Bulletin #29 : 6 February 2026

Presidential Ponderings

Co-President David Rowell, AKA P2 and/or Mr February - just many of his alias' - was given a rousing welcome!

Did you know that on this day in...

• 1940 - Waitangi Day in New Zealand - it’s the 185th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
• 1952 - Queen Elizabeth II was crowned (or was that coronated David?)
• 1958 - The Munich air disaster, British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes", along with supporters and journalists.  
• It's Global Compliment Day! So make sure you pay a compliment to everyone you meet today.

At the end of the meeting, Co-President
David presented Jonas Edner, President of Dalkeith RC with a 'new-look' memento of his visit to our Club.  

Jonas is the partner of today's guest speaker, Diane Wilcox, and ably assisted Diane with her presentation. 

Guest Speaker : Diane Wilcox - The Magic Coat Foundation

Diane (Di) Wilcox is a highly regarded educator, children and teens coach, key note speaker, women’s mentor and program facilitator with a wealth of experience working with young people and their families to have good mental health.

In 2020, Di won the United Nations WA Human Rights award for the work she is doing for children and families. She has received Momentum’s Most Inspirational Woman of the Year for 2013 and was WA finalist for the 2012 and 2014 Pride of Australia Medal in the Inspiration category.

Di has written a number of books including her latest release, " Parenting Through The Primary Years" as well as "The Magic Coat " series and "Beneath You're Beautiful" which has been successfully released in Australia.

As a dedicated mother to two daughters, Diane is passionate about her mission of empowering young people with the self-confidence and skills they need to reach their fullest potential and to provide parents and those working with children the skill set to successfully raise children.

Di is founder of The Magic Coat Foundation, a program that simplifies cognitive behaviour therapy into an

imaginative framework of characters to help children manage their feelings and problems. It uses the analogy of an imaginary “magic coat” where various sea creature characters live.

Each character represents a strategy to manage problems and feelings. Typical characters are Tate the Turtle (courage), Oobi the Octopus (emotional literacy), Bess & the Beluga Whale (disabilities), Sebastian the Sea Detective (thoughts are not facts) and others.

Assisted by her partner Jonas Edner (President Dalkeith Rotary Club), Di showed a pillow case, from the children’s pack, depicting the characters.

The program initially started in Dianne’s classroom and expanded to other schools.

With sponsorship from Justin Langer’s “Make a Difference Foundation,” it was adapted for women’s refuges. It was then introduced into women’s prisons (Bandyup and Boronia), helping inmates learn strategies for themselves and to connect with their children.

A hospital research project was funded created an App with eight videos to prepare children for their hospital journey. The project was highly impactful, reducing anxiety in children and, unexpectedly, in their parents as well. The App, now called “Magic Coat Adventures,” has been enhanced with animated characters and is available for free, thanks to funding from Telethon.

To embed the strategies, the foundation created “hospital packs” containing a tote bag, a book, a special pillowcase with the characters, and a sticker chart. The program is also being extended into Normandy, France and the Ukraine.

Jonas, Di’s partner, initiated a project for Rotary clubs to get involved. Rotary Del Pico (Dalkeith) and its charitable trust have funded 1,250 hospital packs so far. The foundation handles all administration, ensuring donated funds are not used for overheads.

Rotary members can volunteer to pack the bags, helping with member engagement.

A flyer is included in each pack giving parents the opportunity to “Pay It Forward” by purchasing a pack for the next child. This has been successful. The flyer includes a QR code for membership opportunities, connecting interested individuals with a local Rotary club. The model is scalable and can be adopted by any Rotary Club globally.

In Q&A it suggested providing the Magic Coat toddler books to the play area at the Children’s Hospital for parents of very young children (e.g., two-year-olds). Dianne agreed to consider this.

Jenny McLean offered the skills of The Sewing Sisters for projects like making items for the packs. Dianne agreed to think about how they could collaborate.

It was asked about the cost for an outsider to purchase a bag, which was stated to be $40. Host Tricia then encouraged the audience to consider donating.

A PDF version of Di’s presentation can be viewed at: 

millpointrotaryclub.org.au>members only (password)> this link>Guest Speaker Presentations>WILCOX Diane – The Magic Coat Foundation.

Directors' Reports and Member Announcements

• Joy B: Hyde Park Festival 1 & 2 March - a great opportunity for Mill Point to replicate our success at the Angelo St Markets last May. If you can volunteer a couple of hours please contact Joy.
• Brian J: Club Service Meeting after breakfast.
• Kelly G: REMINDER District Conference 13-15 March, don't miss out,  a great line-up of Speakers and our Club is leading the way. Scroll down to Events page to book.
• Jenny McL: The Sewing Sisters are looking for new projects so contact Jenny if you know of any.
• Wayne M: Last week's sundowner at the Reg Willis bench on the foreshore was well attended.
• Angus F: Australia Day parking went well and advertised the Coffee morning on 15 Feb at the John McGrath centre 10am - 12noon. Angus is looking for a coffee machine to borrow for the day. 

