Category Archives: Victoria

Quickly moving cold front could bring ‘most significant snowfall of the year’, as Australia’s east coast battles bitter winds

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Bureau of Meteorology predicts strong winds for SA, NSW and Victoria that will make temperatures feel colder than what is forecast

Bitter winds and rain are in store for the south-east coast and South Australia over the weekend thanks to a cold front that could also herald the heavy snow ski resorts have been hoping for.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting strong, gusty and potentially damaging winds and showers, local thunderstorms and strong, abnormally high tides.

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Greg Lynn to appeal conviction in Victorian high country murder case, court hears

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Jury had found former Jetstar pilot guilty of killing Carol Clay, but not of murdering Russell Hill

Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn will appeal against his conviction for the 2020 murder of elderly camper Carol Clay, a Victorian court has heard.

After a five-week trial, a supreme court jury last month found Gregory Stuart Lynn guilty of murdering Clay and acquitted him of murdering Russell Hill in Victoria’s high country in 2020.

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Let there be night: digital billboards to be turned off to curb light pollution under Melbourne city proposal

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Illuminated signs have increased nocturnal artificial light and are detrimental to the city’s liveability and sustainability, a review has found

Large digital billboards could be turned off late at night under a proposal by Melbourne city council to crack down on light pollution and reduce its health and environmental impacts.

A review, commissioned by the council, recommended the introduction of a curfew for illuminated signs above ground level.

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Melbourne public housing towers demolition to go ahead despite residents’ class action

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Exclusive: Lawyer says move by state government shows residents being treated ‘as an afterthought’

The Victorian government is forging ahead with plans to demolish three public housing towers subject to a class action seeking to stop the redevelopment.

The move was described by a lawyer for residents as an example of them being “treated as an afterthought”, after the supreme court ordered the class action could proceed to a two-day trial earlier this month.

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Queenslanders melt with delight as snow spotted for ‘a few minutes’ north of NSW border

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Footage taken at a tourist lodge in Scenic Rim shows a brief snow flurry, the area’s first since 2015

A rare and short-lived dusting of snow has fallen on parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales, surprising residents in high-altitude border areas on Tuesday as Australia’s south-east shivered through a windy and wet start to the week.

Video footage taken at Spicers Peak Lodge at the Scenic Rim, west of the Gold Coast in famously sunny Queensland, showed snow flurries on Tuesday morning.

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Woman charged with murder after body found in Melbourne river

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Police say 49-year-old was arrested alongside a teen, who was released without charge, after woman’s body discovered in Maribyrnong River

A woman has been charged with murder after another woman’s body was found in a river in inner Melbourne.

The body was discovered by a passerby in the Maribyrnong River, near Smithfield Road in Flemington, on Sunday.

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Cold snap sets record winter demand for electricity in Victoria as NSW windfarms supply third of power

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New peak may be challenged as early as Tuesday evening as mid-winter bites in Melbourne

The wintry blast sweeping across eastern Australia has set a record for electricity demand in Victoria and propelled wind generation in New South Wales to new highs, with energy authorities preparing for another power peak on Tuesday evening.

Victoria broke a 17-year record for maximum winter electricity demand, with the tally reaching 8,612 megawatts at 6pm on Monday, the Australian Energy Market Operator said.

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Snowfall possible in northern NSW as low pressure brings Antarctic blast to southern Australia

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BoM says most severe impacts expected on Sunday and Monday, with warnings of flash flooding in Tasmania

An intensifying low pressure system off Australia’s south-east is bringing frigid temperatures to large parts of the country’s south and a chance of snow as far as northern New South Wales.

The Bureau of Meteorology (Bom) was carefully monitoring the system on Saturday, which was expected to move from the NSW coast towards Tasmania, intensifying as it goes.

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Two people found dead after Melbourne house fire

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Firefighters called to Donvale home at about 3.46am Saturday found the house fully engulfed in flames

Two people have been killed after a home in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs went up in flames.

Fire crews were called to a Donvale home, about 20km east of Melbourne’s CBD, at about 3.46am on Saturday, after reports that a house was on fire.

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Anthony Albanese slams John Setka after union heavyweight resigns as CFMEU boss

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Controversial figure will step down from role as Victorian branch secretary after 12 years

Anthony Albanese has slammed John Setka, saying he “has no legitimate place in the Labor movement” after the powerful union figure resigned as secretary of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.

The prime minister’s comments came after reports were published on Saturday by Nine newspapers into alleged criminal links within the construction industry and the union.

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Lucrative building contracts for Exclusive Brethren schools awarded to businesses run by church members

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Donations to school building funds are tax deductible, with Brethren-owned businesses across three states the beneficiaries

Schools set up by the Exclusive Brethren sect have spent millions of dollars with businesses owned by church members on major building projects, including to a company majority-owned by the powerful Hales family, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.

