NEWS DESK
All aboard: Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor David Gill, left, and Cr Julie Moirris were among the passengers out for a twilight cruise on Western Port to mark World Wetlands Day. Pictures: Supplied
Twilight cruise toast to World Wetlands Day CRUISING while eating canapes and drinking holding while spotting waders was all part of a twilight cruise on Western Port last Friday to “celebrate” the following day’s World Wetlands Day (Saturday 2 February). The 90 or so paying passengers aboard the Kasey Lee were also kept mindful of the efforts by the Save Westernport group to stop power company AGL processing imported natural gas at Crib Point and plans by successive state governments for a container port at Hastings. World Wetlands Day marks the
signing of the International Wetlands Treaty in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971. Western Port was listed under the treaty in 1981. The treaty recognises wetlands as being of international importance if they hold up to 20,000 waterbirds (such as ducks, swans and herons) and up to 10,000 migratory waterbirds (including curlews and sandpipers). “Western Port easily meets these criteria and also hosts more than one per cent of the migratory population of six wader species, including eastern curlews, common greenshanks and
red-necked stint, which is another criterion for being added to the list of Ramsar wetlands,” Save Westernport organiser Chris Chandler said. “The mudflats of Western Port are a summer home to thousands of black swans, ducks, herons and ibis, as well as 30 species of migratory waders which breed in Siberia.” As passengers filled their wine glasses, the cruise sailed from Stony Point north past the Crib Point jetty, where AGL plans to berth a more than 300-metre-long floating gas processing vessel.
“The twilight tour then past the Esso and BlueScope jetties, along the coastline that some politicians hope will one day be lined with the huge cranes of Australia’s biggest container port,” Mr Chandler said. “Canapes were served as we headed east to Barrallier Island, off the northwest corner of French Island. Barrallier is an important high tide roost for up to 3000 migratory waders.” The Kasey Lee headed south along the west coast of French Island, to Tortoise Head. “Those on board remarked at the
remoteness of the mangrove-lined French Island coast, with no buildings in sight for most of the coast, and a real wilderness feel about it,” Mr Chandler said. “From Tortoise Head, we headed west again into the setting sun, towards HMAS Cerberus, admiring the sunset and the first flights of short-tailed shearwaters, or mutton birds, returning to their nesting burrows on French Island from their feeding grounds in Bass Strait.” Save Westernport is planning another cruise in March. Details: savewesternport.org Keith Platt
IN THE VALLEY AND CAMERON ROBBINS
Rosie Weiss - In My Garden X 2007 (detail), ink and pencil on paper. Courtesy of the artist.
I N
T H E
V A L L E Y
MPRG exhibition presented as part of CLIMARTE’s ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2019 festival
This exhibition highlights the fragility of the Mornington Peninsula’s natural environment. Features artists Rosie Weiss, Jean Langley, Merryn Lloyd and Siri Hayes.
2 MARCH – 5 MAY 2019 ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2019 is a socially-engaged festival of climate change related arts and ideas featuring curated exhibitions and theatre works alongside a series of keynote lectures, events and public forums featuring local and international guests.
Jean Langley, Untitled n.d., oil on board, Courtesy of the artist’s estate
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Southern Peninsula News 6 March 2019
mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au adults $4 concession $2
‘IN the valley’ is an exhibition that highlights the beauty and fragility of our natural environment. Observing and documenting the changing landscape of significant areas of the Mornington Peninsula, artists Rosie Weiss, Jean Langley, Merryn Lloyd, Christine Lloyd, Michael Favaloro and Siri Hayes reveal their personal connections to the landscape and the strong links to place that exists across generations. The ‘In the valley’ exhibition coincides with the Mornington Peninsula Shire moving towards zero net carbon emissions across all its operations by 2021 and supporting long-term climate change resilience across the community. The exhibition is presented as part of ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2019, a socially-engaged festival of climate changerelated arts and ideas featuring curated exhibitions and theatre works alongside a series of keynote lectures, events and public forums featuring local and international guests. For more information: www. artclimatechange.org Artist Cameron Robbins’ work ‘Solar
Loggerheads’ is a large-scale drawing instrument that brings together conflicting forces of creation and destruction. Locked in a continuous spin cycle, two opposing kinetic armatures draw and erase across the same flat surface. Powered by solar energy, the drawing mechanism creates animated marks in a circular motion while the rotation of the eraser is activated by mains electricity. On Thursday 21 March MPRG is hosting a panel conversation with artist Siri Hayes and environmental advocates Rob Hayes and Rohan Cuming about the convservation issues surrounding Western Port. An open studio day is being held at the Police Point artist in residence cottage on Saturday 4 May. See Cameron Robbins’ iconic wind drawing machines, attend a sea sculpture workshop with Amy Yang, the Shire’s Waste & Litter Education Officer, and find out more about edible weeds and plants native to the Mornington Peninsula from a local expert. Visit mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au to find out more about exhibitions and events. Siri Hayes - Geomorphic Listening 201, chromogenic print. Courtesy of the artist