🦴 Where'd you get those whale bones?

Your local news in six minutes.

Author

Jacob Wallace
July 03, 2026

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

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.

🚗 I was on the road to Wonthaggi yesterday to cover a heap of stories.

I spent the morning asking locals on Graham Street what they think about a range of Gippsland issues - from severe weather damage to favourite restaurants.

I had some great chats, so thanks to everyone that stopped and talked to me.

After that, I filmed a history video on the Wonthaggi Hotel and how a publican in the 1920s came into possession of the whale jaw bones in front of the venue.

All the while I kept an eye out for the rumoured Wonthaggi monster, a historic Tasmanian Devil that was reportedly spotted living around the area in the 1950s. If you’ve seen it then send me an email at [email protected].

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

  • 🍕 Wonthaggi resident’s favourite places to eat in town;

  • 🦴 The whale bones that have greeted these hotel patrons for over 100 years;

  • ♻️ Latrobe Valley’s decision to knock back a $3.7 million glass-bin roll out;

  • 🪁 Family-friendly events across Gippsland this month, and;

  • ⚡️ Whether the government should build and own its own energy supply.

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

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

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

On July 4 1923, eight years after what was then known as Taberner’s Hotel opened, a dead 22.3 metre pygmy blue whale washed up at Wreck Beach in Harmers Haven - about seven kilometres from Wonthaggi.

Two local unemployed men, Jack Keighly and Harold Pleydell, reportedly earned about £450 chopping up and selling parts of the whale.

The lower jaw bones were bought by publican Charlie Daniel Taberner for £25 and placed in front of the hotel where they sit to this day.

Take a look at a video on the history of the bones and the Wonthaggi Hotel below.

Latrobe City Council has decided not to roll out an individual home glass recycling bin service after a report estimated the scheme would cost an initial $3.7 million and $500,000 a year to run.

What happened: At a meeting on Monday, Latrobe City councillors unanimously voted to scrap the idea of a separate kerbside glass-recycling bin in favour of using existing drop-off points at transfer stations. 

  • Councillor Steph Morgan told the meeting the council had received nearly 2,000 responses to its survey on the roll out of the purple bins. 

  • After reviewing the responses, councillor Morgan concluded providing adequate drop-off points would meet the community’s needs while satisfying the Victorian government’s mandate.

What purple bins? The state government has mandated councils implement a home glass bin service from July 1, 2027. 

  • This would mean residents would have four bins: one each for general waste (red), green waste (green), glass (purple) and non-glass recyclables (yellow).

  • The scheme aims to further Victoria's goal of diverting 80 percent of all material away from landfill by 2030.

Many Gippsland councils have opposed the rollout, arguing the scheme would be too costly to regional areas, where trucks often travel longer distances and existing transfer stations and the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) are adequate.

🎉 The Monitor has compiled a collection of family-friendly events across Gippsland this July.

We will update this list as the month progresses, so if you have any suggestions for child-friendly events or activities for the whole family then send an email to [email protected].

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

Australia used to own heaps of its own energy supply. In Gippsland, the Loy Yang and Hazelwood coal-fired power stations used to be owned and operated by the government, so what happened?

My colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account looked into what happened to Australia’s publicly owned energy supply.

Take a look at Archie’s video on the topic below.

🎥 Watch: Wonthaggi residents pick their favourite local restaurants

🎤 While querying Wonthaggi locals about a range of issues, the Monitor asked them where their favourite place to eat in town is and why.

Take a look at what they had to say below.

☎️ Call out. I’m still looking into a story around Gippsland’s greenhouses, how new technology is automating the processes of growing food in them and how they could become increasingly common in a drier climate.

If you work in a greenhouse or know someone who does, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

Thanks for catching up with us this week at the Monitor. I hope you enjoyed this issue. I’ll be back in your inbox with more local yarns next week, so stay tuned.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team

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