September 2024 e-news

We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable – but then so did the divine right of kings.  Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.  Resistance and change often begins in art.  Very often in our art, the art of words. 

Ursula K Le Guin, speech to the National Book Awards, 2014

Welcome to the September edition of Localising Leanganook ‘s e-newsletter.  In this month’s newsletter, enjoy our feature article- Future Hepburn Forum– Lightning Talk on Climate-  by Taryn Lane. The newsletter also includes regular updates on upcoming local events for the month of September plus activities that contribute towards localisation.  We hope you enjoy it.

Cheers, Nikki, Keppel, and Laurel

Note to Contributors and Readers

As you can see, Localising Leanganook’s e-news continues to grow from strength to strength reaching more than 700 subscribers. The monthly newsletter  includes an ever expanding range of localising events, programs and creative initiatives  in  our central Victorian region.  If you’ve got items for inclusion in future editions, let our editing team know – (nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au). To help our editing team please email through information you’d like included in the following format:

• program/project/event name plus date, time and location if relevant
• summary of event/issue/program, in word format,
• accompanying photo as a jpeg or png.

September’s edition includes:

1. Special Feature: Future Hepburn Forum- Lightning Talk on Climate
   
2. Arts and Culture
3. Food Growing, Farming and Food Security
4. Ecology and Environment
5. First Nations
6. Sustainable Living Resources
7. Building Community
8. The Spirit and the Sacred
9. Local Government News
10. Workshops and Courses
11. Letters
12. Food for Thought

1. Special Feature: Future Hepburn Forum- Lightning Talk on Climate, by Taryn Lane

Background to Future Hepburn Forum

At the Hepburn Shire Future Forum, organised by community members and held on August 4^th at Radius Gallery in Hepburn Springs, conversations were opened up, ideas were seeded, and actions proposed via Lightning Talks designed to help shape the future of our shire. These brief  4-5 minute talks presented ways forward for the immediate and longer term of Hepburn shire:  4 years, 40 years  and 400 years. Local thinkers and activists shared their visions and strategies around the themes of Climate (Taryn Lane- Hepburn Energy), Environment (David Holmgren- Holmgren Design), Liveability and Affordable Housing (Karl Fitzgerald- Grounded), and Governance (Tammi Jonas- local farmer and Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance). Lucy Richards- social entrepreneur for future generations- commented on each of the lightning talks from the perspectives and needs of young people.

These talks were provocateurs to peoples’ thinking, action and agency.  They also provided inspiration, identified flaws in existing policies and processes, and highlighted tangible ways forward. With local government elections coming up in October this year, the Future Forum also heard from Cr Jen Bray about the realities of being a councillor, with suggestions for effective community engagement. Cr Tim Drylie spoke about the challenges, responsibilities and satisfactions of being a councillor, the candidate process, and encouraged others in attendance to consider standing in the 2024 elections.  Participants were made aware of the limited time available to recruit candidates, volunteers and voters before the October elections.

The talks were followed by hearty discussions amongst participants, well facilitated by local resident, Peter O’Mara. Some themes emerging included the high turn-over of staff within the Shire, the extensive use of consultants without local knowledge, and the wealth of skills amongst our local residents which could be drawn upon for the benefit of our community and shire. The end of the ward system poses new challenges and/or threats including potential lack of representation and local knowledge for sections of the shire, especially small hamlets.  The Future Forum was organised by some original members of Community Voice, formed during the campaign for the 2020 local government election. Interest and enthusiasm from those attending the Future Forum has seeded a new community group:  The People’s Consultancy- Hepburn.

Here is a summary of Taryn Lane’s Lightning Talk relating to Climate. 

“The next 4 years: the time is now for action on climate. We have the community wide goal of net zero by 2030 under the banner of Hepburn ZNET – the key focus areas are agriculture, energy, transport, and waste, and ensuring our Wombat Forest remains the carbon sink that it is. Hepburn Shire Council has its Sustainable Hepburn plan for council infrastructure that is integrated with the community goals of Hepburn Z-NET and also covers biodiversity and circular economy.

On the energy front we have firstly a once in a lifetime opportunity for a wealth transfer to occur away from energy companies and into homes via electrification and renewables. In the past 12 months we saw 4mw of rooftop solar deployed in the shire, with ward areas such as Holcombe and Cameron going from 24 and 26 percent of rooftops to 39%. So, the work of now is largely a retrofit project.  Rooftop solar is now in aggregate the biggest energy player after coal and gas. We need all the homes that can to have rooftop solar. We need all the existing homes, regardless of solar, to be energy efficient, cheap to run, and as thermally comfortable as possible, resilient to fires, storms and floods. This will be supported by minimum standards for energy efficiency for rental homes under the state government and new 7-star minimum standards for new houses under the federal government. We need our existing local electricity grid to be smart and resilient – enabling us to use our hot water systems and our cars as batteries. We need money to be saved and kept in the local community.

