Category Archives: Jacinta Allan

PM condemns ‘shocking acts’ after suspicious fire at Melbourne synagogue with 20 people inside

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Affluent suburbs targeted in Victorian government move to seize planning controls to build more homes

Posted on by

South Yarra and Windsor among 25 new ‘activity centres’ identified by Labor for higher-density housing

The Victorian government has announced affluent suburbs such as Prahran, South Yarra and Windsor are among the final 25 areas where it will seize planning controls in an effort to increase housing density.

Two local government areas – Melbourne and Yarra – have also been named “city-wide activity centres” to allow for the rezoning of under-utilised areas.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Belle Gibson: Victorian authorities ‘won’t let up’ on pursuit of cancer con artist’s unpaid $410,000 fine

Posted on by

Speaking after Netflix released Apple Cider Vinegar, Jacinta Allan says consumer watchdog is ‘constantly’ working to recover fine imposed in 2017

The Victorian premier says the state’s consumer watchdog is “constantly” pursuing cancer conwoman Belle Gibson and “won’t let up” until she pays the fine she was ordered to pay more than seven years ago.

Gibson, who is the now the subject of a new Netflix series, Apple Cider Vinegar, was in 2017 ordered by the federal court to pay a $410,000 fine plus $30,000 in legal costs for misleading and deceptive conduct, after she falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with brain cancer and cured through alternative therapies and nutrition.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

The weekend byelection results were close to Labor and the Greens’ worst case scenario – but it’s not all good news for the Liberals

Posted on by

One federal Labor MP said his party’s brand has ‘taken a dive’ in Victoria – but others at the state level believe time is on their side

Counting in the Werribee byelection is still under way. But even if Labor manages to scrape through, the Victorian government is just a few hundred disgruntled votes away from losing its grip on this heartland seat.

That is a problem Jacinta Allan knows cannot be ignored.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Motorists able to lock in low petrol prices for 24 hours under Victoria’s new ‘fair fuel’ plan

Posted on by

State government will force 1,500 petrol stations to report fuel prices a day in advance under ‘cost-of-living shake-up’

Petrol stations in Victoria will be forced to publicly report their fuel prices a day before they come into effect, with motorists then able to lock them in for 24 hours, under a “cost-of-living shake-up” announced by the state government.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, on Monday announced her “fair fuel-price plan” in Werribee, in Melbourne’s outer west, ahead of a crucial byelection in the area next month.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly wants powers over schools’ Indigenous history curriculum

Posted on by

Co-chair says treaty will not outline specific changes to syllabus but is ‘more about saying this is the role that First Peoples will play’

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly wants decision-making powers over how the state’s Indigenous history is taught in schools but says a treaty will not outline specific changes to the curriculum.

The assembly – the state’s democratically elected Indigenous body – will begin nation-first treaty talks with the Allan government in the coming days. A state-wide treaty – the first of its kind in Australia – will tackle problems affecting First Nations Victorians.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australia’s first public vending machines offering free pads and tampons launch in Melbourne

Posted on by

Libraries, Tafes and hospitals among first 30 locations to have period product dispensers installed in Victorian government initiative

Vending machines offering free pads and tampons will begin operating at the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building, as well as hospitals, libraries and Tafes, as part of an Australian-first government initiative aimed at ending period poverty.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, will on Thursday announce the first 30 locations where 50 vending machines will be installed as part of the pilot program, which also includes the Melbourne Immigration Museum, three Northern Health campuses, the Royal Women’s hospital in Parkville and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

Continue reading...

‘No stopping’ Suburban Rail Loop after Victorian government inks $1.7bn deal with global consortium

Posted on by

Terra Verde’s contract demonstrates the ‘huge competitive interest’ from global construction companies, Jacinta Allan says

The Victorian government’s contentious Suburban Rail Loop “cannot be stopped” as a cloud hangs over the rollout of its new public transport ticket system.

Global consortium Terra Verde has been awarded a $1.7bn tunnelling contract for the $34.5bn eastern section of the rail line.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Jacinta Allan warns against ‘American-style division’ as Indigenous treaty negotiations begin in Victoria

Posted on by

Premier says ‘misinformation’ and ‘fake news’ should not interfere with efforts to improve society, after opposition MP suggests talks being held in ‘secret’

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has warned against “American-style division” surrounding the state’s nation-leading Indigenous treaty, ahead of negotiations beginning this month.

The First Peoples’ Assembly – Victoria’s democratically elected Indigenous body – will begin negotiating a statewide treaty with the Allan government in the coming weeks.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australians must keep up the fight for abortion rights, Jacinta Allan warns

Posted on by

Exclusive: Conservative forces pose ‘genuine threats to the protections women have fought for and won’, Victoria’s premier says

Jacinta Allan is warning that the battle for abortion rights must continue as conservative forces pose “real and genuine threats to the protections women have fought for and won” amid “frightening” debate in South Australia and Queensland.

Victoria’s Labor premier made her strongest comments to date on abortion in an interview with Guardian Australia, just days before Queenslanders go to the polls in an election that has become dominated by the issue.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Developers to directly fund schools, parks and public transport under Victorian trial

Posted on by

Program that ties new infrastructure to housing projects will start in 2027 in 10 Melbourne ‘activity centres’, premier says

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says an overhaul of the state’s infrastructure contribution scheme will ensure communities that build more homes will receive funding for key amenities like schools and parks.

With her government’s third housing policy announcement in as many days, Allan on Tuesday flagged a revamped statewide pilot infrastructure contribution program.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Jacinta Allan’s pitch to young voters on housing affordability snags Liberal Nimbys ‘hook, line and sinker’

Posted on by

In pitting millennials against boomers, the Victorian premier is setting the stage for a 2026 election fought on housing

It’s no coincidence Jacinta Allan chose Brighton – a bayside suburb of Melbourne with a median property price of $3.3m – to unveil her most significant policy to date.

With a reputation as a wealthy, predominately white enclave, and as the centre of a safe Liberal electorate of the same name, it is unlikely the Labor premier had many fans in the area on Sunday, even before she announced her bold plan to seize planning controls around Middle Brighton and North Brighton train stations.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Victorian premier pushes ahead with housing plan to rezone affluent areas despite anger from locals

Posted on by

Brighton residents chant ‘Shame, premier, shame’ as they surround the pub where Jacinta Allan announces policy

Victoria’s premier has taken aim at opponents of government plans for high-rise apartments to soar above Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

Jacinta Allan on Sunday announced a plan to create 50 new “activity zones” to help deliver more than 30,000 additional homes across Melbourne by 2051.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Social media age limits to go before parliament ahead of next election, Albanese says

Posted on by

Draft bill requires social media platforms to stop children in the restricted age range from accessing their services

The Albanese government plans to impose a minimum age for teenagers accessing social media and gaming platforms, with legislation to be introduced into parliament before the next election.

The prime minister will announce the nationwide move on Tuesday but will stop short of specifying the age, arguing the government wants to wait for the conclusion of an age-verification trial which begins its final phase this week.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...