What better way to further aspirations of a political career than to spend a few days in Canberra at the National Schools Constitutional Convention?
Joel Blanch, a year 12 Sacred Heart College student with ambitious plans for the future, was one of just 12 Victorian students who were selected to attend this year’s convention.
But it wasn’t luck that got him there.
Joel was part of a group students from his politics class who organised a local schools constitutional convention hosted by his college.
“We invited about 70 people and we explored the topic of energy policy in Australia,” Joel explained.
“Then we had the state convention at Parliament House in Melbourne and the topic was about compulsory voting and lowering the voting age.
“At the end we held a referendum and voted to lower the voting age to 16, and keep compulsory voting – but make it voluntary for people under 18.”
Joel and a handful of the participants from the state convention went on to the national convention last month in Canberra. The convention seeks to promote understanding and informed discussion among young Australians about the Australian Constitution and system of government.
The focus for this year’s event was the relevance of Section 44 of the Constitution (specifically dual citizenship as it relates to Federal Members of Parliament).
After hearing a variety of guest speakers and discussing the topic in workshop sessions, the event concluded with a soapbox session where all groups got to share the outcome of their discussions.
Joel said he was initially a little put off by the topic because the Constitution could be “a bit dry”, but he ended up finding it really interesting.
“Section 44 includes dual citizenship but also other grounds for disqualification including treason and if you’ve been to jail, bankruptcy and pecuniary interest etc.,” he said.
“We voted on proposed changes to the wording but most of us agreed that we shouldn’t have dual citizens (as Members of Parliament).
“Those changes will be sent to the Senate as a recommendation.”
Joel is interested in pursuing a career in politics.
“If you look at my reasoning purely based on logic, I would say that politics is exciting, and interaction with the community is exciting, and then there’s the more emotional side of it like making a difference,” he said.
“I want to be part off making a difference and changing the public’s perception of politicians, and personally it appeals to me to get younger people into politics.
“I’m a very stubborn person and that is something we need to see more of in politics – less of people bending to the influence of their party and losing their integrity.
“If you’re elected on views you have presented publicly you should be required to stay true to them,” he added.
Joel gets a taste of political life
Art treasure hunt
With a passion for the arts and their local community a group of professional artists and curators living in Kyneton have come together to form the arts collective Kyneton Contemporary Inc.
The collective is keen to share knowledge and expertise to bring excellent art and ideas to the region to
facilitate opportunities for artists and engage creative experiences for the local community and its visitors.
From April 14 – 22 they will present the inaugural Kyneton Contemporary Art Triennial.
Themed ‘Force Fields’, KCAT2018 is a celebration of contemporary art and the energies that resonate in place
and community.
“It is essentially an art treasure hunt with new work by 10 exciting contemporary Australian artists from right across the country hidden in unusual sites across the town of Kyneton, both indoor and outdoor,” co-director Clare Needham explains.
“Artists have spent time over the last 18 months developing their work in direct connection to the sites, people, geography, history and energy of Kyneton presenting fascinating new perspectives on the regional town.”
Some artworks can be seen for free, but most require visitors to have a KCAT pass which includes a map for navigating between works. A KCAT pass also provides entry to a jam-packed program of events complementing or as an extension of the artworks on display including participatory jogging events as well as dance and choreographed live art performances.
The whole event will be launched on Friday April 13 at 5.30pm with an official ceremony followed by an energetic celebration of local creative talent at the KCAT2018 Launch Party from 8pm at the Bluestone Theatre, Kyneton.
Music by central Vic musicians Artificial Limb and The Rev Al will be accompanied by visuals by Sean Hogan, Marc Eiden and Vaughan-based KCAT2018 artist Jessie Stanley who for the last 12 months has been artist-in-residence with the Friends of Kyneton Botanic Gardens.
Also playing at the Launch Party are award-winning Kyneton locals Zoë Barry and Jed Palmer. A powerhouse of combined talent; Jed and Zoë have composed music together for 20 years. Originally in bands together, they have since collaborated on composition commissions for film, television, ensembles and public installations. Their performances together are rare and magical; a fluid semi-improvised musical ‘conversation’ located at the intersection of their separate sonic worlds.
The KCAT2018 Launch Party on Friday April 13 is not to be missed and tickets are limited.
A KCAT party pack including a KCAT pass and Launch Party ticket can be purchased at
www.kynetoncontemporay.com
Get it right
Karel and Liz Turang, Kyneton
Re. The Old Kyneton Primary School site.
Kyneton and its people need to get this right, it has a unique opportunity to showcase how it can integrate ideas so that community aspirations, history, aesthetic needs are met or reflected in the final product.
Cool head, warm heart and creative imagination are necessary ingredients required to ensure that such an asset becomes not only something we all can be proud of but also a jewel in the crown of the Macedon Ranges.
