Point of view from Bass Coast

Four Inverloch residents take on the challenge of this vexed section. Have they cracked it?

By Glenn Morris

COMPLETION of the shared pathway along Surf Parade to the Surf Club has taxed the minds of Bass Coast Council and the local community for over 10 years now.

The council has decided to proceed with the pathway extension and provide additional carparking by changing Surf Parade into a one-way street from Ozone St to Goroke St.

Further community feedback on this decision has been sought, sparking yet another objection from a large group of community members opposed to the one-way proposal. A recently formed One Way No Way campaign has already obtained over 800 signatures to a petition calling on the one-way scheme to be scrapped in favour of a two-way road solution.

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The MotoGP’s gone. What now?

6/3/2026

Unlike motorbike riders, serious golfers love bad weather. The legendary St Andrews Links
- home of golf - by John Allan. Creative commons.

By Catherine Watson

SO WE lost the MotoGP. After almost three decades, the shire’s biggest event is heading to an Adelaide street circuit. Ninety thousand fans over three days. Tens of millions of dollars for the local economy. Gone to those sneaky South Australians.

There’s plenty of blame going on but a more interesting question is what comes next on Phillip island?

The loss of the iconic race has sparked a range of ideas from electric motorbikes to historic racing festivals, international golf, and even a long game of sweet revenge to win back the MotoGP.

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Small shop with a big heart

6/3/2026

By Toni Cooper

ON ANY given day at the Hadden House Op Shop in Bass you’ll find shelves and hangers of second-hand treasures. You’ll also find familiar faces, easy conversations and a sense of belonging that keeps people coming back.

Run entirely by volunteers, the op shop sits at the heart of the Bass Community Centre and plays an important role in supporting its work. Every donation sorted and every purchase made helps fund local community programs that bring people together.

The multi-roomed shop is filled with clothing, books, bric-a-brac and household items, all generously donated by the community. With plenty of off-street parking and a relaxed atmosphere, it has become a familiar stop for passing visitors.

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After 12 years in limbo, a place to call home

5/3/2026

Big day: Khaled and Amira with Sham, Mohanad, Salam and Mohamad on their first day at
Wonthaggi North Primary School.

By Maddy Harford

WHAT does it take to begin again from scratch after war comes to your home town – to start a new life in a new country, with a new language, far from family and friends?

Syrian couple Khaled and Amira had been in a Lebanese refugee camp since 2014. While there they have had four children.

On January 8 2026, they arrived at Tullamarine airport to be welcomed by members of the Bass Coast Refugee Sponsorship Group, who drove them to their new home in Wonthaggi.

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Warrior woman

17/2/2026

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Phyllis Papps the librarian, 1976. There is little in the mild demeanour to suggest the courageous feminist who faced down homophobia and discrimination,

By Jan Bourne

MIRANDA Phyllis Dimitra Papaioannou was born on Saturday 15th April 1944, in Cairo, Egypt, the only daughter and second child to her Greek parents Dimitri and Marguerite (Rita). She joined her brother three-year-old Apollo in completing the family.

Both Dimitri (known as Jim) and Rita were college educated, spoke five languages each and Jim, a trained accountant, worked for the British Army as a staff sergeant. The family enjoyed an affluent lifestyle in Cairo until the late 1940s when the political situation became unstable and Jim decided to take his family to Australia as unassisted migrants.

Arriving in 1950, Jim and Rita had to work hard in factory jobs to be able to save and build their own home in Ringwood. Later, Jim’s credentials were acknowledged and the ensuing professional work enabled Rita to stay home and look after their children.

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I had a dream

14/1/2026

Matt Stone delves into the dream world.

By Matt Stone

I DREAM, but not with quite the same repercussions as Martin Luther King Jnr, who famously said, in his 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech, “I had a dream.”

I was never sure of what he actually dreamt so I did some research. The gist of it was racial equality, freedom from inequality, justice and fairness, unity and brotherhood and opportunity for all. Hmm, doesn’t sound like the America of today, does it?

