Geoff Ellis

Many of Bass Coast’s most disadvantaged residents are
on the brink of a housing crisis.

By Geoff Ellis

MICKY has just shared a meal at Mitchell House*. He checks to see if anyone can hear him down the hallway as he steps up to the front counter. “I’m homeless,” he tells the volunteer behind that counter. “Can you help me?”

He’s the second person to ask Sue that question today. Earlier, Marg, an older woman, was looking for a place to park. She’s sleeping in her car while she gets her life back on track. But this guy doesn’t own a car. Sue rings SalvoCare.

Meanwhile, Kel gathers a few essentials from the free food stall on the front veranda. People can take what they need without having to ask. Kel really appreciates the fresh food and plans her menu around what’s available. Pasta, tomato sauce and a tin of tuna will make a good meal tonight.

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Dog versus snake

12/2/2021

Roy likes to push his luck, but then he was born lucky.

By Geoff Ellis

HE COULDN’T quite reach the red bellied black. As it tried to disappear around the culvert into the rocks, he dug at it frantically, clawing the rocks from behind it. He didn’t notice the little snakes slithering off into the long grass, but his nose told him there was something in there somewhere. His canine brain told him to keep digging.

Roy was born lucky. Saved from death row in Albury by a hard-working animal welfare group, he was free ranged and Facebooked till his picture stole our hearts. After a long drive he became a happy little Gippslander, here on the Bunurong Coast, but the first few days were awkward.

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Picture this

29/1/2021

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Photo: Geoff Ellis

By Geoff Ellis

A BLUSTERY Saturday in January. I sit snugly in the car monitoring the darkening clouds as I tick off the mental checklist: camera, coffee, raincoat, scarf, jacket, thicker jacket, tripod, towels. I send a text message to confirm my departure so there is no turning back.

Somewhere west of Wonthaggi I max the heater to VERY HOT. The next 40 minutes are a kaleidoscope of bright sunshine and black clouds dumping the odd sheet of sleet. The only constant is the strong winds and the traffic. A few minutes after 1pm I turn into the carpark at Mussel Rocks near Cowes, where Faith Stanes directs me to an empty parking spot.

Faith is the convenor of this outing, the first of the year for the revamped Bass Coast Camera Group, part of the Bass Coast Artists Society, which, like everyone else, is emerging from hibernation.

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Fish, chips and public art

10/12/2020

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Ash Keating at Grantville with his trademark fire extinguishers

By Geoff Ellis

"I SET the rules and select the colours. Paint flies. It hits the surface and gravity does the rest. Pure improvisation." Ash Keating describes his process as he grabs another fire extinguisher filled with paint.

A temporary outdoor dining area is being created in the gap between two shops in Grantville. Ash was given the task of beautifying the wall of the fish and chip shop and as the sun rose over the Waterline last Friday, a handful of people watched the creation of a landmark piece of wall art.

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The digital sabbath

14/8/2020

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By Geoff Ellis

MANY of us start the day with coffee and connection. Like the majority of my circle, much of my life is lived on-line these days. Emails and Facebook have long been part of our daily routine and now we zoom into meetings across the day. Between working from home, staying alert and keeping in touch, our devices are 24/7 companions.

Mobiles have superseded newspapers at our breakfast tables while the laptop glares from the corner of the room with all its teeth bared.

The constant stream of communication can get daunting and distracting. A couple of weeks ago I actually ran out of emails. To celebrate I posted this comment on LinkedIn “Every editor’s dream – no unread emails – now, where’s the coffee and when does the sun come up?”

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Whatever it takes

31/7/2020

Every exhibit in Ian Hitchings’ farm museum is a triumph of home-grown ingenuity

By Geoff Ellis

“MISS one payment and I will foreclose,” Mr Graham intoned as Edith Emily Hitchings signed the contract to buy his farm in 1928.

Ever since then, the Hitchings family has been working that farm, a section of the original Powlett subdivision a couple of kilometres north of Wonthaggi. Edith named the farm Avonhurst in memory of the river she had left behind in England.

