{"id":131691,"date":"2026-05-28T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=131691"},"modified":"2026-05-29T09:45:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:45:01","slug":"cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE Geelong region experienced a record number of buruli ulcer cases last year and is on track to surpass that figure again in 2026.<\/p>\n

The reasons behind the surge remain unclear, prompting local councils to join forces on a new public awareness campaign about the disease.<\/p>\n

Buruli ulcer is a skin infection caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, a bacterium associated with possums and mosquitoes. The infection produces toxins that damage skin tissue, leading to ulcers and, in some cases, significant skin loss.<\/p>\n

Cases have risen sharply across Victoria in recent years, particularly on the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas.<\/p>\n

The disease is also emerging in new areas, including the Surf Coast and parts of Greater Geelong, especially Belmont, Highton, Newtown, Grovedale, Waurn Ponds, Wandana Heights and Marshall.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(From left) Surf Coast Shire deputy mayor Tony Phelps, Borough of Queenscliffe mayor Donnie Grigau, City of Greater Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj and Barwon Health director of infectious diseases Associate Professor Daniel O\u2019Brien at the Barwon River. Photo: James Taylor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Barwon Health director of infectious diseases Associate Professor Daniel O’Brien said there were close to 100 cases across the Barwon South West region in 2025, up 60 per cent on the previous year.<\/p>\n

Case numbers in 2026 are already running 45 per cent higher than at the same point last year.<\/p>\n

“Not only did we have a huge jump last year, but we’re looking like we’re going to have another huge jump this year,” Professor O’Brien said.<\/p>\n

“We have 10 times more cases now than we did five years ago.”<\/p>\n

Professor O’Brien said more research was needed to understand why the disease was spreading into new areas.<\/p>\n

“It is probably possums getting infected and then the disease spreads from possums to humans either by mosquito bites, by injuries or by infected soil,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We think what happens is that possum populations are getting larger and spreading but also they’re starting to get infected in new areas, and that then spills over into the human population.<\/p>\n

“A lot of that is not entirely known and it needs lots more research.”<\/p>\n

The Barwon South West Public Health Unit, City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire and Borough of Queenscliffe have partnered on a regional awareness campaign encouraging early detection and treatment.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Preventing mosquito bites is a key message in the regional awareness campaign against buruli ulcers. Photo: jcomp\/Magnific.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

People can reduce their risk by using insect repellent containing DEET or picaridin, covering cuts and abrasions, installing and maintaining insect screens, washing skin after contact with soil or water, and avoiding contact with sick or dead possums.<\/p>\n

Professor O’Brien said these measures were practical and worthwhile, but unlikely to halt the disease’s spread on their own.<\/p>\n

“It’s common sense stuff, but at the moment the worry for us is it’s not being particularly effective at the moment,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That’s why there are bigger issues around what can we do to actually interrupt the transmission cycle.”<\/p>\n

Surf Coast Shire deputy mayor Tony Phelps encouraged residents to seek medical advice if they notice slow-healing wounds or unusual skin lesions.<\/p>\n

“Later this year we’ll play our role by rolling out our annual mosquito management program to help reduce the number of mozzies,” he said.<\/p>\n