The Brethren’s OneSchool Global (OSG) schools are registered charities in Australia and exempt from income tax. The schools also have building funds endorsed for deductible gift recipient status.

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Australia news live: religious sect allegedly thought 8-year-old diabetic ‘should not use insulin’, court told; Alice Springs curfew won’t continue

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The curfew declaration will conclude at 12.55pm today, local time. Follow the day’s news live

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier as authorities meet to determine whether a three-day curfew on the central Australian town will be extended.

He is “still waiting to hear” whether the curfew will be extended – a decision for the police commissioner. Asked whether he believes it should be extended, Paterson says:

It’s obviously worked in the CBD, but we are hearing that it is pushing crime out into the suburbs. So we’ll wait to see what happens. Ultimately, the community gets to have a breath while there’s extra resources and police in town, so we’ll just wait to see what’s decided …

The curfew is a reaction to events over the past week or so, and we can’t continue to put these in. We need to think about the long-term solutions.

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Concern over fumes and contaminated runoff as Derrimut chemical factory fire still smoulders in Melbourne

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Fire expected to burn for days as local residents warned to avoid nearby waterways

Residents in Melbourne’s west have been told to avoid lingering fumes and potentially contaminated runoff after a chemical factory fire sent toxic smoke billowing over the city.

Firefighters battled the blaze throughout the day and night after a large explosion at the Derrimut factory on Wednesday morning.

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Greens and academics criticise appointment of antisemitism envoy – as it happened

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Flights have been cancelled or delayed out of Brisbane airport this morning as thick smoke blankets the city.

According to the Brisbane airport website, nine domestic flights and two international flights have been cancelled. On social media, the airport wrote that widespread fog across Brisbane was “slowing movements on ground and limiting visibility.”

Flights are still departing but there are delays due to the reduced visibility.

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Police search for teenager bailed over alleged crash that killed 28-year-old in Melbourne

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Police allege 17-year-old has failed to comply with bail conditions and his location is unknown

Police are searching for a teenager who was charged and bailed after an alleged crash that killed a 28-year-old man.

Victoria police on Tuesday afternoon alleged the 17-year-old failed to comply with his bail conditions and his whereabouts was unknown.

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Police seek Sydney woman’s partner over alleged stabbing death – as it happened

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Australians feel ‘crushing burden’ from humanitarian crises

Many Australians are feeling a “crushing burden” as they see images from multiple humanitarian crises around the world, a prominent charity says.

I think sometimes people see this stuff on the news or read about it in the newspaper and they feel like they have to carry this burden on their own shoulder, and so they have nothing in between crisis and themselves.

And they look at something like what’s happening in Gaza and Israel, what’s happening in Ukraine, what’s happening now in Sudan, and think how can they possibly make a difference? What can they possibly do to make that situation better? And so it feels like a crushing burden.

Abortion is a very personal choice, and every Queenslander deserves the level of support and care we are offering with this investment.

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Woman’s body found at Melbourne waste management facility

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Homicide squad detectives are investigating the death, which is being treated as suspicious

The body of a woman has been found at a waste management facility in Melbourne’s north.

Workers made the grim discovery while moving green waste at the site on Cooper Street in Epping on Wednesday.

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Dutton says ‘Australia can learn’ from new British PM’s nuclear stance – as it happened

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‘Pretty clear’ Fatima Payman has been planning to join crossbench for a ‘long period’, minister says

The finance minister and manager of the government in the Senate, Katy Gallagher, is speaking with ABC RN after Fatima Payman’s resignation yesterday.

It’s difficult to go into, you know, when the decision was made – only Senator Payman knows that – but we do know, now that it’s been done, it’s a matter of fact that there had been obviously discussions about her role as an independent senator and for some time.

I think the way these decisions have been made by Senator Payman make it pretty clear that she has been thinking about this for a long period of time, and it was executed this week …

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‘Million dollar views, baby’: Victorian minister praises train station’s ‘fantastic’ Dandenongs vista

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On a morning when the Dandenong Ranges were largely obscured by clouds, Danny Pearson says ‘lots of caffeine’ was driving his enthusiasm

According to Victoria’s transport infrastructure minister, this is a train station with “million dollar views, baby”.

At a press conference on a cloudy Friday morning, Danny Pearson was ebullient in his praise for the views commanded by the new elevated platform at Croydon – to the point that his enthusiasm itself was questioned by reporters.

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Man charged over alleged theft of Garry the gorilla

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Officers raided 33-year-old’s home and allegedly seized statue along with 24 suspected stolen drivers’ licences and prescription medication

A man who handed himself in to police has been charged over the alleged theft of a gorilla statue from a retirement village in Melbourne’s north.

The gorilla, a 1.5-metre garden ornament named Garry, disappeared from Leith Park retirement village at St Helena on 6 June.

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