Bass Coast Post
  • Home
    • Recent editions
  • News
  • Point of view
    • View from the chamber
  • Contributors
    • Anabelle Bremner
    • Anne Davie
    • Anne Heath Mennell
    • Bob Middleton
    • Carolyn Landon
    • Catherine Watson
    • Christine Grayden
    • Dick Wettenhall
    • Dyonn Dimmock
    • Ed Thexton
    • Etsuko Yasunaga
    • Frank Coldebella
    • Gayle Marien
    • Geoff Ellis
    • Gill Heal
    • Harry Freeman
    • Ian Burns
    • Joan Woods
    • John Coldebella
    • Julie Paterson
    • Julie Statkus
    • Kit Sleeman
    • Laura Brearley >
      • Coastal Connections
    • Lauren Burns
    • Liane Arno
    • Linda Cuttriss
    • Linda Gordon
    • Lisa Schonberg
    • Liz Low
    • Marian Quigley
    • Mark Robertson
    • Mary Aldred
    • Mary Whelan
    • Meryl Brown Tobin
    • Michael Whelan
    • Mikhaela Barlow
    • Miriam Strickland
    • Natasha Williams-Novak
    • Neil Daly
    • Oliver Jobe
    • Patsy Hunt
    • Pauline Wilkinson
    • Richard Kemp
    • Rob Parsons
    • Sally McNiece
    • Terri Allen
    • Tim Shannon
  • Features
    • Features 2024
    • Features 2023
    • Features 2022
    • Features 2021
    • Features 2020
    • Features 2019
    • Features 2018
    • Features 2017
    • Features 2016
    • Features 2015
    • Features 2014
    • Features 2013
    • Features 2012
  • Arts
    • Arts
  • Local history
    • Local history
  • Environment
    • Environment
  • Nature notes
    • Nature notes
  • A cook's journal
  • Community
    • Diary
    • Courses
    • Groups
    • Stories
  • About the Post

Bass Coast Post, October 14, 2025

News

Picture
Grand pool plan sinks
Oct 16, 2025 - Council dumps $180m two-pool plan; we’ll patch up our old one instead.

Picture
Chilled not high
Oct 15, 2025 - Like a round of Chinese whispers, the rumours grew wilder with every retelling until Ventnor was in uproar.

Picture
Back to the coalface
Oct 13, 2025 - Parks Victoria’s new boss reassures Friends of the State Coal Mine that the skip will roll again.

Picture
Thumbs down for Lord’s Prayer
Oct 10, 2025 - A petition to reinstate the Lord’s Prayer before council meetings got short shrift from councillors.

Viewpoint

Picture
The one that got away
Oct 16, 2025 - The State Government missed its chance to buy the old Holden Proving Ground. Now we have to hope a Chinese car company will do the right thing, writes Neil Rankine.  

Picture
An MP’s diary
Oct 17, 2025 - The first of a regular column in which the Member for Monash offers a glimpse behind the scenes of life in Canberra and her travels across the electorate.

Environment

Picture
Holding back the tide
Oct 14, 2025 - Neil Daly asks whether it’s time to let nature prevail at Queensferry.

Picture
Don’t go into the woods without it!
Oct 16, 2025 - When the pandemic clipped their wings, Jackie and Dave Newman turned their lenses closer to home. The result is on show in Birds of the Western Port Woodlands.

Local history

Picture
The mystery remains
Oct 16, 2025 - In 1917, a huge skeleton found in sand dunes near Tarwin Lower caused great astonishment among the locals.   

The next issue of the Bass Coast Post will be published on November 15. ​Email contributions to [email protected]
​
​

Features

Picture
Picture
The grevillea whisperer
Oct 14, 2025 - In a sea of concrete, lawn and yucca trees, David Binch has created a sanctuary for birds, bees and humans.

Picture
A gentle hand
Oct 15, 2025 - Everyone remembers Vic Benetti’s smile. That and the Tuscan villa he built in Wonthaggi as a young bachelor.

Picture
The business end of living
Oct 14, 2025 - When it comes to death, most of us procrastinate … we’ll think about it next week. Wonthaggi U3A decided it was time to open up the conversation.

