Geelong’s biggest headlines of 2020
A Green Spine drama, a number of teen deaths, a Cats grand final and a farewell to a champion were among Geelong’s biggest stories of 2020. We look back at the headlines that shaped our year.
Geelong
Don't miss out on the headlines from Geelong. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Green Spine drama, a number of teen deaths, a Cats grand final and a farewell to a champion were among Geelong’s biggest stories of 2020. We look back at the headlines that shaped our year.
TAKEN TOO SOON
A number of tragic teen suicide deaths rocked the Geelong community in 2020.
Five male secondary school students in the Geelong region died by suicide in the four months to mid-June, with a coroner investigating the deaths as a group.
The Geelong Suicide Prevention Initiative was set up in August by the Western Victoria Primary Health Network.
A steering group of community leaders will focus on working with mental health experts to define and build a more collaborative and linked mental health system.
The group’s formation followed Western Victoria Primary Health Network receiving funding support from the federal government, announced in June, to facilitate the development of an integrated, place-based framework for suicide prevention with the Geelong community.
The steering group’s work will contribute to and inform the Regional Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan for Western Victoria, set to be completed by June 2022.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
COUNCIL LEFT GREEN AT THE GILLS
Geelong councillors knew they would anger the State Government if they voted to spend $2m tearing up part of the $8m joint government-council Green Spine project – but they did it anyway.
Councillor Eddy Kontelj tabled a notice of motion in February to reintroduce turning lanes, increase parking spaces and demolish one of two separated bike lanes on the section of Malop St, claiming the recently completed works had caused traffic congestion and disability access problems.
The move – voted for by six of the city’s 11 councillors – came despite State MP Lisa Neville warning the council the government would not let them waste taxpayer money on the move.
Ms Neville was true to her word, with the State Government officially declaring the Green Spine project a Designated Road Project by the end of August, rendering the road under state control.
INVASION OF PRIVACY
Gym and pool users hit out in January when the City of Greater Geelong told them it was going to transfer the personal data of its 25,000 leisure centre members to an overseas company.
City Hall spun the change as a move to improve its services, but Deakin Uni cyber security expert Matt Warren said he was “horrified” by the proposal, and the Victorian Information
Commissioner was called in.
Members voiced concern about the privacy of their personal information — such as their name, address, email address and phone number — and their backlash eventually forced the council into an embarrassing backflip.
By year’s end, CoGG had contracted a new, Australian-based software firm to manage the digital communications.
SPIRIT OF TASSIE
The Addy made the rare move of breaking Tasmanian news in March, when it revealed the island state’s government was considering shifting the Spirit of Tasmania’s berth from Melbourne to Geelong.
Just nine months later the City of greater Geelong approved a key planning application for the new GeelongPort home of the ferry, allowing for a major new terminal and separated freight and passenger entrances.
The ferry is expected to relocate from Station Pier in Port Melbourne to Geelong in 2022.
CATS SURPRISE AGAIN
Even the most optimistic Cats supporters had doubts about their team’s hopes heading into the 2020 AFL season.
Early on it looked like the spasmodic form that marred the team’s run to finals in 2019 was continuing.
The Cats were outclassed by the slicker GWS Giants in round 1 before the AFL season was sent into hiatus by the coronavirus pandemic.
When play resumed in June the Cats’ form was patchy before being forced onto the road.
An emphatic round 6 win over glamour team Brisbane in Sydney was the first sign of promise.
The Perth road trip produced just one win from three games, but in its Queensland hub Geelong hit its stride. Relishing the condensed ‘footy frenzy’ fixture, it strung together six consecutive wins, with Tom Hawkins monstering finals aspirants St Kilda and Port Adelaide in the same working week in mid-August.
A loss to Richmond in round 17 stalled that momentum, and the finals started shakily with a loss to Port Adelaide, but two resounding wins booked the Cats their first grand final berth since 2011.
Despite being 15 points up at half-time of the decider, the Cats couldn’t send Gary Ablett and Harry Taylor into retirement with another premiership win.
Richmond matchwinner Dustin Martin proved too good as the Tigers kicked nine goals to two in the second half to beat Geelong by 31 points.
But after a productive trade period that netted experienced recruits Jeremy Cameron, Isaac Smith and Shaun Higgins, Cats fans will enter 2021 more hopeful than they were a year earlier.
BIG BATTERY BOOST
The Tesla Big Battery in South Australia – once the world’s largest lithium-ion battery – made international headlines when it was being built, so it was big news when a planning application was quietly dropped in to the City of Greater Geelong to build a battery four times the size in Geelong.
