Yoorrook commission will establish official record of Indigenous experiences since colonisation
Victoria’s Indigenous truth-telling commission has opened public hearings, with respected actor and activist Uncle Jack Charles the first to share his story.
Born to a Wiradjuri father and a Bunurong mother, Charles was called as the first Indigenous elder to speak at the Yoorrook Justice Commission on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Victorian government wants extension of commonwealth funding arrangement to combat pandemic
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has reignited calls for the commonwealth to extend its increased health funding for Covid, warning the effects of the pandemic will not end after winter.
But the state opposition has lashed the Andrews government, saying the pressure has been caused by “years of Labor mismanagement” prior to the pandemic.
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Continue reading...Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service ‘disappointed’ that official repeal will not occur in November
Victoria will delay repealing public drunkenness as a crime, in a move that has triggered the state’s Indigenous legal service to urge the state government to prioritise the “overdue reform”.
The offence was to be officially repealed in November, but Guardian Australia understands the decriminalisation of public drunkenness may not take effect until 2023 – more than five years after the death of 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day.
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Continue reading...While business groups celebrate change to isolation rules, some experts remain cautious
The easing of Covid restrictions in Victoria and New South Wales has been welcomed by industry groups, despite concerns from some epidemiologists that it sends the wrong message at a time daily infections remain high.
From Friday, people in both states who live with Covid-19 cases or are deemed close contacts will no longer have to quarantine for seven days, provided they have no symptoms.
Continue reading...Analysis: Like clockwork, an announcement is made to revive the ‘zombie’ toll road project
Almost seven years after Victoria’s Labor government scrapped a billion-dollar contract to construct the East West Link, the project – once dubbed a “zombie” by the state’s treasurer – refuses to die.
The federal Coalition has previously pushed the case for the project. But this time, it was the state opposition reviving it by announcing it would build the underground tunnel to connect Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway to CityLink if was elected at the November election.
Continue reading...Unlike Queensland and New South Wales, Victoria has no culturally specific family violence refuges
Zara* believes she and her children wouldn’t be alive today were it not for the support she received while at a family violence refuge in New Zealand tailored to her cultural needs.
“The mainstream refuge didn’t understand the seriousness of abuse the ethnic women go through,” Zara said. “I have been told by my own family, community and society to reconcile so many times and every time the abuse worsens.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
Continue reading...Allowing two more balls means overall odds of winning something increase but odds of first division win go from one in 45.3m to one in 62.8m
Australians’ chances of winning the Oz Lotto jackpot are set to become slimmer after changes to the game by the Victorian government.
The state government has amended the Public Lottery Licence to introduce two extra balls for Oz Lotto, which currently has participants select seven choices from 45 numbers, with two supplementary numbers drawn.
Continue reading...Law reform body says there should be consequences for offenders who make victims fear they will be sexually assaulted
Offenders who grab and drag their victim in a way that makes them fear they will be sexually assaulted could be jailed for up to 10 years under a proposal outlined by Victoria’s peak law reform body.
The Andrews government asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) to review “grab and drag” offences after a 2018 assault in which Jackson Williams grabbed a 39-year-old woman and dragged her into an alleyway.
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Continue reading...Foreign and defence ministers label Putin a ‘war criminal’; major Optus mobile network outage; ministers respond to criticism of Scott Morrison; NSW records 12 Covid deaths and 19,183 new infections; Victoria records eight deaths and 12,007 new infections. Follow all the latest updates live
Another senior Liberal has taken aim at Scott Morrison, accusing him of “self-serving ruthless bullying” and claiming he has “ruined” the Liberal party.
Catherine Cusack, a NSW Liberal who announced two weeks ago she would resign from the Legislative Council over her anger about flood relief, adds her voice to a growing chorus of critics of Morrison from within his own party in an opinion piece for Guardian Australia.
The concerns over the prime minister’s character are now well established, and they’re well established not by the Labor party, but the people who know him best.
I mean his own deputy prime minister called him a liar and a hypocrite*. These people know him best, they’ve served in cabinet with him, in the Liberal party with him over a period of many years ...
Continue reading...Forced adoptions inquiry recommended names of birth parents be included on birth certificates
Legislation to be introduced to Victoria’s parliament on Tuesday will allow adopted people to have both their birth and adoptive parents included on their birth certificates for the first time.
Under the current law, people who have been adopted in Victoria are issued a new birth certificate with their adoptive name and the name of their adoptive parents. Their original birth certificate is stamped with “cancelled” or “adopted”.
