Category Archives: Victoria

Nimbys v Yimbys: the affluent inner Melbourne suburbs that aren’t pulling their weight on housing

Posted on by

Exclusive: Housing advocacy group says amenity-rich eastern suburbs must be rezoned to accommodate thousands of new homes

They’re close to the city, public transport, schools and parks – and Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs should be shouldering the burden when it comes to new housing, according to a new report.

The report, by housing advocacy group Yimby Melbourne and published on Thursday, recommends introducing enforceable housing targets for the 19 local governments in inner Melbourne, as well as an overhaul of restrictive zoning rules.

Continue reading...

Retreat death: family pays tribute to Melbourne woman as police investigate whether she consumed mushrooms

Posted on by

Rachael Dixon, 53, identified as person police believe died after ingesting a drink at Soul Barn in Clunes, near Ballarat

Family members have paid tribute to a Melbourne woman who died after allegedly ingesting a drink at a Victorian health retreat on the weekend, with police investigating whether it contained mushrooms.

Rachael Dixon, 53, became ill after consuming a drink at the Soul Barn retreat in the town of Clunes, north of Ballarat, at around midnight Sunday. She died at the scene.

Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Bondi Junction killer’s father says he did everything in his power to help ‘very sick boy’ before stabbings

Posted on by

Follow today’s news headlines live

Albanese on Bondi attacker’s motive: ‘The gender breakdown is of course concerning’

I just wanted to go back to the PM’s appearance on ABC radio earlier, where he was asked what he thought of the motive behind the attack.

NSW police have said they’re looking at that as part of the investigation.

The gender breakdown is of course concerning.

We’re working with Westfield. As I said, we handed back the crime scene last night. But it spread over seven floors at Westfield. It will take some time to prepare the stores for reopening. No doubt there’s some work to be done with stakeholders inside the Westfield, in terms of their own reaction and trauma to what has happened. So, that will be done very carefully, no doubt.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Tasmanian premier says ‘never appropriate’ to compare Port Arthur massacre to anything; stabbing at Bondi beach

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has defended his comments comparing a pro-Palestinian protest at the Sydney Opera House to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, AAP reports.

Speaking on the Today show, Dutton stood by his remark and said the comparison was a commentary on the prime minister’s leadership:

The point I was making – which is absolutely a legitimate one – is that I thought this was a time for the prime minister to show leadership and to step up. Instead, we’ve had crickets.

You’ve got a contrast, I think, with John Howard, who stood up at a point of national importance for our country, demonstrated leadership and changed the course of history for the better.

That’s the parallel that I’m making – to the absolute absence of leadership from the prime minister at the moment, which has given rise to those in the Jewish community talking about feeling unsafe in our country.

I don’t resile from that at all.

Continue reading...

Bridget Archer leads criticism after Peter Dutton compares pro-Palestine protest to Port Arthur massacre

Posted on by

Tasmanian Liberal MP labels comments ‘wholly inappropriate’ after PM says he was ‘taken aback’ by opposition leader’s speech

Peter Dutton has drawn widespread criticism, including from one of his own MPs, for comparing the 1996 mass murder of 35 people at Port Arthur to a pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House.

The Tasmanian Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer labelled Dutton’s comments “incredibly disrespectful” and “wholly inappropriate”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Mona loses Ladies Lounge anti-discrimination case with ‘persons who do not identify as ladies’ to be allowed entry – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

A search will resume this morning for a woman who went missing while bushwalking at Belmore Falls in New South Wales.

Just after 1pm on Sunday, emergency services were called to Belmore Falls near Robertson after reports a woman had slipped and fallen down a cliff. An extensive search was initiated, but the 20-year-old was not located and the search was suspended at dusk.

We’ve got large multinationals in the supermarket ring who aren’t captured. So I’d like to see this expanded over time.

Woolworths, I think, makes a good point, and that is the code to be extended should be expanded to cover rivals Amazon, Costco and even Chemist Warehouse.

We’ll have more to say on that in coming weeks and months.

Continue reading...

Asbestos confirmed in seven Melbourne parks after latest tests

Posted on by

PA Burns Reserve and the Altona Coastal Park the latest sites to have ‘small amounts of asbestos’ discovered

Victoria’s environment watchdog and a Melbourne council have confirmed traces of asbestos at seven parks and reserves across Melbourne, as the regulator probes the sources of the contamination.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, the Environment Protection Authority confirmed small amounts of asbestos-contaminated material had been discovered at PA Burns Reserve in Altona, in Melbourne’s west. The EPA said its inspection over the weekend found “good quality mulch laid over industrial waste”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Victorian Labor party members to stage revolt over public housing tower redevelopment

Posted on by

Exclusive: Rank and file group wants a doubling of social housing at the 44 tower sites and a guarantee all the land will stay in public hands

Rank and file Victorian Labor party members will use an upcoming state council meeting to push the government to guarantee no public land will be sold off to private developers when it knocks down the state’s 44 public housing towers.

