Category Archives: Melbourne

Renowned Melbourne bookstore in war of words with authors over ‘traumatic’ pay dispute

Posted on by

Readings boss sends angry rebuke after more than 250 writers campaigned for better pay and conditions for booksellers

For many Melburnians, Readings is more than just a bookstore – it’s a bricks-and-mortar embodiment of progressive values, a business that doubles as a community space where ideas are shared and diversity is celebrated.

But an ongoing pay dispute has divided staff and threatens to tarnish the independent retail stalwart’s image, with hundreds of authors – such as Michelle de Kretser, Jennifer Down, Clementine Ford and Omar Sakr – recently campaigning on behalf of booksellers, and protesting outside the company’s flagship Carlton store.

Continue reading...

Severe weather causes major flight disruptions at Sydney airport ahead of AFL grand final weekend

Posted on by

Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to cancellations in Melbourne

Hundreds of people have had their travel plans thrown into chaos as high winds and heavy rainfall led airlines to cancel dozens of flights in and out of Sydney airport in the lead-up to the AFL grand final.

Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart from Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to knock-on cancellations in Melbourne, as severe weather warnings were issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) for heavy falls and thunderstorms across New South Wales’ east coast.

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

Continue reading...

Bacchus Marsh school bus crash: four people seriously injured after collision with truck near Melbourne

Posted on by

Dozens more in hospital after bus carrying students from Loreto College in Ballarat hit a truck and rolled down an embankment

Passengers on a school bus have “miraculously” survived crashing down an embankment after their vehicle was hit from behind by a truck on a highway west of Melbourne, police say.

The bus was slowing down to avoid an earlier crash when it was hit, leading to two teenage girls and two adults being seriously injured.

Continue reading...

World’s top cosmetic surgeons to discuss reported side-effects of enzyme used to dissolve facial fillers

Posted on by

After dozens of patients revealed complications to Guardian Australia, the use of hyaluronidase to be raised at international conference

The world’s leading cosmetic surgeons will this week discuss reported side-effects of an enzyme used to dissolve facial fillers, after dozens of patients revealed complications to Guardian Australia.

Earlier this month, the Guardian spoke to more than a dozen patients who claimed to have suffered serious pain and side-effects after being injected with an enzyme called hyaluronidase to fix medical or aesthetic issues arising from prior cosmetic injections.

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

Continue reading...

Backlash grows over decision to scrap Victorian hospital’s Indigenous name in favour of Queen Elizabeth II

Posted on by

Daniel Andrews defends plan to change name of Maroondah hospital from Woiwurrung word that celebrates the natural environment

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly has accused the Andrews government of making a hospital in Melbourne’s east “culturally unsafe” for Indigenous Australians after it vowed to rename the site in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, dumping its Indigenous name.

In a pre-election pledge on Sunday, Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, promised to rebuild the Maroondah hospital, in East Ringwood, at a cost of $1bn and rename it to pay tribute to the Queen.

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

Continue reading...

Victorian government pledges $1bn to rebuild hospital to be renamed in honour of Queen Elizabeth

Posted on by

Maroondah hospital could lose Aboriginal name in change Daniel Andrews says is a mark of respect to Queen’s ‘unwavering commitment to healthcare’

The Victorian government has promised to rebuild a hospital in Melbourne’s east at a cost of more than $1bn and rename it in honour of the Queen if Labor is re-elected in November.

The premier, Daniel Andrews, said on Sunday his government would redevelop and expand Maroondah hospital in East Ringwood to accommodate an extra 9,000 inpatients a year.

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

Continue reading...

Australian travel industry braces for ‘influx’ as royalists plan to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

Posted on by

Guardian Australia understands the few remaining Qantas seats from Australian capital cities to London have been quickly booked since the news of monarch’s death

Australia’s travel industry says it is bracing for an “influx” of Australians deciding to travel to London to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

Guardian Australia understands the very few remaining Qantas seats from Australian capital cities to London have been quickly booked since the news of the Queen’s death. Peter Hosper, the commercial director of Travel Authority Group, said his agency was preparing for more inquiries on Monday.

