Category Archives: Victoria

Australia news live: tens of thousands still without power in Victoria; poll shows growing support for drug injecting rooms

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Storms in three states is expected to ease today. Follow all the news headlines live

Crews are continuing to restore power to Victorians after strong winds damaged powerlines and left thousands without power.

According to AusNet, there are still 37,500 without power, and according to Citipower and Powercor, there are 17,484 customers still affected.

We have restored power to over 43,063 customers as crews continue repairing the power network that was extensively damaged during last night’s wild weather.

Crews are responding to more than 380 individual faults, replacing power poles, reconnecting fallen powerlines and repairing other electrical infrastructure damaged by trees, branches and other debris.

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Australia news live: parts of Victoria told to plan for up to 72 hours without power; two Tasmanian emergency workers injured during floods response

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Weather situation overnight in Victoria has led to about 1,900 calls to the SES for assistance. Follow today’s news live

Delays predicted at Melbourne airport amid strike action

Melburnians catching a flight this morning may want to give themselves extra time as severe delays are predicted, with security screeners striking between 6am and 8.30am at the domestic airport.

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About 600 homes damaged, 35,000 without power in Victoria amid wild weather

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The south-east of the country is taking a battering and there is more to come as a ‘very strong cold front’ moves through on Sunday

Emergency services have warned Victorians to expect more destructive winds as a powerful cold front heads towards Melbourne, while Tasmanian residents and businesses along the Derwent River prepared to evacuate on Sunday, as wild weather batters the south-east of the country.

Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, said severe weather had already damaged more than 600 homes and left 35,000 without power, and would continue into the early hours of Monday morning.

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Victorian taxpayers would pay for Scotland’s $220m Commonwealth Games under new proposal

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Commonwealth Games Scotland says it could host sporting event for a fraction of the Victorian government’s $6bn estimation

Victorian taxpayers could foot the bill for Scotland to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games using compensation money from dumping the event.

In July last year, the state government announced it would no longer host the 2026 Games, which were set to be held in regional cities, after former premier Daniel Andrews claimed forecast expenses had nearly doubled to at least $6bn.

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More August temperature records expected to fall amid warm weather and winds across east coast

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Unseasonably strong winds and record-breaking warm weather has been forecast to continue through the weekend


Winter has ended in Australia with weather records broken across the country – with expectations of August temperature records being broken on the final day of the month.

Amid wild winds in the country’s south, a warm run of weather was expected to continue through the weekend in central and southern Queensland, along with north-eastern New South Wales. Brisbane is expected to see multiple days of over 30C.

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Australia news live: BoM predicts warm spring as Sydney faces high fire danger and four states warned of high winds

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Windy weekend in prospect as BoM forecasts warmer-than-usual spring. Follow the day’s news live

Good morning and welcome to the end-of-week news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories to get you up to speed before hosting duties switch to Emily Wind.

Mano Yogalingam was 23 years old and had “his whole life in front of him”. But the stresses and strains of living with the prospect of being deported back to Sri Lanka pushed him over the edge and he took his own life this week. Our top story this morning hears from refugee advocates who say the death of the Tamil asylum seeker has exposed the failings of the fast-track immigration system. “All of these people have been failed by the system. It’s a total cobweb of cruelty,” one said.

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Sale of chemical used in suicides of three transgender women should be restricted, Victorian inquest finds

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Sodium nitrite has been used in dozens of deaths in the state and federal government should take action, coroner says

The sale of a chemical used by three transgender women who took their own lives should be restricted by the federal government, the Victorian coroner says, after an inquest heard it has been used in dozens of suicides in the state.

Victoria’s coroners court last year held an inquest into the suicides of five transgender women who died between 2020 and 2021, including that of Matt Byrne, 25, who took her life after a botched back yard surgery.

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Australia news live: Josh Burns breaks ranks to call for gender and sexuality questions in census

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Follow today’s news headlines live

Severe weather warnings are in place across southern parts of the country for strong winds, including Victoria and Tasmania.

