Reported by Rhys Williams
- There were 28 members in attendance, and one visitor. Neville John introduced his guest, Anastasia Ah Tong
- President Michelle advised members of the recent death of former Barry Tassall
- Several members made comments led by Frank O’Brien. Frank noted that Barry:
- Was a Charter member of what was originally the Port Phillip Club
- Was a senior banker and stockbroker, including in New York City
- Should be remembered as an active Rotarian who worked in many areas, and a fitting memory was as the ‘gentleman of the club’
- Maintained excellent meeting and event attendance when this was a formal component of being a member
- Was married with three children and was affected by dementia in his later years which led to care
- Yanpu and Doug also made positive reflective comments on the excellent fellowship and support that Barry provided
MEMBERS BIRTHDAYS AND MILESTONES (January and February 2024)
Members’ Birthdays
January 2024
Lady PASTIDIO
Rohan WILLIAMS
Stella AVRAMOPOULOS
Cecily NEIL
Sonia DHILLON
Ben LEE
Kevin LOVE
Steve TURNER
Alison CHAN
February 2024
Neville John
David LAURIE
Darren PARK
Steve HALLIS
Partner Birthdays
January 2024
Kuei Akol, partner of Ariik ARIIK
Pippa Thornton, partner of Roger THORNTON
Sally MOON, partner of David JONES
Suzette Taylor, partner of Neville TAYLOR
February 2024
Athina Driver, partner of Allan DRIVER
Charity Chen, partner of Luke ALLEN
Heather Rolls, partner of Russell ROLLS
Neville John, partner of Rebecca JOHN
Jasmeet Sekhon, partner of Sonia DHILLON
Maria Fragomeni, partner of Ignacio INCHAUSTI
Wedding Anniversaries
January 2024
Allan DRIVER and Athina Driver together 42 years
Frank O'BRIEN and Pauline O'Brien together 54 years
Luke ALLEN and Charity Chen together 6 years
Roy GARRETT and Annie (deceased July 2019) 56 years
John ILOTT and Raylee ILOTT together 49 years
February 2024
Doug ROBERTSON, and Pamela Robertson, together 55 years
Herb GREENWOOD, and Leonie Greenwood, together 57 years
Bruce HERON, and Nasima Heron, together 41 years
Neville TAYLOR, and Suzette Taylor, together 32 years
Michelle CRAWFORD, and Alan Crawford, together 12 years
Daniel LIM, and Angela Ma, together 4 years
Russell ROLLS, and Heather Rolls, together 56 years
Roger THORNTON, and Pippa Thornton, together 53 years
Rotary membership anniversaries
January 2024
Annet BROUWER - REITH, 7 years
Peter DURAS AM, 51 years
Paul FOWLER, 14 years
David JONES, 33 years
Ignacio INCHAUSTI, 4 years
Bruce McBAIN, 31 years
February 2024
Grace DAVIDSON, 1 year
Roy GARRETT, 18 years
Jo GARRETTY, 1 year
Allan DRIVER, 28 years
GUEST SPEAKER: KEVIN LOVE - WESTERNPORT VALUES AND CHALLENGES
(Note that the presentation was Kevin’s personal views and not the position of any organisation that he is involved with)
Bio:
- Kevin is a long-term member and has been involved with natural resource management since the late 1980s and ia an acknowledged national leader in natural resource management and coastal policy. He currently operates a consultancy specialising in project management, policy advice and governance. He is the current Chair of the Phillip Island Nature Parks Board
- For over 20 years Kevin worked in the Victorian Departments of Agriculture and Premier and Cabinet, including in regional Victoria, as a Deputy Secretary and as an advisor to Premiers Kennett and Bracks on natural resources and infrastructure matters
Summary of presentation:
- Kevin provided a powerpoint presentation which is available on request
- Kevin acknowledged the Bunurong people of the Western Port area, noting that the Bunorong were custodians of the area when it was a river valley and long before the sea rose and created the bay it is today. He said: ‘War – mar -in, the area we know as Western Port, is the traditional lands of the Bunurong people. They are the custodians of the cultural heritage of the lands and waters and I acknowledge their ongoing connection’
- Western Port has an internationally significant wetland, is next to a nationally significant port and a growing part of Melbourne.
History
- 80,000 to 20,000 years ago sea levels were 100m lower than today and the bay was dry land. It began to fill about 10,000 years ago and reached its current level about 6,000 years ago
- The Yallock-Bulluck and other clans of the Bunurong occupied these lands. Significant dispossession had occurred by 1839.
- George Bass visited in 1798 and attempts at British settlement were made in the 1820’s, long before Melbourne was settled
- Western Port is so named because it was the westernmost port Bass had mapped on his journey from Sydney
- Draining of the Koo – Wee Rup swamp in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s led to large inflows of sediment and loss of seagrass. This has caused major environmental disruption
- A prison was established on French Island in 1916 and industrial development of Crib Point and Hastings / Long Island Point occurred in the 1960’s and 70’s. Premier Bolte called the area the ‘Ruhr of the south’. Key developments include: John Lysaght and Bluescope Steel at Hastings; an Esso gas plant; it as also earmarked for a large wind farm which was recently rejected by the Commonwealth Minister, under its powers under the Ramsar Convention
- The Ramsar Convention (named after the city in Iran where it was signed) was enacted in 1982 to protect the habitat for birds, especially migratory birds
- Other agreements are in force including the East Asian Australian Flyway which protects birds which make an annual migratory trip between Western Port and Siberia
- By the late 1970’s the importance of understanding and better managing the environment was recognised. Bird counting has been done continuously since 1973 and the area was designated an internationally significant wetland in the early 1980’s.
How Western Port bay works
- There are two entrances to the bay to the west and east of Phillip Island. The western entrance is much wider so the tidal movement is predominately in a clockwise direction around French Island. There is a 2m tidal range so a lot of water comes into and out of the bay each day
- The turnover of water is the major reason why the water is so clean, despite the poor quality of some of the estuaries feeding into the bay. It also leads to a lot of resuspension of sediment that has come into the bay. The sediment, which commenced with the draining of the Koo-Wee Rup swamp, settles around the eastern end and remains the key challenge in overall management of bay
- The bay sits in a catchment of 370,000 ha. It has a total area of 68,000 ha, including 27,000 ha of sand and mudflats, half of which supports seagrass meadows
- The mudflats, sea grass, mangrove and salt marsh habitats support a range of species but are particularly important for birds and fish, and fish breeding
Pressures
- Climate change puts pressure on the system mainly through sea level rise, storm surges and change in fish stock
- Sediments smother seagrass and produces additional turbidity; the sediment amount is now stabilising with tree planting in the hills, erosion work, new mangrove plantings
- Toxicants can impact on sea life – eg insecticides from urban and rural sources; and PFAS
- Diffuse sources are the key problem in the absence of major infrastructure development
- There have been number of infrastructure projects proposed with various levels of impact – ranging in scale up to 20 times previous developments
- Seagrass loss in 60s and 70s is slowly being arrested with new growth
- Counting birds annually since 1973- the red necked stint and eastern curlew are the key migratory species- numbers are down slated because of industrial devt in China; the indigenous dominant bird is the black swan
- Summary of pressures: climate change impacts, agricultural run off (for example from large increase in aspapagus production), rural and urban pollution (for ex termite treatment chemical run off), sediment (from agricultural sources is the dominant cause, the erosion run off), sea level rise impacts seagrass areas, industrial and urban development and growth keeps progressively coming and needs effective management.