By November 6 the Victorian Big Battery project was ready to be announced properly, with the State Government ticking off on the roughly $200m project to build the Southern Hemisphere’s largest lithium-ion battery in Moorabool.
French renewable energy developer Neoen was awarded a contract to build the 300MW battery in Geelong to help drive down Victorian power bills, protect the grid from disturbances and encourage further renewable energy projects.
It is expected to be operational by the end of next year.
KILLER GETS 27 YEARS
In May, Nick Munn copped a 27-year jail term for the cold-blooded murder of North Shore dad Jason Fry.
“You attacked Mr Fry when he was unsuspecting and had his back to you,” Supreme Court Justice John Champion summarised.
“You used a hammer to kill Mr Fry, a terrible weapon easily capable of causing major traumatic damage to a person’s head.”
Munn’s attack on his housemate in 2018 was brutal and vicious, and his calculating behaviour in the days after was cold and heartless.
The strong penalty did nothing to soothe the pain felt by Mr Fry’s family.
“Although today’s sentence provides some level of justice, it will never fill the hole left in our hearts,” the family said afterwards.
In a bizarre case of timing, the sentence was delivered on May 5 — the 25th anniversary of the day Munn's childhood friend Ricky Balcombe was stabbed to death in Geelong’s Market Square shopping centre.
FAREWELL LITTLE MASTER
In the 159-year history of the Geelong Football Club no player has been as universally loved and admired by supporters as Gary Ablett Junior.
Even though he defected to the Gold Coast at the peak of his powers, Cats fans still held a soft spot for the champion son of the revered Gary Ablett Senior, and they yearned for a fairytale finish to his career.
Ablett’s return to the Cats fell short of that mark in 2018 and 2019, so he decided to have one more crack in 2020, looking to add a third premiership medal to his glittering trophy cabinet.
He made it clear from the outset it would be hin final hurrah, but his campaign was interrupted, first by the pandemic, and next by family tragedy and hardship.
He played the first seven games of the season before being forced home to care for his loved ones, and missed nine games as the Cats hit their peak form.
He joined the team in Queensland just in time for the finals, and was all set for a fabled end to his career when the Cats made it into the Grand Final.
But it wasn’t to be.
Ablett was cruelly struck down by a shoulder injury early in the match.
He battled on bravely, but, it wasn’t enough as the Cats slumped to defeat, overrun by Richmond and Dustin Martin in the second half.
MYSTERY FATAL YACHT FIRE
How a Melbourne mother of four and her partner died in a North Geelong boating fire remains shrouded in mystery, nearly six months on.
Robyn Lambert, 60, and Brendan Craven, 59, died when their yacht, The Gypsy, was engulfed by flames about 6.30pm on July 1.
The fire is not being treated as suspicious, but police were last week still appealing for witnesses to the blaze to come forward as they pieced together what happened that night. Witnesses had speculated the fire may have been caused by an LPG gas leak.
Pictures posted to Ms Lambert’s social media account show a man and a white dog aboard The Gypsy, which was docked in the bay for months,
Friend Sharon Lambert remembered her long-term friend on social media as much loved and giving.
“She was a kind-hearted considerate person with a big heart,” she wrote.
A coroner is investigating the deaths.
FYANSFORD SILOS DEMOLISHED
Adelaide Brighton Cement in February announced the Fyansford silos would be demolished after they had been found to be potentially unsafe in the long term.
The large silos, which originally stored manufactured cement prior to shipping were evaluated by engineers for their structural integrity and found to be unsuitable for conversion to other purposes, the company said.
Hundreds of people signed a petition against the decision.
Demolition works begun at the landmark around the beginning of March, and continued for several months.
It was announced a prominent mural, depicting Wadawurrung woman Corrina Eccles, Paralympian dual gold medallist Kelly Cartwright and former Geelong Cement Works employee Cor Horsten, on the silos by renowned street artist Rone would be reproduced and donated to the Geelong Gallery.
Originally published as Geelong’s biggest headlines of 2020
State MP echoes concerns over controversial Lara incinerator
The long list of Geelong leaders, politicians and residents opposed to a proposed Lara-based waste incinerator continues to grow.
Extra trains for Cats preliminary final blockbuster
With a near full house expected at the ‘G’ on Saturday evening for the Cats’ preliminary final, Geelong commuters are being assured of extra public transport to get them there.