Melbourne’s ‘pause’ on new bike lanes sparks outrage on World Bicycle Day

Advocates and key councillor hope the halt is short-lived, but transport union criticises existing lanes

Cycling advocates are holding out hope that a halt on new bike lanes in Melbourne CBD announced Friday will be short-lived, warning of the risks posed by gaps in the network.

The Melbourne lord mayor, Sally Capp, said Friday there would be a “pause” on the construction of dedicated cycling lanes in the CBD. The City of Melbourne council said it would instead prioritise upgrading cycling infrastructure on arterial roads.

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Liberal party should forgo ‘entitled’ Kooyong voters, says their own state Liberal MP

Tim Smith, who is retiring in November, says Coalition needs to ‘stop obsessing with the woke causes of inner-urban elites’ and focus on suburbs

The voters of Kooyong in Melbourne’s east have been described as “loud, entitled and privileged” – by their own state Liberal MP.

Victorian Liberal Tim Smith represents the state electorate of Kew, which overlaps the federal seat of Kooyong, where independent Monique Ryan defeated former treasurer Josh Frydenberg in Saturday’s election.

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Former Victorian orphanage carer, 81, jailed for sexually abusing five boys

William Parker Skelland abused children at Burwood boys’ home in 1973 and 1974

A former carer at a Victorian boys’ orphanage in the 1970s will spend at least four years in prison for sexually abusing five of the young children.

William Parker Skelland, 81, was living in the UK in 2019 when he was arrested for his crimes and extradited back to Australia to answer for them.

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Anthony Albanese claims election victory over Scott Morrison in 2022 federal election – as it happened

Anthony Albanese arrives for speech; Scott Morrison to step down as leader after conceding defeat; ‘Liberal family suffered a terrible day,’ Peter Dutton says; Labor claims Reid; Zoe Daniel claims victory in Goldstein; Allegra Spender wins Wentworth from Dave Sharma. This blog is now closed

I’m a fairly big footy fan, but not sure how much all these analogies mean to the rest of voters (and I believe kicking into the wind can actually be an advantage in rugby union sometimes?)

On Weekend Today, Scott Morrison managed to turn a question about whether he has BBQ sauce on his democracy sausage into a stump speech about jobkeeper and co-funding the hospital system during the pandemic. We can’t fault him - those are more important issues than what he was asked.

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Concerns for businesses despite expected rise in Melbourne CBD’s population

City of Melbourne’s draft 2022-23 budget papers predicts 8,230 CBD businesses next year, down 10% on last year’s forecast

Melbourne’s CBD population – and the number of parking tickets – is set to boom under projections by the city’s council, but the peak property industry group has warned that more needs to be done to get people back into offices.

The City of Melbourne’s draft 2022-23 budget papers, handed down on Tuesday, reveal expected revenue is forecast to increase by 13% to $538.7m, but the number of businesses operating in the CBD is projected to fall by more than 10%.

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‘Poisonous pamphlets and pork’: what messages are cutting through to voters in this messy campaign?

Here’s what is weighing on the minds of five undecided voters before the federal election on 21 May

Undecided voters will play a key role in deciding the outcome of Saturday’s election with many waiting until the final week, days, or even hours, to make their decision.

So what in this very long, and at times messy, campaign has cut through?

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Marist Brothers appointed known child abuser as principal of Melbourne school in 1980, court told

In lawsuit brought by victims, Catholic order disputes extent of its knowledge of Gregory Vincent Coffey prior to his appointment

A Catholic order made the “unthinkable” decision to appoint a known child abuser as the principal of one of its Melbourne schools, allowing him to molest boys in his office unchecked on a “regular basis”, a court has heard.

The Marist Brothers are being sued over the abuse of a series of boys at the Immaculate Heart College in Preston in the 1980s by Gregory Vincent Coffey, the school’s first lay principal and a former Catholic brother.

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Indigenous woman’s screams for help before her death were ‘excruciating’, fellow inmate tells inquest

Veronica Nelson died in a Melbourne jail in early 2020 and a woman who was in a nearby cell has told an inquest authorities ‘let her die’

Prison staff allegedly left Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson to die in her cell after she screamed for help for hours, a former inmate has told an inquest.

Aboriginal woman Kylie Bastin was in a cell close to Nelson’s at Melbourne’s Dame Phyllis Frost Centre on the evening of 1 January 2020.

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Melbourne boxer convicted of 2005 murder launches new appeal

Khalid Baker, who spent 13 years in prison, is arguing an acquitted co-accused was responsible for man’s death at party

A Melbourne man convicted of murder more than a decade ago is launching a new appeal, arguing that a co-accused who was acquitted was responsible for the death and has confirmed he was not involved.

Khalid Baker’s lawyers will argue this week that fresh and compelling evidence shows he has been the victim of a substantial miscarriage of justice and his conviction must be overturned.

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Immigration detainees transferred from Melbourne to Christmas Island amid heated protests

Australian Border Force confirms 12 detainees, including one refugee, had visas revoked under Migration Act on character grounds

The Australian Border Force has confirmed the transfer of 12 immigration centre detainees to Christmas Island, 24-hours after a heated clash between police and protesters outside a Melbourne detention centre on Tuesday.

Guardian Australia understands that 12 detainees, including one person whose refugee status has been approved, were woken by guards at the Melbourne International Transit Accommodation centre early yesterday morning and told they would be moved to Christmas Island.