Here’s a wrap of the warnings currently in place, according to the Bureau of Meteorology:

Victoria – a strong cold front is expected to reach Victoria later today, clearing to the east tomorrow morning. Locations which may be affected by the wild weather include Portland, Bacchus Marsh, Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Mt Buller and Omeo.

For the Central, West and South Gippsland and East Gippsland areas, a warning for abnormally high tides is in place.

Tasmania – a strong cold front is also expected to reach Tasmania later today, crossing the state tomorrow morning. The entire state is covered by the severe weather warning.

New South Wales – north-westerly winds are forecast to strengthen later today as a strong cold front approaches from the west. Locations which may be affected include Wollongong, Nowra, Bowral, Batemans Bay, Katoomba and Goulburn.

Meanwhile, fire danger ratings for the greater Sydney and Illawarra have been downgraded to “moderate” today after reaching “high” yesterday.

Western Australia – gusty, showery conditions are expected over parts of the South West Land Division today.

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Siya was born in Melbourne but excluded from Medicare. A coroner says this contributed to her death 23 days later

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Victorian coroner finds baby’s death was entirely preventable after inquest hears Covid lockdowns also affected care

In the depths of Melbourne’s longest Covid lockdowns, Siya Patel’s parents knew something was wrong with their newborn daughter.

Yet despite their best efforts to navigate the state’s then heavily restricted healthcare system, their baby died from a brain injury caused by dehydration due to insufficient oral intake on 12 September 2020.

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Australia news live: thousands rally in capital cities as CFMEU workers walk off sites; fears of overdose crisis as use of nitazenes grows

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Rallies in support of the CFMEU have kicked off across the nation’s capital cities, from Sydney, Melbourne to Brisbane. Follow the day’s news live

Jim Chalmers accuses Liberals of ‘economic insanity’ on potential housing cuts

Jim Chalmers was asked about the $100bn in cuts the Coalition is set to announce today, mostly from Labor initiatives, if it wins the next election. Would this appeal to the electorate?

What we know from what’s in the newspapers today is that they plan billions of dollars to cuts in housing at a time when we’ve got a very severe housing shortage, and this goes with the absolute economic insanity of the Liberals and Nationals. During an extreme housing shortage, they want to swing the axe on billions of dollars in housing funding.

Also this is $100bn they reckon – let’s see the details. They flagged more than three times that amount when it comes to cuts, so let’s hear them come clean on the other cuts. Let’s hear what it means for Medicare and pensions and for the economy more broadly.

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New powers for councils to cap short-term accommodation as Victoria moves to 7.5% ‘Airbnb tax’

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State treasurer says levy will help in ‘getting the balance right’ for mix of housing and prioritising long-term rentals

The Victorian government will grant local councils new powers to limit short-stay accommodation as it moves to introduce a 7.5% levy on properties listed on platforms like Airbnb and Stayz.

The Allan government will on Tuesday introduce legislation for its nation-first levy – which some have dubbed the “Airbnb tax” – that will begin on 1 January 2025. Properties that are the owner’s primary residence will be exempt from the short-stay levy, as well as hotels, motels and caravan parks.

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Carlton coach Michael Voss makes citizen’s arrest after alleged thief flees Melbourne car crash

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‘It was a bit of action,’ AFL coach says after detaining 16-year-old in Hawthorn who allegedly ran from Mercedes that had flipped on to side

Carlton coach Michael Voss has made a citizen’s arrest after seeing an alleged car thief try and flee after they allegedly crashed a stolen car in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn.

The AFL coach was at a cafe on Tuesday morning when the Mercedes flipped on its side on a footpath after crashing.

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Australia urged to show ‘true climate leadership’ as Pacific Islands Forum begins – as it happened

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Investigations under way after alleged theft of non-fuctional guns from museum

An investigation is under way after a museum in Lithgow, in the NSW Central Tablelands, was allegedly broken into overnight.

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Man found dead in Melbourne park last seen by sister seven hours before

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The 28-year-old was last seen by his sister in the Derrimut area of the city’s west with four other men about 9pm on Friday

Police are trying to piece together what happened during the seven hours leading up to the death of a man found in a Melbourne park with apparent stab wounds.