He paid a high price for his dream five years later, when he was (supposedly) assassinated by James Earl Ray. It was later proved Ray was falsely convicted – love a good conspiracy. That’s more like the America of today!

On the subject of dreams, I always dream. In fact the only way I know I have slept is the memory of dreaming – but I have little recollection of what I dreamt, unless Liane accuses me of kicking her in the leg, and I then recall trying to kick a football that kept rolling away. Hopefully, for matrimonial harmony, my football dream days are far and few between.

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Keep your koel, ed

12/12/2025

A noisy intruder sparks Matt Stone’s musings on a word with
many tangents. Image with a little help from AI.

By Matt Stone

NOT that I would ever be disrespectful of our dear editor of the Bass Coast Post, but I'm a little concerned that she's starting to lose it a bit. Normally cool and collected, she sent a text message the other day: “That f&*# varmint shrieked until nearly midnight and started again at 4.47am. It sounded as if it was just outside my window but probably not. How is your varmint going?”

We knew at once that she was referring to the Koel bird. The true koels, Eudynamys, are a genus of cuckoos from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. They are large sexually dimorphic cuckoos that eat fruits and insects and have loud distinctive calls. They are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species.

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Meet the ologists

10/11/2025

Matt's crash course in the world of medical specialists.

By Matt Stone

UNTIL my recent bout with giant cell arteritis I had never known there were so many ologists. Of course I knew about the oncologist for cancer and dermatologist for Liane’s rosacea but except for cardiologists I think I had reached my lot that I could answer quickly in a quiz.

Now I realise there are a significant number with each ologist having a specific focus with their skills honed through years of study and practice in their chosen field.

The suffix ology comes from the Greek logia and means the study of. Outside of medicine there are lots of examples like biology, geology, sociology, anthropology, theology, ontology and psychology.

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Stories of home

10/11/2025

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EAL students work on mind scapes comparing the natural places in their first home and their new Australian home.

By Daryl Pellizzer

THE other morning I worked with Mr Win Kyi. We watched a video on ABC’s Behind the News about Deep Time. It showed that first nations people have been in Australia for 65,000 years.

Win Kyi asked me if there were many Aboriginal teachers or police or doctors. We talked about how if Aboriginal people studied and got the right qualifications then they could do those jobs. I explained that compared to the number of non-indigenous Australians there are not many indigenous people here. There were a lot more before colonisation. Many were shot or moved off their land so they didn’t have the food and water that they needed.

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All in a day’s work

9/11/2025

Podcaster Cathie Agg: “It’s best to shut up and just let the person talk."

By Catherine Watson

I MUST admit I was a little nervous about interviewing Cathie Agg. Like most newspaper reporters, I’m a haphazard interviewer. Cathie’s the real deal: trained in radio, practised in audio. She does her homework – including a pre-interview interview – and knows exactly what she wants to know.

Her podcast, Love Your Work, delves into how people’s work aligns with their personal values. She started with a simple idea: to ask people in Bass Coast and South Gippsland about their favourite job. Then she came across research showing that people are happiest when their work reflects their personal values. That struck a chord.

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The one that got away

16/10/2025

The State Government missed a chance to secure the old Holden Proving Ground for conservation.

By Neil Rankine

NEWS that a Chinese car company plans to buy the old Holden Proving Ground means the Government has missed its chance to secure a unique part of Victoria’s natural heritage.

This isn’t just any patch of land. The 900-hectare proving ground forms the central link in the Western Port Woodlands, a nationally significant stretch of coastal forest and the last functional forest left in Bass Coast.

If the site is cleared or fragmented, the woodland corridor will be effectively destroyed.

In late 2023, a coalition of 21 conservation and community groups wrote to Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos urging the State Government to buy the proving ground for conservation, a request backed by the Bunurong Land Council.

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The business end of living

14/10/2025

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"Thinking about death can be difficult, but it can also lead to clarity, connection and dignity.”
Photo: Jillian Adams

By Catherine Watson

WHEN it comes to death, most of us are procrastinators. We know it’s coming … but we’ll think about it later.

