WHAT’S COMING UP 🎟️

• SATURDAY 01/08/26, 7:30-9:30PM | Lior

• THURSDAY 06/08/26 TO SATURDAY 08/08/26 | Anne of Green Gables

• THURSDAY 06/08/26 TO SATURDAY 29/08/26 | Treasure Island

• FRIDAY 07/08/26, 7:30-8:40PM | Tell Mama! Karise Eden Sings Janis Joplin

• FRIDAY 07/08/26, 8-10:30PM | Things of Stone and Wood

• FRIDAY 14/08/26, 8:30-11PM | Dave Hole and Geoff Achison

• SATURDAY 15/08/26, 9AM-5:30PM | Victorian State Jigsaw Puzzle Competition

• SUNDAY 16/08/26, 6:30PM | The Bennies

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

Ben Carroll wins Victorian Premier ballot after Allan steps down

Jacinta Allan has stepped down as Victoria’s Premier, with her deputy Ben Carroll winning a caucus vote to become Premier.

The decision created a whirlwind within the Labor caucus, with Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny making a bid against Carroll for the leadership.

Labor MPs met shortly after Allan’s announcemen to elect a new Premier, Deputy Premier and party leader.

In a surprise move, Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny nominated for the leadership, launching a heated meeting behind closed doors with votes and discussion. However, mere minutes before MPs had to enter Parliament, they emerged to announce the party had decided to elect Carroll.

Oakleigh MP Steve Dimopoulos and Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams contested the deputy leadership, with Williams elected.

With fewer than four months until the election, Labor must now try and unite behind Carroll and Williams and refocus its campaign.

A Newspoll released on Monday showed Labor trailing the Coalition 52 to 48 percent on a two-party-preferred basis. The Coalition led the primary vote with 31 percent, followed by Labor on 28 per cent and One Nation on 19 percent.

Will Fowles bows out of Ringwood, setting up major party fight for the seat

Independent MP Will Fowles will not recontest Ringwood at the November state election, solidifying the race for the seat as a key major party battleground.

Fowles was first elected as Labor MP for Burwood in 2018 before moving to Ringwood in 2022, where he retained the seat for Labor with a 7.53 percent margin.

He resigned from Labor in 2023 following allegations of sexual assault and has since represented Ringwood as an independent. Victoria Police arrested and interviewed Fowles before releasing him without charges. He has consistently denied the allegations.

In a statement released on Tuesday after being approached by the Eastern Melburnian, Fowles said he would not recontest in the upcoming election, and that the decision followed “deep reflection”. Fowles added “baseless allegations” had impacted his ability to represent constituents.

With Fowles out of the race, Labor and the Liberals will now fight to reclaim the seat come November 28, with Labor’s Rachel Halse and Liberal North-Eastern Metropolitan MLC Nick McGowan already announced as candidates.

Other candidates include Voices of Deakin’s independent Prue Cutts, Greens candidate Amy Mills and Victorian Socialists contender Jack Gardiner.

More candidates, including a likely One Nation contender, may be announced in the coming months.

Coalition “not winning any friends” by following One Nation’s lead, says Kooyong’s Monique Ryan

Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan says One Nation is "not fit to lead" Australia after party leader Pauline Hanson described domestic violence as a "two-way street" earlier this month.

Speaking to the Eastern Melburnian, Ryan said Hanson was “the wrong answer to the right question” for voters looking beyond the major parties, saying One Nation was “not a coherent political group with well-developed evidence-based policies”.

Ryan said she had noticed growing anxiety among Coalition MPs in Parliament.

However, rather than offering their own alternatives, Ryan said the Coalition was trying to match One Nation’s positions, pointing to its decision to abandon its commitment to Net Zero by 2050.

“When they do things like playing catch up with One Nation in a race to the bottom on things like immigration, they're not winning any friends,” she said.

Earlier this month, Hanson told Brisbane radio station 4BC domestic violence was “wrong” but a “two-way street”.

Ryan said the remarks were “insensitive” to an important issue for Australians.

“Pauline Hanson and One Nation are not in a position to take significant leadership roles in this country,” she said. “I don't think that they're fit to lead.”

Hanson has since posted the entire clip across her social media platforms, claiming there was “a concerted effort by some in the media to constantly take my comments out of context”.

Meet the Whitehorse councillor and government economist endorsed to run as independents in the state election

Independent campaign group Voices of Deakin has officially entered the race for Melbourne's east in November’s state election, endorsing Whitehorse councillor Prue Cutts in Ringwood and economist David Vanderwolf in Croydon.

Voices of Deakin announced the candidates at the Heatherdale Bowls Club on Sunday July 26, with about 75 people attending, including Whitehorse and Maroondah councillors and local residents.

Cutts has been a Whitehorse councillor since 2016, including two terms as deputy mayor.

She told the Eastern Melburnian she believed she offered voters a "genuine alternative" to the major parties at a time when many people felt "quite disaffected".

“I make my vote on the basis of what I believe is a good outcome,” she said.

Cutts said she would aim to deliver solutions to a broad range of challenges, including the cost of living, housing affordability, healthcare, education and community safety.

South Croydon resident Vanderwolf has spent the past 14 years working as an economist in the public sector, focusing on the relations between state and federal governments.

He said he believed independent candidates can give communities a stronger voice amid growing frustration with major-party politics.

"We're frustrated and we want change, but we don't see that as the answer," he said. "My community is my party room.”

Vanderwolf said his main goals would be tackling the cost of living, protecting local green spaces and boosting funding for education.

Kooyong’s Monique Ryan hits out at state’s planning scheme as Hawthorn development asks for height to double

Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan is calling on Housing Minister Clare O’Neil to overhaul the State Government’s fast-track planning scheme, arguing it gives too much power to the Planning Minister and sidelines councils and residents.

Speaking to the Eastern Melburnian, Ryan said the Development Facilitation Program (DFP) is an “inappropriate” way to approve major developments.

Under the DFP, the Planning Minister decides major projects, bypassing council planning processes and public consultation, with a target of approving applications within four months.

Last year, Boroondara council approved an eight-storey mixed-use development at 846–858 Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn.

The developer has since lodged a DFP application for a 16-storey, 78-dwelling tower on the same site.

Ryan said she is “shocked” a proposal double the approved height could be considered with limited community input.

“It puts too much power in the hands of one person,” she said.

The proposal includes 17.5 percent affordable housing, above the 10 percent minimum. However, the developer could instead make a cash contribution to the State Government’s affordable housing fund.

Ryan said affordable housing should be made mandatory under the DFP, adding the option to pay cash instead was “inadequate” and “needs to be addressed by the State Government”.

🙋 Are you an eastern Melbourne expert?

I thought we’d try something fun in this newsletter by launching a quiz to test my readers on how well they know Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

You can send me your answers by replying to this email, and I’ll reveal the results for everyone in Friday morning’s newsletter!

🌳 What suburb is known as the “gateway to the Dandenongs”?

🏘️ What is the name of the street which serves as Ramsay St in the iconic soap opera Neighbours?

🥇 Where was Victoria's first official gold discovery made in 1851?

🏟️ What is the name of the first venue to be built specifically for Australian rules football?

🚗 What is the name of the major north-south road running from Bayswater to Dandenong?