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12-15 March, 2020
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Air show help for charity
Air show donates A VOLUNTEER group focused on suicide prevention in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula has been named as the major beneficiary of this month’s Tyabb Air Show. A national suicide prevention day walk run by Chasing Change last September attracted about 1000 people to a morning of reflection, conversation, and mourning. This led to its inaugural Chasing Change Blue Christmas event which brought people together during the often-
A VOLUNTEER group focused on suicide prevention in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula has been named as the major beneficiary of this month’s Tyabb Air Show. A national suicide prevention day walk run by Chasing Change last September attracted about 1000 people to a morning of reflection, conversation, and mourning. This led to its inaugural Chasing Change Blue Christmas event which brought people together during the often-trying festive period in which loved ones are often missed the most. The air show, held every second year, donates money raised to charities and not-for-profit groups. The air show is on Sunday 8 March. Tickets at: tyabbairshow.com Flying for a cause: Chasing Change organiser Rebecca Tyler gives the thumbs up with Peninsula Aero Club president Jack Vevers for the club’s decision to support the suicide prevention group. Picture: Gary Sissons
‘Emergency’ issues may hit port Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s declaration of a “climate emergency” may put it on a collision course with both state and federal governments over the Port of Hastings. Two significant moves made by the shire last month could lead to it opposing hydrogen gas produced in the Latrobe Valley and opposing a container port because of potential environmen-
tal, social and economic impacts on Hastings. A brown coal-to-hydrogen scheme involves a plant now being built at AGL’s Loy Yang power station site and a hydrogen liquefication and loading terminal in Bayview Road, Hastings. The project consortium is led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hydrogen Engineering Australia and has received $50 million each from the state and federal governments. The shire has demanded a full environmental assessment and that en-
vironmental impacts of the hydrogen project be known before any decision is made beyond the initial test stage. The project has been criticised because it will see Australia left to deal with the CO2 emissions resulting from the process while Japan gets the full benefit of “clean” hydrogen fuel. A drilling rig is testing the seabed about eight kilometres off the NInety Mile Beach for its suitability for storing CO2 from the hydrogen process. The state and federal governments have been reported as already contribut-
ing $150m to the tests being carried out by CarboNet with a view to the undergropund storage being part of the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project. Environment groups say there are other ways to produce hydrogen that do not involve releasing CO2 stored in brown coal but following those production methods would not provide jobs in the Latrobe Valley or open up a new way to exploit one of Victoria’s natural resources. The mayor, Cr Sam Hearn told The News that making hydrogen from
brown coal was “not good” unless its proponents could “tick off all environmental concerns”. He said politicians “need to think 50 years ahead” instead of initiating new fossil fuel projects. In another move potentially affecting state and federal governments, the shire has ordered its officers to prepare a report for next month (April) “detailing the environmental effects of any container port or any other port development at Hastings”. Continued Page 7
12 - 15 March, 2020 Thursday 11am to 5pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm
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