Latest news with #EastGippsland
ABC News
13 hours ago
- Health
- ABC News
Victorian GP Margaret Niemann awarded for her work as a mental health trailblazer
Margaret Niemann laughs off a question about her "legacy" in regional healthcare, but her impact is undeniable. The retired general practitioner, whose career spanned four decades, was recently awarded an OAM in the King's Birthday honours for her services to medicine as a GP. Dr Niemann's list of achievements is extensive, and includes long stints in remote Aboriginal communities, as well as providing groundbreaking access to mental health support in regional areas, long before such things became commonplace. Growing up in a suburban household in the Melbourne region, with no relatives ever working in the health or care sectors, Dr Niemann's choice to go into medicine was unexpected. "It just interested me," she said. "I was curious about how people worked and what made them tick, and I thought medicine sounded like a way I could explore that. Dr Neimann married a fellow med-school student, Michael Dawkins, a "country boy" who wanted to go into rural general practice. The idea intrigued young Margaret, and they made their home in the East Gippsland town of Bairnsdale in 1984, settling down with their one-month-old baby. Dr Niemann worked there as a GP-obstetrician while having her own children, and quickly noticed a gap in services for new mothers. PANDA — Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia — had started up in Melbourne a few years earlier, but Dr Niemann said "there wasn't anything in the country at the time". She and some others in the community joined forces to start offering antenatal classes in the area. The take-up was high, with strong interest from young mums and it helped solidify Dr Niemann's own interest in the area of mental health. After 12 years in Bairnsdale and three children, Dr Niemann and her husband needed a change. It came in the form of a federal government push to have GPs living in remote Northern Territory communities, which led Dr Niemann and her husband to Maningrida, an Arnhem Land town of about 2,500 people, 500 kilometres east of Darwin. She admitted it was nerve-racking, but with her husband, who she says is an "excellent GP", they "made a good team", providing much-needed healthcare and developing strong bonds with the Aboriginal community. Dr Neimann said she and her husband would often go out hunting, fishing and foraging with the locals, giving them a fascinating insight into the culture. "We just clicked — it worked well," Dr Niemann said. Dr Niemann said while she loved working in Aboriginal health, she was most proud of her achievements in mental health. When she began in the field, mental health care, as we now know it, was in its infancy, and psychological services in regional areas were pretty much non-existent. Dr Niemann said her earliest work was with people with eating disorders, and it grew from there. "There were no psychologists … so things like anxiety and depression, and even obsessive-compulsive disorder and PTSD were very hard to get any sort of support [for]," she said. While in Bairnsdale, she began diving into the psychological effects of trauma, which dovetailed with her work in Aboriginal communities, where she quickly recognised the impact of intergenerational trauma. "When I started, the idea [of] the psychological effects of trauma and PTSD was just not on the radar," Dr Neimann said. "People didn't think about it [or] acknowledge it. "[But now] it is recognised that it does cause … ongoing problems. We've progressed enormously from that time." Dr Niemann is quick to point out that throughout her career, especially when working remotely, she has been part of a good team. She retired during the COVID pandemic, and is loathe to use the word "legacy" when discussing the achievements and career that earned her a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the recent King's Birthday honours. Dr Neimann and her husband still live in Bairnsdale, where she enjoys gardening, baking, crafting and catching up with friends and family. After a long career, "life's good", she said.
