Newsletter: Wet roads and meat pies
Plus: Victoria's new youth crime laws.
Jacob Wallace
November 21, 2025
⏱️ This Friday edition of our newsletter is a six-minute read.
👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.
🎤 Welcome to the Friday edition of the Monitor’s newsletter. It’s been another busy week for me covering local issues in Gippsland. One little window into my day-to-day: I spoke to a Professor of Economics at the University of Canberra this morning about how local councils along the east coast are struggling to keep up road maintenance.
🚗 Elsewhere, I went for a little road trip up to Cannibal Creek yesterday to make a video about how the creek got its name. Keep an eye out for that video in the next couple of weeks. Afterwards, I stopped by a Longwarry bakery to continue my hunt for the regions best pie.
✍️ In this weeks newsletter we’ll be covering:
The Allan government’s proposed changes to Victoria’s youth crime laws.
How severe weather is impacting Gippsland’s roads and costing councils money.
I visited De Bruin’s Bakery to taste test their classic meat pie.
A Liberal Senator has slammed his own party for ditching Net Zero.
📸 Take a look at this snap I took of Quigley at Cape Woolamai dog beach on Phillip Island on a wet and windy afternoon. He couldn’t stop staring at a couple of boats that were zooming around the bay.
🎤 On Tuesday I spoke to two academics about the proposed changes to how Victoria prosecutes young offenders. The changes will mean that for certain aggravated and violent offences, children 14 years and older will face adult time imprisonment instead of the protected three year maximum sentence of the Children’s Court.
🏛️ The legislation has come under scrutiny from advocacy groups, human rights organisations and experts who say the laws could exacerbate crime instead of reducing it.
We know that a lot of people captured by the youth justice system have suffered from trauma. They’ve experienced domestic or family violence. They're normally victims themselves of various criminal activities. We're going to put those types of children into custody for 25 years and expect them to come out prosocial and ready to live life. It's just preposterous.
🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️
FRIDAY, 21/11/25 | Pevan and Sarah in Concert
SATURDAY, 23/11/25 | Yarram Agricultural Show
SUNDAY, 23/11/25 | Gippsland Symphony Orchestra
🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧
SATURDAY, 22/11/25 | Lions Traralgon Farmers Market
SATURDAY, 22/11/25 | Yarragon Craft and Produce Market
SUNDAY, 23/11/25 | Bairnsdale Howitt Park Market
🤳 If you’re not already subscribed, you can keep up to date with everything we’re reporting on at the Gippsland Monitor on these platforms:
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🚀 Alright, let’s jump into the Monitor’s latest yarns, local interviews and silly videos!
🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂
Nearly two years after storms carved up roads in the Strzelecki Ranges, ratepayers will finally see major repairs begin on landslide sites between Welshpool and Gormandale.
But the increasing trend of flooding and severe weather events is putting pressure on Australia’s roadways and infrastructure, costing Gippsland councils millions of dollars in the process.
What happened: At a council meeting in early November, Wellington Shire Council awarded two contracts to repair multiple landslides in the Strezlecki Ranges between Welshpool and Gormandale, nearly two years after storms battered the shire.
Wellington Shire experienced 14 declared emergency events between March 2021 and February 2024, causing damage at multiple points along Jamieson-Licola and McKinnons roads.
McKinnons Road in Tinamba following flooding.
Initial stabilisation works were completed, but engineering advice recommended more extensive repairs.
What are the costs? Professor of Economics at the University of Canberra, Stephen Bartos, told the Monitor he has noticed this increased trend of severe weather events along the Eastern states and is concerned it’s driving infrastructure damage.
🗣️ “Flood risks are increasing,” Bartos said. “We concentrate a huge amount of transport infrastructure up and down the coast. The road network is essentially in areas that will flood.”
Local governments squeezed
Bartos said some local governments have the fiscal capacity to maintain roads in good condition while others, particularly those in remote areas with a low population base, find it much more difficult.
🗣️ “There's a number of local councils which simply don't have the funds to purchase the kind of heavy equipment that's needed to keep roads in good repair.”
Victorian children 14 years and older will face adult jail time and possible life sentences under new Allan government reforms dubbed "Adult Time for Violent Crime".
The proposed legislation has drawn criticism from a range of experts and advocacy groups who say the new laws avoid rehabilitating children and could exacerbate crime rates.
What happened: Last week, Victorian premier Jacinta Allan announced changes to the way the state will prosecute violent crimes committed by children aged over 14.
The maximum jail sentence that can be imposed in the Children's Court for any offence is three years.
The County Court, however, can impose jail sentences of up to 25 years for violent crimes such as aggravated home invasion.
At the policy announcement, Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan said children who received harsher sentences would begin their jail term in youth detention facilities, then be transferred to an adult prison when they turned 18.
A national trend
The proposed changes are similar to reforms already implemented in the Northern Territory and Queensland. In 2024 a new Northern Territory government lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 10.
In December 2024, the Queensland government introduced similar laws to allow for adult penalties to be applied to youth crimes.
🗣️“We’re seeing this encroachment across multiple jurisdictions where young people's rights are being eroded,” Dr Kathryn Daley, Assistant Associate Dean of Social Science Research and Policy Studies at RMIT University, told the Monitor:
“They're not old enough to be on the jury, they’re not old enough to vote, yet they can be tried as an adult and receive an adult sentence. It’s a slippery slope here.”
LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀
My colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account put together this story on the Liberal party facing criticism from one of its own senators for backing out of committing to a Net Zero policy.
South Australian Liberal Senator, Andrew McLachlan, said his party were “basically saying: ‘Well, we’re just going to keep on polluting.’ And I don’t accept that”.
Take a look at a longer piece below on Instagram, or read it here.
🎥 Watch: De Bruin’s Bakery classic meat pie review 🥧
As I continue my hunt for the best pie in Gippsland, a few people in the Monitor’s comments section recommended trying pastries at De Bruin’s Bakery in Longwarry.
Take a look at my review of De Bruin’s Bakery below.
🙌 Thanks for catching up with us this week at the Monitor. I hope you enjoyed this Friday issue of our newsletter and I’d love to hear your thoughts on things we should include in our next email.
📧 If you have any suggestions for stories you’d like to see covered from around Gippsland then feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected]
I’ll be back in your inbox next Wednesday with more local yarns, informative videos and pictures of Quigley.
🍻 Have a great weekend.
Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team
