Baw Baw’s sharps policy is unfair

Recently I had discussions with Baw Baw Shire regarding distribution and emptying of sharps containers.

As a long term diabetic taking four insulin injections per day, I am charged $6.50 to have replacement containers supplied by the shire.

I have appealed without success to the shire to eliminate this charge because it is an impost on and discrimination against diabetics.

Baw Baw Shire is the only municipality in Gippsland charging diabetics for this cost Bass Coast, Cardinia, Latrobe, South Gippsland and Wellington do not charge at all, saying it is a service to the community.

Why can’t Baw Baw give this same level of service?

I have written to the mayor Joe Gauci (who did not have the courtesy to reply), also telephoned individual councillors; then wrote to the mayor and councillors asking for my concerns to be heard in council.

When consulting with shire officers about this discriminatory charge I was told to make a submission to the 2018 budget meeting but later was told by a shire officer that this submission was made to the wrong forum. Why was I incorrectly informed and misled? Because of this the matter was prevented from going before council, then an executive decision was made for these charges to remain and my request was ignored.

I believe there has been an increase in the charge for small containers - why?

The shire continually spend millions of dollars on streetscaping and renovations at the West Gippsland Arts Centre with $700,000 blowouts, as well as an offices which do not even provide council chambers - a planning oversight, I am told.

Yet it seems they cannot waste even a small amount of ratepayers’ money to provide sharps containers free to diabetics.

Those who are on illegal drugs - choosing this lifestyle - are given consideration, even safe injecting rooms provided in Melbourne and needle disposal units in public toilets.

I am disgusted that Baw Baw Shire shows a complete disregard for the concerns of those who they should serve. Shirley Stone, Drouin Noojee not be logged because of the damage it was likely to cause the local economy.

I’ve seen that the Federal Court granted an injunction to stop the logging until February 2019 because the threatened Greater Glider was found in the coupe earmarked for clearfelling. Obviously it is not sustainable to be logging right next to towns given the ramifications.

Then this week I’ve read about VicForests’ “experiment” in East Gippsland to see how different logging methods impact the Greater Glider.

I’m appalled that such an experiment is taking place more than two years after the marsupial was listed as vulnerable; and that it’s been done by a company that has a vested interest in cutting down the creature’s habitat for profit.

Now I’ve learnt that VicForests has failed in its attempt to achieve even the lowest internationally recognised standard for certification as a supplier of sustainably sourced timber.

So hats off to Bunnings for being a good corporate citizen and putting VicForests on notice that it must reduce its impact on Victoria’s native forests if it wants Bunnings to sell its timber.

It seems that it falls to corporations to set ethical standards because clearly our state government isn’t doing so.

Daniel Andrews is failing the environment and in so doing is failing future generations. He should be preserving our beautiful forests, not condoning VicForests’ destruction of them and all that they contain.

Sally Willshire, Warragul

On behalf of local stroke survivors and the Stroke Foundation, I would like to thank members of the community who took on Run Melbourne on July 29 and raised funds continue the fight against stroke.

A total of 64 participants took part, including 93 year old Ken Lyons. Many of the members of Team #Fightstroke, including Team BGL, Walk for Nany Cita and Castiel Shepp walked in honour of loved ones who had been impacted by stroke.

I sincerely thank those who took part and the families, friends, colleagues and community members who backed their efforts. I am excited to announce that with your support, we collectively clocked up almost 1000 kilometres and raised almost $18,000.

These donations will enable Stroke Foundation to continue to partner with the community to prevent, treat and beat stroke.

Sadly, there will be more than 14,000 strokes in Victoria this year alone. There is one stroke in Australia every nine minutes.

Stroke attacks the brain – the human control centre, changing lives in an instant. The impact of a stroke is felt well beyond the individual, with families lives also turned upside down by this devastating disease.

Most of Team #fightstroke know this story only too well after either suffering a stroke themselves or witnessing the impact of stroke on someone they care about.

But stroke’s impact doesn’t need to be this great. Around 80 per cent of strokes are preventable, and with the right treatment at the right time many people can recover from stroke.

Looking after our own health is the first step. Physical inactivity is now the second highest risk factor for stroke behind high blood pressure, so it’s time to follow the lead of Team #Fightstroke and get moving.

Find out how you can reduce your stroke risk and support the fight against stroke at www.strokefoundation.org.au Sharon McGowan, Stroke Foundation Chief Executive Officer

I would like to thank the Victorian community for their generous contributions to The Smith Family’s Winter Appeal.

We are very pleased to have raised over $4.5 million nationally to help thousands of disadvantaged children across Australia with vital support for their education.

For the one in seven young Australians living below the poverty line, keeping up at school can be extremely challenging. Family struggles at home can have a flow-on effect to a child’s learning. In our daily work, we hear heartbreaking stories of children missing school because they’re embarrassed about not being able to read or pretending to lose their homework because they hadn’t understood what was happening in class.

The donations we’ve received will help us reach almost 11,000 children in need through The Smith Family’s out-of-school learning programs – such as student2student, which helps younger children improve their reading skills by pairing them with older ‘reading buddies’, as well as our after-school Learning Clubs and the iTrack online mentoring program.

We are seeing great outcomes for the young people participating in our programs. For example, in 2017, 96 per cent of primary school students improved their reading ability through the student2student program, while 86 per cent of students agreed that going to a Learning Club helped them do better in class. Another 85 per cent of high school students said their iTrack mentor helped them feel more confident about their future job, career or study options.

All of these key programs rely not only on generous donations from the public but also volunteering support from the communities in which we operate. To everyone who has given their valuable time and dollars to support our work, we extend a huge thank you.

It is heart-warming to see people responding with great care to this large-scale issue of poverty in Australia, which is affecting so many of our young people. With this support, we can help more children in need break the cycle of disadvantage and create better futures for themselves.

Anton Leschen general manager