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Pubs Open Till 3am, Dogs Allowed Inside: Labor's Pitch to Victoria's Drinkers
Under the pledge, venues get an automatic right to trade past 1am, liquor licence waits drop from 11 weeks to six, and publicans — not the Food Act — decide whether your dog comes in.
The Royal Children's Hospital Is Finishing 20 New Emergency Beds It Can't Open — There's No Funding to Staff Them
The $50 million expansion promised in 2018 is nearly done, but hospital sources say the beds will sit unused — as ED posters apologise for 'the long wait' at a department seeing about 90,000 kids a year.
Nick Daicos Finally Has His Brownlow — and the 47-Vote Record That Comes With It
Collingwood's 23-year-old polled six straight best-on-grounds and sealed the count by round 21, beating Patrick Cripps's record of 45 — the Pies' first medallist since Dane Swan in 2011.
Victoria's New Data Centre Rules: Bring Your Own Renewables, No Drinking Water, and 150 Metres From Homes
Ben Carroll's strategy bans new data centres near schools and childcare and makes developers fund TAFEs and parks — while the industry calls the blanket buffer 'not tied to actual impact'.
Melbourne Is Headed for 27C on Sunday, Its Warmest September Day in Three Years — Then a Polar Snap
The north-west 'heat engine' lifts the south-east up to 12C above average this weekend — before a Southern Ocean change cuts 10 to 15 degrees in 24 hours on Sunday evening. And the first summer outlook points at records.
The 'Grand Old Dame' of Mount Buffalo Is Reopening After 20 Years — Cafe This Month, School Camps to Follow
Belgravia's 40-year lease revives one of Australia's largest weatherboard buildings: 108 bedrooms, the 1954 'Queen's table', and plans for 5,000 students a year in the Alpine National Park.
Labor Has Adopted Jack's Law: 1,200 Police Wands, 'Anywhere, Any Time', Whoever Wins in November
Ben Carroll is borrowing the Coalition stop-and-search policy his predecessor rejected. Jack Beasley's father says it's about time; criminologists say there's no evidence it cuts violent crime.
One in Five Melbourne Units Sold at a Loss Last Quarter, While Brisbane Sellers Pocketed a Median $525,000
Cotality's June-quarter figures show 20.8 per cent of Melbourne unit resales lost money — in a country where 95.4 per cent of all resales still turned a profit — with CBD unit values having peaked back in 2017.
The Rail Loop Will Spare More of Box Hill Gardens by Taking 10 More Properties Instead
The SRL's revised Box Hill plan cuts the park's loss from 25 per cent to about 10 — and compulsorily acquires 10 more properties and a laneway, with owners to be moved out between 2027 and 2030.
The Wattle Park Chalet, Host of Melbourne Weddings Since 1928, Caught Fire on a Wedding Morning
Crews found the Surrey Hills venue's roof alight at 6:32am Saturday. About 30 per cent of the heritage-listed building is damaged, the fire is being treated as suspicious — and the owner spent the day quietly finding the couple a new venue.
Victoria Is Headed for a Bumper Grain Harvest — and Diesel Has Doubled in a Year, Farmers Say
A Mallee grower needs 15,000 litres to bring his crop in, a Melbourne trucker's August fuel bill hit $275,000, and analysts say global stockpiles are tightening as harvest approaches.
Victoria Has Scrapped Its Central North Renewable Energy Zone After a Farming-Country Backlash
Dookie has '330-odd residents', its campaign spokesperson says — and 11,760 Victorians signed the petition against the zone. The planned rally will likely become a street party instead.
Victoria's Right-to-Work-From-Home Laws Are Stalled Until After the Election, by a Single Vote
A crossbench motion passed 18-17 — with Adem Somyurek back from a months-long absence to support it — sending Labor's signature workplace bill to a committee and leaving it unlikely to pass this term.
The NFL's First Game in Australia Drew 100,021 to the MCG, and the 49ers Ran Away With It 27-7
Brock Purdy threw three touchdowns in front of the seventh-largest regular-season crowd in NFL history — three seats short of the MCG's capacity — while last season's MVP watched the final drive from the bench.
