Category Archives: Victoria

PM cancels afternoon campaigning – as it happened

Posted on by

Members of Scott Morrison’s security detail injured during campaigning in Tasmania; at least 45 more Covid deaths around Australia, with 21 in NSW. This blog is now closed

If you are in Sydney, you can have a little treat – free public transport (for 12 days).

As AAP reports:

Continue reading...

Babies missing out on health checks in Melbourne due to Covid-related workforce shortages

Posted on by

Exclusive: two Victorian councils limiting maternal and infant service, despite government lifting statewide pause enacted during Covid surge

There are fears health issues in babies could be going undetected as infant and maternal health checks remain suspended in parts of Melbourne’s west due to a shortage of workers.

Early childhood and maternal care experts warned the ongoing limits to the free service meant some parents were relying on blogs instead to find health information about their child’s development.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Australia politics live updates: Joyce announces $1.5bn Darwin port facility; Coalition costing of Labor policies ‘laughable’, says Gallagher

Posted on by

Deputy PM promises $1.5bn investment for new Darwin port; Labor senator takes shot at Coalition’s ‘dodgy costings unit’; Scott Morrison promises to create 1.3m new jobs in the next five years; Anthony Albanese announces greater mental health support for regions; nation records 38 more Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news

Scott Morrison has called in to Adelaide radio station FiveAA to speak with David Penberthy.

Penberthy wanted to know whether Morrison’s standing contributed to the collapse in the Liberal party’s vote in the recent South Australian state election.

It’s a federal election.

It’s a macro number that we do right across the economy.

I think prime minister Ardern was appropriate when she said she wasn’t going to engage in a domestic election in Australia. I would say this – this is a recommendation of the royal commission. This is a recommendation that arises out of the situation that we see older Australians facing. Neglect, people are being neglected.

Now, what we are saying is let’s work to bring in more nurses to the sector ... a lot of nurses leave the sector every year, or leave their employer. We need to train more Australians to get into this workforce, and yes, as is currently the place, migration will be part of the story but not all of the story.

Continue reading...

Primary school children in Victoria set to no longer have to wear masks in the classroom in term 2

Posted on by

Health minister Martin Foley to ‘reconsider all health orders’ including mask requirements once Covid cases hit expected plateau later this month

Mask requirements for primary school-age students in Victoria are expected to be scrapped in term 2 if Covid cases continue to stabilise, as the state government reconsiders all the state’s restrictions.

The state recorded 12 deaths and 10,293 new cases on Tuesday – a slight increase from Monday’s 9,597 infections – while there were 376 people in hospital with the virus, including 19 people in intensive care.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Plibersek says election ‘a test of leadership, not memory’ after Albanese mistake – As it happened

Posted on by

The PM campaigned in Gilmore in NSW, while Labor leader is in Bass in Tasmania; Tanya Plibersek defends Anthony Albanese after opposition leader addresses his rates stumble; phone voting available for people in isolation on election day; NSW reports three Covid deaths and Victoria one. This blog is now closed

Scott Morrison just appeared on ABC breakfast TV, where he was asked about his relationship with the Liberal candidate for Gilmore, Andrew Constance.

Q: Andrew Constance said that you got the welcome that you deserved [in the region after the bushfires]. Emotions are still running deep in the bushfire-affected communities. Are you concerned about that being repeated today?

With Andrew Constance being part of my team and choosing to be part of that team, I think that that addresses it. Andrew and I spoke not long after the terrible experiences that particularly he and others and so many went through, and we worked the issue. We ensured that we addressed thing like small business payment and we got the money on the grouped and supported people in the areas that the federal government were responsible for. And I really thank Andrew for the way that we came together and really started to work together to address those issues. He’s a fine advocate for this part of Australia on the south coast of New South Wales.

He’s demonstrated that time again. And the fact that he wants to be part of my team and is running here as our Liberal candidate in Gilmore, I think that that addresses those issues fairly, squarely, that we’ve actually addressed the short comings that he was outlining at the time and we’ve gone forward with a strong plan to ensure that we’re providing that support. Not just in relation to the fires, but in relation to other natural disasters. And we’ve seen so many of those over the last three years.

Continue reading...

Leaders make first pitches to voters after PM sets poll date – as it happened

Posted on by

Scott Morrison says federal election about choosing between ‘a government you know and a Labor opposition you don’t’; Anthony Albanese says ‘Australians deserve better’ at campaign launch; at least 13 more deaths from Covid. This blog is now closed

Very glad to report the ABC has a live feed of the PM’s plan taxiing along at Sydney airport. Thoroughly engaging stuff.

The ABC is now reporting the PM has jumped aboard the official prime ministerial jet at Sydney airport, heading to Canberra.

