Category Archives: Melbourne

‘Will cost lives’: addiction experts condemn decision to scrap proposed safe injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD

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Government claims no appropriate location could be found for long-mooted second facility

A proposed safe injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD has been rejected by the Victorian government, with addiction experts warning the decision will “cost lives”.

The government on Tuesday announced that a trial facility, recommended by a former police commissioner and which would complement the existing service in North Richmond – will not proceed, after concluding there was no site that could balance the needs of drug users with the broader community.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Asbestos confirmed in seven Melbourne parks after latest tests

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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”.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Fine weather forecast for most of Australia’s capitals across the Easter long weekend

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A weather system moving in from the south-west will bring rain across southern regions from Monday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology

The long weekend has brought fine weather to Australia’s capitals – but most cities will see a soggy return to work on Tuesday.

Despite a foggy start to Saturday morning in Melbourne and rain across Brisbane and Darwin, sunshine is forecast for Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide with similar conditions to continue through Saturday and Sunday.

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Former AFL player Eddie Betts shares video of racist abuse hurled at children playing in yard

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Victoria police launch investigation after Indigenous star posts CCTV footage on Instagram and states ‘Aboriginal kids deserve to be able to play safely’

Victoria police are investigating after Indigenous AFL great Eddie Betts shared footage of children being racially abused in their own yard while stating “we are not even safe in our own homes”.

Betts shared security camera footage on social media on Thursday night showing a white car driving down a street before slowing down in front of a home. A person then yells out racial slurs.

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

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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.

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Tim Wilson defeats two women to win Liberal preselection in Goldstein and set up rematch against teal Zoe Daniel

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Former MP held the seat in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs from 2016 to 2022

The former MP Tim Wilson has won preselection to become the Liberal party candidate in his former seat of Goldstein, setting up a rematch with the “teal” independent Zoe Daniel.

Wilson, who held the seat in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs between 2016 and 2022, won the vote of Liberal party members on Sunday afternoon, beating out two female challengers, Colleen Harkin and Stephanie Hunt.

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Man dies after falling from hot-air balloon in Melbourne’s north

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Emergency services called to an accident scene in Preston about 7.30am

A man has died after falling from a hot-air balloon in Melbourne’s north-east.

Emergency services were called to Albert Street in Preston where a man’s body was located about 7.30am on Monday.

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City bustle returns to Melbourne and Sydney – largely thanks to weekends and Taylor Swift

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Foot traffic near Melbourne’s town hall recorded at highest since 2015, as Eras tour concert coincides with busiest day of 2024

The pre-pandemic hustle and bustle of the central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne is returning, and in Melbourne’s case it’s busier than it’s been for nearly a decade.

But the weekend crowds appear to be doing most of the heavy lifting.

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Man who pretended to be Uber driver to sexually assault three women in Melbourne jailed for at least six years

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Victim tells court she thought she was going to die when she realised Francesco De Luise was not her Uber driver

A father-of-three who lurked outside Melbourne nightspots pretending to be an Uber driver to pick up and sexually assault three young women will be locked up for at least six years.

Francesco De Luise, 60, faced Melbourne’s county court on Thursday after pleading guilty to six sex offences, including rape, sexual assault and sexual activity directed at another person.

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Rising festival 2024: theatre-maker to be drugged unconscious in ‘deeply unnerving’ show about date rape

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A Brazilian artist will have her body manipulated while passed out, in a lauded work about sexual violence that headlines Melbourne’s winter festival

A theatremaker will be drugged unconscious on stage in Melbourne this year, in a controversial and highly lauded theatre work about sexual violence that will have its Australian premiere at Rising festival.

Cadela Força Trilogy: The Bride and the Goodnight Cinderella is directed by and stars Brazilian artist Carolina Bianchi, who recounts her experience of being drugged and sexually assaulted, before taking a drug on stage. Once unconscious, female performers then move her body around, even at one point inserting a speculum and camera into her vagina, with a live video feed shown to the audience in a simulation of a post-rape forensic examination.

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Officers who shot and killed woman caught stabbing mother in Melbourne faced ‘terrible dilemma’, police say

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Police say they ‘acted appropriately’ when they shot a 26-year-old woman who fatally stabbed her 53-year-old mother

A Victorian woman shot and killed by police officers on Friday evening was caught in the process of stabbing her mother, police say.

Police revealed details about the incident on Saturday, saying that an officer was called to a home in Melbourne’s north-east at about 6.30pm after neighbours mistakenly reported that a young woman was trying to set her mother on fire.

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Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia to swelter through heatwave on long weekend

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Hot weather will send temperatures soaring to 38C in Melbourne, 40C in Adelaide and the low 30s in Launceston, the BoM forecasts

Victorians, Tasmanians and South Australians will swelter through their long weekends, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing heatwave warnings for the three states.

Melbourne is expecting maximum temperatures of 38C across Saturday, Sunday and Monday. If temperatures do reach 38C, it will be the highest temperature recorded across three consecutive days in March since 1942.

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Australia news live: NSW government to look ‘really closely’ at GPS rules for police-issued weapons after killing of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird

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‘Change needs to be made’ on NSW police policies and procedures, premier says. Follow the day’s news live

‘Context has changed’ since NSW lit up Opera House to support Israel, Minns says

ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland:

You ordered the lighting up of the Sydney Opera House sails in support of Israel after 1,200 Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7. Since then, 30,000 Palestinians have died. Will you consider lighting up the Sydney Opera House in support of Palestine?

This is an international conflict now and I don’t want to further exacerbate or pull apart Sydney’s already quite volatile mix. I would make the point that much of what will be said in New South Wales will [not] affect the peace situation in the Middle East, but a lot of what could be said can affect peace right here in this state. So we need to be careful with our commentary, we need to focus on not exacerbating community tensions or divisions, and that’s going to be the NSW government’s approach over the coming months.

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Boy, 13, charged with sexually assaulting jogger in Melbourne’s south-east

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Police say the alleged attack occurred on the Dandenong Creek trail on 31 January, with the woman fighting off the teen

A teenage boy has been charged over the false imprisonment and sexual assault of a female jogger in Melbourne’s south-east.

The 13-year-old from Rowville was charged over the alleged attack of a woman on the Dandenong Creek trail in January.

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Julia Gillard enters Dunkley byelection campaign as Labor and Liberals brace for close result

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Exclusive: The former PM has been enlisted to front a social media campaign to help Labor hold the Victorian seat

Julia Gillard has been enlisted to help boost Labor’s chances in the Dunkley byelection, with Australia’s first female prime minister fronting a social media push aimed squarely at women in the Melbourne seat.

In a sign of Labor’s effort to shore up every last vote in what is expected by both major parties to be a close-run contest, Gillard’s election-eve endorsement praises Jodie Belyea as a “strong local voice”.

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Taylor Swift Eras tour Melbourne concert: relive the pop star’s biggest ever show – as it happened

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This blog is closed. The once-in-a-lifetime show has finally come to Australia. For the millions who couldn’t get tickets, might a slightly chaotic blog be the next best thing? The night 1 setlist (spoilers), all the surprise songs, the atmosphere of 96,000 people at the MCG – if you missed it you can read it all again! Start at the beginning.

Taylor Swift sing-along on board Qantas flight to Melbourne

The Taylor Swift hype reached new heights earlier today.

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