An independent view of what's happening around our great City
People, places and events. An opportunity for the stories the mainstream media fail to cover, or that they feel don't align with their corporate policy i.e. no money in it for them.
Sometimes just the facts, sometimes cruel, sometimes tongue in cheek, but hopefully of interest and factual.
Preventing Theft from Vehicles
The City of Yarra has recently been targeted by criminals who make a living breaking into vehicles.
Residents and visitors are being encouraged to follow a few simple steps to help avoid becoming a victim
of car theft.
According to Victoria Police, the most common items stolen from vehicles include laptop computers, GPS navigation systems and cash; and it’s when these items are left in plain
view that the risk of theft is significantly increased.
Park smarter and follow these tips to reduce your risk of car theft:
Remove ALL valuables from inside your vehicle when you park your car. Do not leave any cash or coins in view.
Remove your GPS from display along with the mounting unit and suction pads. Wipe away the suction cup marks with a cloth to
remove any sign of the GPS system. Ensure your vehicle is locked.
Mark your property with a permanent marker with the letter
‘V’ for Victoria followed by your driver’s licence number. This will help Police return your property if it is recovered.
Leave the foot wells and seats clear so criminals can see that
there is nothing of value in the car worth stealing.
A large number of victims are those visiting the City of Yarra and may not be aware that their vehicle may become the next target. Victoria Police encourages you to let your friends and family know how to avoid becoming a victim when visiting the
area.
For more information please call your local Police Station: Richmond 8420 3600, Fitzroy 9419 4311, Collingwood 9419 4911.
What this story fails to say is that Drug trafficking and Drug Related Crime, which is impacting on the whole of the community, is rampant at the moment.
There is strong support for the Government to provide Heroin FREE to registered users.
While some may disagree, the truth of the matter is "They are not paying for it at the moment" the community is.
Let's remove the criminal element from this equation and save everyone a lot of time, money, stess and effort.
Come on Kevin Rudd, show us that you have some wisdom and vision.
Who settled Melbourne. How acurate is the history we are taught in school?
There has been much debate about who settled Melbourne.
Fawkner or Batman?
John Batman had the potential to become one of the more revered names in Australian history. He is the only native-born Australian to found a state capital city. He spoke Aboriginal languages and was one of the few people of his time to attempt to compensate Aborigines for the use of their land. In fact, had things turned out differently, Melbourne might now be known by one the names proposed early in its settlement - Batmania!
You can find numbers of two dimensional descriptions of him - some depicting him as a hero, others as a villain. However, he was a complex man in complex times.
Batman's father was transported to Australia as a receiver of stolen goods, and John Batman was born in Sydney. It was there that he gained some skills as a bushman and a certain rapport with local Aborigines.
Some researhers believe Batman's family name back in the UK may have actually been Bateman.
Batman had applied for land in the Westernport area of what is now called Victoria, .but no land was granted. With a small group of entrepreneurs he formed the Port Philip Association. In 1835 he sailed to the mainland and explored an extensive area around Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra River. (Part of the area had already been explored by Charles Grimes' party in 1803.) Twice he made a 'treaty' with the local Aborigines to lease land in return for a quantity of tomahawks, blankets, knives flour etc as annual rental. This crude quasi-legal document was soon overturned by the colonial authorities
Batman left a small party behind while he sailed back to Launceston in the Rebecca to make arrangements for stocking the settlement. At this point, his life looked rosy. He was, to his estimation, one of the richest landowners in the world. He felt he had rights to some of the best and richest grazing land that was to be had in Australia, and he was set to succeed where numbers of government attempts at settlements had failed. He had even noted "a place for a village".
But then it all started to unravel as he lost his health, his land, his wife, his only son and his own life.
By the time that Batman returned, a rival party was set up on the other bank of the Yarra and an uneasy standoff had developed. This party had been organised by little Johnny Fawkner, a Launceston publican. Fawkner was to remain Batman's nemesis and in the end Fawkner had much more influence on the development of Melbourne than did Batman.
The authorities declared that Batman's treaties were invalid, and that Batman was not legally renting the land. He and other members of the Port Phillip Association were given some monetary compensation for their expenses, to be credited against purchases of land from the 'the true owner' - not the local Aborigines but the "Crown".
This is why John Pascoe Falkner is also associated with the settling of Melbourne.
John Pascoe Fawkner was the leader of one of two rival parties involved in the settlement of Melbourne. Although a small man (5 feet 2 inches) he was a larger than life character.
Garryowen tells us:
"Fawkner was sort of a spoiled child with the old colonists, and even those who thoroughly disliked him, and often repelled his illbred arrogance, were ever ready to concede a large latitude to the man who, by common repute, shared with Batman the honours surrounding the foundation of 'the settlement'. Batman was dead, and 'Johnny' was not only alive but poking his nose into every public movement, from anti-transportation to separation. The prestige that would have to be divided between him and Batman, had he lived, was not unnaturally claimed by Fawkner, and as he had a finger in every pie, and was jumping about like a squirrel wherever there was anything astir, either at a fire or a public meeting, an election or a street row, a public dinner or a charity sermon, he was accorded a certain toleration which clothed him in a privilege that fell to the lot of no other man.
He died in Melbourne on the 4th September, 1869, an honourable member of the Legislative Council, and so much esteemed that over 200 carriages were present at his funeral, and 15,000 persons lined the streets on his burial day."
In Smith Street Collingwood, near the corner of Johnston Street is a memorial plaque for John Pascoe Fawkner.