Category Archives: Victorian politics

On issues from Aukus to recognising Palestine, Victorian Labor’s base is determined to be heard

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At the party’s state conference this weekend, members and unions will have their say. The question then becomes whether governments – federal and state – will listen

Scrap Aukus. Recognise Palestine. Save public housing. Overhaul childcare. On paper, the urgency resolutions up for debate at Victorian Labor’s state conference this weekend lay out a roadmap for progressive, nation-shaping reform.

But how much sway do grassroots members and unions really have on the increasingly cautious federal and state Labor governments?

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Victorian Labor party members to push for ‘immediate’ federal recognition of a Palestinian state

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Exclusive: Labor Friends of Palestine to move three ‘urgency resolutions’ at weekend conference, but PM maintains no immediate plans for the move

Victorian Labor members will use this weekend’s state conference to demand the federal government “immediately” recognise a Palestinian state and impose sanctions on Israel – in what will be their strongest push to date on the issue.

It comes after Anthony Albanese on Sunday described civilian deaths in Gaza as “indefensible” but reiterated he had no immediate plans to recognise a Palestinian state and insisted further steps were needed to reach a two-state solution.

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Sunday school teacher jailed for sexually abusing nine children was protected by church leader, Victorian cult inquiry hears

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Former Geelong Revival Centre members tell inquiry abuse went unreported because group believed its authority was ‘higher than the law of the land’

A Sunday school teacher who was jailed for sexually abusing nine children was protected by the leader of his fundamentalist church, after parents reported the abuse to him instead of police, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry has heard.

Catherine and Ryan Carey, former members of the Geelong Revival Centre (GRC), gave evidence at the first hearing of the parliamentary inquiry into the practices of cults and organised fringe groups on Wednesday.

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Firefighters warned of ‘dangers of partisan politics’ after truck displays Liberal corflutes at Melbourne protest

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Country Fire Authority says it ‘must always remain apolitical’ amid fallout over rally that also featured offensive slogans on trucks

Victoria’s Country Fire Authority has issued a warning to its senior leadership about the “dangers of partisan politics” and stressed it should remain “apolitical” after Liberal party-branded corflutes were attached to a fire truck at a rally in Melbourne’s western suburbs at the weekend.

A truck from the CFA Inverleigh brigade displayed Liberal party corflutes during a rally in Werribee on Sunday, with a photo of the vehicle shared on social media by the party’s South West Metro branch.

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‘Disgusting’ slogan apparently directed at Victorian premier seen at rally attended by Brad Battin and union boss

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‘Ditch the bitch’ was emblazoned on a fire truck at a rally against the state’s new emergency services levy

The Victorian opposition leader, Brad Battin, and firefighters union boss, Peter Marshall, have sparked backlash after attending a rally in Melbourne’s west where the slogan “ditch the bitch” was emblazoned on a fire truck.

The phrase, apparently directed at the premier, Jacinta Allan, echoes the infamous “ditch the witch” poster that Tony Abbott stood in front of during a 2011 rally, which was widely condemned at the time as sexist and misogynistic towards the then prime minister Julia Gillard.

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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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Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly to be made permanent and granted decision-making powers under treaty bill

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Body will be able to advise ministers on issues directly affecting Aboriginal people in the state

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly will manage the rollout of community infrastructure grants and have a direct line to ministers and the power to make appointments to government boards under legislation to be introduced to parliament this year.

As first reported by Guardian Australia this week, the Victorian government and the First Peoples’ Assembly have confirmed that the statewide treaty bill will establish the assembly as a representative body to provide advice to government.

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Don’t believe the hype: Victorian government deserves credit for not buckling to aggressive pro-gas campaign

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Australia’s most gas-reliant state takes a significant step to move households and businesses away from fossil fuels and cut energy bills

It didn’t go as far as previously flagged, but don’t believe the negative hype about Victoria’s plan to start weaning off gas: it is a significant step that will help drive households and businesses away from fossil fuels and cut energy bills.

The Allan Labor government announced that gas heating and hot water systems will be banned in all new homes and nearly all new commercial buildings, including schools and hospitals, from 1 January 2027. They will not be connected to the state’s gas network and will run on electric systems. New agricultural and manufacturing buildings, some of which use gas for high-temperature industrial processes, are excluded.

Though still marketed as “natural”, and sometimes even as “clean”, gas is actually methane – a highly potent fossil fuel. It releases plenty of greenhouse gas when burned. The electricity grid is moving from being dominated by coal-fired power to renewable energy. Electric appliances are better for the planet and the people who live on it. It is a necessary part of getting to net zero emissions.

Gas is expensive. Analysis has found electrification of appliances should save households nearly $1,000 a year on their energy bills. There are upfront costs in getting new systems, but the Victorian policy is not forcing people to change over until their existing system is dead, and offers rebates to help with the change.

Victoria is running out of gas. For decades, it has relied on reservoirs in Bass Strait, but they are running low, and all potential new sources are expensive. The state government wants to install a 20-year floating liquified natural gas (LNG) import terminal near Geelong to make sure demand is met. It sounds ridiculous, but may be the least bad option available – after the most obvious one: reducing gas use as much as possible so that it is available for the few industrial processes that do not yet have viable alternatives.

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Victoria Liberals bail out John Pesutto with $1.5m loan to avoid bankruptcy

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Party approves last-minute loan to help former leader pay $2.3m defamation costs against Moira Deeming

The Victorian Liberal party will provide a $1.5m loan to former leader John Pesutto to ensure he can pay Moira Deeming’s legal fees and avoid bankruptcy.

