Latest news with #ValeriuCampan
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Weekend protest chaos hits second state
Melbourne police are gearing up for heightened pro-Palestinian protests this weekend as conflict over a major protest in Sydney has the NSW police scrambling for a court-ordered stop to another demonstration. Protesters in Sydney are planning - without a permit - to block the Harbour Bridge on Sunday. In Victoria, no such permitting system exists, but the prominent pro-Palestine organisation plans to block the major King Street bridge across Melbourne's Yarra River in solidarity on the same day. Speaking to media on Friday, Superintendent Troy Papworth appealed to the broader Melbourne protest group to protest 'lawfully'. Lawful, large-scale protests have been taking place in Melbourne regularly since 2023. NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia Police had identified a small number of the protest group who were likely to cause 'confrontation', he said. The King Street bridge was too vital for emergency services to be blocked by protesters, Superintendent Papworth said. He would not elaborate on what protest behaviours would be deemed illegal, nor how many additional officers would be dispatched on Sunday. 'We police to the risk, and if people there at the protest on the weekend are engaged in criminal behaviour, they can expect to be arrested.' Protesters in Melbourne marched to the National Gallery of Victoria on July 27. NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia Free Palestine Coalition has organised rallies in the CBD every Sunday for the past 92 weeks. The usual rally route stays in the CBD, and does not block any of the bridges across the Yarra River. 'Begin: State Library. End: King St Bridge to block the city for Gaza,'a social media post from an affiliated group said. 'In solidarity with Sydney communities who are marching on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 'Free the people, free the land, no peace on stolen land.' The group has encouraged demonstrators to bring kitchenware. 'Bring pots and pans to highlight the manufactured starvation that is causing mass casualties in Gaza. 'These shut downs are in preparation for international mass strikes, sanctions and blockades to end Israeli impunity.' Superintendent Papworth spoke to the media at midday AEST Friday, shortly before a Supreme Court hearing in Sydney began. That court hearing was brought by the NSW Police, which is asking the courts to categorise the planned Harbour Bridge protest as unlawful and unauthorised.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Woman's bizarre sign before $4.2m lotto win
A woman who won $4.2m in Saturday's lotto draw has credited a bizarre Facebook post for her enormous windfall. The Wellington woman held one of seven division one winning entries in Saturday night's draw, claiming a whopping $4,285,714.29. The winning numbers in the draw were 17, 23, 40, 42, 44 and 2, while the supplementary numbers were 27 and 39. A NSW woman has won more than $4m in Saturday's lotto. NewsWire / Nikki Short Credit: News Corp Australia Speaking to The Lott, the woman said she was scrolling on Facebook when she saw a video that offered an unusual omen about her finances. 'F***ing hell! Wow. I'm glad you warned me to sit down!' she said. 'I'm ecstatic. Oh my god. I can't believe this. 'It's funny, I had a thing on Facebook that said, 'If you watch this until the end, a large sum of money will come your way'. 'I didn't really think anything of it, and here we are!' She claimed to have seen a video on Facebook promising a 'large sum of money'. NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia She said her winnings would help her pay off her car and mortgage, leaving her 'completely debt-free'. This isn't the first time she's won at the lotto, but it's the largest sum to date. 'I've played for decades, since I was 18!' she said. 'I once won $400, but that seems like nothing compared to this.' Another of Saturday's division one wins went to a group of friends from southwestern Sydney. The four mates, who have been friends for three decades, entered as a private syndicate and have won $1,071,428.57 each. The syndicate leader said the four mates would 'help all our families'. 'It's a group of us that won,' he said. 'We've been friends for over 30 years. It'll be split four ways. 'It's funny thinking about how we used to hang out together and play together, and now we've won this together.'
