The Victorian Liberal National Coalition has promised to bring passenger trains back to Mildura and Dimboola by mid-2029 if it wins the November state election. Mildura has been without a passenger train service since 1993, when the Liberal government led by Jeff Kennett axed it. The Coalition says its $51.2 million Wimmera Mallee Rail plan would include three return services a week on each corridor. Liberal leader Jess Wilson said the plan would give people across the region a more affordable way to travel.
Cropping farmers in north-west Victoria say a fast-growing locust population is becoming a serious worry. Insects hatched in large numbers across the Mallee from mid-September after warm, wet weather further north. Meringur farmer Jack Lambert says he has seen bands of thousands moving across his land and nearby national parks, and fears a repeat of the plague of 10 to 15 years ago. Agriculture Victoria runs a surveillance program, but its chief plant health officer, Stephen Dibley, says landholders are responsible for treatment. He said numbers were not at plague levels but were the highest in 15 years.
Victoria's Labor government and the opposition have promised $53.6 million for the Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme if they win next month's state election. The proposed changes would lift accommodation subsidies from $45 to $125 a night and fuel reimbursements from 21 cents to 35 cents per kilometre. Mildura patient Lara Hamilton said reimbursement delays of months were causing financial strain. Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said extra staff had been added to process claims faster. The funding change is expected to start on July 1, 2027, if either party forms government.
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Mallee Family Care can no longer take on new referrals to its NSW out-of-home care program. The NSW Office of the Children's Guardian imposed the condition following routine monitoring. The agency can continue running its existing foster care and home-based care programs. It must submit a review of its policies and procedures by November 27. The regulator first varied the agency's permissions in September 2025 and asked for an improvement plan.
A new bus service called The Monty Express has launched between Mildura and Adelaide, via Renmark, along the Sturt Highway. The route had no direct bus service since 2020, and the only direct flight ended in 2023. The service will run twice a week and pick up passengers at Mildura, Renmark, Adelaide Airport and the Adelaide Central Bus Station. Under an agreement with the South Australian government, it cannot pick up South Australian residents unless they travel to Mildura. Operator Stuart Saunders said he hopes the service will also help Riverland residents reach Mildura.
Volunteers at the Mildura SES headquarters have to change in front of others because the building lacks private change rooms and showers. Unit building unit controller Elliot Matotek says the 1983 building is deteriorating and embarrasses the unit when recruiting. The unit responded to more than 1,100 incidents over four financial years. Emergency Services Minister Paul Edbrooke would not promise funding for the second stage of redevelopment, while the opposition has pledged $1 million for the project.
The PS Wagga Wagga, built in 1877, carried timber, wool and general supplies between Narrandera and Mildura for about four decades. Its main owner was a Narrandera sawmilling firm, which shows how closely river transport and timber were linked. Navigating the Murrumbidgee was difficult and seasonal, with rocky ridges and rapid changes in water level. Accounts differ on when the vessel was lost, with some pointing to 1913 and local heritage records giving 11 November 1918.
New nursing labs have opened at The Gordon's Geelong City Campus, giving 416 Diploma of Nursing students hands-on clinical training in simulated hospital wards. The Gordon chief executive Joe Ormeno said the facilities include assistive technology for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, wheelchair access, adjustable furniture and low-stimulation spaces. Deputy premier Gabrielle Williams said the labs are the first stage of The Gordon's TAFE Centre of Excellence in Disability Inclusion. Work on the remaining stages is underway, with the centre due for completion next year.
A 62-year-old man from Caroline Springs has been charged after an alleged incident in a change room at the Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre on Sunday 25 October. Police allege he used a recording device to film several people in a change room cubicle around 11.10am. He faces charges of producing child abuse material and producing intimate images. Brimbank council says it has terminated his membership and banned him from all council leisure centres. He is bailed to appear before Sunshine Magistrates' Court on 23 March 2027.
Wyndham local David Hatfield says he was 12 when his mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer, and she died within nine months of a later liver cancer diagnosis. In 2025, Mr Hatfield, 48, was diagnosed with kidney cancer after an emergency visit to Stawell Hospital during a holiday in the Grampians. He says being diagnosed himself gave him a deeper understanding of his mother's experience. Ahead of Canteen's Bandanna Day on 29 October, he is asking people to listen to the stories of those affected and support the organisation's work.
Authorities have shut 100 shops under newly granted powers aimed at stamping out the trade in illegal tobacco. Since those powers took effect on 9 September, the VIPER Taskforce and Tobacco Licensing Victoria officers have confiscated over four million unlawful cigarettes, roughly 70,000 vaping devices, three tonnes of leaf tobacco and close to $1 million in cash. The drive is directed at criminal networks that profit from the illicit product, including groups run from overseas. Retailers across a string of Melbourne suburbs have been inspected, and the operation is still underway.
