⏱️ This edition of the West Vic Brolga newsletter is a five-minute read.
👋🏻 Hello Brolga readers, Darcie with you today. Despite the storms, I ventured to the coast on the weekend and the clouds cleared long enough for a pretty great view on the Great Ocean Road.
Now, the headlines ✍ Today, we’re checking out:
👩 The upgrade coming to two sculptures in the centre of Lorne;
👕 The Ballarat youth fighting against fast fashion;
🐮 Farmers expressing concern over dairy profits;
🏡 A Ballarat home-buyer using government schemes to build;
🔵 Federal MP Catherine King’s thoughts on Helen Haines;
🅰 And last but certainly not least, West Vic’s very own Wolf Creek villain.
Quick hits: Zara selected the best places to capitalise on the warmer weather and pick fresh treats 🥭
Across the patch 🗞️
They’ve watched over the corner of Mountjoy Parade and Otway Street for almost three decades, but Lorne’s much-photographed “Two Fat Ladies” sculptures - Cora and Lynn - have deteriorated beyond repair and are set to be replaced with replicas.
What’s going on: The famous sculpture has been the focus of a new assessment and overview published by the Lorne Historical Society this month. The report noted prolonged UV exposure had caused chalking and cracking of the fibreglass surface, along with deterioration of the underlying materials.
The damage is creating structural failure and exposing the internal steel framework to rust and fatigue.
Construction, transport and installation of the new sculptures is expected to cost $80,000, with an estimated completion date of March 31 next year, dependent on funding.
Fifteen-year-old Mishelle Adeyemi has been sewing since grade two. Now, the teen spends her days scanning the op shops of Ballarat for goodies she can alter to make unique to her style.
“I have one orange-black sheath dress that was two sizes too big for me, I had no idea what I was doing at the time, so I grabbed my seam ripper, cut the sides off and restitched them and got a new black zipper to go with it,” she told the Brolga. “It's my favourite dress to wear to celebrations.”
On Saturday, (October 24), Adeyemi is teaching other young people in Ballarat to do the same.
What’s going on: Upcycle October Day will be held at the Ballarat Library and is a free, youth-led event for people aged 12 to 25. It’s run by the City of Ballarat’s Youth Events Team, and Adeyemi is one of its volunteers.
Participants will take part in hands-on workshops including basic sewing, clothing alterations, tote bag making, 3D-printed button design and custom T-shirt transfers. A community clothing swap will run alongside them.
Attendees are encouraged to bring clean clothes they no longer wear, and second-hand pieces will be available for those who have nothing to swap.
Taking on fast fashion: Adeyemi shops for second hand clothes frequently and has developed an eye for a good buy. She wants to challenge the idea that clothes need to be expensive to be appealing.
Dairy farmer Jamie Vogels had a good winter that filled his dams at Scotts Creek. Then a dry spell came over early spring. “Now we’re looking at a really poor harvest on farm,” he said.
It’s a downward turn for a farm still climbing out of drought, even as a new report shows south west Victoria’s dairy profits rebounding.
The numbers: The Dairy Farm Monitor Project’s 2025-26 Victorian annual report, released this month, found average earnings for South West farmers surveyed rose to $3.31 per kilogram of milk solids, up from $1.26 the year before.
Debt still looms: But Vogels said higher profitability “doesn’t wipe out the financial impact of the previous two years yet”.
The report found average liabilities rose, driven by short-term borrowing for cash flow and long-term debt for land purchases.
From the Central Highlands 🗞️
House prices have fallen across Australia for the first time in 15 years, yet a local home-buyer in Ballarat is building into that market using a government scheme.
What happened: The Federal Member for Ballarat, Catherine King, hosted a press conference on Friday morning, speaking from the newly-purchased Winter Valley land of Miriam.
Miriam appeared alongside King to discuss the government schemes aimed at new and first home buyers.
The market: A report from Domain, released in September, found house prices have fallen across each capital city for the first time in 15 years - and second time on record.
The report cited pressures from cost-of-living, higher interest rates and changes to housing investment tax policy as issues weighing on buyers.
Negative equity has been raised as well.
What is that? Negative equity is what happens when the amount a buyer still owes is greater than a property’s current market value.
Member for Ballarat Catherine King says the attack on fellow parliamentarian Helen Haines has been “horrific” and shocking, but that MPs have been saying it was a matter of “when, not if” an incident like it would occur.
What happened? On October 19, the Independent Member for Indi - Helen Haines - was struck by a car outside her electorate office. Police have arrested a 43-year-old man following the incident, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a deliberate attack.
Haines was rushed to hospital in critical condition, and has since had both legs amputated.
Chris Olver has spent almost a decade utilising an unexpected talent - looking and sounding exactly like Wolf Creek’s classic villain, Mick Taylor.
Thanks for reading today’s newsletter folks! As always, please get in touch with any thoughts, comments, feedback or news tips you have for us. Just reply to this email 💌
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Cheers,
Darcie