Perth Now
19-07-2025
- Perth Now
Chaos as hoons take over iconic Melb strip
A car meet spiralled into chaos overnight after hundreds of hoons took over Melbourne's iconic Chapel Street. A strong police presence flooded the area on Saturday as of a targeted crackdown on reckless driving, Victoria Police said in a statement. Dubbed Operation Traction, the high-visibility deployment was launched in response to intelligence suggesting a large group of individuals were planning to engage in high-risk driving behaviour. A car meet spiralled into chaos overnight with police closing down Chapel St. Nine News Credit: Supplied Police said a number of infringement notices were handed out. Nine News Credit: Supplied Officers issued several infringement notices to drivers caught participating in dangerous and disruptive activities behind the wheel. A number of defect notices were also handed out for modified vehicles deemed unsafe or illegal. To help manage traffic and prevent further hooning, police temporarily closed sections of Chapel Street during the operation. The move was aimed at both curbing anti-social behaviour and easing congestion in the busy night-life district. Hoons performed burnouts along the iconic strip. NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia Police are urging anyone who witnessed dangerous driving, or who may have dashcam footage or other information, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Perth Now
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
‘Action:' Albo hits out on synagogue fire
Anthony Albanese has defended Labor's track record of working and responding to anti-Semitic attacks on the Jewish community, amid attacks from the opposition that there have been too many 'talkfests' and not enough 'action'. While quizzed by journalists in Hobart on Tuesday, the Prime Minister snapped back at a reporter who said Jewish community leaders had claimed the government's response was 'insufficient'. The questions were in response to an alleged arson attack on the East Melbourne Synagogue on Friday night, 'Who is saying that?' asked in response, and said he had spoken to community leaders on Saturday. 'Every time there has been a request, it has been met, expeditiously,' he said. 'On Saturday, one of the reasons why this gentleman has been caught so quickly is because the CCTV that was in place there was as a direct result of Commonwealth Government funding.' The East Melbourne synagogue was set ablaze on Friday night in an alleged arson attack. NewsWire/ Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia The blaze damaged the doors. NewsWire/ Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Albanese also rejected calls for him to convene national cabinet in response to Friday's alleged arson attack. 'Every time an issue comes up, people say, let's have a national cabinet. Let's be clear. What people want is not a meeting. They want action,' Mr Albanese said. Mr Albanese's comments comes after Executive Council of the Australian Jewry president Alex Ryvchin urged the government to adopt its 15-point plan to 'defeat anti-Semitism' in Australia. The plan includes calls for anti-Semitism education in the national curriculum and urges Labor to declare a National Emergency and establish a Joint Counter-Terrorism Taskforce to 'fight against anti-Semitic terror before we have a major terror attack in this country'. Sussan Ley said Labor had not committed to enough action. NewsWire/ David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Speaking later on Tuesday following a visit to the East Melbourne Synagogue, Sussan Ley maintained the Albanese government was not doing enough to protect Jewish-Australians. 'What I hear from the community is there have been many task forces, there have been many talkfests, many conversations and many words. What they are really calling for is action,' she said, alongside shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser and finance spokesperson James Paterson. Ms Ley also called for stronger state hate speech laws, which would prohibit people from chanting phrases like 'death to Israel,' and said calls for a national cabinet meeting to tackle anti-Semitism were a 'good suggestion'. 'There shouldn't be an ability for people to chant the words 'death' and I won't complete the phase, on the streets of Melbourne, and it just be accepted,' she said. 'It is not a protest, it is hate – pure hate and we need to have laws and levers and I would respectfully ask the Premier of Victoria to consider how she might instruct law enforcement in a way that allows a stronger intervention.'
Perth Now
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Extra time for criminals who boast online
Criminals who boast about their crimes online could serve extra jail time under news laws introduced in Victoria. The Allan Labor government will outlaw bragging about certain crimes on social media and messaging apps, which could see offenders serve an additional two years behind bars on top of their sentence. The new law targets criminals who post content about their crimes such as affray, burglary, robbery, car theft, carjacking, home invasions and violent disorder. The laws will also apply to anyone caught encouraging or facilitating the same crimes. Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said Victorians were outraged by offenders posting and boasting about their crimes on social media. NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia The legislation was introduced after authorities noticed a 'dangerous trend' on TikTok and Snapchat from users seeking attention about their crimes and copycat offending. Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said Victorians were outraged by offenders posting and boasting about their crimes, which was why they were taking action. 'This crack down alongside our tough new bail laws and machete ban is all about keeping Victorians safe,' she said. Police Minister Anthony Carbines these laws backed the work of Victoria Police and sent a clear message to offenders. 'Crime isn't content, it isn't entertainment, and it won't be tolerated,' he said. Police Minister Anthony Carbines these laws backed the work of Victoria Police and sent a clear message to offenders. NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia Similar laws already exist in NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory, and are being rolled in Tasmania, West Australia and South Australia making Victoria the last state to act. Shadow Attorney-General Michael O'Brien said the opposition raised an issue that offenders used social media to glorify criminal behaviour 18 months ago, but the government denied action was necessary until now. He said too many Victorians who were victims of serious offending had insult added to injury by perpetrators bragging about their crimes online. Mr O'Brien said the government had been dragged kicking and screaming to act after denying there was a problem. 'Labor did it with weak bail laws. Labor did it with banning machetes. Now Labor is doing it with 'post and boast' offending,' he said. 'Victorians deserve better than 'deny, delay and drag'. It's no way to protect community safety.' Shadow Attorney-General Michael O'Brien said the it had taken the government 18 months to act after the issue was first raised in parliament. NewsWire / David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia But the Justice Reform Initiative's Executive Director Mindy Sotiri said the Victorian government had reverted to political posturing, missing an opportunity to engage with evidence about what worked to support community safety and prevent reoffending. The organisation reported Victoria's correctional system was under mounting strain after changes to bail laws, seeing the adult remand population and the number of children on remand rise by 22 per cent and 71 per cent respectively in the past year. Dr Sotiri said further punishing people for posting to social media failed to address the drivers of that behaviour and won't work as a deterrent. 'Introducing penalties for 'posting and boasting' sounds catchy and might work for political pointscoring in the short-term, but is not based in any evidence, 'she said. 'All the evidence shows that the earlier children have interaction with the criminal justice system, the more likely they are to be cycling in and out of it for years to come. That's a bad result for children, for taxpayers and for community safety. 'We've seen this 'tough on crime' approach repeatedly fail in Queensland and contribute to rapidly rising prison numbers in NSW. 'Rather than trying to outdo other jurisdictions with even harsher laws, Victoria needs to take a smarter approach that meaningfully invests in evidence-based responses to crime that genuinely disrupt its reoccurrence.'
