NEWS DESK
Shire takes permanent holiday break Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has now officially “transitioned” out of running school holiday programs. Licences held by the shire with the Department of Education and Training will be transferred to commercial operator Team Holiday. Team Holiday will run programs under the licences from the April’s Easter school holidays at Hastings and Mornington while continuing existing programs at Mt Eliza and Mt Martha. Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Bryan Payne described Team Holiday as “an established and experienced service provider”. Team Holiday’s website lists three programs in the just-ended school holidays, ranging from $70 a day at Mt Eliza North Primary to $75 a day at
Toorak College, Mt Eliza and $75.50 a day at Osborne Primary, Mt Martha. The website also details government rebates for eligible families: “Team Holiday is a fully approved service for all CCB [Child Care Benefit] and CCR [Child Care Rebate]. This means that if you work or study and are an Australian resident, you will only end up paying 50 per cent of your fees.” Cr Payne said the move to Team Holiday “will ensure families are provided with a school holiday program service more aligned with their needs”. “Team Holiday is owned, run and delivered by teachers, and they are holiday program specialists with excellent industry standards. Team holiday will bring a focus on fun as well as safety and service excellence for all families,” he said. “The selection of Team Holiday supports our commitment to ensure the
continuation of appropriate school holiday programs that remain accessible and affordable for our local families.” Team Holiday will run Easter holiday programs at Bentons Square, Mornington and Hastings Community Hub. Holiday programs will no longer be held at Peninsula Community Theatre, Mornington, which Cr Payne said was “a temporary solution”. Team Holiday would continue programs at the more “fit-for-purpose” Toorak College, Mt Eliza North and Osborne primary schools. The shire’ move away from running school holiday programs comes at the same time that it is looking at “all options” for the delivery of its aged and disability services. Cr Payne last month said the “market test” for “potential operating models” now underway is in response to fed-
eral government changes to the sector (“Shire bows out of holiday fun” The News 9/1/18). Cr Payne gave assurances that the shire’s inquiries would have “absolutely no effect whatsoever on the current services provided to any of our 5000 clients, our staff, or our volunteers”. The shire’s aged care sector operates with 280 employees and 160 volunteers. Rather than giving a figure on how many individual jobs would be lost by the shire opting out of the school holiday program, Cr Payne was quoted in a news release as saying the move would affect a “predominantly casual workforce, an equivalent of around four FTE [full time employees]”. “For the majority of the staff the school holiday program provides secondary employment,” Cr Payne said. As “valued members of the team”
these casuals will be given “support and training opportunities”. The shire’s acting director communities Jenny Van Riel later said that abandoning the school holiday programs would affect 33 casual employees. Ms Riel reiterated that “for the majority of staff, being either teachers or currently training to be teachers, this program is not their main employment”. She said 290 families registered to use the school holiday program had used “for at least one day in 2017”, while “only around 10 per cent of the families utilise each of the four holiday programs across the year”. Details of Team Holidays’ school holiday programs are bat teamholiday. com.au Families can call the shire for more information on 5950 1099.
Sea dramas a test for rescuers Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au THE futile search for a swimmer missing off Portsea back beach on Sunday last week was an emotionally and physically draining exercise for Volunteer Marine Rescue crews from Mornington and Hastings. They were unable to find missing Narre Warren engineering student Khalil Nabizadah, 23, whose body was washed up at Portsea on Wednesday afternoon. Police are preparing a report for the coroner. Two other men were rescued: a 22-year-old Cranbourne West man was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and said to be in a stable condition, while a 23-year-old Cranbourne man did not require medical treatment. The rescue attempt was part of a challenging 72 hours for VMR crews in which they responded to 10 call-outs, cruised more than 200 nautical miles (360 kilometres), using 1500 litres of fuel costing around $2000. Former VMR president Tim Warner said of the Sunday 6pm alert: “Swimmers missing off London Bridge is one call we do not like to receive”. Responding to the emergency, the Mornington vessel Darbyshire III battled “pretty bad conditions [going] out through The Rip”, he said. “Our Hastings boat Alwyn Tamo came around from Western Port in
heavy seas to join in the search, along with the Westpac helicopter. “[The other] swimmers made it to shore but, sadly, the other was not located. After a few hours searching, conditions deteriorated, and both vessels headed for home.” Alwyn Tamo skipper Neil Cooper said: “Coming around West Head [Flinders], we encountered huge waves that made it a very uncomfortable trip. The same for Mornington’s vessel coming back through The Rip with a strong ebbing tide.” In other jobs, the VMR crews assisted a boat with a blown motor at Seal Rocks, and a boat with air-contamination in the fuel tank. They towed a vessel off the mud at Corinella at 9 o’clock one night and, as soon as it was clear, received a call to assist a steel yacht with a blown motor five nautical miles off Woolamai. They reached Cowes at 4am next day. Other broken-down vessels were towed from: Carrum to Altona, Mt Martha to Sorrento, and Mud Island to Martha Cove. And still the work continued: On Monday 8 February the Darbyshire III spent nine-and-a-half hours assisting the Air Ambulance re-accredit its winch operators – and all of that in 72 hours. VMR is always looking for new members or support. Details: vmrmornington.com.au for details.
On call: VMR crew members making their way back to base. Picture: Supplied
Southern Peninsula News
13 February 2018
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