Neil Daly - Bass Coast Post

A recipe for fun

23/2/2022

"At last, a chance to help make Western Port a better place” was the chorus. Photos: Andrew Morrison

By Neil Daly

IT WAS Friday December 10, 2021. Twenty-four Grade 4 children from Bass Valley Primary School and their teachers were strolling along the Queensferry foreshore. I think it would have pleased the late Tim Ealey OAM, affectionately known as “Dr Mangrove”, for it was his pioneering seagrass and mangrove work with the school that was the forerunner of what was about to unfold - they had come to plant mangroves.

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It’s time we set the agenda

27/1/2022

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Hartley Tobin and ‘Old Man Grass Tree’, one of the ancient giants of the Grantville grass tree forest. Photo: Meryl Brown Tobin

By Neil Daly

I WOULD like to thank two remarkable environmentalists, Meryl and Hartley Tobin, for giving me permission to use the photo of the “Old Man Grass Tree”, and for their tireless work in helping to preserve our natural environment.

In our discussion, Meryl said “The Old Man Grass Tree has probably stood here since long before George Bass landed nearby at the mouth of the Bass River in 1798 and has seen our wildlife come and go for maybe 300-400 years or even longer.”

The longevity of this amazing plant reminded me that Western Port and its region is an ancient and precious ecosystem dating back to long before George Bass started us on the road to European civilisation.

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Swan & Clarke - a visionary team

1/12/2021

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John Swan

By Neil Daly

JUST under a year ago, I contacted a number of state MPs about the urgent need for a strategic management plan for Western Port and its hinterland, or as we now recognise it as, Bunurong Country.

John Clarke

I based this plea on the visionary work of two pioneering conservationists: the late Emeritus Professor John Swan AO and the late John Clarke.

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Back to the future

4/11/2021

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Neil Daly asks whether the blue carbon method could redress much of the damage to Western Port caused by a century of drainage works and land clearing. Photo: Greg Brave

By Neil Daly

IT WOULD seem the issues I raised in A bolt from the blue, The Cyan Way and Time to walk with nature were on the right track when it comes to carbon sequestration.

In these articles, I indicated how some of Western Port’s foreshore lands could once more become carbon sinks and, on a smaller scale, replicate the natural carbon capture processes the Koo Wee Rup swamp and coastal wetlands once provided.

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Sifting the plans in play

7/10/2021

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It’s time for a new strategic framework for Western Port and its region, writes Neil Daly.

By Neil Daly

LOOKING back at the article For the next milestone, it seems the Government, despite three questions from Clifford Hayes about how to deal with Western Port’s environmental future, has not budged from its original answer. On the other hand, the Opposition, via the Member for Brighton, has moved forward and is now looking to discuss the matter.

In this moment of reflection, for it was January this year when I first contacted a number of MPs about the need for a strategic management plan for Western Port and its region, there were times when it seemed like a hopeless task.
But thanks to the tenacity of the Bass Coast Post readers and to the community stakeholder discussions chaired by the Victorian National Parks Association, the matter has not gone away and I would suggest we have reached the next milestone: a renewed commitment to protect Western Port.

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Question time

9/9/2021

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Why does Spring Street continue to treat Western Port
so differently from its neighbour, asks Neil Daly.

By Neil Daly

TWO important documents are floating around Western Port at present: Victoria’s Draft Marine and Coastal Strategy (Department of Environment, Land , Water and Planning, July 2021) and the Draft Port Phillip & Western Port Regional Catchment Strategy (Port Phillip & Westernport Catchment Management Authority, July 2021).

Also circulating is a document I’ve written called Western Port Strategic Management Plan – Starter Kit (August 2021). I have sent a copy of this document to the MPs on my list and to the new alliance made up of key Western Port community stakeholders now convened by the Victorian National Parks Association.

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A watery makeover takes shape

27/8/2021

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The seagrass research team is likely to turn up anywhere in Western Port in their quest to
restore more seagrass meadows.

By Neil Daly

FIFTEEN months on from my first meeting with the young scientists as described in my article A watery makeover, I found them again at Queensferry, early one Sunday morning.

Yi Mei and Oli were trudging through the intertidal zone some 80 metres or so offshore. They were ‘examining things’ in the mud. This time I had to find out exactly what they were doing for it looked amusing but, at the same time, very serious.

