Newsletter: The great dog debate

Plus: New Gippsland TAFE facility.

Author

Jacob Wallace
April 24, 2026

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

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.

I spoke yesterday at Foster Secondary College about being a news reporter. The talk was organised by business columnist for The Australian John Durie and featured Michael Shirrefs, a former ABC Radio National producer and Cara Schultz, the chief editor of Prom Country News.

About 40 year 10 English students sat in on the talk, which covered the fundamentals of journalism and the importance of informed and accurate news in their community.

We also discussed the possibility of publishing some of the students’ reporting in the Monitor.

From left to right: John Durie, Michael Shirrefs, Cara Schultz and myself.

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

  • 🐧 Getting the right mix of dog on-leash and off-leash areas in the Bass Coast;

  • 👷 A $15 million announcement for a new facility at Morwell TAFE;

  • 🪖 What life was like in an Assault Helicopter Company during the Vietnam War, and;

  • 📰 How some companies are using community groups to spread misinformation.

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

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

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

Up against a gangly red setter, or a well-fed labrador, racing along the shoreline with the wind at its tail, the delicate hooded plover eggs and fluffy chicks don’t stand a chance.

The dogs don’t mean any harm, but their freedom on the sand, and in other areas where non-canines live and roam, is taking a toll on Bass Coast.

It’s led to a situation where volunteers are having to offer hooded plover security services, setting up a cordon sanitaire around the nests during crucial periods in the breeding cycle. They are also using cameras to monitor wombat burrows.

As with many Victorian communities, locals who love wildlife and dogs in Bass Coast are trying to find ways to work together to ensure the pooches get to stretch out in safe spaces while not making life difficult for hooded plovers, other nesting birds and wombats.

Hooded Plover. Image credit: John, jgmansell.

Bass Coast Shire councillors are hopeful new dog on-leash guidelines will help them assess where man's best friend can and can’t roam freely.

What happened: At a council meeting last week, Bass Coast Shire Council released its draft Dogs in Public Places Guidelines for a four-week community consultation period.

Bass Coast Shire councillor Mat Morgan told the Monitor there are plenty of beaches in the shire for dogs to be set free, but “there are so many cases where domestic animals are impeding on the space of natural wildlife. This framework is a bit of a balancing act”.

On Thursday morning, the federal and Victorian governments announced $15 million to build a new renewable energy digital training facility at the TAFE Gippsland Morwell campus.

What’s happening: The Federal Minister for Skills and Training, Andrew Giles, and the Victorian Minister for Skills and TAFE, Colin Brooks, announced that the Morwell campus will host a new training facility called the Renewable Energy TAFE Centre of Excellence.

The new campus will train apprentices in renewable energy technologies, including smart grids and networks, and home electrification services.

The $15 million for the Morwell campus is part of a $50 million state-federal investment into renewable energy training. TAFE Chadstone is getting $10 million to upgrade its campus, with another $25 million for staffing and equipment at these two facilities.

The new facilities will allow teachers to train people remotely from other states.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

A Senate inquiry spent 10 months working out who is funding misinformation in Australia.

This week my colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account dived into that report and put together this video on how companies are able to influence not only the news cycle but also our classrooms.

Take a look at Archie’s video below.

🎥 Watch: Max Speedy on life in an Assault Helicopter Company during the Vietnam War

Last week, I spoke to Mirboo North resident and Vietnam Veteran Max Speedy about how he ended up in the Vietnam War, what life was like flying an assault helicopter around the jungle for a year and what it felt like returning to Australia after the war.

Take a look at a segment of that interview below, where Speedy talks about his job as a helicopter pilot and one of the two times he was shot down.

Thanks for catching up with us this week at the Monitor. I hope you enjoyed this issue of our newsletter and I’d love to hear from you.

If you have a suggestion for a story, don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected].

I’ll be back next week with more Gippsland yarns.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team

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