Category Archives: Daniel Andrews

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 government pledges $1bn to rebuild hospital to be renamed in honour of Queen Elizabeth

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Maroondah hospital could lose Aboriginal name in change Daniel Andrews says is a mark of respect to Queen’s ‘unwavering commitment to healthcare’

The Victorian government has promised to rebuild a hospital in Melbourne’s east at a cost of more than $1bn and rename it in honour of the Queen if Labor is re-elected in November.

The premier, Daniel Andrews, said on Sunday his government would redevelop and expand Maroondah hospital in East Ringwood to accommodate an extra 9,000 inpatients a year.

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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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Australia news live: PM pays tribute to Gorbachev as ‘one of the true giants of the 20th century’

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Anthony Albanese will meet with premiers and chief ministers today for the national cabinet in Sydney

Jobs summit should support apprenticeships in female-dominated trades, independents say

Independents are calling for more investment in female-dominated trades like textiles and floristry ahead of the government’s jobs and skills summit to be held tomorrow.

This jobs summit must not become fixated on getting only the high-vis industries out to work and leave the pink workforce at home yet again … We have women who want to work. We must enable them.

There’s been too narrow a view of what are the apprenticeships and trades, it’s been a very bloke-centric approach.

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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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Albanese meets with NBA legend in support of Indigenous voice – as it happened

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Greens call for immediate pay rises for minimum wage earners; 86 Covid deaths reported. This blog is now closed

The minister for employment and workplace relations, Tony Burke spoke to Channel Nine this morning, saying there is “a lot” government can do to help close the gender pay gap.

Burke said there is currently a 14% difference between what men and women are paid, which amounts to $250/week.

It’s a really common ploy in workplaces where women are being paid less than men. We want to get rid of those clauses.

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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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Matthew Guy pledges to shelve $34.5bn rail project to invest in healthcare

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Victorian election battle takes shape as opposition leader says fixing the ‘broken health system’ must be prioritised

Victoria’s opposition has pledged to shelve the Suburban Rail Loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, if elected in November and reinvest the $34.5bn cost of the first stage in the health system.

The state’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, made the announcement to halt work on the first 26km of the project on Wednesday, 101 days before voters go to the polls, setting the stage for another election turned referendum on infrastructure.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Australia live updates: PM to meet with state and territory leaders at emergency national cabinet meeting as Covid hospitalisations soar

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Australia’s chief medical officer will give a briefing to state and territory leaders on Saturday and the pandemic leave payment is expected to be extended. Follow live

There were 11,082 new cases in the last reporting period, and 66 people are in intensive care.

First home buyers blowing their budgets

Underquoting is where a property is listed at a price lower than what it’s worth to bait buyers.

It’s illegal but it does happen, particularly in the case of auctions, where underquoted prices can attract more buyers and lead to a bidding war.

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Australian politicians respond to US abortion decision – as it happened

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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