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Has the longest day begun?

28/7/2021

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MPs take note, the people are ready to protect
Western Port once more, writes Neil Daly.
Photo: Nicole Avagliano

By Neil Daly

RECENTLY, two questions have been put to the government by the Sustainable Australia Party about the future of Western Port. These can be read in Some have heard the call and Winter recess – a time to gather our thoughts.

The first question received a ministerial reply that did not answer the question. The supplementary question is awaiting a reply and this could take up to three months.

I imagine the second reply will be much the same as the first, and I hark back to the way successive governments over the last 50 years or so have treated Western Port and its hinterland: somewhere to park a ship or two; industrialise its foreshore; and dig up its sand deposits.

When challenged over such matters, governments fall back to their tried and tested defence of how they value Western Port’s Ramsar wetland and will do all they can to protect it. While this may be so, I believe it’s their way of negating any peaceful and negotiated move by the people to protect the Western Port region.

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Winter recess – a time to gather our thoughts

1/7/2021

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The latest assault on Western Port’s hinterland shows how much we need a complete
land and sea management plan.

By Neil Daly

THE Andrews Labor Government can settle into the parliamentary winter recess well pleased with its efforts: the AGL/APA gas import terminal at Crib Point battle is done and dusted; and its answer to a question about a Western Port Strategic Management Plan (WPSMP) now closes the matter … or does it?

In the Legislative Council on February 18 this year, Clifford Hayes of the Sustainable Australia Party, asked Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio to initiate a strategic management plan for Western Port. (See Some have heard the call, Bass Coast Post, March 25, 2021.)

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Dear Reader

1/6/2021

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The late John Clarke: “The problems are quite easily identifiable. They’re not going to be easy to fix, but we have to do it. We caused them; it’s up to us now.” Photo: Trust for Nature.

By Neil Daly

EARLIER this year, January 21, 2021 to be precise, I began sending emails to 28 State Members of Parliament.

These emails focused on the need for a Western Port Strategic Management Plan (WPSMP). Each email gave them an online link to the articles I had written about the subject in The Waterline News and the Bass Coast Post.

This part of my journey is now over, and I have sent the following email to the parliamentary representatives:
“As a way of closing this Chapter on my request for you to consider the Western Port Strategic Management Plan, I invite you to watch the video called Western Port – Cherished and Challenged.

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Time to walk with nature

4/5/2021

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We have to start undoing the damage we have done to the environment,
writes Neil Daly. Photo: Vanessa Wong

By Neil Daly

IN The Cyan Way, I suggested that, with the onset of climate change and the potential inundation of low-lying areas along the eastern arm of Western Port, some of these areas will probably return to their original coastal status and become carbon sinks once more.

Prior to the draining of the Koo Wee Rup swamp, the wetlands and coastal saltmarshes provided a means of controlling and filtering water flowing into Western Port and moderated the effect of waves and storm surges on the foreshore vegetation. This natural ecosystem balanced the competing needs of the flora and fauna of this region and Western Port’s fragile marine ecosystem.

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For the next milestone …

20/4/2021

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Photo: Philemon Yalamu

By Neil Daly

IT’S hard to know what George Bass would think if he sailed into Western Port now, for much has changed, but he would probably be heartened by the Andrews government’s decision not to proceed with the AGL gas import terminal at Crib Point.

Perhaps the most important speculation is what the original custodians of this region would think of this decision – I could say they would be pleased.

It would be fair to suggest that, as well as the 6058 individuals and groups that made submissions to the AGL inquiry, there are many other Victorians and others across Australia and beyond who are pleased.

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Some have heard the call

25/3/2021

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Neil Daly is delighted to report that his plan for Western Port has
actually made it inside the Victorian Parliament, courtesy of the
Sustainable Australia Party.

By Neil Daly

WHEN a political party or independent members of a parliament bother to reply or take up a cause just under two years out from an election, one could say they are genuinely interested in the matter or politically astute.

In my article Hello Spring Street, are you listening?, I said the time had come for our politicians to prepare a Western Port Strategic Management Plan and present it to the electorate before the next Victorian state election.

I sent the article to my local state members of parliament and other parliamentarians to gauge their potential support for a Western Port Strategic Management Plan.

