Service to honour slain officer 6
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Wednesday November 20, 2019
A SERVICE to honour the memory of Constable Angela Taylor will be held at Mornington police station this week. A plaque dedicated to Constable Taylor will be mounted beside an Angela Taylor rosebush during the service, Wednesday 13 November. Constable Taylor’s family and friends, the Blue Ribbon Foundation, and local police and senior police officers will gather to celebrate Constable Taylor’s life and recognise her service to the community. Constable Taylor was the first policewoman in Australia to be murdered on duty when a car bomb was detonated in front of the Russell Street police headquarters on Easter Thursday, 27 March 1986. She suffered what would become fatal injuries and died 24 days later on 20 April 1986. She was only 21. Senior Sergeant Natalie Dollard said officers from Southern Metro Division 4 raised the funds for the plaque over the past year. “We wanted to formally recognise the Angela Taylor rosebush at the Mornington police station and ensure that its significance was understood,” Senior Sergeant Dollard said. “Constable Taylor’s memory lives on and has done at Mornington police station since 2002 when retired police veteran Sergeant Neil Fortune planted one of the original roses at the front of the station. “This Angela Taylor Rose continues to flourish all these years later at the base of the flagpole. “The rose is currently in full bloom and is ready for the ceremony next week.”
Column cut out: A column penned by Frankston councillor Glenn Aitken was omitted (inset) from the Frankston City News. Pic: Gary Sissons
Editorial.Challenge.2017
Contentious column published A COLUMN originally banned from Frankston Council’s ratepayer funded newsletter has been published in their November/December edition. Cr Glenn Aitken had a column criticising the code of conduct banned from the Frankston City News earlier in the year. A vote at a public council meeting in September confirmed that the column would be published. The column reads that “far too often, in all levels of government, elected members unforgivably lose touch with reality and adopt a snarling or highly superior attitude, ultimately failing the people they were elected by. This is precisely why, successive opinion polls have demonstrated politicians are held in low public esteem.” “I have seen appalling conduct at both open and closed meetings. It is
also fair to say, I have had the pleasure to see courage, tenacity and compassion,” Cr Aitken wrote. In addressing council’s code of conduct, Cr Aitken wrote that is can be a “toxic product” if put to “bad purpose.” “Whilst the intent is good and there are benefits about its purpose, misused, it can become, figuratively, a wild and fearful forest of shadows and growling creatures; a kind of jungle, infested with insidious vines, far-reaching tentacles, that to even be touched by are gravely injurious to one’s well being,” he wrote. “Put to bad purpose, the code of conduct is absolutely toxic. It sadly can be manipulated and is already, I think, a document in desperate need of review and reform.”
Stepping up to summer safety MORNINGTON Peninsula police and the water police are stepping up their campaign to make our bays safer and reduce the number of marine safety incidents this summer. Acting Sergeant Steve Drew said “local police attended an increased number of drownings or near drownings last summer with many involving visitors to the area who didn’t appear to have a full understanding or appreciation of how treacherous the water can be on our local back-beaches. “This is particularly so on days with off-shore northerly winds and two-plus-metre swells, when the ocean looks completely flat between sets of waves. “Even on days with small swells,
larger ‘double-up’ waves are very common. They are good for the local surfers, but very dangerous for anyone walking along the edge of the rocks.” Acting Sergeant Drew warns parents not to drop their guard on beaches. “Please ensure you’re actively supervising your children in any water at all times,” he said. “Don’t expect anyone else to watch over your kids, and don’t get distracted using your mobile phones or chatting to others.” Leading Senior Constable Steve Carter, from the Water Police, advises boat owners that those aged 10 and under on boats “must be wearing their lifejackets at all times”. “Water police will be working hard
this summer to ensure all boat users are complying with all safety requirements,” he said. “I strongly recommend boaters to familiarise themselves with the Victorian Recreational Boating Safety Handbook, which is free and also online.”
Summer safety: Leading Senior Constable Stephen Carter and Acting Sergeant Steve Drew. Picture: Gary Sissons
Vehicles face airbag registration ban SPONSORED CONTENT HE Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is urgently appealing to all car owners to check if their vehicle has a faulty Takata airbag. Failure to do so may result in more owners having their vehicle deregistered. FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said state and territory government traffic authorities were considering the deregistration of more vehicles fitted with faulty Alpha and critical airbags where owners had ignored repeated requests to have their vehicle airbags replaced. Car owners can avoid the potential deregistration of these vehicles by having the faulty airbags, which could result in the death or serious injury of vehicle drivers and passengers, replaced as soon as possible.
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"Nobody wants to see car owners inconvenienced by having their vehicles deregistered, but it seems it is the only way we can convince some unresponsive owners to allow us to fix their cars," Mr Weber said. "This is a last resort action to ensure we track down owners of vehicles with Alpha and critical airbags who have ignored multiple appeals from manufacturers and government agencies." The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently announced that nearly 20,000 additional vehicles already under recall for faulty Takata airbags have now been reclassified by manufacturers as "critical." The critical classification places the vehicles in a high-risk category alongside Alpha-equipped vehicles. "The ACCC has warned vehicles fitted
with airbags listed as critical should not be driven and the FCAI strongly agrees with that warning," Mr Weber said. In Australia, one death and one serious injury associated with faulty Takata airbags have been recorded. At September 30, 2019 Australian car manufacturers have rectified faulty Takata airbags in more than 2.46 million vehicles, but there were 373,886 vehicles still subject to the national recall. These vehicles are located throughout Australia, particularly in outer capital-city suburbs and in regional and rural areas. To check if your vehicle is affected go to www.ismyairbagsafe.com.au and enter your vehicle's registration and state or territory, or text TAKATA to 0487 AIRBAG (247 224). ■ This is sponsored content for Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
Vehicles still subject to the national recall are located throughout Australia. Frankston Times
12 November 2019
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