A by-election is required to fill a vacant councillor position on the King Island Council and the costs will be paid by the King Island Council. 

This vacancy was triggered under schedule 5 of the Local Government Act 1993 by Councillor Sarina Laidler’s absence from three consecutive council meetings.

Ms Laidler sent an apology, when her husband required emergency medical treatment on each occasion, and not the required Leave of Absence request. Ms Laidler attended the November meeting, when the anomaly was found and the Mayor, Ms Laidler and the council were informed.

Councillors are required to motion and vote on a Leave of Absence and the reason for the absence is published. As Councillor Laidler was one of eight candidates elected unopposed in October 2022, a recount of ballot papers to fill this vacancy is not possible.

According to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, if only one candidate is nominated the election ballot papers will not be posted to voters and the by-election will be declared.  The costs of electoral preparation and advertising to that point will be borne by the council.

“That cost, of course, is vastly different if there are more nominations and the postal ballot goes ahead, as that will include those elements and the costs of postage, additional advertising [if any], processing, and returns. The equation is changed,” a TEC spokesperson said.

The Courier has requested an estimate of the costs, and this has been referred to the TEC finance area.

Nominations opened Monday and close at noon, next Tuesday, January 23  Voter roll enrolment closes at 6pm today and nominations will be announced at noon next  Wednesday, January 24.

Voter ballot material is to be delivered to electors by post between Jan 30 and Feb 2. 

An enthusiastic crowd at the King Island Racecourse watched Southern Jewel emerge victorious in the $4,500 2023/24 Jim McKenzie Agencies King Island Cup (1800m).

The Cup Day races, traditionally held on New Year’s Day moved to New Year’s Eve due to clashes with the Tasmanian racing calendar.

Southern Jewel, priced at $5, made a remarkable comeback from second-last position at the 650m mark. The four-year-old gelding surged to the lead halfway down the straight, clinching victory by 3/4 of a length over Run Callan Run ($4.00) and Lindrum ($4.00). Despite being the $3 favourite, Screw Creek finished in sixth place with a recorded time of 1:52.19s.

Jockey Randy Tan secured a last-minute ride after the original rider change deadline on Thursday left connections in need of a jockey. Rowan Hamer’s triumph as the trainer marked the third generation of his family to achieve a King Island Cup victory. Southern Jewel is now set to compete in the $20k Miners Rest Cup on January 20 in Andrew Noblet’s slot. Mr Noblet is a member of the Ballarat trainers syndicate and was present at Saturday’s event.

In the Carlton & United Breweries Pacing Cup, Tammy Langley, a harness racing trainer based in Brighton, continued her winning streak with a satellite stable on the island. Lou Lous Allgold, the $1.50 favourite, overcame a 20m handicap to secure victory in the Pacing Cup. Driver Tiarna Ford strategically positioned the mare five back on the pylons before making a move at Johnson’s Corner at the 800m mark. Lou Lous Allgold took the lead at the 400m, securing a 6.5m win over Pawnbrokers Lad ($5.00) and Who’s Watching Now ($7.00), with a mile rate of 2:17.2s.

The King Island Racing Club presented four Life Membership pins during the day. One went to Barry Taylor, the son of local racing identities Jim and Sue Taylor.

Racing Club president Audrey Hamer told patrons that this was the first father and son to become life members

. “Barry started race riding when he was 15 and when he became too heavy, he commenced a steward cadetship and worked behind the barriers. He has been on the race club committee for many years and was club vice president for two or three years,” Ms Hamer said as she presented him his pin.

The second Life membership was awarded to Deb Monson, and was presented by Jim Taylor. “I’ve known Deb since she worked with John Keys doing track and Ron Muir was foreman,” Mr Taylor said.

“It took Deb four years to get her trainer’s licence, she ran the Taylor satellite stable, has been involved with two KI Cup winners, trained or connected in some way with nearly every winner in the main King Island races and on the race club committee for many years.”

The third Life Membership pin awarded was to Warren Fisher, son of ex-King Islander, Sue Fisher, whose words were read by Ms Hamer  during the presentation. They described Warren’s lifelong involvement in Island racing, starting with grandfather Ernie Fisher, who was connected with the Barnes Stables in the 1930s and 40s.

Boyd Hoare received the fourth and final Life Membership. Ms Hamer explained that Boyd first became involved with horses through his sister in 1989 and then took on the racing club’s barrier duties in 1990 which he continues to do today.

The next race meet is King Island Recreation Day Saturday 13 January starting at 12.30 pm.

There were words of thanks and praise for some undercover garden work undertaken in front of the King Island Hotel just before Christmas.

