Get the appA 5.25-metre fibreglass sultana sculpture has been unveiled on Mildura's riverfront in Victoria's north-west. The Big Sultana was built over 13 weeks to mark 100 years of dried fruit production in the Sunraysia region. It sits opposite Ornamental Lakes Park and features a beaming smile, which Sunbeam says is meant to bring a bit of fun. Local leaders say it will appeal to families and tell the story of the region's agricultural history.
Mildura has unveiled a 5.25-metre sculpture of a sultana to celebrate more than a century of sultana production in the Victorian town. Sunbeam commissioned the Big Sultana, which is roughly 525 times the size of an average sultana. Mildura Rural City Council mayor Ali Cupper said it honours the growers, workers and families who helped shape the region. The sculpture will undergo a year-long exhibition before its continued presence in Mildura is reviewed. Sunbeam general manager Elizabeth Miller said it marks 100 years of the company. The Big Sultana is at Ornamental Lakes Park, just off Hugh King Drive.
Federal MP Helen Haines remains in a critical condition almost a week after an alleged targeted attack outside her Wangaratta office. Her legs were amputated in the days after the incident. Her alleged attacker, 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, faces charges including intentionally causing serious injury. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said police are examining a possible rift between Nugent and his family as one motive. Nugent is due back in court on February 4.
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Get the appVictoria Police say a reported rift between Brendan Nugent and his family is one line of inquiry in the attack on federal MP Helen Haines. Commissioner Mike Bush said every line of inquiry remains open. He said Mr Nugent's father and the father's partner have been helpful to the investigation. Haines remains in a critical condition at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne. Police are also reviewing security for politicians ahead of the Victorian state election on November 28.
Former AFL footballer Nick Stevens has lost his Supreme Court appeal against his conviction. The former Carlton and Port Adelaide midfielder was jailed in June over a fraud scheme that cost six Mildura families a total of $170,000. Stevens took payments in 2017 to install pools without a builder's registration, permits or proper insurance. A jury found him guilty of 12 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of using a false document. He was acquitted of one identical charge, which formed the basis of his appeal.
The National Rural Health Alliance says the health spending gap between rural and urban Australians has widened to $9.23 billion in 2026. The gap was $8.35 billion in 2025 and $6.55 billion in 2023. Each rural Australian receives, on average, $1,218 less in healthcare funding a year than city residents, an increase of $138 on last year. People in towns of 5,000 or fewer bear the largest shortfall, at $6,368 less per person each year. The alliance is calling on federal and state governments to act urgently.
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.
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.