the campaign trail - 29 sep

I'm running in the upcoming state election in the upper house seat of Eastern Metropolitan. It's been another busy week on the campaign trail. This week includes updates on:
 
- Greens support Doncaster Rail
- Greens support Knox call for action on Rowville Rail
- Yes to Doncaster Rail badges prove popular at the Park & Ride
- Greens support a Great Forest National Park
- We support Doncaster Rail meeting coming up
- Greens say legal aid surplus should be directed back into services
- Animals Matter rally, coming up Saturday 4 Oct in Melbourne

Greens Leader, Greg Barber MLC along with myself,
Ben Cronly - Bulleen and Richard Cranston - Warrandyte
hand out Yes to Doncaster Rail badges

You can keep up to date with campaign news on:

facebook - Samantha Dunn EasternMetropolitan
  or
twitter - @greens4eastmet 

to volunteer or donate

web - Samantha Dunn, Candidate for Eastern Metropolitan

samantha in the press

Forest Hill candidates under the spotlight at Whitehorse’s Metropolitan Transport Forum
Whitehorse Leader
by Laura Jolly
26 Aug 2014

the campaign trail - 25 aug

I'm running in the upcoming state election in the upper house seat of Eastern Metropolitan. It's been another busy week on the campaign trail. This week includes updates on:

• Your invitation to the launch of Bulleen and Warrandyte campaigns - on this Friday
• Whitehorse Transport Forum - a lot of unhappy commuters who've lost their bus service with no consultation
• Relaunching the Victorian Renewable Energy Target
• Kingswood College Year 10s invite to talk environment accepted by the Greens and only the Greens
• The Murphy Legal challenge to the East West tunnel
• 99 days - election countdown

You can keep up to date with campaign news on:

facebook - Samantha Dunn EasternMetropolitan

or

twitter - @greens4eastmet

to volunteer or donate

web - Samantha Dunn, Candidate for Eastern Metropolitan

samantha in the press

Transport forum a chance to have say on what’s bugging you in Whitehorse 
Whitehorse Leader
by Laura Jolly
11 Aug 2014

the campaign trail - 12 aug

Another busy week on the campaign trail. This week includes updates on:

PTV 'Public Forum' Farce - The PTV and Transdev 'only by invite' consultations
Ben Cronly preselected for Bulleen
Lib/Lab vote down Greens Pokies Bill to support $1 bets
Manningham Greens talk to commuters
Fundraiser for Eltham and Ivanhoe
TAFE in trouble - VAGO report
Your invitation to the launch of Bulleen and Warrandyte campaigns


You can keep up to date with campaign news on:
facebook - Samantha Dunn EasternMetropolitan
or
twitter - @greens4eastmet

to volunteer or donate
web - Samantha Dunn, Candidate for Eastern Metropolitan

samantha on the campaign trail

 

I'm running in the upcoming state election for the Greens in the upper house seat of Eastern Metropolitan. 

You can keep up to date with campaign news on

facebook - Samantha Dunn EasternMetropolitan

twitter - @greens4eastmet

web - Samantha Dunn, Candidate for Eastern Metropolitan 

minibeasts on show at birdsland

Yes it's that time of year again, where young and old can learn all about our local little creatures at the Minibeast Festival. It's a great way to find out more about our local environment, particularly those creatures who inhabit our waterways and provide a valuable food source for our local icon, the platypus.

Where: Birdsland Reserve, Belgrave Heights
When: Sunday 27 April, from 11am to 3pm
Food: BBQ provided by Selby Primary, vegetarians and coffee lovers catered for
Cost: Free!
Activities: Platypus walk and talk, exploring minibeasts, giant yabby lantern making for the Lantern Parade.

Thanks to Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group for coordinating and Melbourne Water and Yarra Ranges Council for support.

The Minibeast Festival is an annual favourite, at last
year's festival I was delighted to add this lemon tree to
the sustainable garden at Birdsland.
Pictured left to right: Vicki from SDLG, Gavin from Yarra
Ranges Council and me, Cr Samantha Dunn.

selbyfest 2014, community at its best

Congratulations to organisers of the 2014 Selbyfest, a great celebration of all that is community in the hills. Centered around Selby Community House and the Minak Reserve, one of the shire's top 10% of high biodiversity reserves.

That's the Kettle TeaHouse behind me (in the dome),
a lush space full of soft furnishings, yummy cakes and
of course tea, a wonderful addition to Selbyfest.

