2017 is a year Melbourne will never forget.
Only weeks into the new year, Bourke Street became the scene of unspeakable horror. Just under 12 months later, the city again shuddered as a car slammed into pedestrians in Flinders Street.
The twin attacks book-ended a year in which an alleged siege in Brighton, a balcony collapse in Doncaster, and a plane crash at Essendon airport also gripped readers and left families grieving.
In a year of many dark days, there was also love – Australia voted for same sex marriage equality; discovery – astronaut Scott Kelly described his year in space; and intrigue – the mystery spider that terrified Metro passengers.
Breaking news dominated our most widely read stories but there were others that led the country's news agenda. Keep reading below for The Age Editor Alex Lavelle's selection of some of our other best exclusive stories for 2017.
These were the top 20 most-read stories of 2017 on theage.com.au:
Aerial vision of the site where a balcony collapsed in Doncaster East Photo: Channel 7
20. Doncaster East balcony collapse
A Tupperware Christmas party ended in disaster on December 16 when the balcony of a Doncaster East home collapsed, killing two people and injuring another 17.
The party-goers had gathered on the balcony for a group photo when the timber structure gave way. Croydon mother Cheryl Taylor, 59, was one of two women killed. A 37-year-old Reservoir woman was also killed.
Premier Daniel Andrews said there would be an investigation into the collapse.
The top scoring VCE students were awarded the Melbourne Chancellor Scholarship by the University of Melbourne. Photo: Paul Jeffers
19. VCE results
On December 15 after 13 years of schooling and an anxious wait, more than 50,000 students received their VCE results and most of them also learned the ATAR score that usually determines university course admissions.
The average ATAR across all students was 65.10 and among the high achievers was Amber Truong who achieved a ATAR or 99.4 and was named dux of her school despite a year in which her mother died, shortly after sending her daughter to Australia for the chance of a better future.
Passengers try to squeeze aboard a packed train during the rail meltdown. Photo: Joe Armao
18. Melbourne's rail network grinds to a halt
On July 13 stranded commuters were forced to take taxis or Ubers - which consequently charged surge prices - after all of Melbourne's railway lines were suspended due to a computer fault.
While it was only for an hour, it happened at 4pm, just as the go-home-from-work crowd was about to hit the network, causing peak-hour fury.
People receive medical care in Thrale Street near London Bridge following a terrorist attack on June 4 this year. Photo: Federica De Caria
17. London attacks
Australians Kirsty Boden, 28, and 21-year-old Sara Zelenak were among eight people killed on June 4, when three attackers ploughed into London Bridge pedestrians with a white van before stabbing revellers in Borough Market.
Khuram Shazad Butt, a 27-year-old Pakistan-born British citizen, and his two accomplices, Rachid Redouane, 30, who claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan, and Youssef Zaghba, a 22-year-old Italian national of Moroccan descent, were shot dead by armed police eight minutes after the first emergency call.
Theresa May, Britain's prime minister, leaves 10 Downing Street on her way to meet the Queen after the election. Photo: Luke MacGregor
16. UK election
Britain's Conservatives, led by Theresa May, lost their majority in the country's Parliament, in a shock election result. Mrs May's decision to call a snap election for June 8 was slammed as the most stunning own goal in British politics since David Cameron decided to hold the Brexit referendum.
The Conservatives limped back into power as a minority government, backed by Northern Ireland's unionists.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn led his party to win millions more votes – an extra 10 per cent of voters – compared with Ed Miliband in 2015.
Sea fleas tucking in to some steak. Photo: Supplied
15. Brighton Beach sea fleas
Melburnians were horrified after Sam Kanizay, 16, was feasted upon by sea fleas after taking a dip at Brighton beach. Sam's father compounded the horror by filming a swarm of the flesh-eating creatures, which he captured at the same beach, going crazy for raw steak.
A member of the public reacts after the Manchester terror attack. Photo: AP
14. Manchester Arena explosion killing 22
On May 22, a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb was detonated as people were leaving Manchester Arena following a concert by Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including the attacker, and more than 500 were injured.
After initial suspicions that this was the work of a terrorist network, police later said the bomber, 22-year-old Salman Ramadan Abedi, had largely acted alone but that others had been aware of his plans.
Cats whiskers: Gold Coast's Gary Ablett will return to Geelong in 2018. Photo: Digitally altered image
13. AFL trade period
Our live coverage of the AFL trade period attracted hundreds of thousands of readers with the news that Gary Ablett would be returning to Geelong, the biggest deal struck this season. The news came as Ablett mourned the death of his sister Natasha and said he wanted to move closer to his family.
