Category Archives: Melbourne

Tributes for ‘star’ Melbourne burlesque performer killed in arson attack

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Police believe 27-year-old Katie Tangey’s death was a case of mistaken identity as friends rally to raise funds for her family

A popular performer, killed by fire in what police say is a case of mistaken identity, has been remembered as “an icon” as friends rally to raise funds for her heartbroken family.

Katie Tangey, 27, died after becoming trapped while house-sitting her brother’s three-storey townhouse in Truganina, Melbourne’s west, on Thursday morning.

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Melbourne brawl that left two men dead began with birthday party argument, police say

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Neighbours told to stay inside as police seek information on stabbing deaths of two men from same family

Two men died in a brawl at a birthday party on that spilled on to the streets in Melbourne’s outer south-eastern suburbs, police say.

Detectives said the two men, aged 23 and 54, who were from the same family, were involved in a brawl involving about 20 people. Police alleged some left the scene before police arrived.

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One man dead after being stabbed in ‘targeted attack’ in Melbourne park

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Police called after reports of a group of people fighting in Wyndham Vale on Friday

A man has died after he was ambushed and stabbed during a late-night knife fight at a park in Melbourne’s west.

Police were called to reports of a group of people fighting in a park on Haines Drive, Wyndham Vale, about 11.30pm on Friday.

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Soaring air fares between Melbourne and Sydney see travellers take 11-hour train

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Exclusive: Seats on Sydney-Melbourne train service regularly sell out over holiday period, as one-way flights to Tullamarine average almost $500

The 11-hour Sydney-Melbourne train has become so popular services are selling out – even with extra carriages added – as travellers seek alternatives to an aviation duopoly that is stronger than ever, with carriers charging $900 for one-way economy tickets.

Ridership on the Sydney-Melbourne rail corridor has exploded in recent months, with 203,000 passenger journeys between July and December. Data for the 2023-24 financial year revealed 393,000 passenger journeys, a 14% increase on the previous year and just 7,000 shy of the annual record.

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Average renter would take 8.3 years to save enough for a house deposit, new Victorian analysis shows

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Exclusive: PBO report based on wage growth, house prices and rent rises says nearly a decade needed if 20% of gross income is put aside

It could take almost a decade for the average Victorian renter who puts aside 20% of their gross income to save enough money for a home deposit, according to analysis from the state’s independent Parliamentary Budget Office.

But if rents were to increase in line at the historically high rate seen in 2022 and 2023, the time needed to save for a deposit could blow out to more than 65 years.

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Man accused of setting fire to Caulfield racecourse grandstand also broke into Jewish centre, court hears

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Alleged arsonist Travis Bird, 51, charged with nine offences over Tuesday’s blaze and another three grassfires at nearby Attenborough park

A man accused of setting fire to a heritage-listed racecourse grandstand before breaking into a Jewish community centre will remain behind bars after facing court.

Travis Bird, 51, appeared at Melbourne magistrates court on Wednesday after being charged with nine offences – four counts of arson, two of trespass and one each of burglary, criminal damage and theft.

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Caulfield Racecourse fire: suspicious blaze engulfs grandstand in Melbourne’s south-east

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Victoria police say nobody has been injured and a crime scene has been established

Major parts of a Caulfield Racecourse grandstand have been destroyed in a suspicious early morning fire.

Fire Rescue Victoria responded to the blaze at Station Street in Caulfield East in Melbourne’s south-east at 6.20am on Tuesday.

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Melbourne fire that destroyed Forty Winks store could have been arson, police say

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More than 95 firefighters and 26 trucks deployed to Nunawading, with dozens of nearby residents evacuated

Fire crews remain at the scene of a blaze that destroyed a Melbourne mattress store, with investigations likely to continue well into Sunday night after the fire was deemed a suspected arson attack.

Emergency crews responded to several calls about a two-storey building on fire at Nunawading in the city’s east about 2.20am on Sunday.

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Heatwave descends on south-east Australia with temperatures forecast to exceed 40C

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Bureau of Meteorology says Melbourne’s hot weather will peak at 38C on Saturday while Penrith will reach 39C on Sunday and 40C on Monday

Much of south-east Australia will swelter through a heatwave over the weekend that is expected to exceed 40C in some places, bringing extreme fire danger before a cool change comes through.

Melbourne was expected to peak at 38C on Saturday, reaching 37C on Sunday and dropping to 22C by Monday as the cool change brings widespread showers.

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Police praise mostly well-behaved NYE revellers despite firework-related blazes

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Melbourne and Sydney fires brought under control, including in Tempe, and stabbings reported in Guildford and the Mornington Peninsula

New Year’s Eve revellers have largely been praised for their behaviour at Australia’s biggest fireworks shows, while officers were kept busy with outbursts of trouble around local fireworks.

More than a million people swarmed the main vantage points around Sydney harbour and hundreds of thousands of Melbourne partygoers were treated to a fireworks and laser spectacular.

