Bendigo’s top 27 influential people: Peter Faulkner, Dennis Bice, Lisa Chesters
From volunteers and health workers to elected representatives, these are the 27 people shaping Bendigo in 2021 and making a difference to the city.
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Standing in parliament, organising the pandemic response, forming policy, sharing beauty, or just making sure there is enough food on the table – these are the Bendigo leaders making a change in 2021.
The Bendigo News has named the 27 influential Bendigo residents who will lead the region over the next 12 months.
The community leaders range from 14-year-olds fighting to make a difference to retirees ensuring the future is safer for all.
Meet the residents making a difference in Bendigo:
Lisa Chesters
Bendigo federal MP
In 2020, Bendigo’s federal representative, Lisa Chesters life changed completely – and for once it wasn’t because of the pandemic.
The region’s first female federal MP had become a first-time mum, raising her daughter Daisy Emond.
Ms Chesters said suddenly trips to Canberra, zoom meetings with voters, and calls to local businesses were broken up with naps, bed time stories and lullabies.
”It was a period where all of it was unknown,” Ms Chesters said
“How are you going to be a first-time mum and represent your community in a lockdown?
“It has been a very hard time for new families.
“As a parent everything stopped.”
Ms Chesters said a unique quirk had appeared among children her daughter’s age as a result of the pandemic.
“Daisy’s generation has a new hand gesture; they wave, they clap, they point and they hand sanitise,” she said with a laugh.
After seven years representing Bendigo, now with a baby in tow and another due in April, Ms Chesters said she was as passionate and driven as ever.
“Community and staying connected to people on the ground keeps the fire in the belly,” she said.
Ms Chesters said there was an opportunity for Bendigo to come out of the pandemic stronger, by upgrading infrastructure like Bendigo Airport, community sports facility upgrades and increased funding to the university sector.
“I want to draw the positives from COVID-19,” she said.
But Ms Chesters said fixing Bendigo’s economy, and the nation’s worsening trend of insecure work, would be a challenge.
The former cleaner and caterer and United Voice union representative said she understood the devastating impact of insecure work.
“It’s baptism of fire,” Ms Chesters said.
“There is (still) a lot of insecurity in the workplaces and in the community.”
Dennis Bice
Be Bendigo
Leaving the world of high finance Dennis Bice retired to his 21 hectare Kyneton olive grove for a life of clean air, country living and horse breeding.
After 12 months he had enough.
“I found that wasn’t any good,” he said.
“As much as you get prepared for retirement you still have that need to be involved in business.
“The thing I missed was the cut and thrust of business.”
The former Bendigo Bank head of retail had a year-long stint with AFL Central Victoria, before signing on as the Be Bendigo chief executive officer in 2018.
Mr Bice said his three-years in the role has allowed him to help Bendigo businesses find success and make the region a better place to live.
Maree Edwards
Bendigo West MP
Seeing the smiling faces of students at North Bendigo’s Kalianna School will represent the culmination of a decade of community campaigning and political fighting for Maree Edwards.
The Bendigo West MP said the school, which provides for children with special needs, was one of the projects that was closest to her heart.
Ms Edwards said she toured the school in her first year in office in 2010 and was appalled at its state.
“I was overwhelmingly dismayed,” she said.
“There were such dismal facilities.”
Ms Edwards said it was heartbreaking to listen to the pleas from parents and teachers, who had started a community petition for additional funding.
“There was a period there where there was very little funding for special needs education,” Ms Edwards said.
“Sometimes it’s the loudest, squeakiest wheel that gets the attention.”
Ms Edwards said she campaigned for the school in office, with the first round of funding released in 2014.
She said eleven years on from her first tour at the Kalianna School the final upgrades were complete.
“We’re hoping to have a big opening this year,” Ms Edwards said.
“Seeing that school rebuild has been a great journey.”
The Bendigo West MP said that first tour inspired her to speak up and find the critical projects which were not making noise, not gaining attention, and not getting the funding.
