By Lily Nicolitsopoulos Petition promotion (Photo: Richard Welch, MP website) After a year-long battle to scrap the Blackburn Station activity centre project, residents have been handed a partial win as amendments and budget-funding address their key concerns. Blackburn Station is one of 60 train and tram activity centres proposed by the State Government in 2025. Activity centres are a designated zone for increased development, centred around public transport activity hubs.

By Abbie Gargett Nigel Farage has won the Clacton-on-Sea seat with 63.3% of the votes, ending one of the strangest by-elections in British history. Despite the absence of all major parties, there were 34 candidates, including many satirical candidates and serious independents. Most notably, one with the alter-ego ‘Count Binface’, who came second with 26.9% of the vote. Farage triggered the by-election last month when he resigned from parliament, amid inquiries into a £5 milli

Charlotte Sanderson reports on Victorian women's football teams finally getting a fair go The growth of local Victorian women’s football teams has contributed to building a more equal and fair environment for women of all ages in local AFL clubs. North Ringwood Saints Football Club - in one of Melbourne’s eastern suburban football leagues - has shown a drastic increase in the number of female players since the 2019 debut of their women’s team. North Ringwood Saints Footb

Hayley Price reports on a short documentary to raise awareness, shot by Swinburne student Emerging filmmaker Luke Pafumi has directed a trailblazing short documentary on the Victorian Deafblind Community in conjunction with Swinburne University. The World in Your Hands is a short documentary Pafumi has been working on since March, 2026, as a second-year Film and Television student at the university. Pafumi, who experiences colour-blindness, says the documentary aims to sp

Mark Lucas reports on a new challenge facing Melbourne engineering students hoping to win a top F1 race. Melbourne engineering students compete in SAE race Melbourne university students will be facing a new challenge in their quest to win the internationally-recognised SAE-A (Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia) car race. After 20 years based in Melbourne, this December the race moves to the South Australian desert. Over 1200 engineering students from Australia, Asi

After eight years hosting local and touring musicians, Brunswick’s Stay Gold shut its doors, writes Daniel Jones Beloved Brunswick venue, Stay Gold, shut its doors on June 21 as the cost-of-living crisis dealt another blow to Melbourne’s live music scene. The venue on Sydney Road announced the closure in a Facebook post on April 29. Bookings assistant Hannah Hopwood said with their lease ending, the general cost of living led to the tough decision to close down the club inste