Category Archives: Victoria

Liberal plan to split Victorian appeals court attacked as ‘thought bubble’ that would politicise judiciary

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Opposition leader Jess Wilson says new dedicated court of criminal appeal would set precedents for tougher sentences

A radical overhaul of Victoria’s highest court, proposed by the Liberal party to increase sentences, has been criticised by legal and human rights groups who warn it would politicise the judiciary.

The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, on Sunday announced that if elected in November the Coalition would split the court of appeal in two, creating a dedicated court of criminal appeal alongside a separate court of civil appeal.

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Erin Patterson appeal live: prosecutors to seek life in prison without parole for triple murderer

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Victorian court of appeal also to consider whether triple murder and attempted murder convictions should be quashed

McWilliams is arguing against Patterson’s third ground of appeal.

On this ground, Patterson’s legal team argue the trial judge, Justice Christopher Beale, erred in ruling that photos and videos related to mushrooms and found on an SD card in Patterson’s home was inadmissible.

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Ralph Carr in ‘living hell’ after being convicted of rape, Victorian court hears

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Lawyer for the entertainment industry and AFL figure says his career is ‘destroyed’ following conviction

Entertainment industry and AFL figure Ralph Carr says he is in “living hell” and has been “destroyed” after being convicted of rape, a Victorian court has heard.

Carr was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a trial in the county court of Victoria last month.

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First Australian death of little penguin with H5 bird flu confirmed on Phillip Island

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Authorities confirm first Australian death of species found with virus near where it attracts crowds to a ‘penguin parade’

Australia’s first case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a little penguin has been confirmed on Victoria’s Phillip Island, only days after the state government announced it would begin vaccinating the species.

Confirmation of the virus in the little penguin will spark a race to vaccinate thousands of birds, with the government announcing on Saturday it would begin the rollout on Monday.

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Victorian Liberals promise weekly red bin garbage collections for all, calling fortnightly system ‘disgusting’

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If opposition wins November’s state election, leader Jess Wilson vows households will not pay more under the change

The Victorian Liberals have vowed to restore weekly rubbish collections if they win November’s state election, with leader Jess Wilson describing the current fortnightly system in her local area as “disgusting”.

Thirty-three Victorian councils have switched general rubbish collections from weekly to fortnightly, with a similar shift occurring in other states.

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Senior managers at St Basil’s aged care, where 50 died from Covid, can’t remember it all. Grieving loved ones can’t forget

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Konstantin Kontis and Vicky Kos were compelled to testify at a coronial inquest resuming on the sixth anniversary of the tragedy

Quiet sobs could be heard in Melbourne’s coroner’s court, as several families attended to finally hear from the pair who were the most senior managers when, throughout July and August 2020, almost a quarter of the 188 residents at St Basil’s aged care home died from Covid-19 or neglect.

Following multiple failed legal bids to avoid giving evidence after 50 residents died in the Victorian aged care home they managed, Konstantin Kontis and Vicky Kos were compelled to testify at a coronial inquest resuming on the sixth anniversary of the tragedy.

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‘We expected it, but now it’s here’: on the frontline of Australia’s bird flu outbreak, people are distressed

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As Australia prepares for the H5 bird flu to potentially rip through hundreds of species, residents of the Limestone Coast are already seeing the impacts

It has only been three weeks since H5 bird flu was detected on South Australia’s Limestone Coast and already encounters with sick or dead birds are becoming commonplace.

Maureen Christie, who lives in the seaside town of Carpenter Rocks, has been observing and protecting birds in the region for decades. She is now witnessing many stricken and suffering.

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Daniel Andrews defends actions as opposition labels Labor ‘a gangster government’ after Ibac report released

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Victorian corruption watchdog finds ‘serious and concerning’ conduct by senior Andrews government members in dealings with union boss

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has defended the actions of senior members of his government, whom the state’s anti-corruption watchdog found engaged in “serious and concerning” conduct in their dealings with the leader of the firefighters’ union.

A long-awaited report by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, stopped stopped short of making any findings of corrupt conduct.

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One Nation unveils eight Victorian election candidates including former Liberal and anti-woke film animator

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Local councillor who says he used to work on Daniel Andrews’ security team also part of upper house lineup for November’s state poll

A former Liberal party candidate, the animator behind Pauline Hanson’s anti-woke film and a local councillor who says he worked on former premier Daniel Andrews’ personal protection team have been unveiled as One Nation candidates for the Victorian election.

Pauline Hanson held a press conference on Monday to announce the eight candidates who will lead One Nation’s upper house tickets at the November state election.

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Labour hire firm paid Mick Gatto more than $1m to secure work on Big Build, CFMEU inquiry told

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M Group’s lawyer tells inquiry while the firm’s directors ‘may have done business with Gatto’ they were not ‘frontmen’ for him

A labour hire company accused of being a front for underworld figure Mick Gatto paid him more than $1m over nine years, with its lawyer telling an inquiry it did so to secure work on Victorian government Big Build sites where the construction union had influence.

