Newsletter: Local man finds 100 planets

Plus: Hooning in Morwell.

Author

Jacob Wallace
April 10, 2026

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

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.

🚗 Yesterday, I went on a road trip to Morwell for a few different stories I’m working on.

🎤 One of the people I spoke to on my road trip was Churchill resident and amateur astronomer Chris Stockdale.

From his backyard observatory, Stockdale has jointly discovered over 100 planets in our universe. For his commitment to science he has just been awarded a Berenice and Arthur Page Medal from the Astronomical Society of Australia.

🚀 Stockdale kindly showed me around his observatory and told me about the process of discovering new planets. Check out the full story here, and expect a video of the interview soon.

❝

It's kind of peaceful, whether you're looking at craters on the moon, the rings of Saturn, Jupiter's bands or globular clusters, where there's a million stars just glowing in the eyepiece.

Chris Stockdale

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

  • 🏠 How much it costs to pay off an entry level house in Gippsland;

  • 🌎 A Churchill resident who has jointly discovered over 100 planets;

  • 🔌 Why Australia needs more power lines to keep the lights on;

  • 🚧 How hooning and dumping could lead to road closures in Morwell;

  • 👶🏼 Latrobe Valley’s childcare deserts, and;

  • 🎰 Who profits off our gambling losses?

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

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

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

Chris Stockdale was 10 years old when he watched the 1969 Apollo moon landing at his primary school. Ever since then, his eyes have been glued upwards.

What happened: For his contribution in jointly discovering over 100 planets from his backyard in Churchill, Stockdale has been awarded the 2026 Berenice and Arthur Page Medal from the Astronomical Society of Australia.

  • The Page Medal is awarded every two years to honour excellence in amateur astronomy.

The Monitor visited Stockdale at his Churchill home to talk about the award and the cosmos Stockdale has spent so many years studying.

Personal observatory: Stockdale bought his first telescope in 1985, just before Halley’s Comet flew by.

In 2014, he decided to upgrade.

Where most backdecks of homes have barbecues or outdoor coaches, Stockdale’s has a walkway to a two metre tall white observatory.

Inside the dome, there’s a computer, a single stool and a telescope that Stockdale uses to peruse the night sky for undiscovered planets.

  • Stockdale clearly didn’t hold back on expenses: the roof and the dome shutter is fully automatic.

“There's about $100,000 between the observatory, the telescope, the camera, the mount, and all the other bits and pieces that go with it,” Stockdale said.

Stockdale in front of his backyard observatory.

In South West Victoria, sixth generation cattle farmer Michael Greenham has lived with powerline towers on his farm for 40 years. He says poor communication – not the infrastructure itself – is why new transmission projects face community opposition in rural Australia. 

With powerlines set to be built across the country to support Australia’s new energy grid, figuring out the best way to work with these communities is paramount. 

What’s changed? Despite population growth and an increase in services, Australia’s energy demand has been relatively flat for the last few decades. But the nation’s ageing coal fired power stations are reaching the end of their lives. The country needs a new form of energy to fill the gap.  

Why now? According to the CSIRO’s annual economic report that estimates the cost of building new electricity generation, the cheapest new way to generate electricity is renewable energy, like wind and solar, supported by battery storage. 

Another impact: Greenham said he’s been able to run his cattle farm with little interference from having the lines around, but mentioned for other farms it might not be as easy. 

🗣️ “The other impact I suppose was if we wanted to cultivate, which we don't do that much of, would have impacted that. But essentially The towers became rubbing posts for the cattle and even provided a little bit of shade sometimes. So yeah, we've coped.”

There are examples of crop farming being done successfully while under powerlines, like this farm in Horsham, VIC.

Parents in Churchill have been driving to Morwell and Traralgon just to find a childcare spot. A plan to bring an early learning centre to Watson Park could end that.

What happened? The Victorian Department of Education has requested to purchase a portion of Watson Park in Churchill (next to Churchill Primary School) to build a new early learning centre for the town.

  • Churchill has been identified as one of 50 locations statewide under a Victorian government plan that aims to cater to growing childcare needs in the state.

Town needs more care

Some residents are having to drive a 40 minute round-tip to Traralgon to drop their children off at an early learning centre, according to Latrobe City councillor Leane Potter.

Churchill has a population of nearly 5,000, according to the 2021 census but only a couple of early learning centres.

  • The Federation Children's Centre is licensed to provide care for 75 children.

  • Glendonald Kindergarten provides early learning care.

Potter spoke in favour of selling the land, telling the council meeting: “Families in our community are being forced to drive to Morwell and Traralgon, just to access early learning or childcare services,” Potter said. “It’s a burden on families daily.”

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

Australia has more poker machines than any other country in the world. So who profits off the loss of Australian poker machine gamblers?

That’s the question my colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account dived into this week.

In this short video, Archie outlines the five highest grossing poker machine venues in Victoria and details who owns them.

Take a look at the video below.

🎥 Watch: How excessive hooning and illegal dumping could lead to road closures in Morwell 🚧 

Engie Australia has put a request to Latrobe City Council asking them to close two backroads in Morwell, citing hooning and illegal dumping.

Yesterday, I drove down the two back streets (Old Melbourne Road and Toner’s Lane) to see if I could find any sign of illegal dumping.

Take a look at my video on the topic below.

Cheers for catching up with us this week at the Monitor. I hope you enjoyed this Friday issue of our newsletter.

🎤 Can you help me out? I’m looking to write a story on Bass Coast Shire’s missing mayoral chains. The decorative necklace is estimated to cost $50,000 and was last seen in 2010.

If you are someone - or know someone - who worked at the council around the time the chains went missing I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to email me at [email protected] 

I’ll be back in your inbox next week with more informative videos, fun interviews and local yarns.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team

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