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Vale Cr Malcolm Hole
WELLINGTON Shire and the Heyfield community has lost one of its most tenacious advocates, after councillor Malcolm Hole succumbed to illness on Saturday morning at the age of 76. Cr Hole’s family, the community of Heyfield and the timber industry were his passions. Always been a country boy, Cr Hole worked with a stock and station company for 12 years. He opened his own business in Heyfield in clothing, retiring after 32 years. Before working in local government, Cr Hole was a Water and Sewerage Commissioner for almost 17 years and was chair when four authorities were amalgamated. His foray into local politics began in 2000, when he stood for election to Wellington Shire Council. What followed was 21 years of fierce championing of and work for Heyfield and the wider shire. Cr Hole was first elected to council in 2000 and was re-elected in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2016. He was mayor in 2002 and 2006. After his most recent council re-election, his seventh consecutive, Cr Hole took some time to review his achievements. The former Wellington Shire mayor and deputy mayor was especially proud of his election to the board of the Municipal Association of Victoria and in particular the work he achieved while on the steering committee for the MAV Act for the Future of the review of the Municipal Association Act 1907. Knowing first-hand the importance of the
Cr Hole with three of with three of his grandchildren and lifeguard Tom McMillan at Heyfield Memorial Pool.
timber industry to the livelihood of the Heyfield community, Cr Hole worked hard to defend and work towards the sustainability of the industry, not just in Heyfield but other timber communities throughout Victoria. He was a founding member and served on the Timber Towns Victoria executive, including the role of state president for nine years. He was also the president of the National Timber Councils Association for 10 years. Cr Hole performed various roles on the Gippsland
Local Government Network, Rural Councils Victoria and the Local Government Emergency Management Committee. He was a life member of Apex and a former district governor, dedicating 17 years’ service to the community, and was involved with many boards and associations. Wellington Shire Council mayor Cr Garry Stephens said the loss of Cr Hole would be keenly felt throughout the region. “Cr Hole was a dedicated member of Wellington
Shire Council, working hard every day for his community,” he said. “I had never seen Cr Hole as proud as the day that Heyfield won Australia’s Strongest and Most Resilient Community award in 2017. “The only comparison you could make with Cr Hole’s beaming face that day, was when he spoke of his children and grandchildren. “Cr Hole will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him and everyone who he advocated for during his considerable career in local government.” National Timber Councils Association president Dale Harriman said Cr Hole’s advocacy for timber communities and industries led him to be involved with both Timber Towns Victoria and National Timber Councils Association, where he enjoyed several terms as president of both organisations. “It was during his leadership at Timber Towns Victoria, Malcolm led the formation of National Timber Councils Association, after a request from the Howard Government to establish a national network of councils involved in forestry and plantation, and became the inaugural president of the association,” he said. “Malcolm’s tireless work and knowledge has made [the association] the organisation that it is today.” Cr Harriman extended the association’s sympathies to Cr Hole’s family. Cr Hole and his wife Carmel, who died in 1997, had five adult children and 15 grandchildren. Recount of votes to replace Cr Hole, page 3.
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ground shooting is not feasible. Critics have also criticised Parks Victoria for claiming there was a “limited response” to earlier public calls to re-home trapped brumbies. Parks Victoria will allow approved landholders to take feral horses it has trapped, but says a submissions-of-interest program only received a small number of applications. Jill Pickering from the Australian Brumby Association said the association believed the application process failed because Parks Victoria had not implemented a user-friendly application process or a manageable horse pick-up system. “I don’t really think they (Parks Victoria) wanted Continued page 10
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The Australian Brumby Association says the brumby re-homing process has failed in the past because Parks Victoria had not implemented a user-friendly application process or a manageable horse pick-up system.
PUBLIC comment on Parks Victoria’s draft of the next action plan to tackle the feral horse problem and better protect the Alpine National Park will close in 10 days, on April 23. Parks Victoria says the latest draft action plan has been developed based on the scientific evidence, management experience and expert input from the previous 2018-2021 Feral Horse Strategic Action Plan, which received more than 1000 submissions through extensive public consultation in 2017. It is driven by “continued feral horse impacts on native alpine wildlife and habitats, extensive
habitat loss from the Black Summer bushfires, and the limited progress to-date of the current management methods”. But the issue of culling horses is proving difficult for the state government body, and is clouded by emotion and conflicting opinions. The inclusion of aerial and ground shooting in the plan is undoubtedly the most contentious, with many animal welfare advocates calling on Parks Victoria to “lift its game” on re-homing horses. While the “preferred” methods for managing feral horses under the draft Feral Horse Action Plan 2021 include trapping and re-homing,“tightly managed shooting” and the construction of exclusion fences, Parks Victoria wants to use aerial shooting where