However, a growing number of Bass Coast residents are ready to face the big questions: “How do I want to die? Who will make decisions if I can’t? What kind of care do I want at the end?”

More than 70 people turned up to a conversation about dying well at Cape Paterson last Friday. There’s another session at the Wonthaggi Town Hall this Friday, October 17. The free event, hosted by U3A Wonthaggi, will explore what it means to die well, and how to plan for it.

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Call that democracy!

16/9/2025

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Frank Schooneveldt asks why our councillors aren’t allowed to talk to us.

By Frank Schooneveldt

ACCORDING to the latest Sentinel-Times (16/09/2025) Bass Coast Shire councillors are highly restricted in what they can do and say.

To quote Cr Meg Edwards, “As one of your elected representatives on Bass Coast Council I welcome listening, reading and understanding your views and concerns on council issues and look forward to assisting you where possible. While I personally welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your group in person, Bass Coast Council has a policy that requires any invitation to a Councillor, be put via Councillor Support who can be contacted via the following email address.”

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So, where to start?

16/9/2025

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By Matt Stone

RECENTLY I’ve been paying more attention to how people express themselves than I have previously. Whilst I am generally interested in what people say, as there are many fascinating/interesting topics people can and do talk about, the fact that there are nearly as many “conversationalists” that are dead-set boring may have affected my attitude[1]. As they say, it’s in the eye of the beholder!

So, what I have noticed is the use of the word “so”, which I had not paid much attention to in the past. So, I wondered whether it is the new “like”, the grammatical use of which, like, I cannot quite fathom.

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Seeing the light

10/9/2025

By Annette Stewart

I WAS among a group of keen night-time photographers from the Phillip Island Camera Club who gathered at Pyramid Rock at 2am on Monday to watch the total lunar eclipse.

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At your service

10/9/2025

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“I open at 4.30 am and close when I run out of patients …” What drives
Deb Garvey, sole medical practitioner in the Waterline community?

By Catherine Watson

IT WAS Joy Button who told me about Deb Garvey. I knew she was the nurse practitioner for the Waterline community, operating out of the Grantville Transaction Centre. I didn’t know much more.

Joy told me Deb gets to work long before dawn so that truck drivers and others can call in on their way to work. “They’d never get to see a doctor or nurse otherwise.

“She bulk bills, which a lot of young mums appreciate. You can make an appointment or just call in and wait. She’ll always see you. I think she’s the most highly respected person in the whole of the Waterline.”

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Paul Cross Q&A

20/8/2025

Paul Cross is a prolific and outspoken commenter on social media in Bass Coast.
The Post was curious to know what drives this keyboard warrior.

Paul Cross: "You never change people’s minds. There's always
stupid people out there."

Bass Coast Post: Paul, you've agreed to meet the Post. I’d have to say most of the Post readers and writers are not on your side of the political divide. Initially you had some reservations.

Paul Cross: Well, I really didn't know who you were, and then I asked around and people knew you, and I thought, well, I've got nothing to hide. I'm retired. I answer to no one, other than my wife, obviously, and I have strong opinions, probably because I'm an old guy who’s grumpy. Well not that grumpy, really. I love making jokes and the rest of it, being English. But yeah, I thought, why not.

Post: Have you always been grumpy?

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The scroll stops here

19/8/2025

Will Australia’s social media ban for under-16s create more problems than it solves?

By Anabelle Bremner

AUSTRALIA has grounded its teenagers, digitally at least. No social media for under-16s. For some, it’s the end of the world. For others, it’s sweet relief. But are these new laws really the answer, or are we addressing the wrong cause?

THE GOOD:
It’s clear that social media does plenty of harm. Scrolling addictions, cyberbullying, dangerous rabbit holes – you name it, you’ll find it. That’s why a lot of teens – and parents – see promise in the idea.

Olive, 17, believes that the ban is “a must”. Cutting down on addictive scrolling and access to “revolting” content, she says, is key in preserving teens’ creativity and focus.

