May 13, 2022
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SIG N U P N O W!
(Ash Bolt)
Stories that inspire hope When Clare Reilly was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2016, she had trouble finding inspiring stories about people who had learned to thrive with their illness. So she decided to start a podcast and tell them herself. Over the last 18 months, Clare has used MS Understood to share the stories of people who lived with multiple sclerosis and done amazing things in life in spite of it, as well as medical professionals supporting people with MS. “I was in a headspace at the time where I wanted to hear stories of people with MS who were active and running marathons, who were working as lawyers or teachers – those real life stories of people living with MS. “But I found it really hard to find those stories … so I decided I’d reach out to a few people and tell the stories I wanted to hear.” Having recorded more than 70 episodes over Zoom from her study, Clare is hoping to see the podcast continue to grow. “There’s still a lot more stories to tell,” she said. CLARE REILLY
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Geelong’s bowser pain By Ash Bolt Geelong motorists are spending more on petrol each week than residents of most of the country’s major population centres, a new report reveals. Australia’s peak motoring body the Australian Automobile Association’s (AAA) latest Transport Affordability Index reveals the average weekly fuel cost grew by 38 per cent between March, 2021, and March, 2022. The data showed Geelong motorists paid an average of $110.69 in fuel costs per week over the first three months of 2022. That figure was a significant increase over the $80.03 average
weekly fuel costs in the same period in 2021. It was also the second highest average weekly cost across any of the larger population centres across the country tracked by the AAA report. Only Bunbury, in south-west Western Australia, was higher – at $116.31 per week – while Melbourne was almost $20 per week cheaper at $92.07. AAA managing director Michael Bradley said the data reflected the global price shocks flowing from the war in Ukraine. “Rising fuel prices continue to be a significant contributor to cost of living pressures across both regional and metropolitan Australia,” he said. In late March the federal government
Our family have been proudly conducting funerals in Geelong for four generations. We are honoured to still be serving the Geelong community as a family owned and operated business.
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announced it would halve the fuel excise – from 44.2 cents per litre to 22.1 – to combat rising fuel costs, which had seen fuel prices rise over $2 per litre. While the announcement led to an initial drop in petrol prices, the Australian Institute of Petroleum’s latest weekly petrol prices report showed fuel costs were again beginning to rise. Last week prices rose for the third week in a row, at an average of 1.4 cents per litre across the country, to reach an average cost 179.6 cents per litre. That rise was sharper in Geelong, where unleaded petrol rose by 4.7 cents to per litre to reach an average of 175.1 cents per litre. The AAA data also showed Geelong was the third
most expensive regional centre for transport. Taking into account the average car loan repayments, fuel costs, registration, servicing and tyres, insurance, tolls, public transport and roadside assistance, the index found transport cost Geelong residents an average of $347.70 per week between January and March. The figure was lower than all capital cities, as well as Bunbury and Alice Springs. It was also a $9.58 decrease on the previous quarter, largely due to a decrease in the average car loan repayment. The data showed fuel costs made up almost 32 per cent of Geelong households’ weekly transport costs, while car repayments were 43 per cent.