2 of a metre into the foreshore than they’re supposed to be,” Mr Calvert-Smith said. The Mentone resident has carried out…
A LABOR Party vote to support asylum seeker boat turnbacks if it wins back government has been slammed by Amnesty International. Amnesty International peninsula branch spokesman Kevin Bain criticised Labor and opposition leader Bill Shorten’s weekend move at the party’s annual national conference to fall into line with the Abbott government’s boats turnback policy. Mr Bain has presented several petitions in recent months to Liberal federal government ministers Bruce Billson and Greg Hunt in Dunkley and Flinders respectively protesting against the Abbott government’s “inhumane treatment” of asylum seekers. “Boat turnbacks are a recipe to violate rights and endanger lives,” Mr…