FRIDAY, 12 MARCH, 2021 WEATHER PAGE 14 TV GUIDE PAGES 21-22, 43-44 PUZZLES PAGE 46 CLASSIFIEDS PAGES 47-49 borderwatch.com.au | $3.00 COVID jabs start at Feast your hospital eyes on this MOUNT Gambier Hospital became the first regional South Australian location to RAQUEL MUSTILLO administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, with 65 frontline health [email protected] workers the first to receive the vaccine. WHAT started as a small car Frontline health worker Deb Turner collection in a back shed near Port was the first person in the region to be MacDonnell 20 years ago has since vaccinated against COVID-19 due to grown into one of Australia’s best her work in the COVID-19 testing hub and biggest collection of vintage where she takes swabs and completes vehicles. other tasks necessary to help mitigate Donald and Sheila Feast (pic- the spread of the virus. tured) have amassed thousands of The vaccine rollout coincides with a items now displayed at the Feast’s stern warning from the region’s highest- Classic Car Collection and Memo- ranking police officer for businesses and rabilia, which has grown in promi- individuals to comply with QR Code nence thanks to its unique memo- check-in requirements. rabilia including a handful of rare Limestone Coast officer in charge vehicles and artefacts, making it a Superintendent Phil Hoff said while no must-see. fines had been issued to date, he warned STORY PAGE 6 police would issue expiations if people failed to comply. STORY PAGE 3 Mayor dodges debt RAQUEL MUSTILLO Documents obtained by The Border Watch council staff and elected members. then chief executive Trevor Smart personally have revealed Mr Sage did not make one vol- [email protected] However, Mr Sage remained a sundry paid the remainder of the debt. untary payment for his preferred mayoral car, debtor until January 2014, when two depos- Mr Smart confirmed he paid $723 from despite pledging to pay the $16,698 difference. its - a $500 payment made on January 13 from GRANT District ratepayers paid thousands of his own pocket, telling The Border Watch he dollars to write off a debt for a council-owned According to the document, two-thirds of “write-off debt”, and a payment of $223.13 “wanted to get it off the books”. car after mayor Richard Sage failed to pay to- the debt - $9187 - was written off in April 2012 tendered in cash - were made to council. wards a formally-agreed joint contribution. after more than 17 months of discussion with Council’s document said it was understood STORY PAGE 5 INSIDE 2021 NAME ROUND ROUND ROUND ROUND TIPPING CHART 1 2 ROUND ROUND 3 4 ROUND ROUND 5 6 ROUND ROUND 7 8 ROUND ROUND 9 10 ROUND ROUND 11 12 ROUND ROUND 13 14 ROUND ROUND 15 16 ROUND ROUND 17 18 ROUND ROUND 19 20 21 ROUND TODAY 22 23 TOTAL 12486890-DL12-21 New T-Cross Visit You’ll just want one Barry Maney Volkswagen Go for a surf, hit the gym, 43 Percy Street, Mount Gambier partake in a little shopping, 08 8721 3400 all in the same trip and all barrymaneyvolkswagen.com.au thanks to the T-Cross with it’s sliding rear seat and boot space for days. Of course you just want one. 12486185-NG12-21 2 NEWS Friday, 12 March, 2021 BORDERWATCH.COM.AU ‘Yes’ to mental health hub RAQUEL MUSTILLO [email protected] AUSTRALIA’S largest suicide prevention service has backed the establishment of a central mental health hub in the Limestone Coast as a solution to unprecedented and elevated demand for support services. Lifeline South East has proposed a ‘one- stop shop’ model to simplify access to mental health care to provide access and information to services in one place. A recent survey undertaken by the organ- isation found more than 95pc of the 1045 participants agreed the region required more mental health services and stronger collabo- ration between existing services. Although a majority of respondents (86pc) reported either knowing someone who had or had themselves used local mental health ser- vices, just 53pc said they felt confident they could locate appropriate mental health ser- vices in the region. Lifeline South East chief executive officer CENTRAL HUB SUPPORT: Lifeline South East chief ex- Leah Griffin said the results showed commu- ecutive officer Leah Griffin has backed the establishment nity members expressed concern about the of a one-stop mental health stop in the Limestone Coast. availability of mental health and crisis support services. She said respondents also identified that demic related trauma. Troy Bell told parliament hundreds of Lime- information regarding the mental health and navigating and understand the existing Lime- “Lifeline forecasts substantial and elevated stone Coast residents seeking mental health counselling sphere. stone Coast service ecosystem was complex ongoing