WTF: Battin’ for Dunstan, red light district, wrong school, Gavin’s gamble

Victoria’s opposition leader was sighted sharing a cold beverage with a potential South Barwon candidate at the Cats’ Thursday night blockbuster.

Opposition leader Brad Battin was at the footy on Thursday, but who he was with is making tongues wag at WTF HQ. Picture: NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

They’re the little – and sometimes not so little – things that can really irk us … and they’re back! A new slot, on a new page with the same old problems that have us all saying, woah, that’s frustrating!

WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A BEER WITH BATTIN

Defeated Liberal Corangamite candidate Darcy Dunstan (right) and state Liberal leader Brad Battin were sighted sharing a beverage at Kardinia Park on Thursday night.

When drawing a Venn diagram featuring sports fans on one side and local political observers on the other, the overlap is surely small.

But fortunately for WTF, one was sitting nearby the President’s Room at Kardinia Park on Thursday night.

While the Cats fought out an impressive win against the Bulldogs on the park, a keen spy couldn’t take their eyes off the apparent display of political wheeling and dealing going on off it.

A blurry photo shows the recent Liberal candidate for Corangamite Darcy Dunstan having a beer with the party’s state leader Brad Battin.

The quiet beverage between the keen Cats fans comes after speculation that Dunstan was being groomed for a tilt at all-but-absent MP Darren Cheeseman’s seat of South Barwon in November 2026.

While confirming it was him and the Berwick MP in the image, Dunstan said the topic of a potential Spring St run was not discussed.

“We were just having a beer and watching the footy, he’s a big Cats supporter,” Dunstan said.

“I’ve just had a kid and my focus is on my family at the moment.

“It’s actually the only beer I’ve had post election.”

Dunstan and wife, Clodagh, welcomed their second child Maeve less that 72 hours after polling booths closed at the May 3 election.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT

The intersection of Shannon Ave and Autumn St in Geelong West. Picture: Alan Barber

A busy intersection in Geelong’s inner west is under a spotlight, just as some commuters have been left under the glare of a red light.

Our spies have reported issues where Shannon Ave and Autumn St meet in Geelong West.

The stop line for turning vehicles on one of the approaches was previously moved back to allow for buses to turn from Shannon Ave into Autumn Street.

However, the sensor underneath the bitumen was not, meaning unlucky commuters could find themselves passed over for a green light – skipped, ignored, left adrift in a sea of traffic.

In correspondence sighted by WTF, a VicRoads representative said the organisation was unable to resolve the sensor issue without major works.

Transport department executive Michael Bailey acknowledged the issue when contacted.

“We’re aware of the issue … and will plan for future work at the site,” he said.

LOCATION IS SECONDARY

Regional Development Minister Gayle Tierney with Belmont High School principal Josh Baker and school captains Eliza Turley, Poppy Nivarovich and Angus MacRae. Picture: Alison Wynd.

The budget can be confusing.

The impact of tax hikes on middle income earners, purposely opaque announcements chock full of jargon, road infrastructure under the guise of housing projects.

So confusing was this year’s budget, that even Labor members seemed to have little clue what was going on.

Local media were sent an alert budget morning to inform them Labor minister Gayle Tierney would be making an announcement at Belmont Primary School.

But when the ‘Addy’s photographer arrived for the picture opportunity, Tierney was nowhere to be seen and the school’s principal had no clue what we were doing there.

A quick call to a Labor staffer settled the media scrum, letting them know the MP was arriving now.

Minutes passed, still no sign.

That was until the staffer, with tail by now well and truly between legs, called back.

Tierney, and the facility upgrades worth over $11m, were at Belmont High School.

GAVIN’S GAMBLE

Gavin Gamble was unsuccessful in his bid to again become mayor of the Golden Plains Shire.

When we did the call around of Golden Plains councillors to gauge their interest in seeking the top job ahead of last week’s mayoral vote, Gavin Gamble was decidedly coy.

“I can neither confirm nor deny,” he said, without any sense of sarcasm.

Fast forward a few days and Gamble – the Greens’ sole councillor in the region – confirmed his tilt at a meeting where Owen Sharkey and Helena Kirby also nominated for the role vacated by Sarah Hayden.

Pitches were made and votes were cast.

Gamble (and Kirby) each scored one vote – their own.

But we here at WTF are all for ambition and Gamble’s gamble, had it paid off, would’ve been one of the more meteoric rises in recent memory given he wasn’t elected to council at last year’s election.

He only joined the seven-member group (currently six-member) because top vote-getter Lachlan Glen resigned a month into the four-year term.

PORTA-PROBLEM

New facilities at South Geelong station

When it was announced South Geelong station would be getting a well needed upgrade, residents could only dream as to the futuristic facilities that might be delivered.

Now, years later, those dreams are reality, a gorgeous station with duplicated tracks and a platform on either side.

But from memory, a portaloo facing the bus stop was not in the original plans.

We would like to thank one of our intrepid colleagues for confirming the toilet does flush, however we thought doing a full review might be taking things a little far.

Originally published as WTF: Battin’ for Dunstan, red light district, wrong school, Gavin’s gamble