For more information, head to bswphu.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE Geelong region experienced a record number of buruli ulcer cases last year and is on track to surpass that figure again in 2026. The reasons behind the surge remain unclear, prompting local councils to join forces on a new public awareness campaign about the disease. Buruli ulcer is a skin infection caused by Mycobacterium […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":131692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-131691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Buruli ulcer cases are rising in Greater Geelong. Learn the symptoms and how to protect yourself as the infection spreads.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Buruli ulcer cases are rising in Greater Geelong. Learn the symptoms and how to protect yourself as the infection spreads.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"jamespetertaylor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T23:45:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/05\/27may-tng-34.jpg?_t=1780011901\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@notthatjt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2655215c02475fb33ffa43a1c8fe2677\"},\"headline\":\"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T18:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-28T23:45:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":575,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/27may-tng-34.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs - Geelong Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/27may-tng-34.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T18:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-28T23:45:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Buruli ulcer cases are rising in Greater Geelong. Learn the symptoms and how to protect yourself as the infection spreads.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/27may-tng-34.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/27may-tng-34.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Surf Coast Shire deputy mayor Tony Phelps, Borough of Queenscliffe mayor Donnie Grigau, City of Greater Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj and Barwon Health director of infectious diseases Associate Professor Daniel O'Brien at the Barwon River. Photo: James Taylor.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"width\":248,\"height\":37,\"caption\":\"Geelong Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2655215c02475fb33ffa43a1c8fe2677\",\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ceb72a20a2941ff28326fc7c1d56a74ecb6e6ac1d9b5a50749c0314e0b11d5a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ceb72a20a2941ff28326fc7c1d56a74ecb6e6ac1d9b5a50749c0314e0b11d5a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ceb72a20a2941ff28326fc7c1d56a74ecb6e6ac1d9b5a50749c0314e0b11d5a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Taylor\"},\"description\":\"James\u2019 first job in journalism was at the Bendigo Advertiser, where he held a number of roles, including reporter, sub-editor and arts and features writer. He has also worked for several publications at Fairfax, including the Knox Weekly, Casey Weekly and Pakenham Weekly, and in the UK with the Berkshire Media Group. Raised in Geelong, James has been back in his hometown since 2011 and now lives in Waurn Ponds. Outside of journalism, James divides his time between barracking for the Cats, chasing his two-year-old daughter around, and posting on Twitter (@notthatjt).\",\"sameAs\":[\"jamespetertaylor\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/@notthatjt\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/author\\\/jamestaylor\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs - Geelong Times","description":"Buruli ulcer cases are rising in Greater Geelong. Learn the symptoms and how to protect yourself as the infection spreads.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs - Geelong Times","og_description":"Buruli ulcer cases are rising in Greater Geelong. Learn the symptoms and how to protect yourself as the infection spreads.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/","og_site_name":"Geelong Times","article_author":"jamespetertaylor","article_published_time":"2026-05-27T18:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-28T23:45:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/05\/27may-tng-34.jpg?_t=1780011901","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@notthatjt","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Taylor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/"},"author":{"name":"James Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/2655215c02475fb33ffa43a1c8fe2677"},"headline":"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs","datePublished":"2026-05-27T18:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-28T23:45:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/"},"wordCount":575,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/05\/27may-tng-34.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/","name":"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs - Geelong Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/05\/27may-tng-34.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-27T18:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-28T23:45:01+00:00","description":"Buruli ulcer cases are rising in Greater Geelong. Learn the symptoms and how to protect yourself as the infection spreads.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/05\/27may-tng-34.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/05\/27may-tng-34.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Surf Coast Shire deputy mayor Tony Phelps, Borough of Queenscliffe mayor Donnie Grigau, City of Greater Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj and Barwon Health director of infectious diseases Associate Professor Daniel O'Brien at the Barwon River. Photo: James Taylor."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/cases-climb-as-buruli-ucler-spreads-to-new-suburbs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cases climb as buruli ulcer spreads to new suburbs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","name":"Geelong Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization","name":"Geelong Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","width":248,"height":37,"caption":"Geelong Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/2655215c02475fb33ffa43a1c8fe2677","name":"James Taylor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ceb72a20a2941ff28326fc7c1d56a74ecb6e6ac1d9b5a50749c0314e0b11d5a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ceb72a20a2941ff28326fc7c1d56a74ecb6e6ac1d9b5a50749c0314e0b11d5a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ceb72a20a2941ff28326fc7c1d56a74ecb6e6ac1d9b5a50749c0314e0b11d5a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Taylor"},"description":"James\u2019 first job in journalism was at the Bendigo Advertiser, where he held a number of roles, including reporter, sub-editor and arts and features writer. He has also worked for several publications at Fairfax, including the Knox Weekly, Casey Weekly and Pakenham Weekly, and in the UK with the Berkshire Media Group. Raised in Geelong, James has been back in his hometown since 2011 and now lives in Waurn Ponds. Outside of journalism, James divides his time between barracking for the Cats, chasing his two-year-old daughter around, and posting on Twitter (@notthatjt).","sameAs":["jamespetertaylor","https:\/\/x.com\/@notthatjt"],"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/author\/jamestaylor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131691"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=131691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}