Picture
A view from the other side
Oct 16, 2025 - A brief overseas holiday proves a tonic for farmers, writes Rob Parsons.  

Arts

Picture
The art of dishwashing
Oct 14, 2025 - When Inverloch artist John Mutsaers couldn’t paint, he found a new way to make sense of life.


Picture
Fleeting moments
Oct 16, 2025 - Kate Muir’s and Tessa Hubble’s contrasting styles and techniques open different windows on the passage of time in their joint exhibition.

Picture
Ms Vale is still waiting
Oct 9, 2025 - Two masters of their craft combine as Maggie Millar reads Elizabeth Jolley.

Painting with purpose
Oct 15, 2025 - Mix art, nature and community and you get the Landcare Art Prize, writes Janice Orchard.
Picture
Picture
Kelp and the Sentient Sea
Oct 9, 2025 - Two artists dive deep into the beauty, mystery and power of the Southern Ocean.

Community diary
What's on and where​

Bass Coast Post, September 17, 2025

News

Picture
​Unpopular tourism plan under review
Sept 17, 2025 - Councillors call for rethink of controversial rural tourism strategy “that pleases no one”. 

Picture
Ventnor trees get the chop, at a price
Sept 18, 2025 - Council permits removal but orders replanting on bare block. 

Picture
Local voices ‘ignored’ in subdivision vote
Sept 18, 2025 - Wonthaggi doesn’t rate in councillors’ concerns about the environment, according to objectors to a nine-lot subdivision.

Picture
Full speed ahead
Sept 10, 2025 - Bass Coast recognised on national stage for recycling roads. 
Picture
Health merger approved
Aug 29, 2025 - Bayside Health promises Bass Coast more specialist services, closer to home.

Viewpoint

Picture
Call that democracy!
Sept 16, 2025 - Frank Schooneveldt asks why our councillors can't talk to us.

Picture
Don’t lock us out
Sept 18, 2025 - Social media can mean community, learning and even survival, writes Oliver Jobe.

Environment

Picture
Tricks of the trade
Sept 16, 2025 - How a charming visitor with a sweet song cons the guileless locals. By Gayle Marien

Picture
Nature Notes
Sept 18, 2025 - Cockatoo lovers, possum squatters and mysterious flies … it must be spring.

Picture
Rabbits in the spotlight
Sept 17 2025 - Councillors call for urgent action on feral animals across the shire.

Picture
Community spirit blossoms at Coronet Bay
Sept 3, 2025 - The threat of wild weather didn’t deter locals greening the foreshore.

Picture
Community diary
What's on and where​

The next issue of the Bass Coast Post will be published on October 17. ​Email contributions to [email protected]
​
​

Features

Picture
Picture
At your service
Sept 10, 2025 - Deb Garvey starts work at 4.30 am and closes when she runs out of patients. The Post asks what drives the sole medical practitioner in the Waterline community.

Picture
Seventy years of smash and spin
Sept 16, 2025 - Julie Paterson investigates how Wonthaggi’s table tennis club has stood the test of time. 

Picture
So, where to start?
Sept 16, 2025 - Is so the new like? The question sent Matt Stone reaching for the dictionary. 

Local history

Picture
Rescuing the rescue station
Aug 14, 2025 - The State Coal Mine rescue station was going the same way as Number 5 mine brace … until a determined crew stepped up. By Carolyn Landon

Arts

Picture
Maths makes history
Sept 10, 2025 - Wonthaggi author Robyn Arianrhod defied her own expectations to win a major history award with a book about maths.

Picture
We have been singing …
Sept 18, 2025 - EAL students and community lifted their voices in a joyful act of connection, writes Daryl Pellizzer

Picture
My brush with art
Sept 18, 2025 - Catherine Watson fails to draw a tree and has a good time anyway.

Picture
Reflections of a life
Sept 18, 2025 - Marcia Rolfs’ first book is an exquisite collection of her poetry, paintings and photographs.

Picture
The singer not the song
Sept 16, 2025 – In an age when machines can conjure up bands and ballads in seconds, live music is real, writes Alison Chapman.   

Picture
A cook’s journal
Sept 16, 2025 - The lime tree’s loaded and Matt Stone’s challenge was to use them for something more than a gin and tonic.