Labor for Housing – a non-factional advocacy group within the Victorian Labor party that advocates for better housing policies – will also use May’s state conference to call for a doubling of the social housing contained in the planned redevelopment.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Investigation under way after gas pipeline off Victorian coast ruptures

Posted on by

Gas platforms in the area are among the oldest offshore oil and gas operations in the country

The offshore oil and gas regulator is investigating after an undersea gas pipeline ruptured off the Victorian coast, causing a visible “sheen” on the ocean’s surface.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) confirmed it received a notification about a potential spill from ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso on Saturday morning.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: PM says it ‘isn’t good enough’ to say Gaza strike on aid workers ‘just a product of war’

Posted on by

Prime minister reiterates that has ‘demanded full accountability for what has occurred’ from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Follow the day’s news live

After a number of comments about the state of famine in Gaza, which Hyman appears to be disputing – it’s quite difficult to keep up with his comments, though they seem to include allegations that Hamas is stealing aid – he is asked by host Sally Sara if he’s rejecting UN concerns of hunger and starvation in Gaza. I will come back and check his comments shortly but the upshot seems to be that he is, more or less.

I’ll bring you more direct lines from this interview shortly, bear with me.

I mean, obviously, we know that this isn’t something that the IDF would do or the Israeli Air Force would do on purpose.

There’s a war going on. Wars are awful. Nobody wanted this war, we certainly didn’t want this war, but we’re forced to fight it because it’s a war for our very existence.

Continue reading...

Asbestos found in recycled mulch next to playground in Melbourne’s west

Posted on by

Local council confirms material was found at the Donald McLean Reserve in Spotswood

Asbestos has been discovered in recycled mulch at a park in Melbourne’s west, prompting the closure of a playground and inspections of other public places.

A resident had reported items found in tanbark near a new playground at Donald McLean Reserve in Spotswood to the local council earlier this week.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Melbourne men allegedly sought $2.5m worth of phones to be shipped to Russia and other countries

Posted on by

Victoria police say four men were charged with nearly 100 fraud and deception offences

Members of a Melbourne organised crime syndicate have been charged over alleged complex frauds totalling almost $4m, including sending phones to Russia.

Financial crime detectives from Victoria police arrested four men on Wednesday and charged them with almost 100 fraud and deception offences after an 18-month investigation.

Continue reading...

Melbourne private school Kilvington grammar charged over death of student after Vietnam excursion

Posted on by

Worksafe also charged World Travel Expeditions after Lachlan Cook, 16, died in hospital following health complications

A travel company and a Melbourne private school have been charged over the death of a student who became unwell on a school trip.

The Kilvington grammar school student, Lachlan Cook, 16, suffered diabetes complications during a trip to Vietnam in September 2019 and later died in hospital in Melbourne.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Victoria government blasted for rejecting truth-telling inquiry’s key recommendations

Posted on by

Yoorook Justice commissioners disappointed ‘crucial’ recommendation to immediately raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 without exceptions was rebuffed

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly and the head of the state’s Indigenous truth-telling commission have criticised the Allan Labor government for seeking more time to consider overhauling child protection and criminal justice systems.

The government on Wednesday handed down its response to a report by the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which called for it to tackle systemic injustices experienced by First Nations people in the child protection and criminal justice sectors.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: heavy rain and strong winds to hit Victoria; Easter campers rescued from Queensland flood waters

Posted on by

Five people rescued while dozens remained stranded at campsite in northern Queensland. Follow the day’s news live

Support for Labor drops in WA as Coalition gains ground among the young

Voters in Western Australia are shifting away from Labor towards the Coalition, as the opposition gains ground among young people.

Continue reading...

Victoria trials reusable crates for fresh produce to cut ‘invisible’ waste from supply chain

Posted on by

Pilot scheme supplies 1,000 folding boxes to farms and wholesalers to reduce single-use cardboard, paper and plastic

A pilot scheme to replace cardboard produce boxes with reusable plastic crates has been launched in Victoria, with the aim to cut “invisible” cardboard waste.

The Victoria Unboxed project, led by the food charity Sustain with Sustainable Victoria, has supplied 1,000 reusable plastic crates to transport produce from farms to venues, wholesalers and homes across Melbourne. The trial aims to reduce the need for single-use packaging, including cardboard, plastic and paper waste.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter

Continue reading...

‘One of Melbourne’s big characters’: youth worker Les Twentyman dies aged 76

Posted on by

Twentyman spent more than four decades campaigning on youth homelessness and social welfare

The prominent Melbourne youth worker and social justice campaigner, Les Twentyman, has died aged 76.

The Les Twentyman Foundation announced his death in a statement on Saturday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Man shot dead in ‘very targeted’ attack in Melbourne’s north, police say

Posted on by

Victoria police say victim of Glenroy shooting was known to them and had a criminal record

Police are treating the fatal shooting of a man at a strip of shops in Melbourne’s north as a targeted attack.

The man was shot dead in a car park outside shops on Justin Avenue at Glenroy just after 4.30am on Good Friday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Stamp duty: would Victoria be better off with a land tax instead?

Posted on by

As the state government considers reforming its contentious stamp duty, here are the benefits and pitfalls of replacing it with an annual tax

The Victorian government has given its strongest indicator yet it is open to reforming stamp duty – one of the state’s most contentious taxes.

The government this week released its response to a parliamentary inquiry that urged the state to investigate options to scrap stamp duty and replace it with a broad-based land tax.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Peter Dutton in standoff with state Liberal leaders over federal Coalition’s nuclear plan

Posted on by

The federal opposition leader’s calls to include nuclear power in Australia’s energy mix has so far failed to win support from his state colleagues

The federal Coalition faces a battle with the states on its proposal for nuclear power stations at the sites of decommissioned coal power plants, with state premiers and opposition leaders alike largely against Peter Dutton’s proposal.

Labor governments and Coalition oppositions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are either outright opposed to the plan or have failed to endorse it.

Continue reading...