Regional tourism focus needed - former Governor-General THE cover for Sir Peter Cosgrove’s memoir You shouldn’t have joined.
Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au SIR Peter Cosgrove has urged holidaymakers to visit the Mornington Peninsula to help restart the regional tourism industry. The former Governor-General estimates that he attended more than 4000 events during his five years in the job. His life’s work took him all across the globe, but this year the overseas flights have come to a sudden stop. Sir Cosgrove says that Australians should take this as a chance to explore some of the best locations the country has to offer, once it is safe to do so. “For beautiful places like the Mornington Peninsula, this year has been a great worry,” he told The Times. “Australians are the greatest international travellers you’d hope to see, but now we can’t do that and spend money overseas. So I say to those travellers that where possible, spend that money at home in Australia. Be the tourist that goes to the Mornington Peninsula, spend your money there. “This is a message of exhortation to other Australians and those who have time and disposable income, it is time to help Australians.” Since retiring from the role of Governor-General last year, Sir Cosgrove has spent time working to help bushfire affected communities get back on their feet. This year he was asked by the Business Council to head up BizRebuild, an organisation which aims to assist bushfire affected businesses. The damage done to small businesses by the bushfires was only made worse when the COVID-19 pandemic
hit. Decades-old shops have been forced to shut their doors, and some will never reopen. Across Frankston, the Mornington Peninsula, and beyond, small businesses have been devastated. Despite the challenges ahead, Sir Cosgrove urged business owners to “refuse to give in”. “Businesses scale themselves on
both the local population and annual visitation, and that has gone down when their backs are already to the wall,” he said. “What I observe though, is that ingenious small businesses that refuse to give in will struggle through, with the help of the wider community.” Never one to sit still, Sir Cosgrove
has been keeping as busy as expected during the pandemic. This year he has penned his new book titled You shouldn’t have joined, his second memoir. The book will provide an inside look at his time as the GovernorGeneral. “I thought back when I wrote my first book that would be the end of my public life. Then out of blue I had all these corporate experiences and became Governor-General, so there was another book in it” he said. “My time as Governor-General is the meat and drink of the book. I speak about politics, politicians, the routines of the Governor-General, Kings and Queens and Presidents, the republic, and other essential challenges we will face in the future.” Sir Cosgrove will talk to Frankston library members about his memoir via Zoom at an event next month. The event will take place on Monday 9 November at 6pm. Bookings can be made at library.frankston.vic.gov.au or ourlibrary.mornpen.vic.gov.au
MP reported to IBAC by councillor A FRANKSTON councillor running for re-election says he has reported local MP Paul Edbrooke to IBAC. Cr Steve Toms told his Facebook followers in a lengthy post that he had reported Mr Edbrooke to the state’s peak anti-corruption body, alleging that he was “interfering with a local council election”. Cr Toms wrote that “Frankston’s State Labor MP Paul Edbrooke has tried to inappropriately interfere with our local council election by targeting and harassing me on social media multiple times, without telling the whole story.” “He’s done this because he’s afraid I’ll win. Me winning means one less party slave on our local council for Paul. A State MP interfering with a local council election and trying to engineer a particular outcome for his own Labor Party is completely inappropriate, and a corruption of our democratic process. As such, I’ve reported Paul’s actions to IBAC,” he said. Mr Edbrooke elected not to comment. There is no love lost between Cr Toms and the Labor Party. Cr Toms was formerly a member, but was booted from the party in December 2017. He had clashed publicly with Mr Edbrooke over works at Young Street (“Councillor forced out of Labor Party”, The Times, 11/12/17). Cr Toms’ four year stint on council has been littered with turmoil. He was suspended for four months late last year after a councillor conduct panel upheld a complaint that he had bullied a fellow councillor. Brodie Cowburn
Eight storey shopping expansion approved AN eight-storey extension to the Bayside Shopping Centre has been approved by the planning minister. Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke confirmed that the project had been given the green light last week. “The project is shovel ready and will assist in stimulating our economy with a capital expenditure of $240 million, and creating employment with 210 construction jobs and 1,470 ongoing jobs in our CBD. These are a priority in the current economic circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” he posted on his Facebook page. “The eight-storey development will deliver a high-quality urban design outcome and achieve a high sustainability rating. The project includes 14,037 square metres of office floorspace with 1,772 square metres of retail floorspace at ground level. The
project will enhance the public realm, particularly for pedestrians using Balmoral Walk, White Street Mall and Shannon Street Mall.” The project had been put before Frankston Council in August, although they deferred a vote on the proposal. The minister wrote to council in July to tell them he was considering preparation of a planning scheme amendment to directly enable the construction of the building. Councillors signalled their concern that the proposal would not have a sufficient amount of car parking (“Shopping centre expansion considered”, The Times, 17/8/20).
REDEVELOPMENT plans for the Bayside Shopping Centre. Picture: Supplied
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www.signaturecare.com.au Frankston Times
20 October 2020
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