Zara’s latest stories 🗞️

🦞 “Why are we doing this?” Another offshore gas approval adding pressure on West Vic cray industry

Victorian fishers are questioning why governments are approving new offshore gas projects at all.

What’s going on: The Victorian and federal governments last week approved a production licence for gas company Amplitude Energy to develop the Annie gas field, a 55-metre deep offshore project in the Otway Basin.

• The project is expected to supply gas to the east coast market from 2028 using existing infrastructure linked to the Casino-Henry-Netherby gas field and the Athena gas plant at Port Campbell.

Immediate impact: Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-Op deputy chair Markus Nolle spent more than a decade cray fishing before retiring in 2016 - he also had a stint as a director on the Seafood Industry Victoria board and president of the Victorian Rock Lobster Association.

He said the immediate concern is not the drilling itself - it is the seismic blasting used to search for gas reserves before extraction begins.

What’s seismic blasting? Seismic surveying involves firing intense sound signals into the ocean using air guns to map underground geology and identify oil and gas deposits.

On top of seismic blasting, Nolle said many fishers also worried about the longer-term effects of fossil fuel extraction on ocean ecosystems.

• “It’s not just the obvious impacts either, carbon dioxide is absorbed [in the water] which causes ocean acidification, and suddenly there’s a crisis with crustaceans,” Nolle said.

• Ocean acidification happens when carbon dioxide is absorbed by seawater, triggering chemical reactions that make the ocean more acidic.

• “We don’t know where that tipping point sits, but at some point it’s going to tip and have an impact on [crayfish] stocks.”

The background: The approval comes months after the federal government opened five new offshore Otway Basin areas for future gas exploration consultation.

• Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said in a statement the approval “unlocks more affordable, locally produced gas for Victorians helping to secure supply for the industries that still rely on gas”.

Full story below.

🦆Throw down your guns: Rare ducks force closure of shooting season at Tower Hill

Sightings of 275 rare and protected ducks have forced a full closure of duck shooting at Tower Hill, reigniting calls for the historic reserve to be permanently off-limits to hunters.

What happened: Tower Hill was fully closed to duck shooters last Friday, after a BirdLife Australia specialist documented the protected birds in a section of the reserve opened to shooters.

• WIth the season starting on March 18, only the western lake of the site had previously been closed to shooters.

• The minimum required number of protected duck sightings to trigger a review of keeping the reserve open is 108.

Satisfied residents: Local Carli Reeve told the Brolga it was “pretty awesome that [the shooting] was able to be shut down.” 

• “[There] definitely [had been] some shooters, a couple of locals heard shots over the Easter long weekend and a couple of other times, but not too many other than that,” she said 

• “There’s footage of the 275 [ducks], well over the minimum amount to shut hunting down. It’s fantastic they were able to capture that. Sometimes the birds can be there but no one’s there to witness it.”

The background: In March, local residents opposed Tower Hill partially opening for duck shooting, out of fears rare ducks such as the Blue-winged Shoveler or the Blue-billed Duck could be shot by mistake.

Full story below.

Darcie’s latest stories 🗞️

🚙 “You never know when you’re gonna need a rescue”: West Vic locals still need convincing despite state’s $1 billion road repair commitment

It’s a bumpy ride down the Western Freeway and throughout the regions surrounding Ballarat. 

Newington resident Christian Dymock knows this all too well, with several encounters with neglected roads he says have cost him thousands. 

🗣️: “My wife and I were driving home from Melbourne at about 1am, down Cuthberts Road. It was during that flooding, they called it something like ‘once in a century’. It opened up the potholes left, right and centre.” 

“There was a pothole you couldn’t see because it was filled with rain, reflecting back up. The car made an almighty bang. It shocked my wife awake.”

Dymock had driven through a pothole that ended up being 20 centimetres deep, damaging two of his tyres and causing concern about the suspension of the vehicle itself.  

“I don’t drive a small car. You have to wonder what would happen if someone with a Nissan Micra or something had driven through the spot.” 

Dymock was told by council that until the total cost of the damage crept closer to $1500, he would be completely liable. 

“If that happens once, twice, three times, you’re looking at the cost of a secondhand car.”  

🌏 The bigger picture: Last week, the Victorian Government announced its budget for 2026 - 2027. It included a $1 billion commitment for roads, with 70 percent of this allocated to the regions. 

Minister for Roads Ros Spence declared it a “record investment” that would see approximately 200,000 potholes fixed, as well as updates to bridges, signage and arterial roads.  

