August 2021 newsletter

3. Finding the cheapest energy provider- workshop and mentoring

Energy bills are expensive, and sometimes too expensive. Changing retailers, or when appliances are used, can result in cheaper bills. This workshop at Castlemaine Community House will help people learn how to get the cheapest bills for themselves, then mentor others – about once a month – as they are referred to Castlemaine Community House.

When: 1.00pm – 3.00pm, Thursday 16 September
Where: Castlemaine Community House
Instructor: Frank Forster, Newstead Enviro Shop

Cost: Free

After training people should be willing to help mentor another person, referred to Community House, no more than once a month. The EnviroShop Newstead was established in Castlemaine in 2014 to provide renewable energy and energy efficiency products and services to customers in central Victoria.

To book – https://www.socialplanet.com.au/activity/view?id=3229

4. Newstead Arts Hub – Art Auction & Exhibition

Date postponed due to covid lockdown. Check website for further details https://newsteadartshub.org/portfolio/artauction/

Where: Newstead Arts Hub,

Celebrating the arrival of spring and warmer weather, and just prior to our Hub undergoing renovations that will bring new life to the building, the Art Auction is a vital event on our calendar. Every year this event is held to raise the funds necessary to keep the Hub doors open and community arts alive in our beautiful country town. This year, the auction has faced immense challenges in the form of lockdowns and rescheduling over many months, but with some perseverance the committee has again locked in a date and is ready to put on a marvellous evening for all attendees.

All of the art to be auctioned can be viewed on the Arts Hub website, or previewed on the morning of the auction. Or you can wander the gallery while enjoying a glass of wine just before the auction starts. Pick your favourite works ahead of the event! We have a beautiful collection of works available for your bids, all donated by the artists, collectors and galleries that make our arts community so strong. With work from well known artists as well as local and talented treasures, there is a bounty of work to bid for.

Come and join us for a wonderful night filled with people coming together to celebrate and support the continuation of rural community arts.

Art and tickets: https://newsteadartshub.org/portfolio/artauction/

Image: Janet Barker, Bark series, untitled

5. Feedback on Hepburn Shire’s draft Community Vision and Council Plan

6. Letter in response to recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report

A damning report on the state of the global climate released today by the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change), tells us that the average global temperature is now 1.2 degrees higher and is set to rise to 1.5 degrees or higher by 2030. This would exceed the limit set in Paris in 2015 and agreed to by most of the world’s countries. This seems to have concerned Scott Morrison so much that he went on national television today to assure us that, despite the dire predictions in this report, he was confident that we would be able to “fix it with technology”. He mentioned carbon geosequestration, electrification of transport and made a passing remark about “Snowy 2”, a pumped hydro scheme (that is years and years away), but there was no detail about the mysterious “technology” that is going to be the magic fix for our energy future. He did not mention the items that would really make a difference such as abandoning his “gas led recovery” that would drive already-high carbon pollution to extreme levels, or that his government would remove the subsidy from fossil fuels. He said that mines are making changes in the way they operate, but the only changes that I am aware of are that more and more coal is being mined for export, so that emissions that should be accredited to Australia are being accredited to China or India, or wherever it is that they are being burnt. I beg of you Prime Minister, please take the predictions in this report seriously. If you act now, you can prepare and implement a plan to transition from coal to renewables. If you do not act now it will be too late.

Trevor Scott, Castlemaine, trevorscott3@gmail.com, published in the Castlemaine Mail,  13/8/21

9. Power-Saving bonus

The Victorian State Government’s Power Saving Bonus is a one-off payment to help eligible Victorians* experiencing energy bill stress.

Available until 31 January 2022, if you need help applying for this bonus online, Castlemaine Community House can help.

* To be eligible, someone in your household must have a pensioner concession card or receive JobSeeker, Austudy, Abstudy or Youth Allowance.

Here’s links to the online information:

• To apply with CCH support – https://cch.org.au/power-saving-bonus/
• Link to apply without CCH help – https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/#/

10. Healthy Landscapes guide

Connecting Country’s Healthy Landscapes guide has been developed to assist local farmers and landholders to manage their land for multiple outcomes, benefiting wildlife, property and landscape health. It is targeted to the Mount Alexander region of central Victoria, which makes it unique to our special local area. It forms part of Connecting Country’s Healthy Landscapes project, a Smart Farms project that delivers a series of educational workshops and a land management guide for landholders.

The Healthy Landscapes guide provides background context on our region’s natural assets, as well as eight concise sections on actions landholders can take to protect and restore habitat on their properties in central Victoria.

Topics included in the guide are:

• Protecting remnant vegetation.
• Make a plan.
• Control weeds.
• Control rabbits.
• Revegetate your land.
• Help hollow-using wildlife.
• Manage your dam as habitat.
• Care for paddocks.

