Police say group jumped on the car in Coburg and shattered windows in what union calls ‘horrific planned assault’
A mobile speed camera operator has been injured after his car was attacked by five men in a Melbourne street.
The blue SUV, fixed with traffic cameras in its rear window, was operating on Nicholson Street at Coburg in the early hours of Friday morning when it was attacked.
Continue reading...Residents of Queens Avenue in Caulfield East are ramping up the fight against the 1km path and vow to ‘fight until the bulldozers come’
For 30 years, Tamara de Silva has woken up to the sound of birds chirping in the trees across the road from her home in Melbourne’s south-east.
“Listening to the magpies and the lorikeets in the mornings, watching them playing around – it lifts your spirits,” she said.
Continue reading...Police concerned for autistic man who went walking near Halls Gap and has not been seen since calling family from lookout on Wednesday
Crews in Victoria are searching for a 20-year-old hiker missing in the Grampians national park after he called his family from a scenic lookout.
Jack went on a hike near Halls Gap in the Grampians/Gariwerd park about 250km west of Melbourne on Wednesday, Victoria police said in a statement on Thursday.
Continue reading...Dozens rescued from flood waters and thousands remain without power as BoM warns of wild weather in Melbourne, south-east NSW and Queensland
The first week of 2024 is off to a wild start, with storms continuing to lash Australia’s east coast and a heatwave baking the north of the continent.
Thunderstorms were headed for central Victoria on Wednesday and were forecast to become widespread over the eastern half of the state.
Continue reading...Heavy rain, strong winds and large hailstones reported in parts of state as BoM warns of potential life-threatening flash flooding
More than 40,000 Victorian homes and businesses were without power and some would remain in the dark overnight as wild thunderstorms swept across the state, causing flight delays at Melbourne airport.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued on Tuesday afternoon for Bendigo, Maryborough, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Ballarat, Bellarine Peninsula and greater Melbourne.
Continue reading...Police say one man has life-threatening injuries after ‘terribly serious’ fire in suburb of Mill Park
Eleven people have been taken to hospital, including a man with life-threatening injuries, after a fire broke out at a New Year’s Eve house party in Melbourne’s north-east.
Emergency services were called to a home on Development Boulevard in the suburb of Mill Park just after 11pm on Sunday, responding to reports of a fire burning in the garden.
Continue reading...Despite a surplus of eggs at fertility clinics around the country, very few end up being donated to research or other prospective parents
The vast majority of eggs frozen by prospective mothers go unused, causing headaches for IVF clinics and preventing potentially groundbreaking research.
Scientists are decrying a wasted opportunity as thousands of frozen eggs sit unused in storage instead of being used in potentially valuable medical research.
Continue reading...Illegal use of fireworks can lead to thousands of dollars in fines and even jail. Here are the rules around the country
Hefty fines and even jail time are on the cards for those who set off illegal fireworks this New Year’s Eve.
People right across the country used to partake in the annual “cracker night” festival, setting off fireworks in their backyards, but most states and territories began banning this practice in the 1980s.
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Tasmanian yacht Alive is in the box seat to take out Sydney to Hobart yacht race’s overall honours, with skipper Duncan Hine confident the 66-footer has a winning time on the board.
Hine and his crew finished the 628-nautical-mile blue water classic yesterday afternoon as clubhouse leaders on handicap time.
It’s a waiting game. We’re looking good, though. I believe we could do it again, but the reality may be different. Now we wait with bated breath to see if anyone can beat our time.
Continue reading...Search crew finds body of man near Rosebud beach on the Mornington Peninsula after two-hour search
A kayaker has died in waters off Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Emergency services were called to Rosebud beach about 3.30pm on Thursday. There were reports a man on an inflatable kayak had got into trouble and gone into the water up to 800 metres off shore.
Continue reading...Patterson allegedly served death cap mushrooms to visitors at the residence, three of whom later died
Two people are under arrest following an alleged burglary at the home of accused triple murderer Erin Patterson in Victoria’s east.
The 49-year-old is currently behind bars charged with three counts of murder after allegedly serving death cap mushrooms in a meal at the residence.
She is also charged with five counts of attempted murder.
A person claiming to be her friend took to social media on Wednesday to ask for help after the Leongatha home was allegedly robbed.
