NEWS DESK
Archer on target for games gold
Shire keeps kinder figures under wraps
Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au
DESPITE using an increase in Aboriginal children enrolled in three-year-old kindergarten as an example of its “positive action towards reconciliation”, Mornington Peninsula Shire will not release actual statistics. The shire says there has been a 300 per cent increase in Aboriginal enrolments since 2016 but will not reveal how many children are involved. “We cannot provide the actual numbers … because it may allow individual members of the community to be identified and this is not culturally safe,” community services manager Jo Bradshaw said. The shire also chose to highlight higher rates in “Aboriginal business procurement, and work” as being among “a number of important actions against the [shire’s] Reconciliation Action Plan”. When asked to detail the nature of business the shire told The News it had “engaged Aboriginal businesses in the areas of catering and graphic design”. "Our peninsula is one of the fastest growing Aboriginal areas in Victoria, with a 34 per cent increase, especially in young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under the age of 30,” Ms Bradshaw said. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that in 2016 there were 1618 Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders living on the peninsula which has about 170,000 residents. The original statement about the threeyear-old kindergarten increases was contained in a 20 May news release during National Reconciliation Week (27 May - 3 June) listing the shire’s achievements towards reconciliation (“Reconciliation plan’s ‘positive’ outcomes” The News 24/5/21). Keith Platt
FORMER Commonwealth Games archer Dawn NelsonFurnell is on target to prove age is no barrier in sport at the Australian Masters Games in Perth in October. The 56-year-old of Crib Point, has done things differently than most after “retiring” to have a daughter in 1984 and then, aged 42, reigniting her passion for archery and picking up her bow again in 2006. Despite those around her saying she was “too old” she powered on and has experienced great success ever since. Within a year of resuming, Nelson-Furnell was chosen to represent Australia at various world field championships and world cups. She also won repeat state and national championships as well as a place on the 2010 Australian Commonwealth Games Team. Dedication has made her successful. “I’m training a couple of days a week and every weekend and competing in every competition I can,” she said. Nelson-Furnell has broken two world records, one of which is still standing: At the World Masters Championships in Switzerland in 2018 she shot 662 points out of a possible 720 over 60 metres – a world highest mark. On the back of that success, as well as her general excellence, she was presented with an exceptional sportsmanship medal from the secretary-general of world archery. “It came as quite a shock,” she recalled. “I was packing my bow away before the medal presentation and they were talking about this ‘special person’ and I was thinking ‘that’s nice’ when they called me up to the podium,” she said. “It was lovely but unexpected.” At the Adelaide World Masters Games in 2019 she won eight gold medals –some in events in which she does not regularly compete. This year will mark Nelson-Furnell’s eighth Australian Masters Games, an event at which she met her now-husband Peter 13 years ago. “Yes, there certainly is a rivalry,” she quipped. Peter became her coach and together they run the Angel Archers archery club at Balnarring. She is hoping to once again prove that age does not mean a thing when she competes at this year’s Australian Masters Games in Perth.
Taking aim: Archer Dawn Nelson-Furnell is out to prove age is no barrier to sports success. Picture: Yanni
‘Vision’ for a larger Gathering Place AN open amphitheatre, artefacts and art display area, an area for elders, a “welcome and yarning area” and a base for cultural tourism are included in a conceptual plan for Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association’s headquarters at Hastings. The Gathering Place, in Pound Road, is where members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community meet to explore identity and cultural heritage. However, with the Mornington Peninsula regarded as one of the fastest growing Aboriginal areas in Victoria,
with a 34 per cent increase, especially in young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under 30, more space is needed. Mornington Peninsula Shire says projections show that in five years Willum Warrain will attract more than 10,000 visitors a year and membership will increase to 3000. The shire, in partnership with Jaffe Consulting and Peter Wright Architects, has created the master plan to develop a vision of what can be achieved there to cope with the increase.
The plan also includes ways to expand the wetlands at Warringine Park for a wildlife corridor, an outdoor men’s shed area and a carport for community buses. The community hub in Pound Road will include a cafe, kitchen, bush nursery, shop and vegetable garden. Cultural events, tours and “on country” experiences are also part of the vision. “The master plan sets the vision and direction for a renewed Gathering Place. Cultural opportunities will be created which will allow the
rekindling of cultural practices and traditional knowledge. This is vital for Willum Warrain as the area grows,” the mayor Cr Despi O’Connor said. Cr Kerri McCafferty, a member of the Inter Council Aboriginal Consultative Committee, saw the design concepts as offering “amazing opportunities to engage with our First Nations people and culture and support them into the future”. The shire says Willum Warrain employs more Aboriginal people than any other entity on the peninsula and is regarded as a “channel for recon-
ciliation”. It said First Nations People “know the importance of maintaining and strengthening the spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or occupied and used lands and waters, to uphold their responsibilities to country, ancestors, community, and future generations”. Public feedback on the Willum Warrain master plan closes Tuesday 22 June. Visit: mornpen.vic.gov.au/ willumwarrainmasterplan Hard copy forms are available at the shire’s customer service centres.
Smile Squad is on its way The Victorian Government is making it easier for our kids to get the dental care they need. Find out more at smilesquad.vic.gov.au
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Western Port News
9 June 2021