The 28-year-old was last seen by his sister in the Derrimut area of the city’s west with four other men about 9pm on Friday.

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Australia’s ski season could melt away early as snowfall drops to nearly half the average

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August should mean peak snow depth, Jindabyne worker says, but early blast of spring threatens ‘catastrophic’ premature end to season

Australia’s snow season has begun to melt away early as unseasonable warmth cuts snowfalls to almost half the average for this time of year, experts say.

A global-heating fuelled early blast of spring weather means the season may have peaked early, with snow fields melted by warm temperatures and washed away by showers.

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Australia news live: winter heat record set in South Australia; NZ suspends import of all Australian tomatoes

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South Australia has notched up its hottest winter day on record. Follow the day’s news live

David Anderson says it was ‘the right time for me’ to resign from ABC

The ABC managing director, David Anderson, is speaking with ABC RN after yesterday’s announcement of his resignation.

And I think the right time for the ABC. It is something I had thought about now for months, and went away on leave, spoke to [ABC chair] Kim [Williams] a lot. Kim tried to get me to change my mind. [I] came back from leave with it, certain in my mind that I was making the right decision.

We’ve got a long lead time for the board to find a new managing director, and I’ve been asked to and I agreed to stay on until that person starts, which could very well be April next year.

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Melbourne’s e-scooter wars escalate as neighbouring councils unite in support after city centre ban

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Merri-Bek, Darebin and Moonee Valley mayors back e-scooter hire schemes after Melbourne city council ejects the vehicles from the CBD

Victoria’s e-scooters wars have ramped up, with mayors in Melbourne’s north uniting to back e-scooter hire schemes after the mayor banned them from operating in the inner city.

The mayor, Nicholas Reece, succeeded in banning the rentals in the city council area, arguing the e-scooters presented an unacceptable safety risk and that Melbourne’s city needed a reset.

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NDIS deal passes both houses – as it happened

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Queensland Labor’s longest-serving state MP to retire

Queensland Labor’s longest-serving state MP has announced he will retire at October’s election.

Curtis Pitt is the last survivor of the “Tarago opposition”, the seven ALP MPs elected at the 2012 wipeout election.

The party won government back in 2015, after just one term.

In a Facebook post on Thursday morning, he announced his retirement after 15 years in politics.

It’s not a decision I’ve come to lightly. I’ve always said that the day I wake up and don’t feel I can give it 100 per cent, then it’s time for me to do something else.

When I think back, all of my kids have been born since I’ve been an MP. Having been a member of parliament for five terms, I know that I’ve missed so many important milestones and occasions.

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Driver charged after cyclist killed in alleged hit-and-run in Melbourne

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Southbank man, understood to be a food delivery rider, died at scene of crash on Plummer Street in Port Melbourne

A driver has been charged after a cyclist, understood to be a delivery rider, died in an alleged hit-and-run in Port Melbourne.

A car struck the cyclist on Plummer Street just after 8pm on Tuesday night, Victoria police said in a statement.

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Australia politics live: Coalition to reveal cost of nuclear plan ‘in good time’, Angus Taylor says; misbehaving MPs face fines under new standards commission

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The government will introduce legislation today which includes penalties for MPs and parliament house staff who have been found to have committed wrong doing. Follow the day’s news live

Gambling ads ‘an issue of morality’: Sharkie

As Paul Karp reported yesterday, the independent MP Rebekha Sharkie is one of the MPs pushing for the major parties to be allowed a conscience vote on the forthcoming Labor gambling legislation.

The Murphy report called for a full ban. That’s the expectation of many members of parliament, both the opposition and government said and the crossbench, but many have said to me that they’re wrestling with their conscience on the idea that there would only be a partial ban and many people see this issue closely tied to their faith, an issue of morality.

So it would appear to me and also to Andrew Wilkie that, you know, a straightforward position would be to allow a conscience vote and in my time in the Parliament, we’ve had four conscience votes. I think it would naturally fit for the parameters an issue that sits within their soul.

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