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Best mates are killed in horror car crash near Vicotria - as family and friends share heartbreaking tribute
Tributes have poured in following the deaths of two best mates in a horror car crash in rural Victoria last week. Taj Patten-Mclaren, 15, and Zane Oldis, 18, died when the car Oldis was driving slammed into a tree near Murphys Lane and Bonang-Orbost Road in Orbost just after midnight last Tuesday. Orbost is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, about 375km east of Melbourne and 235km south of Canberra. Taj and Zane died at the scene while their friend, a 16-year-old boy, only suffered minor injuries. A GoFundMe page has been set up to raised funds for the families of both boys with organiser Julie Wilson posting that the pair's sudden passing had 'left an unimaginable void in the hearts of family, friends and all that knew them'. 'We are raising funds to help cover funeral and memorial expenses for both boys. This will ease the financial burden on the families during such a devastating time and give Taj and Zane their heartfelt farewell that they deserve,' Ms Wilson said. Zane's mother Megron said her son was 'my co-pilot in adventures, my constant'. 'He was a kind, gentle soul who loved life and cared for country,' she said. 'Zane was a very kind hearted and caring person that put a smile on everyone's faces the minute he walked into the room. 'He brought a lot of light into people's lives and definitely had a bold personality. He loved fishing, he loved camping and cars and was a big boys boy that loved all of his mates.' As of Monday morning the page had raised more than $12,000 while friends of the two boys gathered at the crash site to lay flowers. Friends described Taj as a 'funny' boy who 'always made you laugh'. 'We miss you Zane, I hope you're at peace now with your buddy, Taj,' one friend said on TikTok. 'Best mates gone, f****** come back, boys,' another wrote on Facebook. 'Fly high boys, loved forever and always,' a third said on Instagram. Senior Sergeant Luke Banwell told media that the boys were killed instantly in the crash while Acting Inspector Rachel Chapman said the incident was felt in the wider Orbost community. 'Everyone in the community will be impacted by this,' she said. Police are still investigating if speed was a factor in the fatal smash.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Glossy black cockatoos could be pushed towards extinction in Victoria if burns go ahead, experts warn
Glossy black cockatoos could be pushed towards extinction in Victoria if planned burns of 13,000 hectares of forest go ahead, ecologists and conservationists warn. The Victorian government is being urged to abandon the burn, which is intended to reduce bushfire risk. Glossy black cockatoos are listed as vulnerable in Victoria, where they are found only in East Gippsland. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of their Victorian habitat was burned in the 2019-20 black summer bushfires, leaving the species almost entirely dependent on 48,000 hectares of unburnt coastal forest between Lake Tyers and Orbost, about 350km east of Melbourne. A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Australian Field Ornithology estimated that the Victorian population had declined by three-quarters since the fires. Glossy black cockatoos feed almost exclusively on the cones of black sheoak trees. Peter Menkhorst, a retired ecologist who worked for Victorian government wildlife agencies for 48 years and a co-author of the study, said they probably had the most specialised diet of any Australian bird, and that a fire in black sheoak forests could badly damage their food supply. He said any unburnt stands of black sheoak were 'of critical importance for the species'. A state government report into biodiversity after the fires agreed that surviving black sheoak stands were of 'great significance for this highly specialised bird species' and advised 'great care' would be needed in managing the forests. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email But conservation groups have expressed concern that the state's forest fire management department plans to burn what they estimate is 13,000 hectares of the bird's remaining habitat over the next three years. Gippsland Environment Group and the Victorian National Parks Association say the birds may never recover if the burns go ahead. Louise Crisp, a founding member of the Gippsland organisation, said she was 'horrified' that significant sheoak stands near Lake Tyers and Lakes Entrance were burned. 'What they're doing is burning the glossies' pantry,' she said. Even a low-intensity fire could cause the cones to open and shed their seed, she said, which was a problem because the birds wouldn't eat seed from the ground. 'My biggest fear is that the population will not have a chance to recover from the incredible effects of the black summer bushfires because Forest Fire Management Victoria are continuing to burn their sole food resource.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion A spokesperson for Forest Fire Management Victoria said uncontrollable fire was the greatest threat to cockatoo feeding habitat and low-intensity planned burns helped reduce fuel loads and protect sheoak trees. 'Ensuring the protection of native wildlife and habitat in the short and long term is a key priority when implementing our planned burning program,' they said. Dr Daniella Teixeira, an ecologist who researches glossy black cockatoos at Queensland University of Technology and is chairing a species recovery team, said fires in sheoaks needed to be planned carefully to avoid areas where the birds were feeding, particularly if there were nest sites nearby. Fire that was too hot could kill the trees. The birds were 'very fussy' about what they ate, she said, 'even down to the individual trees'. Teixeira said the species was long-lived and slow to reproduce, laying a single egg every one or two years, and in decline across its range. BirdLife Australia's president, Mandy Bamford, said Victoria's glossy black cockatoo population was 'tiny', estimated at 250 birds. Those birds needed sheoaks to feed on and safe places to nest, she said, and BirdLife had worked with the department to map priority sites that needed protection. The department's preferred burn window in autumn posed an additional risk, she said, as it overlapped with the bird's breeding season. 'If there are nestlings in hollows, they can't get away. Also, potentially you're reducing food sources at a critical time when they're feeding chicks.' Concerns have been raised about Forest Fire Management Victoria activities after an endangered greater glider was found dead next to a tree-felling operation in Yarra Ranges national park in May 2024. A critically endangered orchid received a last-minute reprieve from a planned burn last October after a local environment group threatened legal action to protect its habitat. Jordan Crook, a nature campaigner at the Victorian National Parks Association, said authorities had a duty to protect threatened species along with houses and infrastructure. He said fire management planning was happening 'behind closed doors' without independent oversight. 'We need to fundamentally change how we use fire in the landscape and manage bushfires,' he said. 'The way we're currently doing it is damaging our biodiversity and our wildlife habitat.'