A Fine(s) start to the day...

In keeping with the 4 Way Test "Is it the Truth?" the lovely Joy turned her wrath to all things sport!

• Tennis Tragics in particular Geoff Longshaw who traveled over East to watch in person. 
• Cricket Compulsives - especially Lyn Metcalf who attended the final.
• Croquet Conquerors - pay up Wayne Muller you know what for!
• Gregarious Golfers for telling tales bigger than fishermen and Warren McCamey for considering a sex change  because women are closer to the T.
• Gerry McGann posturing as Astrid Mitchell.
• Kelly Gillen returning from being MIA for the last couple of weeks 

Winner of Heads and Tails : 

Tosser of the week David Tyler made one lucky lady very happy as Tricia Smith grabbed the grog beating Kelly Gillan by a tail!

Attendance : 45 attendees in all, including guest speaker Diane Wilcox, visiting Rotarian Jonas Edner (President Dalkeith RC), Ben Yew (RC of Bunbury) and visitors Katrina Duke, Rhonda Kremmer, Christine Pittman, Rowena Smith and Mandy Sneeuwjagt.

Club Duties

Club Duties : 2025 - 2026 

 13 February

Sargeant        Angus Florence

Attendance    Raelene George, Carole O'Brien

Welcome        Shaun O'Brien

Host               Joy Burnett

Club Dress    Angus Florence, Geoff Longshaw

Birthdays 

Veronica Lawrance (17th)

Rosemary Gillen (19th) 

Anniversaries

 Nil

 

20 February

Sargeant        Mike Collett

Attendance    Ross Smith, Michelle Lovkis

Welcome        Garrick McCamey

Host               Geoff Longshaw

Club Dress    Mike Collett, Angus Florence

Birthdays 

 Nil

Anniversaries

David & Debbie Tyler (23rd)

Ross & Laurel Smith (26th) 

 

27 February

Sargeant        Angus Florence

Attendance    Wayne Duke, Warren McCamey

Welcome        Dianne Allen

Host               TBA

Club Dress    Mike Collett, Geoff Longshaw

Birthdays 

 Nil

Anniversaries

 Nil

 

Future Guest Speakers

Mill Point Guest Speakers 2025 

February 6                    Diane Wilcox - The Magic Coat Foundation 13                  Lisa Craig - Rotary Peace Scholar 20                  Elliott Panos - Smart Freeway Systems 27                  Brett Pollock - Perkolilli Red Dust Revival March 6                    Tales from the Club/ Club birthday PM 13                   Bernard Foley - Life Ed  20                   Dr James Savundra - Interplast Plastic Surgeon 27                   Elizabeth Kerry - RYLA April 3                      No Meeting - Good Friday 10                    TBA 17                    Ross Smith - South Perth Hospital 24                    Brent Kemp -CEO Harcourt & Veteran Advocate May 1                      Pride of Workmanship Awards 8                       15                     22                     29                    Jessica Murray - Telehealth  June 5                       12                     19                     26                    No breakfast meeting 27                    David Rowell/Gerry McGann - Changeover Lunch

Upcoming Events

Mill Point Walk - 20 February 

Social walk to get rid of those Christmas kilo's - come and join us for a night of fun (and exercise)!

******

Mill Point Club Birthday - 6 March

 

 

 

 

Baldivis RC Event 

 

 ***** 

 

District Conference 13-15 March 2026 - Up, Up and Away...

Still time to register for the 2026 Up, Up and Away District Conference - great speakers, great fun and great fellowship!

 

******

Accommodation for District Conference

Available in Northam, York and Toodjay
 

 

*****

 Historical Walk - 10 April

 

 

 

 

Bulletin #28

Presidential 'Spiritual' Ponderings

The 4 Way Test is a major part of Rotary and so P1 (Gerry McG) asked who knew what the first tenet was -  "Is it Fair to All Concerned" - ably answered by Jenny McLean whose table was allowed to approach breakfast immediately after the top table. 

Did you know that in...

• 1649 King Charles lost his head.
• 1948 Ghandi suffered a similar demise.
• 1969 The Beatles performed their last live gig on a London rooftop.

Guest Speaker - Phillipa Henderson "Mental Health through Generations - The Sharing Shed"

Phillippa Henderson is the Founder of The Sharing Shed and a Principal Master Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor who delivers evidence-informed mental health training for schools, workplaces and communities across metropolitan and regional WA.

 

In her earlier career, Phillippa owned and operated a wine wholesale business, where she observed first-hand the mental health and alcohol-related risk factors that can sit within high-pressure industries. Wanting to be part of the solution—not the problem—she shifted her focus into prevention, education, and early intervention.