Seeing the light
Sept 9, 2025 - Annette Stewart was among a group of keen night-time photographers who gathered at Pyramid Rock to watch the total lunar eclipse.

Bass Coast Post, ​August 17, 2025

Picture
No fixed address
Aug 14, 2025 - At 83, Beth Banks is part of a grassroots fight for dignity, security and a place to call home in Bass Coast.

Picture
Hands off our bridge
Aug 16, 2025 - The Kilcunda trestle bridge might not be grand, but it’s our history, writes Maxine Wright.
Picture
Pedestrians first for Cowes
Aug 20, 2025 - $8.5m makeover to make “streets for the people” rather than cars.

Picture
The long road to a rare diagnosis
Aug 17, 2025 - For years Liane Arno explained away her headaches, joint pain and skeletal changes. Only a chance encounter with a specialist revealed the truth.

Picture
The scroll stops here
Aug 19, 2025 - Anabelle Bremner asks whether Australia’s social media for under-16s will do more harm than good.

Picture
Council wishlist on the table
Aug 20, 2025 Financial plan commits to a decade of major infrastructure projects that will shape Bass Coast’s future.

Picture
Shelter opens its doors
Aug 19, 2025 - It’s been a rocky road to get there but the Bass Coast Winter Shelter is finally open and offering homeless people a warm place to stay.

Picture
A treat for council watchers 
Council aficionados have plenty of good reading ahead of them with the release of eight draft council plans.​

Picture
Nature to the rescue
Aug 16, 2025 - A landmark project will use mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass as the first line of defence against climate change in Western Port.

Picture
Gaza is our issue too
Aug 17, 2025 - Local councils have a role to play in ending the war in Gaza, argues Oliver Jobe.

Picture
And now for some light relief
Aug 16, 2025 - This year marks the centenary of quantum mechanics. The Post asked local science writer and mathematician Robyn Arianrhod to “please explain” a theory that perplexed even Einstein.

Picture
Stanley McGeagh: A life in many acts
Aug 13, 2025 - The Irish-Australian actor died on August 5, leaving behind a Coronet Bay community that had claimed him as one of its own.

Picture
From tent town to model town
Aug 18, 2025 - Wonthaggi arrived much later than most of the towns around Bass Coast, but it grow at breakneck speed. By Linda Cuttriss

Picture
Delivered by hand
Aug 16, 2025 - From Airlie Beach to Bushy Park, a painted rock was Etsuko Yasunaga’s passport to parkrun camaraderie across continents.

Picture
Play it on the porch
Aug 13, 2025 - What if, just for one day, the world stopped and we all listened to the music? By Michael Whelan

Picture
Calling citizen scientists
Aug 20, 2025 - If you go down to the woods today … take your phone because you never know what you’ll see.

Picture
All you need is music?
Aug 19, 2025 - Music’s so easy these days, at least for the fans. But what about the musicians, asks Alison Vincent.

Picture
Thereby hangs a tale
Aug 16, 2025 - Tears, laughter, resilience and recipes … the Festival of Stories had it all. By Julie Statkus

Picture
Lighten up,
​you guys

Aug 20, 2025 - Keyboard warrior Paul Cross wants to know why greenies can’t take a joke. By Catherine Watson

Picture
A cook’s journal
Aug 17, 2025 - Beer braised beef cheeks on mash with a glass or two of good red is Liane Arno’s perfect winter warmer.

Bass Coast Post, July 22, 2025

Picture
Slogans won’t save our beach
July 2025 - Trevor Forge makes the case for listening to the experts on Inverloch beach.

Picture
Winding down?
July 22, 2025 - Wonthaggi’s windmills are approaching their use-by date. By Catherine Watson

Picture
The power trip speeds up
July 19, 2025 - Is it finally time to install a home battery? Energy guru Werner Theinert does the sums so you don’t have to.

Picture
The Nobbies jinx
July 23, 2025 - The recent closure of the Nobbies Centre is the latest twist in a saga that includes mini-tornados and multi-million-dollar court battles.

