Support for Labor in its heartland has been waning. Can it win the battlers back? Labor has been bleeding rusted-on, working-class voters in traditionally safe seats for years. What’s gone wrong, and can the party turn it around?

Nice deep dive into the fracturing primary vote particularly Labor’s from @gayalcorn.bsky.social

www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

Victoria’s hot seats LIVE updates: Far-right agitators crash Kooyong forum, police called after clash with attendees; Anti-lockdown campaigner rebuked at Kooyong refugee forum Follow our rolling in-depth coverage of key Victorian seats in this federal election campaign.

Full on.

Far right agitators turn up at an ABC forum of all things to shout at attendees about - of all things - law and order.

www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

‘Chilling’ video captures surgeon tearing down Monique Ryan corflute before stomping on it and burying it

📢 A Melbourne surgeon has admitted tearing down a Monique Ryan election sign before tutoring men in how to “bury the body” in a video that has outraged anti-violence campaigners and politicians.

Victoria’s hot seats LIVE updates: Amelia Hamer revealed as beneficiary of $20m family trust; Forum fury over refugee claims in Wills Follow our in-depth coverage of key electorates with on-the-ground reporting of all the candidates moves.

It's been a spicy week on our Hot Seats blog on @theageaustralia.bsky.social

This deeper very local coverage is really striking a chord with readers.

www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

Coalition Senator dismisses neo-nazis outside office as ‘cosplaying losers’ Masked neo-nazis rallied outside the Melbourne office of Coalition Senator James Paterson to chant racist slogans, saying politicians “will not go unpunished”.

Not good.

www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

A small sample of the many posts by Liberal volunteer/campaign manager Andrew McNabb for Bruce candidate Zahid Safi. After I contacted him for comment, the account was switched to private..
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

Victoria’s hot seats LIVE updates: Air guitar-playing Greens promise tax breaks for live-music venues What better place to launch a live-music policy than a pub beer garden?

Week Two wrapped on our Hot Seats election blog… it’s been a lot…

We are still learning a bit about how to put it together for the readers but it’s clearly meeting an ask from the audience.

Donations, missteps, offensive signs… and a blindfolded lottery.

A lot.

www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

Better call Bartho: Your must-read man in a financial meltdown With the screens glowing red and Donald Trump making mayhem, our much-respected columnist says it’s the scariest time of his career.

Mad week. Got to blow the dust off my Bloomberg skills.

Also got to spend some time talking to Bartho about what all the Trump trade madness might mean.

www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

'Watch this space': Seymour on if voted down Treaty Principles Bill will return While the Treaty Principles Bill was defeated on Thursday, the ACT leader indicated it would not be the end.

This was big news from NZ yesterday.

If you have time watch the last 2 1/2 minutes of the debate video with the parliamentary count conducted in two languages and then the house and gallery singing a waiata together

Quite a moment

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Trump-lite dynamite: Did copying the president’s playbook blow up Dutton’s campaign? The opposition leader clearly thought he was on a good thing when he looked to the approach of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Sharp as always by Tony Wright. www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

‘When someone says something nice to me, I just burst into tears’: Inside the mind of Lidia Thorpe The independent MP knows she’s both loved and loathed, including within her own community – but wants to make it clear she’s more than “an angry black woman”.

Readers going long this morning on this profile of Lidia Thorpe by @melissafye.bsky.social

www.theage.com.au/national/whe...

Little PSA for our broadcast friends

“Reports this morning”

Is not adequate attribution for lifting your journalistic colleagues’ work.

Think you know how to do a hook turn? Trust me, you don’t From South Melbourne to Carlton, new hook turns are appearing – often with no tram tracks in sight.

Who knew?!

www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

Liberal candidate’s failure puts spotlight on the system

📢 Readers respond to the discovery that Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer owns multiple properties - while describing herself as a renter.

Hamer pitched herself as a renter. She owns two properties Amelia Hamer, the Oxford-educated grandniece of former premier Rupert Hamer, has said she empathises with tenants’ struggles.

Exclusive from Kooyong today: Amelia Hamer pitched herself as a renter. She owns two investment properties www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
I'm covering Kooyong for the whole campaign. Got a tip? DM me!

Infrastructure Australia's (not so very long) take down of the Suburban Rail Loop is well worth a read.

www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/defaul...

The one you’ve all been waiting for, the Gold Quill is awarded to Nick McKenzie, Ben Schneiders and David Marin-Guzman for “Building Bad”. Judges call it “public interest journalism at its finest” and praise the impact it had. Sponsored by the University of Melbourne. #MPCQuills

The Age’s Nick McKenzie, Ben Schneiders and David Marin-Guzman have taken home News Report in Writing at the #MPCQuills for "Building Bad", a series of reporting which exposed corruption within the CFMEU. Congratulations to the team!

Half a pill was enough to kill Jetson. Now this drug is infiltrating supply Jetson placed an online order for a pill he hoped would help him relax and get some sleep. The teenage apprentice never woke up.

Scary

“A fraction of a gram is enough to kill, but Neilson said most people who consumed the drug were unaware that they were taking it.”

www.theage.com.au/national/hal...

‘Nobody’s stopping it’: The taxpayer money trail from building sites to the underworld A major investigation has revealed how gangland and bikie-linked figures are receiving large payments from companies on publicly funded projects.

Some top shelf reporting on CFMEU / bikies / organised crime.

This one focussed on the money trails and who’s winning (certainly the bikies getting $10k to not show up)

www.theage.com.au/national/nob...

On treatment of women

www.theage.com.au/national/bas...

Remarkable revelations. more to come