And repair is needed. So bad is the damage in some parts of the state that certain stretches have picked up nicknames. A portion of the Western Highway, between Ballarat and Stawell, has been labelled “the death stretch” with more than 170 crashes between 2015 and 2024. It’s just one of many lengths of road in the region in desperate need of repair. 

Not so sure: After years of pothole-ridden infrastructure caused by increasingly severe extreme weather, locals have been lukewarm on the announcement. 

Full story below.

🐑 Eastern Barred Bandicoots have returned from near-extinction on a Mortlake sheep farm

Last century, Eastern Barred Bandicoots were considered extinct. Today, 1700 live on one sheep farm in Mortlake. 

How it happened: Tiverton Farm is the largest predator-free sanctuary in Victoria, utilising fencing from the adjacent Dundonnell Wind Farm to protect furry locals like the Eastern Barred Bandicoot and the Eastern Quoll. 

• The property is run by the Odonata Conservation project, partnering with landholders across the country to restore “high biodiversity landscapes”.

From nothing to something: Ecologist Damian Jones patrols the property every week. The population of bandicoots sits close to 1700 now, but in the 20th century the small marsupial was thought to be extinct. 

🗣️: “A small colony was found living in Hamilton and were taken into, well, protective custody, if you will”, said Jones.

When the bandicoots were rediscovered, it was a group of 40 animals. Only 19 of them were viable for breeding. It means a lot of the information being learned about their behaviour is new. 

🗣️ “A camera captured an event where 40 or 50 bandicoots were frolicking in a circle. We call it a bandicoot tornado. Nobody knows what they’re doing. Given they were considered extinct, there’s little study on their behaviour. Everything you find out about them is quite surprising.” Jones told the Brolga. 

⚒️ Clocked in: Jones said they call the bandicoots “ecosystem engineers” because of what their habits do to the environment.

🗣️: “They dig lots of little holes in the ground, five centimetres deep and two centimetres wide - the same shape as their nose”, said Jones. “Native flora has evolved alongside this. Native plant seeds end up in these little holes and it's perfect for them to germinate.” 

In a given year, the bandicoots turn over three to four tonnes of soil. The farm grazes its sheep on natural grasses to promote this process. 

🐑 Lay of the land: Tiverton farm stretches across 1,000 hectares and blends regenerative farming with conservation. Producing Merino wool, the added conservation work helps to also promote soil health, reduce emissions and encourage the growth of native plants. 

The deal with conservation: Australia has a remarkably unique animal population, with 87 percent of our mammals found nowhere else on the planet. They have also suffered a rate of extinction considered world-leading. Tiverton’s bandicoots have faced dire obstacles trying to survive. 

• Predation by introduced species like the fox, as well as habitat loss and increased drought, led to their previous presumed extinction. Now, they exist only in three reintroduced populations within contained sanctuaries. 

Full story below.

How a former tourism executive turned a building with links to the Eureka Stockade into Black Hill's new community heart

Jimmy Neal, owner and operator of Common Garage, cafe and hub for local food trucks in Black Hill, has the gift of the gab and is able to extract a life story of anyone that passes through the business in only a few minutes or less. It’s a skill he’s using to create an authentic community space. 

🗣️:  “All people want is to sit around and enjoy a drink together and have genuine connection”, he told the Brolga, in between serving customers. 

“We need more places like that.” 

The journey so far: Originally from Melbourne, Neal spent his career in corporate marketing working alongside events like F1 and the Australia Open, but said he never felt fulfilled.

Eventually, after a detour to Tasmania and a pandemic, he found his way to Ballarat and the property that now holds Common Garage. 

The set up: Common Garage is set up in an old car yard, with the façade of a former mechanic’s workshop still standing. Festoon lights and an eclectic selection of chairs and crates fill the space, which operates as a sort of open yard for other hospitality businesses. 

Each day, Neal runs Alice the Coffee Trailer, and the space welcomes many pop-up food trucks on a rotating basis. 

🗣️: “Creativity is just connecting the dots of what you want to do and then figuring out the parameters”, he told the Brolga. 

Full story below.

On Your Feed 📱

If you missed it, I spoke about Warrnambool City Council’s major funding gap to maintain its buildings and roads. Watch below for more:

@westvicbrolga

Walsh said the report should give residents a clearer understanding of the financial balancing act facing council as it weighs up infrastr... See more