NEWS DESK Man of letters GUEST speaker at the June meeting of the Mornington Peninsula Family History Society Carol Rosenhain will discuss the life and work of James Malcolm Lean, MBE, who she wrote about in The Man Who Held the Nation’s Grief. The book tells the story of the man who had the unenviable task of writing letters of condolence to the parents of Australian soldiers killed in WWI. Formed almost 40 years ago, in 1979, the society has compiled an extensive library and resource centre in the Frankston South Recreation Centre, 55 Towerhill Road, Frankston. New members are able to attend a free beginners’ class. Other classes cover various topics to do with family history, including a DNA class. Resources include books, journals, microfiche and microfilm, plus computers with access to Ancestry, Findmypast and the British newspaper archive. President Lynne Emblin said the society’s computers held local, interstate and overseas records. The local history index gave researchers access library records relating to early settlers in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula area. History books published by members include Naming Frankston Streets - The People and Their Stories, Echoes From The Front - Frankston's Avenue of Honour, Langwarrin Settlers and Soldiers and 100 Years In Skye 1850-1950. The library opens at 11.30am Saturdays for research with the a guest speaker at 1.30pm on the first Saturday in February, April, June, August, October and December. Other opening times are 10.30am2.30pm Tuesday and Thursday, and 2-5pm Sundays. Yearly membership is $45 single, $70 family, or $10 a day.
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Frankston Times 21 May 2018
Electorate change objections mount Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire council has lodged objections to boundary changes to the Dunkley electorate that would see Mornington and the northern part of Baxter move into the Flinders electorate. Shire mayor Cr Bryan Payne wrote to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 4 May to voice concerns about proposed electorate boundary changes to both Dunkley and Flinders. “In particular, we are concerned about the separation of Mount Eliza from the neighbouring township of Mornington,” Cr Payne stated in a letter to the AEC. “Mount Eliza benefits from being part of the same federal electorate as the township of Mornington, which is a major activity centre for Mount Eliza residents”. The Times reported last week that federal Dunkley Liberal MP Chris Crewther urged community groups and individuals to object to the boundary changes (“MP against electorate changes”, The Times 14/5/18). ABC elections analyst Antony Green has calculated Dunkley, won with a 1.4 per cent slim majority by Mr Crewther at the 2016 federal election, would be winnable for Labor with a margin of 1.3 per cent based on votes cast in 2016. Mr Green initially estimated a 0.9 per cent margin for Labor before revising the possible margin to 1.3 per cent. The Age reported Ukraine’s am-
Trading places: Flinders MP Greg Hunt, left, may gain Mount Eliza and part of Baxter from neighbouring Dunkley MP Chris Crewther’s, right, electorate. Picture: Gary Sissons
bassador to Australia, Dr Mykola Kulinich, submitted an objection to the Dunkley boundary change stating: “Ukraine-Australian relations can only be strengthened further by Mornington remaining within the Dunkley electorate”. “I believe that the Ukrainian community in Dunkley will be disadvantaged by separating Mornington from
the electorate, where many reside,” Dr Kulinich wrote in an email to the AEC. “One example is the ever-growing Blue Bay Cheese that has businesses in both Mornington and Frankston. This is a successful Ukrainian-Australian owned business. “They and their many mainly Ukrainian-Australian employees
should not have to deal with two members of parliament, particularly given they deal with many immigration and employment related matters on a regular basis.” The seat of Flinders has been held by Liberal MP and federal Health Minister Greg Hunt since 2001 and was retained with an 11.8 per cent majority in 2016. If the boundary changes are implemented Carrum Downs, Sandhurst and Skye in Dunkley’s north will switch to the Isaacs electorate held by federal Labor MP Mark Dreyfus. The AEC received 32 objections to the planned Dunkley boundary changes and 35 against changes to the Flinders electorate footprint. Some objectors made submissions against changes to both electorates as part of their sole objection. Mornington & District Historical Society, the University of Third Age in Mornington, Mornington Little Athletics Centre, Beleura Junior Football Club, Baxter Residents and Traders Progress Action Committee (BRATPAC), Blue Bay Cheese, SAI Home and Community Care and the Frankston Dolphins Football Netball Club were organisations that made objections to the AEC about electorate changes. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Seaford Hotel last Tuesday evening (15 May) for a “Politics in the Pub” event in the marginal seat of Dunkley.