Rotary Melbourne's 4th Meeting of this Rotary year and our 5,042ndall time Club meeting, in its 104th year characterised the broad reach and perspectives that Rotary Melbourne explores at its weekly meetings.
Meeting MC was Anthony (Tony) Battaini. The reflection was delivered by 2025-26 Elect Phillip Cornish and is published in full later in this bulletin.
President Catherine gave a special welcome to our Guest Speaker, Dr Kim Houghton whose myth-busting address a little later would focus on the changing face of Regional Australia. Regrettably, Kim had to participate virtually via Zoom because his flight was cancelled due to fog in Melbourne Airport.
President Catherine also welcomed Dr Bruce Livett who would be inducted on transfer from the Rotary Club of Kununurra. After welcoming other visiting Rotarians, guests of the club and guests of members, President Catherine invited Rosemary Nixon to come to the podium to introduce Bruce Livett, following which his induction proceeded.
Bernie McIntosh then came to the podium to highlight the annual commemoration of the Battle of Amiens is on Thursday 8 August with traditional gathering at the Shrine of Remembrance at 8:00am at which a delegate of the Club will lay a commemorative wreath.
This year the 0808 commemoration coincides with the Annual Sir John Monash Medal presentation and address at which the recipient will be The Honourable Josh Frydenberg.
Chris Rodd then came to the podium in his very colourful bicycle riding outfit to advise members that he was co-ordinating this years Around the Bay Rotary Melbourne riding team. The plan is to ride from Sorrento to Melbourne on Sunday 6 October. The traditional BBQ will be held at Chris and Susan's place at Portsea in Saturday 8 October. Please contact Chris Rodd if you would like to ride with the team.
President Catherine then called Past President Mary Barry to the podium whose birthday coincided with the day’s meeting. She noted that Mary Barry was the club’s 101st President and has served in various roles on the Board including as our Vice President this year.
Since her induction in 2006 Mary has embraced the fellowship and service offerings of the Club with intelligence humour and above all fun.
Mary is a recognised effective strategic CEO, on joining Mary was CEO of the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) then moving to CEO of Our Watch, and National Heart Foundation of Australia.
Mary is also on our Community Welfare Committee serving as chairman in recent years and has been the co-instigator of our Safe Families project, which creates awareness in diverse communities of Domestic Violence and Elder Abuse.
Mary has been recognised in our Club with the inaugural David Wittner Mentoring Award for her efforts in producing a program to support new members on entry to the club. She was named a Paul Harris Fellow in 2020 by then President Kevin Sheehan in an online presentation due to COVID restrictions, the first in our Club’s history. This recognition by the Board was in advance of recognising her efforts in delivering the Rotary International Melbourne convention in 2023 as chair of the Host Organising Committee. There is no doubt we are more effective as a result of Mary’s efforts, and we celebrated her birthday by presenting a small cake and the singing traditional song.
Mary then took the opportunity to encourage members to book quickly to join the FORaMEAL volunteering event at University of Melbourne 6pm 14 August 24.
Catherine returned to the podium and wished Happy Birthday to Max Barr who recently celebrated his 90th birthday with his Toorak 2 Rotary friends.
For those who can’t make it to the FORaMEAL volunteering event on 14 August, the Clubs lunch that day will be at No35 with Paul Guerra, CEO Victorian Chamber of Commerce speaking.
Catherine also reminded members of the Annual visit to the Winter masterpieces on Friday 9 August, where we have also locked in an introductory lecture prior to viewing the Pharaohs exhibition.
Catherine ended her introductory remarks announcing that she expects be absent for knee surgery from 5-23 August but will return sooner if her recovery permits. We wish Catherine well for a full and speedy recovery.
Chair of the day, Richard Dent then came to the podium to introduce our guest speaker. He reflected on the extensive economic policy contributions of Guest Speaker, Dr Kim Houghton, who thankfully was able to address the club meeting remotely via our Zoom – Audio visual connectivity.
Characterising his presentation being about population movement, Kim noted there has been a lot of talk and many myths surrounding the migration of people between large cities like Melbourne and regional centres over the past decade. In his address he set out to debunk those myths and take an objective look at the facts, characterised below in a narrative style.
Many believe that Melbourne is experiencing an unstoppable influx of new residents. While it’s true that Melbourne has grown, the numbers might be less dramatic than you think. He explored the actual migration stats and the reasons behind them.
Contrary to popular belief, regional centres are not just losing people to big cities. In fact, several regional areas have seen significant growth. Kim provided information on which regional centres are thriving and why.
Various factors influence why individuals and families choose to move. Employment opportunities, quality of life, housing affordability, and even the impact of recent global events have played a role. He then dove into these influencing factors one by one.
To provide a clearer picture, Kim reviewed a couple of case studies, examining the experiences of individuals and families who have moved either to Melbourne or to regional centres. Their stories offer valuable insights into the reality of population movement.
In conclusion, the myths surrounding population movement between large cities like Melbourne and regional centres need to be debunked. The data tells a different story, one of balanced growth and varied motivations. He ended his presentation thanking those present in-person and on-line for joining the discussion and gaining a clearer understanding of this important topic.
This is just a summary of what Kim had to say. We are confident you won’t regret viewing his presentation then click on this link. If you have another 15 minutes or so, then the full meeting recording can be viewed by clicking here. Attached is a copy of Dr Houghton's slides.
After a lively Q&A session Richard thanked Kim for his presentation and took delight in presenting our iconic rotary socks 200% Australian made by Past President Phillip Endersbee’s Wilderness Wear. He thanked the set up team and gave the customary reminder of next week’s meeting.
