Category: MELBOURNE

Melbourne Drag Storytime Moved Online After Alleged Threats of Violence

May 15, 2023
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A Melbourne-based drag storytime event has been moved online after state police warned organisers of alleged threats of violence. A “Rainbow Storytime” event with cross-dresser Frock Hudson was supposed to be held at the Eltham Library on May 17 in the northeast of the city. Organisers will now hold the event, geared towards babies, toddlers,…

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Australia’s Main Cities Command Attention

May 14, 2023
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Home to more than 26 million and increasingly popular with visitors who travel long distances to get there, Australia is the world’s smallest continent and sixth largest nation in area. Whether visitors have come to start or finish a cruise, are heading off to explore the Great Barrier Reef or look for encounters with unique…

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Andrews Government Offers $5 Million to Shut Down COVID-19 Lockdown Class Action

May 9, 2023
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The Victorian government is offering $5 million in compensation to end an ongoing class action against it in response to placing nine public housing towers under strict lockdowns in 2020. Over 3,000 residents across nine public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington in Australia were detained—without notice—in their apartments from July 4 to either…

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Drag Storytime Event Cancelled After Protests

May 4, 2023
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A Melbourne Council has cancelled its controversial “drag storytime” event after protests from local families. Monash City Council CEO Andi Diamond said the decision was made after Victoria Police advised of potential safety risks to staff. “This event has attracted significant attention with hateful and threatening commentary and misinformation spread online, via email and directly…

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‘Big Shift’ as Australian State Moves to Decriminalise Public Drunkenness

April 14, 2023
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has defended the state’s new public drunkenness laws arguing that the move to decriminalise public intoxication will not add an extra burden for police officers—despite unions arguing otherwise. “Will it be easy? No. Of course, it’s a big shift,” the premier said on April 13. “This is a reform that is…

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Melbourne Leads the Way in Global ‘Rewilding’ Push

April 9, 2023
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Standing under the sweeping curves of Melbourne’s Forward Surge sculpture, Jon Hazelwood points a tablet at the ground and a wild garden springs to life underfoot. Barren grass is replaced by layers of plants and colourful flowers on the screen—a visualisation of what will be a mammoth urban garden, home to everything from the blue…

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Daniel Andrews Announces Surprise Visit to China

March 26, 2023
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will be the first state leader to visit China, ahead of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, since the outbreak of COVID-19. Andrews will leave on March 27 and visit Beijing, as well as the provinces of Jiangsu and Sichuan, before returning to Melbourne on April 1. He will meet with Chinese…

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Victorian Government Orders Transgender Flag Flown in Response to Women’s Rights Protest

March 22, 2023
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A new transgender flag will fly in front of Melbourne’s Treasury Place alongside two LGBT+ pride flags until the end of the month. The Victorian state Labor government made the decision following a rally on women’s rights on the weekend where women discussed transgender people taking part in women’s sports. State Premier Daniel Andrews wrote…

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Victoria Adds Just 74 New Public Dwellings Despite Multi-Billion-Dollar Program

March 17, 2023
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The Australian state of Victoria has added a slither of new social housing stock over the past four years, despite introducing a multi-billion-dollar program to boost social housing. The latest annual report by the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing revealed that the state had a total social housing stock of 86,887 dwellings by…

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Why Set up the PBO If the Government Won’t Use It?

March 15, 2023
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Commentary Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Office’s (PBO) latest report (pdf) has revealed that the Labor government, who set it up, did not even use it to cost its 2022 election promises. The report notes that “There appears to be a disconnect between the Treasurer’s 2016 speech recommending the bill to parliament, in which he outlined his…

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