Category Archives: Melbourne

Police investigating video claiming responsibility for torching cars at Israel-linked weapons business in Melbourne

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Video raises prospect of further vandalism or targeted action as anonymous group says ‘Stop arming Israel or else’

Victoria police are investigating a video of a person claiming credit for the vandalism of three cars outside a defence industry business linked to Israel, while clad in a black balaclava and standing in front of a Palestinian flag.

The person, whose voice is digitally altered in a video seen by Guardian Australia, claims to represent an “anonymous cell” that torched three cars at Lovitt Technologies. The company supplies parts to the global F-35 joint strike fighter program.

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Labor to move quickly on special envoy’s plan to combat antisemitism

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Jillian Segal to present recommendations urging government to take stronger action against abuse toward Jewish Australians

The federal government will move quickly to adopt new recommendations from the special envoy to combat antisemitism, with a suite of measures expected to include education and online safety in response to the arson attack at a Melbourne synagogue.

Jillian Segal is expected to appear alongside Anthony Albanese at an event on Thursday to present recommendations urging the government to take stronger action against abuse toward Jewish Australians.

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PM condemns ‘shocking acts’ after suspicious fire at Melbourne synagogue with 20 people inside

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Police allege a man entered the grounds at about 8pm on Friday and poured a flammable liquid on the front door

Anthony Albanese has pledged federal support for Victorian authorities after police reported a suspicious fire was lit at a synagogue in East Melbourne on Friday night.

Victoria police alleged an unknown man entered the grounds of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Albert Street at about 8pm on Friday and poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire.

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Melbourne’s Savage Club to allow ‘lady guest’ diners as cost of living strikes men-only haven

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Falling attendance at club’s dining rooms is ‘uneconomic and dispiriting for staff members’, president says, as six-month trial starts

“Lady guests” will be welcomed into one of Australia’s oldest private clubs as the cost-of-living crisis pushes the men-only Melbourne Savage Club into a six-month trial of mixed dining.

In a survey of the club’s members last year, just 2% (four men) of respondents voted in favour of admitting women as card-carrying members, but they were keen to allow an increase in guests.

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Monash IVF admits second bungled embryo implant, this time at Victorian clinic

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Patient’s own embryo instead of partner’s was ‘incorrectly transferred’, fertility company tells ASX, months after revealing separate Queensland clinic error

A second bungled embryo implant at Monash IVF has sparked a new investigation and the expansion of a review into the first incident, which led to a woman unknowingly giving birth to a stranger’s baby.

Monash IVF said in a statement on Tuesday that in June “a patient’s own embryo was incorrectly transferred to that patient, contrary to the treatment plan which designated the transfer of an embryo of the patient’s partner”.

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Gambling company offered Melbourne man $25,000 on condition he withdraw complaint to regulator and be liable for ‘adverse media’

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Exclusive: Conditions on settlement negotiations common in many industries but consumer advocates concerned they could be used to ‘silence victims and avoid scrutiny’

A Melbourne man says he was offered $25,000 by a gambling company on the condition that he withdraw a complaint to an industry regulator, agree to confidentiality provisions and indemnify them, including against adverse media coverage.

Gordon Burns, 23, argues his 2022 betting frenzy with two bookmakers showed “consistent patterns of addictive behaviour” and alleges that no one from either company checked on him to minimise gambling harm.

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Bradfield and Goldstein face nervous weekend wait for election result but Tim Wilson ‘very relaxed’

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AEC considers sending staff to airport ‘at late hours’ to collect final postal and overseas votes before midnight deadline

Liberal Tim Wilson has said he is “very relaxed” despite his lead over Zoe Daniel in the Melbourne seat of Goldstein slipping to 206 votes with late postal and overseas ballots from as far away as Nairobi still to be counted.

Candidates in the Sydney seat of Bradfield also face an anxious weekend, with no more counting to take place until Monday. On Friday afternoon, Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian led the independent candidate, Nicolette Boele, by just 43 votes.

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Sarah Witty v Adam Bandt: how an unlikely Labor champion took down a Greens giant

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Melbourne was barely on the ALP’s radar as a seat it could win – but a sparsely funded campaign proved powerful

Labor could hardly be considered a metaphorical David in most federal election contests. But in the progressive seat of Melbourne, where the now-beaten Greens leader Adam Bandt had reigned for 15 years, there are similarities to the oft-told biblical story.

On 28 March, when Anthony Albanese called an election date for May, Melbourne appeared on no one’s list as a battle to watch.

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PM launches attack on Max Chandler-Mather as Greens leader Adam Bandt projected to lose seat

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Anthony Albanese says former Greens MP ‘should have a look at the way that he conducted himself in question time’

Anthony Albanese has labelled Max Chandler-Mather a hypocrite who should look in the mirror after the former Greens MP described workplace culture in parliament as “bloody awful”.

The prime minister, who clashed with Chandler-Mather on a number of occasions during question time, said the 33-year-old who lost his Brisbane seat on Saturday needed a “mirror and a reflection on why he’s no longer in parliament”.

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‘Disrespectful’ booing of welcome to country at Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service condemned

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Small group booed and yelled at Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown’s welcome and Victorian governor’s acknowledgement of country

A man is expected to be charged for offensive behaviour after a group including an alleged neo-Nazi booed and heckled a welcome to country at Melbourne’s main Anzac Day dawn ceremony.