 

After losing a friend to suicide, Phillippa became deeply committed to ensuring communities have the confidence and practical skills to recognise when someone may be struggling, to stay in the discomfort of a tough conversation, and to help connect people to the right

Support.

 

Philippa gave a presentation titled “Mental Health Through Generations” focusing on cross-generational mental health challenges, with emphasis on youth and men aged 85+.

 

Drawing from her background as a former wine wholesaler turned mental health educator and Master Mental Health First Aid instructor, she explored how modern parenting, technology, social media, and shifting community structures affect mental health outcomes.

 

She presented statistics on youth mental health, highlighted risks like pornography exposure and device overuse, discussed developmental implications of reduced physical play, and outlined protective factors such as family dinners, sleep, movement, and help-seeking.

 

For older men, she examined low mood drivers—loss/grief, health/pain, isolation—and addressed myths around suicide conversations, offering practical steps: pause, ask directly, and connect to help. 

Phillipa recognized Rotary’s role in teen mental health initiatives and invited members to train in mental health first aid. The session ended with a brief Q&A on voluntary assisted dying, gender differences in late-life suicide risk, and parental control settings for social media.

 

A PDF version of Phillippa’s presentation can be viewed at:

millpointrotaryclub.org.au>members only (password)> this link>Guest Speaker Presentations>HENDERSSON Phillipa – The Sharing Shed

Directors' Reports and Member Announcements

Gerry - Bassem has been transferred to Karratha for 2 years and is hoping to join the e-club.

Wayne M - Sundowner on Saturday night 5.00pm at the Reg Willis bench between Mend Street and Queen Street jetties. BYO everything.

Gorby - Club walk on 20 February, 6pm starting at the Camfield to Royal Hotel in East Perth and back again. 31 April Town Hall walk with Richard Offen (scroll down to events).

A Fine(s) (and brief) collection from Wayne the Elder

• $1 from all females in reverence to the new Archbishop of Canterbury - Sara Mullally -  the first FEMALE Archbishop (yay!)
• $2 from all males for upholding the male bastion for so long!
• As Silver is taking over the price of Gold at a raging pace, everyone was asked to donate all the silver they had in their purses/wallets.

Winner of Heads and Tails - like all good Casino's - THE HOUSE WINS!

Attendance : 42 attendees in all, including guest speaker Phillipa Henderson, and visitors Katrina Duke (partner of Wayne), Jessica Murray (soon to be member) and Mia Krieger (guest of Gorby).

Bulletin #27 - 23 January 2026

 Presidential Ponderings

Co- President Gerry McGann (P1) opened the meeting and reflected on the third line of The Four Way Test – “Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?”

Gerry was at the airport to farewell our outbound Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) student Makylni Fitzgerald on her journey to France. Our inbound RYE student will be coming in July, although we don’t know from which country.

Gerry also reflected on Thursday’s National Day of Mourning, to honour the victims of the Bondi massacre.

Today in history:

1556  The biggest earthquake in Chinese history

1975  Darwin was undergoing a massive clean up after Cyclone Tracy

Guest Speaker :  Dr Ane Burlinson - What is Artificial Intelligence(AI)?

Anne founded mPW3R (“empower”) because she kept seeing the same pattern everywhere she looked: brilliant, capable people breaking themselves against systems that were never designed for humans to thrive in.

Anne’s journey took her from biology and pre-med in the US (where she thought of becoming a doctor), to community nutrition in Indonesia (studying how culture shapes behavior), to a doctorate in Germany working with the Max Planck Institute on human evolutionary behaviour. She pursued graduate studies in psychology at the University of Western Australia —until life had other plans when she gave birth ten weeks early during her final semester.

Anne is a founding member of the Western Australian AI Hub and Human Evolution Lab, and spoke to the club about demystifying Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI is described as a set of instructions that allows computers to recognize patterns and predict what might come next, without intrinsic understanding or consciousness.

When processing an input (e.g., “the lady went to …”), AI assigns probabilities to possible outputs (cafe, hospital, park, office) and selects the highest probability as the answer. While a crude illustration, it captures the probabilistic prediction nature of AI.

AI underpins widely used services:

• ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini
• Navigation tools like Google Maps and Siri
• Streaming platforms (Netflix, Prime, Stan)
• e-commerce (Amazon Prime, Temu, Shein)
• Social media (Facebook, TikTok, YouTube). 

Even users who believe they aren’t using AI are typically interacting with AI-driven systems unless they use basic non-smart devices (e.g., landlines, big-button phones) and have no computers.

Enablers of Modern AI:

Big Data

The internet’s continuous flow of information provides vast datasets that power AI. Human behavior contributes data through searches and interactions (e.g., “consulting Dr. Google”), which AI systems learn from.

