Category Archives: Victorian politics

Anglican archbishop of Melbourne expresses concern about Andrew Thorburn’s resignation as Essendon CEO

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Matthew Guy also criticises debate that led to resignation, after premier says views were ‘appalling’

The Anglican archbishop of Melbourne has joined Victoria’s opposition leader in criticising Andrew Thorburn’s resignation as Essendon chief executive over links to a church condemning homosexuality and abortion.

Thorburn was appointed to the role on Monday but resigned on Tuesday afternoon after sermons by the City on a Hill church, of which he is chairman, were made public.

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Victorian opposition didn’t consult hospitals on plan to deploy protective service officers

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Pledge to station officers at five hospitals, despite inquiry finding it would be ‘contrary to the good management of security’

Protective service officers would be stationed at five Victorian hospitals to boost staff safety under a pre-election pledge by the opposition, despite the health services not being directly consulted about the scheme.

Under the two-year plan PSOs would be stationed at the Royal Melbourne hospital, Dandenong hospital, Sunshine hospital, Frankston hospital and Box Hill hospital, to respond to incidents of violence, assist medical staff and sworn police officers, provide support to mental health patients and accompany staff to their cars.

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Victorian Greens say 30% of homes in new developments should be cheaper for first-time buyers

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Party to announce election policy to build 200,000 affordable and public homes and reintroduce social housing levy on developers

A plan to build 200,000 affordable and public homes will be at the heart of the Victorian Greens election campaign, with its leader, Samantha Ratnam, claiming major parties have “given up” on addressing the housing crisis due to their relationships with developers.

The party will on Saturday launch its election platform, proposing the reintroduction of a social housing levy on property developers and a requirement that 30% of homes in large developments are set aside for first-home owners.

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Victoria’s child protection database missing hundreds of children’s addresses, review finds

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‘How are you supposed to help kids if you literally don’t know where they live?’ asks opposition

The addresses of hundreds of vulnerable children and young people are missing from the Victorian government’s child protection database, according to a report by the state’s auditor general.

The report, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, found the IT system used by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) was “incomplete, inaccurate and inconsistent” and “does not readily give the most current and complete information on vulnerable Victorian children”.

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Daniel Andrews is on track for a third term in Victoria, but risks losing ground in safe seats

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Labor is likely to secure a rare third parliamentary term, but departing MPs warn it will lose support for parachuting in non-local candidates

The 59th parliament of Victoria has been anything but boring. In the past two years there’s been a leadership spill, a finding of branch stacking, a catastrophic fall down slippery steps, a drunken car crash, dozens of protests, Covid-19 outbreaks, resignations, defections, a visit from a lamb in a diaper and a resident fox – and that’s without mentioning the work that goes on inside the building.

Having wrapped up the final sitting week on Wednesday – dumping 52 documents on the way out, including a scathing auditor general report on the suburban rail loop – Daniel Andrews will now begin campaigning for a third term in office.

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Victorian upper house MP Fiona Patten reveals kidney cancer diagnosis

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Reason party leader says she still plans to fight November state election after undergoing surgery next month

Victorian MP Fiona Patten has revealed she has been diagnosed with cancer after a tumour was recently discovered on her kidney.

The Reason party leader will undergo a nephrectomy – the removal of the affected kidney – in early October and still plans to contest the state election on 26 November.

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

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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.

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Melbourne cancer patient went to Adelaide for urgent scan due to ‘miscommunication’, minister says

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Victoria’s health minister defends colleague who suggested Kylie Hennessy, who has a brain tumour, ‘roll with the punches’

Victoria’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, has claimed a “hospital miscommunication” caused a woman with a brain tumour to travel to Adelaide for an urgent medical scan.

Kylie Hennessy travelled to Adelaide last week for a functional MRI (fMRI) scan after she was told she would face a months-long wait in Melbourne.

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Guardian Essential poll: 64% of young voters would consider backing independents in NSW and Victorian elections

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After success of federal ‘teals’, about half of all respondents are thinking about a shift away from major parties

About half of voters – and more than two-thirds of young people – are considering backing independents at the upcoming Victorian and New South Wales state elections, in a trend described as the “Uberisation” of politics.

The latest Guardian Essential poll shows 48% of 1,100 respondents in Victoria and NSW are considering voting for an independent if one were to run in their electorate.

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Victorian government repeatedly warned of ‘precarious’ situation at triple-zero agency

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Government was made aware of Esta’s vulnerable financial position as long ago as 2015

The Victorian government was warned of the “precarious financial position” at the state’s triple-zero call-taking agency about six years before Covid-19 overwhelmed the service and caused delays linked to 33 deaths.

