It's been another big year in our region with North East workers - namely in the Kiewa Valley and Myrtleford - feeling the pinch. A monster was locked up and the key thrown away and, as always, there was pressure on our pollies. As the new year draws closer, DAVID JOHNSTON takes a look back at the big stories of 2017.
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1. END OF AN ERA IN VALLEY
MURRAY Goulburn’s downward spiral was confirmed when its milk processing plant at Tangambalanga was among three announced for closure in May, ending a tradition of more than 120 years in the Kiewa Valley.
About 60 workers lost their jobs in July when milk production ended, while a guillotine hangs over another 70 who continue to work on cream cheese processing at the plant.
The demise of milk processing resulted in the end of Kiewa Country brand products emanating from the dairy which began life as the Kiewa Butter Factory in 1893.
The bombshell saw new players enter the market.
First to make the move was Wagga-based Riverina Fresh with Coon Dairy – the long-time distributor of the much-loved Kiewa brand produced at Tangambalanga into the Albury-Wodonga area and beyond – announced as its distributor.
Then came Kyabram-based Kyvalley Dairy’s purchase of the Kiewa Country Milk brand from Murray Goulburn with its re-entry into the market including the hugely popular iced coffee in December.
The fate of the factory remains in limbo with Murray Goulburn as a whole set to be sold to Canadian company Saputo.
The Montreal firm's chief Lino Saputo offered no guarantees that he could keep the North East factory open when he visited in November.
2. KILLER SHOWN NO MERCY
THE sequel to the gruesome murder of Whorouly mother-of-two Karen Chetcuti was played out in August when her neighbour, Michael Cardamone, was handed a life sentence without parole for the crime.
Justice Lex Lasry made the landmark call in Wangaratta Supreme Court when he concluded: “To refuse the fixed minimum term is an exceptional step and is a dreadful punishment, but this was a dreadful crime.
“Sometimes a crime is so horrific, so cruel and so callous, that a step towards mercy becomes too difficult to take.”
Cardamone has since appealed the sentence and in a further twist in the case, the convicted murderer’s mother, Maria, was taken into custody in May when arrested for attempting to pervert the course of justice by conspiring to kill a key witness in the case.
She later walked free after being sentenced to the 141 days already served in jail, when the judge ruled she was another victim of her son’s manipulation.
Michael Cardamone’s sentence came almost exactly four months after another shocking crime in Wangaratta.
On Anzac Day, Greg Floyd, 43, shot the mother of his four children, 39-year-old Ora Holt, dead before turning the gun on himself.
3. SUSSAN FAILS ‘PUB TEST’
SUSSAN Ley’s reign as federal health minister ended abruptly in January when she became embroiled in a travel entitlements controversy.
The Farrer MP denied breaking any rules when she purchased a Gold Coast apartment on a taxpayer-funded, work related trip to the sunshine state, but admitted the move failed the “pub test” and eventually handed in her resignation to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Ms Ley described the $800,000 apartment buy was done on “impulse” and the property purchase wasn’t the main reason for being on the Gold Coast.
She voluntarily repaid the full cost of the Comcar journey to the auction, as well as the travel allowance she claimed for that night.
Ms Ley also repaid other travel expenses totalling $5232, even though the other examples were within rules.
A return to Cabinet was floated for Ms Ley late in the year, but she enters 2018 still on the backbench.
4. WORK COMES TO A ‘HOLT’
THE Carter Holt Harvey mill at Myrtleford was the subject of a three-month industrial dispute which finally ended in early July.
A lockout of workers began when mill management and CFMEU members couldn’t agree on terms of the latest EBA.
The company refused to budge on a two per cent pay rise with an initial vote of workers rejecting the offer.
But as the dispute dragged on and on and relations between close friends and work colleagues became further strained, employees finally caved into the company offer on a vote of 110-70.
Non-union workers representative Enzo D'Andrea best summed up the situation: “A lot of our guys couldn’t pay their bills and commonsense has won out in the end”.
5. MONEY FLOWS TO OUR AREA
THE May federal budget finally delivered what frustrated commuters on the North-East railway line had been wanting for years – serious cash.
