🦎 Hounds, guns and money

Plus: Gorge views.

Author

Jacob Wallace
August 05, 2026

⏱️ This Wednesday edition of our newsletter is a six-minute read.

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.

Yesterday morning I was on my way through Drouin to film some stories when I drove past a poor bloke whose car had just started burning. He told me he was on his way to work when smoke started to billow out of his diesel car’s engine.

Police were quick to rock up, followed soon thereafter by firies who extinguished the blaze. The whole scene made me wonder how cars catch on fire like this and what you should do if it happens.

Take a look at a video I made below.

👀 Looking ahead. In this week’s newsletter we’re talking about:

  • 🔍 The mystery of the Wonthaggi Monster;

  • 🗳️ Who you can vote for in the November Victorian election;

  • 💰 Latrobe City Council pondering whether to charge 14 Moe residents $127,500 to seal two roads;

  • 🌄 Our guide to Gippsland’s most spectacular lookouts, and;

  • 👑 Whether you have to pay tax on gold you find.

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

⁉️ It’s the second round of the Gippsland Monitor’s Quiz. Test your knowledge of the region with our five weekly questions about everything Gippsland. The answers will be in our Friday newsletter.

Feel free to email questions you think may stump our readers to [email protected].

✍️ GIPPSLAND QUIZ QUESTIONS ❓

  1. Which animal unique to Gippsland sounds like a “lavatory being flushed” when it moves, according to Sir David Attenborough?

  2. What name is used for the long stretch of coastline running from Port Albert to Lakes Entrance?

  3. Which Gippsland town do the four AFL Duursma siblings originate from?

  4. What is the name of the nine-year-old boy who rode to Sydney on a pony for the opening of the harbour bridge in 1932? (Two extra points if you can name his pony.)

  5. At which Gippsland beach will you find the Trinculo Shipwreck?

🚀 Alright, let’s jump into the Monitor’s latest yarns!

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

🕵🏻‍♂️ Guns, hounds and a £50 bounty: Was there ever a "monster" in Wonthaggi?

In 1955, a story broke about a Wonthaggi resident spotting what may - or may not - have been a Thylacine around Wonthaggi.

In the 1950s and 60s there were numerous sightings of a strange, striped, tiger-like animal, and over time the legend of the Wonthaggi Monster became part of Bass Coast Shire folklore.

Take a look at a short video history of the animal below.

💰Latrobe City can't decide whether to make 14 Moe residents pay $127,500 to seal two roads

Latrobe City is still mulling over whether to force 14 Moe residents to pay about $9,000 each to seal the roads they live on.

What happened: At a meeting in late July, Latrobe City councillors voted to defer a decision that would have asked the property owners on Pindari and Kandra roads to fund a quarter of the $510,000 needed to seal their streets.

In April last year, the council sent notices to the property owners, informing them of the plan to introduce a new charge scheme that would see them pick up $127,500 of the sealing bill.

The council received five submissions as part of the community consultation process - three in favour and two against.

🗳️ Who can I vote for across Gippsland at the 2026 Victorian election?

Voters will head to the polls on Saturday November 28, 2026 to elect the next Parliament of Victoria.

To keep you up to date we’ve created a go-to-guide, collating everything you need to know about candidates running for lower house seats across Gippsland.

We’ll keep updating this page as new candidates announce their campaigns or provide new policy details.

If we’ve missed something, please let us know! Or, get in touch at [email protected] to tell us about the issues that will be swaying your vote this year, and what you want us to ask local candidates.

Check out the Monitor’s full election guide here.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

If you found a chunky gold nugget, do you have to pay tax on it?

My colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account looked into whether discoveries of gold are tax free.

Take a look at his video on the topic below.

☎️ Call out. In the lead up to the Victorian election in November, the Monitor is going to be covering more state politics. We’d love to hear from you about the issues you feel most strongly about and the questions you’d like us to ask Gippsland candidates and MPs.

Feel free to send your questions to [email protected].

Thanks for catching up with us this week. I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday with more local news and answers to this week’s quiz.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team

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