Continue reading...

Family violence groups call for Victoria’s first culturally specific refuge

Posted on by

Unlike Queensland and New South Wales, Victoria has no culturally specific family violence refuges

Zara* believes she and her children wouldn’t be alive today were it not for the support she received while at a family violence refuge in New Zealand tailored to her cultural needs.

“The mainstream refuge didn’t understand the seriousness of abuse the ethnic women go through,” Zara said. “I have been told by my own family, community and society to reconcile so many times and every time the abuse worsens.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

Continue reading...

Craig Kelly egged in Melbourne; Ukraine ambassador flags need for more support – as it happened

Posted on by

Ukraine ambassador flags need for further support from Australia; RBA says potential rate rises to hit borrowers’ repayments; PM says election call ‘won’t be very long from now’; Russia bans 228 Australian officials; NSW records first ‘Deltacron’ cases as nation records at least 30 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Australian Border Force officials searched 822 travellers’ mobile phones in 2021, despite admitting it has no power to force arrivals to give them the passcode to their devices.

In January, Sydney software developer James told Guardian Australia that he and his partner were stopped on their return from Fiji by border force officials who asked them to write their phone passcodes on a piece of paper before taking the codes and their phones to another room to examine for half an hour. The phones were then returned and they were allowed to leave.

It will be a big win for the Ukrainian forces in their attempts to stare down the barbaric efforts of the Russian forces.

Continue reading...

Craig Kelly billed taxpayers to fly to Melbourne anti-lockdown rallies

Posted on by

UAP leader defends the travel expenses, saying his activities at the protests were parliamentary business

Craig Kelly is being investigated for billing taxpayers to fly to anti-vaccine mandate, anti-lockdown rallies in Melbourne, internal records show.

Kelly, the leader of the United Australia party, charged taxpayers for his flights to and from Melbourne for two rallies in November and December last year, which were organised chiefly as protests against Victoria’s pandemic powers and the Victorian premier, Dan Andrews.

Continue reading...

Australia news live updates: NSW flood evacuation orders; asylum seekers to be released from detention; 30 Covid deaths

Posted on by

Seventeen asylum seekers expected to be released from detention; flood evacuation orders in NSW; Marise Payne meeting Nato members to discuss Ukraine; NSW records 16 Covid deaths and 22,255 new infections; Victoria records four deaths and 12,314 new infections; WA records 7,998 new infections and three deaths over past weeks; Queensland records seven deaths and 10,984 new cases. Follow all the day’s news live

The man seeking a high court challenge against federal intervention in NSW Liberal preselections has been expelled from the party.

In an escalation of the factional stoush, Matthew Camenzuli has asked the high court to prevent Scott Morrison’s hand-picked candidates from receiving Liberal endorsement on ballot papers pending the urgent case.

Continue reading...

Victoria’s Oz Lotto changes make it harder to win jackpot and are ‘blatant cash grab’, opposition says

Posted on by

Allowing two more balls means overall odds of winning something increase but odds of first division win go from one in 45.3m to one in 62.8m

Australians’ chances of winning the Oz Lotto jackpot are set to become slimmer after changes to the game by the Victorian government.

The state government has amended the Public Lottery Licence to introduce two extra balls for Oz Lotto, which currently has participants select seven choices from 45 numbers, with two supplementary numbers drawn.

Continue reading...

PM tight-lipped on election call – as it happened

Posted on by

Matthew Camenzuli expelled from Liberal party after seeking leave to appeal preselections ruling in high court; Scott Morrison says he has been ‘upfront with Australian people’ about running full term; Albanese calls Berejiklian a ‘straight talker’ after second round of leaked texts; at least 23 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

New text messages from former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian have emerged, building on former leaks and labelling Scott Morrison “obsessed with petty political pointscoring.”

News.com.au has reported it has received a second screenshot of text messages between Berejiklian and a mystery cabinet minister, in which she says she is “so, so disappointed,” in Morrison:

Thx. I’m just so so disappointed. Lives are at stake today and he is just obsessed with petty political pointscoring. So disappointed and gutted.

We’ve seen unprecedented collaboration with both the local government and state government, with support being delivered in record time … we were able to get $3bn of recovery support out, in just over the first three weeks – that’s a record number of people supported.

The PM has written to Premier Perrottet to say we’re very happy to share in costs of that program ... but the PM has made clear that it’s for the one-in-500-year flood event.

Continue reading...

‘Grab and drag’ proposal will bridge gap between assault and sexual offences in Victoria, experts say

Posted on by

Law reform body says there should be consequences for offenders who make victims fear they will be sexually assaulted

Offenders who grab and drag their victim in a way that makes them fear they will be sexually assaulted could be jailed for up to 10 years under a proposal outlined by Victoria’s peak law reform body.