demand as the lengthy process of support are waiting up to 12 months for psy- Mr Bell said he had previously spoken to and that there are barriers to help-seeking be- recovery unfolds over coming years. “The im- chological help as the sector struggles to meet Health Minister Stephen Wade about the hub haviours. pacts of COVID-19 on psychological factors increased demand. concept and the Lifeline study and has invited “This past twelve months has seen demand are only beginning to be quantified, but disas- As well as calling for region-specific reten- him to the Limestone Coast. for Lifeline’s text and phone crisis support ser- ter outcome-modelling clearly predict the ef- tion and recruitment strategies for mental “Not only do I think it’s important that [he] vices reach sustained record levels nationally, fects will be unfolding for years to come.” health workers, Mr Bell said a central hub meet with the people working hard in our and in South Australia,” Ms Griffin said. According to Lifeline, national phonemail would provide significant benefits to the com- region to achieve better mental health out- volumes are 30pc higher than pre-pandemic munity. “Lifeline is proud to have been able to comes, but also to get an understanding of the play a part in the coordinated response to the levels with South Australian demand for text- He said a central hub would provide a unique needs of our region,” he said. needs of the community impacted by corona- based crisis support and suicide prevention single point of entry for local residents seek- virus infections and deaths, social isolation, increasing by 158pc between 2019 and 2020. ing information regarding mental health and HAVE YOUR SAY - financial hardship, job losses, and other pan- Last week, Member for Mount Gambier counselling support and maintain up-to-date [email protected] $ .99 SCORE BIG 43EACH TOOHEYS EXTRA DRY THIS FOOTY 24 X 345ML BOTTLES SEASON 10 PACK 10 PACK $ .99 WILD TURKEY & $ .99 CAPTAIN MORGAN & COLA 6% $ .99 46EACH COLA 4.8% 39EACH OR SMIRNOFF ICE 45EACH 10 X 375ML CANS DOUBLE BLACK 6.5% 10 X 375ML CANS GREAT NORTHERN SUPER CRISP 24 X 330ML BOTTLES 1 LITRE $ .99 $ .99 49EACH 34EACH $ .99 EQUATES TO EACH 47 RUSSIAN $34.99 PER STANDARD 700ML VODKA HEINEKEN 700ML 24 X 330ML BOTTLES BUNDABERG UP RUM, JOHNNIE WALKER RED LABEL SCOTCH, SMIRNOFF RED VODKA, CAPTAIN MORGAN SPICED GOLD OR GORDON’S GIN $ .99 1 LITRE HOT PRICE 49EACH SAVE $5 CARLTON DRY $ .99 24 X 330ML BOTTLES EACH $ .99 JIM BEAM WHITE & COLA 79 44EACH $ .99 $ .99 $ .99 4.8% CUBE VARIETIES EACH EACH EACH 24 X 375ML CANS 9 12 14 $ .99 TANQUERAY EACH GIN TRILOGY DE CHAIN OF 54 700ML NV BORTOLI PONDS SPARKLING ROSÉ SAUVIGNON 750ML ROSÉ BLANC COOPERS 750ML OR PINOT SPARKLING ALE GRIGIO 24 X 375ML BOTTLES 750ML OR CANS MT. GAMBIER HOTEL MOUNT GAMBIER 8725 0611 ROYAL OAK HOTEL PENOLA 8737 2322 SOMERSET HOTEL MILLICENT 8733 2888 PARK HOTEL MOUNT GAMBIER 8725 2430 SOUTH EASTERN HOTEL MOUNT GAMBIER 8723 9090 SipnSave supports the responsible service of alcohol. Specials apply 10/03/21 to 23/03/21 or while stocks last. Price may vary in country areas due to freight. Price includes GST. www.sipnsave.com.au SIPNSAVE.COM.AU 12486184-SN12-21 SNS_P06_1003_T44_BW 2 CONTACT US [email protected] NEWS 3 Vaccine rolls out in region HISTORY was made in the Limestone Coast receive my COVID-19 vaccination alongside the first person in the region to be vaccinated Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen this week as the long-awaited COVID-19 vac- my fellow frontline healthcare workers from against COVID-19. Wade said the strong progress was continuing cination was administered on Wednesday. across the Limestone Coast Local Health Net- Ms Turner works in the COVID-19 testing on the rollout of the vaccine, with 4274 doses Limestone Coast frontline healthcare work,” Dr Pretorius said. hub, taking swabs and other tasks necessary distributed to medi-hotel and airport staff, workers rolled up their sleeves to be vaccinat- “I know how important it is to vaccinate to help mitigate the spread of the virus. and frontline healthcare workers, including ed against the coronavirus - the first regional against a disease like COVID-19 and the roll- She said it felt like a privilege to be the first. workers at testing clinics and emergency de- South Australians to receive the Pfizer variant. out of this vaccine is just another way we as “I think it is important,” Ms Turner said. partments across the state. healthcare workers can protect ourselves, our Limestone Coast Local Health Network ex- “We are face-to-face so it does give me a bit “Given the scale and complexity of the op- loved ones and those most vulnerable to CO- ecutive director of medical services Dr Elaine of confidence to do my job.