Hubs must be ‘statewide’ W
e’ve spoken plenty of times about the madness of geographical ignorance when it comes to government understanding, governance, support and development of the Wimmera-Mallee.
There might be an element of paranoia about it all, but many of us have grown up feeling that because we are removed from Melbourne’s suburban swell and mass of humanity we often fall into the political ‘afterthought’ category. We only have to consider how many agencies in nonsense ‘Grampians’ regions try to manage issues in our part of the state from Ballarat offices. Sure we’ve seen state governments get on the front foot and venture into the Wimmera and southern Mallee to back a variety of growth projects, which is welcome. But just when we start to think the state is finally getting its head around what makes our part of the world tick, we can’t help but fear that we might again somehow miss out
EDITORIAL By Dean Lawson, editor
because of where we live. The government is creating Family Violence Support and Safety Hubs across the state, providing somewhere for women and children to seek sanctuary and advice in times of crisis, a concept we applaud. But Member for Lowan Emma Kealy has accused the government of a tokenistic effort in providing these safe havens and networks for western Victorian families. She believes the service, based on the government establishing launch hub sites across the state, will end up being too thin to meet regional needs. She has gone as far as accusing Premier Daniel Andrews of disregarding country women. Considering regional maps, which show only two initial safety hubs for what appears to represent about a western third
of the state, it is easy to understand Ms Kealy’s fears. History suggests that government services, when established regionally, over time and ultimately the target of financial pressure and an operational toohard basket, tend to contract back towards major provincial cities. In fairness, the government project, in response to a Royal Commission into Family Violence and a Roadmap to Reform, includes plans to develop community-based hubs and satellite access points or ‘spokes’ in the regions. This is part of an evolutionary process to ensure the hubs provide adequate support services across the state. We hope so, because broad on-theground understanding of regional environments and circumstances will be critical in the safety-hub concept working in the Wimmera, Mallee and Western District. Overall, this project puts the government on notice on how well it responds to a statewide issue that knows no boundaries. One act of domestic violence, regardless of where it is in the state, is one too many.
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HARVEST RAIN: Heavy rain through parts of Australia’s southern cropping region is likely to result in growers having to deal with grain going into storage with high moisture content. Picture: PAUL JONES
Grain storage issues could flow from rain Heavy rain across the region is likely to result in broadacre farmers having to deal with grain going into storage with high moisture content. High moisture stored grain can lead to mould and insect growth, which has led to storage experts advising growers to take prompt action to avoid damage. Grain-storage specialist Peter Botta said monitoring grain moisture and temperature daily would enable early detection of mould and insect development. “Grain at typical harvest temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees and moisture content greater than 13 to 14 percent provides ideal conditions for mould as well as insects,” he said.
“Although many growers do not have the equipment and infrastructure in place for drying grain, there are some other measures they can take to reduce the risk of grain being damaged in storage.” Grain over the standard safe storage moisture content of 12.5 percent can be dealt with by: • Blending – mixing high-moisture grain with low-moisture grain, then aerating. • Aeration cooling – grain of moderate moisture, up to 15 percent moisture content, can be held for a short term under aeration cooling until drying equipment is available. • Aeration drying – large volumes of air forces a drying front through the grain in
The Clever Curtain as seen on The Block
storage and slowly removes moisture. Supplementary heating can be added. Aeration drying requires airflow rates in excess of 15 litres per second per tonne. • Continuous flow drying – grain is transferred through a dryer, which uses a high volume of heated air to pass through the continual flow of grain. • Batch drying – usually a transportable trailer drying 10 to 20 tonnes of grain at a time with a high volume of heated air, which passes through the grain and out perforated walls. More detailed information is available online at www.grdc.com.au/ GRDC-FS-HighMoistureGrain.
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