Category Archives: Victoria

Victoria’s curriculum authority board sacked after VCE exam bungle

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Education minister Ben Carroll says VCAA overhaul will aim to give families, students and schools full confidence in exams

The entire board of Victoria’s curriculum authority has been sacked after a review into the state’s VCE cheat sheet bungle last year.

The blunder, during last year’s year 12 exams in Victoria, saw the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) accidentally publish exam content weeks before students sat for the tests. The review found the sample cover pages containing exam content had been viewed about 6,000 times.

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Victorian Liberal leader distances state party from Peter Dutton’s nuclear proposal: ‘Our focus is gas’

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Exclusive: Brad Battin says he had a conversation with the federal opposition leader about the ‘language’ he would use about plans to build a nuclear reactor in eastern Victoria

The Victorian opposition leader says he discussed the language he would use to distance the state party from the federal Coalition’s campaign to build a nuclear reactor in the Latrobe Valley, telling Peter Dutton “it’s your campaign”.

The Loy Yang coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley east of Melbourne is one of seven proposed sites for the federal Coalition’s proposal to build nuclear reactors, the centrepiece energy policy the federal Liberal leader will be taking to the 3 May poll.

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Police remove homophobic banners hung over Melbourne highway targeting Labor MP Julian Hill

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Exclusive: Police confirm report of two offensive signs targeting Bruce MP Julian Hill, who is gay, hung on overpass bridge

Police have removed two offensive and homophobic banners targeting Labor MP Julian Hill that were hung over a major Melbourne highway on Friday morning.

The banners prompted bi-partisan condemnation and were described by Victoria police as an example of “hate-based behaviour” that would not be tolerated.

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NSW solar farm to supply almost half energy needs of major gas company

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Shift away from fossil fuels by BOC is expected to cut company’s Australian emissions 40% by 2035 and follows similar commitment by Rio Tinto

A major industrial gas company in Australia will shift its power use away from fossil fuels and instead meet nearly half its electricity needs across three states from solar.

BOC, owned by global gas and engineering company Linde, supplies speciality gases to large manufacturers, industry and oxygen to hospitals.

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Sacked Melbourne lawyer who chucked sickie to go to the AFL loses bid to get his job back

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Fair Work Commission finds Mitchell Fuller was not unfairly dismissed for taking a sick day while at the AFL Gather Round in Adelaide

A Melbourne lawyer who pulled a sickie so he could attend the AFL Gather Round in South Australia has failed in a bid to get his job back after his own social media posts proved he was fit for work.

The Fair Work Commission found this week that Mitchell Fuller, who was fired as a solicitor with Madison Branson Lawyers in August last year, was not unfairly dismissed.

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Earless dragons were presumed extinct in Australia – now Daisy and Kip have sniffed out 13 of them

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Zoos Victoria wildlife detection dogs uncovered the ‘bloody gorgeous’ reptiles in return for treats and cuddles

Wildlife detection dogs successfully sniffed out 13 critically endangered earless dragons in previously unknown burrows in Melbourne’s west, after a training program launched by Zoos Victoria in 2023.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon – Australia’s most imperilled reptile – had not been seen for 50 years and was thought extinct before its remarkable rediscovery on privately owned grassland in 2023.

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Victoria police pay $90,000 to climate protester who claimed head was slammed into wall, door and ground

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Exclusive: State makes no admissions as it settles case with activist who alleged police misconduct during 2019 arrest at Melbourne mining conference

A climate protester who alleged their head was repeatedly slammed by members of Victoria police’s riot squad in 2019 has reached a settlement with the state.

Timothy Buchanan, 39, alleged their head was slammed into a metal wall, the ground and a glass door that their head was then used to open, during their arrest at a protest at an international mining conference in Melbourne.

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Is Anthony Albanese worried Jacinta Allan’s poor standing will hurt his election chances in Victoria?

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The PM has so far avoided the Victorian premier on his campaign trail. It has some state Labor MPs worrying she could be made a scapegoat

During the 2022 election campaign, Anthony Albanese waited until the 30th day to hold a press conference with the then Victorian premier, fearing Daniel Andrews’ association with Covid lockdowns.

When the two finally appeared together, Andrews didn’t hold back. He launched into an impassioned tirade against Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg, revisiting the fraught themes of the pandemic, while Albanese stood beside him, visibly uneasy. After that, Andrews largely stayed off the campaign trail.

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MCG admits ‘breakdown’ in security after guns allegedly smuggled into game

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Men arrested at Melbourne sporting venue allegedly carrying loaded firearms after passing through upgraded security

The MCG has blamed a “breakdown in the thoroughness” of security screening procedures after two men allegedly carrying loaded firearms were able to access a blockbuster match between Collingwood and Carlton.

Police alleged the weapons were found after a search by officers at the ground, as a crowd of 82,058 fans watched the Magpies defeat their arch-rivals on Thursday night.

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Tony Mokbel freed on bail by Victorian court after ‘Lawyer X’ scandal

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Court of appeal rules Mokbel to be released, saying there is a ‘strong chance’ his convictions will be quashed

The organised crime figure Tony Mokbel will be released on bail as a consequence of the “joint criminal enterprise” Victorian police entered with Lawyer X, Nicola Gobbo, a court has found.