Continue reading...

Australia reacts to monarch’s passing – as it happened

Posted on by

The prime minister Anthony Albanese is addressing the nation about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

He said it is a loss that is “felt deeply in Australia”. The Queen was a rare and reassuring constant in a period of massive change, he said, and was the only monarch to visit Australia, which she did 16 separate times.

There is comfort to be found in Her Majesty’s own words. “Grief is the price we pay for love.”

This is a loss we feel deeply in Australia. Queen Elizabeth II is the only reigning monarch most of us have known, and the only one to ever visit Australia. Over the course of a remarkable seven decades, Her Majesty was a rare and reassuring constant amidst rapid change. Through the noise and turbulence of the years, she embodies and exhibited a timeless decency and enduring calm. Her

Continue reading...

Melbourne Tinder swindler sentenced to 22 months in a Victorian prison

Posted on by

Christopher Collins pleaded guilty to 24 charges including financial deception offences, fraud and theft

Within hours of meeting Christopher Collins on Tinder, a Melbourne woman had been swindled of thousands of dollars, a court has heard.

But that was just the beginning of her nightmare. As the court was told, weeks of manipulation followed, including threats of blackmail.

Continue reading...

Passengers escorted off Qantas flight by police after Sydney airport security breach

Posted on by

All passengers were escorted out of the screened area of Melbourne airport because one passenger had bypassed screening in Sydney

All passengers on a Qantas flight from Sydney on Wednesday evening were escorted off the plane by police to the unscreened area of Melbourne airport, after one passenger managing to bypass screening.

A Qantas spokesperson said “a passenger on a Sydney to Melbourne service (QF487) boarded the flight after inadvertently passing from an ‘unscreened’ to a ‘screened’ part of the airport in Sydney.”

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

Continue reading...

City of Melbourne will lobby to change the date, but will keep 26 January ceremonies if unsuccessful

Posted on by

Councillors vote to ask government to change the date to ‘celebrate what it means to be Australian’

The City of Melbourne will advocate for the federal government to change the date of Australia Day from 26 January, despite the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, saying there are no plans to shift the national celebration.

At a future Melbourne committee meeting on Tuesday evening, councillors voted to campaign for the Albanese government to change the date – a decision that can only be made at a federal level.

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

Continue reading...

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia calls for removal of ‘offensive’ mural of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers

Posted on by

Artist who painted Melbourne mural of soldiers hugging has apologised and said his intention was ‘to promote peace’

The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia has slammed the painting of a large mural in Melbourne that shows Russian and Ukrainian soldiers hugging.

Vasyl Myroshnychenko said the mural near the CBD was “utterly offensive to all Ukrainians” and the artist “has no clue about the RU invasion of Ukraine”.

Continue reading...

Increased migration must come with planning and expanded services, councils say

Posted on by

Fairfield mayor says ‘people are suffering’ due to lack of affordable housing in migrant communities as PM pledges $575m investment

Increasing Australia’s migration intake without improving key services will increase the strain on housing, hospitals and schools as well as inflation, councils in migrant communities have said.

The Albanese government on Friday announced at its jobs and skills summit it would lifting the migrant intake to 195,000 in 2022-23, from the current 160,000 cap, addressing calls from businesses for more skilled workers to be brought in to Australia to meet shortages. A review planned for next February would set intake levels for coming years.

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

Continue reading...

‘Million megawatt smile’: Friends pay tribute to Victorian MP Jane Garrett at state memorial service

Posted on by

Former Labor minister celebrated as one of the state’s ‘most respected daughters’

Victorian Labor MP Jane Garrett has been remembered as a courageous and principled politician and a doting mother of three during a memorial service in Melbourne.

Family, friends and state and federal parliamentarians from across the political divide gathered at a state memorial at the Brunswick town hall – in the MP’s former electorate – on Friday morning to pay tribute to Garrett.

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

Continue reading...

