This partnership approach will bring together management and planning expertise that will ensure a coordinated response to the protection, restoration and sustainable use of the Hazel Creek system.

A tributary of the Moe River, Hazel Creek is an important feature of Warragul’s landscape and catchment systems. With increased urban development, and its popularity for recreational use, the development of the Hazel Creek Management Plan will help to balance the demands on the waterway with the environmental health of the area.

According to Adam Dunn WGCMA Land Planning Unit Manager, an important part of the development of the Hazel Creek Management Plan is input from the local community to ensure the collection of as much current and local information as possible regarding the Hazel Creek system.

“It is a priority for us to get community input at the very beginning of the process in order to help guide the development of a robust and effective management plan,” said Mr Dunn. “We are seeking information from the community regarding how the waterway and its surrounds are used and valued, particularly in relation to the recreational and environmental aspects of the area.”

There are a number of ways that the community can be involved in this project. There is a survey on the Council’s website www.bawbawshire.vic.gov.au or available from Council Customer Service Centres, Tel: 5624 2411.

There is also a community meeting taking place on Tuesday, March 23 at Council Chambers, Civic Place, Warragul 7pm to 8.30pm.

For more information contact: John Crosby on 1300 094 262 at West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.

Mr Hall spoke in Parliament yesterday on the issue; “With duck season opening on 20 March, I call upon everyone with an interest in duck hunting to do all within their respective powers to see that the season is conducted in a safe and lawful manner.”

Mr Hall made the statement as a result of several incidents from last year’s season brought to his attention by constituents.

“While I acknowledge the right to protest, I urge those opposed to duck hunting to make the protests known away from game reserves. Conflict within areas where firearms are in use is particularly dangerous and should be avoided.” Mr Hall said in Parliament.

“As well as calling on protestors to stay away from game reserves, I call upon duck hunters to exercise responsibility in the conduct of their chosen recreation with respect to the adherence to laws and regulations governing the activity and to demonstrate tolerance to others.”

Mr Hall said recent rain in Gippsland will improve duck hunting conditions and he expects Gippsland game reserves will prove popular for hunters.

“There will be a lot of activity within local hunting venues and I urge protestors and hunters alike to cooperate with DSE offices and Victoria Police in the conduct of the 2010 season,” Mr Hall concluded.

Monash representatives attended a series of Industry Awards nights throughout February to present the awards, which included a $250 prize for the recipients.

Eight awards were presented, including outstanding awards for Nursing, Koorie Studies, Art, Design and Multimedia, Information Technology, Writing and Editing, and Accounting. The aim of the awards is to support GippsTAFE students in their future studies and encourage them to expand on their TAFE qualification by following a pathway into university.

Professor Helen Bartlett, Monash Gippsland Pro-Vice Chancellor and President, said the awards reflected Monash’s commitment to supporting the community and its partners in the education sector.

“Monash is a proud supporter of the Industry Awards and the excellent programs offered by GippsTAFE,” Professor Bartlett said.

“We firmly believe the pathway options from TAFE to university provide many students with the grounding and experience they need before undertaking a Monash degree. These students have all shown exceptional dedication and enthusiasm for their studies and Monash is delighted to recognise their achievements.”

The recipients of this year’s Industry Awards were:

• Tegan Loechel, Outstanding Nursing Student, Leongatha
• Peita Jester, Outstanding Nursing Student, Warragul
• Antonica Leonte, Outstanding Nursing Student, Gippsland Educational Precinct
• Lacey Yeomans, Outstanding Koorie Student, Morwell
• Isaac Giblett, Outstanding Student in Art, Design & Multimedia, Yallourn
• Margaret Winkler, Outstanding Student in Accounting, Yallourn
• Kerry De Vent, Outstanding Student in Information Technology, Yallourn
• Vicki Skidmore, Outstanding Professional Writing & Editing Student, Yallourn

Professor Bartlett said there was a long history of TAFE students progressing to university level studies with excellent results and the Gippsland campus was eager to foster these pathways and support students in making the transition.