When the Great Depression hit in 1929, the family had to do whatever it took to keep the farm. Rather than spend hard-earned money they were forced to make do with whatever was at hand, mostly the family’s sweat and tears.

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Ask the man who owns one

15/7/2020

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Gary Griffin studies the owner's manual

By Geoff Ellis

THE opening bid was a thousand bucks. Gary Griffin offered two. The first bidder came back with three thousand. Gary looked at the young farmer. “I’ve got deep pockets, mate.” He went to four. As the auctioneer paused for breath, his opponent looked at the layer of diesel and dirt on the Jag’s metalwork. He kept his hand down.

Gary Griffin has a shed full of cars he never set out to buy; they just came his way and impulse took over. All his cars start, when the batteries are charged, and Gary has resisted the urge to restore them.

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The journey continues

2/7/2020

Cabrini Hospital, March 21, 2018: David was awake during
the operation as his responses were used to guide the
placement of the electrodes.

By Geoff Ellis

A WINTER’S day in Corinella. David Kemp steadies himself against the guard rail to point out the landmarks. The couple don’t understand the sign: “You are here.” Sure, but that arrow makes no sense. David is trying to find a common reference point. He indicates the San Remo bridge so the rest of Western Port falls into place. The couple move on. David resumes his own journey as he cautiously turns toward the cafe and studies the pathway back to the car.

Post readers shared the start of David Kemp’s journey two years ago, when David discussed his initial Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and preparations for the deep brain stimulation (DBS) operation that could stop the hand trembling, awkward gait and stilted speech. These symptoms were worsening but there were serious risks in the operation, including possible brain damage and death.

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A break from poverty

11/6/2020

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Photo: Geoff Ellis

By Geoff Ellis

JESSICA Harrison lives in Wonthaggi where it’s hard to find jobs at the best of times. She has received countless knockbacks from potential employers as she struggles along on $277 a week. She’s 65.

Jess considers herself lucky. “This is a beautiful place and I have lots of friends who take care of each other. It’s still tough at times. You get a knot in the stomach when you've spent too much on food.”

If every cent goes on essentials, common place food items become unaffordable luxuries. One time a shopper behind her at the checkout paid for an item that broke Jess’s budget.

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Last gasp for Jam Jerrup

29/5/2020

A delighted Tony Laughton welcomes news of works to protect the Jam Jerrup foreshore

By Geoff Ellis

TONY Laughton was fairly confident his home wasn’t going to topple over the Jam Jerrup cliff and into the water. But there were some nervous moments over the years as he watched the gap shrink between the house and cliff.

In the late 1980s the road to Jam Jerrup started to collapse into Western Port. Local authorities battled Mother Nature until ’91 when they abandoned that coastal road and scythed a new entranceway from the Bass Highway. What’s left of the original road is now the Jam Jerrup cliff walk. It still links the Lang Lang caravan park with Jam Jerrup but it’s a bit narrow in parts. At low tide walkers can use the sandy beach for a return loop.

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Salutations from the high ground

20/2/2020

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Climate summit, Melbourne Town Hall, from left: Oliver Yates (former chief executive of the Clean Energy Finance Corp), Lidia Thorpe (former Greens MP) and Greg Mullins (former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner. Photo: Geoff Ellis

By Geoff Ellis

Like the climate emergency itself, the National Climate Emergency Summit in Melbourne last weekend was almost too big.

As the nine o'clock opening approached I strode to the end of the queue for the delegates' entrance. Surprise! The line starts 200 metres around the next corner.

I shuffle into the queue and put my journo question to the first person who makes eye contact. "Where are you from and why are you here?"

The couple next to me are from the edge of Torres Strait. Their beaches and their islands are in peril. They had to shift their cemetery to higher ground to save it from the rising tide. I compare the risks to our dunes and Bunurong/Boonwurrung artefacts. Inundation and development.

