🟠 A seed stampede and paying for playtime

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• FRIDAY 23/01/26, 7pm | Cosmic Psychos

• SATURDAY 24/01/26, 7AM-5PM | 5K Foam Fest

• SATURDAY 24/01/26, 9-10AM | Saraswati Puja

• SUNDAY 25/01/26, 9AM-8.30PM | The Tamil Festival Australia

• SUNDAY 25/01/26, 3PM | Daniel Champagne

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

🐦 “Magnificent” or a menace? The two sides of the pigeon debate in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs

Stumbling on a group of pigeons might awaken feelings of irritation or mild disgust, but for 65-year-old Ferntree Gully breeder and racer – or “fancier” – Steve Brown, developing his flock has become a life-long passion.

He is one of about 400 enthusiasts across Melbourne hoping their pigeons are the fastest in the city. But dwindling interest is seeing numbers wane.

Known as homing pigeons or racing pigeons, pigeons bred for racing are the result of hundreds of years of genetic selection.

The average race sees a flock of hundreds of pigeons return home from more than 450 kilometres away, often maintaining average speeds of 75 to 150 kilometres per hour.

The secretary of the Victorian Homing Association – which was first established in 1900 – Brown said he has been involved in the hobby since he was about five years old, attending the races in Mitcham with his father, with racing going back about 100 years to his great-great-grandfather.

“They can do magnificent speeds,” Brown told the Eastern Melburnian.

Brown said his children were not interested in carrying on the torch, as were children from a number of other families associated with pigeon racing in the area.

“Most of the pigeon fanciers are actually just becoming older, and there's not as many kids taking it up,” said Brown.

Under Knox Council’s Amenity Local Law, an authorised officer is able to fine a person feeding a wild bird more than $4,000 if this results in the damage of property.

The council is not directly involved in managing pigeon populations - and discourages the feeding or handling of wild birds.

The impacts of feral pigeons include the acidity of their feces corroding paint, stone and metal in public places, the potential transmission of disease and damage to other infrastructure such as air conditioning units.

Feral populations of pigeons often grow and congregate around major urban areas, including fast food restaurants and shopping centres, with Bayswater’s Mountain High Shopping Centre one of the many local hotspots.

Read the full story here.

👶 “More flexible”: How changes to childcare subsidies could boost access and bring more centres to Melbourne’s east

As childcare centres and parents across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs make the leap to the new Three Day Guarantee for the Child Care Subsidy, Menzies MP Gabriel Ng says he hopes the reforms will fill gaps in “more patchy” areas of his electorate.

Approved last February and delivered via an investment of $430 million over four years, the Three Day Guarantee gives families which earn under $533,280 per year access to six fully subsidised days – or 72 hours – of child care per fortnight.

The Federal Government has capped fee growth at 4.2 percent until August 7.

The Federal Government pays the Child Care Subsidy – a portion of childcare fees – directly to your chosen provider, with parents then only required to cover the remaining balance between the subsidy and the provider’s fee.

Previously, the amount received was calculated via the “Activity Test”, which was based on the number of hours you and your partner worked.

The average hourly cost for childcare services in Victoria over the September quarter was $14.45. This was before receiving any subsidies.

The average amount of hours per child for centre-based daycare in Victoria during the September quarter was 34.4 hours.

Menzies MP Gabriel Ng said he had heard from constituents that the cost of childcare has posed a “real barrier” to access in the past.

“The previous Activity Test punished families for circumstances often beyond their control, was inflexible and excluded children who stand to benefit most from early learning,” Ng told the Eastern Melburnian. “Beyond cost of living support, this measure also provides more flexibility for working parents.”

Ng said feedback from locals on the level of access to childcare services in Menzies was that it was “reasonable”, but some pockets were “more patchy” than others.

“This is also an evolving sector and the certainty that this reform brings should help ensure that those gaps in the market are filled,” said Ng.

Read the full story here.

SEEN THIS WEEK 🤓

🩺 Prioritising speed over quality of care

During my chat on the National Account last week, I spoke about how local doctors told me the uptick in bulk billing could result in patients not being able to get the level of care they need.

Watch the video below.