The guide features a variety of images, such as these on the front cover from Bronwyn Silver (bush sunset), Jane Satchell (gnarly wood) and Geoff Park (Yellow-footed Antechinus).

‘Landholders often ask us about where they can find information relevant to our region on how to manage their land to benefit the environment and farming,’ said Jacqui Slingo (Landscape Restoration Coordinator at Connecting Country). ‘We are thrilled to have produced a guide that allows landholders, especially the many new property owners in our region, to get started with caring for their property by protecting native vegetation and wildlife habitat through actions like weed and rabbit control.’

Copies of the guide will be offered to Landcare and community groups, and available for general sale (around $15 per copy) in Castlemaine through the Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre, Stoneman’s Bookroom and Mount Alexander Animal Welfare (MAAW) Op Shop. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, or would like further information.

To read more about the Healthy Landscapes project – click here

Posted on 11 August, 2021 by Connecting Country: https://connectingcountry.org.au/

For further information about campaigns and to register for future bush walks: https://www.acf.org.au/acf_community_bendigo_district

13. Western Victoria Transmission Network Project opposition 

Hepburn Shire Council is opposed to the Western Victoria Transmission Network project continues to advocate strongly on behalf of the community members potentially affected by the proposed project. The proposed corridors have been reduced to one which will have significant impacts on our community. Mayor, Cr Lesley Hewitt, said that Council had no notice of these changes and it was extremely disappointed in the lack of genuine consultation throughout this project.

“We understand the concerns of the community and appreciate the impact that these potential transmission lines will have on their properties and also their livelihoods. We are furious that these impacts on our community have not been adequately considered,” said Cr Hewitt.

Council has been an active member of the Technical Reference Group established by AusNet to inform the Environmental Effects Statement (EES) providing as much ground truthing information to help appropriately inform the project within the best of our control. “We have been advocating strongly on behalf the community and are extremely disappointed that this appears to have had little impact”. Council has committed $50,000 in the 2021-22 Budget to fund a formal submission on the EES and continued advocacy on behalf of affected communities.

“While Council is supportive of renewable energy, it is strongly opposed to the transmission lines being above ground and the potential location of the transmission station, which will impact on valuable agricultural land and significant landscapes” said Cr Hewitt.

The following letter has been sent to 33 State and Federal Ministers, including Shadow Ministers, Members for our electorate and industry bodies such as AEMO and DELWP. Letter Hepburn Shire – WVTNP – 29072021

For more information on the Council position on this project visit https://www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/western-transmission-lines-project/.

For more specific project information please refer to www.westvictnp.com.au.

Please refer to the interactive link that will allow you a closer view of the alignment on the ground Single transmission corridor | Map Pins Feedback | Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (westvictnp.com.au)

Photo: from Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance facebook page

14.Victoria Infrastructure strategy- 2021-2051- Loddon-Campaspe section

Central Vic Primary Care Partnerships has put in a submission towards this strategy. Here are some of the recommendations proposed:

• Augment electricity transmission for renewable energy and resilience
• Identify and coordinate Renewable Energy Zones
• Plan for and facilitate regional nature-based tourism investments
• Develop a Victorian Aboriginal tourism and cultural heritage strategy with Aboriginal communities
• Facilitate improved recycling infrastructure for priority materials
• Strengthen end markets for recycled materials
• Fund regional libraries to provide better internet access In the next year
• Build back better after emergencies
• Deliver multipurpose shared social service facilities in the regions
• Create climate-adapted facilities for rural communities (cool spaces)
• Rapidly renew old public housing
• Make social housing suitable for changing local climates

To look at the strategy go to: https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Regional-Brochure_Loddon-Campaspe-1.pdf

15. Help shape the future of Mt Alexander shire- Community Vision

Residents are invited to have their say on projects and initiatives in Mt Alexander shire. Sharing your feedback will help Council to understand wants and needs for our region and to make informed decisions on various projects.

A first draft seeking your vital thoughts and feedback- After nearly 1,000 contributions totaling over 70,000 words, as well as community forums and engagement with dozens of stakeholder groups and partner organisations, here is the first draft of the Mount Alexander Shire Community Vision. This draft draws on the input from the first round of engagement conducted for the Your Community, Your Vision project.  You can read the report before completing the survey below.

16. Hepburn Wholefoods Collective- seeking feedback for strategic directions

Hepburn Wholefoods Collective have compiled a few questions about our wholefoods collective to try and get a clearer picture about our members’ experience and ideas for improvement. Outcomes will help inform our upcoming strategic plan. By helping us out, you’ll go into a draw to win free membership for a year. And If you are already a volunteer (and therefore receive free membership) you can use the prize to gift to a friend!

