SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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Friends furious at creek state
Wade Noonan, Tony Dawson and Shannon Beckman are hoping Williamstown RSL will be resurrected. (Joe Mastroianni)
Push for RSL rebirth Williamstown RSL could become the first in Victoria to be resurrected after being dissolved, with a new generation of veterans stepping up to form a Friends of Williamstown RSL group. The sub-branch was dissolved after its club was last year forced to close due to a multi-million dollar debt. The club was subsequently placed in voluntary administration before its premises were sold to a childcare centre developer to recoup the $3.5 million debt. Shannon Beckman, a 36-year-old veteran from the Solomon Islands, East Timor and Afghanistan, is part of the friends group. “As known from the past … no one really wants to see anyone falling through the cracks
because of the veterans being unsure of where to get support or because the right type of support isn’t available to them to access,” he said. “Obviously, because of the way it all went down with the Williamstown RSL, the Victorian RSL have their genuine concerns, which is rightly so. “So they have steered us in to starting a friends of an RSL to show the Victoria sub-branch that we can fulfil the needs and requirements to then take that next step into re-establishing an RSL in Williamstown.” Williamstown MP Wade Noonan, who has been instrumental in helping veterans, said the establishment of the group was important. “The loss of the RSL has left a void that really hasn’t gone away for the Williamstown
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community,” he said. “The Williamstown community is a strong and fighting community and they really value their institutions.” Mr Noonan said next year would mark 100 years since the Red Cross Society gifted the land to the Williamstown veterans to establish the RSL back in 1919. “So there’d be a sense of romance, if you like, in relation to establishing a sub-branch 100 years on to mark that wonderful act of generosity,” he said Hobsons Bay Yacht Club, where the past two Anzac Day gunfire breakfasts have been held following the Williamstown RSL Club’s closure, will be the friends’ headquarters. Commodore Tony Dawson said the yacht club had offered its support to ensure the local RSL presence continued.
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By Goya Dmytryshchak
Residents fighting for the devastated Stony Creek are taking their campaign to Parliament. The waterway remains so heavily contaminated by the August 30 West Footscray fire that people and animals are still being warned to stay away from the creek and surrounding parkland. Members and supporters of Friends of Stony Creek and Friends of Cruickshank Park will don black on the Parliament steps from 8.30am Thursday to hold a ‘memorial’ to “remind the Victorian Government the creek is in crisis”. The rally comes after the groups wrote to Premier Daniel Andrews arguing that the environment and community in Melbourne’s inner-west has been severely compromised. “The run-off from the fire has destroyed all life in the creek and it could take 10 years to recover,” they wrote. “It will need longer than that and the prevention of further pollution events to ever return to a thriving ecosystem. This feels like ‘Groundhog Day’ for this community.” Star Weekly has reported more than 2000 dead fish were washed up in the wake of the fire. Residents living near the creek have continued to experience health problems, reporting headaches, blood noses, anxiety and other concerns. Melbourne Water has spent $600,000 so far on the clean-up, include pumping contaminated water and removing wildlife destroyed by the fire. The site of the fire has been handed over to the owner, who has been issued with EPA notices requiring they install security fences and keep run-off from entering stormwater drains. Police are continuing their investigation into the cause of the fire. Williamstown MP Wade Noonan is calling for the operator of the business to pay “the full cost of the environmental destruction” and face criminal sanctions if the fire was caused by the illegal storage and handling of highly flammable and toxic materials and liquids. A spokesman said the state government will ensure there’s enough funding to manage the clean-up to return Stony Creek to the state it was prior to the fire.
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