Picture
Summerland: the next chapter
July 23, 2025 - Nature Parks wants our help to shape ‘bold new vision’ for iconic Summerland Peninsula

Picture
Time's up for Kilcunda bridge
July 18, 2025 - Too late to save this piece of history, councillors decide

Picture
​Sounds and silence
July 21, 2025 - A powerful new work from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra comes to Wonthaggi before its Melbourne debut.



Picture
What’s your story?
July 22, 2025 - We want to hear it! The Post is looking for contributors – writers, photographers, storytellers of all kinds.

Picture
The storm inside
July 22, 2025 - Chris Pitman’s acclaimed one-man play opens the door to difficult conversations, writes Tim O’Brien

Picture
Reef Island and the shifting line
July 22. 2025 - After years of watching this shift-shaper from afar, Linda Cuttriss sets out for a closer look.

Picture
The Birdman of Cape Paterson
July 23, 2025 - With his camera and a talent for storytelling, David Hartney captures the daily dramas of birds, beasts and humans.

Picture
Roadkill Island
July 17, 2025 - Stop the slaughter! By Wallaby Wal, as told to Ron Day.

Picture
A cook's journal
July 23, 2025 - Who said a low-fibre diet can’t be fun? Not Liane Arno

Community diary
What's on and where​

Bass Coast Post, June 27, 2025

Picture
Planning rules trump local voices
June 23, 2025 - Councillors say they are powerless to stop infill development that flouts neighbourhood character. 
Picture
Budget adopted – with reservations
June 20, 2025 - ​Bass Coast Council’s 2025-26 annual budget has been formally adopted, despite several councillors expressing dissatisfaction with where the money is being spent.

Picture
‘Do your own dirty work!’
June 19, 2025 - ​Councillors maintain the rage against State Government levy that will drag an extra $5 million out of Bass Coast ratepayers

Picture
Laundry on wheels
June 27, 2025 - A mobile laundry is the latest support service aimed at helping homeless people across Bass Coast.

Picture
More power to you, Oliver
June 25, 2025 - When federal leaders keep detonating carbon bombs, our kids have every right to be angry, writes Michael Whelan.

Picture
Can you hear it?
June 25, 2025 - Time for more of our politicians to get out of Spring Street and spend some time ‘down on the farm’, writes Neil Daly.

Picture
​The last laugh
June 26, 2025 - Ten strangers walk into a café to talk about death and leave two hours later feeling strangely cheerful. By Catherine Watson

Picture
Ricko relishes third chance at life
After cheating death twice in the past 12 months, Wonthaggi’s Ian Rixon attributes his third chance at life to his “angels” at Bass Coast Health.

Picture
A photo journal
June 27, 2025 - Julie Paterson continues her voyage of discovery across Bass Coast.  
​
Picture
Lost in the dream
June 26, 2025 - In his 90th year John Adam is still learning, one canvas at a time.


Picture
BYO banjos & beanies
June 23, 2025 - Wonthaggi’s midwinter music festival is back – good tunes, hot drinks and warm vibes all weekend long.

Picture
Big stories and
​bold strokes

June 26, 2025 - Basins, Oxides, Locals, Legend dives into life across the hills — raw, rich, and unmistakably Phil Henshall.

Picture
Pennies, petticoats and power
June 26, 2025 - Picture this: how would you honour a group of trail blazing women who stepped up in Wonthaggi’s hour of need?

Picture
The art of resistance
June 25, 2025 - A new exhibition of works from the Robert Smith collection reminds us that the fight for justice goes on.

Picture
Shrooms, booms and a touch of magic
June 25, 2025 - The hipsters appear each winter, like migratory birds from north of the Yarra. By Catherine Watson

Picture
A cook’s journal
June 26, 2025 - Delicious and simple … but there a few little tricks to making this potato dish.

Bass Coast Post, June 7, 2025

Picture
The Cape stops here
June 7, 2025 - How a community fought a 20-year battle to preserve their village. 


Picture
Now for Wonthaggi
June 9, 2025 - With the release of the long-awaited Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy, 27 of the shire’s 29 settlements now have planning certainty.

Picture
It’s official. The Western Port Woodlands matter.
June 8, 2025 - The government has finally recognised their value. Now to turn recognition into protection. By Catherine Watson
Picture
Rest in peace, but stay in line
June 7, 2025 - There’s a new corporate vibe at Wonthaggi cemetery since Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust took it over.

