Storm troopers and bus benefits

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• FRIDAY 14/11/25, 1-5PM & SATURDAY 14/11/25, 9AM-1.30PM | St Peter’s Market

• SATURDAY 15/11/25, 9AM-5PM & 5PM-9.30PM FOR NIGHT ENTRY; SUNDAY 16/11/25, 9AM-5PM | Lilydale & Yarra Valley Show

• SUNDAY 16/11/25, 10AM-2PM | Melbourne Datsun Day

• SUNDAY 16/11/25, 10AM-2PM | North Ringwood Community House 50th anniversary

• COLDSTREAM — 07/11/25 to 24/12/25; WANDIN — 24/11/25 to 04/01/26, EXCLUDING CHRISTMAS DAY | Cherry Picking @ Cherry Hill Orchards

• EVERY SUNDAY, 8AM-1PM | Mulgrave Farmers’ Market @ Mulgrave Primary School

📰 RECENT LOCAL HEADLINES

🚨 “The rent you paid for being on Earth”: Meet the volunteers helping our communities recover from natural emergencies

Heavy rain and high-speed winds batter a crew of six workers as they cut up their 20th fallen tree at 3am. Little do they know, they face another two nights of 12-hour shifts – all without getting paid.

This was the reality for volunteer crews at Maroondah’s State Emergency Service (SES) unit during the October 2022 storms, as they redirected flood waters on Bayswater Road, sandbagged properties and removed fallen trees from roads.

Maroondah SES unit controller Rainer Langhoff said since starting with the Maroondah unit as a volunteer close to 14 years ago, changing weather patterns have made storms and severe rainfall events “more unpredictable” and “more severe” than ever before.

“That’s clearly why we've got to do even more to be prepared at all times for anything that will come our way,” Langhoff told the Eastern Melburnian.

The CSIRO’S 2024 State of the Climate report showed that with each degree the Earth warms, the atmosphere can hold about seven percent more water vapour, leading to more moisture in the air and more extreme weather patterns.

Environment Victoria reports global warming – and humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels – directly causes this extra water to be created and stored, with impacts also leading to higher temperatures and more extreme weather conditions.

In 2022, Maroondah Council started working alongside Melbourne Water to update its flood mapping to show which areas would be affected during a “one-in-100” rainfall event, with the final maps released in March 2024.

The maps would shape the council’s ongoing efforts to improve the efficacy of drainage, providing flood management and prevention advice to landowners and supporting local SES units.

Periods of short and severe rainfall and flooding leads to the soil becoming oversaturated, loosening the tree roots’ grip. When this happens, trees that were once thought to be strong can crash down on houses or over roads without warning.

During and following the October 2022 storm events, Maroondah SES crews were out responding to a range of call-outs, including boat rescues, pumping water out of flooded homes, and even balancing that alongside other calls for help, such as a child stuck in a toy machine.

Now with more than three years with the unit under his belt, Dale Cochrane told the Eastern Melburnian he had been volunteering since he was 22, growing up in a close-knit community in regional New South Wales, following in the footsteps of his father.

“He always had a saying that volunteering was the rent that you paid for being on Earth,” said Cochrane.

Novalee Catania has been with the unit for two years, deciding to join after speaking with a local SES crew at a local festival shortly after finishing high school.

Catania said she hasn’t looked back since, saying the practical skills and personal growth she has received in the role had been “really rewarding”.

“It's satisfying to know that you've done something to help your community,” said Catania.

$60 billion over the next 30 years: How could new bus and tram services help connect Melbourne’s east?

Residents in eastern Melbourne suburbs like Mitcham, Huntingdale and Upper Ferntree Gully could see quicker travel times into their city jobs, if a proposal for new rapid transit routes gains traction.

Earlier this week, Independent advisory body Infrastructure Victoria (IV) released an updated strategy for the next 30 years.

The report called for the State Government to progress works to introduce six new bus trips, including from Huntingdale to Upper Ferntree Gully and from Mitcham to Melbourne’s CBD.

In 2015, the State Government created IV as an “independent statutory authority”.

Infrastructure Victoria released its first 30-year strategy for the state in 2016, with a further update published in 2021.

Speaking with Infrastructure Magazine earlier this year, IV chief executive, Dr Jonathan Spear, said between 80 and 90 per cent of its recommendations had been accepted and implemented.

One such recommendation was IV’s call for more consolidated and compact urban development, which shaped the state’s long-term infrastructure strategy.

The recommendations from IV outlined the need for a new busway along Hoddle Street to create more reliable and efficient services from areas like Doncaster and Templestowe, as well as high-frequency buses running every five to 10 minutes on key routes to major activity centres.

