Newsletter: Are you prepared for a bushfire?

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• JAN. 1 - JAN. 31 | Big Summer Read

• JAN. 1 - JAN. 31 | Australian Near and Far Art Exhibition

• SATURDAY, 31/01/26 | Ella Hooper

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

• SATURDAY, 31/01/26 | The Mirboo North Market

• SUNDAY, 01/02/26 | Kongwak Market

• SUNDAY, 01/02/26 | Maffra Rotary Community Market

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

👩🏽‍💻 Why Morwell is considered a “compelling” site for a new mega data centre

Affordable land and electricity, reliable utilities, digital infrastructure and a skilled workforce are making Australia more attractive to foreign data centre investment, evidenced by a new Morwell-based centre that will likely become one of the country’s largest.

What happened: On January 15, Singaporean company Keppel announced it had secured the rights to lease a 123-hectare site at Hazelwood to build and operate a data centre. 

The site is within one of Gippsland’s Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), which the company said will help give the centre access to reliable and cheap energy. 

The company’s plan is to capitalise on what Keppel’s Manjot Singh Mann, CEO of Connectivity, described as the “megatrend” of digitalisation and AI, by investing early to “secure early and exclusive access to power, water and fibre connectivity at strategic sites in key datahubs”.

“The site near Morwell offers significant scalability, with clear pathways to securing competitively priced green power, non-potable water for cooling, and low-latency fibre connectivity, making it a compelling location to site next-generation AI campuses,” the CEO said.

What exactly is a data centre?

What impact will it have on Gippsland’s energy and water? And will it create local jobs that last beyond the construction phase?

The Monitor spoke to a data centre expert, Research Associate of Strategic Technologies at the United States Studies Centre, Johanna Lim, about the development and the growing number of data centres in Australia.

Read the full story here.

Hopes fade as Venus Bay search for 12-year-old Danny becomes recovery mission

Police are working to recover the body of a 12-year-old boy who disappeared on Sunday at Venus Bay.

Danny, from Taylors Hill, was last seen by family members swimming at No. 4 Beach at about 11:30am.

A search has been underway since Sunday involving local officers, Air Wing, Water Police Squad, Coast Guard, SES, Life Saving Victoria and members of the public.

Due to the length of time Danny has been missing, police are now working to recover his body.

🧯 How are Inverloch locals preparing for bushfire season?

I spent an afternoon in Inverloch asking locals a range of questions, including how prepared they were for a bushfire. Take a look at what they had to say below.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

Check out the latest podcast episode from the National Account with host Archie Milligan chatting to West Vic Brolga reporter Zara Cuthbertson about the Otway bushfires.