Parent Shana calls the ban “an acknowledgement of the fact that social media can be damaging”, admitting that while it won’t fix the problem, “it’s a start”.

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All you need is music?

19/8/2025

Alison Vincent, second from right: "Music is so easy these days, at least for the fans ..."

By Alison Vincent

THE Davidson Brothers played at the Wonthaggi Acoustic Music Festival in July. In one song was: "All you need is music ... and a little red wine ... to have a good time. Nothing else matters in the long run”.

Great song. If you haven't heard it, look for it on the "socials" or streaming services.

So easy, isn't it, these days? No hours of listening to the radio, hoping your favourite song will be played. No forking out for CDs or tapes or records (depending on your age) and for devices on which to play them. Music, for the listener, has become so easy, so available.

However, spare a thought for the makers of music, the players, venues and retail outlets ... and especially for those getting started on their music careers.

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Hands off our bridge!

16/8/2025

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The Kilcunda trestle bridge might not be grand but it’s our history. From left, Joe Italiano. Lisa Russo, Anthony Russo, with grandchildren, and John and Maxine Wright.

By Maxine Wright

Like many Kilcunda residents, I was shocked and dismayed at the news that Bass Coast Shire councillors had voted to demolish the historic viaduct bridge in Kilcunda.

Once demolished this iconic bridge is gone forever - the memories of the original highway that snaked under the bridge and the route of the original railway line will no longer exist for future generations. The bridge adds character to our little town and complements the trestle bridge at the other end. We really would be devastated - it feels like vandalism. We may not have the wealthy symbols of gold mining areas but that doesn’t mean the structures we do have shouldn’t be preserved.

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And now for some light relief

16/8/2025

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This year marks the centenary of quantum mechanics. The Post asked local
science writer and mathematician Robyn Arianrhod to “please explain”
a field of study that perplexed even Einstein.

Shooting the breeze: Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein had long debates about quantum mechanics. Photo: Paul Ehrenfest, December 11, 1925 Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Post: A very personal question to start: do you actually understand quantum mechanics?
Ha! I’ll let the experts answer this one. Richard Feynman told his students at Caltech that the subatomic quantum realm is so different from the world we see around us that “Even the experts do not understand it the way they would like to.” And just recently, a survey by Nature showed that physicists are still divided on what quantum mechanics really means.

If this is the centenary of quantum mechanics, what happened in 1925?
The first inklings that the subatomic world plays by different rules from the everyday world of ordinary physics came in 1900 and 1905, with the work of Max Planck and Albert Einstein. In our everyday experience, things such as temperature increase continuously, but Planck and Einstein discovered that in certain circumstances, heat and light behave like a series of discrete bundles or “particles” – i.e. quanta – of energy.

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Roadkill Island

16/7/2025

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Conservation Hill, Rhyll. Photo: Julie Paterson

As told to Ron Day

G’DAY there, I’m Wallaby Wal and I live on Phillip Island.

I want to draw your attention to the conflict taking place all over the island between my mob and motor vehicles (HICLES), and particularly a 3.6km section of the Cowes/Rhyll Road. More than 400 of my brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces were killed by HICLES on this 3.6km section of road over a three-year period.

These HICLES are relentless in their efforts to commit genocide and eliminate our mob from the island. We once roamed freely across the island long before the arrival of the HICLES some 100 years ago. Surely it’s our right as original inhabitants to have free and unrestricted movement. After all this was our home long before the invasion of the HICLES.

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My local MP blocked me

8/6/2025

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By Oliver Jobe

LAST week, Bass MP Jordan Crugnale blocked me after I left a series of comments on her social media criticising the ALP and saying that, as a member of the ALP, she represents the Good and the Bad of the party.

The comment that ended up with me being blocked was on her post about ‘Pride’ in which I mentioned the ALP’s inaction on police brutality towards queer protesters at Midsumma in 2023 that resulted in a condemnation and no apparent other actions.

I also mentioned the leader of the ALP and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s apparent inability to say ‘trans’ or ‘transgender’ in interviews during his 2022 campaign.

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Let’s talk some more

8/6/2025