The day was jam packed with plenty of activities, showcasing the broad range of talented hills folk. There was an extraordinary range of community stalls, highlighting the many activities going on locally, whether it be arts, landcare, fashion, wild animals, there was something for everyone at Selbyfest.



Selby Primary provided great entertainment, their rendition
of Eye of the Tiger was terrific,



Local brigade, Selby CFA, were well represented, providing traffic management and car parking coordination and of course the sausage sizzle, they report a good day out with 400 snags sold on the day. There was plenty of food to choose from and it was great to see many local food businesses selling their wares at Selbyfest.

Captain Koala made an appearance - thanks
Selby CFA!

Great to see local community radio station 3MDR there, with a live broadcast going all day as well as an exhibitor stall to fly the 3MDR flag.

Hugs for Kids (in Belgrave) kicked off the fashion parade,
Bec doing some rousting of her models. Hugs for Kids
prides itself and unique, handmade and locally made products.

The fashion parade is one of the Selbyfest highlights and I was delighted to be able to MC this year's parade once again. I was also very pleased to give special recognition to Tracey Van Vloten, Selby Community House Program Coordinator, she's been the driving force behind the organisation of Selbyfest and in accepting her gift she said "it takes a village".

The Limerence models strut their stuff, Limerence
is located in Belgrave and stock all Australian made
fashion and art. It's great to see this local business
participate in Selbyfest. The shoes were supplied by
new local business in Upwey, Shoe Boutique.

Selbyfest is a great example of community, my thanks to all the volunteers who make it happen, they do it freely and are very committed to the local community. Yarra Ranges Council is proud to be able to support Selbyfest through our Community Festivals grant program.

In an impromptu catwalk, Tracey struts her stuff and
her gift for her outstanding efforts coordinating
Selbyfest.

The Voicemob performance was captivating,
bringing together a number of hills choirs, this is the
4th official flashmob performance of Voicemob, a project
aimed at encouraging flashmob signing, singing and dancing.

 

survival day 2014

Australia Day, 2014 saw the seventh running of Survival Day in Belgrave, a celebration of the survival of Indigenous culture. Organisers worked hard to bring the most amazing line up of artists and speakers to both locals and visitors. 

Aunty Dot Peters has supported Belgrave Survival Day
since it's inception, this year she particularly highlighted
Indigenous involvement in the first world war. Aunty Dot
has long fought for recognition of the Indigenous
contribution to the war effort.

I am pleased to be able to support Survival Day both through community ward funding and Yarra Ranges festival funding. It is a great day to celebrate the achievements of our Indigenous community and their great strength to survive.

Uncle Bill Nicholson conducted a smoking ceremony
to welcome everyone to country.

It’s also a good opportunity to report back on the activities of Yarra Ranges Council and our work with the Indigenous community in the past year. 2013 was a busy year in this space, much was achieved and this includes:

• Formalising Council’s first ever Reconciliation Policy, a shared
• The launch of Council’s Reconciliation Framework for Action that outlines our key strategic Reconciliation directions for the next ten years based Indigenous ways of Knowing and Cultural Strengthening, based around the values of respect, caring and sharing.
• Providing support to HICSA regarding governance and organisational sustainability
• The launch of the Sharing Our Stories DVD at the Memorial Hall which is a great video on Wurundjeri culture spanning from ancestors through to contemporary times. Produced in partnership with Eastern Regional Libraries and HICSA

• The installation of interpretive artwork at the Healesville Library, also a partnership with ERL and HICSA.
• Undertaking a process to embed the core Aboriginal cultural values of respect, caring and sharing into the departments of Family, Youth and Children’s Services and Economic and Community Development.

• Establishing a relationship with the Wurundjeri Council to ensure the traditional owner voice influences Yarra Ranges land management practices, engaging the Wurundjeri Green Team to undertake landcare operations and providing key traditional owner content in Council’s Cultural Respect Training Program.
• The completion of the Wurun Family Childcare precinct at Healesville based on a Reconciliation model.
• The exhibition of Local Possum skin cloak launch at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum.
• Contribution of funding and support to the Coranderrk and Belgrave Survival day events last year.
• Wominjika (Welcome) on gateway signage into Yarra Ranges.

And last but not least on a broader level council signed on as participants of the Racism, it stops with me campaign.

I am very thankful to the volunteers who work tirelessly to bring Survival Day to the hills, it’s a terrific day to celebrate the survival of the world’s longest living culture.