Category Archives: Jacinta Allan

Regrettable references and claims of ‘rigged’ election laws: why this week has reignited Jacinta Allan spill rumours

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Just months from the Victorian election, the premier’s performance has left some MPs wondering if it’s too late for Labor to change leaders

Jacinta Allan faced three major tests this week. The way she handled them has left some of her colleagues speculating about a possible leadership change just months out from the Victorian election.

The first came on Monday, as the premier responded to a parliamentary inquiry that six months ago recommended sweeping reforms to Victoria’s integrity laws.

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Jacinta Allan launches state-sponsored apprenticeships at Victoria’s Labor conference ahead of election

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The premier is offering 2,000 apprenticeships at the revived State Electricity Commission as part of a pre-election push

Jacinta Allan has used Labor’s final state conference before the election to announce a plan for a government-owned electricity body to hire apprentices to address significant workforce shortages and job insecurity.

The Victorian premier announced the plan in a speech that drew on her father’s experience as a linesman at the State Electricity Commission (SEC), which was revived by Daniel Andrews in 2023 after being privatised by former premier Jeff Kennett in the 1990s.

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Victorian politics still exposed to ‘dark money’ and foreign donations as MPs struggle to agree on urgent reforms

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Exclusive: state is now without caps on political donations or disclosure requirements, months out from November election

“Unlimited dark money” will keep flooding into Victorian politics after Labor failed to reach agreement with the Liberals or the Greens about donation reforms the Allan government vowed to fast-track through parliament.

Victoria is now without caps on political donations or disclosure requirements, months out from the November election after the high court struck down the state’s donation laws last month.

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Jacinta Allan wants voters to see Victoria’s 12-year-old Labor government as ‘new and united’. Can she cling to power?

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With a reshuffled cabinet, the premier is hoping to quell leadership rumblings as her party seeks an unprecedented fourth term

As the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, stood alongside the fresh faces in her reshuffled cabinet on Wednesday, she attempted to send her increasingly jaded electorate a blunt message: despite its 12 years in power, her government is – apparently – new.

In her opening four-minute preamble to reporters, Allan - whose Labor government will in November seek an unprecedented fourth term - repeated the word 17 times. In one sentence alone, she referred to her “new cabinet”, “new portfolios”, “new solutions” and “new areas that are going to drive this government forward”.

Benita Kolovos is Guardian Australia’s Victorian state correspondent

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Long-promised animal cruelty prevention laws quietly shelved by Victorian government

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Exclusive: Labor bill recognising all animals as sentient and raising care requirements won’t be introduced before state election

A bulldog trapped on a balcony, forced to live among its own faeces. A corgi kept in similarly squalid conditions, surrendered by its owner after community outrage. A Maltese shih tzu beaten with a metal pole – its attacker spared jail.

These are the kinds of animal cruelty cases the Victorian government promised to target with new laws almost a decade ago. But Guardian Australia can reveal those reforms have been shelved indefinitely.

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Victorian government faces backlash from small businesses over right to work-from-home laws

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Small employers won’t be exempt from proposed legislation designed to allow offsite working two days a week

Business groups have criticised a decision to rule out exemptions for small businesses in the Victorian government’s plan to legislate the right to work from home two days a week, saying some companies could move interstate or overseas.

Cabinet met on Monday to greenlight the work from home plan – a key pillar of Labor’s re-election campaign – with further announcements expected during the parliamentary sitting week.

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Victorian Labor targets affluent Melbourne suburbs for rezoning to allow 16-storey apartment towers

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Under the plan, the state government will seize planning controls for the designated areas – near train and tram stops – from local councils

Affluent Melbourne suburbs such as Hampton, Hawthorn and Kew could be rezoned to allow apartment towers of up to 16 storeys, according to new draft maps released by the Victorian government.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, and the planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, will on Wednesday release the maps showing proposed heights and boundaries for 25 of the government’s 50 activity centres, which were first announced in October 2024.

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Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell arrested outside Melbourne court over alleged attack on Indigenous protest site

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Victoria police confirm arrest hours after the neo-Nazi confronted Victorian premier Jacinta Allan at a press conference

Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has been arrested outside a Melbourne court over an alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty, a sacred Aboriginal burial ground in Kings Domain and longstanding protest site on Sunday.

Victoria police have confirmed detectives from the Melbourne crime investigation unit arrested Sewell, 32, and two associates – a 23-year-old man from Mooroolbark and a 20-year-old man from Ardeer – outside Melbourne’s magistrates court about 3.20pm on Tuesday.

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Palestinian statehood vote at Victorian Labor conference heaps more pressure on PM

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Labor Friends of Palestine’s motion also called on federal government to extend sanctions to all members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet

Victorian Labor members have voted to immediately recognise Palestine, heaping further pressure on the Albanese government to join Canada, France and the UK in their push for a sovereign state.

Rank and file members at Labor’s state conference on Saturday also carried an urgent resolution to review the Aukus submarine deal. However, the wording of the motion was watered down before the vote.

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Victorians could soon have the right to work from home two days a week under Australian-first laws

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Premier Jacinta Allan to announce proposal that if legislated would make Victoria the first state to enshrine in law the right to work remotely

Victorians could soon have a legal right to work from home two days a week, under proposed Australian-first laws to be introduced to parliament by the state Labor government in 2026.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will use Labor’s state conference on Saturday to announce the proposal, which, if passed by parliament, would make the state the first in the country to legislate the right to work remotely.

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Victorians could soon have the right to work from home two days a week under Australian-first laws

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Premier Jacinta Allan to announce proposal that if legislated would make Victoria the first state to enshrine in law the right to work remotely

Victorians could soon have a legal right to work from home two days a week, under proposed Australian-first laws to be introduced to parliament by the state Labor government in 2026.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will use Labor’s state conference on Saturday to announce the proposal, which, if passed by parliament, would make the state the first in the country to legislate the right to work remotely.

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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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‘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 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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Victorian Labor was bracing for a federal backlash – now Jacinta Allan sees vindication

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Despite relentless commentary about the premier’s unpopularity, the state swung even harder to Labor than in 2022, while the Liberal party blame game has begun

If anyone is as happy as Anthony Albanese right now, it’s Jacinta Allan.

As the federal election results rolled in on Saturday night, one of the biggest surprises came in Victoria – where Labor defied months of grim predictions to strengthen its grip on the state.

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Is Anthony Albanese worried Jacinta Allan’s poor standing will hurt his election chances in Victoria?

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The PM has so far avoided the Victorian premier on his campaign trail. It has some state Labor MPs worrying she could be made a scapegoat

During the 2022 election campaign, Anthony Albanese waited until the 30th day to hold a press conference with the then Victorian premier, fearing Daniel Andrews’ association with Covid lockdowns.

When the two finally appeared together, Andrews didn’t hold back. He launched into an impassioned tirade against Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg, revisiting the fraught themes of the pandemic, while Albanese stood beside him, visibly uneasy. After that, Andrews largely stayed off the campaign trail.

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Victorian Labor’s tough-on-crime turn could mark the beginning of the end for Jacinta Allan

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Victorian Labor has faced a ‘crime crisis’ before – but no matter how tough the premier talks on law and order, the Coalition is always willing to go tougher

It was meant to be the week Jacinta Allan took a firm stance on the “crime crisis”, but it could instead mark the beginning of the end for her government.

It began on Monday with the Victorian premier announcing a new police taskforce, Operation Hawk, which appeared, on the surface, a decisive move to combat corruption on government construction sites.

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