Latest news with #TheHeraldSun
Sky News AU
4 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Dozens of police stations amongst 45 drop-off points in Victoria to dispose of soon-to-be illegal machetes amid spike in knife crime
Dozens of police stations in Victoria will become drop-off points for machete-wielding owners as the state becomes the first to implement a ban on the weapons. Locations of the drop-off points have been revealed ahead of a three-month amnesty to dispose of the soon-to-be illegal weapons, which from September 1 will be criminalised in Victoria, resulting in jail terms or fines of up to $47,00. The Herald Sun has revealed 45 locations across metropolitan and rural Victoria where the broad, heavy knives may fill-up the heavy-duty metal bins outside police stations in prominent crime spots. Some of the locations include Prahran, Footscray, Dandenong, the city of Casey and the City of Geelong which have been riddled with home invasions and knife crime. Preston Police station will also form a drop-off point for the weapons after the suburb saw a violent knife crime incident following a violent brawl out at a shopping centre in May. Northland Shopping Centre in Preston was plunged into lockdown on May 25, when a machete-wielding fight broke out between rival gangs, forcing terrified shoppers to hide in stores. The same day in South Melbourne, a woman was shot dead by police after officers responded to reports of a man brandishing a machete on Cecil Street. This year police have seized a record number of illegal weapons from the streets of Victoria with an average of at least 44 knives confiscated each day. Police have previously said the number of knives seized this year is expected to exceed 2024 figures of a total of 14,805. The Allan government's landmark ban on the weapons apply to to all "cutting-edge knifes with a blade of more than 20cm". The three-month amnesty is expected to run from September 1 to November 30, meaning people who own machetes can surrender their knives without facing a penalty or committing an offence. Ms Allan previously said the ban has been introduced to "choke the supply of these dangerous items as much as possible" before the permanent outlaw of machete possession comes into effect. The Premier along with Minister for Police Anthony Carbines visited the Melbourne West Police Station on Thursday to reveal a machete safe disposal bin for the first time and re-iterate the ban. "These knives destroy lives - so we're taking them off the streets," she said. "Victorians have zero tolerance for knife crime and so do we - we're enacting this ban and boosting Victoria Police's powers because community safety always comes first."
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Gross witch hunt': Brittany Groth breaks silence to rip into intrusive tabloid reports
Brittany Groth, the wife of Victorian Liberal Party deputy leader Sam Groth, has slammed a 'despicable' decision by the Herald Sun newspaper to publish a series of stories speculating about 'when I first had sex with my husband'. In an emotive statement, Brittany Groth said the inference that their relationship began when she was under 18 and he was her tennis coach was baseless and false and that a tabloid hit-job on her husband had 'spiralled into a gross witch hunt'. The Groths have launched legal action against the paper, both for defamation and serious invasion of privacy, after it published stories questioning whether their relationship began on an improper, and potentially criminal, basis. Lawyers for the couple have also initiated defamation proceedings against Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas for comments she made in response to a question about the Groths at a press conference on Tuesday. 'I never imagined that I, a happily married woman in my thirties with children, would be forced to defend myself or my family against outrageous insinuations and a public dissection of my private life by a newspaper,' Brittany Groth said in a statement on Thursday. 'The Herald Sun 's decision to speculate salaciously about my personal life from 14 years ago, when I was a teenager, is not journalism. It is a disgraceful smear campaign, devoid of fact, public interest or even basic decency.' 'The Herald Sun never once attempted to contact me. Their conduct has amounted to pressure on me to disclose intimate details of my personal and private life, including when I first had sex with my husband, to defend myself against fiction.' The Groths have previously said they met at Brittany Groth's suburban tennis club in 2011 when Brittany was 16 or 17 and Sam Groth, a professional player, had taken a break from the touring circuit and was working as a coach.
The Age
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘Gross witch hunt': Brittany Groth breaks silence to rip into intrusive tabloid reports
Brittany Groth, the wife of Victorian Liberal Party deputy leader Sam Groth, has slammed a 'despicable' decision by the Herald Sun newspaper to publish a series of stories speculating about 'when I first had sex with my husband'. In an emotive statement, Brittany Groth said the inference that their relationship began when she was under 18 and he was her tennis coach was baseless and false and that a tabloid hit-job on her husband had 'spiralled into a gross witch hunt'. The Groths have launched legal action against the paper, both for defamation and serious invasion of privacy, after it published stories questioning whether their relationship began on an improper, and potentially criminal, basis. Lawyers for the couple have also initiated defamation proceedings against Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas for comments she made in response to a question about the Groths at a press conference on Tuesday. 'I never imagined that I, a happily married woman in my thirties with children, would be forced to defend myself or my family against outrageous insinuations and a public dissection of my private life by a newspaper,' Brittany Groth said in a statement on Thursday. 'The Herald Sun 's decision to speculate salaciously about my personal life from 14 years ago, when I was a teenager, is not journalism. It is a disgraceful smear campaign, devoid of fact, public interest or even basic decency.' 'The Herald Sun never once attempted to contact me. Their conduct has amounted to pressure on me to disclose intimate details of my personal and private life, including when I first had sex with my husband, to defend myself against fiction.' The Groths have previously said they met at Brittany Groth's suburban tennis club in 2011 when Brittany was 16 or 17 and Sam Groth, a professional player, had taken a break from the touring circuit and was working as a coach.