Fill out the survey to win free membership

Opening hours:

Mondays 9.30-11.30am
Wednesdays 2-4pm
Thursdays 3-5pm
Saturdays 11am-1pm

Location: 11 Perrins Street, Daylesford,

Membership:  $40 per year, $20 per year concession, FREE for volunteers.

17. Bird of the month- Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Bird of the month is a partnership between Connecting Country and BirdLife Castlemaine District. Each month we’re taking a close look at one special local bird species. Each month there’s a different bird, seasonally adjusted, and we welcome suggestions from the community. Thanks to Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District, assisted by Damian Kelly. Photos by Ash Vigus

Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis)

More questions than answers are thrown up by this often secretive species. However, occasionally the Fan-tailed Cuckoo will show itself in plain view, as I had the opportunity to witness recently whilst doing bird surveys in the Whipstick (north of Bendigo in Victoria). The bird was hanging around, low to the ground, in a patch of Cassinia, which is good habitat for small birds. I’m sure of no coincidence…

In short, the Fan-tailed Cuckoo inhabits open woodland with dense, tall understory, preferably in a gully. Locally that means Golden Wattle and Silver Wattle, and occasionally mallee shrubs. As partial migrants, in winter it appears birds generally move north and return in spring. However, some birds remain all year.

Apparently, some birds stay close to where they hatched, others migrate and return to near where they hatched, and others move on. In short, their complicated movements are not well understood. Recapture in banding studies is low and the studies few, leaving us scratching our heads to some extent. What is obvious is that calling is heard in spring and generally not in winter. Is this due to winter migration or are they just keeping quiet?

Talking of killing eggs, the whole point of cuckoos is that they lay eggs in other birds’ nests, who then raise the cuckoo chick to fledging. Let’s start at the beginning. Some cuckoo eggs mimic those of the host species, but Fan-tailed Cuckoo eggs do not. Their host species are Speckled Warbler, Gerygone, White-browed Scrubwren, heathwrens, fairy-wrens and thornbills. However, studies show that Brown Thornbill and White-browed Scrubwren are the most common victims. One thing in common with these species is their nests are domed or enclosed and close to the ground. At times Fan-tailed Cuckoos will also lay in cup-shaped nests built by robins and occasionally honeyeaters.

The Fan-tailed Cuckoo will lay one egg in a host’s nest. It has been suggested that the egg is placed via their bill or by holding in the foot, but there is little evidence of actual laying. How the host’s eggs are removed is unknown. There are records of Pallid Cuckoos removing a Fan-tailed Cuckoo egg, and visa versa, from the host’s nest. Now that’s a pickle! Generally, cuckoos leave the feeding and raising of their chicks to the poor overworked host parents. However, there are a few records of Cuckoo parents supplementing the feeding of their chicks, but not reducing the work for the host birds in any way. It just means a very well-fed Cuckoo chick.

To hear Fan-tailed Cuckoo calls, please – click here

18. Right to Repair submission to Productivity Commission- Mend It Australia

Karen and Danny Ellis are co-founders of  Mend it Australia2015, Mend It, Australia [MIA], a legacy project in retirement with the goal to raise awareness of reuse and repair. They live in Melton and offer their support and repair skills to assorted Repair Cafes, including Daylesford and Castlemaine.

Here’s some key points from their submission to the Productivity Commission’s Right to Repair which are included in the Commission’s draft report.  Their submission focussed on community repair:  https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/repair/submissions#post-draft

Repair cafes are not just held in centralised community centres as stated by Melton Council, but out of homes and household garages, especially during the pandemic as well as churches, men’s sheds, parks, nurseries, cafes, libraries, warehouses, schools, town halls, resource recovery centres to name a few.
MIA’s idea was ahead of its time, however nearly a decade on and due to the nation’s waste crisis, at least communities are catching on to the benefits of collaboration when it comes to resource recovery, reuse and repair. It’s time for governments and bureaucrats to catch up and help communities deliver
grassroots initiatives that will effect human behavioural change related to waste.

Whilst there is a strong focus on advocating for consumer rights, access to repair supplies and improvements to product warranties, durability and repairability and management of e-waste, we feel the Draft Report lacks community empowerment elements. We would like to see greater support for community-led repairing initiatives such as Repair Cafes, Makerspaces and Tool Libraries.

There is mention that electrical products tend to be less repairable than other products but this can vary depending on what is bought into an event. For example two older electronic devices [laptops] were unable to be fixed at a recent repair cafe but Mend It’s Danny fixed a cheap plastic electric fan, a microwave and an electric
hand tool. That was a 100 per cent repair rate for electrical items at this event.

