Nino Bucci

‘Less lethal’ deaths: courts examine role of controversial police weapons before three Australians died Exclusive: Police forces argue bean-bag and foam baton rounds are less harmful than firearms but the projectiles have been linked to deaths around the world

The latest instalment of an ongoing investigation from @ninobucci.bsky.social and I, looking at police use of so-called "less lethal" weapons in Australia. Today -- projectiles, including bean-bag and foam baton rounds.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Fantastic. Great move. Well done Josh

Hundreds potentially affected by Victoria police weapons searches that breached law Exclusive: wide-ranging police powers used to conduct non-compliant searches that resulted in 33 people being charged or fined

There were hundreds if not thousands of people searched using these designated area powers that didn’t comply with the law, and 33 people were charged or fined. VicPol notifying IBAC.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Police detonated a ‘stinger’ grenade at a Melbourne protest. Now two activists may sue over their injuries Grenades filled with rubber pellets and other so-called ‘less lethal’ munitions have been increasingly deployed, despite being linked to serious injuries and even deaths

Scout* barely realised that something round and hard, with smoke coming from it, had landed in front of them before it exploded.

Pain suddenly shot through their leg and arm. Scout fell to their knees, before someone nearby helped them rush out of the area.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Nick McKenzie Podcast Episode · William and Lonsdale - Lives in the Law · 05/11/2025 · 51m

Worth a listen podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/w...

Look forward to the Ashes content on Crickey

Will Victoria’s new youth crime laws be tough on crime or just a coward punch? Jacinta Allan’s Labor government takes a leaf out of the playbook of conservative oppositions: focus on crime and hope voters see them as knights in shining armour

Had to cast my mind back to before some of these teens were born for this:

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Prosecutor will not charge Kyle and Jackie O and Mamamia with contempt over Erin Patterson comments Kyle Sandilands said ‘just lock that bitch up’ on air during the high profile mushroom murder trial, which prompted the referral

The Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions will not charge Kyle and Jackie O with contempt for potentially prejudicial comments made during the trial of mushroom triple-murderer Erin Patterson, including Kyle saying “lock that bitch up”.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Putting aside how odorous this particular choice is, surely skipping parliament at all for seemingly commercial purposes shouldn’t be allowed?

What about the INXS album?

Prisoners spending entire jail term in police cells as Victoria’s justice system buckles Prisoners in police cells often have less access to healthcare and less chance of being visited by family and lawyers

In winter this year, a young Aboriginal man with a history of self-harm who was remanded in custody in Melbourne was told he would be moving cells. And so he was driven 300km to the police cells in Wodonga.

Welcome to the process known as “decanting”.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

AFLW finals: how the challengers shape up in their bid to end Kangaroos’ supremacy | Martin Pegan It seems like a near-impossible task, but of the seven other finalists, which are best placed to cause an upset?

North Melbourne are playing in a league of their own. Here is how the remaining challengers can break @nmfcofficial.bsky.social stranglehold on the #AFLW
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/n...

Thanks mate

A fatal drop: what do we know about the drugs, 500 times stronger than heroin, taking Australian lives? Only a few years after first being detected in Australia, nitazenes have been found in everything from vapes to fake heroin – and the death toll is rising

I found out while working on this piece about nitazenes that police have closed the investigation into who supplied the “cocaine” linked to four overdoses in Melbourne last year.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Everyone says they are worried about hate crimes. But Australia’s laws to combat them are all over the place Some state police forces have specific laws and units relating to hate crime, others have neither. Experts say a national definition is needed

We also found that experts believe having accurate data and a clear definition of what a hate crime is matters, for national cohesion and national security. Anyway, here’s the piece: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

My colleague Adeshola Ore and I took a look at hate crimes in Australia, getting a deeper sense of the issue beyond the frenzy of new laws and debate post October 7. We found a complex picture of how police deal with complaints, but that there had been about 435 charges for hate crimes since 2020.

Ha yeah maybe. But closing the gap could just mean a 10-2 season rather than a 12-0 one!

it’s insane. They’re so much better than everyone else.

History secured: There is no telling where the record-breaking Roos’ AFLW dominance will end I Nino Bucci North Melbourne have won more consecutive games – 24 – than any VFL/AFL/AFLW team as attention turns to winning back-to-back premierships

On the Roos, the best team I've ever seen:

www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2...

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott gesturing at a street library during a federal election campaign saying “I’ve never seen anything like this before”

Seeing lots of reviews on Tony Abbott’s book on Australia, but none that tackle the real issue: did he explain the history of Australian street libraries

I think my favourite was “informative, insightful and presented in an entertaining style“, closely followed by the random capitals. The hangar (or the NEC Hangar to use it‘s hilariously real name) is a grim joint. The copious amount of black wood chips in the landscaping gives me a bad vibe.

A description of the Collins St Dons coterie group taken from the Essendon Bombers website

An actual thing that exists under the Coteries section on the website

No thanks. The coteries are the demons, as far as I can tell.

Justice for the 34/have you seen this development in Rockbank

Yeah it wouldn’t have hurt. Hardly surprising, but the whole saga doesn’t smack of how to run a club to me. Might need more poorly written emails from Dean Solomon to past players to whip us into shape.

Bombers should have taken the deal. The club would be better off without a captain who wants to leave so much that he calls the president begging for it.

Why protests are getting more dangerous Melbourne photojournalist Alex Zucco was cleaning her camera lens when a police officer hit her directly in the face with a stream of capsicum spray at a protest outside the Melbourne Land Forces Inte...

“Lawyers and activists say these incidents fit a pattern of increased police force against protesters – including so-called ‘less-lethal’ tools such as baton rounds, flash-bang devices and capsicum spray.”

7ampodcast.com.au/episodes/why...

Death of three-year-old boy in social housing fire could have been caused by faulty electrical wiring, inquest hears Inquest is hearing evidence about the 2023 death of Mitchell Thomas at Larapinta in Alice Springs

The coroner told the NT government in 2007 to keep a database about maintenance in public housing. It didn’t listen.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Correct approach

Lots of talk about bari weiss but not enough about weis bars