For Hepburn Shire, as a small local government area with a tight budget, the only way to effectively get action on climate change is through community- council partnerships and collaboration with local groups. The Z-NET partnership has overseen more than $6.5m in community value through bulk buys and energy efficiency programs since 2019. Another example is our Electrical Vehicle (EV) charging network in the Shire that now has four 100% community owned EV chargers by Hepburn Energy. This has come about through the partnership between Hepburn Energy, Hepburn Shire Council, Central Highlands Water and Chargefox.

This coming year it is anticipated that Hepburn Shire Council should reach zero net emissions for their infrastructure. This should allow an increased focus on supporting the community to reduce emissions, to protect and expand our biodiversity, and to promote circular economies. In addition, a key focus needs to be support for our farmers to continue reducing farm operational emissions, regenerate farmland and increase carbon sequestration.

In 2020 a big group of us gathered underneath the turbines to spell out 1.5 degrees in a human sign, as a symbol of the need to stay within a safe climate trajectory. We are now consistently breaching this temperature rise and are more in reach for 2-3 degrees.

In 40 years I hope we can look back at how everyone played an active part in reducing emissions, adapting to climate change and Caring for Country.”

(Taryn Lane is the General Manager of the local energy co-operative Hepburn Energy, and has been taking care of the 2 turbines ‘Gale’ and ‘Gusto’ since they were built in 2011. Hepburn Energy supports the community towards the community-wide goal of zero-net emissions by 2030 through a range of community-based programs such as bulk buys and energy efficiency.) 

2. Arts and Culture

Yandoit Cultural- A special evening with Virtuoso Guitarist, Alex Tsiboulski

Renowned classical guitar master Alex Tsiboulski presents a unique one-off program in the special atmosphere and acoustics of Yandoit Uniting Church- Yandoit Cultural. An artist known for his virtuosity, intensity and depth, Tsiboulski presents a program spanning music from three centuries, listeners will see and hear an original 200-year-old guitar from Italy, a Telecaster electric and a modern Spanish guitar.

Recently returned from an extensive tour of Ukraine, the ARIA-nominated Daylesford resident Tsiboulski splits his time between touring and teaching at the University of Melbourne.  His last two solo albums have received five-star reviews in the Weekend Australian.

When and Where: Friday 27 September 7:30PM, at Yandoit Cultural, Uniting Church Rd, off High St, Yandoit

Seating and Bookings: Seating for this concert is limited for visibility and acoustic reasons. Bookings essential: https://www.trybooking.com/CUQVU

Enquiries: sasha.bookings@carpecook.fr Phone: 0401-162-796 or nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au 0432 232 073

“Tsiboulski is little short of a magician […] producing astonishing varieties of tone from the lute-like early music to virtuoso feats of contemporary dexterity . . .” (The Advertiser, Adelaide)

Here’s a few taste tempters for Alex Tsibulski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCBJYfIoEk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdJdW2UP4jg

Newstead Arts Hub

To see all exhibitions, performance and workshops click here

Shut up and Write- Friday 27th September 1-5pm

The Newstead Writers Group meets monthly at the Arts Hub on the 4th Friday of the month. This is a space for professional authors, occasional writers and budding authors to write without the interruptions of day to day life.  The writers take a break for 15 minutes or so mid afternoon to join in a conversation with other writers.  Otherwise they find a spot to sit and shut up and write!  A small donation to attend is requested.

Friday 27th September 6.30 – 8pm-  Thrutopia – Beyond Utopia and Dystopia: a new writing genre for the future.

Bring  your imagination to join in an Experiential Thrutopian Writers Lab to seed new stories for the Future. Stories are a powerful force to change the world for the good of all.  They can pierce outdated beliefs and behaviours to bring new light and optimism.  This will be an interactive and joyful experience exploring a new global writing genre to find a cut through pathway between Utopia and Dystopia to seed a viable future for all life.

The Bedridden Return for a Second Concert at Yandoit Cultural

When and Where: Saturday September 14^th, 7.30pm.  Uniting Church Rd, off High St, Yandoit

The Bedridden were formed in Canberra in 1989. Five albums and several line-up changes later, Dave, Raz and Alex are based in Central Victoria and are the undisputed kings and queens of acoustic psycho muppet punk.

“The Bedridden are brilliant, childish, side-splittingly funny, mean-spirited, musically outstanding, puerile, visionary, insular, hugely talented, immature, poetic, condescending, and capable of making albums that challenge, disgust & inspire”.

Listen via youtube and spotify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRldykgWi8

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0zLUdu0JTDHiXFCjT3hIB0?si=TppzCI3XQX66vFOEYX78yA

Entry by donation. Bookings and Enquiries: http://yandoitcultural.org/

Radius Gallery

Fathers Day Event: Mouth watering curries and heart warming comedy.

Sunday 1st September 6pm – 9pm

Join us for a fun evening of food and film as we launch Feast & Flicks at Radius. Join local legend Raman Richards as he crafts an array of curries followed by a screening of classic movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  READ MORE for full Radius Program.

