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Building industry whistleblowers put off by confusing complaints system: report
The interim report of a review into Victoria’s building sector comes after an investigation by The Age into illegal and unethical behaviour at taxpayer-funded worksites.
Analysis
Naked City
A killer dumped his third victim in the ocean. It would’ve worked if the tide didn’t turn
Having disposed of his second victim in one of Victoria’s bays John Leslie Coombes saw no reason why it wouldn’t work again.
Updated
LGBTQ
Albanese backflips on sexuality census question after backlash
An internal Labor revolt forced the government to change its position following a week of acrimonious public debate.
Analysis
US Votes 2024
Harris avoids major misstep in first unscripted interview since becoming presidential nominee
She made the case to “turn the page” on Donald Trump and the division and chaos he sowed, offering a new way forward. Trump was not impressed.
NAB boss slams ‘outrageous’ coffee surcharge
NAB boss Andrew Irvine has labelled a surcharge he was hit with when buying a coffee as “outrageous” and suggested the Reserve Bank reconsider rules around the practice.
Nelomie did everything to protect herself. Her estranged husband killed her anyway
A judge has suggested family violence offenders be forced to wear ankle bracelets after the axe murder of a mother in front of her children.
Winter blues: Melbourne endures its darkest season yet
Melbourne’s winter was a lesson in extremes: darker, warmer and wetter. What can it tell us about our changing climate, and what summer might bring?
Opinion
AFL 2024
It’s a cardinal rule of footy fandom, but I think I’m ready to switch teams
Supporting a footy team should be fulfilling. Enjoyable! It should give a return. It should not be triggering. It should not induce heart attacks.
Kate Halfpenny
Regular columnist
Updated
Indigenous justice
‘A failure has occurred’: Perth teen takes own life at youth prison
There are calls for the police minister to resign as a youth has taken his own life inside the Perth facility; the second ever to do so, with both tragedies occurring within the past year.
Rivalries, marquee clashes, bigger stadiums: The ideas to make AFLW a powerhouse
The AFLW season starts tonight, but where is the competition headed? And what should it look like by 2030?
Teen Aussie sprinter Gout Gout goes viral – again – after dominant world champs run
Gout Gout’s dominant victories have made him world famous on social media, and the 16-year-old did it again at the world junior championships in Lima.
Gold medallist Michael Klim: ‘My nickname was Lumpy as I was a chubby kid’
The Olympic swimmer reminisces about the women who made an impact on his life.
Music promoters awarded $2.84m over cancelled Robbie Williams concert
The concert was to be a part of the 2020 Australian Grand Prix weekend, but it and the race were cancelled as the COVID-19 pandemic began to take off.
Exclusive
Foreign aid
The World Bank head has thoughts on the Pacific – and needs Australia’s help
Ajay Banga will make the first visit to Pacific Island nations by a World Bank leader in almost 50 years.
Harris makes bold pitch to ‘Trump country’
Casting herself as a president for everyone, Kamala Harris has visited voters in the deep south of the US, barnstorming areas that previous Democratic nominees have previously ignored.
The ultimate Fiji holiday guide for families
Whether you’re a first-timer or return visitor, travelling with teens or enduring the terrible twos, Fiji has a family holiday experience everyone will love.
Call yourself an Oasis fan? Darren spent $200k to become Liam Gallagher
As the lead singer of Noasis, Australia’s most successful Oasis tribute band, Darren Spiby can lay claim to being the group’s biggest fan - and he’s got the receipts to prove it.
What caused a large protest in Melbourne this week? Take The Age quiz
How well do you know Melbourne and Victoria? Test your trivia and news knowledge with Stephen Brook’s weekly quiz.
Paris Paralympics
French impressions: Australia’s athletes as you’ve never seen them
An award-winning photographer, a film camera, and Australia’s Olympian and Paralympian athletes as you’ve never seen them before.
Escaping the war, this Ukrainian athlete spent 24 hours on a train as bombs hit
Ukraine’s Artem Kolinko opens up ahead of his Paralympics debut on a terrifying long-haul train ride that might have saved his life.
Victoria
It’s a 29-hectare parcel of land, and it could be the secret to getting trucks out of the inner west
Making the site available to shipping companies is expected to drive down truck movements across inner-west suburbs.
Updated
Crime
Newborn baby found injured outside Melbourne home
Officers are investigating and a woman is under police guard after a newborn baby was found injured outside a home in Melbourne’s south-east.