Casino regulator launches investigation into Crown Resorts for providing credit to gamble

Posted on by

Royal commission found bank and blank cheques had been exchanged for chips at Crown in Melbourne in breach of restrictions

Victoria’s casino regulator has taken action against Crown Resorts for the third time this year, launching an investigation into the use of bank and blank cheques by gamblers that could result in a fine of up to $100m.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) is investigating Crown after findings by a royal commission that it provided credit to gamble at its Melbourne casino, which is against the law in Victoria.

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

Continue reading...

Australian house prices falling at fastest rate since 1980s as ‘sharp’ downturn widens

Posted on by

CoreLogic says every capital city except Darwin fell in August, with Sydney dropping 2.2%

Every capital city in Australia except Darwin is now in a housing downturn, according to a new report, with values falling at a trajectory not seen since the 1980s.

CoreLogic’s home value index shows national housing values are falling rapidly, after rising about 29% during a period of sharp growth.

Continue reading...

Pocock urges Labor to scrap tax cuts – as it happened

Posted on by

Independent senator David Pocock says circumstances have changed ‘so much’ since stage three tax cuts policy was legislated. This blog is now closed

McManus: normal part of bargaining to have industrial action as a last resort

McManus is asked if she wants workers in specific business to regain the right to strike in support of workers in other business (otherwise known as sympathy strikes or solidarity action).

Not in support of workers in another business – together. It is a normal part of bargaining to have … as a last resort, to take industrial action, and that is what happens in countries that have multi-employer bargaining, and there [are] not more strikes, there is more pay rises.

Essentially when workers have an option to do that, obviously it means the option to have a better outcome, and a better outcome more quickly.

Basically, workers’ bargaining power has been smashed over that period of time That’s why we have a problem, a huge problem, with wages growth and unless we address that issue, that is not going to change.

We think [sector-wide bargaining] should be open to all, but obviously a lot of places … they are getting pay rises at the moment. They can access the bargaining system.

Continue reading...

Melbourne’s Gertrude Street named second coolest in the world – do you agree?

Posted on by

The 850 metre-long strip in the innercity suburb of Fitzroy was the only street in Australia to make Time Out’s 2022 list. So what makes it so special?

Tucked away in the leafy inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy lies the second coolest street in the world – at least according to culture and entertainment website Time Out’s newly released 2022 rankings.

But those familiar with the area might be surprised to learn that it isn’t the famous Brunswick or Smith Street that’s taken out the silver medal, it’s their less well-known bisecting neighbour, Gertrude Street.

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

Continue reading...

Explainer: how much money would shelving the suburban rail loop save Victoria?

Posted on by

$34.5bn railway – labelled the biggest public transport project in state’s history – set to feature heavily in election campaign

The suburban rail loop is set to become one of the big talking points of the Victorian state election campaign after the opposition leader, Matthew Guy, said he would shelve stage one in favour of spending on health.

Here’s everything you need to know about the project.

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

Continue reading...

Hurley says he had ‘no reason to believe’ extra ministries would be kept secret – as it happened

Posted on by

Victoria’s opposition has pledged to scrap the suburban rail loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, with “every cent” of the $34.5bn saved to be invested in the health system if elected in November.

The commitment, made 101 days before voters go to the polls, sets the stage for another election turned referendum on infrastructure.

This November, Victorians face a clear choice. A choice between immediately rebuilding Victoria’s broken health system, or a train line in 13 years’ time.

As premier, my first priority will be to fix the health crisis.

So I think he himself, in reflecting on it, he has to come to the opinion that it probably wasn’t a good move. And, and on that issue, I agree with him.

If he did do something illegal, if he received some form of pecuniary benefit, if someone closely related to you get some for of pecuniary benefit, they failed to disclose, then yeah, you can pack up your bongos and get out of there.

But if something is legal, and you complied with the law even though people might not agree with that mightn’t be basically customary, or, as you would say, something you’ve done it in a way that’s annoying, you’ve done it in a way that has got people off side, but it’s not illegal. It’s not illegal.

Continue reading...