Northern Arts Hotel

There is always something on at the Coolroom.  World music is on from August to November.  You can go to Las Gatas album launch, listen to Yirrmal live and an array of fabulous performers and other events through to November.  Events are usually at 7.30pm.  Click on the Coolroom diary links below for details of September. Remember Potluck dinner is on every Tuesday from 7pm.

Friday 30 August 7.30pm  | STANO In Between Silence, where we really exist
Saturday 31 August 3pm | Las Gatas Album Launch ‘Feelings’
Friday 6 September | Indigenous music with Yirrmal  [W]
Saturday 7 September | Ms Onur Kurt & DJ Luqman  [W]
Sunday 8 September 7pm | She: Beccy Cole, Felicity Urquhart & Lyn Bowtell
Friday 13 September 7.30pm | Namrock House: Solomon Island Reggae  [W]
Friday 20 September 7.30pm | The Jack Pantazis Group in concert
Saturday 21 September 7.30pm | Trudy Fatnowna Edgeley Album Launch  [W]
Friday 27 September 7.30pm | Beare & Smith live at The Coolroom
Saturday 28 September 7.30pm | The Duck Downpickers with special guests
Friday 29 November 7.30pm | Jeff Lang Album Launch ‘More Life’
FILM
Friday 30 August7.30pm  | STANO In Between Silence, where we really exist
SPOKEN WORD & REGULAR GROUPS
Saturday 24 August 2.30PM | PoetiCas at The Coolroom
NORTHERN ARTS HOTEL
Ongoing | Ethiopia, Hudad Plateau: A Self Portrait Series
Every Tuesday | Potluck Dinner from 7pm
Nightly Dusk to Dawn | Wimble St Wall 

Swiss Italian Festival Amici

The Swiss Italian Festival Committee is looking for 100 community supporters prepared to donate $100 to be recognised as a Festa Amici and provide a solid $10 000 financial base to help guarantee the future of our Swiss Italian Festa. Will you be an Amici – a friend of the 2024 Hepburn Swiss Italian Festa?

The Festa was revived last year after a COVID-enforced break, the sort of break that’s made so many other community celebrations and festivals unviable. In 2024 we have an expanded, enthusiastic volunteer committee working hard to deliver a bigger, better Festa on the last weekend in October. We do have some business sponsors and in-kind donors, and have received some State Government funding, but we need community funding to ensure we can host the Street Parade, Lantern Parade, Festa day at the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve and – of course – the traditional fireworks!

Every $100 Amici will be listed in our program, on our website and recognised in our social media. And every Amici will be in the draw for a major prize donated by one of our business supporters. If you can be an Amici this would be a big help for this year’s Festa. Please contact us if you would like to discuss the Festa.

You can donate directly to the Swiss Italian Festa Bank Account – Or you can go to our Swiss Italian website  https://swissitalianfesta.com/ to make a payment.

For more information: email Eddie Beacham  beacham@mooltan.com.au

3. Food Growing, Farming and Food Security

Milkwood- Beginners Guide to Veggie Gardening

NEW: our free Beginner’s Guide to Veggie Gardening

4. Ecology and Environment

YIMBY – Yes in My Back Yard – Composting – Update – July ‘24

• We have reached the grand milestone of composting 50,000 kgs of kitchen organics! (anyone with the time and skills to help us visually represent this please get in touch)
• Costa and the Gardening Australia crew spent a day filming some of our YIMBY crew on Tuesday 23rd July for a segment on Gardening Australia. We appreciate their interest in telling YIMBY’s unique story as we also think it is a story worth telling! It will go to air sometime before Dec, date TBA.
• YIMBY was grateful to be nominated as the receiving charity for Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) for two weeks in July. Thanks to all who took their bottles and cans down so that we can buy more straw. And remember, you can always nominate YIMBY to receive funds through the CDS, just ask the friendly staff at the Chewton Service Station.

Upcoming events:Weekly coffee catch up at Tortoise Cafe, every Wednesday from 8-9am. Everyone welcome.

• Next YIMBY Continuous Hot Composting Workshop will be held on Saturday 21st Sept, 9:30am – 12:30pm. Limited places, book your spot now.

Anyone got the time and skills for…We have a new section on our website Get Involved showing all the ways you can help YIMBY including…

• Weekly collection of CDS bottles and from The Tap Room – largish vehicle needed (about a 1.5 hour weekly commitment – or occasional help).
• Fortnightly collection of buckets from Don KR – largish vehicle required
• Grant Writing
• Help to visually represent our statistics, what does 50,000 kgs of kitchen scraps look like?!
• YIMBY is still looking for a home. A place to run our workshops from, store our buckets, pile our straw and plan our future. If you have any ideas on potential locations we would love to hear from you.
• Horse poo collection or donations.
• Donations of wood chips as a carbon source for our composters
• Please get in touch with the YIMBY team if you can help. hello@yimbycompost.com

This month’s Compost Conversation articles:TAKE IT OUTSIDE – kitchen caddies; ADDING SOIL, OR NOT?

• Reminder: All YIMBY Compost Conversation articles are available on our website under our new Resource Hub.

