The Victorian parliamentary inquiry into fraud and corruption in local government began on Monday.

Council that dumped asbestos to ‘make CEO look good’ among worst examples of dysfunction

Tougher penalties for councils and their staff who breach governance rules should be introduced to protect the sector from corruption,a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

  • Adam Carey

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An anti-Woolworths development demonstrator confronts a YIMBY heckler at a community rally in Elsternwick.

Elsternwick erupts:NIMBYs v YIMBYs as VCAT bypass fuels local fury

Woolworths has sought to overturn a VCAT judgment and applied to Victoria’s planning minister to approve a 148-apartment housing proposal in Elsternwick.

  • Adam Carey
Wallan Environment Group president Norbert Ryan,and former presidents Cr Claudia James and Rob Eldridge on Green Hill,Wallan,with Herne Swamp behind them.

Melbourne could have a new park 76 times the size of the Botanic Gardens – if government acts now

The land for a huge proposed park on Melbourne’s northern fringe could soon be lost to developers,the government has been warned.

  • Adam Carey
Hume City Council councillor Jim Overend in front of the Craigieburn Community Hospital which was built months ago but still isn’t open for use.

Two new Melbourne hospitals were built months ago – but locals still can’t use them

Two of the 10 community hospitals promised by the state government in 2018 have been built but remain largely non-operational,frustrating locals who want to start using them.

  • Broede Carmody andAdam Carey
Julie Mulhauser outside Victoria Hill apartments at the corner Burke and Victoria roads,Camberwell.

‘Gaslighting and manipulation’:Why people suspect consultation on major projects is just a cynical exercise

Community consultation is part of every large project from toll roads to housing towers,but expert research argues the public is being gaslit.

  • Adam Carey
Climate adaptation expert Johanna Nalau says south-eastern Queensland isn’t prepared for more extreme weather.

Alfred held its punches,but is Queensland prepared for a bigger blow?

Southern Queenslanders dodged disaster with ex-tropical cyclone Alfred,but are being warned to do more to prepare for more frequent extreme weather in a changing climate.

  • Adam Carey
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Erosion at Surfers Paradise Beach on the Gold Coast.

Surf’s up but all’s not swell on Gold Coast as beaches swept away

The Gold Coast’s famous beaches have been gutted and thousands of residents remain without power,but the city is getting back to normal.

  • Adam Carey
Security guards in the City of Melbourne

‘Second-best solution’:Two security guards to bolster city’s safety patrols

Melbourne City Council has begun a trial of two security guards accompanying their officers enforcing anti-begging,drinking and drug-taking laws.

  • Adam Carey
Staff at Wyndham’s nibrary lounge in Williams Landing.

The space squeeze shutting families out of libraries,public pools

Ease of access to a local pool or library has become a marker of relative advantage in Melbourne. The gap is widening for the city’s fastest-growing communities.

  • Adam Carey

Melbourne’s growing stamp duty headache

Stamp duty should be phased out and replaced with a residential land tax over the next 30 years,Infrastructure Victoria says in a new report.

  • Adam Carey