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Victoria’s treasurer delivers health-focused budget and promises return to surplus

Tim Pallas announces new hospitals, clearing of a surgery backlog and hiring of thousands of healthcare workers

The Victorian government will spend $12bn to repair its Covid-battered health system with the treasurer, Tim Pallas, confident that the worst of the pandemic is behind the state and a return to surplus will happen in the near future.

Pallas’s eighth budget, handed down on Tuesday, includes $2.9bn worth of new health infrastructure. This includes $900m to build a hospital in Melton, in Melbourne’s west, which will include a 24-hour emergency department and an intensive care unit, along with maternity and mental health services.

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ABC misses out on final leaders’ debate; key independents back call for robodebt inquiry – as it happened

Channel Seven to host final debate of election campaign; crossbenchers back call for royal commission into robodebt scandal; Scott Morrison focuses on cost of living concerns; Anthony Albanese marches for May Day in Brisbane; Sally McManus would support wage increase for public sector workers; 13 Covid deaths recorded across the nation. This blog is now closed

Labor is still on the campaign sell for its first homeowner policy.

Jason Clare faced questions ranging from, “Is this too small to have an impact?” to, “Won’t it drive up house prices?”

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Kath & Kim’s fictional Melbourne home gets a very real demolition

Construction company confirms work has begun to knock down the two-storey house in south-east Melbourne

The residence of one of Australia’s most iconic TV duos, Kath & Kim, is being demolished.

Construction company Dig Dig Demolition confirmed to Guardian Australia that workers began knocking down the two-storey house in south-east Melbourne on Monday. Images and videos shot from inside the house show wood and debris strewn across the living room and roof tiles and bricks piled up in the back yard.

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Veronica Nelson made repeated calls for help before her death in custody, inquest hears

Melbourne coroner’s court hears audio of the 37-year-old Yorta Yorta woman screaming in pain in her prison cell

Yorta Yorta woman Veronica Marie Nelson made repeated calls for assistance in the hours before she was found dead in a maximum security prison cell, a coronial inquest has heard.

The 37-year-old, who also has Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung and Wiradjuri heritage, died at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre on 2 January 2020, four days after being arrested because she had failed to attend a sentencing hearing for a shoplifting offence.

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Veterans praise number of young people at Melbourne’s Anzac Day services

Estimated crowd of 50,000 listen to Last Post at Shrine of Remembrance after Covid restrictions lifted

For Vietnam veteran Peter Liefman, seeing the crowd’s smiling faces made leading the Anzac Day march through Melbourne even more special.

The 74-year-old, who was a national serviceman in 1971, was chosen to lead Monday’s march along St Kilda Road through to the Shrine of Remembrance with fellow Vietnam veterans Gary Taylor and David Grierson.

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Anzac Day commemorated; ABC reviewing presenter’s social media activity – as it happened

Deputy Labor leader says Chinese Solomon Islands base would make Australia ‘less safe’; Anzac Day services and marches return for the first time since pandemic began; Peter Dutton compares events in Ukraine to ‘the 1930s’; ABC presenter Fauziah Ibrahim under social media review; at least 17 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Sticking with Brendan O’Connor for a moment, the shadow defence spokesperson says Labor would have “grave concerns” if a Chinese military base were established in Solomon Islands.

This comes after Scott Morrison yesterday said the establishment of a base there would be a “red line”, without saying how his government would actually respond, with O’Connor saying it was just “post-facto rhetoric”:

We understand what the prime minister says by that. But, really, it’s post-facto rhetoric. We need to see better investment and better engagement in the region ... rather than react after the fact.

Given the change in tone and rhetoric and words used by the prime minister, we will seek a briefing from the government. We’ve been getting updates all the way through, and we appreciate that.

It was a smaller sum. [The government’s plan] would go no way to provide support for veterans. It would not increase the frontline staff required to respond to their needs. It would do in no way enough to support those people who’ve put themselves in harm’s way.

People are waiting for days, weeks, months just for some of the more simple applications and claims.

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Banana splits: inner-Melbourne council won’t commit to returning controversial fruit sculpture

Yarra city council says ‘no decisions’ made about whether Fallen Fruit statue will return

A 1.8-metre public sculpture of an anthropomorphic banana in Melbourne that was removed for repairs may never be reinstated, with the council unable to commit to its return.

The artwork, which features a menacing skull facing Rose Street in Fitzroy, was created by artist Adam Stone and titled Fallen Fruit.

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Easter bag hunt: travellers left without luggage as airport staff shortages bite

Qantas apologises as passengers told they could be without bags for days

Travellers visiting friends and family for the Easter long weekend could be left without their luggage for days as airlines and airports continue to struggle with staff shortages.

The busy holiday travel period combined with Covid isolation orders and a workforce cut and outsourced during the pandemic has resulted in chaotic scenes at airports across Australia, and many passengers arriving at their destinations without their luggage.

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University of Melbourne staff push for paid gender transition leave and flexible approach to Australia Day

Law expert warns changing Australia Day status in employee agreements could lead to reduction in public holiday entitlement

The national academics’ union is urging the university sector to pave the way for nation-leading gender affirmation leave in Australia.

The issue has been highlighted by University of Melbourne staff calling for paid gender transition leave as part of negotiations on a new three-year enterprise agreement, first reported by the Age.

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Sunny weather forecast for most of Australia over Easter long weekend

After its wettest ever start to the year, Sydney is forecast to have a dry long weekend

It will be a sunny Easter weekend for most of Australia, with light showers scattered across the country predicted to ease as people enjoy the festive period.

After its wettest ever start to the year, Sydney is forecast to have a mostly sunny and dry long weekend.

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