After more than a decade in public office, Ms Edwards said she was still loving her job and was excited for the future of the region.
Peter Faulkner
Bendigo Health
Over his four years as the Bendigo Health chief executive officer Mr Faulkner has watched new hospital complexes grow and a pandemic bring society to a halt.
“This doesn’t happen too often in the life of a health worker,” he said.
Mr Faulkner said Bendigo Heath workers were at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19, treating and tracing more than 90 cases including caring for at least three people who were hospitalised during their treatment.
“It’s been a very difficult time, but that’s our job,” he said.
“We’re blessed and privileged to be able to do it.”
He said as part of the hospital services’ crisis response they set up telehealth services, separated respiratory patients from other cases, and had been at the front line of the testing and contact tracing operations.
And as the COVID vaccine rolls out in late February to March, Mr Faulkner said Bendigo Health staff would once again spearhead the program.
Mr Faulkner said the next year would also allow the heath service to move forward on its development plans, adding a day rehabilitation centre, upgrades to the residential aged care facilities and an early parenting centre to the new complex.
Mr Faulkner said the new hospital, which opened in 2018, was the result of 12 years of public and behind the scenes campaigning.
“The opening of a new hospital was a terrific opportunity and a great challenge,” he said.
Mr Faulkner said the destruction of much of the old hospital complex had cleared the way for the new clinic, complete with new cancer treatment facilities and a modern emergency department.
“It was old, it was tired, it was small,” he said.
“The staff still provided great service despite those facilities.”
Mr Faulkner said the highlight of the new complex was the emergency helipad, which was used 145 times last year to transport patients who needed time-critical treatments.
“It’s bringing Bendigo on par with the world standard,” he said.
Mr Faulkner said his background as the hospital’s chief nurse and midwifery officer meant he understood the struggles of his fellow health workers.
“It’s really helpful to know what it’s like to work on a roster, to be on shift work, and to be on the front line,” he said.
Mr Faulkner said Bendigo Health was leading the country’s largest study on the impact of COVID on regional health care workers, and implored staff to take part and let their voices be heard.
Jacinta Allan
Bendigo East state Labor MP
As Bendigo moves from one of the most difficult years in recent history, its representatives are fighting to secure funding for projects big and small.
Bendigo East MP Jacinta Allan said she was inspired by the strength and resilience of the Bendigo community throughout the pandemic.
“As a result I see Bendigo continuing to grow and thrive as more people are attracted to live and raise their family here,” Ms Allan said.
The mother-of-two, Transport Infrastructure and Suburban Rail Loop minister and Leader of the House said “2020 was undoubtedly the most difficult of years”.
“(But) a standout for me in 2020 was the remarkable work of our school teachers and staff who strove to ensure our local students continued to get the best education during the time they were learning from home,” she said.
For more than two decades Ms Allan has represented her community, which stretches from Eaglehawk to Hunter and from Myrtle Creek north to Prairie.
“(I’m) working hard to secure funding for projects big and small, securing support for better services for families and advocating for constituents who contact my office for help,” she said.
“(This) is what drove me to seek to represent Bendigo and what continues to motivate me each and every day.”
Ms Allan said she the opening of the new Bendigo Hospital was a highlight for her time in office, and she was looking forward to works progressing on the new Gov Hub building and the new Law Courts in 2021.
“These two projects are terrific examples of how government investment in bricks and mortar supports jobs during construction and better services to the community when the buildings are completed,” Ms Allan said.
Jennifer Alden
City of Greater Bendigo mayor
At the helm of one of the world’s cities of gastronomy is the granddaughter of a cook and a pastry chef and the daughter of a food lover.
City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Jennifer Alden said food was a common thread through her many decades of service to the community.
Cr Alden said she began her working life as a research microbiologist, before moving to nutrition, women’s health, becoming a senior adviser for Vic Health and the chief executive officer of Cultivating Communities, an organisation that supported community gardens on public housing estates.