A creation that future generations will inherit with gratitude, embrace with passion and say Ahh…
Bringing the quartets to life
Regarded by many critics as the great last work of acclaimed 20th century poet T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets is about to be brought to life in Castlemaine in a very literal sense this Sunday.
Four Quartets is a set of four poems which Eliot published over a six-year period and this Sunday the work will be transformed into live performance featuring physical movement, voice and cello by the Wander-Light Eurythmy Company.
“It takes you into language like nothing else, not even Shakespeare,” says Wander-Light’s Castlemaine-based eurythmist Mark Neill.
“He works with the sounds in a way even Shakespeare hasn’t achieved I believe.”
Neill studied with European eurythmy master Else Klink in Germany receiving a diploma to teach and perform the art of eurythmy which employs dynamic movement and gesture as an embodiment of the spoken word.
The local eurythmist has toured Australia many times, performing classics such as Hamlet, King Lear and Richard III, as well as many fairytales and legends.
Delivering the vocal aspect of this Sunday’s performance, Melbourne’s Dennis Coard has many decades’ experience as a professional actor in theatre, film and television.
And accomplished musician Gotthard Killian, who spends a lot of time in both Switzerland and Melbourne, is cellist for this Sunday’s performance which also has tour dates in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Armidale and Europe.
“For me the music matters,” Killian says.
Considered by many to represent a masterpiece of the Western canon, the Four Quartets are four interlinked meditations with the common theme being humanity’s relationship with time, the universe and the divine.
“It creates space within the language. It creates a virtual inner space,” says the cellist when asked what it is he most enjoys about performing Eliot’s Four Quartets.
Sunday’s ticketed performance takes place at 7pm at Castlemaine’s Anglican Hall on the corner of Forest and Kennedy Streets with tickets available at the Railway Station Cafe – or at the door.
Callum a real champion
For the last three Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday appeals, young Callum Judd has been watching progress from his hospital bed.
This year the brave seven-year-old joined his family to actually be involved in the collection with the volunteers from the Woodend CFA.
Callum suffers from neuroblastoma, which is the most common solid tumour of childhood. It is almost exclusively a childhood cancer occurring most commonly between the ages of 0-5 years.
Callum’s diagnosis is terminal, and he may only have a short time ahead. This year he was able to join his mother Claire, uncle Malcolm (who is 4th lieutenant with Woodend CFA), aunt Katie and cousins Aaron and Riley.
Officer in Charge at Woodend Mike Dornau said Callum was presented with a Woodend CFA cap and made an honorary member of the brigade.
“The amazing Callum jumped on the Woodend pumper and hopped on and off the truck with his mates, to collect a fantastic total of more than $610,” Mike said.
“The only problem was that he asked uncle Mal to sound the siren a little too often.
“The brilliant effort was cut short when the pumper was called to a smoke alarm activated at Woodend Aged Care.”
Mike said that by that stage, Callum was pretty exhausted and needed a break anyway.
“Callum, we were so honoured and inspired to have you share the day with us and wish you all the best in the time you have left,” Mike said.
“Mate, you are always welcome at the Woodend CFA, and we are sure the Good Friday Appeal will really appreciate your efforts in the collection this year.”
Local efforts impress
Young people today can come under a lot of criticism, but the youth of the region made an invaluable and fantastic contribution to this year’s record-breaking Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal collection.
More than $18M was raised this year across the state, with local contributions impressive across the region.
In the Kyneton district more than $31,500 was raised by volunteer collectors, local clubs, fire brigades and local businesses.
The Castlemaine Fire Brigade and community volunteers collected $15,778.
With help of 57 cubs and scouts, Gisborne firefighters and junior brigade members took to the streets to raise $13,676.
Family and friends and Woodend CFA volunteers made up the bulk of the more than 40 collectors in Woodend to raise a near record $13,135. Appeal coordinators from all districts congratulated all of their volunteers on an incredible contribution.
Barrier placement questioned
The placement of wire rope safety barriers along the Calder Freeway has once again been questioned following a spectacular crash at Taradale on Saturday afternoon.
A driver and passenger – two men from Bendigo – miraculously escaped injury when their twin-cab ute and trailer glanced the centre wire rope barriers before bouncing sideways across the traffic into the kerbside barrier, which they say acted like a trip and flipped the vehicle over the top and down a gully.
SES Castlemaine controller Paul Fitzpatrick said the driver lost control in wet conditions in a 110km/h zone at about 1pm on Saturday.
A local CFA captain on the scene also claimed the centre barriers had been installed too close to the roadway, stating specifications required them to be a minimum of four metres from the carriageway.
Elphinstone captain Andrew Chapman said the distance between barriers and carriageway was about two metres along this stretch of road.
“In days gone by when we had an accident like that one the Calder we had plenty of room to move traffic around the scene and keep it flowing, whereas Saturday we probably had a two-kilometre line of traffic held up because we simply haven’t got the room to move now that we’ve got those barriers in there,” Mr Chapman said. “VicRoads say that ideally cars would hit the barrier on an angle between five and 25 degrees and no more than 100 kilometres an hour, but the speed limit along there is 110km/h and you cannot have a car hit it between five and 25 degrees every time there’s an accident.