The storage and learning facility is being constructed at the southern end of the garden, beside the Morwell Senior Citizen Centre, with Friends of the Garden volunteers anticipating great things to come of it.

Chair of the Morwell Centenary Rose Garden Committee, Edith Colley, could not contain her excitement when the proposal for the new building was approved.

“We are all thrilled to pieces and have already made big plans for the facility. We are planning on using it to hold meetings and to help educate people on roses by storing books and a computer on site, as well as our gardening tools.

“It will provide us the proper storage we need, whereas in the past we only had the old shipping container, which leaked, so we couldn’t store anything good in there.

“Now we will be able to have morning tea in comfort, regardless of the weather. We can also help the rose garden to grow in terms of visitation, and improve the experience for visitors, by increasing the services provided for the public,” Ms Colley explained.

The construction comprises two separate facilities. One is a storage shed where the Friends of the Garden will store their gardening equipment. It is extended from the nearby public toilet facility and has two access ramps to make it easier to transport wheel barrows and other large equipment.

The other building is an extension from the Morwell Senior Citizen Centre. It will be a shared facility for senior citizens and Friends of the Garden, as well as other community groups. It will be a multi-purpose room used for committee meetings, to store educational devices, and as a meeting place for groups.

Latrobe City mayor, Councillor Kellie O’Callaghan, said that the facility would be of great benefit for the community, tourists and the volunteers.

“The Friends of the Morwell Centenary Rose Garden are a dedicated group of volunteers that first started helping with the garden before it was officially opened in 1992. They contribute over 5000 hours of their time annually to care, maintain and improve the Morwell rose garden.

“The Friends of the Garden are eager to provide more services for the public and we feel the new storage and learning facility is vital for the volunteers to reach their goal.

“The Morwell Centenary Rose Garden is an icon of the Latrobe Valley, so providing greater facilities for the volunteers is a benefit for rose enthusiasts everywhere and the local community. The new facility will also provide a greater meeting point for the volunteers, as well as tour groups,” Cr O’Callaghan said.

Funding for the project was a joint venture between Latrobe City Council, the State Government, and contributions made from within the community.

The Gippsland Immigration Wall of Recognition Multicultural Festival will begin with exhibits and activities from 10.30am on Saturday, March 13 in Kernot Hall, Morwell. On stage school groups’ entertainment begins at 12 noon.

The second day of the festival continues in Immigration Park, from 10.30am until 4.30pm on Sunday, March 14.

Latrobe City mayor Kellie O’Callaghan said the festival gives Gippslanders an opportunity to come together and celebrate the cultural diversity of the community.

“The multicultural festival is becoming an iconic cultural event for the whole of Gippsland. The fact that it has been expanded to two days shows how much the community values the event.

“It is important for the community, as it gives our diverse cultures the chance to partake in, and showcase, different aspects of their heritage to people from all backgrounds.

“This year the festival allows Latrobe City to celebrate the tenth year of our sister city relationship with Taizhou, China, who will be playing an active role in the festivities,” Cr O’Callaghan said.

Saturday activities are focused on youth activities and will begin by recognising the traditional land owners, followed by an indigenous smoking ceremony to cleanse the space where the festival will take place.

President of the Gippsland Ethnic Communities’ Council, Dr Graham Dettrick, said the event had a huge number of activities to help people better understand different cultures.

“As Saturday is the youth day, the festival will consist of what we call ‘bridging the multicultural generation gap’. This is to help young people to embrace their heritage as a part of who they are.

“There will be a performance from Koorie group, the Dedlee Kultya Dancers, as well as Chinese and Nepalese dance performances. There will also be four different school band performances, interactive and static displays, African drumming, and Koko the clown will be entertaining the crowd throughout the day,” Dr Dettrick explained.