A new $770,000 dog park at VR Michael Reserve in Lalor is now open for dogs and their owners. The park has separate active and quiet zones designed for dogs of different sizes, ages and temperaments. Facilities include accessible pathways, shelters, seating, drinking fountains, solar lighting, shade trees and landscaping. The project followed community feedback and key improvements identified in the VR Michael Reserve Master Plan. Whittlesea council contributed $470,000, with the Victorian government providing $300,000.
Victoria will add 11 AI-powered cameras to its bushfire detection network, covering more than 1.4 million hectares before the 2027-28 fire season. The $3.8 million project is jointly funded by the Victorian Government, Hancock Victorian Plantations and Green Triangle Fire Alliance. The cameras will scan landscapes around the clock for smoke and fire, flagging possible incidents for investigation. Installations are scheduled across western and eastern Victoria by November 2027. Officials say the network will give firefighters more time to respond. Most of the monitored area is non-plantation land.
Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Stephen Batty and local psychologist Danielle Jacobs have started a petition calling for urgent safety upgrades at three busy Mt Eliza intersections. The intersections are Volitans Avenue, Mount Eliza Way and Baden Powell Drive. The petition, addressed to the Victorian Parliament, seeks independent safety audits, a review of speed limits, signage, line marking, lighting, vegetation and sightlines, and a clear timetable for any recommendations. Batty said the intersections needed fixing and could not wait. Jacobs said the petition was about neighbours and asked residents to sign and share it.
A Geelong-region state MP has claimed more than $60,000 in taxpayer-funded allowances for a second Melbourne home since early 2024, despite appearing to miss 70 per cent of parliamentary sitting days. South Barwon MP Darren Cheeseman was expelled from the Labor Party in April 2024 after allegations of persistent, inappropriate behaviour towards staff, and has sat as an independent since. The allowance helps regional MPs living more than 80 kilometres from Melbourne. Mr Cheeseman declined to respond to questions from the ABC. Victoria has no public record of MP attendance, and the Greens and former premiers support introducing one.
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A 59-year-old man has been charged with reckless cause injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault after an alleged attack on the husband of Liberal candidate Amanda Dow. The incident happened on Sunday in Mernda, where police say the victim had gone to retrieve campaign signs. He suffered facial injuries and was discharged from hospital. The accused is due to face Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on February 1. Meanwhile, the latest Newspoll shows Labor trailing the Liberal-National coalition by 10 points ahead of the November 28 state election.
A medical centre in Melbourne's north-west was extensively damaged by fire in a suspected arson attack early today. Police say offenders smashed a front window of the Shuter Street clinic in Moonee Ponds before using an accelerant and setting it alight just after 2am. About an hour earlier, two cars were set alight outside a Brighton home on Manor Street in what police describe as a suspected targeted attack. Police will investigate whether the two incidents are linked. An arson chemist will attend both scenes today, and anyone with information or dashcam footage is asked to contact CrimeStoppers.
Community members from Colac and the surrounding district turned Memorial Square purple for the second annual Walk for Respect against family violence. The event was held on October 27, 2026.
Old glasses cannot go in household recycling bins because they are made from mixed plastics and metals. Many optometrists, including Specsavers, take part in the Opticycle program, which accepts prescription and non-prescription glasses. Some stores also take contact lens blister packs. The glasses are separated into lenses and frames, and the materials are recovered. They are then used to make products such as pavers, bricks, blocks and eco-aggregates, while metals are recycled into new uses. Recycle Mate can help people find a nearby drop-off point.
Apartment residents and renters across Victoria will be eligible for rooftop solar rebates under an expanded state government program. Eligible applicants can receive up to $2,800 per apartment, capped at $140,000 per building. The changes raise the maximum building size from 50 to 150 lots and let owners corporations allocate up to 20 per cent of generated solar energy to common property. Applications are open until June 2027. Savings for individual households will depend on installation costs, electricity use and how power is shared among residents.
Musician G Flip and actress Chrishell Stause have announced in separate statements that they are no longer together. G Flip, who is non-binary and born in Melbourne, asked people to respect their privacy. Stause said she was in love with G Flip and would always love them. The pair met at a Halloween party, and Stause first spoke publicly about their relationship on the Netflix series Selling Sunset in 2022.
Australia Post Group chief executive Paul Graham has announced he will retire at the end of the financial year. Graham was appointed to the role in September 2021 after a career in logistics and supply chain. Communications Minister Anika Wells thanked him for his service during a period of significant change at the national institution. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has also named Derek Bopping as Australia's next Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Artificial Intelligence and Critical Technology, and Rachel Moseley as Ambassador for Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation. Several senior public service roles were also filled.
