Politics
Victoria
Exclusive
Shooting
Neighbours’ fears for children, pets during duck hunting season
Victorians who live near wetlands open to duck shooters say they were woken by “what sounds like cannon fire”, expressing fears for the safety of their children and pets.
- by Broede Carmody
Latest
Opinion
Victorian Parliament
It’s hard dose of reality time for shambolic Victorian Libs
There’s no painless way to modernise the Victorian Liberals, but there is a road back to electoral contention.
- by Shaun Carney
Updated
Victorian byelection
Victorian Liberal MP Ryan Smith quits politics, triggering byelection
After 16 years in parliament, Warrandyte MP Ryan Smith says he has become increasingly uncomfortable with the “negative tone” of politics.
- by Sumeyya Ilanbey
‘Parents will pay this’: Liberals promise to abolish Victoria’s private school tax hike
But the party won’t commit to axing the increase to land tax for landlords, citing the need to be fiscally responsible.
- by Broede Carmody
Preston Market owners threaten to shut it down over planning war
Stallholders at the Preston Market have been informed their leases will not be renewed when they expire in January, in a dramatic escalation of a fight over the site’s future.
- by Rachel Eddie
Exclusive
Mental health
Paramedics put on hold as mental health triple 0 overhaul delayed
A scheme to have paramedics instead of police act as first responders to triple zero calls for mental health from September 1 has been deferred for an unspecified time.
- by Sumeyya Ilanbey
Exclusive
Racism
Adviser alleges ‘racial microaggressions’ in state Liberal office
A former policy adviser says she was uncomfortable with the culture in the party office and plans to take claims about her treatment to Victoria’s human rights watchdog.
- by Annika Smethurst and Sumeyya Ilanbey
‘An attack on aspirational Victorians’: Liberals slam potential Airbnb tax
Premier Daniel Andrews has declined to rule out an impost on short-stay rentals as part of his government’s housing reforms.
- by Broede Carmody
‘It’s like we don’t exist’: Timber towns grapple with log ban
Towns reliant on the logging industry were gutted at the Andrews government’s decision to fast-track the end of native timber logging to January next year.
- by Rachel Eddie and Annika Smethurst
Exclusive
Planning
Short shrift for short stays: Labor MPs plot Airbnb crackdown to tackle rental crisis
Capping the number of nights Victorian landlords can list their properties on Airbnb, imposing a “tourist tax” and empowering councils to charge owners higher rates are among the options on the table.
- by Broede Carmody
Pokies taxes to be reviewed after claims venues are cashing in on ‘loophole’
The way pokies venues are taxed could be overhauled after a local council accused pubs and clubs of abusing concessions designed to pump money back into the community.
- by Sumeyya Ilanbey