Green Drinks return to Hepburn at Radius Arts

Fri 30th August, 6pm  at Radius Gallery, 76 Main Rd Hepburn Springs

Image by KamranAydinv Freepic

Feathery Festival

A collaborative venture with Connecting Country, Birdlife Castlemaine District and Barkers Creek Landcare and Wildlife Group.

Join us for a series of events in celebration of woodland birds including films, walks, talks and books

September 2024 on Djaara Country

The Message of the Lyrebird Film Fundraiser

When and Where: Thursday 5 September 7:30pm (doors open at 6pm for dinner and music) at Theatre Royal Castlemaine

Tickets $25/$20 concession HERE

This is a special fundraising event also featuring live music by Joel Bloom and Hilary Blackshaw and a conversation with local Landcarers and ecologists.

All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards – Connecting Country’s Conservation Program and Balangara Films Education Distribution Program. 

Guided Bird Walk

When and Where: Saturday 7 September 9am, Rise and Shine Nature Conservation Reserve, Newstead 

Join expert bird watchers from Birdlife Castlemaine District on a free guided walk in one of the region’s bird watching hotspots, including a ‘how to identify birds’ session, followed by a delicious brunch in the outdoors with entertainment from the Chat Warblers. Kids welcome. Reserve your spot HERE

Birds and Beers

When and Where: Wednesday 11 September, Talk starts at 7pm (come down earlier for dinner), Shedshaker, Castlemaine 

Enjoy a beer and some delicious grub, and Join Tanya Loos, author of forthcoming book Living with Wildlife: a guide for our homes and backyards, while she delves into the delights of our local bird fauna. As well as describing commonly seen birds of the Castlemaine region, Tanya will provide tips on how to make sure our homes and backyards are havens for birds.  Practical advice will include preventing window collision, owl friendly rodent control, how to stop birds attacking windows and why bird baths are a better option than feeding birds. 

Natural Newstead

The Importance of Lerp #1

Lerp, the sugary secretions created by psyllid insects, plays a vital role in the natural economy of many ecosystems, especially so in the box-ironbark woodlands of central Victoria. At times when other food may be scarce, often over winter, lerp provides a crucial source of energy-rich starch (along with some protein and fats) for woodland birds.

River Red-Gum lives (mainly) in ecological harmony with psyllids and it is not uncommon to see trees covered in scars where the sugary casings have been plucked from the surface of leaves. This Brown-headed Honeyeater was feasting on red gum lerp at Rotunda Park, performing some impressive gymnastics as it picked its way through the leaf clusters.

Read more from Geoff Park 

Clean Energy Children’s book

There’s a new children’s book about clean energy out now and we love that the wind character was inspired by Hepburn Energy’s turbine Gale.

Amy’s Balancing Act is an illustrated children’s book about the transition to clean energy and the power of diversity. The author, Dr Bjorn Sturmberg, is an energy researcher at ANU, award-winning science communicator, and long-standing member of Hepburn Energy. Its illustrator is Melbourne artist Laura Stitzel.

With National Book and Science Week coming up in August, Bjorn is donating books to Hepburn Energy for us to distribute amongst local schools and libraries. Bjorn will match every copy bought using the code “Hepburn” on his website: https://bjornsturmberg.com/shop/ (the code also provides free shipping).

If more than 10 books are bought he’ll donate 50% of the sales price to the Hepburn Energy community battery fund.

Australian Conservation Foundation Central Vic- Community Forum: Saving Nature, Saving Ourselves

Central Victoria ACF community is hosting this forum on the government’s ongoing reform of Australia’s 20 year old national  Environment Protection and Biodiversity Protection (EPBC) Act, laws that continue to fail to adequately protect nature, or prevent extinctions. The government knows that nature is in crisis. This forum will provide an important opportunity for our region’s community to engage with our Federal Member, Lisa Chesters, and to demonstrate our support for strengthening nature laws, to ensure a halt to the destruction of nature and habitat.

The government plans to establish Environment Protection Australia (EPA), a new national body to be responsible for overseeing and protecting our natural environment, tasked to ensure well-being and survival of the many plants and creatures that depend upon it. We will be urging our MP, Lisa Chesters, to use her voice to convince the Environment Minister and the PM to accelerate and be more resolute with their plans to legislate for stronger laws and action to implement them.

Join us at our Saving Nature, Saving Ourselves forum. Attendance at this dynamic event will help us demonstrate the breadth and depth of community support for strong and effective nature laws.

