Politics
Victoria
Police stop and search powers to be expanded, new crackdown on ‘post and boast’ criminals
Jacinta Allan is expected to make more announcements on crime to increase police powers and deter people from showcasing their crimes on social media.
- by Rachel Eddie, Kieran Rooney and Daniella White
Latest
Opinion
Victorian Parliament
Allan’s cartoonishly titled bail bill reveals the depths of bad government
These changes to the law have been cobbled together with reckless haste.
- by Chip Le Grand
Victorian bail overhaul to treat accused children like adults in serious cases
Community safety will become the “overarching principle” in bail decisions, says Premier Jacinta Allan, in response to youth crime surge.
- by Kieran Rooney and Chip Le Grand
Exclusive
ABC
Secret asbestos spreadsheet outlines extent of ABC cluster
An internal ABC document shows that more than 550 employees were potentially exposed to asbestos while working at the broadcaster’s former Melbourne studios.
- by Henrietta Cook
Cops and dobbers: Dissident police social media group prompted complaint to IBAC
A senior constable was investigated after setting up a rival Facebook group to the official police union page during a bitter campaign over wages and conditions.
- by Chris Vedelago
Exclusive
Fire
‘Not a big issue – until it is’: Almost 90 per cent of apartment buildings fail fire safety standards
Of the 964 fire safety inspections Victorian councils did at multi-storey apartments in 12 months, only 127 buildings continued to comply.
- by Rachel Eddie
Abuse cases surging as child protection investigations take weeks to start
Victoria spends $821.96 per child on care services, which is the least in the nation.
- by Kieran Rooney
Exclusive
Building Bad
Labor’s $15b Metro Tunnel rocked by CFMEU ‘ghost shift’ scandal
An investigation has been launched into one of the state’s signature transport projects after the sacking of two union delegates.
- by Sarah Danckert and Nick McKenzie
The space squeeze shutting families out of libraries, public pools
Ease of access to a local pool or library has become a marker of relative advantage in Melbourne. The gap is widening for the city’s fastest-growing communities.
- by Adam Carey
Opinion
Victorian Parliament
This New York train station was the world’s most expensive. Sunshine may have it beat
The architecturally splendid Oculus, at New York’s rebuilt World Trade Centre, cost $US4 billion to build. Sunshine station could give the record a nudge.
- by Chip Le Grand
Melbourne’s growing stamp duty headache
Stamp duty should be phased out and replaced with a residential land tax over the next 30 years, Infrastructure Victoria says in a new report.
- by Adam Carey