DONALD BIRCHIP Phone: 5497 1222 Phone: 5492 2735 Email: The Buloke Times Fax: 5492 2863 [email protected] Email: [email protected] birchipblc@ Est. 1875 bigpond.com Published Tuesdays and Fridays PRICE (inc. G.S.T.) $2 PP331336/0000 1 Friday, September 3, 2021 For the Shire of Buloke, and the districts of Birchip, Charlton, Donald, St. Arnaud, Watchem and Wycheproof Kaye’s Clan Rides to Pony Club Success Granny Kaye had a big tick off her bucket list when her grandchildren won the Midland Zone Horse Trials shield with a team of “Riverview” horses. Charlton Pony Club cross country and show Kaye, which is recognized looked amazing, thanks to jumping. with Life Memberships from the dedication of many vol- Kaye originally started Charlton Pony Club, The unteers who made the Zone her love of Pony Club as a Midland Zone, and Pony Shield, a club teams compe- member of Bendigo Pony Club Victoria. tition, a wonderful day for Club in 1961, travelling from all. her farm in Charlton. Kian Blanchard, riding A proud moment and his- She was a foundation Ace in grade 1, Riverview tory was made when Kaye member of Donald Pony Rosie in grade 2, Riverview Blanchard’s grand children, Club when it started in Django in grade 4, and Kian Blanchard and Abby 1960s. Riverview Pieman in grade 5 Pollock, rode horses bred by Her children started in with his cousin Abby Pollock their grandmother Kaye, and Donald Pony Club, and then riding Riverview Monica in trained by her son, Tony were foundation members of grade 6, won the prestigious Blanchard, in the Horse Tri- Charlton Pony Club when it Zone Shield by the narrowest als. started in 1976. of margins, 1 point, over Horse Trials is a multi It’s been a lifetime of ded- Bealiba Pony Club. discipline event of dressage, ication to Pony Club from • Continued on page 2. • Left to right, Kian Blanchard, Abby Pollock and Kaye Blanchard. Grants for Local Government Local governments in Mallee have received their first 2021-’22 quarterly • Hindmarsh Shire Council Hogan, said a total of $2.7 bil- Employment payment through the Federal Government’s Financial Assistance Grant $623,986. lion in untied Federal funding “Across the nation, local was allocated for local gov- program. • Horsham Rural City governments employ around Council $826,922. ernments in 2021–22. 194,000 people and deliver a Twelve Mallee councils according to their own local services and infrastructure wide range of services in the • Loddon Shire Council “The Federal Government have been paid $11,277,565 priorities. projects that they do so well.” cities, regional towns and re- $1,202,526. prepaid around half of the al- in the first of four quarterly Councils in Mallee will re- mote areas of Australia. This “Local governments are • Northern Grampians located funding in June 2021; payments, out of a total ceive the following quarterly support will continue to bol- vital to building safer and Shire Council $1,063,945. the remainder will be paid $45,110,277 allocated to payment: ster Australia’s economic re- stronger communities,” Dr. • Pyrenees Shire Council through these quarterly pay- them. This is on top of early covery.” Webster said. Twelve Councils $721,271. ments across the year,” Mr allocations made in June Since 1974–75, the Aus- • Mildura Rural City • Swan Hill Rural City Hogan said. which totalled $44,565,310. “They are an important de- Council $2,166,838. tralian Government has pro- Together, Mallee councils will livery partner for the Federal Council $936,277 “We know the early pay- vided local governments with share in almost $90 million in Government’s economic stim- • Buloke Shire Council • West Wimmera Shire almost $60 billion in untied $894,601. ment is a valued support to assistance through 2021-’22. ulus packages and play a crit- Council $827,202. councils, particularly in re- funding through the Financial Federal Member for Mallee, ical role in our response to the • Central Goldfields Shire • Yarriambiack Shire gions that have faced the Assistance Grants program. Anne Webster, said the fund- COVID-19 pandemic. These Council $537,270. Council $731,099. combined impacts of bush- For more information, visit ing is untied, allowing coun- payments will allow councils • Gannawarra Shire Coun- Assistant Minister for fire, drought, floods and https://www.regional.gov.au/l cils to spend the grant to continue delivery the vital cil $745,628. Local Government, Kevin COVID-19.” ocal/assistance/index.aspx Students Care for “Birchip Cares” Car Thirty-seven Birchip P-12 students have accessed the “Birchip Cares” car to help them gain essential driving skills through the L2P Learner Driver Mentor program since the in- ception of “Birchip Cares” in July, 2015. Since the program com- of “Birchip Cares”, for the menced on