On the panel, you’ll hear from:

• Lisa Chesters – MP for Bendigo
• Brendan Sydes –  Australian Conservation Foundation Biodiversity Policy Advisor (and Castlemaine resident)
• Kelsey Macdonald – Central Victoria Youth Climate Network
• Sean Dooley – Birdlife National Public Affairs Manager
• MC – Josh Meadows, ACF Media Adviser  (and Castlemaine resident)

When: Saturday August 31st, 1.30 – 3.30 pm

Where: The Gallery, Library Student Union Building, La Trobe University Bendigo, Edwards Rd, Flora Hill, VIC 3550

To register: Central Victoria ACF Community  Community Forum: Saving Nature, Saving Ourselves

Bird of the Month Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor)

At my home in Campbells Creek, I regularly see the imposing Grey Currawong. The individuals I see are likely to be the same pair I’ve been watching for years. The small birds are a bit scared of the Grey Currawong, with good reason as you’ll read below, but they are an important part of the forest ecosystem despite their small vertebrate munching habits. If you are lucky enough to see one up close, you’ll notice the bright yellow eye, so beautiful against the grey plumage and probably summing you up in a way that feels both intelligent and slightly intimidating. Read more  at Connecting Country  To find out more about Grey Currawongs and listen to its call, click here.

To find out more about Pied Currawong and listen to its call, click here.

Central Vic Climate Action

Some us attended the forum about planned burns in Victorian forests, presented by Adjunct professor Phil Zylstra  It was very confronting to understand the flawed science. Attached is a summary.

 

Rethinking Planned Burns – Philip Zylstra, August 20th 2024 | Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests fobif.org.au

Bernard continues to work away at the fossil free super campaign. It’s a great project. You can contact him if you’d like to help out. Lots of info here: https://fossilfreesuper.org/

contact Bernard for more info: 0459 472 558 

On Saturday 31st August, some of us will be attending the ACF Community forum:  Saving Nature Saving Ourselves, Latrobe University Bendigo from 1.30 pm. Maybe we’ll see you there?

Monday 2nd September, help hand out fliers at the No to Violence conference. Join the fossilfreesuper campaign in calling out the super fund HESTA for supporting coal and gas. We plan to flyer the conference to invite more community sector agencies to dump Hesta who persist with about 2.3 Billion of investments in climate wreckers while claiming to represent the Health & Community sector (see below Market Forces Climate Wreckers Index ). Check out:  fossilfreesuper.org  and

On Tuesday 10th September, 11 am Central Vic Climate Action crew will be joining a protest outside the weapons expo at the International Land Defence Expo in Naarm (Melbourne). We’ll be dressed as red or black rebels. We’ll be highlighting the links between arms sales, war and climate change. Consider taking the day off and joining us! Contact us if you’d like more info.

Saturday 21st September, join us for a coffee from 1 pm at Saff’s cafe, Castlemaine.

29th September, Meet the candidates, Royal Theatre, Castlemaine from 11 am. Sunday 15th 

20/21st November, many of us will be heading up to the Rising Tide action in Newcastle. Some of us will be camping, some of us will be sharing accomodation. The Ballarat crew will be hiring a bus. Get in touch if you’re interested in coming along. Here’s the details: https://www.risingtide.org.au/  

5. First Nations

Drawing on Indigenous Wisdom at the Creative Resilience Lab for Mt Alexander Shire

On August 1 and 2 The Centre for Reworlding in partnership with Mount Alexander Shire Council held a 2-day Creative Resilience Lab at Newstead Community Centre. The Centre for Reworlding work is grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems and protocols based in the concept of relationality that foreground inclusion, mutual benefit sharing and the plurality of knowledges including those often absent in climate and disaster management discourses.

The purpose of the Lab was to bolster literacy about localised climate emergency context and the role of arts and culture; to cultivate greater understanding of creative resilience approaches to local disaster risks and build relationships that enable longer and deeper cross sectorial collaboration working with diverse community and equity denied groups. The workshop fulfilled that purpose.  It was enlightening, interactive, engaging and inclusive.  The group took a systems perspective on building the scaffolding needed for our current and future generations to survive and thrive.

Up to 80 people from Mt. Alexander Shire participated in the lab, representing Indigenous knowledge-keepers, culture & the arts, physical & social sciences, emergency services, local government, funders and community groups were invited to participate. (Laurel Freeland, Newstead Connecting Stories Ally group)

6. Sustainable Living Resources

Degrowth Central Victoria

Plenty of thought-provoking articles to read  via substack.

Read more 

Renewable Newstead Community Energy Project

We at Renewable Newstead are excited to be able to share details of another of the local community benefits that our Newstead Community Energy Project (solar farm) is bringing to our community. It’s called the Newstead Local Community Benefit Program. (See info attached.) You’ll discover a great way to support Newstead clubs, organisations and projects if and when you sign up to buy your electricity from Flow Power, the company retailing the energy generated at Newstead.

Grounded – Community Land Trusts and Affordable Housing

The Vision for Grounded, (located in central Victoria) is focused on bringing best practices to the affordable housing market in a new ‘for purpose’ housing model for Australia. Community Land Trusts (CLT’s)  have been successful in the northern hemisphere in identifying raw community needs, whether that be in housing, farming, or saving a beloved local pub. Together, we can get the economics right so that our land and housing payment streams go towards supporting our community, rather than draining it. We can make affordable housing and responsible land stewardship a reality for all. Dig into CLTs here.

Grounded has assembled a passionate team of changemakers determined to disrupt our current housing model and finally deliver real, intergenerational affordability. We hope you can join us as a member or donor.