The Andrews government asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) to review “grab and drag” offences after a 2018 assault in which Jackson Williams grabbed a 39-year-old woman and dragged her into an alleyway.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Life after prison: Victoria expands jobs program for ex-offenders in bid to reduce recidivism

Posted on by

Inquiry has found unemployment a key compounding factor in people returning to jail

Domestic violence and sexual assault survivor Grace* knows first-hand the discrimination experienced by ex-prisoners while job hunting.

The 27-year-old floated between the criminal justice system and attempts to find work, having been locked up for theft and drug possession.

Continue reading...

Australia news live updates: MPs respond to Morrison criticism; 20 Covid deaths; major Optus mobile network outage

Posted on by

Foreign and defence ministers label Putin a ‘war criminal’; major Optus mobile network outage; ministers respond to criticism of Scott Morrison; NSW records 12 Covid deaths and 19,183 new infections; Victoria records eight deaths and 12,007 new infections. Follow all the latest updates live

Another senior Liberal has taken aim at Scott Morrison, accusing him of “self-serving ruthless bullying” and claiming he has “ruined” the Liberal party.

Catherine Cusack, a NSW Liberal who announced two weeks ago she would resign from the Legislative Council over her anger about flood relief, adds her voice to a growing chorus of critics of Morrison from within his own party in an opinion piece for Guardian Australia.

The concerns over the prime minister’s character are now well established, and they’re well established not by the Labor party, but the people who know him best.

I mean his own deputy prime minister called him a liar and a hypocrite*. These people know him best, they’ve served in cabinet with him, in the Liberal party with him over a period of many years ...

Continue reading...

Adopted people can have biological parents on birth certificates under Victorian bill

Posted on by

Forced adoptions inquiry recommended names of birth parents be included on birth certificates

Legislation to be introduced to Victoria’s parliament on Tuesday will allow adopted people to have both their birth and adoptive parents included on their birth certificates for the first time.

Under the current law, people who have been adopted in Victoria are issued a new birth certificate with their adoptive name and the name of their adoptive parents. Their original birth certificate is stamped with “cancelled” or “adopted”.

Continue reading...

Australia news live updates: two feared dead in Blue Mountains landslide; Peter Gutwein resigns as premier of Tasmania

Posted on by

Outgoing Tasmanian premier says time to focus on family after two years of Covid; rescue operation under way in Blue Mountains; state member for Lismore questions federal flood support effort as NSW announces relief package; changes to Victorian Covid isolation rules would be ‘premature’, Jaala Pulford says; at least 14 Covid deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s news

NSW has reported 15,572 new cases and six deaths overnight:

Bruce Baird, the former member for Cook, Scott Morrison’s current seat, has come out and defended the PM against allegations he racially vilified a contender in a preselection battle in 2007.

He [Morrison] worked with me for two years when I was on the Tourism Council and I never heard him use racist terms.

I’m sure that people who are opponents of Scott and of the Liberal party would raise it for their own reasons, and Towke was feeling concerned because he’d lost the preselection … but in terms of all my dealings, and I was around him all the time, never once did I hear that allegation.

Continue reading...

Rain wanes but flood warnings remain in place over eastern Victoria as water flows downstream

Posted on by

Immediate threat of severe weather dissipates but SES warns rivers across Gippsland may still peak as rain water flows through catchments

Flood warnings remain in place in parts of eastern Victoria after heavy rain and strong winds lashed Gippsland overnight.

Moderate flood warnings have been issued for the Mitchell and Snowy Rivers, with minor warnings issued for the Avon, Cann, Genoa, Tambo and Nicholson Rivers. There is also a flood watch warning for East Gippsland and the eastern parts of West and South Gippsland.

Continue reading...

Victoria to restore area five times size of Melbourne with $31m boost to private land conservation

Posted on by

BushBank scheme aims to revegetate parcels of private land to create habitat for endangered wildlife and capture carbon

The Victorian government plans to restore an area five times the size of Melbourne as part of a new scheme to increase conservation on private land.

The state’s energy, environment and climate change minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, has announced the government will spend $31m to revegetate parcels of private land to create habitat for endangered wildlife and capture carbon.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

‘Not fit for purpose’: new noise benchmark needed for Melbourne’s third runway, group says

Posted on by

Victorian Transport Action Group says standards recommended by World Health Organization are needed

Melbourne airport must adopt new health-based metrics based on World Health Organization research for its proposed third runway to ensure people aren’t exposed to harmful noise levels, a group of transport experts say.

The $1.9bn proposal for the airport’s 3km third runway, due to open by the end of the decade, will be submitted to the federal government for approval next year.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...