July 28, 2015, L2P program, and as a the program has come along means of community trans- in leaps and bounds under port for local residents who the guidance of Peter Au- have no other way of access- risch (Buloke Loddon L2P ing specialist medical ap- co-ordinator), Jacinta Con- pointments. nelly (L2P co-ordinator Birchip P-12 School), Janet Currently the Birchip P- Ingle, Brooke Morris and 12 School has five students Kristy Knights. participating in the program, The “Birchip Cares’’ car and a number of volunteers is donated by O’Connor’s, who are doing a great job and the drivers who support giving up their time to sup- the program are all volun- port the Birchip P-12 school teers, which has been inte- students gain the hours they • L2P student Mark Darby giving back to the community by washing the Community Cares Car. gral to the long term success • Continued on page 2. A leading provider of operations staff (Pro- The Job Situation grammed) is aiming at 3,000 workers. "Grey nomads", in Agriculture university students, and rural residents are key targets for the grains industry shortfall caused by the virus-in- Much has been written about the shortage of workers FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2021 duced cutting of international travel. The firm is look- to look after the seasonal requirements of Australian ing to fill roles from grain sampling to grain handling, agriculture. to arrive in Australia for the rest of the year. This is due weighbridge operating, customer service, and assisting The federal government in June announced its new to concerns with local coronavirus outbreaks, estimated as plant operators. worker visa for the UK and ten ASEAN countries. But, to see a loss of 500 shearers for crutching season. while the support for a dedicated agricultural visa is ap- Victoria has re-opened its borders to Pacific Island As an example, the Queensland-based Stokes preciated, there is disappointment that the 88-day re- workers in February this year, committing initially to couple worked last year in the Buloke shire town of quirement for British backpackers to work on farms is bringing in 1,500 via quarantine in Tasmania. The plan Charlton, she in management and her husband as a seen as traded away as part of the UK free trade agree- is for 1,500 Pacific Island seasonal workers to enter tradesman. They decided they wanted a change, and ment. The new agricultural visa is not due to operate by October. Agriculture Victoria said the Department this was a way of getting it. until late September. Both British and European back- is continuing to work closely with the Tasmanian and packers are crucial for short-term work. Commonwealth governments to secure a quarantine The Australian Meat Industry Council has ex- Before the COVID-19 virus struck, international pathway. plained that, due to the improved season, there were workers made up nearly 50% of the casual and contract unlikely to be workers available to handle the expected Despite this, there is a potential for farmers to be increase in stock needing to be processed. workforce engaged on farms. short-staffed in planning for the harvest in summer. The expectation is of a shortage of as many as A bottleneck became apparent last year in truck We have not even mentioned horticulture and the 24,000 workers by early next year. The latest of many driver shortages at the farm end. GrainCorp is reported fruit picking side. There are jobs in all aspects of agri- problems is that no New Zealand shearers are expected to have started its hunt for 3,300 harvest casuals. culture. Any takers, to help with an industry need ? Poet’s Corner: The Australian Slanguage The Difference a Week Makes (By W. T. Goodge) ‘Tis the everyday Australian North West Victoria has significantly improved its rate of vaccination against COVID-19. Has a language of his own, Has a language, or a slanguage, Last week, the weekly vac- 70 per cent vaccination target Yarriambiack is in the top “I know there’s still Which can simply stand alone. cination rate suggested that five days ahead of schedule, ten,” Ms Cupper said. lengthy queues and vaccina- And a "dickon pitch to kid us" the wider region would have and we could reach 80 per “Targets are being met as tion obstacles in our area, but Is a synonym for "lie", 70 per cent of its population cent six days ahead of sched- we speak, as today marks the I’d encourage people to seek And to "nark it" means to stop it, aged 16 and over fully vacci- ule. day 60 per cent of people in And to "nit it" means to fly. nated by October 21, and 80 out available bookings, and “Shaving close to a week North West Victoria have re- per cent would be fully vacci- join in the effort.” off of our timelines is no easy ceived their first vaccine.