One of the highlights of the festival will be the exhibition in Kernot Hall comprising of 400 photographs centred on life in the Molise region of Italy. The exhibition has been to major cities in Australia and will be shown in North and South America after appearing in the Latrobe Valley.

An additional 200 photograph exhibition showcasing the life of Gippsland migrants and their families will be shown alongside the Molise display.

“On Sunday, the activities will begin at 10.30am with performances by the Sale RSL Pipe Band and the Esquires, a Latrobe Valley band with 40 years experience, who will perform at 10.45am, the first of many throughout the day.

“There will also be Mexican, Indonesian, Alay Kapwa, Sudanese and Italian cultural performances. To help with crowd involvement, a group of entertainers, Awakening, will entertain the crowd with games and competitions, they will also encourage the crowd to interact and become a part of the festivities. Of course, the festival would not be complete without the delectable from many cultures.

“Along with all the great entertainment, there will be representatives from many different cultures. People can learn and experience so many aspects of life that are unique to a festival like this,” Dr Dettrick concluded.

Twelve squad members played in the Junior Encouragement Tournament conducted by Table Tennis Victoria. For some squad members it was their first state-level competition.

Thomas Curtis was the tournament runner up and Luke Blythman finished 5th. Luke Jongebloed, Adam Hislop and Kane Armistead were three more with strong results in their groups and finished 11th, 13th and 14th respectively.

Jake Hemphill (21st), Damon Morton (23rd), Stefan Joseph (30th), Bryce Holwerda (39th) and Jarrod Donohue (40th) all had respectable results considering their previous experience and the depth of their opposition. There were 51 boys competing in the tournament including those from most metropolitan clubs and the South West Academy.

In the girls’ draw, a much smaller field, Darcie Morton was 4th and Michaela Campbell was equal 5th.

The Battle of Britain senior cup has been running for over 50 years and is the oldest continually contested trophy in Victorian soccer.

Originally the Cup was presented by the Auxiliary of the Royal Australian Air Force to commemorate the Battle of Britain on September 15, 1941. It has been held close to that date now for 56 years.

Churchill held a mortgage on the trophy before Falcons 2000 took the title in 2009.

Falcons have again recruited strongly and are looking to challenge for back-to-back wins in 2010.

The last club to win back to back was Churchill United SC in 2005-06 before making it three in a row in 2007 and prior to that Yallourn won three successive cups from 1962–64.

Churchill v Newborough/Yallourn at Hazelwood South Reserve
Drouin v Fortuna 60 at Bellbird Park
Falcons v Olympians at Falcons Park
Tyers v Moe at Tyers Recreation Reserve.

Kick off for the Battle of Britain Cup: Seniors is at 3pm; Shopwell Trophy Reserves 1pm and the Nan Bosma Cup second Division 11am.

The contracts take effect in 2014 for the Point Henry (Geelong) smelter and in 2016 for the Portland facility.

Alcoa of Australia‟s Managing Director Alan Cransberg and Loy Yang Power‟s Chief Executive Ian Nethercote agreed today’s announcement is a landmark for the future of both companies as well as for the Victorian and Australian economies.

“Energy security in the form of long-term, base-load agreements is vital to aluminium smelters and the jobs they provide worldwide,” said Mr Cransberg.

“The contracts we signed today provide a platform for Alcoa‟s current and future investment in regional Victoria.”

The contracts are for approximately 820MW of load and, with future expansion options, could represent more than half of Loy Yang Power’s generation output.

“Loy Yang Power and Alcoa both operate vital national economic assets and this contract will ensure that we continue to help power Australia’s ongoing economic growth,” said Mr Nethercote.

“We are particularly pleased with the agreements as they support two of our key business objectives – to deliver an efficient and profitable business as well as building a sustainable future in a carbon constrained world,” he added.

