Sale moth plant
Sale is becoming host to a plant known as the moth plant which is taking over residential gardens all over the municipality of Sale. I have contacted the council about this issue and was redirected to the Department of Agriculture, who dismissed my concerns.
I also made the body corporate in my little area of land aware and they have agreed that is it a problem.
These are fast growing plants and spread their seed easily. The residents that are affected by these plants need to be aware before it becomes a bigger problem.
John Kent
Sale
Well done Sale
I WRITE to offer my congratulations to all involved with the Sale Music Festival that was recently held at the Port of Sale.
I was delighted to be able to assist the Rotary Club of Sale with the set-up for this event which included a great line-up of local acts.
It was wonderful to see how the festival has continued to grow over the years into the well-attended, fantastic, all-ages, free community event that it is today. With great food and kids activities on offer to complement the music, the Port of Sale proved to be a great location for the event.
Events like the Sale Music Festival are a great opportunity for locals to get outdoors and socialise, but cannot happen without volunteers and hard work.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered and worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make the Sale Music Festival possible.
I look forward to seeing what’s in store for 2024!
Danny O’Brien
Member for Gippsland South
LGBTIQ+ community is strong
Today, like every day, I am grateful for the resilience, kindness and courage of our LGBTIQ+ communities.
I am so proud to be a member of our LGBTIQ+ communities – communities that include trans people. I am especially proud of how welcoming and kind we are in regional Victoria. In regional Victoria, we overwhelmingly accept diversity in all its forms.
It is so important that we can continue to tell our stories and share our experiences and build connection in the face of escalating stigma, discrimination, and hate.
We are strong – but we shouldn’t have to be this strong.
Over the weekend (March 18), we saw a disgraceful display of hate in Melbourne’s CBD.
The intention of the rally was to belittle, exclude, humiliate and discriminate against our transgender Victorians.
There is no such thing as a civil debate when we are talking about whether one group of people should be allowed to have the same rights as others to live safely and without discrimination against them.
It is not a civil debate when the rights of trans people to play sport, to use public toilets, to have equal access to education and employment opportunities – to live their lives with dignity and the opportunity to be exactly who they are, however they may identify, is called into question.
And yet – again and again – we see these campaigns against an already vulnerable group.
Moira Deeming’s abhorrent views were widely known and publicised well before her Liberal preselection and election to the Victorian Parliament.
It is increasingly hard to know what Mr Pesutto stands for. On one hand he claims to support LGBTIQ+ people and a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination. He says he wants to bring the Liberal Party “back into the mainstream” while he turns a blind eye to the enormous hurt and distress caused by Ms Deeming for months.
Ms Deeming has rallied with anti-trans campaigners at an event attended by neo-Nazis. That she remains in the Liberal Party room – at least for now – is a matter for them.
But it is certainly not representative of the best of Victorians.
To be clear, the Andrews Government will never take a backwards step where it comes to respecting, supporting and protecting Victoria’s LGBTIQ+ communities.
The rights and equality of trans people, and all members of the LGBTIQ+ communities in Victoria are not negotiable. [Letter received on Friday.]
Harriet Shing
Minister for Equality
Member for Eastern Victoria
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