Budget blues and election woos – April 2019 in review

Air force vet shares story – Thursday, 4 April edition

One-hundred and one-year-old air force veteran Jack Bell was the guest speaker at the official opening of the Airforce Association of Victoria’s Ballarat branch’s rooms.

Located in the restored airport hut 48, the rooms are the site of the former RAAF Ballarat Officers’ Mess, at the Ballarat Aerodrome.

Mr Bell went through the No 1 Wireless Air Gunners School at the RAAF Air Base at Ballarat before posting to RAF 216 Squadron in El Adem in Libya.

After being injured in a crash-landing Mr Bell experienced harrowing conditions in a prisoner or war camp but also saw the good in people.

Great women honoured – Thursday, 4 April edition

NINE of Ballarat’s best were celebrated as part of the 2019 Zonta Club of Ballarat’s Great Women awards.

The diverse were honoured for their life-long commitments to community service, philanthropy, cultural leadership, advocacy, ambassadorship and volunteering.

Heather Browning, Dr Shantini Deutscher, Sheilagh Kentish, Paula Nicholson, Robyn Reeves, Geraldine Roberts, Janet Rundell, Leading Senior Constable Janine Walker, and the late Dr Joan Hunt were all recognised at the gathering at Barkly Motor Lodge.

Zonta Ballarat’s President, Donna Campbell said the awards celebrate the “wonderful contributions” of local women from different walks of life.

“It blows me away, the fact that we’ve had so many people recognised over the years, and we know there are others out there,” she said. “All of them recognise the fact that they wouldn’t have achieved what they’ve done without members of their family.”

Keep an eye out in the new year as we will be celebrating this year’s group of Ballarat’s Great Women.

Pushing back against bullying – Thursday, 11 April edition

Golden Plains Shire young citizen of the year for 2019, Luke Getsom took his campaign against bullying and support of Dolly’s Dream bigger than ever before.

Mr Getsom had first come to attention of an anti-bullying campaign at his high school, Mount Clear Collage, but was now looking to take the effort to schools across the region.

“It’s never going to stop, but we want to see many people just not getting bullied anymore. Even if only one person stops getting bullied, that’s still a win. It’s just trying to get someone a better life to start with,” Mr Getsom said.

Budget bypasses Ballarat – Thursday, 11 April edition

In the lead up to the Federal election the Commonwealth government handed down the 2019-22 Federal budget, and there wasn’t a lot in it for the city.

While people in the region could benefit from nationwide programs outlined in the fiscal plan, the lack of local funding led Federal Member for Ballarat Catherine King to say budget had “bypassed Ballarat.

“Ballarat and Bendigo are two of our biggest inland cities with massive population growth, they seem to have completely forgotten about that,” she said.

“It seems a lot of their road projects are really focussed on Liberal National Party seats across the country and certainly not on Ballarat.”

The smell of democracy on the horizon – Thursday, 25 April edition

With the Federal election only weeks away, the pledges to woo voters to one side or the other had begun.

Catherine King was out in the electorate pledging money for a range of causes including $10 million for Sovereign Hill and just over $200,000 for school across the region.

The Sovereign Hill money was actually a matched pledge that had been made by the Liberals a few hours earlier that had been included in the budget from a few weeks before but not announced.