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On centre stage

25/2/2021

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Western Port is a World Heritage Site waiting in the wings. Photo: Greg Brave

By Neil Daly

Returning to the 6,058 submissions to the Crib Point Gas Import and Gas Pipeline Project and the underlying theme that the people want to retain Western Port’s unique environment in a world where such places are being destroyed by inappropriate industrialisation, perhaps ultimately, there may be only one solution: Western Port be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Am I reaching for the stars, maybe?

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Megabits empower the people

28/1/2021

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All the knobs and dials ... Tony Hancock
in 'The Radio Ham'

By Neil Daly

IN 1984, a date synonymous with a novel about totalitarianism and technological surveillance, I ventured into the world of contemporary technology. The time had come to move on from aerogrammes and send a fax instead.

Back then I also had a friend who was a licensed ham radio operator. He introduced me to his “CQ friends” across the world. We freely discussed a range of topics and swapped ideas about the interests we shared.

It was not an easy or a cheap way of communicating, for you needed lots of equipment (much of it dependent on valves and transistors) and a rather large aerial in the backyard for transmission and reception. But it was fun and if you’d like to step back in time, you can find out if it’s “still raining in Tokyo”.

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Hello Spring Street, are you listening?

10/12/2020

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Without a long-term management plan, Western Port will continue to be a battleground for industrialists and residents

By Neil Daly

THE 75 likes for my article Thank you, AGL indicates there is interest in the proposal for a Western Port Strategic Management Plan (WPSMP).

Over time, I have put this proposition to the pub test; I can assure you the "real world people" say yes.

They reason, in many cases, there are too many levels of government, statutory authorities and others all jockeying to manage Western Port, not to mention the endless sums of money spent on feasibility studies and academic research projects.

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Thank you, AGL

29/10/2020

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Everyone has a stake in the result of the inquiry into the
proposed Crib Point gas import jetty.

By Neil Daly

THANK you, AGL and APA, for galvanising the people to send 6058 submissions to the inquiry into the proposed Crib Point gas import jetty and the gas pipeline to Pakenham.

The submissions came from community organisations, environmental groups, local councils and thousands of individual citizens associated with Western Port, its islands and surrounding lands.

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A watery makeover …

14/8/2020

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Three shapes knee-deep in mud spark Neil Daly’s curiosity.

By Neil Daly

WE'RE lucky here, for along parts of the eastern arm of the Western Port foreshore, you can have the world to yourself – or so you think!

It was a warm summer’s morning in January 2020. The tide was out; the Queensferry foreshore was mine.

Suddenly, there they were some 50 metres or so offshore, ‘three shapes’ knee-deep in mud dragging a sled.

Momentarily I thought of Scott and his party in the Antarctica struggling to get back to the Base Camp, but I came to my senses and waited for reality to arrive.

Fifteen minutes later, the ‘shapes’, dressed in wet suits and a little exhausted, made dry land.

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The Cyan Way

27/5/2020

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The beginnings of an ‘old carbon sink’ in a Lang Lang cove

By Neil Daly

IN MY article “You too can be a carbon farmer” (The Waterline News, February 2020), I proposed that blue and green carbon farming be approached holistically rather than as competing entities and thus become the Cyan Way.

To some, this may be a pipe dream.

Then again, at Queensferry, the Bass Coast Landcare Network (BCLN) is undertaking a project to plant mangroves along the foreshore and trees on an adjoining property. This now ties in with another BCLN project to “Offset your car emissions in local planting projects” by planting “indigenous plants”.

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A bolt from the blue

5/4/2019

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Could Western Port’s mangroves help to tackle climate change? The answer, writes Neil Daly, is in the tea leaves, if only the politicians would take notice.

By Neil Daly

OUR community is fortunate to have a dedicated and expert team of environmental scientists and researchers studying Western Port’s environment and producing world-class research papers – but how much longer must this research go on before our federal politicians take notice?

At least two local councils were represented at last month’s Western Port Environment Research Forum, perhaps indicating that at least at a grass roots level somebody is listening. If the response to one questioner is anything to go by, the community is now looking for somebody to come up with a Western Port management plan based on a practical application of the research now in place, and move on from the current haphazard management of possibly Victoria’s most important “blue wedge”.

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