“I’ve always had an interest in health and well being,” she said.
“To create change is something … and food is a great connector.”
In late 2019 Bendigo became an UNESCO city of gastronomy, one of 246 cities recognised for its cultural value.
Cr Alden said the pandemic had only renewed the community’s focus on health, and by extension their food.
She said the panic-buying, food insecurity and concerns about international supply chains highlighted the need to strengthen local producers.
“People are really looking to localise their food supply and also local services,” she said.
“It’s that interest in where our food comes from and how to grow our own food.”
Cr Alden said even the community gardens began to bloom as residents took up the trend of “pandemic gardening”.
As Victorian restrictions eased in November Cr Allan was sworn in as the newly-elected mayor, following her two terms as a Lockwood ward councillor.
“It’s an opportunity to contribute back to the community,” she said.
Cr Alden said 2020 was extremely challenging, with businesses closed, event cancelled, and critical investments like the Qantas Bendigo to Sydney route put on hold.
But she said there was also opportunities to recover and rebuild in 2021.
Cr Alden said a series of community engagement session would develop a ten-year vision for the greater Bendigo region, particularly as the council grapples with the “tree change” population influx.
In 2016 the council estimated the region’s population would reach 200,000 by 2050, but Cr Alden said this would change due to the influx of new residents during the pandemic.
“There will be more work done on that as new trends emerge,” she said.
Jessica Bridgfoot
Bendigo Art Gallery
The Bendigo Art Gallery director said COVID has infected the art world, with artists looking to capture the pandemic in their craft.
Jessica Bridgfoot said now it was the duty of galleries around the world to record and collect these artistic expressions of the pandemic age.
“Art is a product of what is going on in the world around it,” Ms Bridgfoot said.
“Artists have this incredible ability to capture and evoke the Zeitgeist of the moment.
“It’s going to be really important for galleries and institutions to capture this time.”
Ms Bridgfoot said despite many feeling pandemic-news fatigue, audiences were lining up to appreciate these COVID-inspired works
“You would have though we would have had enough of talking about it,” she joked.
The newly appointed gallery director said the 18 months of her tenure were a “roller coaster”.
“We went from being an organisation that has thousands of people in here every week to the doors being closed,” Ms Bridgfoot said.
She said the gallery continued to bring beauty to the public through digital exhibitions, video tours, artists talks and educational resources for children learning from home.
“The pandemic and that experience made people have a good look at what they valued and strip back that noise,” Ms Bridgfoot said.
“The Netflix you watch is all enabled by artists, as are the books, pictures and music you’re listening to.”
Ms Bridgfoot said the pandemic was an opportunity for galleries to revalue what their purpose was, and scale back the Instagram demands for “bigger and better selfie moments”.
“It’s the gallery being a more contemplative space,” she said.
Ms Bridgfoot said more than 28,000 visitors returned to the gallery in its first 10 weeks after reopening.
The highlight of the newly opened gallery was Ms Bridgfoot’s first exhibition as a director, Piinpi.
She said the exhibition of contemporary Indigenous fashion from 70 designers and artists from across Australia was all managed during the height of the lockdown.
“We had to co-ordinate some elaborate pieces,” she said.
“We were paying for diesel to travel to the nearest post office so they could deliver (the works) to the gallery.”
Ms Bridgfoot said the exhibition was now touring Australia, with the collection currently on display in the National Museum of Australia, in Canberra.
Cathie Steele
Bendigo Foodshare
For seven years Cathie Steele has been helping put food on the plate of Bendigo’s most disadvantaged residents.
As the Bendigo Foodshare chair, Ms Steele said food waste and food poverty were critical issues in the region, particularly for families.
Ms Steele said a Bendigo Foodshare survey found an average of 22 children went to class without food every day in each Bendigo region school.
“Teachers in the early days were buying food for these kids themselves,” she said.
