When Small Talk's Big News
The Age
Monday December 2, 2002
Carisbrook is one of Victoria's sleepiest towns. First settled in 1851, its heyday as a centre for gold mining and poultry farming was well over a century ago. These days, drivers barely slow down between Castlemaine and Maryborough.
In January 1895, James Dower, a printer, started the Carisbrook Mercury, but the paper closed in November 1896, because Dower felt the nearby town of Newstead had better prospects. Now, the Carisbrook Mercury lives again, thanks to dedicated volunteers. And it has fired up some community spirit along with it.
Carisbrook has an abattoir, a sheepskin factory and a few quarries, with surrounding farms of grain crops, sheep and cattle. The primary school, three churches, a pub, a general store, a hairdresser, two garages and a post office are hanging on for dear life.
The man behind the revival of the Carisbrook Mercury is local, born and bred. Daryl McLeish is a plasterer and former gym owner, who left school at 15. He was frustrated that 1990s' council amalgamations had left small towns adrift.
``Put it this way. Maryborough's got 50 per cent of the shire's population," he says. ``Carisbrook's got 10 per cent. Maryborough would get 90 per cent of the money spent here, as is the case with most of the centralised towns. And the rest only get little dribbles."
Similarly, McLeish felt the Maryborough Advertiser was giving Carisbrook short shrift. ``It does not cater for the `you and me' or the school fete, or the bowling club or the little CWA meeting," he says.
Last year, about 40 people attended a meeting about reviving the Mercury . Then, the Victorian Government funded a community Internet centre in the crumbling, 143-year-old Carisbrook Town Hall. It provided the computers necessary to produce the newspaper.
Since the first edition, on October 11, 2001, the Carisbrook Mercury has gone from strength to strength and the weekly is now self-funded.
As editor, McLeish says it has given many of the volunteer reporters, including unemployed people, housewives and secretaries, the chance to participate in their community.
The paper was lucky to recruit Carlene and Alastair Dowie, whose paid jobs are as editors of two niche magazines - Australian Dairyfarmer and TurfCraft International. Carlene, 39, and Alastair, 46, moved to Carisbrook from Elwood 18 months ago. Alastair's ancestors had settled in Carisbrook in the 1850s.
Carlene says the Mercury has enabled her to make friends. She is the production editor, editorial trainer and more.
``You go to an event; you take photos. My husband Alastair is in the fire brigade and, if we go to the fire brigade dinner, I'll do a report on that and take photos," Carlene says. News is ``anything you see around town . . . I guess, in Carisbrook, no pothole's too small for us to report on," she says.
There's great satisfaction in being a part of the Mercury for McLeish. His wife, Heather, died last year and his children and grandchildren live interstate. In between plastering jobs, he writes about five news stories a week, based on ``things I see, things I think about".
``People stop me in the street and give me an issue to talk about," McLeish says. ``About two weeks ago, one of the past tennis players pulled me up and said, `Do you know that Carisbrook has not got one tennis team this year in the local competition'. So we're going to take that up."
Robyn Tracy, a life-long Carisbrook resident, says locals are impressed with the Mercury. ``They say it's got a lot more local news than the (Maryborough) Advertiser. That's nothing against the Advertiser, but, you know, it's just nice to have your own local paper. It just makes the town more noticeable. I think it's just put us on the map."
Michael Turton, owner of Caroline's Restaurant for 21 years, says the Mercury is great ``because it actually gives a voice for the town that's parochial, and that's a good thing. It gives an opportunity for people in the community to see their kids in the paper".
Turton has been mentioned in the paper many times and there was an article about his daughter Amy, 18, an opera singer, and her performance in Ballarat's South Street competitions.
``You can be a local celebrity in a paper like the Mercury," Turton says. ``Everybody can be a local celebrity."
© 2002 The Age