Closer to the ground in Victoria, two strikingly different stories captured public attention. In Frankston, a “Dubai-style” tax-haven proposal is dividing residents: the local council is considering trebling property rates for existing commercial landlords while slashing taxes on new developments, a gambit designed to attract investment but criticised by some as inequitable.
In the small town of Kilmore, CCTV footage captured the dramatic moment an ice cream shop and barber were firebombed late on Monday night, an act of apparent arson that has shaken the community.
And in the NRL, rising star Iongi’s scandal drew an unlikely defender: New South Wales state MPs debated his case in parliament, with Legalise Cannabis NSW Party’s Jeremy Buckingham leading the charge. “It could have been parsley,” one supporter quipped — a line that neatly captures the cultural divide over drug policy in Australian sport.