Latest news with #TheHeraldSun
Sky News AU
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Hundreds of police officers gearing up for Melbourne pro-Palestine march on CBD set to block bridge
Authorities are gearing up to deploy hundreds of police officers to a pro-Palestine march in Melbourne this weekend that is looking to block a busy bridge in the city, despite police urging protestors to change their plans. Victoria Police will have a "visible presence" in central Melbourne this weekend, with a pro-Palestine protest hoping to shut down a busy city bridge set to go ahead, despite police repeatedly urging protestors to change their plans. The Herald Sun has reported hundreds of police officers are expected to be redeployed from other policing duties for the rally, which plans to shut down King St Bridge. Police have said the event will affect access for emergency services and it will have "a number of resources" prepared to respond. Free Palestine Coalition Naarm Melbourne has called for pro-Palestine ralliers to "BLOCK THE CITY FOR GAZA" on Sunday as protesters march from Victoria's State Library to the bridge, according to the group's Facebook page. The march is being panned in "IN SOLIDARITY" with those intending to join a protest shutting down the Sydney Harbour Bridge, according to the group. A Victoria Police spokesperson told that police are aware that protestors are planning to block King Street bridge as part of the larger protest planned for Sunday. "We have been engaging with the organisers and have made repeated requests for them to change their plans. At this point they have indicated they will continue with their plans," the spokesperson said. "Not only would this cause significant impacts to the broader community enjoying their weekend in the city, it will also impact emergency services and those working in the city who require access. "While we always respect the right for people to protest peacefully, we are clear that this should be done without impacting the broader community." Victoria Police will have a "visible presence" on Sunday, and will "continue to attempt to engage" with protesters ahead of the planned rally, police have said. "We have a number of resources prepared to respond and our priority will be to keep the peace and ensure the safety of the community," the spokesperson said. It comes as the Palestinian Action Group Sydney revealed in a statement on Sunday that protestors were seeking to march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on August 3 to send a 'powerful' message to the world amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza strip. Despite the group calling on the NSW government to facilitate the March for Humanity, Premier Minns said in a statement that he could not support a protest of this 'scale and nature' on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 'especially with one week's notice".
Sky News AU
a day 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
a day 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
a day 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
a day 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.