Picture
Pantry on wheels
June 7, 2025 - Carole and Bec never thought they would see people who can’t afford food in a First World country like Australia.

Picture
Let’s talk some more
June 8, 2025 - The Teal movement missed out in the Monash electorate, writes Robert Durkacz, but a community approach to politics is worth pursuing.

Picture
Shelter on hold
June 7, 2025 - A warm welcome awaits those who will use Bass Coast’s winter shelter for homeless people but they’ll have to be patient a while longer.


Picture
Touched by the light
June 7, 2025 - Warren Nichols never dreamed that one of his paintings would hang alongside original works by Turner. By Catherine Watson

Picture
For better or worse
June 7, 2025 - Blindsided but undefeated, Matt looks forward to the next chapter in his book of spills. By Liane Arno.

Picture
From shields to surfboards
June 8, 2025 - Artist Steve Ulula Parker’s call to country … for all of us.

Picture
Crays, muttonfish and gars with tails like pick-axes
June 7, 2025 - Fishing yarns from the Bunurong Coast by Rees Quilford


Picture
My local MP blocked me
June 8, 2025 - What does it means for democracy if our politicians can shut us up if they don’t like what we’re saying? By Oliver Jobe

Picture
The art of change
June 7, 2025 - More than a gallery, ArtSpace continues to inspire new ways of seeing and being. By Laura Brearley

Picture
Across the waters
June 8, 2025 - When author Christine Dineen related a story of the first French Island ferryman, his daughter in the audience told how she was named after the ferry.

Picture
A cook’s journal
June 7, 2025 - Arabian spices combine with an African barbecue in this delectable spiced goat dish. By Liane Arno

Picture
Against the odds
May 16, 2025 - How Mary Aldred won the battle for Monash despite a national Liberal Party  wipeout. 

Picture
Libs prevail in ‘weird’ election
May 14, 2025 - Final result doesn’t show how close Deb Leonard came to an upset, writes Michael Whelan.

Picture
Farewell friends
May 15, 2025 - Grace, diplomacy and a sprinkling of spite … the other Monash candidates sign off after a nerve-racking election. By Catherine Watson​
Picture
In the line of fire
May 15, 2025 - Managing fire for people and wildlife isn't rocket science, says Professor Mike Clarke. It’s much more complex than that.

Picture
Petrol before people
May 16, 2025 - In the midst of a housing crisis, five houses are demolished for one more service station, writes Geoff Ellis.

Picture
Raise the rates and fix the joint!
Frank Schooneveldt’s plea to council on roads and drainage plan that stretches all the way to 2090.

Picture
​Measure of success
May 7, 2025 - Neil Daly presses the case for an audit of our efforts to grow mangroves in the eastern arm of Western Port.

Picture
Frequent flyers and vagrants
May 17, 2025 - Dave Newman pays tribute to our migratory wader birds and their epic flights, including some that don’t go to plan.

Picture
Welcome home
May 15, 2025 - As the Gurdies forest begins to recover from fire, the animals are returning

Picture
​Growing together
May 12, 2025 – Friendship and learning flourish alongside the plants at the Wonthaggi Seed Bank and Nursery.

Picture
Can you help?
May 16, 2025 - A variety of volunteer roles need to be filled at Bass Coast's winter shelter for homeless people.

Picture
​The birds are back
May 12, 2025 - As our migratory shorebirds depart for their Arctic breeding grounds, the Flyways exhibition opens to celebrate their extraordinary journey.

Picture
​More than water
May 16, 2025 - A spectacular night sky photo by Iryna MacMillan has won first prize in West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority’s photo competition. 

Picture
​A cook’s journal
May 15, 2025 - Liane Arno recommends an  Asian twist on an old American favourite.

Picture
Not the full story
April 24, 2025 - A Liberal Party poster seen at early voting centres around Monash quotes  misleadingly from an interview with independent Deb Leonard published in the Bass Coast Post in 2022.