Five young trans women died. The coroner says this is what has to change
The police search for Bridget Flack – whose body was found in park by members of the LGBTQ community – was plagued by deficiencies, including a failure to appreciate her risk of suicide and delayed efforts to triangulate her phone.
It Had To Be You: When Harry Connick Jr met Treasurer Tim Pallas
Not only is the US crooner a performer, actor, singer, composer and Grammy winner, he is also a government lobbyist.
Bum note: The predictable, avoidable MSO mess that was months in the making
The confused and complicated situation engulfing the MSO goes beyond the Israel-Palestine conflict to a cold war raging for months inside Australia’s oldest professional orchestra.
See & Do
The hidden darkness that lies at the heart of Impressionism
Sebastian Smee’s book looks at the wider influences on visual art that are not necessarily marked on the canvas.
‘Shift in an unusually huge way’: How AI choreographs a dance workshop
Arts and artificial intelligence are often at odds, but a new dance performance aims to create harmony from the intersection.
Politics
Updated
LGBTQ
Six MPs defy Albanese over census backflip that baffled Coalition
Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney took a rare step in breaking with the government’s position, taking the revolt to six government MPs.
Business
Rebel billionaire: The 39-year-old who sparked a global firestorm
Pavel Durov’s laissez-faire attitude to regulation made messaging app Telegram into a giant. Now it has landed him in hot water.
World
US Army defends cemetery employee in Trump campaign incident
The military, which rarely comments on political matters, said the employee who was pushed aside acted professionally and was being unfairly attacked.
Opinion
The more-than-Dan dilemma: Allan has to convince voters. Fast
Annika Smethurst
State Political Editor
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Property
‘More bang for your buck’: Where you can tree change for $618,000
“Your typical buyer there can sell their house, come down here and buy something probably nicer and still have $1 million in their pockets to play with.”
Suburbs where families can’t afford to pay the mortgage, and can’t afford not to
Most home owners have managed to keep up with 13 interest rate rises, but in some areas at least one in 50 borrowers are behind.
Good Food
Lifestyle
‘A very sad day’: Dion Lee to wind up after failure to find saviour
After three months of searching for a buyer, the troubled business, once the pinnacle of Australian fashion, will close permanently.
Culture
Exclusive
Arts
Opera Australia in turmoil after shock departure of artistic director
Jo Davies had barely 18 months in the key role at the nation’s biggest performing arts company.
Traveller
Drivedrive
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Analysis
AFL 2024
The Bulldogs won the flag from outside the top four in 2016. Is this the year another team does it?
In the tightest season ever, many pundits think the teams in the bottom four of the eight are as good a chance of winning the flag as those in the top four. But are they really?
‘What are we aiming for?’ Players want to know the plan for AFLW to explode
The AFLW season starts tonight, but where is the competition headed? We spoke to players, coaches, and administrators, including the new AFLW boss, and asked, what should it look like by 2030?
AFL Briefing
AFL 2024
AFL bans bottle thrower for life; Bulldogs’ AFLW game officially moved to MCG; Houston rejects Dees
The AFL has banned a Carlton supporter for life from all AFL and AFLW matches, the Bulldogs have moved their match, and a Power star stays put.
Concussions rule Will Pucovski out for entire season
Will Pucovski is yet to medically retire from concussion according to officials, but a decision to end his troubled career is expected before the start of the season.
Analysis
AFL 2024
Inside the politics of the Petracca predicament
Like a boulder hurtling down the mountain, the destructive momentum from Christian Petracca’s injury has gathered so much velocity that if it is not halted, it could demolish the Melbourne hierarchy.
Teen Aussie sprinter Gout Gout goes viral – again – after dominant world champs run
Gout Gout’s dominant victories have made him world famous on social media, and the 16-year-old did it again at the world junior championships in Lima.
Thompson takes top-10 scalp at US Open; four Aussie men into third round
Jordan Thompson, Chris O’Connell and Alex de Minaur have joined Alexei Popyrin in the US Open’s last 32 as Australia’s strong start in New York rages on, with more countrymen still to play on Friday.
Have Your Say
September heat: This is who is under the most pressure in the finals
These six men face the toughest task of all – staying composed when the heat is on in finals and delivering when it matters most in September.
Kane Cornes
AFL columnist
