Premier announces state will trial pill testing during summer festival season, saying evidence shows it ‘works’
Victoria will trial pill testing this summer, the premier Jacinta Allan has announced, after a spate of drug overdoses at festivals in the first quarter of 2024.
Allan announced via an Instagram post on Monday night that the move was a “simple and commonsense way to save lives”.
Continue reading...The 2022 agreement intended to foster trade relations and ‘support greater collaboration on defence industry objectives’, documents reveal
The Victorian government quietly signed an agreement with Israel’s defence ministry to capitalise on “global tensions” and countries wanting to “protect their national interests” militarily, internal documents reveal.
The 2022 Memorandum of Understanding, signed before the Israel-Gaza war, was intended to foster trade relations and “support greater collaboration on defence industry objectives”, according to Victorian government documents released under freedom of information laws.
Continue reading...Jacinta Allan says no place for ‘misogynistic conduct’ as police investigate allegations fake nude images of students circulated online
Victoria’s premier has said there is no place for “misogynistic conduct” in the state following allegations deepfakes depicting about 50 female students from a private school in regional Victoria were circulated online.
Police are investigating the “incredibly graphic” nude images which appeared to have been created using artificial intelligence and photos of the girls’ faces taken from social media sites, and then circulated online.
Continue reading...Department expects ‘extensive’ changes to result from state government’s negotiations with First Peoples’ Assembly later this year, documents say
The Victorian department responsible for child protection and housing is preparing for a “likely transfer” of powers to First Nations groups as a result of treaties that will soon be negotiated with the government.
The Department of Fairness, Families and Housing (DFFH) is looking for an organisation to provide training to staff to “increase readiness for treaty”, according to tender documents seen by Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...Scheme would collect funds from power companies to pay communities affected by new transmission lines
Victorian landowners whose views are spoiled by new power transmission lines on neighbouring properties could receive one-off compensation payments of up to $40,000 under a plan being considered by the state government.
The new transmission planning agency, VicGrid, has opened consultation on a scheme that would collect funds from power companies to pay communities affected by new transmission lines.
Continue reading...Victorian premier Jacinta Allan announces Australia’s first ‘saturation model’ after family violence prevention package unveiled
Ballarat will be “saturated” in messaging to change the attitudes that drive violence against women in the wake of three killings.
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, announced Australia’s first “saturation model” to prevent the increasing scourge of domestic violence on Friday. It would include a widespread advertising campaign and the use of “influencers”, and was pitched as a four-year model to be tested in the regional city before being scaled up across the state.
Continue reading...Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s Vik Sharma says Melbourne’s lack of airport train line is a global embarrassment
Rank and file Victorian Labor members have piled pressure on the state government to “get serious” on building a train line to Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport.
A motion to get the city’s stalled airport rail link project back on track was unanimously passed by party members and unionists at the Victorian Labor state conference on Sunday.
Continue reading...Six motions calling for end to Israel-Gaza conflict carried after Jacinta Allan says she is ‘disgusted’ by behaviour of protesters at Labor state conference
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has accused pro-Palestinian protesters of bringing “violence, homophobia and antisemitism to the front door of state conference”.
On Saturday morning, ahead of speeches by Allan and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, a group of protesters entered the Moonee Valley Racecourse building and began chanting outside the conference room filled with MPs, unionist and other rank-and-file members.
Continue reading...Jacinta Allan proposes stronger penalties for people who assault, threaten or intimidate retail, hospitality, and other workers
Jacinta Allan has used her first Labor state conference as Victorian premier to announce plans to change the law to better protect retail, hospitality and other customer-facing workers from abuse and assault amid reports of a surge in violence.
In her speech to party faithful at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Saturday, Allan detailed plans to introduce tougher penalties for people who assault, threaten or intimidate workers.
Continue reading...A huge infrastructure agenda helped win Andrews three elections but the priority now for the state – and new premier – is the housing crisis
In the seven months since Jacinta Allan took over as Victoria’s premier, she’s worked to shirk off the impression she’s Daniel Andrews’ apprentice and differentiated herself from the former leader.
By all accounts, Allan has moved away from the centralised model that characterised the Andrews leadership and drew criticism from integrity agencies. Her cabinet meetings are said to be more consultative and her ministers have been given autonomy over their portfolios and, as a result, more visibility in the media.
Continue reading...Jacinta Allan’s journey to deepen her understanding of injustices is one many Victorians will need to embark on for Yoorrook to succeed
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, entered the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s hearing room on Monday holding a message stick bearing the names of the state’s Indigenous groups who have participated in the truth-telling process.