An update on Airbnb and BTR Inquiry: Our Airbnb cap n trade report is still making the news with a run in the media including an article in Smart Property Investment (SPI)

Hepburn Energy Electricity Retail Offer

We consider our retail offer one of the most ethical and environmentally sustainable offers on the market. What better way to support your co-operative and community power? We’d now like to extend this pilot offer to another group of Hepburn Energy members across Victoria. Our community retail offer is delivered through our retailing partner Flow Power. The electricity plan on offer is called Flow Home, a unique electricity plan that rewards greener habits, provides free energy monitoring tools, opportunities to increase your feed-in tariff when you export at the right time and support from their Melbourne-based Customer Success team.

As we continue to beta test this product, we’re looking for members who are happy to provide feedback on their experience, so we can make our offer the best it can be! In particular, for this second round, we are looking to test our product with people knowledgeable about the energy industry and EV and/or battery owners.

The best-fit customers for round 2 onboarding are: Victorian Hepburn Energy members; Battery owners; EV owners; Customers with no rooftop solar, but would like to benefit from cheaper daytime solar from the grid (and support the energy transition);Customers who have rooftop solar but use most of it; Customers interested in participating in the energy transition actively with their home energy system.

Contact our Preference Centre if you are interested. To learn more about the offer, jump on our website here. Or email info@hepburnenergy.coop.

Land Care Grants

$300,000 Landcare Australia Community Grants program is now open to revive nature, boost biodiversity and support volunteers

All landcarer groups  are encouraged to apply for this exciting new grant program. It’s an opportunity to celebrate and build on the wonderful work and dedication to landcare activities taking place in your local patch.

Grant applications for a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $20,000 (excluding GST) are available.

Applications are now open, and close on  Friday 20^th September. Successful applicants will hear by Friday 18^th October 2024.

$300,000 Landcare Australia Community Grants program is now open (activehosted.com)

Castlemaine Vigil shines light on Homelessness

Over 70 community members attended a vigil in Castlemaine in early August as part of Homelessness Week  to honour those in our community who are homeless. Thirty candles were lit at the event to represent the dozens of rough sleepers in our community. Attendees urged both State and Federal Governments to take stronger action on homelessness. Over 50 letters were signed and sent to The Hon. Harriet Shing, Victorian Minister for Housing, calling for more support. Additionally, many petitions were signed advocating for a significant increase in social and affordable housing at the federal level.

Repair Cafes across Central Victoria

Castlemaine: last Sunday of each month- September 29th, 10am to 1pm at Castlemaine Community House,  30 Templeton St.

Daylesford– 3rd Sunday of the month- September 15th 1-4pm at Victoria Park Pavillion, Ballan Rd, Daylesford

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/daylesfordrepaircafe/

Creswick Repair and Share: a project of Transition Creswick- 3rd Sunday of the month- September 15th, 1-4pm at Creswick Neighbourhood Centre

For more information: https://creswicknc.org/groups/post2-nn6m5

Ballarat: 1-4pm last Sat of the month at Barkly Square- Saturday September 28th

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/ballaratrepaircafe/

Bendigo Share &Repair Shed: Thursday: 10am – 1pm, Saturday*: 10am – 1pm, at 120-126 Garsed Street

A community based organisation that started as the Bendigo Repair Cafe in 2017 and has since grown to include a Tool Library, Useful Bin, Food is Free Table and a range of other ‘re’ and ‘up’ cycling services. We also offer a ‘one stop’ recycling drop off for small items and a Community Swap table.

For more information: https://bendigoshareandrepairshed.org/

Mount Alexander Sustainability Group- Newsletter

https://mailchi.mp/69a2e1fd6d16/2020agm-9199568?e=9582a495c2

7. Building Community

Community Celebrates Landmark Decision In Liquor Commission

Daylesford community members have welcomed the decision handed down by the Victorian Liquor Commission on 14th August, overturning the Liquor License granted to The Endeavour Group Ltd to establish a Dan Murphy’s on the corner of Bridport Street and Central Springs Road.

“It was always going to be a huge battle to go up against a corporate entity as big as Dan Murphy’s but we felt we had to stand up and let the Liquor Commission know how this was going to impact our children, our teenagers and the broader community,” commented Jen Bray, local resident and Hepburn Shire Councillor. (Ms Bray participated in the hearing as an individual community member and did not represent Hepburn Shire).

The Liquor Control Reform Amendment Act 2021 changed to include a new definition of harm arising from the use and misuse of alcohol and much of the hearing before the Liquor Control Commission centred around the potential for “harm”. Importantly, this legislative reform was triggered by the Parliament’s commitment to implement all 227 recommendations that came from the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2016. In a landmark decision, the Commission overturned the granting of the Licence concluding that granting the licence would be conducive to or encourage harm to the local community, especially minors.

Lynda Poke, a Daylesford resident who gave evidence at the hearing said, “We are seeing that the levels of violence against women and children were clearly linked with the harms induced by alcohol consumption. The regulatory reforms to address the issue appear to be finally working and giving decision makers the capacity to change how laws are interpreted and implemented. This will change peoples lives for the better.”

