A growing number of Victorian councils are moving to ban smart glasses from pools, childcare centres, playgrounds and recreation centres. Sixteen of the state's 79 local authorities are investigating or introducing such measures. Frankston City Council has resolved to look at further restrictions, and the City of Melbourne has installed signs prohibiting smart glasses at its pools and recreation facilities. Disability advocates want exceptions for people with accessibility needs. Behavioural scientist Stephen Fisher says signs and bans are unlikely to deter people who intend to harass or secretly record women.
Agents in Victoria say new laws requiring reserve prices to be published seven days before auctions are already affecting sales. One North Melbourne home sold for $1.29 million, just below its $1.3 million reserve, after the reserve was set at the lower end of the quoted range. A Black Rock house sold for $2,283,000 against a $2,175,000 reserve after four bidders competed. Agents said some buyers misunderstood that vendors can still lower reserves on auction day. It is too early to judge the overall impact on clearance rates, which stood at 53 per cent last week.
Crowds gathered in North Melbourne on Saturday, October 17, for the fifth annual Queensberry Cup. Sixty hand-built billycarts raced down Errol Street, with the final corner proving decisive. Jeff Julian shared the open win with his son Bailey, who also took the under-12 category. Brock M. won the 12-to-17 race. Alongside the racing, Gia Parantalos won the inaugural Fashions on the Footpath competition, and the Famous Village Dog Show returned. Event director Ariel Valent thanked the volunteers who worked for months to organise the day.
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North Melbourne thrashed Essendon by 52 points at Windy Hill, winning 12.13 (85) to 5.3 (33). Essendon led at quarter time, but the reigning premiers kicked eight goals to two in the second half. Ash Riddell was prolific with 32 disposals, and Tahlia Randall kicked three goals. North Melbourne's 9-1 record keeps it on track for the minor premiership. Elsewhere, Sydney beat Collingwood 12.8 (80) to 4.5 (29), and GWS beat Hawthorn 7.13 (55) to 7.12 (54).
The fifth annual Queensberry Cup billycart race will take place on Saturday, October 17, in North and West Melbourne. Sixty carts will race down Errol Street for the trophy and $1000 in spending money at local businesses. Races are held across three age groups, plus a celebrity category headlined by Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece and ABC presenter Charlie Pickering. The street festival includes a dog show, fashion parade, dance and music performances, and food stalls. Proceeds from the event go to the neighbourhood centre that stages it, which is marking its 50th anniversary.
Geelong has been active in the AFL offseason, adding Jordan Ridley, Rowan Marshall and Toby Greene. Some commentators are already naming the Cats as premiership favourites. Former Collingwood midfielder Tom Mitchell, speaking on Trade Radio, said Geelong has the deepest list in the competition and can rest players regularly. He predicted the Cats will win the premiership next year. The writer argues it is too early to call favourites, pointing to Brisbane, Fremantle and Hawthorn as contenders. Injuries derailed the Western Bulldogs last season after they started as favourites.
Defender Nick Blakey has completed his move from the Sydney Swans to North Melbourne. In a statement on the club's website, Blakey apologised for the events that led to his exit from Sydney. He said he hopes to win back the trust of the wider community and thanked North Melbourne for the chance to start again. Blakey will join the club where his father, John, won two premierships. New coach Jaymie Graham has yet to confirm how he will use the rebounding defender.
The AFL has told its gambling partner, Sportsbet, to stop using its athletes in AI-generated social media content without player permission. Sportsbet has also been told to delete videos showing AFL stars delivering lines from movies, shows and speeches. The AFL Players' Association said the videos breached a collective bargaining agreement, which makes no mention of AI. The new rules take effect next year. Sportsbet said it would keep working with the AFL on the use of AI in its content.
North Melbourne's Queensberry Cup billycart race returns for its fifth year on Saturday, October 17, with a street festival along Errol Street. About 60 competitors aged seven to 70 will race homemade carts for the perpetual trophy and prizes. Lord Mayor Nick Reece and comedian Charlie Pickering will take part in the celebrity race at 3.45pm. The festival runs from 1pm to 7pm at the corner of Errol and Queensberry streets, and entry is free, with donations encouraged.
North Melbourne has agreed to acquire Blakey from Sydney in a major AFL trade, the first deal of the day. The Kangaroos gave up the No.6 pick in this year's draft, pick 47, several future second-round picks and a 2028 first-rounder. In return they received pick 52 and Sydney's 2028 second-rounder. Blakey apologised for the events that led to his exit from Sydney, where he had been suspended over the Pullman Hotel scandal. Elsewhere, Carlton added Lachie Whitfield from GWS and sent Flynn Riley to Collingwood.