Here is an opportunity to address the barriers to the long-term sustainability of community repair groups seeking more long-term viability and permanent venues. The next step up from a monthly event [where people sometimes have to wait a month to get their item fixed] could be dedicated repair sheds or similar. Repair sheds have been mentioned by the Victorian State Government but no funding has been allocated to establish these. Repair centres were mentioned by World’s Biggest Garage Sale in its presentation to the APC hearing. And the Sustainability Party of Australia has mentioned supporting major community centres dedicated to the repair in its submission.

This is an opportunity to consider support for community repair groups and their volunteer repairers into the future, as the nation is being required via legislation to move towards a truly circular economy.

Recommendations
That Federal Government funding for Repair Sheds or similar is made available to establish these venues in local government areas that will be able to provide repair, reuse, and resale of items on a daily basis. Collaborations could be forged between community repair groups i.e. repair cafes and the men’s sheds in local
communities. If not collaborations, then at least venues could be shared if more types of shed infrastructure were deemed excessive.

An Australian Association is set up to support and assist community repair groups i.e. repair cafes, repair sheds or centres and repairers with government funding allocation, liability concerns and brokering insurance. Also creating and supplying promotional literature, list and map of other community repair groups and their details. This type of service could be similar to the services provided by the Australian
Men’s Shed Association [AMSA].

MRFs with TIP Shops are untapped venues for community repair, reuse and re-sale initiatives. This idea could fit in with an expanded National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme [NTCRS] before items are given up to the scheme; they should be picked-over by the TIP Shop staff and/or community
volunteers for re-sale back into the community. This process would be of more direct benefit to the local community than discarded items being
shredded by a recycler or being sent overseas for reuse and repair, especially in lower-socio economic communities.

Resourceful Hepburn aims to improve resource recovery (repair, reuse, repurpose, recycle) in their shire. Community survey responses show that the most popular suggestion in each category were: Repair: repair cafe, Reuse: Tip shop, Repurpose: Tip shop, and Recyle: Education.

For consideration, some unique resource recovery examples of repair and reuse initiatives for a truly circular economy as follows: Hobart TIP Shop; The Green Shed Canberra; ReTuna in Sweden; Rancho Grande USA; and Re-made.

MIA commends the APC and its staff on an informative and well researched draft report and is grateful for the opportunities to write two submissions and present before a hearing. We look forward to the final report in October that provides more attention to greater support for long-term repair and reuse initiatives that are community based and community led.  Mend It believes a mass cultural shift to repairing can happen and that Australia’s first National Repair Summit, is a good place to start discussions of how best to support repair at the grassroots level. It’s at this community level that some heavy lifting is being undertaken by passionate
repairers and repair advocates helping consumers keep their useful, mostly inexpensive household items and textiles from prematurely being down-cycled or sent
to landfill.

Community repair events are amazing. Mend It has repairing and mending skills that it can share. It’s extremely motivating for our creative minds to use our skills to
troubleshoot broken items. It’s the best endorphin fix to repair these items as we get to experience the repair joy! HOWEVER Free community repair activities can be fraught with challenges and barriers. Here are some of these:
1. Ad-hoc funding from benevolent bureaucrats – this begs the question why should repair people be working for free, to deliver free services and be bread-crumbing for funds?
2. Expensive insurance coverage – some brokers are reported to be refusing repair groups and tool libraries insurance coverage.
3. Liability and risk concerns are regularly flagged as issues.
4. Venue hire costs – unlike Men’s sheds governments have not committed to dedicated repair sheds or similar in their Waste and Resource Recovery Plans for a
circular economy.
5. Lack of volunteers can be an issue. However, Mend It does not agree there is a lack of expertise out there.
6. Myths about safety abound – Some of these we addressed in our submission
7. No formal support alliance for Australia’s community repairers and groups [hopefully an outcome of the summit will be to address this issue],
8. Disproportionate bureaucratic requirements for the repair activity.
9. Limited open access to manuals, diagrams and schematics – This issue could be addressed by right to repair legislation to ensure community repairers are
NOT excluded from accessing these.
10. Items that are glued shut or hard to get into, due to proprietary and hidden screws– right to repair legislation related to the design of products to address this
issue would be helpful.
11. The cost of Portable Appliance Testing Equipment, its calibration and the training of volunteers are expensive to fund. Our submission to the Commission
had some details on the lucrative business of PAT machines, testing and ongoing associated costs.

19. Wilderhoods: Create habitat and connection in your urban neighbourhood 

Residents interested in learning how to attract more wildlife to their local landscape are invited to attend the session Wilderhoods: Create habitat and connection in your urban neighbourhood. This session explores opportunities for creating a network of urban habitat, and ingredients for low-fire risk plantings that will improve wildlife survival.

