By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
Down in the Brighton badlands, scene of break-ins and carjackings and a spirited law and order debate prosecuted on social media by model, TV host and footy WAG Bec Judd, some residents have taken matters into their own hands.
Fed up with attempting to get the council to act, members of the Brighton Bathing Box Association have hired their own security guards to monitor the brightly coloured huts, which can fetch north of $300,000 and are sited on council-owned Dendy Street Beach.
Matthew Graham and family at their Brighton bathing box. Credit: Penny Stephens
About 20 boxes have been defaced with graffiti or broken into. Now owners have clubbed together to hire security guards to carry out spot checks overnight. The boxes are major tourist attractions. I mean, even Australian Open champ Novak Djokovic has posed in front of them.
“The Brighton Bathing Box Association currently covers all costs for existing security arrangements in the Dendy Beach precinct,” owner and committee member Matthew Graham told CBD.
“These costs are covered wholly by bathing box owners and do not receive any ratepayer or taxpayer contributions. The association is also happy to cover any new costs associated with new security arrangements including provision of CCTV.”
And the council? After months of stagnation, Bayside councillors voted five to one in favour of a motion put forward by Deputy Mayor Alex del Porto to support enhanced security arrangements which might include CCTV.
Regular readers will recall we reported that del Porto, who has been on the council for 16 years, had one of his cars set alight on July 30.
The council said it would not comment on a “private matter” and del Porto did not respond to us. But police said: “It appears the offender attempted to set fire to two other vehicles, however, was unsuccessful. The exact cause of the fire is not yet known. Investigations remain ongoing.” They urged witnesses or anyone with footage to contact CrimeStoppers.
“Council is undertaking research to understand safety measures that may be required for the bathing box precinct at Dendy Street Beach,” Bayside Mayor Fiona Stitfold said. “We will continue to work with Heritage Victoria, Victoria Police and the Brighton Bathing Box Association to assess the best outcome for the community. A report will be presented to council for consideration early next year.”
How timely.
CARNEY 4 KOUTA
Carlton legend Anthony Koutoufides, who is keen to add the Melbourne lord mayoralty to his AFL premiership, is sticking with what he knows and keeping his team sporty.
His newest recruit in his campaign to become lord mayor is none other than Emma Carney, described as a Sport Australia Hall of Fame member, World Triathlon Hall of Fame member and a world champion triathlete. Carney “continues to live in the city and advocate for a healthy and active lifestyle,” says Team Kouta. Good for her.
Kouta’s deputy lord mayoral candidate is business leader and former Wyndham councillor Intaj Khan. While former Chisholm MP Gladys Liu, who rebirthed herself as a personal trainer, is a council candidate.
Rounding out the team is Zaim Ramani, a father of three and “successful property developer”. As is Khan. Can’t have enough of a good thing, we guess.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Perhaps this thought crossed the mind of bureaucrats at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, a statutory agency within minister Amanda Rishworth’s Department of Social Services. They appeared so enamoured of this concept that they ordered 20,000 of them.
But not just any pens. The good folk at AIFS departed from the zealous adherence to cost control by splurging $14,580 on special branded pens.
We are grateful for an AIFS memo obtained under freedom-of-information laws which revealed that the firm Dynamic Gift Promotions, of Tuncurry, NSW, got the gig.
DGP was found to be “a reliable supplier with quality products” and its previously supplied “Dynamic Wave 10 Interviewer Lanyards” were favourably received by AIFS staff. You can’t beat a reliable lanyard, our CBD office manager, Heath Linton, is often telling us.
Minister Amanda RishworthCredit: Alex Ellinghausen
The order was signed off by four AIFS officials, who are clearly sticklers for process. The agency had an anniversary to celebrate after all, 20 years of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, which investigates the effect of children’s social, economic and cultural environments on their wellbeing.
Worthy, we are sure. But worthy of 20,000 full colour two-sided printed twist eco pens? Open for debate, we respectfully submit. We will spare readers a photographic reproduction, but will describe the style as muted ecru pebbling and goddamn ugly.
We asked the AIFS what the heck was going on. It replied, and we quote in full: “Maintaining participation rates is critically important to the effective management of longitudinal studies, such as the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The pens will be distributed as a gift to people that have been involved in the study for up to 20 years, and offered to key external stakeholders as appropriate.”
That’s telling us.
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