A report by Victoria’s inspector general for emergency management (Igem), Tony Pearce, released on Saturday, identified 40 “potential adverse events” linked to triple-zero delays, lengthy ambulance waits and command decisions at the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (Esta) between December 2020 and May 2022.

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Victorian Liberal MP urges UN to investigate youth justice facilities over ‘serious breaches’ of human rights

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Matt Bach has written to UN subcommittee about the ‘systematic’ isolation of youth detainees he says contravenes international law

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Victorian Liberal MP Matt Bach has written to the United Nations subcommittee on the prevention of torture, urging them to investigate the “systematic” use of isolation in the state’s youth justice facilities during an upcoming visit.

The subcommittee is set to visit Australia from 16-27 October to inspect places of detention and examine the treatment of detainees.

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More than 30 deaths linked to delays at Victoria’s overloaded triple-zero service

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Emergency services ‘simply did not have sufficient ambulance call-takers’, with one caller waiting more than 76 minutes, review finds

More than 30 people died after the pandemic overloaded Victoria’s triple-zero call service and caused delays, an independent review has found.

In one case, someone waited for more than 76 minutes for their emergency call to be answered, as the pandemic placed “unprecedented demand” on the system.

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Victoria lifts work from home recommendation but public transport mask mandate to stay

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State government cites falling Covid case numbers and the end of winter as it announces decision

The Victorian government has lifted its recommendation that people work from home but has vowed to maintain its public transport mask mandate, despite the requirement due to be dropped on domestic flights from next week.

Citing falling Covid case numbers and the end of winter, the state’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, said Victorians were now encouraged to cease working from home.

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Victoria passes laws banning stealthing and requiring affirmative consent

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Consent can include a nod, or reciprocating a move such as removing clothes, as well as verbal cues

Victoria has adopted an affirmative consent model, shifting scrutiny off victims and back on to perpetrators of sexual violence.

Under new laws, which passed Victorian parliament late on Tuesday, a person must have a clear and enthusiastic go-ahead for their belief in consent to be reasonable.

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Rural Victorian town left without bulk-billing doctor after clinic closes doors

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Thousands of patients in Mildura region in state’s north-west are unable to access medical records or GP care

About 15,000 patients in and around the rural city of Mildura in Victoria’s north-west have been left without a bulk-billing doctor and are struggling to access their medical records.

The Tristar medical group, which owns the Mildura clinic, went into voluntary administration in May, and after the sale of the clinic to another medical group fell through earlier in August, the clinic has closed its doors.

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Victoria paying more than $1m a day to keep unsentenced prisoners in jail

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Despite steep rise in number of prisoners on remand, Andrews government hasn’t reviewed bail reforms

The number of people in Victoria’s prisons who have not been found guilty of a crime has grown more than 140% in just under a decade and now costs taxpayers more than $1m each day.

Despite this, the Andrews government hasn’t reviewed changes to the state’s bail laws that have contributed to the increase, delaying the possibility of reform until after the November state election.

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Beware Victorian politicians pledging to cure the health system

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A rash of major health announcements is sure to spread further before the state election – but the devil is in the detail

It’s no coincidence that Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, has been standing alongside his health minister Mary-Anne Thomas at 12 of the 13 press conferences he’s held in the past six weeks. Andrews wants health to be – quite literally – front and centre as the state heads to the polls in November.

This is not unusual for the Labor party heading to an election, but unlike previous campaigns, the Victorian Coalition is also pledging to spend billions on the health system, which their leader, Matthew Guy, has described as “sick” prior to the pandemic.

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Victorian health minister ‘concerned’ by reports patients forced to wait hours in tent outside hospital

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New $14m healthcare project is expected to ease the pressure on Victoria’s health system as it continues to buckle under demand

Victoria’s health minister admits she was concerned after two vulnerable patients were forced to wait hours inside a makeshift tent outside the emergency department at a major hospital this week.

Mary-Anne Thomas acknowledged the “discomfort” experienced by a young cancer patient and an elderly stroke patient at Box Hill hospital, as the state’s health system continues to buckle under pressure.

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Railing against rail loop put Matthew Guy back on track – but there’s a long way to go

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With 14 weeks until the Victorian state election, the opposition has a mountain to climb in order to form government

Victoria’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, effectively fired the starter’s gun on the state election campaign this week when he announced the Coalition would shelve the Suburban Rail Loop – the largest infrastructure project in the history of the state – if it wins in November.

After two weeks of negative headlines about a proposed donation scheme, which prompted the resignations of several key members of his team, Guy’s announcement seized back the initiative.

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

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$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.

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