Local ecologist and educator Cassia Read will guide this workshop, where participants will learn how to map habitat, share knowledge of urban birds, frogs and insects, and apply wildlife friendly design principles to gardens and public neighbourhood spaces.

What:     Wilderhoods: Create habitat and connection in your urban neighbourhood
When:    Sunday 29 August, 10.00am to 1.00pm
Where:   West End Hall, Woodman Street, Castlemaine
Book:     Call 5471 1828 or book bit.ly/MtAlexBoxOffice

Spotted Pardalotes can be seen in native home gardens. Artwork by Cassia Read

Photo: Newstead community garden

21. Walking Together- Towards Reconcilation

THE NATIONAL AGREEMENT ON CLOSING THE GAP- A message from Nalderun

A new approach to closing the gap in health, education, employment and lifestyle, all of which are experienced so differently by Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, was set up in 2020. When Close the Gap was initiated in 2007 it aimed to bring about equality with other Australians within a decade, and committed to monitoring the life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ten years later, few of these targets were on track.

The new National Agreement includes monitoring of government actions and how they can influence outcomes. It has been built around what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people said is important to improve their lives, and was developed in genuine partnership between Australian governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak groups. Working with Indigenous people, their communities, organisations and businesses, all governments are to implement the new National Agreement at the national, state and territory, and local levels.

For the first time, all levels of government and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations are jointly accountable for ensuring that the goals of closing the gap are achieved. They will share monitoring and implementation arrangements. Four priority reforms central to the National Agreement commit governments to change the way they work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; for example, with more support to community-controlled organisations as they deliver services. Progress they are making to reach the targets will be monitored by the Productivity Commission over the next ten years and reported annually.

Seventeen new socio-economic targets were developed, focussing on improvements in the areas of education, employment, health and wellbeing, justice, safety, housing, land and waters, and languages. Briefly stated, the targets are:

1. Everyone enjoys long and healthy lives
2. Children are born healthy and strong
3. Children are engaged in high quality, culturally appropriate early childhood education in their early years
4. Children thrive in their early years
5. Students achieve their full learning potential
6. Students reach their full potential through further education pathways
7. Youth are engaged in employment or education
8. There is strong economic participation and development of people and their communities
9. People can secure appropriate, affordable housing that is aligned with their priorities and need
10. Adults are not over-represented in the criminal justice system
11. Young people are not over-represented in the criminal justice system
12. Children are not over-represented in the child protection system
13. Families and households are safe
14. People enjoy high levels of social and emotional wellbeing
15. People maintain a distinctive cultural, spiritual, physical and economic relationship with their land and waters
16. Cultures and languages are strong, supported and flourishing
17. People have access to information and services enabling participation in informed decision-making regarding their own lives

A short time ago, data on twelve months of working towards seven of the targets was released. It reported that over-imprisonment rates of First Nations adults, child removals, suicide rates and life expectancy were either not on track or actually going up. We other Australians can help close the yawning gap between ourselves and First Nations people by being informed about the hurts they suffer, and by respecting them just the same as we respect our ‘white’ colleagues and friends.

Nalderun is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute  to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”.

More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au

Recently  the disability guide for Mt Alexander shire was launched. Here’s a link to the document:   https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Hnt4ESmYdu7abAgfseID98zc2FlZTWIZ

There are hard copies at the Shire office front desk, Community House and the Market Building.

Thanks to the Mt Alexander Shire Disability Access Group, MASDAG.

23. Resourceful Hepburn’s survey results and strategic planning

Thanks to the 102 people who completed Resourceful Hepburn’s recent survey. We’ve started posting results, one question at a time, on our Facebook page. Some great insights and plenty of community interest about improving how we reuse, repair, repurpose and recycle. Also, many fantastic ideas about how to go about it.

Overall, respondents indicated they rated the council’s performance in various resource recovery categories rather poorly and overwhelmingly indicated that a community resource recovery enterprise in Hepburn Shire would be an improvement compared with the current situation.

The results also showed that the areas of reuse and repair would be the most beneficial categories of reform for the community to prioritise. It’s so great to know our community sees the importance of taking accountability for our own waste! Keep visiting our Facebook page for the full survey results.

Successful planning day

Key outcomes were an agreed approach to formalise the group, communications with the community, and two priorities for enterprise activities – repair, upcycling and sale of useful goods/materials, and, a focus on organic waste, particularly commercial food waste composting and a community chipper.

Incorporation

Resourceful Hepburn became an Incorporated Association on 4 August 2021, and we thank Hepburn Wind for helping us with this through a $500 sponsorship. We plan to conduct our first public meeting soon. Stay tuned for details! And in the meantime, let’s all keep up the good work of being active resource recovery warriors in our own patch.