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New Year’s Eve fireworks 2024: the best places to watch NYE celebrations around Australia

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Night skies will light up on New Year’s Eve to welcome in 2025. Here’s your guide to child-friendly shows plus what time and where to see the fireworks in Sydney, Melbourne and across the country

Night skies across Australia will light up on New Year’s Eve to herald the beginning of 2025.

Whether you are in a capital city or regional town, there are fireworks displays scheduled early in the night – for children, and those wishing to hit the hay early – and at midnight, for people counting down to the new year.

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Easey Street double murder and rape accused faces Melbourne court nearly 50 years after alleged attack

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Perry Kouroumblis was extradited from Italy and charged over the 1977 deaths of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett

An accused double murderer has faced a Melbourne court close to five decades after police allege he stabbed two women to death in a frenzied attack.

Perry Kouroumblis, 65, appeared bleary-eyed as he sat in the dock of the Melbourne magistrates court on Wednesday after arriving on Australian soil on Tuesday night.

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Renters’ personal details allegedly stolen in Melbourne real estate agency burglary

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Documents taken during break-in at Nelson Alexander agency in Northcote in October, police allege, and investigation under way

The personal information of a number of renters in Melbourne has been allegedly stolen from a Northcote real estate agency during a break-in, raising concerns about potential identity theft.

The ABC has reported that five boxes of documents, containing former renter information including names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and potentially ID documents, were allegedly stolen during a break-in at the Nelson Alexander agency in Northcote in October.

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Venomous tiger snake slithers up driver’s leg on Melbourne freeway

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Woman weaves through traffic at 80km/h before fleeing from snake in car barefoot and attempting to flag down passing motorists

Victoria police have carried out one of the “more bizarre welfare checks” after a deadly tiger snake slithered up a driver’s leg as she was travelling at 80km/h on a major freeway.

Police said they were called to Monash Freeway near the Toorak Rd exit in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs on Saturday morning after receiving reports of a barefoot woman trying to flag down passing traffic.

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Eastern Australia heatwave to make way for ‘volatile’ stormy weather

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Risk of blackouts has receded in Sydney, while a WA bushfire has prompted emergency evacuation in parts of Shire of Dandaragan

The heatwave baking much of eastern Australia will rapidly make way for conditions offering the “perfect ingredients” for thunderstorms later this week, raising risks of heavy rainfall and even flash floods.

Temperatures reached the high 30s across much of western Sydney on Tuesday with Penrith’s 39.7C the hottest – about 12C above the November average. Similar readings were forecast for Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

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Australian police offer to help Laos investigation into suspected methanol deaths as Melbourne teenagers mourned

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Prime minister pays tribute to Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles while families vow to turn tragedy into ‘mission for change’

Australian federal police have offered to help the Laos investigation into multiple deaths linked to a suspected mass methanol poisoning event.

Melburnians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, were among six foreign tourists to die.

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Parents of teenagers who died in suspected Laos methanol poisoning hope deaths ‘not in vain’

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Bianca Jones’s father urged Laos government to investigate deaths to the ‘fullest’ and ensure it could not happen again

Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones’s devastated families have pleaded with Laos authorities to get to the bottom of a mass methanol poisoning tragedy.

The Australians, both 19, are among six foreign tourists who have died from a suspected methanol poisoning event in Laos.

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Teammates tie ribbons as community mourns Melbourne teens after suspected methanol poisoning

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Players heard news of Holly Bowles’ death as they gathered to remember her friend Bianca Jones, Beaumaris Football Club says

Tributes have continued to flow for two Melbourne teenagers who died while holidaying in southeast Asia, after the death toll from a suspected methanol poisoning in Laos rose to six.

Holly Bowles, 19, died on Friday in a Bangkok hospital, one day after her best friend, Bianca Jones, also 19, died in another Thai hospital.

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Melbourne teen Bianca Jones dies in hospital after methanol poisoning in Laos

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A New Zealand citizen is also ill, while a US citizen has died following a suspected mass poisoning event in the town of Vang Vieng

Melbourne teen Bianca Jones has died from methanol poisoning in a Thai hospital, a week after the Melbourne teen and her best friend fell ill while travelling in neighbouring Laos.

Anthony Albanese confirmed the 19-year-old’s death on Thursday, after her parents travelled to Thailand to be with her.

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Final hours of missing Melbourne woman Isla Bell’s life captured by CCTV, police allege

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Nineteen-year-old last seen leaving her Brunswick home in October and remains yet to be formally identified have been found in Dandenong

The final hours of missing teen Isla Bell’s life have been captured on CCTV in the Melbourne apartment building of her alleged killer, according to court documents.

The documents released by the court on Wednesday afternoon detail how the 19-year-old allegedly ended up at Marat Ganiev’s St Kilda East apartment on 7 October.

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