Kate Ashton

Melbourne

Journalist at Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

👋 journalist with @abcnews in Melbourne via NT. Views my own. [email protected] / Signal (+61) 428 890 622. She/her

Articles

Push for school curriculum changes to improve First Nations history literacy

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Natasha Schapova |Kate Ashton

A number of Victorians have told a truth-telling inquiry their schooling lacked depth when learning about First Nations history. They are calling for changes to the curriculum to teach the findings from the Yoorrook Justice Commission including settlement and its impacts on First Peoples. The Yoorrook Justice Commission will hand down its report next month and is expected to include more than 100 recommendations, and advice on better teaching methods.
Adam Bandt has lost his seat of Melbourne. What happened to the Greens in Victoria?

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton |Madi Chwasta

In the progressive stronghold city of Melbourne, the Greens were hopeful that by now, they might finally be celebrating winning a second Victorian seat in the federal lower house. Instead, 15-year local member and party leader Adam Bandt is out of a job after Labor's Sarah Whitty claimed the formerly "safe" Greens inner-city seat of Melbourne.
Macnamara has been a safe Labor seat for a century. Here's how it can change hands

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton

On a blue-sky day at a shopping strip in Melbourne's inner south-east, Ripponlea resident Tom is unwavering about voting Green in the upcoming federal election. Tom will vote in the electorate of Macnamara, which spans inner-city suburbs south and south-east of Melbourne's CBD, including Port Melbourne, Albert Park, St Kilda and down to Ripponlea and Caulfield at its southern boundary.
In Melbourne's bayside suburbs, a teal-Liberal rematch for Goldstein is underway

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton

Teal MP for Goldstein Zoe Daniel will attempt to win a second term in the bayside Melbourne seat. Former Liberal MP for the electorate, Tim Wilson, is fighting to seize it back for the conservative side of politics. Some voters who spoke to the ABC said climate change, crime and cost-of-living were among the topics they wanted to see addressed. For Sarah, juggling life as a mother of two young kids doesn't leave much time for politics.
Kooyong is a key battleground electorate. Here's what voters are saying

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton

Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer is hoping to win the seat of Kooyong in Melbourne's east from teal independent Monique Ryan. While Dr Ryan won the seat from the Liberals in 2022 by 2.9 per cent, it's predicted the margin will be closer this election due to boundary redistributions. Kooyong voters told the ABC that cost-of-living would be front of mind when casting their vote, though several still hadn't made up their mind.
Melbourne's Catholic churches worth $3.3 billion, Yoorrook truth-telling inquiry told

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton

Estimates of the value of Victorian churches belonging to Catholic, Uniting and Anglican institutions have been revealed by the state's truth-telling inquiry. Church leaders have warned the figures, which were calculated using different methodologies, should be carefully interpreted. The Yoorrook Justice Commission requested the figures as part of its investigation into land theft and dispossession of First Peoples during Victoria's colonisation.
In Melbourne's west, Khawaja Moeen Haroon is suspected of an NDIS fraud worth millions

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Jessica Longbottom |Ben Butler |Kate Ashton |Danielle Bonica

Large sums of taxpayer money meant for some of the most vulnerable Australians have been flowing through companies linked to a man named Khawaja Moeen Haroon. While his network has been under investigation for suspected fraud on the NDIS, some of those in his care have been left living in squalor. This is how he built his network, and the human cost to those caught in its web.
Truck driver involved in fatal crash has licence suspended after refusing a drug test

Mar 14, 2025 | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton

A truck driver who refused a police blood drug test after an accident which killed a Melbourne journalist has had his license suspended for two and a half years. The Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard the 46-year-old truck driver was not at fault for the accident at an inner-suburban intersection in August last year.
Shared histories of Taiwan's Indigenous people and Australia’s Yolŋu on display in new cross-cultural performance

Feb 23, 2025 | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following story contains an image of people who have died. Thousands of kilometres of ocean separate Banula Marika's Yolŋu people from the original custodians of the Pacific island of Taiwan — but despite vast distances between them, they've found something shared.
Recruiting Victoria Police's next chief commissioner likely to take at least a few months following Shane Patton resignation

Feb 18, 2025 | abc.net.au | Kate Ashton |Mikaela Ortolan |Ben Butler

Recruitment for Victoria's next police commissioner will likely take months, with former police warning the next pick must be ready to fight the government on funding, address ailing morale within the force and reassure the community on crime. Any incoming commissioner is facing down a disgruntled force where thousands of police union members (87 per cent of more than 14,500 voters) handed down a vote of no-confidence in Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, following a protracted pay dispute.

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Kate Ashton @ktshtn

25 Mar 25

RT @PeterCronau: One of the most important @4Corners screened — facing the past of our country is so essential for a truly independent matu…

Kate Ashton @ktshtn

25 Feb 25

RT @mhar4: Really nice report by @ktshtn for @abcnews on Gapu Ŋupan, the collaboration between Yolŋu, Paiwan and Amis artists and dancers b…

Kate Ashton @ktshtn

14 Oct 24

RT @ABCmediawatch: “Al Jazeera and Anadolu both covered Hassan Hamad’s death. As did several pro-Palestinian sites. But there has been li…

Kate Ashton

Articles

Push for school curriculum changes to improve First Nations history literacy

Adam Bandt has lost his seat of Melbourne. What happened to the Greens in Victoria?

Macnamara has been a safe Labor seat for a century. Here's how it can change hands

In Melbourne's bayside suburbs, a teal-Liberal rematch for Goldstein is underway

Kooyong is a key battleground electorate. Here's what voters are saying

Melbourne's Catholic churches worth $3.3 billion, Yoorrook truth-telling inquiry told

In Melbourne's west, Khawaja Moeen Haroon is suspected of an NDIS fraud worth millions

Truck driver involved in fatal crash has licence suspended after refusing a drug test

Shared histories of Taiwan's Indigenous people and Australia’s Yolŋu on display in new cross-cultural performance

Recruiting Victoria Police's next chief commissioner likely to take at least a few months following Shane Patton resignation

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