24. Central Highlands App Map for Provisioning (CHAMP)

Aim: We aim to support regional resilience and community sufficiency through localising our economies. Promoting local production and use means minimising carbon emissions and other ecological impacts.

Our specific goal is to create a map of local producers/retailers of food and more with a tool (app) for use by locals to identify and access options for local provisioning. This map and app will promote and show the breadth of — and gaps in — community provisioning.

The producers included will demonstrate a strong commitment ecological sustainability and regenerative principles. It will require continual updating.

Project

Pre-project stage (completed):  Scoped community need and interest. Initial pre-project trial with software and collected data for development for use in a to-be-created app.

Development stage (current): We need to work with a partner to create or adapt an appropriate app. We need funding to support this.

Contact: Mirella Gavidia — mirella.gavidia@rmit.edu.au

Support:  Initially an idea of Central Highlands Mutual Aid, the project is now seeking supporters/ signatories. Please let us know by email that you would like to be a signatory. Feel free to forward to interested people and associations in your network. Email us if you can support in seeking partners, council support and funding.

25. Fire for Healthy Country- Talking Fire

This new local project, Fire for Healthy Country, is working with Dja Dja Wurrung and DELWP. The Talking Fire project is planning a Djandak Wi cultural burn in the Muckleford Forest. Djandak Wi is the term used by Djaara – Dja Dja Wurrung people, the Traditional Owners for our part of Central Victoria – for the process of returning cultural fire to Country. The project seeks to deepen and transform our understanding of how to care for our local landscape by bringing Djaara knowledge and experience into a practical experience of using fire as a way of caring for Country.

There will be three Community Workshops and bookings are now open, with the first workshop on Saturday 14 August. Numbers are limited and to attend the actual burn you need to go to the first workshop and do some pre-training – the details are all on the Talking Fire website where you can also book: webpage. Tickets are $10 to each workshop to help cover costs.

You might also like to look at some of the resources on Aboriginal cultural burning that we have added to our Resources page. There are also some further updates on this page where we report on the 2018 Reviving Indigenous burning practices in a changed landscape: Community Search Conference.

For updates, follow Talking Fire via our website or facebook or drop us a line at newsteadtalkingfire@gmail.com.

26. Local Markets and MaLETS

With a motto of Eat locally grown food in season, MaLETS encourages weekly shopping at markets. Freshly picked, locally grown, low miles travelled, home cooked, yummy food for you & your family.

Next Castlemaine Farmer’s Market: Sunday September 5th, 9am to 1pm at the Information Centre in Mostyn Street, Castlemaine.

Midweek Markets: Wednesdays, 2:30pm to 5pm @ Western Reserve Forrest Street. Castlemaine.

Maldon Community Market: Sunday September 12th: 9 to 1:30 @ Bill Woodfull Reserve. Maldon.

Second hand goods & craft items will be available for swap/sale @ the Maldon Community Market & Newstead Markets only.

Plants & seeds left with regular market members, we ask for your assistance to collect your plants and seeds for review after a month.

Handmade soaps & shampoos are available at every market

What to do in the garden in August?

Stay inside by the fire, walking in the Castlemaine rain, enjoy lockdown, cooking hearty soups, use the slow cooker for those yummy stews, have a lovely bottle of red wine occasionally. Prune roses, fruits trees, clematis, hydrangeas. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch the garden beds. Winter colour Cyclamins & Helliabores. Plant out deciduous trees. Plant out Broccoli, Brussel sprouts Cabbages, kale, leeks & parsnips.  Leafy crops such as chard, parsley & gorgeous rocket of course.

27. Radius- a new gallery supporting local artists

 

An art space for the inspirational creative
people living in a radius around Hepburn Springs.

28. Repair Cafes and Workshops

Castlemaine

The Castlemaine and surrounds Repair Cafe is still going strong on the last Sunday of the month 10am till 1pm.  New repairers and helpers are welcome. Just sign up at a Cafe.

Bring along broken household appliances, sewing repairs, picture frames and even wooden chairs, small boxes etc. Wood repairs need to be booked. The Cafe is at the Community House, 30 Lyttleton St. Come to the back door through the community garden. For further info contact Chris on 54705508.

Next Cafe: Sunday September 26th, 10am- 1pm, at Castlemaine Community House 

Daylesford

29. Frontiers Wars Memorial Avenue opened in Hepburn Shire

In July Hepburn Shire officially opened the Frontier Wars Memorial , located in the magnificent stand of manna gums near Daylesford’s Avenue of Honour, on the Daylesford-Malmsbury Road near Coomoora.This site is an ongoing reminder to acknowledge the Aboriginal lives lost in defending their Traditional lands during early contact and ‘settlement’. This is the first of its kind in Australia and is evidence of leading the way with reconciliation.  Djaara CEO Rodney Carter spoke of the significance of the Avenue in acknowledging the truth of our shared history and laid a wreath together in memory of the Djaara lives lost.