Hepburn Shire CEO, Bradley Thomas said, “Council welcomes the Victorian Liquor Commission decision to refuse Dan Murphy’s a licence to operate in Daylesford. Council strongly advocated for the refusal during the submission process and at hearings, along with a number of committed community members who contributed their time and presented evidence. This is the first time the new definition of “harm” under the Liquor Control Reform Act has been used to refuse a licence, making it a landmark decision.”

Resident Michelle Stephenson said “This has restored my faith in due process. Sometimes you feel like you are going up against Goliath and you haven’t a chance but there was a process in place which we pursued by going to the Liquor Commission and we really didn’t give up the fight.”

Note: Extract from article published in the Wombat Post, August 16th, 2024

Castlemaine Free University

Community Campaign to Save Guildford General Store

A local family has bought the Guildford General Store, which closed in March this year. The small Victorian community had campaigned to keep the 108-year-old store in local hands.

A community campaign to save the general store in a tiny central Victorian town has paid off with a local family swooping in to buy it. The 108-year-old Guildford store went to auction on Saturday with a reserve price of $750,000. It was sold at $710,000.  Anton Perry said the purchase, made by his 89-year-old nan Norma Hancock, was a sudden decision. “No-one was making a bid, and I just kicked my nan in the ankle and said, ‘C’mon, let’s do it, [let’s] throw in something,'” he said.

The family, who bought the shop in an auction, say they want to turn it back into the “soul of the town”. The family plans to turn the Guildford General Store back into a meeting place for the community as well as a place to buy takeaway and essentials.

Community Heritage Meeting- Maldon

The Maldon Heritage Network, a group of community members who share an interest in protecting, preserving and promoting Maldon’s heritage, is holding a community meeting about our local heritage on Wednesday 18 September at the Maldon Neighbourhood Centre at 7.30pm.

Whether it be an Aboriginal cultural heritage site, an old building, a significant tree, the remains of gold diggings, stories and oral histories, or long running events and groups, what makes heritage important is that it plays a role in our lives, even if we don’t give it much thought: it is part of the continuum of our local world and history and our place in it. Our local heritage is also fundamental to larger questions of development, land use, ownership, sustainability, community participation and design.

We are keen to hear your views about Maldon and district’s heritage, including any concerns you may have or priorities that you believe need addressing. These ideas will be collated and used to inform future directions for the group, which you are welcome to join.

Castlemaine Seed Library

The Seed Board is restocked and awaiting you!
We have: Rainbow Chard, Red Onion, Land Cress, Red and Green Chard, Purple Sprouting Brocolli, Coriander, Leek, mixed Lettuce, Mizuna, Mustard and Wasabi Mustard, Russian Kale, Carrot, Chamomile, Chicory and Parsnip.

Next Working bee is Thursday September 5th. We meet at the library at 11am, usually in the foyer, inside the library if an event is on, on the first Thursday of every month. Put it in your diary and come along and join the team.

All welcome to winnow and pack seeds with us.

Support Hepburn Residents Doing It Tough

Small acts of kindness can have a BIG impact. Join our GenK (Generational Kindness) inter-generational workshops on Thursdays in September (6-7.30pm), light dinner provided.

Hear from services about who is doing it tough.Work in inter-generational teams. Help combat ageism & build stronger communities. Be supported to do a simple act of kindness.Hear from services about who is doing it tough. Share the kindness to encourage others.

Workshops led by Celebrate Ageing in partnership with Elder Rights Advocacy,  U3A Hepburn and Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre.

GenK is an initiative of the Centre for Intergenerational Power, an initiative of Celebrate Ageing. GenK takes a kindness lens to the problem of ageism & builds stronger local communities. RSVP Catherine Barrett – 0429 582 237

Local Futures

8. The Spirit and the Sacred

Yandoit Sacred

Castlemaine Johannine Community – Grail Chapel

The Castlemaine Johannine Community gathers at the Grail Chapel in Green Gully regularly for teaching, healing, meditation and Christ centered spiritual growth and upliftment. This site details meeting times, contact information and special events. Your pastors are Rev. Kenneth Killeen and Rev Diane Thompson.

The Castlemaine Grail Community continues to meet regularly to connect through rituals of celebration, initiation and renewal. We share in the transformative power of the Eucharist regularly and in September we have a two day seminar/workshop on the Gospel of St. John as a guidebook for initiation.

These are the dates for our upcoming events in September:

Sunday 1st September Father’s Day Eucharist 11 am followed by shared lunch

Sunday 29th September Michaelmas Eucharist 11 am followed by shared lunch

All enquiries to Ken Killeen – Johannine@hotmail.com 

https://www.grailcommunity.com/

9. Local Government News

The People’s  Consultancy- Hepburn

The People’s Consultancy of Hepburn is a grassroots organisation committed to transforming local governance in Hepburn Shire through participatory democracy and community empowerment. Founded in 2020 as Community Voice, the organisation emerged from a shared belief that the Hepburn Shire Council needed to be more responsive to the community’s needs and aspirations, a sentiment echoed in the 2020 Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey.