“Need some help from the community,” the post read.
“We have had a friends house broken into in Leongatha 3 times over the last month or so [sic].”
The post claimed several items had been stolen including a car, televisions and vacuum cleaners.
It included several images of a person on what appeared to be the deck of Patterson’s home wearing a cap and cloth over their face.
On Thursday afternoon, Victoria police confirmed officers expect to charge a woman and a man over a burglary in Leongatha on Christmas Eve.
A red MG Sedan was allegedly stolen during the burglary, a spokesperson said.
A woman, 23, and a man, 18, from the Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham were arrested in the allegedly stolen car at 1am on Thursday.
Both are expected to be charged on summons to appear at a later date.
Police allege Patterson killed her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66.
All three died in hospital days after consuming a meal at her home on 29 July.
She is also accused of attempting to murder Wilkinson’s husband Ian, 68, who spent close to two months in hospital critically ill.
Police will allege she attempted to murder her ex-husband Simon Patterson four times.
Erin Patterson has denied any wrongdoing.
Tents and caravans were swept away during 30-minute deluge that inundated Buchan campsite
Holidaymakers have described the terrifying moment a wall of water inundated a popular camping site in regional Victoria on Boxing Day, leaving two people dead and millions of dollars worth of damage.
Those who were at the Buchan Caves Campground, about 350km east of Melbourne, said the usually sedate Spring Creek that flows through the reserve became engorged without warning on Tuesday, before sweeping away tents and caravans.
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Cricket begins
Day two of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan has just started in Melbourne. You can follow the latest on our separate live blog here:
Continue reading...Two campers in Victoria and three friends on a fishing trip in Queensland among 10 lives lost as storms ravaged eastern Australia
The body of a man has been discovered in flood-affected regional Victoria, taking the death toll from storms that wreaked havoc on eastern Australia over the Christmas period to 10.
Victoria police received information on Wednesday that it was believed a man was camping with a woman who was located deceased following flash flooding in Buchan in East Gippsland on 26 December.
Continue reading...Nine-year-old girl and three men confirmed dead after boat capsized in south-east Queensland among death toll
The death toll from Australia’s Christmas storms has risen to nine, as the Gold Coast mayor warns his city is “not out of the woods”.
The people confirmed dead include a nine-year-old girl whose body was found after she was feared lost in stormwater drains in Brisbane.
Continue reading...Two women reported missing in flood waters in Gympie as Bureau of Meteorology warns of further thunderstorms on Boxing Day night
Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected to continue to batter the east coast until at least Wednesday evening, as thousands of households remained without power on Boxing Day.
Severe weather warnings have been issued for large parts of the New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland coasts, covering metropolitan areas as well as some regional areas.
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What’s causing the storms?
Senior meteorologist Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology just spoke to ABC News about the severe thunderstorms hitting the east coast.
[It is] primarily driven by some warm humid air in the low levels of the atmosphere, which is partly contributed to by a ton of warm ocean temperatures off the east coast of Australia providing a lot of that warmth and humidity into the atmosphere.
We also have a big low pressure system higher up which just provides that extra energy and support which allows these thunderstorms do develop and grow, and as you say, they have been causing extensive disruptive weather over the last few days.
Continue reading...Two other protesters were denied entry at the gates to the concert at Sidney Myer Musical Bowl
Thousands of people joined in to sing along at Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne on Sunday, with the festivities momentarily interrupted by two Pro-Palestine protesters who stormed the stage as children were performing.
The protesters were tackled and quickly removed, with host David Campbell appealing for calm and assuring people the children were safe.
Continue reading...NSW SES warns heavy rain may cause flash flooding with storms forecast across three states from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day
Residents of Australia’s eastern states have been warned to prepare for severe storms forecast over the Christmas weekend.
Thunderstorms are expected between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day across a broad region, including much of New South Wales and south-east Queensland and spreading down into Victoria.
Continue reading...Those not eligible for Medicare due to their visas to get free hospital care, dental and other services
People fleeing the Israel-Gaza war will receive free healthcare under a Victorian initiative, amid calls for other states to follow suit.
The state’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, will on Saturday announce people fleeing the conflict – who aren’t eligible for Medicare due to their visa – will be able to access essential healthcare, specialised mental health support and language services.
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