Here’s a short video of the opening ceremony: short video (1 minute) or full length (16 minutes).

Extracts from Yandoit’s Erica Higgins speech at the Memorial Avenue opening

Yandoit’s Erica Higgins is a member of the Shire’s Reconciliation Action Group. She spoke at the opening of the memorial avenue. In addition to acknowledging and paying respects to the traditional owners here is some of what she had to say:

I need to pay my respects also to some who have been important in guiding me to a better understanding of the history of this country- firstly Edgar Morrison (father of Yandoit’s Don Morrison) who wrote his books on the history of this area and plainly spoke of massacres, murder and the forcible removal of the Dja Dja Wurrung and others, first from their lands and then to the Franklinford protectorate and then to Corranderk. This was written in the ‘60’s when many believed the Dja Dja Wurrung were ‘extinct’ and that the past was buried and forgotten. I also need to acknowledge the work done by cultural officer Jim Remedio in the ‘90’s to register places of cultural and historical significance, who paved the way for the strength of the Dja Dja Wirrung today in having their custodianship of the lands resurge. Both of these men taught me the history of settlement and of the violence and indifference that was perpetrated in the name of progress.

While we can now openly speak of this painful part of our shared history, we need to remind ourselves that this did in fact happen,to not only men who were warriors defending their land, their rights, their laws and their families, this was also perpetrated on women and children.

Today we have done something pivotal in our history in Australia , not just for our ‘little local community’ . We have formally acknowledged that the frontier wars had uncounted victims, that the frontier wars continue to cause pain to the Dja Dja Wurrung and to those of us who have tried to understand and to empathise.

So let us not forget that the traditional owners are with us to this day and that we have a huge amount of work ahead of us together, as part of our efforts towards truth telling and healing. Today, to paraphrase Neil Armstrong, this is one small step for Hepburn Shire and one giant leap for Australia. By acknowledging the wrongs and setting up a place for us to remember and reflect, we are starting to work together in a way that hasn’t happened before. These beautiful trees are a symbol of what was here- survival, beauty and endurance.

Hepburn shire’s website also has sound bites to the Dja Dja Wurrung language (Reconciliation & Recognition )

30. Wombat Forest Care- Wombat-Lerdederg National Park & more

Wombat Forest Care has contributed towards the State Government’s creation of Wombat-Lerderderg National Park. On 24th June the Victorian Government formally tabled their response to the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council’s (VEAC) Central West investigation report. Three new National Parks will be created.  Areas with high conservation values are to be included in the new National Park, conservation parks and nature reserves. Areas around townships will be designated regional parks, which will allow for activities such as dog walking, horse riding and fossicking. Domestic firewood collection will be available until June 2029. However, the legislation needs to be promptly enacted to ensure that these forests are permanently protected.

The recent announcement of the three new National Parks was the result of a long battle to have the conservation values of central Victorian forests recognised.
While this represents an enormous step, much uncertainty remains as to when and how park status will be implemented.

Wombat Forestcare Inc. is dedicated to preserving the biodiversity and amenity of the Wombat State Forest, Central Victoria, Australia, by utilising the skills and resources of the community. By becoming a member you will have input into our activities and projects, and give support to caring for our forests.
For memberships and further information contact Gayle Osborne, (03) 5348 7558 or email info@wombatforestcare.org.au

In the group’s July newsletter there’s information about: 