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It's OK to cry. Wayne said so

25/10/2019

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Wayne Schwass: “I absolutely believe in the value and benefits of authentic, genuine conversations about mental health, emotional well being and suicide prevention. We need to make them available to every person.” Photo: Geoff Ellis

By Geoff Ellis

WITH one eye on a clock racing toward the 9pm lights out, I clutch my clipboard and take a deep breath.

Wayne Shwass is in full flight, Beau Vernon’s sitting amongst 100 people on the edge of their seats and I’m about to become famous as that guy who made Wayne Schwass shut up.

Local psychologist Terry Melvin, who cofounded the MensLine Australia phone service, had kicked off the event three hours earlier. As MC, I welcomed everyone in the Phillip Island RSL Anzac Room and explained why we were there on a Friday night. The room was full of people who were starting a conversation about preventing suicide.

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One night in Walwa

18/8/2019

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By Geoff Ellis

NO ENSUITE, shared bathroom. The only wilderness is between the ears of the greenies. There was plenty of time for a silent response to that sticker as the pub owner flicked through the bookings. Another sticker next to the reservation counter asked Where the #@*k is Walwa Pub?

The short answer: at the end of a six-hour trek from Krowera. Drive to Albury, turn right and follow the Murray.

Eventually the owner found our booking, over there on the wrong page. She ticked us off and mumbled that her husband must have warned us that there was no heating in the rooms.

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Fans flock for pelican parade

2/5/2019

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Penguins aren’t the only birds drawing a crowd, writes Geoff Ellis.

By Geoff Ellis

THE car park’s full. Hesitant seagulls watch families head for the sand. Some people are meandering from the Fisherman’s Co-Op building and there are a lot of eager children in the gathering throng.

On the beach, orange bollards linked with red rope mark out a triangle from the access ramp to the water’s edge. A ranger guards three plastic tubs of fish frames near the top of the triangle.

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The weed warriors

22/3/2019

Years of hard work to control weeds is being undone by infestations of ragwort, thistles and blackberry on neglected properties.

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The mist-covered mountains

13/12/2018

A put-up job

19/10/2018

Cartoon by Natasha Williams-Novak

By Geoff Ellis

BUSY business seeks over 50s workers. Boss happy to allow time off for medical appointments. Prefer public transport users. Hours to suit grandchild minding. Please apply in person.

If only! The reality for most job seekers in their 50s and 60s is a humiliating round of interviews with their job service agency, an obligation to apply for jobs for which they know they are not suited, and a complete lack of respect or interest in their skills from employers.

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Take me home, country roads

21/9/2018

Krowera hills, autumn 2017. Photo: Geoff Ellis

Driving on the back roads was always a source of joy for Geoff Ellis. These days he wonders what’s around the next bend.

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Heritage listing no guarantee for our precious history

30/8/2018

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St Paul's Boys Home, Newhaven, 2018. Photo: Sam Brady

Most of us assume the owner of a heritage-listed building has to protect it. Geoff Ellis discovers it isn’t so.

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Range anxiety

3/8/2018

Video: Neil Rankine and Geoff Ellis discuss the merits of the electric Nissan Leaf.

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Digital serfs

22/6/2018

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Reeve and Serfs, Queen Mary's Psalter, 1310

One-hour jobs, cheap cab rides, cheap food deliveries … Geoff Ellis asks whether the digital economy has freed us or enslaved us.

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Winners and losers

1/6/2018

Rupert Jeffkins (rear) and Ralph De Palma push their wounded Mercedes towards the finish line of the Indianopolis 500.

The first Australian win in the famous Indianapolis 500 reminds Geoff Ellis of another Australian who lost the race but won many hearts doing it.

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Under the Southern Cross

20/4/2018

By Geoff Ellis

A LATE afternoon temperature drop presaged sunset as trickles of people meandered toward the Harold Hughes Reserve. On the edge of darkness the Corinella community gathered around the rotunda to share the hurt that comes from the loss of a loved one. In memory of Bert, dozens of people lit candles as the voice of a lone singer carried our thoughts toward the Southern Cross.

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Welcome to Bass

6/4/2018