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2 months ago | 
abc.net.au | Julia Bergin |Tyrone Dalton |Kellie Lazzaro
New emergency warnings have been issued for out-of-control bushfires spreading in multiple directions in the Grampians/Gariwerd National Park. About 100 residents in the towns of Mooralla, Woohlpooer, Glenisla and Rocklands have been told to leave immediately this morning after fires flared along the park's western edge, 18 kilometres north-east of Cavendish. Incident controller Peter West said the Balwyn Road fire increased in size to 7,000 hectares overnight, even in mild conditions.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Julia Bergin
Success stories are emerging from a fledgling program to divert Aboriginal people from the criminal justice system. Australia's first Indigenous-led diversion program has been operating in Victoria for a year. It follows a similar program established almost a decade ago for the wider population.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Julia Bergin
Rodney Douglas gives his elder, Uncle Rodney Handy, a holla, handshake, and a hug before launching into a friendly chat. It has become something of a routine for the pair, chatting out the front of Mr Handy's home in Horsham, 300 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. A little over a year ago, the two were strangers. But after working closely together through a new Aboriginal-led diversion program, they are proud to call each other family.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Tamara Clark |Julia Bergin
A man is missing at a popular inland swimming spot in north-west Victoria. New South Wales police said a man, believed to be 54 years old, was reported missing at the Murray River Apex River Beach Holiday Park in Mildura just after 4pm on Tuesday. Mildura local Brodie Provan, who was on scene at the time, told the ABC he saw the man calling out for help from the water. "I probably spent about 10 minutes in the water trying to find him, and then the police showed up," Mr Provan said.
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Dec 26, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Laura Mayers |Julia Bergin
Firefighters have worked tirelessly through the night to protect homes from a bushfire that continues to burn through Grampians/Gariwerd National Park in Victoria. This morning there are six emergency warnings current for the Grampians including for the communities of Halls Gap, Pomonal, Moyston, Willaura, Mafeking, and Maroona. South of the Grampians, a watch and act message that it's not safe to return is in place for Glenthompson and Strathmore.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Julia Bergin
A man due to be sentenced over a fatal crash in western Victoria two years ago has failed to show up to court. Grampians paramedic and former police officer Pauline Smith was killed in the crash near Stawell. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the other driver, Mingen He.A County Court of Victoria judge has issued an arrest warrant for a man who failed to show up to court for sentencing over a crash that killed much-loved paramedic and mother-of-three Pauline Smith.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Gillian Aeria |Julia Bergin |Andrew Kelso
Recreational climbers were the first to respond after a 69-year-old rock climber died in a fall at Mount Arapiles in western Victoria. The New Zealand woman fell as she scaled the final section of a climb called Eskimo Nell. Mount Arapiles is a renowned rock climbing destination attracting outdoor climbers from across the world. Emergency services were called around 3:30pm on Tuesday afternoon to Centenary Park Access Road. Climbing veteran Zorba Parer heard a cry and went to help.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Julia Bergin |Angus Verley |Tamara Clark |Emile Pavlich
A fast-moving fire has flattened a house, severely damaged another and gutted 1,300 hectares of timber plantation and bushland in Victoria's west. The CFA and Victoria Police are treating it as suspicious. A police arson chemist is investigating the cause of the blaze. A fast-spreading fire burnt through 1,300 hectares of bushland in regional Victoria over the two days leading up to Monday, flattening one home entirely and destroying much of another.
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Nov 6, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Julia Bergin |Gillian Aeria
Traditional owners of Victoria's Dyurrite Cultural Landscape, also known as the Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park, say a land management plan will "reset" the balance between cultural heritage and recreational use. About 48 per cent of the rock-climbing areas in the world-famous park, about an hour's drive north-west of the Grampians National Park, would close under the plan.
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Oct 21, 2024 | 
themandarin.com.au | Julian Bajkowski |Alex Caruana |Julia Bergin |Daniel Holmes
ACT’s political leaders have come together after a bruising election campaign. The rise of scorched earth politics in Australia has been visible in the occasionally personal Queensland leaders’ debate and opposition leader Peter Dutton’s digs at ABC journalists. The United Nations and OECD think polarisation is one of the biggest threats to global stability right now. The ACT election this weekend has shown there is still room for civility in electoral politics.