• Resilience of the Wombat Forest: Changes in climate are affecting forest ecosystems worldwide. Research shows that trees in the Wombat Forest are generally very resilient to seasonal changes in climate. Watch this informative talk, delivered by Prof Stefan Arndt- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences at the University of Melbourne:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py0p42_ZNho
• The Australian Owlet-nightjar:  One of our most widespread nocturnal birds, found throughout the country in a range of treed habitats, except rain-forest. However, trying to see one, especially at night, is no easy feat. Unlike many other arboreal animals of the night, Australian Owlet-nightjars have very little reflective eye shine making them extremely difficult to pick up by torchlight. Not what you’d expect from a bird with such large prominent eyes. Daytime is spent tucked away in tree stumps or small hollows, often low to the ground, but they have been observed roosting in all sorts of man-made structures; open metal piping on sheds and gates,for example. Australian Owlet-nightjars can be found throughout the Wombat Forest. While they can be hard to see, luckily they are reasonably vocal with a main call that is fairly recognisable. This is a high-pitched, sharp but somewhat sad chirr, emitted at regular intervals, often 3 – 4 seconds apart. These seemingly delicate and defenceless birds are still reasonably abundant, not featuring on any threatened species lists as yet.
• The big storm: An extract from Gayle Osborne: On Wednesday evening, 9th June, a storm of never remembered ferocity ripped through the Wombat State Forest, as well as the Dandenong Ranges and parts of Gippsland. By Thursday morning the Wombat Forest landscape had been dramatically altered, large trees uprooted, other snapped off and swathes of forest flattened. In an effort to put this event into perspective I turned to Ron Hateley’s book “The Victorian Bush: its ‘original and natural’ condition”. Ron researched the observations of our early explorers and settlers and documented the extreme wind events they experienced. He provides references for a number of tornadoes in the 1800’s and these describe events that are similar to the wind event west of Daylesford in 2015. These events were extreme but localised. From these early records there is only one description of an extensive storm/wind event, which occurred in November 1897. Ron describes it as “when a series of strong tornadoes swept across the colony from near the South Australian border to Warragul, east of Melbourne. We need to consider that the Wombat Forest is a regrowth forest, having been cleared for timber and gold mining in the 1800s and then over-harvested for timber in the late 1900s. Where there were once forest giants that were at least 200 years old, there are now much younger eucalypts growing closer together. Swathes of trees that were probably 80 to 100 years old have been uprooted and lie on the ground like ‘pick up sticks’. It is distressing to all of us that these trees that have been growing for so long, that were habitat, that provided blossom for birds and insects, are no longer standing. There are massive areas of destruction around Bullarto and other parts of the forest, but there are also sections of the forest barely touched by the devastating winds. We should look in awe at the large old trees that have withstood this wind event. The branches they have dropped will allow for the creation of hollows.
• Ecological Vegetation Classes: The Wombat forest contains a diverse range of native plant species that occur in over 30 distinct plant communities. Plant communities are groups of plants that grow together sharing similar environmental conditions such as climate, geology, soil type, aspect, altitude and position in the landscape. Each plant community in the Wombat forest provides different types of habitat and resources for native fauna to varying degrees. In Victoria, most plant communities have been formally described and mapped and are called Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs).

For more information on these topics go to http://www.wombatforestcare.org.au/newsletters/WombatForestcareNewsletter56_July_21.pdf

31. Platypus search- Citizens science project in our waterways

North Central Catchment Management Authority is part of the Great Australian Platypus search, a new citizens’ science project, which kicks off in August. It will collect much needed data on the threatened species. This is the largest citizen scientist project in Australia’s history, and is a crucial first step to reversing
platypus population decline. Earlier this year, the unique and iconic species was listed as Threatened in Victoria for the first time, sparking the inspiration for this project. In response, the Odonata Foundation proposed a state-wide survey in Victoria during the 2021 platypus breeding season (August-October). This project will map the entire distribution of platypus throughout Victorian waterways to help inform future management solutions to elevate its status from Threatened.
Citizen scientists, including school students, children and community groups can participate  with limited training or experience.

Go to The Great Australian Platypus Search website for more info and to join the search. https://www.thegreataustralianplatypussearch.org/

32. Master Tree Grower- Community of Practice

Do you have a need for trees, and a desire to build your knowledge and know-how? Do you want to ensure your trees are a valuable asset and don’t ever become a
liability? The Australian Agro Forestry Foundation believes that to create more productive farms, sustainable landscapes and resilient communities, we need to use trees – and to use them wisely. Trees can be used as tools to protect assets, build natural capital, and restore carbon, water and nutrient cycles while producing useful and valuable products: renewable materials and energy as well as food and botanical products.

The Australian Agroforestry Foundation (AAF) plans to build a community of regenerative practice focussed on the strategic utilisation of trees and shrubs on farms. The Australian Master Tree Grower is a celebrated training program that aims to give participants the knowledge, resources, and networks to put trees (and shrubs) to work on their land for climate, biodiversity, and material (production) benefits.

If you are an Australian resident interested to build your knowledge of regenerative forestry and/or to become a Master Tree Grower please head to our website to join (it’s free!): Home – Australian Agroforestry Foundation https://agroforestry.org.au/

Funding is available through the Future Drought Fund’s Research and Adoption program to fund ideas and projects that help farmers and their
communities adopt innovative approaches to improve drought resilience. There are three grants available:
• Ideas Grant – providing $50,000 for one year.
• Proof-of-Concept grant – providing up to $120,000 for one year.
• Innovation grant – providing $300,000 to $1.1 million per year for up to three years.
Closing date: 9pm (AEST) Wednesday 8 September 2021

Questions about the Grants and EOI can be directed to 1800 020 283 (Option 1) or support@communitygrants.gov.au. Questions should be sent no later than 5pm (AEST) Thursday 2 September 2021.