Ms Steele said one father and Foodshare volunteer said his child asked him to pack an extra lunch for her friend who was forced to go without food.
“None of us should go without food, particularly our kids,” she said.
Ms Steele said her organisation collected surplus or donated food from supermarkets, food retailer and farmers to distribute to those struggling to make ends meet.
And in a time of health, economic, social turmoil Bendigo Foodshare helped more than 12,800 central Victorians enjoy a full meal.
Ms Steele said the chaos of 2020 caused a spike in demand.
“Food shortages, panic buying. Any thing that could happen did happen,” Ms Steele said.
She said each of the food distribution services reported an increase in demand of at least 40 per cent, with one organisation doubling in demand.
As more Bendigo residents were putting their hand up for help, Ms Steele said her volunteers were dropping out in droves.
“All of a sudden all of our older volunteers had to self isolate,” she said.
Ms Steele said the community were quick to step up to meet the capacity gap, with 230 new volunteers.
Last week the retiree was chosen as the Greater Bendigo Citizen of the Year, an honour she devoted to her fellow volunteers.
Ma Aye Paw
Karen Community Hub and Language School
A 24-year-old refugee has helped her community overcome a dangerous language barrier during the height of the pandemic.
Karen Community Hub and Language School secretary Ma Aye Paw translated countless health advice, government restrictions, and announcements for her community throughout the pandemic.
“At the very start of the outbreak there was not enough resources,” Ms Paw said.
“The main thing was the language barrier.”
Ms Paw said some in the community had a high-English proficiency, while others struggled to understand the complex medical and government advice.
The intercultural ambassador for the greater Bendigo region not only translated the advice, bit also created Karen-language videos on behalf of the Bendigo Community Health Services.
“My Karen community we love each other and support each other,” Ms Paw said.
“This was to help my community in a small way.”
Ms Paw arrived in Bendigo in 2016 after her family fled the long-running civil conflict in Myanmar.
The 24-year-old refugee said she wanted to train to become a nurse so she could one day return to Myanmar to help people from her homeland.
“Some day I wish to give back to my community,” Ms Paw said.
“It’s poor and there are not high health standards.”
Ms Paw was selected as the City of Greater Bendigo’s 2021 Young Citizen of the Year, a role she said she would do her best to uphold.
18 youth councillors
City of Greater Bendigo
Between cramming for their final exams, their part-time jobs and sporting adventures 18 young Bendigo students will set the agenda for the community’s future.
The students, aged between 14 and 22, have set a bold agenda for their two-year term as the City of Greater Bendigo’s Youth Council.
The new council of teenagers and young adults have committed to thinking globally and acting locally, setting their sights on issues like climate change, the pandemic recovery, regional liveability and economic sustainability.
At 14-years-old Abby Hayes, Emily Pennington, Lilly Sukkel, and Max McKellar are the youngest councillors.
But the four teenagers have not let their age limit their vision, using their voice to advocate of issues like LGBTIQI+ rights, mental health and the post-pandemic recovery.
Many of the new councillor are already well-established leaders within their own communities.
A new councillor, 22-year-old Paw Ku Htee, has been working with her Karen community and Bendigo Community Health Services to help young recent migrants and refugees from Myanmar.
The Youth Council was established two years ago to give young people a platform to demand change in Bendigo.
New youth council members include Abby Hayes, 14, Emily Pennington, 14, Lilly Sukkel, 14, Max McKellar, 14, Mia Thomas, 15, Julius Krelle, 16, Zahra Chowdhury, 16, Ildi Clemens, 17, Annalisa Rich-Jones, 17, Charlotte Brook, 18, Holly Davey, 18, Maggie Alice, 18, Julia Hunt, 19, Victoria Tangey, 20 and Paw Ku Htee, 22.
Returning youth council members include Jack Smith, 21, Remus Brasier, 15 and Ryan Peterson, 22.
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