The mystery person  simply got in and rolled up their sleeves, starting at 7am and leaving at dusk.

But neither secrets nor information take long to get around the island.

The garden fairy was Sonja Hassing and she was overwhelmed by the public support she received.

“I was surprised when a friend showed me an online picture. Of me. In a garden,” Ms Hassing said in a response of thanks to her many supporters.

“People have been kind. Incredibly sweet. I was overwhelmed. Sincerely. Physically. I teared up and could read no more. I asked to do the garden. To make it pretty again.

“To have a place for grownups and little tooshies to sit, eat, drink and be merry. I took out a lot of flowers but left a lot, even if you may not see their budding stems.

“There was also the lovely lady who gave me potted flowers, and then I dug up more from her garden, and she would not charge me for them.

“Another lovely lady donated the use of her ute to take away the loads of weeds and branches to the tip and cartloads of mulch and helped spread it.

“I would have been happy to garden in the dark. Unseen. Then have it appear, like magic, all done in the morning. But in retrospect,

“I am glad I could not. Now I have forever memories of smiling faces and encouragement and of thoughtful and generous comments from those who stopped in person and wrote online.

“I am grateful, dear lovelies, that you took the time to tell me my efforts were appreciated and that the garden is ‘wonderful’.

“Please accept this not-so-private note as a very personal ‘THANK YOU’

“I offer a virtual thank-you hug. Or, if you wish, stop and ask for the ‘real’ thing. Love and hugs.”

A Council casual vacancy was created late last year, due to Local Government Act rules and regulations around a councillor’s missed ordinary council meetings and a by-election will be held.

Voter ballot material will be delivered to electors by post  from January 30 to February 2.

Then councillor Sarina Laidler believed an apology was sufficient when she was unable to attend three consecutive ordinary council meetings when her late husband  needed emergency medical treatment.

The Act requires a leave of absence request, motioned, and accepted by councillors.

Ms Laidler was removed from office in December. This has created a casual vacancy on King Island Council.

 If a vacancy cannot be filled by a recount, as in this case, there will be a by-election.

For council by-elections, in accordance with section 308 of the Act, the Electoral Commissioner fixes the closing day, and, in consultation with the general manager of the Council, sets the day the notice of the by-election is advertised, the nomination period and the close of rolls.

Ms Laidler indicated when the council vacancy was declared that she planned to nominate again for the council seat.

Local government election voting is compulsory, and it is a postal ballot. Voting papers will be posted to the voter’s roll-registered address.

The TEC advises if you are currently on the electoral roll, you are automatically on the local government roll for the municipal area (council) in which your enrolled address is located. You are also eligible to be on the local government roll if:

You own or occupy land in a municipal area different from where you are enrolled on the state electoral roll, or

You are the nominated representative of a corporate body that owns or occupies land in the municipal area.

To enrol under these special provisions, you need to complete the appropriate enrolment form and return it to the General Manager. For more information, to check your enrolment details, or to complete the local government enrolment form, please visit: Local government elections enrolment tec.tas.gov.au

RECENT rumours doing the rounds on King Island during the holiday season have been confirmed – King Charles III and Queen Camilla have been invited to visit the island.

“Before Christmas, I spoke to both the Governor-General’s Office and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to nominate us for King Charles III to visit as part of the Australian royal tour anticipated late this year,” King Island Mayor Marcus Blackie said.

“Assuming the royal tour goes ahead I think our chances are good,” Mr Blackie said.

A “King on King” has a ring to it. “King Island crown jewel of Tasmania”. So many paparazzi-tabloid headlines are possible. There’s history too.

While King Island is named after NSW Colonial Governor King, not a monarch, previous royals have almost made it to the island.

 King Edward VIII, while Prince of Wales, representing George V, was invited by King Island Council to the island when he visited Tasmania in 1920.

The King (or his royal secretary) sent a telegram from his ship, HMS Renown, acknowledged the invitation and his personal delight in receiving King Island Dairy cheese, which he said was shared on board, however, he sailed on by.

The island has previously hosted Governors General, Governors, Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers but never a royal personage. If he does visit, King Charles will have to be content with an interim protrait of his royal self at the Council Chambers.

The council has an temporary royal portrait – for official occasions –  but the official portrait is on backorder.

If he shouts the bar at the King Island Hotel in Currie he will be able to use the new coinage featuring his dial, released in December. But the island does not have an island dance (unless we can claim the Tassie two-step as ours).

However, we can offer everything from camping to high-end Australian six-star accommodation.

The King reportedly loved his outback adventures at Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop as a lad, so maybe a cray on the fire on the beach would bring back some fond youthful memories that he could share with Queen Camilla.

