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proudly serving Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay
22 FEBRUARY, 2023
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All revved up From hot rods to muscle cars and choppers, Altona’s Apex Park will soon be the place to see a wide variety of vintage, veteran and classic cars and motorbikes on display, as part of the 11th annual Hobsons Bay Men’s Shed Classic Car and Bike Show and Family Fun Day event. With the gates open from 9am to 3pm on Sunday, February 26, more than 100 cars are expected to be on display during the day. Hosted by the Hobsons Bay Men’s Shed Motoring and Engineering Group, entrants can submit their vehicles for judging for a $15 fee, with all vehicles eligible if they are older than 25 years and trophies to be awarded on the day. Activities on the day include will include family entertainment, live music a food van and a sausage sizzle. Group secretary Lou Artz said all members of the community are welcome. “This is the 11th anniversary of us running this event and all the proceeds from it go to local charities,” he said. “It’s a bit of a family day as well.” The group’s monthly Torque meeting will then be held at the Men’s Shed at 280 Queen Street, Altona”, on Sunday, March 5.
The Hobsons Bay Men’s Shed Classic Car and Bike Show and Family Fun Day is on Sunday. (Damjan Janevski) 319497_06
Threat to asylum support By Liam McNally For more than 20 years, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has been providing vital support to people seeking asylum in Australia, but now financial pressures are putting the service at risk. The ASRC is quickly running out of savings, with the executive team warning its only has a month and a half before it will be forced to close its doors. ASRC chief executive and founder Kon Karapanagiotidis said the centre needs the community’s help to keep its doors open after supporting those seeking asylum. “Despite sticking to our budgets, cost of living and inflationary pressures means public donations are down 45 per cent since
July 2022,” he said. “Despite a number of interventions, such as reducing our workforce by 10 per cent in August last year, our savings are running out and we have just six weeks to save the ASRC from stopping to deliver critical services.” ASRC refugee leadership and advocacy director Ogy Simic understands first-hand the importance of services like the ASRC. At four years old, Mr Simic was forced to leave his home in Sarajevo when civil war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He left with his mother and siblings while his father, a journalist, remained and was killed during the conflict. After years of relocations, Mr Simic’s family was granted refugee visas and settled in
Adelaide when he was 11 years old. He described the “culture shock” of arriving in a distant country, where he didn’t speak the language. “It was organisations like the ASRC that supported us. We had somebody meet us at the airport who provided support for us to be able to enrol in school, to be able to set up a bank account, set up a Medicare, all of those things are really important,” he said. “We have a huge number of people who are in need of organisations like the ASRC in order to get by. “For so many people the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is their doctor, is their pharmacy, is their supermarket, and that’s so unique for an organisation to be like that.” Donations help the ASRC keep its doors
open and provide food, housing, healthcare, legal support and other essential services to the 7000 people who rely on its services every day. Of the people seeking asylum in Australia, 97 per cent have no access to social support systems, including income, housing as well as educational assistance and legal aid. Mr Karapanagiotidis said the ASRC still has a lot of work left to do. “There are thousands and thousands of people seeking asylum who have been denied their basic rights by governments that seek to dehumanise and harm. “We are asking the community to help save a movement of hope, welcome and compassion.” Details: donate.asrc.org.au/donatetoday
Have a great night out! Your Community. Your Club. 135 Stephen St. Yarraville. BOOK NOW (03) 9689 6033 or yarravilleclub.com.au
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