Estimated to cost about $60 billion to implement, the strategy outlined 45 recommendations requiring action in the next five years and eight future options, which do not necessarily require immediate government action.

Other recommendations included advocating for the State Government to publish waste levy rates for the next five years to provide greater certainty to the waste and recycling sector, rezone locations near existing infrastructure and reduce the speed limits on local streets to 30 kilometres per hour.

Recent IV research found that every dollar invested in making buses run more often provided about $1.20 return in economic impact.

IV chief executive, Dr Jonathan Spear, said with more housing being built on the outskirts of the metropolitan area, a third of Melburnians wait for more than 20 minutes to catch a public transport service on an average weekday.

“People who live in these areas have no easy public transport options, forcing them to drive,” said Spear.

Longer tram journeys: The plan also pushed for the State Government to commit $5.7 billion over the next five years to extend eight tram routes, including East Malvern to Hughesdale via Chadstone (route 3 – south) and Wattle Park to Burwood East (route 70).

According to its modelling alongside two more proposed tram extensions, the expansion would mean 16,100 additional people would board on weekdays by 2031 and 17,500 additional weekday boardings by 2041.

The strategy would be tabled in the Victorian Parliament this week, with IV recommending all parties to consider the recommendations put forward.

🚊 Plans finalised for $60 million facelift of Boronia station

Cranes, trucks and workers will soon descend on Boronia as part of a $60 million upgrade to Boronia’s train station, with the final designs now released.

The plans include a new station forecourt canopy, a landscaped plaza between the station and Dorset Road, widening of the station concourse, new platform shelters and extra lighting and CCTV cameras.

First announced in February 2023 and with concept designs released last November, the project will also create a new park space near the Boronia Junction Shopping Centre, including garden beds, trees, seating and a nature play area.

Major works will launch early next year, including drainage and utility relocation and demolition at 251-253 Dorset Road.

Early works will begin soon, including traffic light upgrades at the intersection of Dorset Road and Chandler Road intersection to add a dedicated right-turn arrow signal for drivers.

Other works will include minor vegetation removal and fencing installations.

Local commuters are advised to prepare for short intermittent closures and reduced speed limits on parts of Dorset Road and Lupton Way.

Bayswater MP Jackson Taylor said he was “absolutely stoked” with the final designs.

“This is the biggest investment into Boronia in a generation,” said Taylor.

SEEN THIS WEEK 🤓

Nationally speaking…

The National Party’s decision to abandon its support for Net Zero emissions is based on a report that contains a large mistake. How large? Over $100 billion.

The Nationals dropped net zero largely based on a report written by the Nationals-aligned Page Research Centre (Page), described by party leader David Littleproud as a “policy document” when he presented it to Opposition leader Sussan Ley.

The report claims that coal is cheaper than renewables, saying: “Independent modelling by Arche Energy found that an ultra-supercritical coal plant could supply electricity for around $82 per megawatt hour, compared to $145 per megawatt hour for solar, wind and battery combinations.”

But the report has a major flaw: it models the long term costs of coal as if brand-new coal plants already exist in Australia. This leaves out the over $100 billion it would actually cost to build them, and it ignores the tens of billions in grid upgrades that coal generation would still require.

Is the claim that coal is cheaper true? No.

Solar and wind are the lowest-cost new power sources in nearly every market in the world.

This has been supported by international analyses from the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as well as the 2025 GenCost report produced by the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator, which shows renewables are now the cheapest form of new electricity generation in Australia - even after accounting for storage and transmission costs.

But then why are the Nats saying otherwise? The Page report says extending every major coal plant for another 20 years would cost $10–12 billion.

At the same time, it says “ultra-supercritical coal plant[s] could supply electricity for around $82 per megawatt hour”.

And here’s the catch: Australia doesn’t have any ultra-supercritical coal plants. And building them would cost nearly $100 billion more than refurbishing the ones we already have.

The Page report keeps the performance numbers of new coal plants, but drops the construction costs, creating an apples to oranges cost comparison.

When asked what the construction cost would be to achieve $82 per megawatt hour for coal, the report’s author, Gerard Holland, told the National Account:

“I think we came to a figure of about $108 billion…please do go and check the numbers that are in that initial report.”

The figure is actually $103 billion, and it comes from a different Page report, published in February, which did include the cost of building new coal plants.

The November report - that National Party members have used to justify dumping net zero – does not include the $103 billion build costs. The $82 per megawatt hour figure - the cost of electricity from the new ultra-supercritical coal plants - remains.

Affordable tofu dishes for $20 and under across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs

Contributor Justine de Jonge took a trek across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs recently to check out some of the best places offering tofu-based dishes for less than a “lobster”.

Check out her full list here.