In a significant step forward, Community Voice supported the successful election of four councillors in the October 2020 local elections, marking a key milestone in our journey. Building on this success, The People’s Consultancy was established in 2024 with a renewed focus on fostering a collaborative and inclusive relationship between the Hepburn Shire community and the Council.

As we approach the next term of Council with elections in late October this year, The People’s Consultancy- Hepburn is poised to play an even more active role in ensuring that the voices of Hepburn Shire are not only heard but are central to shaping the decisions that affect our collective future. Our vision is to create a ‘can do’ culture within the Council—one that prioritises active listening, transparency, the empowerment of all community members, and which also draws on the wealth of skills within the community, and is designed to deliver positive outcomes for the people of Hepburn and future generations.

We want to change the way the Council works, to make it better at listening to what people want and to create a ‘can do’ culture. The People’s Consultancy invites all people in Hepburn Shire to add their voices to help create a more cohesive and engaged community.

To register your interest: https://communityvoice.group/

Really Local

Mt Alexander Shire News:

https://mountalexandershirecouncil.cmail19.com/

10. Workshops and Courses

Expand Your Impact Workshops- Make a Change Team

FREE Expand Your Impact workshops start online next Tuesday 3rd September. These workshops are relevant to any area of life: personal, family, work, career, or community care – ANYTHING you want to address!

Expand Your Impact is particularly helpful if you’re:

• feeling stuck, frustrated & unmotivated
• looking for inspiration
• working on something that isn’t going well
• interested in picking up tips & tricks to get stuff done
• looking for new ideas
• wanting to kick-start something new

Invest just 2 hours for 3 weeks to see what you’ll discover. We’ll gather as a supportive group, to discuss, explore & learn.

Find out more & register here

Experiential Thrutopian Writers Lab – a new writing genre for the future beyond Utopia and Dystopia

Friday 27th September 6.30 – 8pm- at Newstead Arts Hub

Bring  your imagination to join in this Writers Lab to seed new stories for the Future. Stories are a powerful force to change the world for the good of all.  They can pierce outdated beliefs and behaviours to bring new light and optimism.  This will be an interactive and joyful experience exploring a new global writing genre to find a cut through pathway between Utopia and Dystopia to seed a viable future for all life. Cost: $18 or $15 Members  To book Humanitix

New Economy Network-  Re-imagining the Good Life Free Webinar

Join NENA and the University of Newcastle for this special event  A Pluriversal perspective on community well-being in Australia

When:  12th September @ 12pm AEST (QLD,NSW,VIC)

Click here for Event Details, speakers and to book FREE TICKETS

Rewilding Central Victoria Symposium

Two-day premiere event exploring ‘rewilding’ in our region and beyond.

Date: Friday 13 and Saturday 14 September, 2024
Location: LaTrobe University, Bendigo + local rewilding project sites

For more information and tickets

Download Symposium Program 

Ecologist Lance Lloyd, Restoration Scientist (Aquatic Ecology) at Winton Wetlands, is the Keynote Speaker at our Rewilding Central Victoria Symposium Dinner. Lance is set to speak on the fascinating topic – The Time is Now: Rewilding aquatic species to improve biodiversity and ecosystem function. Image credit @Dave Watts

Swiss Italian Festa- Equinox Lantern Parade

When : Friday 20 September

Where: Hepburn Springs  Mineral Springs Reserve

Navigating Direct Democracy: Global State of Direct Democracy- Webinar

When: AEST 1.30am Friday Sept 6th 

Democracy is under pressure worldwide. The number of democratically governed states has fallen significantly in the last ten years. But there are also developments that give us hope. Above all, democracies in which citizens are not only allowed to vote, but also to be elected, are proving to be extremely resilient. You are invited to join the authors of the Global State of Direct Democracy Report  for a discussion on trends in direct democracy around the world. (English language)

Programme: explore various findings of the report and its classification approach; delve into current trends and predictions in direct democracy; ask questions to the authors and engage in a discussion. Register now!

Speakers:

Bruno Kaufmann, democracy correspondent for the Swiss Broadcasting Company
Prof. Raul Magni Berton, European School of Political and Social Sciences, France
Prof. Clara Egger, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands 

11. Letters

12. Food for Thought

North Central Catchment Management: https://www.nccma.vic.gov.au/documents/1566/North_Central_Chat_-_August_2024.pdf

Unlocking Enough with Stephen Jenkinson– podcast :    https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/unlocking-enough-with-stephen-jenkinson-encore/id1108741194?i=1000663715024

Conversation with Joanna Macy- Post Carbon Institute:  https://mailchi.mp/postcarbon.org/wcpgr-bonus-69352?e=e959617162

Conversation Series with Helena Norberg-Hodge (encore)- The Wisdom & Action Podcast

Play

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/conversation-series-with-helena-norberg-hodge-encore/

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