Fires broke out in a Melbourne landfill site four years ago. Residents are still waiting for them to end

‘The fact that we’re still having to attend meetings – four years down the track – is just a disgrace. It is so depressing,’ says one local

At times, the stench has roused Nicole Power from her sleep. The St Albans resident likens it to the smell of burning chemicals.

“It get rights down in my throat,” she said.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Until freedom and justice prevail’: rallies for Palestine march again through Australian capitals

Also on Sunday, families and friends of hostages taken by Hamas addressed a gathering at a Sydney synagogue

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters have gathered in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, pledging the rallies will not stop until “freedom and justice prevails”.

For the eighth week in a row, supporters for a free Palestine marched through the Sydney central business district, Melbourne CBD and in Logan, south of Brisbane.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

News live: Australia signs renewables pledge at Cop28; Brisbane mayor quits 2032 Olympics role

Adrian Schrinner says the Palaszczuk government has ‘completely lost its way’ on road to event as he quits Brisbane 2032 Games delivery forum. Follow the day’s news live

Australia backs COP28 renewables, energy efficiency vow

Now for some more detail on Australia – along with 118 nations - signing a pledge at the COP28 climate summit to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030.

“We know that renewables are the cleanest and cheapest form of energy - and that energy efficiency can also help drive down bills and emissions,”

Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop solar in the world and has a plan to get to 82 per cent renewables by 2030 to deliver cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy.

It’s clear that the games have become more about over-priced stadiums rather than the promise of vital transport solutions.

The state government’s ham-fisted and foolish attempt to extort Brisbane ratepayers for tens of millions of dollars for a new RNA stadium was the final straw.

Continue reading...

Climate protesters arrested at Port of Newcastle blockade – as it happened

This blog is now closed

‘The biggest transformation in our country’s history’

Chris Bowen has been talking about Labor’s plans for reducing emissions, but he’s pressed on the fact that the government has been approving new coalmines and gas projects, which add to global emissions.

The way I see this, David, you can enter into a discussion with your international counterparts which we are doing which is us saying to them, “We will continue to be a reliable energy supplier but we want to work with you on your decarbonisation because we have advantages that you don’t have. We can provide renewable energy.” That is an important conversation to have.

Frankly the approach of others is more a slogan than a policy. We are making the biggest transformation in our country’s history and that involves both domestic policies and strong international engagements, as I will be doing over the next couple of weeks and we have been doing all the way through.

It will be treated in the budget statement of risks and liabilities in the normal fashion. But this is the right policy for the right times to ensure emissions come down and reliability goes up.

Continue reading...

Melbourne school students defy education minister and strike in support of Palestine

Hundreds rally in CBD to call for an end to the war in Gaza and for Australia to stop military aid to Israel

Amid chants of “free, free Palestine”, hundreds of Victoria school students have walked out of classrooms to call for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and for Australia to stop military aid to Israel.

Students gathered at the steps of Flinders Street station in the Melbourne CBD on Thursday afternoon, rallying for Palestine. The crowd spilled out on to the road, bringing traffic to a standstill at the busy Flinders and Swanston Street intersection.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Jet trip followed guidelines, minister’s office says – as it happened

This blog is now closed.

Australians increasingly relying on credit cards as cost-of-living pressures rise

A survey from comparison site Finder has found an increasing number of Australians are turning to credit cards amid the rising cost of living.

Mounting pressure on households is seeing Aussies borrowing money to keep afloat.

Used responsibly, credit cards can be a great tool for earning rewards such as frequent flyer points and building your credit history.

But relying too heavily on them could cause you to go into a debt spiral which can be hard to bounce back from.

It symbolises the balance between utility and respect for the environment, mirroring our approach to space exploration.

It’s time for Australian science to take the next leap all the way up into space, like our roos do back home. Naming the new lunar rover ‘Roo-ver’ will reflect the Aussie spirit as we launch into this new endeavour.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: ‘hunger for justice’ has swept the world, Assange’s father tells Melbourne pro-Palestine rally

Organisers of Sydney pro-Palestine rallies say they have been attended by 30,000 people, as thousands gather in cities around the country. Follow today’s news updates live

Julian Assange’s father to address pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne

A pro-Palestine rally will be addressed by the father of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, with organisers confident a large crowd is set to attend.

The Australian public are disgusted at the Albanese government’s refusal to call for ceasefire.

We’ve had people come who have never before been to a rally and the following week they return with their relatives and friends.

Continue reading...

Melbourne has waited decades for an airport train. But is a federal funding commitment enough to get it done?

Unlike governments interstate, Jacinta Allan was uncharacteristically subdued about Canberra’s funding review

Throughout her decades in politics, Jacinta Allan hasn’t been afraid to pick a fight with the federal government – no matter which party was in power.

But on Thursday, when the Albanese government announced it would cut $4.8bn worth of infrastructure funding in Victoria after a months-long review, the premier was uncharacteristically subdued.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Girl, 12, charged with murder over fatal stabbing of woman in Melbourne

Victoria police say 37-year-old was found dead just before 2am on Thursday in an inner Melbourne suburb

A 12-year-old girl has been charged with murder after a fatal stabbing in Melbourne.

Emergency services were called to an apartment in an inner-city suburb after a 37-year-old woman was found dead just before 2am on Thursday.

Continue reading...

‘Deeply distressing’: premier condemns violence between Palestine and Israel supporters over Melbourne burger bar fire

Jacinta Allan asks for increased police presence around Hawthorn Road after authorities break up scuffles near a synagogue close to where the Palestinian-owned burger shop was damaged by a blaze

The Victorian premier has condemned the “deeply distressing” violence that erupted between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters on Friday night, after a suspicious fire at a nearby burger shop in Melbourne’s south-east.

