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Haunted past revisited Battered to death by prisoners in 1857, Inspector-General John Price is said to be one of the ghosts haunting Williamstown. Lantern Ghost Tours is hosting guided tours of Williamstown and Altona as part of the National Trust’s Australian Heritage Festival. Company founder Jacqueline Travaglia said Price was killed when Williamstown had 6000 men on five floating prison hulks brought to shore to work on the old quarry. “Price still haunts Point Gellibrand. “People have seen the silhouette of a man wandering around the area late at night and heard unexplained wailing on full moons.” She said the former Williamstown morgue was “haunted by the ghost of a little girl that likes to hold visitors’ hands”. Then there’s Sarah Langhorne who died in 1871 but whose ghostly apparition has reportedly been seen in the window of Altona Homestead. Details and bookings: www. lanternghosttours.com LANTERN GHOST TOURS HOST ASH GREEN
Goya Dmytryshchak
Injecting room flagged By Goya Dmytryshchak Key Victorian crossbench MP Fiona Patten has called for a supervised injecting room in Footscray. Ms Patten, the Reason Party leader, will on Wednesday raise the issue at a drug policy symposium in New Zealand’s federal parliament. She has also called for centres in St Kilda and Dandenong, similar to those established in North Richmond. “The North Richmond medically supervised injecting room has been a huge success in the time it has been open,” she said.
“It has saved dozens of lives and wrapped … key health and social services around people that have helped them manage or break free from their addiction. “Over 20 years ago, a government report recommended there should be five such facilities across Melbourne including in areas such as Dandenong, Footscray and St Kilda to cater for the need, a need that still unfortunately exists today. “I applaud the Victorian government for announcing a second facility to be based in the CBD – but we need to go further than that. “The proposed sites would be smaller and more discreet than the controversial existing
injecting room in North Richmond, and could offer fixed pill testing as well.” Maribyrnong mayor Michael Clarke said there was no data, such as drug overdoses, to support an injecting room in Footscray. “Council, point-blank, does not have a resolved position on a safe injecting room,” he said. “We’ve not even received a proposal and I haven’t had the chance to even discuss this with councillors. “It’s not been brought up with me. “I’m a data-driven mayor, we’re a data-driven council, and quite simply there is no data to support a safe injecting room in Footscray.” Western Metropolitan Liberal upper house
MP Bernie Finn said: “I, just a few weeks ago, was down in North Richmond listening to locals … and their problems and let me tell you, the last thing that Footscray needs at the moment, or at any time, is what has happened to North Richmond, and to Victoria Street, in particular. “It would destroy it; everything that has been worked for over the past 20 or 30 years would be gone and it really, really is something that should be of grave concern.” Acting Premier James Merlino said the state government does not support a supervised injecting room beyond a second site at Queen Victoria Market.