Blog Posts

A break from poverty

11/6/2020

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

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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

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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

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A put-up job

19/10/2018

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Ross and Tracey Denby are growing a community of diners who value friendship and conversation as much as good food.

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Family ties

7/3/2018

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Geoff Ellis had every reason to be suspicious when a stranger rang with an offer that sounded too good to be true.

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A journey with Parkinson’s

12/2/2018

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David Kemp has been ticking off milestones on a path that few others will travel. Next is brain surgery under a local anaesthetic.

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King of the road

15/11/2017

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Over 43 years at the Holden proving ground in Lang Lang, Allan George drove every new Holden model.

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Naming rights

20/10/2017

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Angus McMillan

History is written by the victors, who also get the naming rights. Geoff Ellis argues that we have a chance to redress the balance when it comes to Angus McMillan.

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Four dead in Ohio

5/10/2017

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Cartoon: Natasha Williams-Novak

Geoff Ellis wonders why we mourn the victims of the Las Vegas killer but are indifferent to a genocide much closer to home.

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Short sentence for Carlowe

22/9/2017

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Carlowe’s joy was contagious. Geoff Ellis pays tribute to “a great dog, not always a good dog”.

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Renovator's delight

21/7/2017

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By Geoff Ellis

UP IN the Bass Coast hills the temperature drops rapidly once the sun dips below the ridgelines. Lew Potter’s beanie keeps him warm but there’s not much daylight left and those new-borns need to be in the shed with their mum. Lew picks up a swag of squirming lamb and heads off across the paddock. “C’mon mum, here they are ...”

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The power behind the mine

5/7/2017

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Friends of the State Coal Mine president Steve Harrop. Visitors to the mine will be able to compare the performance of different panels and batteries.

Wonthaggi’s state coal mine has long been a magnet for history buffs. Soon it will also be drawing visitors interested in new technology.

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Dinosaur hunter

15/6/2017

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Geoff Ellis meets the legendary Mike Cleeland, who’s been digging for clues for three decades.

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