Blow the Truth

Coffee Beans Image by  Couleur  from  Pixabay     Used coffee grounds equivalent to six million lattes will be composted into Victorian gardens as the Andrews Labor Government boosts funding for new and innovative projects to divert food waste from landfills. Creative approaches such as bike repair sheds, neighbourhood compost hubs and mobile dishwashing stations to reduce single-use plastics will inspire Victorians to see the many ways to reuse waste and find another life for items previously destined for landfill. Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio today announced grant recipients under the Recycling Victoria Councils and Communities Funds with more than $4 million in grants to be shared between 50 projects. Not-for-profit organisation Reground has been awarded $170,000 to expand its program collecting used coffee grounds from the hospitality sector for use on local gardens. Reground will extend its service to more than 100 new businesses and divert m

Dan Andrews The Andrews Labor Government is investing $49.2 million to build 162 new supported independent living homes, ensuring Victorians living with mental illness have the security and stability of a home. Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Housing Richard Wynne today announced $21.1 million to build 62 supported independent living homes across regional Victoria, as part of the nation-leading Big Housing Build. The 62 new homes are being built in four priority regional areas – Seymour, Ballarat West, Drouin and North Bendigo. It adds to the 100 supported independent living homes already announced, with 84 under construction in Pakenham, Mooroopna, Epping and Laverton - including 16 homes that have been completed in Highton. In total, the investment in independent living homes will create around 450 jobs during construction, including almost 100 direct jobs. The homes will provide safe, stable accommodation for people who require support to live independently. Each home will i

LGBTIQUEER Image by  Gerd Altmann  from  Pixabay   The Andrews Labor Government is helping LGBTIQ+ Victorians and their families get the support and care they need with a new state-wide counselling service called Qspace. Minister for Mental Health James Merlino and Minister for Equality Martin Foley today announced Drummond Street Services and its community partners across Victoria will receive $2.5 million government funding to run the new service. Qspace will provide specialist family counselling, assistance, online resources and information for LGBTIQ+ Victorians and their families to help foster support and understanding. The aim of the program is to keep families together and make sure LGBTIQ+ Victorians feel safe and valued.  The service will leverage from Queerspace − Drummond Street Services’ existing Melbourne-based LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing support service which provides counselling, peer support and professional development. Qspace will also be available through a network

  Media coverage of the first few days of the COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak in New South Wales has been markedly different from that of the most recent lockdown in Victoria. The most noticeable difference is that the media focus in New South Wales has been primarily informational: the growth and spread of cases; the lockdown rules. The political element has been secondary: should the lockdown have been imposed sooner and harder? By contrast, when Victoria entered its fourth lockdown a month ago, the media focus was primarily political: what is wrong with Victoria that it always seems to be where lockdowns happen? Information took second place. Some of the reasons for this difference are obvious. There was understandable exasperation among Victorians that they always seemed to be on the receiving end of lockdowns. Also, the media conferences in Victoria had already become increasingly politicised over the course of the long lockdown in 2020, exemplified by the appearances ther

The Victorian Government is supporting multicultural and multifaith communities to tackle racism through funding for local anti-racism initiatives and the establishment of a landmark Anti-Racism Taskforce. Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ros Spence today announced 42 community organisations will share in more than $3.8 million to boost cross-cultural understanding across Victoria. Non-profit organisation Youth Activating Youth will use $110,000 to increase young people’s knowledge of their rights in the face of racism, while the Tenants Union of Victoria will receive $70,000 to empower the South Sudanese community to combat racism in the rental housing market. Funding of $100,000 will help Rumbalara Football Netball Club, in partnership with the Kaiela Institute, to deliver courses that improve understanding of Indigenous culture and reduce racism in the Goulburn Valley, while Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council will receive $70,000 to deliver anti-racism and bystander training.

Victoria Acting Premier Merlino Make no mistake – our collective efforts over these past few weeks have changed the course of this outbreak. As individuals, as families and as a community, we have again done an incredible thing: protecting our state with grit, guts and determination. Thanks doesn’t seem enough, but I’ll say it anyway. To every Victorian for following the rules, for doing the right thing, and for doing it with kindness and compassion – thank you. For staying home and staying safe. For ordering in and taking out. For Zoom calls and virtual catchups. And for looking out for each other. As much as we’ve achieved – this isn’t over. And it’s up to all of us to protect this precious thing we’ve worked so hard for. That means staying COVIDSafe – most importantly, getting tested if you have any symptoms. It’s singlehandedly the biggest contribution we can make, ensuring that if the virus is circulating – we catch it early.  Whether you do it for your family, your mates or your

Victoria Coronavirus Restrictions The restrictions in place to keep Victorians safe from coronavirus will be eased in regional Victoria tonight, following advice from Victoria’s Chief Health Officer. Victorians have done an incredible job keeping each other safe over the last week and our contact tracers are continuing to chase down cases. Because of this, from 11.59pm tonight the five reasons to leave the home will be removed in regional Victoria and there will be no limit on the distance regional Victorians can travel from home. People will only be able to travel to Melbourne for a permitted reason and you must follow the Melbourne restrictions once there. While having visitors to your home is prohibited, outdoor gathering limits can occur with up to 10 people, with infants under 12 months are not included in the cap. Food and hospitality will open for seated service only, with a cap of 50 people per venue, subject to density requirements of 1 per 4sqm. Retail can also open and perso