Sky News AU
7 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Leaked policy papers reveal Allan government mulling fresh taxes and establishing permanent truth-telling commission as part of re-election bid
Leaked policy papers from the imminent Victorian state Labor Party conference have provided an insight look into the Allan government's future agenda which could include lobbing Victorians with fresh taxes and setting up a permanent Indigenous truth-telling commission. More than 600 Victorian Labor delegates which include union representatives, MPs and senior members are set to congregate at the 2025 state conference on the weekend. It was revealed on Monday that Victorian Labor members would move three urgency motions at the conference to urge the federal government to 'immediately' recognise a Palestinian state and impose sanctions on Israel. However, The Herald Sun acquired a collection of reports that have uncovered every draft policy proposal which would form the crux of the Allan government's suite of measures ahead of next years election. The policies, which have been developed over the past year, include legalising cannabis for recreational use, removing stamp duty and replacing it with annual land tax and slugging Victorian homeowners with a new land sale super tax targeted at capital gains. 'Stamp duty in its current format means that people are effectively mortgaging the stamp duty and paying it off over the term of their loan, with interest,' an excerpt from the documents read. The state conference is also seeking to eliminate coal from the state's energy mix in its entirety and to set up a state-owned offshore wind corporation. Victoria stands as one of the country's most fossil fuel dependent states and has struggled in recent months to make progress on its 2035 target of having 95 per cent renewable electricity generation with numerous major developments falling over. Establishing a permanent Indigenous truth-telling commission is also under consideration despite the Yoorrook Justice truth-telling inquiry wrapping up four years of proceedings in early July and determining that the state had been illegally occupied. The Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan governments have invested almost $400 million on negotiating a treaty with Indigenous Australians over the past decade with the government also seeking to make the state's First Nations assembly a fixed institution. Other policy proposals include reducing the rate of population growth, making pill testing a permanent practice at music festivals and dumping the council rate cap in the 'medium term.' The Victorian local council rate cap for the 2024-35 financial year was set at 2.75 per cent and was part of the Fair Go Rates system that limits the increase in a council's total revenue from general rates and municipal charges. However, even if a measure is backed by the gathering it does not automatically become official policy but rather is incorporated into a wider framework of proposals for the party's election platform. After pro-Palestinian activists forced the conference into emergency lockdown last year the gathering will feature strict new safety measures including beefed up security, bag checks and photo ID requirements. The frameworks were formulated by ALP policy committees who also slammed the Allan government for its handling of numerous issues including crime, housing and health. They opposed the government's imposition of new anti-protest laws as part of the states plan to crack down on rising antisemitic sentiments. Committees will also call on the government to make sweeping changes to payroll and company taxes, to pull out of the AUKUS submarine deal and to commission a state-owned cannabis body which is both regulated and taxed.
Herald Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- Herald Sun
Australian Open Royal Melbourne: Adam Scott to play
Aussie golf great Adam Scott will add some star power to this year's Australian Open in Melbourne — and has called for the tournament to continue being staged in Victoria long-term. Scott said playing the Open at Royal Melbourne, which he labelled 'Australia's greatest venue' would help draw the best players, interstate and international tourists and show off the city's famed sandbelt to global audiences. 'I think it would be great for it to be on the sandbelt as often as possible,'' he said. 'It is the Australian Open and there are other cities with great courses as well. 'I know it's a business and all that has to get worked out and that's one of the reasons why it hasn't been down there. 'But there's something to it being down there. 'I think it would be good if it could stay on the sandbelt for a few years and if the momentum builds … really let the world know what the Aussie Open is all about and how great a tournament it is.'' Adam has called for Victoria to host the Open at Royal Melbourne long-term. Picture: David Berding Scott said playing the Open at Royal Melbourne for the first time since 1991 could help usher in a new 'golden age' of Aussie golf. The Herald Sun last week revealed Scott would return to Australia to play Cathedral Invitational in country Victoria and he on Wednesday confirmed he would join superstar Rory McIlroy at the Open in December. In an exclusive interview, Scott compared Melbourne's sandbelt with the famed links golf courses of the UK and Ireland and said it made sense to play Australia's most prestigious golf tournament there more regularly. 'This is a very unique pocket of golf with incredible golf courses, it's own unique style, it's own way of playing,'' he said. 'It's got some links elements to it, you know, we are very lucky to have it. 'And Royal Melbourne has forever been rated the best and, as a tournament venue it's hard to say there is better at home.'' The Open will be staged in Melbourne this year and next but its long-term future has not been decided and is likely to be the subject of a bidding war between Victoria, NSW and South Australia. Greg Norman watches his great recovery shot from the back of the green on the fourth hole in the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in 1985. Golf. Picture: Supplied Despite being a proud Queenslander, Scott said: 'Melbourne does incredibly well out of huge sports events. 'I know every state likes to compete and have huge sporting events — Queensland's having the Olympics soon. 'So, it's a big thing in Australia, it just so happens that Melbourne has some of the greatest golf courses of the world. 'And the top players of the world today are really aware of that and they're also really keen to experience that. 'They obviously haven't ever played an Aussie Open at Royal Melbourne and I do my best to try and talk that kind of stuff up but I don't really need to''. 'There's a great reputation there.'' Scott said playing Cathedral days after the Open would be 'a fun way to end the year'' and he would try and convince McIlroy to play it in 2026. Scott hopes to return to Melbourne for the President's Cup in 2028. Picture: Andrew Milligan 'It really feels like golf has this energy behind the game in Australia, the last few years,'' he said. 'Having Rory come down, going to our greatest venue (for the Open) a lot of good things going for it. 'Let's hope it kind of channels those glory years.'' Scott also hoped to return to Melbourne for the President's Cup in 2028. 'Yes, I hope to,'' he said. 'It's hard to see more than a couple years down the road, I must say. 'But it's things like that event that would give me motivation to continue working at it and grinding at it. 'I still think I'm seeing enough signs that I can still do it. 'So at this point, I'd hope to be playing.''