The $100 million funding announcement will go towards fixing the troubled plagued track which has resulted in ongoing service cancellations and delays for more than a decade.
Federal transport and infrastructure minister Darren Chester personally travelled on the Melbourne to Albury route to seek feedback from disgruntled rail users before committing to funding the track upgrade.
The pressure remains on the Victorian Government to follow through with a promise for new rolling stock when the track is finally upgraded.
Another welcome funding announcement came in the NSW budget when $30 million was pledged for the Albury hospital emergency department upgrade.
Howlong pet food manufacturer, Cool Off, also secured $6.9 million in federal funding for a major expansion.
Also, the much-hyped transformation of central Wodonga made some significant steps forward with completion of two major redevelopments.
First to open its doors in June was the revamped Woolworths supermarket project which also included two levels of shops wrapping around the High Street-Elgin Boulevard corner.
Four months later, the Mann Central shopping complex including Kmart and Coles opened.
6. FARMER IN A GUN-FIGHT
FATHER of three David Dunstan was thrust into the national spotlight in September when police seized his guns after he confronted a man at his Bungowannah property with an unloaded rifle.
The intruder was armed with a knife and lump of wood, but it didn’t stop NSW Police from temporarily taking possession of three guns Mr Dunstan owned following the late-night incident.
They were returned to him a month later, but not without a warning from police not to use firearms for personal protection.
But Mr Dunstan said: “If worse came to worst, I would do the same thing again”.
The alleged intruder returns to court in January.
7. TOWN KICKS UP A STINK
HOWLONG residents fearful of a compost plant being built on the edge of their town for more than a year had a win when Cleanaway dumped its plans in early December.
The saga reached boiling point when an independent planning panel approved the facility subject to 130 conditions.
But the game-changer move came when Federation councillors were elected in September and a majority of them immediately delivered on a pre-election promise to overturn the council’s previous support.
Councillors then moved on general manager Chris Gillard, who had his contract extended in the period of administration and had also been supportive of the Cleanaway proposal.
The council installed former Urana Shire general manager Adrian Butler as interim general manager.
Pat Bourke was the only former Urana Shire councillor elected onto the merged council, but was elected its first mayor.
8. BIG NAMES FAREWELLED
THE year ended on a sad note when long-serving priest Kevin Flanagan died only months after retiring from 40 years as the Sacred Heart parish priest.
Father Flanagan was a priest for 54 years in total and his influence stretched to all corners of Albury.
Other notable deaths to occur in 2017 were former Albury mayor Arch McLeish, sporting identity Les O’Brien, Wangaratta councillor Ruth Amery, cancer centre campaigner Eric Turner, policeman Gavin Frew, Corowa racehorse trainer Richard Freyer and Rutherglen football coach Karl Jacka.
9. PIE ON LIFE IN WANGARATTA
WANGARATTA Magpies had a bonus reason to long remember becoming the first team to beat Albury in an Ovens and Murray Football League grand final since 2013.
The Magpies won the flag by 21 points and denied the Tigers’ latest attempt to equal their record of four successive premierships from 1949-1952
The grand final celebrations were relatively low-key until members of the premiership winning team were thrust into a life and death situation when Wangaratta Magpies cricket legend Barry Grant suffered a heart-attack nearby where they waiting to catch a bus.
Grant had been rolling the pitch at the Magpies home ground ahead of the cricket season starting when he collapsed and could have easily died if not for the footballers activating the club’s defibrillator machine to save his life.
10. BORDER REGION SAYS ‘YES’
RESIDENTS of Indi and Farrer made their votes count on the introduction of marriage equality when the plebiscite results were revealed in November.
More than 63 per cent of the Indi electorate voted in support of same-sex marriage with the Farrer figure of 55.2 per cent being slightly lower, but still in the affirmative.
The Indi result was above the national average with the Border’s LGBTI community going into immediate celebration mode.
The follow up vote in federal parliament was supported by Indi MP Cathy McGowan and Farrer MP Sussan Ley.
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