Category Archives: Victorian politics

Australia politics live: leaders trade question time barbs over climate and power prices; CMO ‘confident’ Covid wave has peaked as 85 deaths recorded

Posted on by

The parliament will sit at 9am – once the morning proceedings are done, it will be into the climate bill – people are getting ready to head to the galleries to watch it pass the house.

It has been a very, very long decade. There are a lot of people who need to see this, even if there is still a very, very long way for us to go to actually start acting.

The inclusion of an Objects clause that addresses targets, accountability, expert advice and the need for climate action in line with the science makes it clear that this is the beginning of a new era in Australia,” Chaney said in a statement.

Continue reading...

From celebrity wrangler to political staffer: how Mitch Catlin’s career change came unstuck

Posted on by

Analysis: Liberals were always sceptical of Matthew Guy’s plan to use a marketing maestro to improve the party’s chances in Victoria

Eyebrows were raised among Victorian Liberals when returning opposition leader Matthew Guy announced last September that his new chief of staff would be marketing expert and celebrity wrangler Mitch Catlin.

Catlin, known for his Birdcage antics at Flemington and rehabilitating the image of Today show host Karl Stefanovic after his divorce, had little political experience, several Liberal MPs demurred.

Continue reading...

‘Out of step’: Victoria’s first openly gay MP slams Liberal party leadership over Moira Deeming preselection

Posted on by

Former Liberal MP Andrew Olexander says he is ‘angered’ and ‘disappointed’ with party

Victoria’s first openly gay state MP has slammed the leader of his former party, Matthew Guy, for failing to condemn a newly preselected Liberal candidate who has a history of attacking transgender rights.

Moira Deeming, a teacher and Melton councillor, was preselected at the weekend to replace the outspoken upper house MP Bernie Finn ahead of the November state election.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

‘Voters don’t want a culture war’: Victorian Liberals raise concerns over preselections

Posted on by

Candidates include Evan Mulholland from the Institute of Public Affairs and Moira Deeming, who called for abortion laws to be repealed

Several Victorian Liberal MPs have raised concerns the preselection of candidates at the weekend could undermine efforts to present as a more progressive party ahead of the November state election.

Evan Mulholland, from the right-leaning Institute of Public Affairs, was preselected on Sunday for the top spot on the Liberal party ticket for the upper house Northern Metropolitan Region, replacing Craig Ondarchie. This came after Melton city councillor Moira Deeming was endorsed for the Western Metropolitan Region on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Federal government under pressure to increase EV uptake after ACT announces petrol car ban

Posted on by

Electric vehicle advocates and auto industry say Australia needs nationally mandated fuel efficiency standards

The federal government is under pressure to act to increase the uptake of electric vehicles after the Australian Capital Territory became the first state or territory to announce an end to the sale of petrol cars.

The Zero Emission Vehicle strategy was announced by the ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, on Tuesday and commits the territory to phasing out internal combustion engines by 2035. This means no new petrol engine vehicles could be sold in the territory past that date.

Continue reading...

Victoria demands AEMO maintain minimum gas storage levels as supplies dwindle

Posted on by

Gas supplies at the Iona storage facility have fallen due to high demand amid the state’s price cap

The national market operator needs to implement “immediate measures” that address the state’s gas shortage crisis, Victoria’s energy minister says.

Lily D’Ambrosio said the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) must establish a viable plan to control gas supply levels at national storage facilities after it was revealed that the Iona facility near Port Campbell recently dropped to record lows.

Continue reading...

Australia news live updates: Greens aim to ‘improve and pass’ Labor climate bill; Andrews rules out mask mandates as nation records 90 Covid deaths;

Posted on by

No change in Operation Sovereign Borders policy

Clare O’Neil is asked about the desperate situation in Sri Lanka, where many people are trying to find a way out.

Operation Sovereign Borders is Australian government policy.

Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews apologises for ‘disgraceful behaviour’ of Labor MPs after scathing Ibac findings

Posted on by

Victorian premier pledges reforms after Operation Watts finds public funds ‘misused’ and codes breached

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, says he takes full responsibility for the “disgraceful” conduct uncovered in a damning report into Labor branch stacking, as he apologised to the public and vowed to implement sweeping reform.

The report of Operation Watts – a joint investigation between the state’s ombudsman and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) uncovered widespread misuse of taxpayer resources for political purposes and a “catalogue” of unethical behaviour in the Victorian branch of the Labor party including nepotism, the hiring of unqualified people for public roles and using those roles for political party work.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Victoria calls on 400 extra health workers to combat rising Covid hospitalisations

Posted on by

Premier, Daniel Andrews, announces a $162m package to fund specialist staff across 12 hospitals as Covid-related absentee rates climb

Victoria’s ailing public hospitals will be topped up with an extra 400 health workers to combat rising Covid hospitalisations and staff absenteeism.

A $162m package to respond to the emerging Omicron BA.4 and 5 variants, which are leaving more people in hospital and healthcare workers sick, was announced by the Victorian government on Sunday.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Victoria defies health advice for mask mandate as new Covid wave worsens nationwide

Posted on by

Elective surgeries are again at risk of being delayed with predictions hospitalisations may exceed past Covid waves

The Victorian government has ignored health advice calling for mask mandates in schools, early childhood and retail settings amid a warning that hospitalisations during the current wave of Covid and flu infections may exceed earlier peaks.

As Covid reinfection rates rise nationwide, Victoria on Tuesday joined Queensland in encouraging residents to don masks without requiring them to do so.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Victoria’s move to restrict ‘silencing’ sexual harassment victims welcomed by unions and lawyers

Posted on by

State government proposes reforms to use of nondisclosure agreements by employers in Australian first

The use of nondisclosure agreements will be restricted in sexual harassment cases to prevent victim-survivors being silenced, under reforms proposed by the Victorian government that are backed by employment lawyers and industry groups.