As part of the new contracts, the parties have signed a carbon reduction agreement which provides the opportunity to work together on a joint approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Through the talent of our people and innovative technologies, we have reduced the direct greenhouse gas emissions at our smelters by 61 percent per tonne of production since 1990. The carbon reduction agreement signifies an exciting new opportunity to build on that success in partnership with Loy Yang Power,” said Mr Cransberg.

“The carbon reduction agreement is consistent with Victorian and Australian government goals of a balanced and collaborative approach to facilitating Australia‟s transition to a lower carbon economy.”

Mr Nethercote said the agreement would underpin Loy Yang Power’s existing commitment to reduce its carbon footprint while supporting the economic and social viability of the Latrobe Valley community.

“We look forward to working with Alcoa to identify key projects to achieve CO2 reductions from our operations,” said Mr Nethercote.

Mr Cransberg said the 20-year agreements are globally competitive, allow Alcoa to respond to market conditions, and provide an option for growth.

“Our smelters are valuable long-term assets that are well positioned to take advantage of an improving global aluminium market. We are committed to overcoming short-term challenges like high foreign exchange rates, and are extremely proud of the opportunity to build on our foundation of 47 years in regional Victoria.”

Mr Nethercote said the contracts provided Loy Yang Power with business certainty and was a vote of confidence in the company‟s ability to continue to deliver a reliable electricity supply to meet Victoria’s growing energy needs.

“These contracts are an important part of our business future and will require us to continue to strive for ongoing improvements and efficiencies in order to maintain business success in an extremely competitive market. The contracts and a strong commitment to continuous improvement are key elements in providing a secure future for the business, existing employees and those that follow,” said Mr Nethercote.

Combined, Alcoa of Australia and Loy Yang Power employ over 2500 people in Victoria, largely in regional areas.

Alcoa is Victoria’s largest exporter. The Point Henry Smelter has a rated capacity of 190,000 mtpy and is wholly owned by Alcoa of Australia Limited.

Loy Yang Power is the operator of the largest power station in the State and Australia’s largest open cut brown coal mine. Loy Yang Power was privatised in May 1997 as part of the Victorian Government’s privatisation strategy. In April 2004, Loy Yang Power was purchased by the Great Energy Alliance Corporation (GEAC).

The Business Plan addresses one the biggest challenges facing the electricity generation sector today – operating in accordance with a carbon emission constraint.

Loy Yang Power chief executive Ian Nethercote said that, while the emission constraint may not be imposed for some time, it made sense for Loy Yang Power
to plan and prepare for such a scenario now – setting the company up to ensure it continues to play a positive role in the future of Victoria and the Latrobe Valley.

“We are committed to a lower carbon future for Australia, which is reflected by our new vision to be ‘a sustainable energy provider, adding value to our natural resources for the benefit of our shareholders and other stakeholders,” he said.

“We will continue to participate in research and development into new technologies to improve our efficiency and achieve this vision.
“This will be crucial to balance our commercial objectives with our community responsibilities.”

Mr Nethercote said the Business Plan acknowledges the existence of a strong case for the future use of brown coal.

“Brown coal is abundant, accessible and economic. And while it is clear that public perceptions of traditional brown coal energy generation are changing, here
are a variety of new technologies that promise to reduce its environmental impact.

“We are optimistic about the impact that these technologies and subsequent efficiency improvements can play for our business, and our ability to adapt to a
new period of energy production,” he said.

Other focal points of the new Business Plan include health and safety, unit cost of production, business sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The
company’s investment in its workforce and the community form a part of the long-term plan.

They were Stephanie Morgan, Lily Collins, Kate Sommerfield, Elliot Shaw and Philip Blunt.

Lily won the 14-years breaststroke, swimming best times through the heats and finals. Kate was second in the same event for 16-years girls.

Stephanie Morgan was second in the 17/18-years butterfly. Stephanie was also a finalist in the freestyle race, in which she finished 8th.

Of the boys, Philip Blunt had some excellent backstroke times and finished 5th in the final. Elliot Shaw narrowly missed a finals qualifying time in his only event, the 16-years freestyle.