NEWS DESK
Dad, daughter, 31, say hello for the first time Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au SHEY Osborne “still doesn’t have words” to describe her emotions after searching for, and finally meeting, her father Michael Thorne for the first time on Sunday 25 February. The joys of that day at a Sorrento cafe continued into the next week she was introduced to all her new found aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews. It has been a long but fruitful search for the 31-year-old hairdresser who began looking for her “lost” dad 11 years ago after being told about him by her mother. Mr Thorne had had a relationship with Ms Osborne’s mother in Sorrento all those years ago, but he moved away without knowing his daughter existed. “I first began thinking about him at 19, but started looking when I was 21,” Ms Osborne said. “I went through the old White Pages trying to find his name,” as the social media we know today was in its infancy. She managed to track down her dad’s cousin, Robert, who lives in Seaford, thinking he might be her father. He wasn’t, but he did agree to call Michael with the aim of getting
the pair together. “It was the longest week of my life waiting for him to call,” Ms Osborne, a hairdresser at Nirvana Boutique Hair Salon, in St Pauls Road, said. “Now we have spoken every single day – and mum is happy, too. “The whole thing’s been good for them.” The former partners spoke for five hours on the phone and, according to Mr Thorne, “covered all bases”. “I met my mother-in-law, too, for the first time and I think she’s super,” he said. Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad helped the pair meet. Mr Thorne has been involved with the squad since building a 2.7-metre radio-controlled model of its Jet Ranger helicopter which was displayed at their 50th anniversary in November. “We were pleased to assist and delivered a very excited Michael to The Baths jetty in one of our rescue boats, where he met Shey for the first time,” squad president Eileen Murray said. Mr Thorne, of Lalor, said he was “over the moon” with the chain of events. “I thought I might have had a child but didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl or its name,” he said. “There are so many ways this could
At long last: Michael Thorne and daughter Shey Osborne meet for the first time at The Baths jetty, Sorrento. Picture: Supplied
have gone and I have to thank Robert for the way he handled all this. We hadn’t spoken for a while and it took him a week to get my number. He said: ‘I’ve got something to tell you. Your daughter just rang me’. “He was able to read the signs and
he could hear it in her voice. He didn’t know I had a daughter but he managed to connect the dots and arranged for me to provide my phone number to my long-lost daughter.” Life has come full circle for the reunited father and daughter.
“The whole thing has been amazing,” Ms Osborne said. “Hopefully it will encourage other loved ones to reconnect.” One thing’s for certain, as Mr Thorne said: “There’s no way Shey is ever going to lose her dad again.”
Ferry ‘link’ in Sydney tourism trip Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au CONSULTANTS have drawn up an $80.3 million plan for a Stony Point to Phillip Island ferry service. The business case prepared for the state government and Mornington Peninsula and Bass Coast councils predicts the ferry would inject an extra $93.3m into the two municipalities over 30 years. The business case also envisages 278 jobs being created “for the first year of operation”. The shire’s economic development
and tourism manager Tania Treasure sees the car ferry as “a strategic contribution to the current tourism offering” that would “provide the missing link for a world class touring route linking the Great Ocean Road, Mornington Peninsula, Phillip Island and Gippsland through to Sydney”. In a report to the shire’s 27 February meeting Ms Treasure outlined a draft business case “developed based on community feedback and technical investigations”. The ferry used in developing the case would be able to carry up to 300 passengers, 30 vehicles and two bus-
es or heavy vehicles and depart Stony Point five times a day (which could increase to seven if required). The business case recommends building ferry terminals at Stony and Cowes on Phillip Island (west of Mussel Rocks) as being the most favourable to the business operator. There would be no terminal on French Island, although the ferry would make a stop there. “The project is consistent with the shire’s 2016-2019 economic development strategy and the Mornington Peninsula Regional Tourism Board’s 2014 destination management plan,”
Mornington Peninsula mayor Cr Bryan Payne said. “We hope residents will embrace this opportunity to make decisions and discuss the priorities for the future of the peninsula.” The draft business case now on public exhibition has been prepared by a consortium led by Earth Check and AECOM with $25,000 each being contributed by Bass Coast and Mornington Peninsula councils and $200,000 from the state government “to reinvigorate the Stony Point to Phillip Island Car Ferry projecî. The draft business case will be pre-
sented at the shire’s 24 April meeting for councillors to consider endorsing it for delivery to the state government for further evaluation. The draft business case can be viewed at mornpen.vic.gov.au/ haveyoursay or hard copies can be seen at any of the shire offices, customer service centres and visitor information centres. Comments must be lodged by 5pm 6 April. A drop-in session to discuss the ferry project will be held 2pm-8pm Tuesday 20 March at Crib Point Community Hall, 7 Park Road, Crib Point.
Southern Peninsula News
13 March 2018
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