“As a five year old, I didn’t know how enormous the incident was, I remember going to the pool and seeing the smoke come over and the sun being quite orange and the smoke cover in the air. It wasn’t until the next day it unfolded that they were killed. I’ve certainly looked at it as a way to reflect, for my own CFA career I feel privileged an honoured to follow in his footsteps.”
– Brian Minett lost his father John during the Ash Wednesday bushfires but followed in his footsteps.
“Before now, we could put case management around these families and find longer-term rental accommodation. That’s now becoming more and more difficult. The capacity for us to assist is diminishing. We’re using government funds for crisis accommodation more than for getting people in affordable, long-term housing.”
– Wayss homelessness and housing general manager Shari McPhail said the Census showed an “extraordinary” rise in children in families experiencing homelessness in the South East.
“We’ve been battling this for months and months… we are physical[ly] at risk at this point and we need every single body writing emails, we are going down a very frightening pipeline right now and if something doesn’t change, one of us may get hurt, or worse.”
– Drag performer and Art of Drag workshop series co-creator Belial B’Zarr said the Bunjil Place event scheduled for five weeks throughout April and May was the third drag event they had organised to be interrupted or cancelled due to backlash.
“There’s a lot of focus on colonisation and the Stolen Generation and all the negative sides of Indigenous culture. I want to show that it’s a really beautiful culture. It’s good to acknowledge the things that have happened and are still happening, but it’s also really important to enjoy the culture as well.”
– Local Indigenous artist and educator Samantha Richards is connecting cultural worlds, while also thriving as a new mother and completing her university studies.
“It’s a very rewarding job, making something and being proud of it and then the customer ringing up to say, ‘thank you, it was beautiful’. It’s rewarding and it’s never never boring. Every day is different. My father always said: ‘Stay on your feet, don’t grumble. Better to wear out than rust out’. That’s a good saying.”
– Tynong’s Lorraine Grant celebrated her 70th year bringing colour to the people of Pakenham and beyond as a florist at Pakenham Florist at 90 Main Street.
“I think the gift of imagination is one of the things that makes us truly human. I try to use my imagination when I’m preparing a sermon and I try to get people to think imaginatively, not to be pedestrian or rational in their thinking, but to bring their imagination to bear.”
– Bunyip priest Reverend Ken Parker was honoured for over five decades of service to the Anglican Church of Australia, receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
“A workplace’s reaction will determine whether a victim survivor will have the confidence to seek assistance. My workplace had so much potential to support me at the time when I was going through domestic and family violence, but they didn’t have any of the mechanisms in place and they certainly didn’t have any of the culture to support that change. Workplaces play a pivotal role in empowering employees to maintain their independence and remain in meaningful employment and support their choices in how they wish to transition to a life free of abuse and violence.”
– Family violence survivor and campaigner Kristy McKellar was the key guest speaker at Cardinia Shire’s 2023 White Ribbon event and awards ceremony.
“I love it and no one else really wants to do it. Roma does a wonderful job filling in but doesn’t want to do the job permanently, so I might be there for a few more years yet.”
– Fiona Macreadie, who has played the organ at the Sunday service since the Pakenham Uniting Church began in the late 1970s, and before that at the old Methodist Church across the road.
“It’s just one of those things, I have got great mates that I have known since then. I wouldn’t change it for the world, they are the best friends I’ve got, these guys are brothers. You get to trust that bloke and he trusts you, that’s why we are so close these days.”
– Vietnam veteran Rob Yates spoke about his time in Vietnam ahead of Vietnam Veterans’ Day, which marked 50 years since Australia withdrew from the war.
“We need to talk about it and not be afraid of it, just talk about it. It’s still an illness, it’s still a tragedy, it’s part of our lives, they are doing it out there and we need to try and stop it by talking about it. I said before and from the start, it’s easy to give up and sit in the corner, do nothing, but it will never bring my son back. It won’t change anything, he’s not coming back. I can’t bring him back but I can try and save someone else and give someone else some hope.
– Have Hope Inc founder Bozica (Bobo) Davis speaking about losing her eldest son Aaron to suicide in 2017 following a seven-year addiction to the drug ice.
“What I love about our club is just the supporter base, just how many people support the team and that’s the greatness of it all. I love the fact that when we come, we come all. It’s not half-hearted, we’re all there.”
– Pakenham resident Tam Murphy wished her beloved Collingwood Magpies good luck before they took out the 2023 AFL premiership.
“The things we need the most, we run from often. It’s about perspective, changing your outlook.”
– Local motivational speaker Danyal Diallo has lived with a disability since he was three, after his cousin pushed him off the roof of a building.