We have plenty of swans and peacocks that could be rounded up to recreate dishes of the old days. Yep, King Island is ready to host the royal couple.

Laughter and good cheer once again escaped from the King Island Hotel when the Senior Citizens held their annual Christmas lunch last week.

The sit-down Christmas dinner had ham, turkey, vegetables, gravy, and cranberry sauce on the menu, followed by plum pudding or pavlova and berries and was enjoyed by all. But the real reason more than 75 attended the lunch was the entertainment.

All the way from the North Pole, Santa interrupted Senior Cits president Jenny Hill and Colleen O’Flaherty’s welcome, but guests were astounded when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, courtesy of King Island Radio, sent his greetings and warm wishes for Christmas to the King Island Senior Citizens.

Santa and Mrs Claus, with the help of Grades 1 and 2 students from the school, opened the festivities with a Christmas modified Jailhouse Rock. Blonde Marilyn, aka Janet Hamilton, schmoozed and wiggled across the stage with Santa Baby. Who knew Janet could move those hips and slide that boa in such ways?

John Smith quickly followed the Aussie classic Jingle Bells in a Rusty Holden Ute with a uke.

The kitchen staff couldn’t believe their eyes. Darelle Thompson found her ‘Ho Ho Ho’ in the bottom of a bottle and Sonja Hassing slinked and brought a very sexy flavour to I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus (by this stage the drinks were flowing at the tables).

The King Island kitchen staff thought their boss’ tripping the boards had finished but left their duties to watch John with Arnold Stellmaker and the team perform Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Both Grandma and Grandpa missed their calling and really should have been on the stage, not running a farm or a pub. A highlight was when our local Tasmanian police force arrived and got into the act.

The ‘I can’t believe I won all this’ raffle winner was Liz Bond. This year the 30 lucky number prize winners had the opportunity to select their gift themselves from under the Christmas tree.

 The Senior Citizens’ Christmas troupe received cheers, standing ovations and show director Colleen O’Flaherty – who has said for the past few years “Never again” – has already started thinking about next year’s Senior Citizens extravaganza.

It was overcast, but the rain held off and the track was good for the King Island Beef Race.

The King Island Beef Producers Group sponsored the race day and the food and beverage event in the Williams Brothers Post pavilion was a sellout, with 115 packages sold.

An extra race was added to the meet, making it an eight-race card with five gallops and three harness races. It was ladies’ day on the track, with six of the eight winners and three place getters being female trainers.

The imported horses have settled in for their Island holiday and are still a threat to locally owned and trained horses. Bill Hayes, trainer and stable from NSW, placed early in the day, but the imports are still to show full form.

The ‘Ballarat Connections’ mainland trainer syndicate purchased, sponsored, and transported horses to King Island for a second year and had their first wins. They tallied two wins, a second and a third on the day. Their first win of the season was in Race 4 with (Andrew) A Noblett Racing’s Southern Jewel, sponsored by Tile Importer, trained by Rowan Hamer, and ridden by Codi Jordan. The McEvoy-Mitchell ballot draw, four-year-old grey Wholesome came in third.

Their second win was in Race 7 with Prophet’s Reign, which is trained by Andrew Bobbin Grampian Racing, sponsored by Ladbrokes, Casey Hyde local trainer and clerk of course, and got home by Craig Atkinson. Prophet’s Reign was followed in closely by Inarius, locally trained by Ian Johnson for Ciaron Maher Racing sponsored by Kia Australia and ridden by Codi Jordon.

 Whether this is a true reflection of the field is questionable,  as the race started with only three runners.

The Tom Wilshire Memorial, sponsored by the Payne family, was won by Disclevaboy to the delight of the connections: Muir, Fowles, Hely and Clemons. Patron of the King Island Racing Club Robbie Payne reflected on the generational continuity of the Memorial through his mother Judy (dec), the present generation and hoped the next generation will continue the legacy.

Visiting harness trainer Tammy Langley (Brighton) and driver Dylan Ford won and interstate team Tiarne and Jorja Rusten placed so the journey to King Island was worth it.

The remaining race meets are:

Boxing Day

Tuesday, December 26

New Year’s Eve Cup Day

Sunday, December 31

King Island Recreation Day

Saturday, January 13

Maritime/Miners Rest Cup

Saturday, January 20

Southern Air Fly-in Day

Saturday, January 27

BEEF
DAY
RACE
RESULTS
16
DECEMBER

RACE 1

1st FILLENTINA T: ROBERT KEYS J: KELVIN SANDERSON

2nd CUBIC T: BILL HAYES J: THOMAS DOYLE

3rd DELIGHTFUL DODGER T: BILL HAYES J: CRAIG ATKINSON

RACE 2

1st SQUAZEEMOTO T: TAMMY MUIR J: MS CODI JORDON

2nd LIKA MOSH T: JIM TAYLOR J: MS HANNAH LE BLANC.