Picture
Patriots get the wrong independent
April 23, 2025 - The Trumpet of Patriots Party is hastily reprinting their How to Vote cards for the Monash electorate after preferencing the wrong independent.
Meet the candidates
Picture
Kuljeet Kuar Robinson, One Nation
Kuljeet Kuar Robinson left India  because of the inequality between rich and poor. Now she sees the same thing happening in Australia.​

Picture
Tully Fletcher, Labor Party
The Post declined the candidate’s “terms of engagement”. 

Picture
Mary Aldred, Liberal Party
Plenty has changed since November 2023 when Liberal candidate Aldred won pre-selection over long-term Liberal MP Russell Broadbent.

Picture
Russell Broadbent, Independent
Questioning the veteran MP proved harder than expected.


Picture
Deb Leonard, Independent
Deb Leonard has a massive campaign war chest and an army of volunteers. No wonder the other candidates are cranky.

Picture
Geoff Dethlefs, Family First
You can credit Anthony Albanese with persuading Geoff Dethlefs to stand for election.

Picture
David O'Reilly, ​Legalise Cannabis Party
The Post was unable to contact the candidate.

Picture
Terence Steele, Greens
Terence Steele is an organiser, not a front man. He sees this election as the start of a grand plan for Monash. 

Picture
Alex Wehbe, Trumpet of Patriots
Alex Wehbe reckons party leader Clive Palmer will shake up the Australian establishment the way Donald Trump has done in the US.


Picture
Hit them where it hurts!
April 16, 2025 - Too young to vote - but Anabelle Bremner is urging climate action at the ballot box.

Picture
​My MP wishlist
April 10, 2025 - Policies are important but so is the character of our representatives, writes Alison Vincent.

Picture
Bring back the town hall debate!
April 14, 2025 - Robert Durkacz laments the lack of serious discussion in the Monash election.

Election-free zone

Picture
​The miracle chick
April 14, 2025 - It’s been a long and difficult summer for our hooded plovers and their minders, but a fairytale finish to the breeding season has local volunteers celebrating.

Picture
Home is where the art is
In his 90th year, Phillip Island artist John Adam is enjoying a purple patch.
​
Picture
Shelter from the storm
A shelter for homeless people will operate in Cowes this winter, with church buildings used to provide an evening meal and dormitory style accommodation.

Picture
​Beach bags steady as a rock
April 16 – Seven Silverleaves families are sleeping a lot easier this week after emergency dune works to stabilise the beach in front of their houses.

Picture
​Wombat woes
Pushed into an ever-dwindling corridor of habitat, San Remo’s wombats need our help, writes Eve Kelly.



$123m budget open for comment
April 16, 2025 - Rates will rise an average of 3 per cent as Bass Coast budgets for total income of $123 million.
Picture
Lights off for shearwater chicks
April 10, 2025 - PHILLIP Island Nature Parks calls on community to help  shearwater chicks about to embark on their first annual 15,000km migration north.

Picture
A cook’s journal
April 15 - Liane Arno calls on her Scottish ancestry to perfect fish pie - an economical and delicious way to mark Easter.

Picture
​Who’d be a politician?  
March 27, 2025 - Belinda Henderson pities the would-be politicians who have put their lives on hold to beg for our votes. 

Picture
​No place like home
March 25, 2025 - Each year, as the end of the lease nears, Danielle wonders whether she is about to lose her home. 

Picture
The final set
March 27, 2025 - Neil Luke’s old surfing mates celebrate the life of a surfing legend who did things his own way. 

Picture
What next, Mr Dinosaur?
March 22, 2025 - Mike Cleeland has given up the day job but he’s not hanging up the rock hammer any time soon. By Ed Thexton

Picture
​The trail blazers
March 21, 2023 - It would be easy to mistake them for a bunch of ladies who lunch, but you are looking at a group of revolutionaries.

Picture
​Nature notes
March 25, 2025 - Phillip Island Nature Parks is celebrating the fledging of 65 Critically Endangered fairy tern chicks on the island.

Picture
Wonthaggi’s war
March 25, 2025 - The Plaza Arcade played an unlikely role as a drill hall in the Second World War.

Picture
Double for Inverloch writer​
March 27, 2025 - Judy Vradenburg has pulled off a second major award with her fly-on-the-wall account of local community activism.