During a smoking ceremony ahead of the premier’s evidence, Travis Lovett, a deputy commissioner at the truth-telling inquiry and a Kerrupmara/Gunditjmara man, presented the premier with the message stick. He implored Allan to carry with her the stories of First Nations people who have put their “heart and soul” into the commission’s work.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Greens say new figures show government’s 7.5% levy on short-stay rentals won’t help fix the housing crisis
The Greens are setting the stage for a fight with the Victorian government over its proposed Airbnb levy, armed with new figures that show the measure will only make a “marginal” difference to the number of homes freed for renters.
Announced last year as part of the government’s plan to tackle the housing crisis, the 7.5% levy on short-stay properties leased through platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz is expected to be included in the state tax bill, which will be tabled in parliament after next week’s budget.
Continue reading...Jacinta Allan says failure of voice referendum hardened her resolve to ‘present the facts’ about impacts of colonisation
Ahead of a historic appearance at Victoria’s Indigenous-led truth-telling inquiry, the premier, Jacinta Allan, said Australia’s failed voice referendum had strengthened her resolve to help “present the facts” about the state’s history and inequalities faced by the First Nations people.
Allan on Monday will become Australia’s first state leader to provide evidence at an Indigenous-led truth-telling inquiry, which has the same powers as a royal commission. The Yoorrook Justice Commission is now holding public hearings investigating land injustice.
Continue reading...Government claims no appropriate location could be found for long-mooted second facility
A proposed safe injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD has been rejected by the Victorian government, with addiction experts warning the decision will “cost lives”.
The government on Tuesday announced that a trial facility, recommended by a former police commissioner and which would complement the existing service in North Richmond – will not proceed, after concluding there was no site that could balance the needs of drug users with the broader community.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Rank and file group wants a doubling of social housing at the 44 tower sites and a guarantee all the land will stay in public hands
Rank and file Victorian Labor party members will use an upcoming state council meeting to push the government to guarantee no public land will be sold off to private developers when it knocks down the state’s 44 public housing towers.
Labor for Housing – a non-factional advocacy group within the Victorian Labor party that advocates for better housing policies – will also use May’s state conference to call for a doubling of the social housing contained in the planned redevelopment.
Continue reading...Yoorook Justice commissioners disappointed ‘crucial’ recommendation to immediately raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 without exceptions was rebuffed
Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly and the head of the state’s Indigenous truth-telling commission have criticised the Allan Labor government for seeking more time to consider overhauling child protection and criminal justice systems.
The government on Wednesday handed down its response to a report by the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which called for it to tackle systemic injustices experienced by First Nations people in the child protection and criminal justice sectors.
Continue reading...The federal opposition leader’s calls to include nuclear power in Australia’s energy mix has so far failed to win support from his state colleagues
The federal Coalition faces a battle with the states on its proposal for nuclear power stations at the sites of decommissioned coal power plants, with state premiers and opposition leaders alike largely against Peter Dutton’s proposal.
Labor governments and Coalition oppositions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are either outright opposed to the plan or have failed to endorse it.
Continue reading...Nationals’ Bridget McKenzie and Andrew Willcox top list with more than $20,000 spent each on nights away from home
A handful of federal politicians are spending more than two-thirds of their time on the road and in hotels, with one Nationals MP billing taxpayers for accommodation nearly every night over a four-month period, latest travel expenses data shows.
Andrew Willcox, the first-time member for Dawson, spent 113 days travelling over a 116-day period between August and December 2022, according to the most recent independent parliamentary expense authority’s (Ipea) data.
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Continue reading...Board of inquiry’s report identified 109 alleged victims of four paedophile teachers at 24 schools dating back to the 1960s
Glen Fearnett says he doesn’t have the words to express how he feels about an inquiry’s report into the alleged historic child sexual abuse that occurred at his primary school five decades ago.
“There’s no joy. There’s no happiness. There’s no celebration,” he tells Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...Workers receiving payments beyond two-and-a-half years to undergo another impairment test under changes expected to pass parliament
Workers’ compensation for mental health injuries such as stress and burnout will be limited after the Victorian government struck a deal to push through contentious changes to the state’s “broken” WorkCover scheme.
Premiums for businesses under the scheme would also be frozen for the 2024-25 financial year, under an agreement with the state’s opposition to secure support for the bill.
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