Powerful Processors

Both CPUs and GPUs enable near-real-time interaction, such as smooth gameplay and rapid processing in AI applications.

Advanced Machine Learning Models

Compared to the 1950s’ rule-based programming (“if A moves to B then do …”), contemporary machines learn autonomously. 

These three ingredients—data, compute, models—must all be fulfilled for AI to advance. Increased compute power also raises environmental impact concerns.

 AI is a sophisticated prediction engine, not independent thought. While its processes may mimic aspects of human thinking, AI does not think like humans and lacks consciousness.

Applications of AI Across Domains:

Healthcare Diagnostics

AI assists disease diagnosis by rapidly analyzing medical images (e.g., x-rays), producing possible outcomes (A, B, C) for doctors to review and decide upon.

Automotive Safety and Self-Driving

Self-driving cars use AI for navigation and danger scanning.

Gaming

AI makes in-game opponents smarter and interactions more engaging.

Finance

AI models enhance task efficiency, particularly in fraud detection. Algorithmic trading is reported by some as feasible.

Customer Service

AI-powered phone agents and web chatbots handle billing and support inquiries. Users often face frustration with limited, preordained responses, especially for slightly complex questions. Despite this, chatbots are widely deployed for quick assistance.

Reliance on AI for Companionship:

Observations include trends in Japan where individuals interact primarily with AI (Siri, chatbots), even attempting civil marriage to AI bots via representations.

Today’s larger, less intimate social structures create gaps our brains struggle to bridge, making predictable AI interactions attractive.

Environmental Impact:

The more powerful our computers, the greater the environmental footprint. AI advancement should be considered alongside sustainability.

Practical Use and Limitations:

AI cannot read minds; users must specify exact requirements.

Employers may become more discerning regarding AI-generated reports. Current outputs can miss nuances despite covering discussed outcomes, necessitating human review.

Guardrails in education: In-class handwritten essays can establish baseline capability. Tools exist to detect whether a paper is AI-written, aiding employers and educators.

Workplace pressure (deadlines “due yesterday”) drives reliance on AI to “get things done,” sometimes at the expense of deeper thinking. Training is being organized to address recognition of AI-written content and appropriate use.

Cyber Security and AI:

Cyber attackers increasingly use AI to craft sophisticated phishing and spam (e.g., subtle character substitutions like zero vs. O). To counter, organizations employ AI in cyber security to intercept, analyze, and reduce workloads traditionally done by manual programming.

A “cat-and-mouse” dynamic exists: since attacks have evolved with AI, defense also leverages AI. Ongoing “cyber wars” between countries are reportedly empowered by AI, happening continuously and largely unseen by the public.

Anne concluded with answering a number of questions from the floor.

 

Directors' Reports and Member Announcements

Angus F : Australia Day parking roster: 7:00-9:30am Mike C, Wayne D, Scott D, Brian J, John O:  9:30-12:00pm Raelene G, Lorrie G, Ken P, David R, Alison T.

Ian K : Membership committee meeting after breakfast

Wayne M : Sundowner Sat 31 Jan to celebrate the late Reg Willis’s 95^th birthday. From 5PM at Reg Willis Seat on the South Perth Foreshore (opposite 49 South Perth Esplanade). Join them if you wish, bring a bottle of wine and a pizza….?

David R : Board meeting Wed 28 Jan at 6PM, John McGrath Hall

Agenda items to Alison please.

Rick S : Request for Perth Inner City Youth Service (PICYS) meals please. Pankind walk/BBQ Sun 8 Mar (we will man BBQ).

Alison T : Global Hand Charity (GHC) looking for someone to do Admin role for a couple of months while Alison is away.

Mike C : Bill Boekeman is recovering well, still has some issues with left arm. Bill turned 89 last Tuesday. Gerry M asked to pass on best wishes from members

Gerry M : Community committee meeting after breakfast. 

Conference is coming up, with some excellent speakers and great MC.

Please book now, accommodation still available in Northam and surrounds.

A Plethora of Fine(s) Winners and Losers!

• All - Spicy food lovers – improves circulation, appetite, heart health, cholesterol, antioxidant, improves aging.
• Losers - Grapefruit, or the alternatives of broccoli and brussell sprouts.
• W&L - Chia seed eaters – beneficial, but you need to eat 2-4 tablespoons.
• Winners - Tomato fans, there is a new purple variety with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities.

Winner of Heads and Tails

This week's winner - visitor Josh Tedjasaputra (after he and Eunice realized they could double their chances by not picking the same option…)

Attendance

43 attendees in all, including guest speaker Dr Anne Burlinson and visitors Rory Murray (Town Team movement), Josh Tedjasdaputra, Katrina Duke, Jess Murray, Erin Pawle, and Deborah Dyson.