Picture
Lights off for shearwater chicks
April 10, 2025 - PHILLIP Island Nature Parks calls on community to help  shearwater chicks about to embark on their first annual 15,000km migration north.

Picture
​Better than cupcakes
March 28, 2025 - In the midst of 100 others women, Leslie Adams reclaims her voice. 

Picture
The voyager
March 24, 2025 - There’s a sense of timelessness in Jan Learmonth’s work, of slow-moving waters and a world beyond the human one. By Louisa Waters

Picture
​​Long haul to first state coal mine
March 24, 2025 - The State Coal Mine came to life almost overnight. But it took more than half a century and a state of emergency for it to happen.

Picture
​A photo journal
March 24, 2025 - Julie Paterson explores the Bass Coast, taking photos and observing contrasts.

Picture
​Stuff my relatives never told me
March 26, 2025 - Peter Brown delves into his family history and discovers stories of mutiny, adultery and murder.

Picture
​Hey presto!
March 24, 2025 - Liane Arno works her magic and has no idea how she did it. 

Picture
One step at a time
March 27, 2025 - Sometimes running is effortless and sometimes it’s a feat of endurance. Etsuko Yasunaga cheers on a friend running his first marathon.

Picture
Ask the candidates
March 14, 2025 - The Battle for Monash is shaping as one of the most intriguing of the 2025 federal election.
​Let the bidding begin
Feb 27, 2025 - After years of being ignored by both major parties, Monash voters can expect to see some election promises coming our way. 
Picture
​The fixer
March 1, 2025 - Who are we going to call now that Nifty Nev is gone? By Catherine Watson

Picture
​Every bottle tells a story
Feb 28, 2025 - A hurricane, a fire and a twister couldn't stop Wendy Heaney and Bruce Preston. By Camilla Myers. 

Picture
​No go for sand company
Feb 20, 2025 - Council rejects plans to widen Stanley Road in Grantville for sand trucks to service a new quarry.

Picture
Help us on housing: council plea
Feb 20, 2025 - Growth councils head to Canberra to seek federal funding to open land for housing. 

Picture
Tigers make a splash
Feb 27, 2025 - A Richmond Football Club subsidiary will replace the YMCA as manager of Bass Coast’s leisure centres from July 1.

Picture
​‘Bigger is better’ for new health service
Feb 26, 2025 - Future looks bright for Bass Coast residents, saysCEO.

Picture
​Swimming against the tide
Feb 27, 2025 - There may be lessons for Bass Coast in another small coastal town’s attempts to halt coastal erosion.

Picture
​Endangered Species
Feb 26, 2025 - On the morning they disappeared, the day was born into a thick sea mist. A short story by Aneta Marovich.

Picture
Power plays
Feb 28, 2025 - So you think power lines for offshore wind are ugly? Look around you, suggests Christopher Eastman-Nagle.

Picture
​Just the job
Feb 28, 2025 -  Kane Bond explains why we need our own local jobs board.

Picture
​All together now
A community choir of 100 women share their stories through song at Wonthaggi's Union Theatre.

​Return to the dark ages
March 2, 2025 - Dismantling of the US public service hurts us too, writes Christine Grayden. 
Picture
​Living lightly
Feb 28, 2025 - From home battery storage to preserving, council workshops aim to help residents live more sustainably.

Picture
​Any time, any where
Feb 27, 2025 - Geoff Ellis searches for the sweet spot between reality and virtuality.

Picture
​A cook’s journal
Feb 27, 2025 - It can be difficult to make tasty gluten-free food but anyone could enjoy this orange and almond cake.

Picture
Help us on housing: council plea
Feb 20, 2025 - Growth councils head to Canberra to seek federal funding to open land for housing. 

Picture
​Count me in, says Broadbent
Feb 4, 2025 - The seat of Monash is shaping as a thriller with Independent MP Russell Broadbent announcing he’ll have another go at the age of 74.

Picture
Russ stands his ground
Feb 1, 2025 - You wouldn’t pick Russ Williams for a typical greenie but he’s ready to defend his patch of bush.

Picture
​A long journey at the gathering place
Feb 4, 2025 - Over three days, hundreds of local people joined renowned artist Maree Clarke in creating an important artwork for Berninneit.