Bush Flowers has opened a shopfront on Queensberry Street in North Melbourne, filled with Australian native flowers. Owner Michael, who grew up around the flower industry, started the business after noticing few native flowers reached florists. The business began in Carlton North just before COVID and built a following online and at farmers' markets. Michael says he wanted customers to see the flowers in person. He grows some flowers on his own farm in the Northern Territory and sources others from growers, including Grampians grower Brett McDonald.
Transport Victoria has confirmed the final design for intersection upgrades along Sunshine Avenue in Taylors Lakes. Construction is expected to begin in 2027. Two roundabouts at Melton Highway and Old Calder Highway will be replaced with signalised intersections, with additional lanes and new signalised pedestrian crossings. New walking and cycling paths and street lighting will also be built. A bus stop on the northern side of Melton Highway will move to the eastern side of Sunshine Avenue.
Victoria will add 11 AI-powered cameras to its bushfire detection network across the state's east and west. The $3.8 million project is jointly funded by the Victorian Government, Hancock Victorian Plantations and the Green Triangle Fire Alliance. The cameras use artificial intelligence to scan for smoke and fire around the clock, and the expanded network is expected to monitor more than 1.4 million hectares. The new cameras are scheduled to be in place by November 2027. Minister for Emergency Services Paul Edbrooke said early information would help emergency services respond more quickly.
Ken Bodinnar, a 73-year-old former State Emergency Service worker from Paynesville, is fighting to have his workers' compensation claim recognised. His doctors believe his small-cell lung cancer resulted from years of service, including the Black Saturday fires. The insurer rejected the claim, and a medical report later found his exposure to firefighting smoke and diesel fumes was a significant contributing factor. The dispute will go to trial in November. Mr Bodinnar is in intensive care in Geelong and hopes the claim will support his family.
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.
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Newport has signed Altona midfielder Tate Ferguson for next year's Western Football League division 1 season. Ferguson played 13 senior games for Altona this season and three games for the Western Jets in the Talent League. The Panthers describe him as a fit, dynamic midfielder who uses the ball well. His father, Joe, was a senior coach of Newport in 1997 and 1998 and won the club's best and fairest award. The club has also re-signed Jackson Fullerton, Malek El-Hassan, Fawzi Eldanawi, Khaled Jawad, Jawad Jawad, Mustafa Mesto and Bill Chehade.
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 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.
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.
A large former Toyota site at 200-214 Blackshaws Rd, Altona North, has been listed for sale, with a possible $40 million price. The 5.3-hectare property was sold by Toyota in 2020. A Victorian government masterplan has earmarked the site for a future town centre with a supermarket, shops and up to 395 homes. No development plans are yet in place. Expressions of interest close at 3pm on November 11.
Aireys Inlet Primary School will host its annual Aireys Fair on 31 October, running from 9am to 3pm. The fair, which has run for more than a decade, is organised by a committee of parents with help from grandparents, relatives and the wider community. It will be held alongside the Aireys Inlet Market, with rides and activities on the oval overlooking the ocean. A community-run bookstore will also operate, with all profits going back to the school.
A fresh look is planned for the playground at Brookville Gardens in Toorak, with a draft design now open for public comment. The design includes a tunnel slide, a double slide, a rock scaling wall, a tree climber, a spider web climber, netted cube monkey bars and a shop counter for imaginative play. The council also proposes updating the existing play towers, which the community has said it values. Feedback can be shared online until 11.59 pm on Monday 16 November.
The husband of Liberal Party candidate Amanda Dow has allegedly been assaulted during a confrontation over election signs in Mernda. The party said he suffered facial injuries and was taken to hospital, where he was discharged. Police said a 59-year-old Mernda man has been charged with recklessly causing injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault. The accused has been released on bail and is due to appear before Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on February 1. Yan Yean is currently held by Labor with a margin of 4.3 per cent.
Federal Parliament paused on Monday to pay tribute to Indi MP Helen Haines, who is recovering in a Melbourne hospital. Police allege Brendan Nugent, 43, drove a four-wheel-drive into her as she collected items from her car outside her Wangaratta electorate office. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for lower temperatures in political debate, warning of rising rage and aggression. Opposition leader Angus Taylor described the attack as a national tragedy. Politicians across parties spoke about threats against MPs and their staff, and a donation page in her name had raised more than $1.2 million.