Jacinta Allan said she was briefed on the incident on Saturday morning by Victoria police, and asked for an increased police presence in area around Hawthorn Road in Caulfield.

Continue reading...

Daylesford pub crash victims mourned by their friends and communities

Among five people killed in accident in Victoria were Pratibha Sharma, her daughter Anvi and her partner Jatin Chugh

A well-known Melbourne volunteer and former political candidate, along with her partner and her nine-year-old daughter, are being mourned after they were among five people killed after a car crashed through the busy beer garden of the Royal Daylesford hotel on Sunday.

Tributes were being paid to Pratibha Sharma, 44, her daughter, Anvi, and her partner, Jatin Chugh, 30, after the Point Cook family were named among the dead on Monday night.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Melbourne Cup: most Australians have little or no interest in ‘race that stops the nation’, Essential poll finds

Only 11% of respondents to survey say they have ‘high interest’, down five points from before last year’s race

Punters are switching off the Melbourne Cup, with a majority of Australians reporting they have little or no interest in what was once “the race that stops the nation”.

According to the latest Essential poll of 1,049 voters, just 11% reported a “high interest” in the Melbourne Cup, down five points from when the question was asked before the 2022 race.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Huge Lego collection and boxes of gemstones seized by Victoria police in alleged meth lab raid

A 36 year-old man was charged with trafficking, proceeds of crime and firearms offences after raid at Botanic Ridge house in Melbourne

A mountain of Lego found in a suburban drug raid is so large police are going to need a truck to seize it.

The 1,130 boxes worth more than $200,000 were discovered on Tuesday alongside a meth lab and boxes of gemstones at a Botanic Ridge house on Melbourne’s suburban fringe.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Ceasefire now’: Australian Jewish group breaks ranks with vigils for peace

Organisers hope gatherings in Sydney and Melbourne will give a voice to ‘values’ not reflected in mainstream discussions

They gathered in coats and scarves in the dwindling light on a little hill in Bondi, a coalition of 100 or so, accompanied by dogs and children.

The decision to gather in public on Wednesday night was a deliberate one to highlight the first Jewish grouping in Australia to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, the release of hostages and freedom and justice for all in Israel and Palestine. A similar gathering in St Kilda, Melbourne echoed the call for peace.

Continue reading...

Victorian education official to apologise in person for antisemitic bullying at Brighton secondary college

A judge also ordered the state to pay the five men more than $500,000 in compensation, including interest and legal costs

A Victorian education department official will make an in-person apology to five students who experienced antisemitic bullying at a Melbourne school.

The former Brighton secondary college students – Joel and Matt Kaplan, Liam Arnold-Levy, Guy Cohen and Zack Snelling – successfully sued the school and the state of Victoria in the federal court, which handed down its decision last month.

Continue reading...

Large crowd gathers at pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne as WA man mourns sister killed in Gaza

Australians are grieving for those killed on both sides of Israel-Hamas war, Adam Bandt tells protesters

About 15,000 people have attended a rally supporting Palestine in Melbourne, with the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, telling the crowd they were mourning for those who had died on both sides of the bloody conflict.

Sunday’s protest was one of several held across the country at the weekend. Victoria police said that there were “no major incidents of note”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Thousands attend pro-Palestine protests across Australia

Protesters marched through the Sydney CBD on Saturday after police green-lit the event, with similar rallies held in Perth, Hobart and Brisbane

Pro-Palestine protesters declared they were standing on the right side of history, marching for justice and humanity, as they turned out in their thousands at rallies across Australia on Saturday.

Thousands marched through the Sydney CBD on Saturday after police green-lit the event, with rallies also held in Perth, Hobart and Brisbane as more information emerges from conflict-stricken Gaza.

Continue reading...

More Australians head back to the office and most prefer Thursday or Friday, study finds

Exclusive: Transport Opinion Survey says in September workers spent 21% of their week working from home, down from 27% in March

As an increasing number of Australians favour the office over working from home, Friday has emerged as one of the most popular days to commute and be among colleagues, new research shows.

On average Australian workers spent just 21% – or between one and two days – of their work week at home during a two-week survey period in September, down from a corresponding data point of 27% in March. This is according to the latest Transport Opinion Survey conducted by the University of Sydney’s Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, based on data from 1,029 respondents, who were also asked about priorities and transport attitudes.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Flemington racecourse flood wall ‘served its purpose’, Victoria Racing Club boss tells inquiry

Report into Maribyrnong floods says it is still unclear if construction of wall contributed to damage of residents’ homes

The head of Victoria Racing Club says a flood wall it erected around Melbourne’s Flemington racecourse “served its purpose” after the site was left undamaged during last October’s flooding that left nearby homesinundated.

Victoria Racing Club and Melbourne Water fronted a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday into last October’s floods, after a report – commissioned by the water authority – into the Maribyrnong flooding that affected more than 500 homes was handed down on Friday. The review concluded it was unclear whether the flood wall had exacerbated flooding for residents, saying the available material did not allow a conclusion to be made.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Melbourne shooting: man killed outside shopping centre in Craigieburn in targeted attack

Man dies outside shopping centre in Melbourne’s north and another taken to hospital with serious injuries

A man has been shot dead outside a shopping centre in Melbourne’s north in what police believe was a targeted attack.

Emergency workers arrived at Craigieburn Central shopping centre on Windrock Avenue just before 3pm on Saturday after reports of several shots fired.

Continue reading...