Photo: Arsineh Houspian
12. Stamp duty cuts for first home buyers
Thousands of Victorians rushed to take advantage of first home buyer incentives that came into effect on July 1, with many managing to pay no stamp duty when buying their first property.
Under the state government concessions, first home buyers do not pay any stamp duty on properties under $600,000 and receive stamp duty concessions for properties under $750,000. The government also doubled the first home owners grant to $20,000 for the purchase of newly-built houses in regional Victoria.
The incentives appeared to have been particularly popular in regional centres including Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton.
Surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann died in June after being attacked outside Box Hill Hospital. Photo: Epworth Health
11. Box Hill heart surgeon dies four weeks after alleged one-punch assault
Highly respected heart surgeon and father of two, Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, died a month after he was allegedly punched in the head at Box Hill Hospital
The 44-year-old was attacked when he apparently expressed concern about people smoking near the hospital entrance. His shocking death prompted many medical professionals to describe the safety of medical staff as a "ticking time bomb".
Mill Park man Joseph Esmaili, 22, has been charged with manslaughter over Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann's death.
Senators Louise Pratt, Janet Rice, Dean Smith, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, Penny Wong and Derryn Hinch celebrate the passing of the marriage equality bill in the Senate. Photo: Andrew Meares
10. Same-sex marriage result
Australia officially become the 26th country to legalise same-sex marriage after the law was passed on December 8 with the overwhelming backing of the Federal Parliament.
This followed the emphatic yes response given by the Australian public in the much-debated postal survey to join the rest of the English-speaking world by embracing marriage equality.
Police respond to the hostage crisis in Brighton in June. Photo: Luis Ascui
9. Brighton siege: Two dead, three police shot
On June 5 radicalised Islamist drug addict Yacqub Khayre kidnapped a woman and then shot dead receptionist Kai Hao, 36, at Brighton serviced apartments in order to lure police. After about two hours, he strode openly towards police firing his gun, injuring three before he was inevitably killed.
Khayre was considered a "peripheral player" in a long running anti-terror investigation code-named Neath. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the act of terrorism, saying "the attack in Melbourne, Australia was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State".
A woman attended to by paramedics near King Street nightclub Inflation. Photo: 7News
8. Police shoot man and woman in King St nightclub
Dale Ewins, 35, and Zita Sukys, 37, were attending a Saints and Sinners swingers party dressed as comic book villains at King Street nightclub Inflation when police from the Critical Incident Response Team stormed the club and opened fire on the couple on July 8. Both suffered gun shot wounds and are now suing police in the Supreme Court. They allege police were repeatedly told that Mr Ewins was carrying a toy gun by nightclub staff before the shooting.
Properties in north-east Victoria after the storms. Photo: Liam Mannix
7. Victoria braces for worst flooding in decades
As summer began, the Bureau of Meteorology warned Victorians they were about to be hit by a super storm that could threaten lives and properties. Victorians were told the state was entering "uncharted territory" with forecasters predicting that all of Melbourne's rivers would flood. Events were cancelled, businesses prepared for major flooding and the Premier urged workers to leave the CBD early.
Towns in north-east Victoria suffered some minor flooding but the expected storm was not as severe as people had expected leading the bureau to later defend its dire warnings. The bureau said it would do the same again to ensure people were prepared.
Rekindling ridden by jockey Corey Brown wins the 2017 Melbourne Cup. Photo: Tracey Nearmy
Joseph O'Brien made headlines when he became the youngest trainer to win the Melbourne Cup with three-year-old Rekindling. Paris Jackson also received plenty of attention with her appearance at the Birdcage, which involved a last minute change of outfit and photos of her pulling faces at photographers.
Plane crash at Essendon DFO Photo: SKY NEWS
5. Essendon Airport plane crash
Five people were killed when a light charter plane on its way to King Island crashed into the DFO shopping centre near Essendon Airport on February 21.
Pilot Max Quartermain, 63, and all four passengers died in the crash. At the time of the crash, police suspected "catastrophic engine failure" could be to blame but an interim report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that both of the plane's engines were working at the time of the crash. The final report is due in February 2018.
Scott Kelly takes a photo of himself inside the Cupola, a special module of the International Space Station.