A small group of people booed and yelled throughout the welcome delivered by Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown at the 5:30am service at the city’s Shrine of Remembrance.

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Mykola Bychok: the Melbourne bishop who will help choose the next pope

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As a cardinal under the age of 80, the Ukrainian-born priest will be one of the select few Catholic leaders to gather in the Vatican for the papal conclave

A 45-year-old Ukrainian-born Melbourne bishop who will be among the world’s top-ranking Catholic officials who will vote to select the next pope says he is filled with sadness over Pope Francis’s death.

Mykola Bychok, Australia’s highest ranking Catholic official after Francis made him a cardinal late last year, is currently on his way to the Middle East for a pilgrimage but will travel on to Rome for the funeral and then the papal conclave.

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$500 for the nosebleeds? Lady Gaga fans furious over ticket prices for Australian shows

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The Mayhem tour’s ticketing agencies deny dynamic pricing has been implemented, but fans have complained prices are high and inconsistent

The little monsters are not happy. Lady Gaga fans have swamped social media to complain about exorbitant ticket prices for the pop star’s Australian concerts, with many speculating that dynamic pricing is involved – a claim the official ticketing agency for the Melbourne and Brisbane shows, Ticketmaster, has denied.

Off the back of her chart-topping album Mayhem, Lady Gaga is heading to Australia for the first time in 11 years, with Live Nation bringing the Mayhem Ball to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in December. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation, is responsible for the ticket sales in Melbourne and Brisbane. Ticketek is separately handling the Sydney show, because of its affiliation with Sydney venue Accor Stadium.

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Tropical Cyclone Errol likely to form off north coast of Western Australia this weekend

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Weather bureau predicts high-pressure system will bring above-average temperatures across south-east Australia

A cyclone is likely to form off the northern coast of Western Australia this weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned, as south-east Australia prepares for unseasonably warm weather.

The bureau on Saturday morning issued a warning that a tropical low in the Timor Sea north-west of Darwin was moving south-west and was expected to intensify into a cyclone later in the day.

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Police remove homophobic banners hung over Melbourne highway targeting Labor MP Julian Hill

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Exclusive: Police confirm report of two offensive signs targeting Bruce MP Julian Hill, who is gay, hung on overpass bridge

Police have removed two offensive and homophobic banners targeting Labor MP Julian Hill that were hung over a major Melbourne highway on Friday morning.

The banners prompted bi-partisan condemnation and were described by Victoria police as an example of “hate-based behaviour” that would not be tolerated.

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Sacked Melbourne lawyer who chucked sickie to go to the AFL loses bid to get his job back

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Fair Work Commission finds Mitchell Fuller was not unfairly dismissed for taking a sick day while at the AFL Gather Round in Adelaide

A Melbourne lawyer who pulled a sickie so he could attend the AFL Gather Round in South Australia has failed in a bid to get his job back after his own social media posts proved he was fit for work.

The Fair Work Commission found this week that Mitchell Fuller, who was fired as a solicitor with Madison Branson Lawyers in August last year, was not unfairly dismissed.

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Earless dragons were presumed extinct in Australia – now Daisy and Kip have sniffed out 13 of them

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Zoos Victoria wildlife detection dogs uncovered the ‘bloody gorgeous’ reptiles in return for treats and cuddles

Wildlife detection dogs successfully sniffed out 13 critically endangered earless dragons in previously unknown burrows in Melbourne’s west, after a training program launched by Zoos Victoria in 2023.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon – Australia’s most imperilled reptile – had not been seen for 50 years and was thought extinct before its remarkable rediscovery on privately owned grassland in 2023.

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Victoria police pay $90,000 to climate protester who claimed head was slammed into wall, door and ground

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Exclusive: State makes no admissions as it settles case with activist who alleged police misconduct during 2019 arrest at Melbourne mining conference

A climate protester who alleged their head was repeatedly slammed by members of Victoria police’s riot squad in 2019 has reached a settlement with the state.

Timothy Buchanan, 39, alleged their head was slammed into a metal wall, the ground and a glass door that their head was then used to open, during their arrest at a protest at an international mining conference in Melbourne.

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MCG admits ‘breakdown’ in security after guns allegedly smuggled into game

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Men arrested at Melbourne sporting venue allegedly carrying loaded firearms after passing through upgraded security

The MCG has blamed a “breakdown in the thoroughness” of security screening procedures after two men allegedly carrying loaded firearms were able to access a blockbuster match between Collingwood and Carlton.

Police alleged the weapons were found after a search by officers at the ground, as a crowd of 82,058 fans watched the Magpies defeat their arch-rivals on Thursday night.

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Audience member dies during opening night of Melbourne international comedy festival

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A man watching a comedy gig has died after suffering a medical emergency in a packed theatre on the opening night of a major festival

A crowd of ticketholders watched on in horror as good Samaritans rushed to help a man who died on the opening night of a major comedy festival.

An audience member suffered a medical episode at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda on Wednesday night, organisers of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival said in a statement.

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Melbourne teenager charged with murder after machete attack

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Police allege victim, 24, was ambushed by up to 10 men and stabbed to death near Marriott Waters shopping centre on 14 March

An 18-year-old has been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing of a man by an alleged machete-wielding group amid plans to ban the weapon.

Timothy Leek was stabbed to death near the Marriott Waters shopping centre in Melbourne’s south-east on the night of 14 March.

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