“I believe that it’s a only a matter of time before someone is injured or killed because of the way the barriers are currently installed.”
Mr Chapman said everyone he talked to agreed the barriers should have been installed in a single row along the centre of the median, rather than in two rows along either side.
“VicRoads’ shows data that the wire rope barriers save lives, and they probably do, but they’re also going to cost lives,” he said.
“The VicRoads data is that they prevent run-off-road crashes and head-on crashes but the fact is that in a decade there hasn’t been one head-on smash on the new Calder Freeway.”
VicRoads’ Safe System Road Infrastructure Program director Bryan Sherritt said the centreline flexible safety barriers were designed to prevent vehicles from crossing onto the wrong side of the road and hitting oncoming traffic, or roadside trees and other hazards.
“There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to the rollout of flexible safety barriers, and that’s why we are continuing to work with CFA Regional Command, who unequivocally support the roll out of flexible safety barriers, to make sure that any issues raisedby local brigades are addressed,” Mr Sherritt said.
Unique partnership – Students launch youth mental health initiative
Chain Reaction – Your Choices Matter is the theme chosen for the award-winning Live4Life program in the Macedon Ranges for the next 12 months.
The unique youth mental health promotion strategy, a partnership between the shire council, local secondary schools and key community agencies, has been operating locally since 2010. In that time more than 6500 students and 800 parents and teachers have received mental health education and support.
“Council is very proud of the wonderful achievements of this program and the opportunity it provides for young people to come together in support of mental health awareness,” Cr Janet Pearce stated in officially launching the Live4Life initiative at Sacred Heart College in Kyneton last week.
SHC principal Craig Holmes initially extended a warm welcome to the large number of year eight students and others from participating schools, and Cr Pearce welcomed and thanked guests, sponsors and supporters of the event.
She said she was pleased to celebrate council’s commitment to young people in the area, and to launch the 2018 initiative.
Cr Pearce emphasised the importance of being there and supporting one another, with more than 4500 year eight students and more than 2000 older students having participated in Live4Life in the past nine years.
“This is not possible without partnerships,” Cr Pearce said, acknowledging the excellent cooperation
between the schools, Victoria Police, Macedon Ranges Health and Cobaw Community Health, service clubs and business sponsors and supporters.
Cr Pearce also commended the dedicated Live4Life Crew members who work so hard each year, and who organised the launch program interspersed with entertainment and inspiration.
Current Macedon Ranges Young Citizen of the Year, Laura Crozier (a year 11 student at Gisborne Secondary College) summarised how she had been enthused and guided by Live4Life, and had gained the confidence to help other young people.
Kyle Hayes, who had also benefited from Live4Life involvement, provided some tips on how young people could help one another through some difficult times.
The background to the Chain Reaction – Your Choices Matter theme was briefly outlined as well.
Live4Life has a busy time ahead, and will be involved in the inaugural Puka Up Cup activities at the Riddell versus Macedon football and netball matches at Riddell on Saturday.
School rescue plan
A new plan to secure the old Kyneton Primary School site for future community use has this week been proposed by Windarring Disability Services.
The community based organisation has already announced its plans to sell off its historic Hutton Street premises and now plans to make an offer to buy the school site from the state government.
Windarring chairperson Chinka Steel said the organisation aimed to provide services in “shared community spaces” while addressing participants’ individual needs.
“The primary school site potentially fulfils this criteria as it would be a shared community space, while having the capacity to ensure individual needs are addressed, in a safe and supported environment,” Mr Steel told the Express.
“Due to the central nature of the primary school site, it is accessible for participants to access services and is an excellent point from which to access other activities and transport in the community.
“Windarring’s vision for the KPS site is for a vibrant and inviting community space, where utilisation of the buildings are maximised and are representative of whole-of-community participation.
“Windarring would utilise the site in conjunction with other tenants.”
Mr Steel said the proposal presented an opportunity for small business owners to offer meaningful work opportunities through social enterprise for people living with disability, and mentor the development of individuals through their work contribution.
“Windarring will employ a site manager whose role will include; facility management, sales and marketing, business development, underpinned by sense of social responsibility and community engagement.
“This stand-alone role would be solely responsible for the management and income of the site, maintaining the buildings and grounds and also ensuring the available spaces within the site are fully utilised by tenants.
“Activities within the site are to be integrated, with shared access for whole of community. Other programs would be specific for Windarring participants.”
Mr Steel said the Board of Windarring was encouraged to enter into a long-term commitment of site use which would enable many of the Kyneton CRAFT group and Town Square Reference Group’s ambitions for broad community use of the site.
Windarring representatives are scheduled to meet with council and state government representatives this morning to discuss the proposal.