Integrity expert Geoffrey Watson SC appeared before the Queensland inquiry into the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) on Friday, defending his Rotting from the Top report, which alleged Gatto controlled several M Group companies through “dummy directors” Michael Portia and Tony Paragalli.

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Victorian cults inquiry accidentally shares email address of anonymous survivors with group members

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Committee apologises for not concealing email addresses when alerting witnesses to final report

A Victorian parliamentary committee investigating the harmful impact of cults accidentally sent the email addresses of anonymous survivors who made submissions to current members of such groups and to journalists.

The committee, which had its report into “cults and organised fringe groups” tabled in parliament on Wednesday, emailed hundreds of recipients shortly after midday to inform them it had been published, but erroneously left their addresses visible.

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Daniel Andrews says Ben Carroll ‘can win’ Victoria election in rare public statement

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Former leader shows support for new Victorian premier while paying tribute to Jacinta Allan

Daniel Andrews has thrown his support behind Victoria’s new premier, Ben Carroll, saying he has what it takes to win November’s state election.

In a rare public statement on Wednesday, the former premier also paid tribute to Jacinta Allan, whom he handpicked to replace him as Labor leader when he resigned in September 2023.

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Ben Carroll announces royal commission into construction sector as first act as new premier of Victoria

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Jacinta Allan steps down from top job before expected spill, saying her deputy has her ‘unqualified support’

Ben Carroll has been sworn in as the premier of Victoria after Jacinta Allan resigned, with his first act as leader to announce a royal commission into alleged corruption in the construction sector.

Carroll’s elevation comes just four months before the state election and follows a tumultuous 48 hours for Labor, during which Allan resigned and a surprise challenger emerged in the leadership contest.

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Who is Ben Carroll, the man who has become Victoria’s new premier?

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Carroll, who was elected to parliament in 2012 and says he has always been ambitious, has been sworn in as premier after Jacinta Allan resigned

In 2023, when then-public transport minister Ben Carroll failed in his surprising bid to secure the leadership of the Victorian Labor party, he told a press conference: “I was always very keen to rise.”

The premier Daniel Andrews had resigned, believing he had locked in his succession plan: his loyal deputy Jacinta Allan as premier, and treasurer Tim Pallas as deputy.

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Alleged rape victim ‘could have done a lot better’ if she had made up claims against well-connected Melbourne man, court told

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Prosecutor tells court that ‘gaps or inconsistencies’ in the woman’s account ‘enhances her credibility’, but the defence maintains she is lying

A woman who accused a well-connected Melbourne man of rape “could have done a much better job” if she was inventing the story for money, a Melbourne court has heard.

But the accused’s lawyer has described the prosecution’s case as a “horrendous mixture” of “lies, fabrications, inconsistencies, [and] evidence that has been found to be demonstrably untrue”.

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Australian ski resorts smash July climate records with temperatures 12C above average

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Resorts in New South Wales and Victoria face a warm and dry start to the season with only sporadic falls of natural snow in many alpine areas

Alpine ski resorts in New South Wales and Victoria saw climate records shattered at the weekend with maximum temperatures up to 12C above average.

Ski areas of Mount Hotham and Falls Creek set July records for their hottest daytime and night-time temperatures and Thredbo also set a new hottest July day, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

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Victoria announces new social media ‘demasking’ powers for accounts accused of vilification

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New laws would give Vcat power to force social and AI platforms to identify anonymous users in move premier says will protect children

Social media companies could be forced to identify anonymous accounts accused of online vilification, under new laws being proposed in Victoria.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, announced a suite of social media reforms on Sunday, saying families needed new ways to protect their children online.

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Moira Deeming drops legal case against Victorian Liberal party and makes last-ditch bid to avoid disendorsement

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State MP abandons supreme court challenge, saying her party ‘can now decide whether to pursue mediation or reconvene to disendorse me’

Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has dropped legal action against her own party as she seeks to make a last-ditch appeal to avoid being disendorsed before the state election.

Deeming launched an 11th-hour supreme court challenge against the Victorian Liberal party president, Brian Loughnane, on 3 July after she made an assault allegation against former leader Matthew Guy and subsequently rejected calls to apologise after Victoria police determined “there was no offence detected”.

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David Penman wasn’t happy with his local Victorian council. So, he privately prosecuted five councillors

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Legal action by the Daylesford small business owner has forced councillors to stand down – leaving only two able to serve

David Penman wasn’t happy.

The Daylesford small business owner didn’t like the work of his local council. So, using little-known laws that force elected officials to stand down, he essentially stopped it from making any big decisions.

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Layla Jeffery, 13, was ‘somewhat shy’ and ‘well-liked’. A Victorian town is struggling with her alleged murder

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Donald – a small community about 280km from Melbourne – is grieving after a missing teenager was found dead

In the week after Layla Jeffery failed to return home in the early hours of 4 July, residents in the tiny Victorian town of Donald worriedly shared posts about the missing 13-year-old girl.

One woman, who was receiving chemotherapy treatment in the town last week, wrote on Facebook that she felt “sick” at the thought of something happening to Layla. Others shared a post from police, asking for any information about her whereabouts.

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