Nearly Half of Victoria's State Roads Are in Poor Condition, and the Auditor-General Says $3 Billion a Year Is Needed to Fix Them
The audit of 23,000km found 48 per cent of the network poor or very poor — up from 39 per cent in 2021 — with the defect backlog doubling and the funding on the table less than half what the department says is needed.
The Purple-Hoodie Outreach Team at Frankston Station Is Being Credited With a 44 Per Cent Drop in Disorderly Conduct
Social workers who 'make friends with you for a start' have supported 2,452 people around Young Street since late 2024 — and the program born in the south-east is now heading west.
A 500-Home Estate Is Planned Next to a Deer Park Pub Where Punters Lost $19.5 Million Last Year
Brimbank already loses more to the pokies than anywhere else in Victoria — and with carded play stalled and an election near, one 70-year-old has joined his first political party over it.
The Big Bash League Is Going Partly Private, and Cricket Victoria Already Plans to Sell the Renegades
Cricket Australia will let states sell 49 per cent of their BBL teams over NSW and Queensland's objections — Victoria backed the plan, and the Renegades were put on the path to sale in June.
Labor Will Put $550 Million Into the Western Freeway Between Melton and Caroline Springs
Interchanges at Ferris, Leakes and Hopkins roads will be upgraded, Mount Cottrell Road gets a new half-interchange, and the widened stretch will run at 100km/h — on top of $1 billion in federal money.
Melbourne Airport Is Moving Its Pick-Up and Drop-Off Zones on October 6, Retiring the 56-Year-Old Departures Ramp
From October 6, drivers leave the Tullamarine Freeway at Exit 19 and collect passengers inside the undercover car park — the airport calls it the biggest change to its roads since 1970.
Four Inner-Melbourne Police Stations Will Close Their Public Counters From October 4
Collingwood, Fitzroy, Southbank and North Melbourne keep their officers but lose walk-up service — a decision the opposition calls a broken promise, weeks after the premier vowed to staff counters with reservists.
The World's Penguin Experts Gathered at Phillip Island and Left With a Warning: 'They Are Showing Us'
The 12th International Penguin Conference closed at the home of the world's largest little penguin colony with a call for 'decisive conservation action' — as bird flu vaccinations passed 1,500.
Bird Flu Has Reached Mammals in Victoria: a Fox Dead at Torquay, a Dolphin Suspected at Lorne
Victoria's first mammal case arrives with 212 positive birds since June, 1,000 penguins vaccinated, and surveillance now focused on the bays before spring breeding.
For the First Time in 20 Years, Victorian Doctors Have Walked Off the Job
Hundreds stopped work for four hours at Ballarat and Bendigo, after a year of negotiations, no offer, and — the AMA says — three health ministers in 12 months.
The Snow Season Is Ending Weeks Early, With Hotham Closing Sunday and Baw Baw Already Shut
Mount Buller's winter beat its temperature record by half a degree, the lower slopes had their worst natural-snow season ever, and the lifts are stopping early.
Victoria Will Approve Four-Home Townhouse Blocks in 10 Days, and Councils Won't Get a Say
From October, code-compliant four-home builds skip council objections entirely. Labor's platform also flags a look at stamp duty — hedged, but on the table.
North Melbourne Has Sacked Alastair Clarkson, Citing 'Gaping Holes' in the Game Plan
Told on Tuesday, a year left on his deal, a payout capped near $600,000 — and a club hunting 'a coach who can coach for the modern game'.
A 57-Storey Tower Is Rising Above State Library Station, Approved With No Public Consultation
Scape says it will be the world's tallest student tower: 185.4m, 1,420 beds, $500m — approved in 2017 under the Metro Tunnel framework, no notice period.
The Liberals Are Promising 25 Hybrid Trains for Melbourne's West. Labor Calls It a Bizarre Side-Quest
$1.7 billion, built in Victoria, delivered by 2030 — pitched at Melton and Wyndham Vale, where Australia's fastest-growing area adds 38 residents a day.
Victoria's Oldest Fire Truck Is 37, and WorkSafe Is Now Asking Questions
CFA volunteers asked the regulator to look at single-cab tankers 17 years past their use-by. New-tanker deliveries have halved in a decade, their data shows.