Acting Premier: We now have 60 local cases and more than 350 exposure sites. And a variant of the virus that is quicker and more contagious than we’ve seen before. To date, the approach has been to track the spread through friends, family and workmates. People spending time together for minutes and hours – not seconds. What we’re seeing now is something else – something even more serious. At least one in ten current cases have caught this virus from a stranger. People brushing against each other in a small shop. Getting a take-away coffee from the same cafe. Being in the same place, at the same time for mere moments.  Just walking past someone you’ve never met can mean the virus is jumping to a whole new network. And when you don’t know someone – you don’t know their name or where they live – you’re looking for one person in 6.6 million. The best way to stop the virus is vaccination. But as we know, with only two per cent of the population fully vaccinated – if we let this thing run th

The Commonwealth’s COVID-19 vaccination program will again expand in Victoria to include everyone aged 40 years and over. From tomorrow, Friday 28 May more than half of all Victorians will be eligible to receive either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines – helping protect themselves, their loved ones and our whole community. Victorians aged 40-49 years will be able to access to the Pfizer vaccine at state-run vaccination sites, in line with advice from ATAGI. People aged 40-49 years receiving the Pfizer vaccine must book an appointment by calling the Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 675 398 – and can do so now – this is essential as not all vaccination centres will have the Pfizer vaccine available. Victorians aged 50 years and over will continue to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, either through a state-run vaccination centre or a participating GP clinic – as recommended by ATAGI. While many vaccination centres are accepting walk-in appointments for people aged 50 years and over, b

The Andrews Labor Government is increasing funding for a study into the effects of coronavirus, and backing ground-breaking research into new and emerging strains, long-term coronavirus symptoms and potential links between the disease and unborn children. The work will build on the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s (MCRI’s) research into the effects of the virus on every major human organ, which has already deepened our understanding of coronavirus’ impacts on the heart. The dedicated group of scientists will investigate cellular mechanisms leading to lingering “long COVID” issues such as fatigue, cognitive difficulties and ongoing breathing problems. The funding will also allow researchers to get greater insight into the effects of coronavirus on the placenta and potential transfer of the virus to the fetus. Additionally, scientists will analyse variants from the UK, India and Brazil to understand the impact of more infectious strains. This is the first time research of this kin

Community groups and key peak bodies will be able to keep the conversation going about Victoria’s mental health reform at a local level, thanks to a $750,000 Andrew Labor Government investment. Minister for Mental Health James Merlino today announced 16 community groups and peak bodies will share in the funding to support targeted engagement with their members and communities. The organisations will use the grants to host forums and events, communicate with their members and the wider community on the key reforms and next steps to deliver all 65 recommendations of the landmark royal commission. This funding is an important and necessary next step to ensure more Victorians have an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the redesign of Victorian’s mental health and wellbeing system. VMIAC Tandem Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) Australian Services Uni

 Glass recycling centre Packaging and recycling giant Visy today announced a $35 million upgrade of its Laverton glass recycling centre, in a clear endorsement of the Andrews Labor Government’s new Container Deposit Scheme (CDS). The proposed upgrade is expected to create 92 jobs during construction and a further six ongoing positions once completed. It will double the centre’s recycling capacity from 100,000 tonnes of glass each year to 200,000 - that’s the equivalent of 150 glass bottles recycled for every Victorian each year. Visy’s centre at Laverton currently operates by sorting glass 10mm in size or larger. Once this upgrade is complete, the new facility will be able to sort glass down to 3mm in size – boosting recycling opportunities and diverting even more glass from landfill. The additional recycled glass will be made into new jars and bottles for Australian food and beverage companies and will be used in asphalt and road base works. Set to start in 2023, the CDS will maximise

Respectful Relationships is a whole-school approach, supporting schools to embed respect and gender equality in all aspects of their culture – in the classroom, the playground, the staffroom, and the broader school community. To date, 309 non-government schools have signed up to Respectful Relationships, however, the new EOI opportunity will ensure that the program can be rolled out even further. The Royal Commission into Family Violence recommended the implementation of Respectful Relationships to promote respect, positive attitudes and behaviours, and to teach children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. It is a program that is proven to work and change the behaviours of young people. The Labor Government has invested $82 million in Respectful Relationships, to deliver training, support and funding to schools to implement the initiative. All Victorian government schools are now part of the Respectful Relationships initiative, acquitting a key recommendation

Applications are now open to be part of Victoria’s new Anti-Racism Taskforce, which will play a key role in the development of a new state-wide strategy to prevent and crackdown on race-based discrimination and abuse. Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ros Spence and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams called on Victorians passionate about a strong, diverse and fair Victoria to apply. The Andrews Labor Government has announced it will develop a new state-wide Anti-Racism Strategy to proactively prevent and address racism in Victoria because racism and discrimination, in any form, has no place in Victoria.  The Strategy will focus on a broad range of elements that underlay and perpetuate racial discrimination like unconscious bias, privilege, and the intersection of race and other forms of discrimination. The new Anti-Racism Taskforce will provide advice and recommendations to the government to ensure the Strategy sets out a clear and targeted road map to reduce racism in