The loan was debated by the 19-member administrative committee on Thursday night and ultimately endorsed after a secret ballot, which was proposed to limit any factional retribution within a deeply divided party.

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Walk for truth: hundreds of people join 486km trek from Portland to Melbourne for reconciliation

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Yoorrook Justice commissioner walked from the site of first settlement in Victoria to state parliament to promote truth-telling about Australian history

Travis Lovett began his 486km journey with a single step and a long-held hope to bring the people of Victoria with him on a journey through the state’s colonial past.

It’s a traumatic past that Lovett has been peering into for the past three years through his work as a commissioner and co-chair on the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the county’s first formal, Indigenous-led truth-telling process.

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Moira Deeming offered John Pesutto chance to avoid bankruptcy on condition Liberal party assured her preselection

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Payment of $2.3m in defamation costs Pesutto owes would have been delayed until 2027 under deal, which was not accepted by Liberal party

Moira Deeming offered John Pesutto a chance to avoid bankruptcy and delay payment of $2.3m in legal costs until 2027 on the condition her preselection for the next election be assured by the Liberal party.

The upper house MP commenced bankruptcy proceedings earlier this month after the former Liberal leader failed to pay the costs ordered by the federal court in May. The court found Pesutto repeatedly defamed Deeming by falsely implying she sympathised with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

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Victorian Liberals question funding unfair dismissal claim defence while refusing to bail out John Pesutto

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Exclusive: Rift comes as Pesutto supporters remain optimistic a deal for the party to loan him money to help pay $2.3m in defamation costs will be struck

Several Victorian Liberals have accused the party of “hypocrisy” after it paid lawyers to represent its administrative wing in an unfair dismissal claim, while so far declining to save former party leader John Pesutto from bankruptcy.

On Monday, lawyers for Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Pesutto after he failed to meet a deadline to pay her $2.3m in legal costs. Pesutto has less than 21 days to pay, enter into a payment agreement or face bankruptcy, which would lead to a byelection in his seat of Hawthorn.

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Victorian public servants hit back at Labor’s planned job cuts with push to curb ‘executive bloat’ instead

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Report argues large-scale public sector job losses can be avoided in part by ‘culling’ 450 executive-level roles

A group of public servants vying for union leadership roles are pushing back against the Victorian government’s mooted public sector job cuts with a cost-saving plan of their own, calling instead for reductions in “executive bloat”, halving consultant spending and reducing office space.

The group, known as the Voice for Members (AVFM), on Tuesday released an 89-page report, dubbed the Gold Review – a nod to the government’s review into the Victorian public service (VPS) led by Helen Silver – outlining $13bn in cost-saving and revenue-generating measures.

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After a week of spectacular self-sabotage, the Victorian Liberal party’s pain is only just beginning

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As John Pesutto scrambles to raise funds to pay $2.3m owed to Moira Deeming, the saga threatens to ‘engulf the entire party’, including its new leader

It was meant to be the Victorian Liberals’ week. Instead, the party – now almost synonymous with political self-sabotage – has imploded once again.

And it’s likely only going to get worse from here as the countdown officially begins for former leader John Pesutto to pay the $2.3m in legal fees he owes Moira Deeming or face bankruptcy after he was found in December to have defamed her.

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This article was amended on 31 May 2025. Jess Wilson challenged for Victorian Liberal leadership, not deputy leadership as stated in an earlier version.

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Victoria fast-tracks machete ban as more arrests made over Northland shopping centre fight

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Police say further arrests ‘imminent’ after Sunday’s clash between alleged ‘rival youth gangs’

The sale of machetes will be banned in Victoria from Wednesday, after an alleged clash involving the weapon forced Northland shopping centre into lockdown at the weekend.

It comes as Victoria police made further arrests and said more were “imminent”, after the alleged fight between “rival youth gangs” on Sunday.

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Health to get $11.1bn boost in Victorian budget, with pharmacist prescribing powers made permanent

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Cash injection includes $9.3bn for public hospitals and nearly $50m to expand trial prescribing program

Victoria’s health system will receive an $11.1bn cash injection in the state budget, with hospitals to receive more funding and pharmacists given greater powers to prescribe medications without the need for a GP visit.

The budget, which will be handed down by the state’s treasurer, Jaclyn Symes, on Tuesday, includes a $9.3bn boost for public hospitals.

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Victoria announces free public transport for under-18s, as state’s debt projected to rise

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The Jacinta Allan government says more than 1 million children and their families will benefit from the $318m program

Every Victorian child will get free public transport from 1 January next year, the state government has pledged.

A new youth Myki, valid across the state, will save families up to $755 a year (the cost of a yearly student pass) under the scheme. Anyone under 18 in non-Myki areas will also be eligible to travel for free.

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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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Push to save John Pesutto from bankruptcy after $2.3m Moira Deeming defamation costs order

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Online fundraiser launched as former Victorian Liberal leader hopes to avoid being forced to resign from parliament if he is unable to pay the sum

Friends of the former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto have launched an online fundraiser in a bid to help him “avoid the possibility of bankruptcy” after he was ordered to pay more than $2.3m in costs following his loss in a defamation case brought by the Liberal MP Moira Deeming.

The federal court registrar Alison Legge handed down the decision during a short hearing on Friday in which she ordered Pesutto pay $2,308,873.11 in legal costs.

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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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