Category Archives: Victoria

Veronica Nelson’s family urges Victorian government to hear ‘cries for help’ and go further with bail reforms

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Exclusive: MPs urged to implement Poccum’s law, named in honour of First Nations woman who died in a cell while on remand

The family of First Nations woman Veronica Nelson has urged the Victorian government to “listen to [her] cries for help” and go further with its proposed changes to bail laws, which will be debated in parliament this week.

Nelson died alone in a Melbourne prison cell while on remand in January 2020 after her calls for help went unanswered. The 37-year-old Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman had been arrested for shoplifting and refused bail before her death.

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Investment in new Australian wind and solar farms stalls amid ‘raft of barriers’, report finds

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First half of year had slowest pace of final approvals in Clean Energy Council’s six years of tracking, but backing for power storage was more promising

Investment in new wind and solar farms has all but stalled with developers facing a “raft of barriers” despite strong political support, the Clean Energy Council said in its latest quarterly report.

The first half of 2023 produced the slowest pace of final investment approvals in the council’s six years of data tracking. Just four generation projects accounting for 348 megawatts – or roughly the size of a single coal-fired power station unit – secured financial commitment in the June quarter.

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Senator responds to report – as it happened

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Conroy says comments at Labor conference about strategic balance in Pacific

Conroy is asked about comments he made at the Labor conference, saying it is against Australia’s interest to have one power dominate our region, especially one that breaches international laws.

And is it your view that China is trying to do that, dominate our region?

I’m not going to be going into what other countries are doing but it’s clear that we’re seeing great strategic competition in our region, and it’s appropriate that we respond through increased diplomatic engagement and an increasing deterrence in the Australian Defence Force.

They all play complementary roles in promoting peace and stability in our [region].

So this is about peace and stability in our region by deterring conflict and I know you will respond that saying, well, aren’t we just engaging in military buildup, but in the end, the only way we pursue peace and stability is by presenting strength. This is what this is about.

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Mother’s pleas for antibiotics for toddler who died of sepsis were ignored, Victorian court told

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Miranda Jowett, who sought treatment for daughter Dio Kemp six times, tells coronial inquest into her death she was made to feel like an ‘overly concerned parent’

A Melbourne mother who sought medical treatment for her toddler six times before the child died of septic shock has told an inquest that her pleas for antibiotics and further tests were ignored and that she was made to feel like an “overly concerned parent”.

The Victorian coroners court on Monday began an inquest into the death of Dio Kemp, three, who died after she was taken to Monash Medical Centre four times and to her GP twice over eight days in late 2019.

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Victorian recycling company found to have systematically underpaid refugees and asylum seekers

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Company formerly known as Polytrade fined more than $375,000 in the federal court

Refugees and asylum seekers employed to sort rubbish were systematically exploited and underpaid by one of the biggest recycling organisations in Victoria.

A recycling company formerly known as Polytrade, a linked subsidiary, and its owners, were fined more than $375,000 in the federal court this month, over what a judge described as “obnoxious conduct” and a “cavalier disregard” for the law, grossly underpaying migrant workers who spoke little English and were vulnerable to exploitation.

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Bye bye brutalism, hello Instagrammers: inside Geelong’s spectacular $140m arts centre

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Australia’s newest and largest regional arts centre features malleable theatres, Indigenous art and spaces especially designed to get your camera out

When Joel McGuinness was brought on to oversee the redevelopment of the Geelong Arts Centre, and subsequently run the venue as its CEO and creative director, he wanted to change more than the 1980s building’s brutalist aesthetics. He wanted to redefine its purpose, to open it up to people who may have thought they didn’t belong.

“I really wanted to challenge the notion of black box theatres that turn their back on the world,” he says. “To change the relationship between the art and the audience. Because when the baby boomers die out, maybe the institutions as we know them will die out too.”

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Daniel Andrews says $380m Commonwealth Games compensation ‘the best outcome Victoria could get’

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The Victorian premier last month announced Victoria would not host the games after a forecast cost blowout

The Victorian government has agreed to pay Commonwealth Games bodies $380m in compensation after cancelling the 2026 event, in what the premier, Daniel Andrews, is claiming as “the best outcome” the state could get.

Andrews made the shock announcement last month that Victoria would not host the Games as planned due to concerns they would far exceed initial cost expectations.

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Victoria paid EY more than $30m for Covid pandemic health projects

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Public health expert says value of contracts cannot be assessed as they are described using ‘waffle words generated by the obfuscation machine’

The Victorian government paid the consultancy firm EY more than $30m to help manage and deliver key public health projects during the pandemic, including contact tracing and the rollout of tests and vaccines.

Government contracts show the health department paid EY $17.4m for its work on the test-and-trace program, known as Operation Drasi, with EY staff seconded into the department.

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Has the first shot been fired in Victorian Labor’s succession?

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MPs say leaks about alleged branch stacking have escalated the factional war about who will eventually replace Daniel Andrews

Daniel Andrews has not announced plans to resign – but the first shot may have been fired this week in a fight over who will take over leadership positions in the Victorian Labor party when he does.

While unlikely to cause long-term damage to either the premier, or its subject, minister Lily D’Ambrosio, the leak of branch stacking allegations to a newspaper has been described by state MPs as an escalation in the war between Labor’s factions as they begin planning for a future without Andrews at the helm.

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Victorian council did not impede democracy by closing public gallery over disruptions, court rules

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Supreme court dismisses case brought by Darren Dickson, who claimed council failed to meaningfully engage residents over urban design framework for Monbulk

A Victorian council’s decision to hold meetings online did not prevent residents from participating in the democratic process, a supreme court judge has found.