Continue reading...BushBank scheme aims to revegetate parcels of private land to create habitat for endangered wildlife and capture carbon
The Victorian government plans to restore an area five times the size of Melbourne as part of a new scheme to increase conservation on private land.
The state’s energy, environment and climate change minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, has announced the government will spend $31m to revegetate parcels of private land to create habitat for endangered wildlife and capture carbon.
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Continue reading...Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy are stuck at home – but that hasn’t made Victorian politics that much quieter
Both of Victoria’s political leaders were stuck at home this week – Daniel Andrews having tested positive for Covid-19 and Matthew Guy as a close contact of his nine-year-old son.
But it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference if they weren’t.
Continue reading...MP Clifford Hayes says reform is needed to rebuild public trust in political parties
A Victorian crossbench MP is set to introduce a motion to parliament next week calling on the government to overhaul the state’s “weak” donation laws.
It comes after the Centre for Public Integrity last week urged the government to strengthen rules around political donations, election advertising and lobbying ahead of the November poll.
Continue reading...Many buildings in Lismore are ‘expected to flood again’ as CBD ordered to evacuate; severe weather warning for large parts of NSW; foreign minister announces ‘Magnitsky-style sanctions’ targeting 39 Russians; treasurer Josh Frydenberg says election will be held ‘in a matter of weeks’; nation records 24 Covid deaths, with record high daily case numbers in Tasmania. Follow the latest updates live
The New South Wales government has approved fewer than 400 disaster relief grants for flood-ravaged northern rivers businesses, despite receiving almost 8,000 requests for help since applications opened almost a month ago.
After the state’s north was left reeling by weeks of devastating floods, the government announced grants of up to $50,000 for small businesses to help pay for cleanup costs, repairs, replace damaged stock and to lease temporary premises.
Today it’s been revealed that the unemployment rate will have a friend for the first time in 50 years. This is a remarkable achievement that belongs to 26 million Australians. We’ve avoided the scouring of the labour market so reminiscent of previous recessions in Australia in the 80s and 90s.
We now have an unemployment rate that is very, very low and we are banking that dividend, now with the cost of living.
Would you be providing that if Australians weren’t going to the polls in a matter of weeks?
We would of course be providing cost-of-living relief given the circumstances that Australia now faces. There’s higher expected inflation, indeed, it’s a global phenomenon. There’s petrol prices rising above $2 a litre and with the other challenges on Australian companies.
Continue reading...Both Daniel Andrews and the opposition leader are now in isolation as Covid cases rise across the state
A quick summary of all the Victorian news you need to know on Tuesday 29 March.
Continue reading...Analysis: the Coalition’s week began with swagger and ended in a whimper after series of stumbles
A week ago, the Victorian opposition was quietly confident.
After struggling to gain any political momentum amid the pandemic, the opposition leader, Matthew Guy’s consistent and disciplined messaging on the triple-zero call response crisis appeared to be cutting through.
Continue reading...Confidential communications often obtained by defence lawyers to undermine victims’ credibility
Victorian alleged sexual assault victims will have the right to defend their confidential communications being aired in court under new amendments to be introduced to state parliament by Justice party MP Stuart Grimley.
The amendments to the justice legislation amendment bill 2022, to be debated in the upper house on Thursday, were recommended in two separate inquiries by the Victorian Law Reform Commission in 2016 and 2021.
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Continue reading...Grattan Institute report finds ‘consistent pattern’ of transport funding going to political battleground states
Victorian transport infrastructure minister Jacinta Allan has called on the federal government to provide the state with its “fair share” of funding after a report found the state was being shortchanged compared with New South Wales and Queensland.
The Grattan Institute report, released on Sunday night, found there was a “consistent pattern” of successive federal governments spending more money on transport in New South Wales and Queensland – where elections tend to be won and lost – than in Victoria.
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Continue reading...Daniel Andrews was gearing up for a fight with lobby groups, but the main prize was in the electorate
For the second time in a month the Andrews government this week unfurled a big social reform to be funded by a levy on business.
And for the second time in a month, it provoked outrage from the usual quarters, including the state opposition, the federal government and industry groups.
Continue reading...Epidemiologists say calls by business to relax mask rules as case numbers escalate is ‘down the rabbit hole thinking’
Victorian business leaders pushing to scrap mask mandates for hospitality and retail workers are “clearly not following the trend” in rising cases, according to epidemiologists who say now is not the time to relax rules.
The state’s premier, Daniel Andrews, on Thursday rejected a push from the Australian Hotels Association, the Australian Retailers Association and the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry who told the Herald Sun they wanted national consistency on mask mandates and warned workers could leave the sectors for other jobs.
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