Tobacco scheme will need tough powers to end state’s turf wars
Updated
Tobacco

Tobacco scheme will need tough powers to end state’s turf wars

Victoria’s new tobacco licensing laws must have strict character tests,a dedicated task force and massive fines to avoid being a toothless tiger at stopping the state’s underground turf war,the industry has warned.

  • byKieran Rooney,Broede Carmody andChris Vedelago

Latest

Victorian voters ready for the Coalition to climb back from the wilderness

Victorian voters ready for the Coalition to climb back from the wilderness

The state’s voters are ripe for the picking,but the opposition will need to do more to capitalise on Labor’s problems,not simply rely on their misfortune.

  • byAnnika Smethurst
Slip in Labor support pushes Pesutto’s team ahead for first time in years
Exclusive
Liberal Party

Slip in Labor support pushes Pesutto’s team ahead for first time in years

The latest poll by Resolve shows Labor’s primary vote has shed 9 percentage points in the past year,which has allowed the Coalition to grab a lead despite a period of internal unrest.

  • byAnnika Smethurst
Under-fire building watchdog stripped of entire board
Exclusive
Construction

Under-fire building watchdog stripped of entire board

The Allan government has removed the board of the Victorian Building Authority after failures to oversee building insurance and claims of a toxic workplace.

  • byKieran Rooney andRachel Eddie
‘Presidentialisation of politics’:Daniel Andrews’ iron-fist era exposed in new documents

‘Presidentialisation of politics’:Daniel Andrews’ iron-fist era exposed in new documents

The former Victorian premier’s private office was extensively involved in responding to health-related media inquiries,prompting warnings about the centralisation of power.

  • byAisha Dow
Victoria open to stamp duty overhaul to ease burden on first home buyers
Exclusive
Stamp duty

Victoria open to stamp duty overhaul to ease burden on first home buyers

Treasurer Tim Pallas has given his strongest hint yet that the state government would consider ditching stamp duty and replacing it with a land tax.

  • byJosh Gordon andKieran Rooney
Advertisement
‘Waste of taxpayer money’:How the Commonwealth Games was won – and lost

‘Waste of taxpayer money’:How the Commonwealth Games was won – and lost

Bureaucrats gave the government the green light to host the Games despite significant and unresolved concerns and a business case that overstated the benefits,the auditor-general has found.

  • byRachel Eddie andKieran Rooney
Leaked data reveals Victorian hospitals strapped for cash
Exclusive
Healthcare

Leaked data reveals Victorian hospitals strapped for cash

More than half of Victoria’s health services are running low on cash,prompting fears of lay-offs without a major funding injection from the state government.

  • byAnnika Smethurst andKieran Rooney
Deputy distances himself from Pesutto comments in Deeming defamation threat
Exclusive
Liberal Party

Deputy distances himself from Pesutto comments in Deeming defamation threat

David Southwick sought to fend off a legal threat from exiled MP Moira Deeming by arguing he can’t be held responsible for comments made by his party leader.

  • byRachel Eddie
Developers have 30,000 new homes in queue for state’s green light

Developers have 30,000 new homes in queue for state’s green light

A pledge by the Victorian government to fast-track developments in return for affordable housing is prioritising applications for more than 30,000 homes. But another key housing initiative is being questioned.

  • byKieran Rooney
‘Salvation is about saving lives’:CBD churches plead for safe injecting room
Exclusive
Drug reform

‘Salvation is about saving lives’:CBD churches plead for safe injecting room

Spurred by their faith and dozens of overdose deaths,city church leaders have thrown their support behind a safe injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD as the government wavers on its commitment.

  • byRachel Eddie