ZOOM MEETING
PP Sue chaired the meeting of 16 members and introduced our guest speaker. 
We welcomed David McPherson DGE D9790 from Deniliquin
Nina Lunde AG—from Kinglake Ranges
Livia Bonazzi CEO, Shire of Murrindindi
President Paul from somewhere near Townsville


GUEST SPEAKER: LIVIA BONAZZI, CEO SHIRE OF MURRINDINDI
Livia introduced a powerpoint presentation covering key areas of her talk, but first told us a little bit about her background.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
We have been faced with floods, bushfires, storms, drought and Covid and have shown resilience as a community.
One of the things Livia liked about Murrindindi was that it is unique, in natural beauty, sense of community and the cluster of community groups which are very organised and help to make the community as a whole, resilient.
Our population is growing but jobs are declining. House prices are rising, in fact they have quadrupled since 2000. One of Council’s main challenges is planning for Land Use.
COMMUNITY VISION - SEE DETAILS HERE
https://theloop.murrindindi.vic.gov.au/future
DRAFT COUNCIL PLAN
This responds to challenges and the 5 key points of the Community Vision. You are invited to give feedback or make comments.
FINANCES AND BUDGET
There is a 10 year plan. During this time Council plans to live within its means, but re-lies on rates and grants.
For example the 2021 /22 budget is $50.6 million and $4.3 million will go on roads and paths.
Questions were taken from members.
PP Sue then gave the vote of thanks to Livia.
PP Sue then invited David McPherson DGE to say hello.
He was excited about 2022/2023 when Rotary are going to kick lots of goals.
Firstly we have the first female Rotary International President—Jennifer Jones and one of her focuses will be on new clubs.
David has appointed Bill Porter as Chair for New Style Clubs.
These bring a new demographic to Rotary and the District team and Zone team have been very supportive.
David reminded us that there is a Zone conference in September. There is also the 2023 District Conference in Deniliquin.
Enjoy the online Zone Conference from anywhere you choose - alone or to-gether with others.
Learning, Leading, Action is this year’s Zone 8 conference theme, putting a spotlight on the essence of Rotarians and the way we get things done.

The theme also gives a clue to the conference content. Hear from speakers who are leading our organisation and our impact, learn from thought leaders and be impressed by a host of Rotarians taking action to change lives in our communities.
Be inspired to Lead Learn Act in new ways that deepen our engagement and in-crease Rotary’s impact.
Speakers include:
• RI President Shehkar Metha
• RI President Elect Jennifer Jones
• PRIP Barry Rassin
CEO/General Secretary John Hewko
Full details, information on the program, speakers and virtual breakout sessions are available at www.rotaryzone8.org
With thanks to David Anderson.

 
PP Sue introduced Nina Lunde, Assistant Governor who told us that a DG visit vis Zoom is planned soon and more information would be sent through.
A New Members Orientation day planned for September 12 in Seymour has been cancelled.

 
GLEN Congratulations to Ken and Ian for their birthdays this week.
 
BOB Thanks to Julie for organising the mock interviews. This year was the most enjoyable and interesting. The kids were polite and seemed to appreciate being able to engage with senior s while discussing their futures.
 
Student Training Interviews
Thanks to Rotarians and partners Jim, Clare, Penny, Marj, Will, Bob, Denise and Sam who assisted me to conduct the Student Training Interviews with 30+ students from Yea HS last week.
The student cohort represented a wide range of ages from 14- 18, maturity levels and work readiness but many valuable conversations took place in the interviews. In many instances the students expressed nervousness (some interviews had to be conducted in pairs) before the interviews but afterwards they all indicated that they were made to feel at ease and felt com-fortable speaking with Rotarians and partners.
The students also expressed their appreciation of the guidance and wisdom provided by the interviewers.
Following on from the interviews, the Rotarians and partners vocational experience and net-working has led to an offer of work experience for one student; and a link to a professional Engineering group who may be able to assist another student who expressed a future goal of studying Robotic Engineering. Jane from Marmalades Café (also an interviewer) has also committed to transferring a student’s part time hospitality job at Marmalade’s into Struc-tured Work Place Learning whereby the student receives Tafe Training and accreditation towards their VCE/VCAL studies. It was impressed upon the students many times that meeting and greeting with community members such as Rotarians and partners could lead to wonderful future work opportunities. Thanks everyone, your support on the day was invalua-ble!
Julie
Vocational Chair
2021/2022