In April, Yarra Ranges council announced it would close its public gallery for council meetings, citing verbal abuse and intimidation from some of those attending, including members of the conspiracist group My Place.

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Australian police rejected Fifa requests for Gianni Infantino to be escorted during World Cup travel

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Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria police turned down request for escort for Fifa president, which is normally reserved for foreign heads of state

Fifa asked Australian police in multiple jurisdictions to provide escorts for president Gianni Infantino during his travel for the Women’s World Cup, but was turned down.

Infantino asked Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales police to provide him with escorts, the Guardian has confirmed.

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Vandals damage Indigenous birthing tree sacred to Victoria’s Djab Wurrung people

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Police investigate vandalism of tree that was set to be demolished for major road project before large protests in western Victoria

A sacred Indigenous birthing tree that was once at the centre of large protests in western Victoria over Aboriginal cultural heritage rights has been vandalised with a pro-highway message and had three drill holes cut into its trunk.

Police are investigating after the tree – sacred to the Djab Wurrung people – was vandalised near Buangor, about 180km west of Melbourne. The Djab Wurrung people have been fighting for four years to prevent the destruction of the birthing trees as part of a major state government road project.

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Family of mushroom poisoning survivor ‘deeply moved’ by support as pastor remains critical in Melbourne hospital

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Ian Wilkinson is in critical but stable condition after consuming a mushroom lunch in Leongatha last month

The family of the survivor from a group of four people hospitalised after consuming a meal of poisonous mushrooms has thanked hospital staff and the public for their support.

Baptist church pastor Ian Wilkinson lost his wife, 66-year-old Heather Wilkinson after the pair ate the mushrooms at a lunch at a Leongatha home in Victoria’s south-east on 29 July.

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Coalition’s position on the voice ‘clear as mud’ and ‘completely confused’, Burney says – as it happened

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‘Mistakes of the past’: David Littleproud compares voice to ATSIC advisory body

Littleproud says the proposal for the voice to parliament will “repeat the mistakes of the past”, comparing the proposal to ATSIC.

No, again, David, the problem comes from the lived experience we have. And it might work in suburbs in capital cities but when you’re talking about representative bodies in rural and remote Australia, you’re talking about hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, hundreds of different diverse communities that have different challenges and needs.

We were saying let’s have common sense.

Why not let the market decide but let’s educate Australians. This won’t happen overnight. This is something we need to bring them on that journey. That’s why I wanted to have some political leadership but from across the aisle, and say let’s have a national energy summit, bring Australians into our trust and let them decide what the energy mix should look like and live town our international commitments.

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Estranged wife of union boss John Setka has conspiracy to murder charge dropped

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Prosecutors withdraw several charges against Emma Walters, who is still accused of making a threat to kill Setka, which she denies

Prosecutors have dropped several charges including conspiracy to murder against Emma Walters, the estranged wife of the construction union boss John Setka.

Walters allegedly made a threat to kill the union heavyweight but she will no longer face a charge of conspiring to murder him.

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In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org

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Future uncertain for key Tasmania to mainland power transmission link after $2bn cost blowout

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Federal government in discussion with states after cost of Marinus Link nearly doubles, putting decarbonisation and energy goals at risk

Tasmania is optimistic the Albanese government will lift funding for a key new transmission link to the mainland after projected costs blew out by at least $2bn.

The Marinus Link was originally priced at $3bn in 2021 for its two-stage construction of separate cables across the Bass Strait, each with 750 megawatt capacity.

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Mushroom mystery: family lunch leaves Australian town reeling after three deaths in suspected poisoning

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As police investigate what looks like a fatal case of food poisoning in Leongatha in rural Victoria, locals recall the victims as kind and community-spirited

In the quiet town of Leongatha in eastern Victoria, a group of family and friends sat down to a Saturday lunch at one of their homes.

Within hours of the meal four of the guests began feeling very unwell and eventually sought treatment at local hospitals.

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Passenger train was 100km/h over speed limit before deadly crash north of Melbourne, report finds

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Driver and a rail worker were killed when the XPT train derailed in February 2020 at Wallan, Victoria on its way from Melbourne to Sydney

A passenger train was travelling at more than 100km/h over the speed limit when it derailed north of Melbourne, killing its driver and a rail worker.

The NSW Trainlink XPT passenger train was on its way to Melbourne from Sydney on 20 February 2020, when it came off the tracks at Wallan.

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Catholic church seeks to stop family’s lawsuit over George Pell child abuse allegations

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Melbourne archdiocese challenges legal ruling that would allow father of a choirboy to sue for damages

The Catholic church is seeking to challenge a legal ruling in Victoria that would allow the father of a choirboy to sue for damages over allegations of child sexual abuse by Cardinal George Pell.

The father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, filed a claim against the Catholic archdiocese of Melbourne and Pell. He claims to have suffered nervous shock after learning of allegations that Pell sexually abused his now deceased son in the mid-1990s.

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Australia news live: pre-emptive release of Sofronoff report ‘denied me procedural fairness’, Shane Drumgold says

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ACT director of public prosecutions steps down after agreeing with ACT attorney-general Shane Rattenbury his position was ‘no longer tenable’. Follow live news updates today

PM urges people to look at the yes and no pamphlets

Albanese is asked about the word “Makarrata”, which has been subject to attack by the no campaign.

Why would someone disagree with the idea of Makarrata, with which is a Yolngu word for coming together after conflict - what that is about is just advancing reconciliation.

What the no campaign insists on doing is talking about anything but what is in the question before the Australian people. I would say to your listeners, have a look at what the question is, have a look at the yesand the no pamphlets. The yes pamphlet with its optimistic appeal for hope and a vision for the future, and the no campaign quoting people, misquoting people who are not actually supporting it.

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