3rd 5 AXELBATCHFOLEY T: JIM TAYLOR J: JAMIE GIBBONS.

RACE 3 HARNESS

1st LOU LOUS GOLD T: TAMMY LANGLEY D: DYLAN FORD

2nd CHASIN FRANKIE T: Peter jakowenko D: ADRIAN COLLINS

3rdJULEPE SANDS T: SHANE KEELER D: DAMIAN SPRING

RACE 4

1st SOUTHERN JEWEL T: ROWAN HAMER J: MS CODI JORDAN

2nd LINDRUM T: JIM TAYLOR J: MS HANNAH LE BLANC

3rd WHOLESOME (NZ) T: ROBERT KEYS J: THOMAS DOYLE

RACE 5

1st DISCLEVABOY T: TAMMY MUIR J: MS CODI JORDON

2nd MISS BONDI   T: DEB MONSON J: THOMAS DOYLE

3rd CIANNA              T: CASEY HYDE J: CRAIG ATKINSON

RACE 6 HARNESS

1st STONY THE SPY T: TAMMY LANGLEY D: DYLAN FORD

2nd IMHOOKED T: SHANE KEELER D: SHANE KEELER

3rd BABYFACE QUINCE T: DARRYLE RUSTEN D: JORJA RUSTEN

RACE 7

1st PHOPHETS REIGN T: CASEY HYDE J: CRAIG ATKINSON

2nd INCARIUS T: IAN JOHNSON J: MS CODI JORDON

3rd MR BROADWAY T: JIM TAYLOR J: MS HANNAH LE BLANC

RACE 8 HARNESS

1st MARGARET’S CLAN T: TAMMY LANGLEY D: DYLAN FORD

2nd PAWNBROKERS LAD T: SAMANTHA KEELEY D: DAMIAN SPRING

3rd WHO’S WATCHING NOW T: SHANE KEELER D: SHANE KEELER                        

KING ISLAND DISTRICT HIGHSCHOOL

Our 12 Grade 10 students of 2023 celebrated in style with staff, family and friends during an afternoon get-together held in The Rock Cafe.

Memories were shared, as well as a delicious charcuterie, and were illustrated with photos from each student’s time at KIDHS from Kindergarten through to Year 10. Staff then joined students at the King Island Hotel Cataraqui room to enjoy a three-course meal and share speeches and stories.

Grade 10 Home Group teacher Jen Holbrook planned the celebration, supported by Parents of the leavers. We wish this fantastic group of students the best in all their future endevours.

Principal Denise Bryant is leaving KIDHS to take up a principal duties at Oatlands District High School for Term 1 and 2 of 2024. “My Principal role at KIDHS has been advertised as a fixed-term position for six months and should be confirmed in the coming weeks,” Ms Bryant said.

“I have enjoyed my five years at KIDHS and wish the acting Principal well for the first half of 2024. Oatlands District High School has an enrollment of 205 Kinder-Grade 12 students and a staff of 54. I am looking forward to leading and providing support to the school community.”

An engaged audience attended a public talk by Dr Eric Woehler in mid-December at Currie in which he described his scientific surveys of shorebirds and seabirds around Tasmania, including King Island and the Furneaux Group spanning 30 years.

Analyses of his mapping and census data show that King Island’s beaches are of international significance for the Threatened Hooded Plover and the Australian Pied Oystercatcher. With more than 1 per cent of the global populations of both species, King Island’s beaches are a critical breeding habitat for them.

“These species rely on King Island’s beaches every day of their lives to nest, feed and survive,” Dr Woehler said. “Pied Oystercatchers can live for more than 35 years, a remarkable life expectancy.”

The talk also described the current breeding efforts of the Threatened Fairy Tern – a tiny seabird a fraction of the size of a Silver Gull – on several beaches around the island. “Both Federal and State Governments are becoming increasingly concerned about this small seabird, as the populations around Australia are crashing – we’ve lost around 75 per cent in the last 40 years,” Dr Woehler said. “Unless this trend halts soon, the species will become Endangered.”.

Following the talk, and an extended question/answer session, Dr Woehler presented Margaret Bennett with her BirdLife Australia Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to conserving King Island’s birds and their habitats.

Margaret Bennett with her BirdLife Australia Distinguished Service Award.

Picture: Eric J Woehler