The Victorian court of appeal ruled on Friday that Mokbel should be released and that there was a “very strong” chance his remaining convictions would be quashed.

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Major staff cuts on table at Victorian magistrates court, threatening Allan government’s crime crackdown

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Potential cuts expected to more than 25% of backroom staff, underlining challenge for state government crippled by debt but trying to bolster public safety

The Victorian magistrates court is considering cutting more than a quarter of its backroom staff despite its workload likely increasing as the Allan government presses ahead with “tough on crime” policies.

Leaked documents show it is proposed that 24 out of 92 staff from the courts’ corporate services department are made redundant, including those working in family violence and legal policy areas.

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Airshow reopens after crash leaves pilot fighting for life in Melbourne hospital

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Veteran pilot Glenn Collins was attempting a solo aerobatic manoeuvre at the Avalon Airshow when he lost control

Veteran pilot Glenn Collins has been identified as the pilot who is fighting for his life after crashing during an aerobatics display at the Avalon airshow in front of tens of thousands of spectators.

As Australia’s biggest airshow reopened on Saturday, Paul Bennet airshows confirmed Collins, who performed on its team, was the pilot involved in the crash.

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Avalon Airshow crash: aerobatic pilot critically injured after plane plummets to ground in front of shocked crowd

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Pilot lost control during an aerobatics display and crashed into tarmac at Avalon airport in Victoria

A pilot is in a critical condition after losing control of their plane during an aerobatics display at the Avalon Airshow and crashing into the tarmac.

Victoria police said the incident occurred on Friday at about 5.15pm on the first day of the airshow which is the largest in the southern hemisphere.

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Audience member dies during opening night of Melbourne international comedy festival

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A man watching a comedy gig has died after suffering a medical emergency in a packed theatre on the opening night of a major festival

A crowd of ticketholders watched on in horror as good Samaritans rushed to help a man who died on the opening night of a major comedy festival.

An audience member suffered a medical episode at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda on Wednesday night, organisers of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival said in a statement.

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Melbourne teenager charged with murder after machete attack

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Police allege victim, 24, was ambushed by up to 10 men and stabbed to death near Marriott Waters shopping centre on 14 March

An 18-year-old has been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing of a man by an alleged machete-wielding group amid plans to ban the weapon.

Timothy Leek was stabbed to death near the Marriott Waters shopping centre in Melbourne’s south-east on the night of 14 March.

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Teenager who allegedly tried to force way on to Jetstar flight in Victoria charged with attempted hijacking

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The 17-year-old was originally charged with 12 Victorian offences but is now facing further federal charges

A 17-year-old boy who allegedly tried to force his way on to a Jetstar flight at Victoria’s second largest airport with a shotgun earlier this month, before being dramatically overpowered by passengers, is facing fresh commonwealth charges including attempted hijacking.

Police allege the boy climbed through a hole in a fence at Avalon airport, near Geelong, on 6 March before making his way on foot to the aircraft at about 2.20pm.

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‘Disgusting’ antisemitic tactics used to threaten exiled Hong Kong man in Adelaide, Jewish group says

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Exclusive: Ted Hui and Melbourne resident Kevin Yam are both subjects of anonymous letters and pamphlets mailed from Chinese-controlled territories

A prominent Jewish group has condemned a “disgusting” attempt to intimidate an exiled pro-democracy campaigner who fled to Adelaide from Hong Kong, with the federal opposition accusing a foreign actor of weaponising antisemitism.

Human Rights Watch said a separate attempt that encouraged people to inform on another dissident, Kevin Yam in Melbourne, was designed to make critics of the Hong Kong government feel “unsafe and hunted, no matter where they are in the world”.

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Victorian man charged for allegedly making death threats and antisemitic comments to federal MP

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Man allegedly contacted the MP using social media multiple times between 7 January and 19 February this year

A Victorian man has been charged for allegedly making death threats and antisemitic comments to a federal member of parliament.

The 41-year-old was charged on Tuesday afternoon after the Australian federal police conducted a search of his home in the Melbourne suburb of Officer, the AFP said in a statement.

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Woman who planned to sell human toes regurgitated by dogs avoids jail in Melbourne court sentencing

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Joanna Kathlyn Kinman, 48, was working at an animal shelter when she found body parts of dogs’ owner who had died of natural causes

A woman who planned to sell human toes on an online black market after dogs regurgitated them has avoided jail “by the barest of possible margins”.

Joanna Kathlyn Kinman was employed at a Victorian animal shelter as a ranger when two dogs vomited up the toes and other remains in February 2024.

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Mentally unwell woman in solitary confinement for almost a decade ‘an emergency situation’, Victorian judge warns

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Psychiatrist describes the detained woman at Thomas Embling hospital as one of the most unwell patients in the state

One of the most mentally unwell patients in Victoria will deteriorate further if she continues to be held in solitary confinement, where she has been detained for almost a decade, a court has heard.

Victorian county court judge Nola Karapanagiotidis heard a major review on Wednesday of the detention of the woman under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act.

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