4. Astronaut Scott Kelly on the devastating effects of a year in space
An extract from astronaut Scott Kelly fascinating book, Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery, about his year in space appeared in Good Weekend in October. The story made its way on to social media site Reddit in America and was quickly shared, sending its readership figures into orbit and making it one of our most read stories of the year.
A big spider demands at least six seats of legroom. You cannot see the spider in the photo. Photo: Supplied
3. Massive spider claims six seats for itself on busy Melbourne train
Anyone who has travelled on a crowded peak-hour Metro train in Melbourne knows that something pretty serious would have to clear six empty seats. In this case, we were told it was a large and scary spider that had commuters cowering.
When our morning blogger Craig Butt was sent this photo, even thought you couldn't actually see the spider, he had to share it and our readers felt the same with the article being viewed more than 480,000 times, mostly through social media shares.
Even the Premier weighed in, tweeting that the spider was no doubt that one passenger who puts their feet on the seat.
A man is dragged from a vehicle in Flinders Street after an attack that left more than a dozen people injured Photo: Seven News
2. Flinders Street attack
Melbourne was preparing for Christmas when a white SUV ploughed into pedestrians at the intersection of Flinders and Elizabeth streets. Twenty people were taken to hospital including the alleged driver Saeed Noori, 32, and an off-duty police officer who was praised as a hero after he arrested Mr Noori following the incident.
On December 29, eight days after he was hit by the vehicle, 83-year-old Northcote grandfather Antonios Crocaris died from his injuries. As of Sunday, five people remained in hospital.
Mr Noori has been charged with 18 counts of attempted murder and one count of reckless conduct endangering life, but one of those charges is now likely to be upgraded to murder.
Floral tributes in the Bourke Street Mall. Photo: Eddie Jim
1. Bourke Street tragedy
As 2017 began, Melbourne witnessed one of its most shocking days on January 20 when a car mowed down pedestrians in Bourke Street in the CBD, killing six people, including a 10-year-old girl and a three-month-old baby boy, and injuring dozens more.
The horrific scenes left families shattered and a city in mourning. The impact on Melbourne could be seen in the millions of view of our breaking news coverage of the alleged attack that left a scar on our city.
Dimitrious Gargasoulas has been charged with six counts of murder and 28 counts of attempted murder. Mr Gargasoulas' lawyers suspect the 27-year-old will be either unfit to enter a plea or will plead not guilty on the grounds of mental impairment.
Editor's picks
In a year marred by tragedy in Melbourne, breaking news was our most widely read while other stories and investigations by The Age shone a light on politics, business, world events and the pressures faced by Melburnians.
Age Editor Alex Lavelle named these as our most cracking exclusives throughout the year:
- Fairfax Media's investigations into Sam Dastyari's dealings with a wealthy chinese donor rocked politics and led to the Labor Senator's resignation
- Opposition Leader Matthew Guy's 'lobster with a mobster' was revealed by the Age's investigation team and led to the resignation of Liberal Party figure Barrie Macmillan
- Michael Bachelard and Kate Geraghty's harrowing coverage of the experience of IS survivors in Mosul earned them the Gold Walkley, Australia's top journalism prize
- Adele Ferguson's investigations into the business practices of pizza chain Domino's and retirement village operator Aveo held them to account and spoke out for workers and retirees
- Fairfax Media's exclusive investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Don Burke shocked Australians as the impact of the Harvey Weinstein scandal sent ripples throughout the world
- Miki Perkins' powerful story with a teenage rape victim and her family helped push the Andrews government to vow to reform rape laws. The story was nominated for a Walkley award
- A class action being taken against Macquarie Group was exclusively revealed by Cameron Houston and Chris Vedelago that led to brokers facing a Senate inquiry over misconduct allegations
- Fairfax's federal politics team provided outstanding coverage of the ongoing citizenship crisis that dominated Australian politics for most of the year
- Melbourne's booming population has led to growing pains for the city. Royce Millar and Ben Schneiders stories on the issue attracted the most reader feedback for 2017
And finally, in 2017 our respected and beloved Caroline Wilson announced she would be stepping down as The Age's chief football writer after 19 years. It was the year that her adored Tigers won the AFL premiership in one of the year's most thrilling moments.
Her column on her life as a Richmond supporter showed why her writing has had such an impact on our readers.
Thankfully, Caro will continue to write a regular AFL column as Jake Niall's takes up the reigns as chief footy writer in what is bound to be another eventful year.
Happy New Year! Tell us what stories had the biggest impact on you in 2018 in the comments below.
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