The move – an Australian first – was announced on Monday by Victoria’s workplace safety minister, Ingrid Stitt, who said the proposed reforms were a direct response to a ministerial taskforce investigating workplace sexual harassment, which made 26 recommendations. Most have already been accepted by the government.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Social housing tenant forced to cook in living room amid Victoria’s ‘broken’ complaints system, report says

Posted on by

Investigation recommends the state creates dedicated social housing ombudsman and makes law changes

A social housing tenant was left to cook in her living room while another was forced to shower at public facilities for months, an investigation into Victoria’s “broken” housing complaints system has found.

In a report tabled in parliament on Thursday morning, the state ombudsman, Deborah Glass, said the investigation had found a “broken complaint system”, prompting the need for a social housing ombudsman and changes to the law.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Jane Garrett, Victorian Labor MP, dies from breast cancer aged 49

Posted on by

Former emergency services minister offered a state funeral to honour her ‘life of service’

The family of Victorian Labor MP Jane Garrett has has accepted the offer of a state funeral to farewell the former emergency services minister who has died from breast cancer at the age of 49.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said the service would be “a fitting way to mark her significant contribution” to the state.

Continue reading...

Victoria to demand governments set completion dates for energy transmission projects

Posted on by

State energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, says investors need confidence electricity grid will be ready for renewables

Victoria will demand at the next meeting of federal and state energy ministers that governments set dates for the completion of transmission links to ensure renewable energy projects worth billions of dollars can be connected to the grid on time.

The latest roadmap for updating the National Energy Market, released on Thursday by the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo), identified five major new transmission lines requiring urgent action so enough new clean energy and storage capacity is built in time for the expected accelerated exit of ageing coal-fired power plants from the grid.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Warning over Omicron subvariants as nation records 23 Covid deaths – as it happened

Posted on by

Omicron BA.4/BA.5 likely to become dominant coronavirus strains in Victoria as nation records at least 23 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

The Australian literary community is paying tribute to the writer Frank Moorhouse, who died on Sunday, aged 83.

His publisher at Penguin Random House, Meredith Curnow, said in a statement to Nine Newspapers:

Renowned for his use of the discontinuous narrative in works such as The Americans, Baby and Forty-Seventeen, Frank Moorhouse has been an active participant in Australian literature for nearly 50 years.

The Edith Trilogy, made up of the astounding novels Grand Days, Dark Palace and Cold Light have not only brought immense pleasure to so many readers, but have also affected the career paths of many women. I feel so privileged to have worked with Frank on Cold Light.

It does happen a lot in plants – like Banksia, for example, after [Joseph] Banks.

Usually, a frog scientist of such prestige and contribution will get a frog [species] named after them eventually. [Marion Anstis] never had anything named after her.

Continue reading...

Australian politicians respond to US abortion decision – as it happened

Posted on by

Sussan Ley and Jason Clare react to US supreme court decision on abortion rights; Australia to send $1m earthquake relief to Afghanistan; nation records 26 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Sussan Ley: Roe v Wade overturning ‘a backward step for women’

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley says the US supreme court’s decision to overturn a constitutional right to abortion is a “backward step for women in the US”.

This has been a step backwards for women in the US. I’m very discomforted by anything that puts a personal and sensitive issue that a woman has to grapple with in many instances, or a family has to grapple with, in the same sentence as criminal.

Thank God we are a country here in Australia where abortion is not an issue that divides the Labor party and Liberal party.

I’m thinking at the moment for the women who live in some of these states that are basically being told today that if you want to have an abortion then get on a bus and travel a couple of hundred kilometres.

Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews names Jacinta Allan as Victoria’s deputy premier after senior ministers resign

Posted on by

Allan was endorsed unanimously by the Victorian Labor caucus to replace James Merlino ahead of the November state election

The Victorian government has unveiled the frontbench it expects to take to the November state election and crowned a new deputy premier.

Transport infrastructure minister Jacinta Allan will replace James Merlino as deputy premier, after he was one of four senior Labor ministers to announce their retirement and step down from cabinet on Friday.

Continue reading...

Factions, new blood and Jeff Kennett: Daniel Andrews’ dilemma after losing four ministers

Posted on by

Analysis: Victorian premier has five months to introduce a new leadership group to voters

A lot of comparisons can made between Victorian premiers Daniel Andrews and Jeff Kennett, though, being from opposite sides of politics, neither of them will likely admit it.

Both are considered crash-through leaders, either loved or loathed. Both have shaped their state, either for better or worse – depending on whom you ask.

Continue reading...

PRGuy unmasks himself in video with Friendlyjordies after legal threat by Avi Yemini

Posted on by

Jeremy Maluta reveals he is behind pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 but says he has no media experience or connection to Daniel Andrews

The man behind the formerly anonymous pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 has unmasked himself, after far-right figure Avi Yemini attempted to use the courts to reveal whether the account had ties to the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews.

Jeremy Maluta told YouTuber Friendlyjordies in a video released on Friday that he has no PR or social media experience, works in an industry completely unrelated to politics or the media, and has no connections to Andrews.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Victorian Greens leader ousts party’s state convener over past comments about trans people

Posted on by

Parliamentary leader Samantha Ratnam says she acted under party rules to overturn the recent election of Linda Gale

The leader of the Victorian Greens has ousted the party’s controversial state convener after successfully applying to have recent election results set aside.

Linda Gale, a senior industrial officer at the National Tertiary Education Union, was elected last Saturday to fill a casual vacancy as state convener of the Victorian Greens, despite co-authoring a 2019 paper that had been labelled “transphobic”.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...