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

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

1 week 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

1 week 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 weeks 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

3 weeks 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

1 month ago | 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

2 months ago | 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

2 months ago | 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.
Denied a 'proper education', two former homeschoolers call for home visits

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

When Samantha ended up in a mainstream school after several years of homeschooling, she said her social skills were so poor she could barely hold a conversation with her classmates. "I could not relate to any of them," she said. Samantha, whose name has been changed in this story for legal reasons, was a teenager at the time. "They were all experiencing having boyfriends and girlfriends at that age, or going to the movies or shopping centres by themselves or walking home by themselves," she said.
Community leaders step up to solve loneliness

Jan 12, 2025 | abc.net.au | Kimberley Price |Costa Haritos |Kate Ashton

One-third of Australians feel lonely some or all of the time in their lives. In Melbourne's outer suburbs, two residents realised their were experiencing isolation, and started their own connection catch-ups.
Loneliness can be a problem in Melbourne's outer suburbs, but residents are fighting back

Jan 12, 2025 | abc.net.au | Costa Haritos |Kate Ashton

Retiree Gaye Martin knows what loneliness looks like. In her local area in Melbourne's outer northern suburbs — where issues like access to transport and cost-of-living concerns can compound social isolation — the former aged care worker would often call elderly residents at their homes. Sometimes, she would be their only visitor that week. "When you go there, they're just so excited," she said.

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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

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

Denied a 'proper education', two former homeschoolers call for home visits

Community leaders step up to solve loneliness

Loneliness can be a problem in Melbourne's outer suburbs, but residents are fighting back

Contact details

Emails

Socials & Sites

Coverage map

X (formerly Twitter)