Picture
​Signs of life
Feb 3, 2025 - Four weeks after the Gurdies fire, Dr Sera Blair began documenting the survival and return of wildlife to the fire zone.

Picture
​Local boost for cancer patients
Jan 31, 2025 - Wonthaggi’s cancer centre provided over 1000 cancer treatments last year, sparing patients the emotional, physical and financial toll of travelling for treatment.

Community diary
What's on, where and when
Picture
​A feast for all the senses
Jan 30, 2025 - Sixteen inspiring food gardens open their gates for the fourth annual Bass Coast Edible Gardens Weekend.

Picture
Pillage and plunder in Warn Marin Western Port
Feb 2, 2025 - Industrialisation of the bay began 30 years before permanent white settlement, writes Christine Grayden. 

Picture
Kilcunda Coal
Feb 2, 2025 - Linda Cuttriss had always wondered about that mullock heap. It wasn’t until she was held up by roadworks that she stopped to find out more.  

Picture
​A bump in the road
Feb 1, 2025 - Obstacles make the journey even sweeter. By Etsuko Yasunaga

Picture
Close encounters
Feb 2, 2025 – When Julie Paterson first heard about Wonthaggi’s emus she suspected it was a tall tale.

Picture
​Please come again, but not for a while
Feb 4, 2025 - The visitors have gone at last and peace descends.  By Catherine Watson 

Picture
​The koel, part II
Feb 3, 2025 - Remember the eastern koel with the infuriating mating call? Well it clearly worked because koel babies are popping up everywhere. 

Picture
Big plans for this little shed
Jan 31, 2025 - The Cowes Jetty Goods Shed has worn many hats over the years. It now sits vacant, awaiting its next transformation.

Picture
Cape boundary capped
Dec 17, 2024 - The Cape Paterson community is celebrating tonight after winning a decade-long battle against a massive expansion of their coastal village.

Picture
‘This is an emergency’
“LIKE the residents in a valley watching a bushfire approaching …” Cr Tim O’Brien presses for urgent action at Inverloch and Silverleaves beaches. 
Picture
​Leave our trees alone!
Dec 12, 2024 - A classic David & Goliath story … residents of a quiet bushland enclave versus a multinational giant. By Jan Grimes

Picture
Parking not required
Dec 12, 2024 - Councillors consider parking offset scheme to slug developers up to $12,000 a parking spot.

Picture
​Walking Screw Creek Trail
Dec 9, 2024 – It was destined to be cleared for housing, but after a massive community effort it's now a wildlife refuge and Bass Coast’s newest walking trail. Linda Cuttriss reports.  

Picture
​For sale in San Remo
Dec 9, 2024 - Someone should slap a heritage listing on that old fibro cement shack, writes Althea Thomas

Picture
Time and space
Dec 9, 2024 - There aren’t many good things that came out of Covid, but Annalisa Christiansen’s beautiful landscape paintings are some of them. Liane Arno reports.

Community diary
What's on, where and when
Picture
​Sun, surf … and a dash of history
Dec 13, 2024 - Wonthaggi Historical Society’s mini history talks have become an unlikely highlight of summer

Picture
​The inspiration of birds
Dec 9, 2024 - “Every fledgling is like gold …” Bass Coast’s chief hoodie Stephen Johnson explains what keeps him going.

Picture
​Our summer of art
Dec 9, 2024 - Phillip Island’s pop-up exhibitions are evolving in unexpected and delightful ways. Curator Warren Nichols explains.

Picture
​The greatest gift
Dec 11, 2024 - Wondering what to give this Christmas? How about the gift of time? Christine Grayden explains. 

Picture
​Calling the shots
Dec 12, 2024 - Don’t be surprised if a bunch of people stop you in the street and ask if they can take your photo.

Picture
​Sounds like trouble
Dec 12, 2024 - Catherine Watson goes hunting for Australia’s most annoying bird.

Picture
A cook’s journal
Dec 13, 2024 - Liane Arno attempts to recreate a famous local dish – Malcolm Bain’s liquorice ice cream. Plus a cheat’s guide to Bombe Alaska.