Latest articles by Sean Car
Melbourne celebrates Year of the Horse
This year's Chinese Lunar New Year festival, led by the Melbourne Chinatown Business Association, produced yet another amazing day.
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Heritage strategy scrap exposes deep cracks in Melbourne council chamber
What should have been a routine tick-and-flick adoption of the City of Melbourne’s new Heritage Strategy became, on February 17, a 75-minute rolling debate that exposed just how fractured this council chamber has become.
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City of Melbourne touts cleaner streets as graffiti crackdown ramps up
The City of Melbourne says its intensified approach to graffiti management is delivering tangible results, with stronger partnerships, improved reporting systems and a renewed focus on cost recovery forming the backbone of its strategy.
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Councillors approve amended Flinders St tower despite heritage concerns
The City of Melbourne has unanimously approved an amended permit for a new office tower at 376–388 Flinders St, backing a $59 million proposal that will integrate a significant heritage substation while enforcing stricter setback conditions to protect its prominence.
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Chrissy Amphlett’s rock and rage return to Melbourne stage
One of Australia’s most electrifying music stories is set to roar back to Melbourne next month, with Amplified: The Exquisite Rock and Rage of Chrissy Amphlett playing a strictly limited season at the Comedy Theatre from March 19 to 22
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Council backs early years review in push for “fair start” for every Melbourne child
The City of Melbourne will undertake a comprehensive review of its early years services after councillors unanimously backed a notice of motion from Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell at the February 17 Future Melbourne Committee meeting
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Hidden Secrets: A historic glow returns to Swanston and Collins
Amid the rush of trams, shoppers and office workers at the corner of Swanston and Collins streets, a small but significant piece of Melbourne’s past has quietly been brought back to life.
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Swamp everlasting crowned Melbourne’s new floral emblem
Melbourne’s new official floral emblem has been decided, with the swamp everlasting (Xerochrysum palustre) narrowly claiming victory in one of the City of Melbourne’s most popular ever community engagement exercises.
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Premier’s public rebuke over work-from-home misses the mark
Premier Jacinta Allan’s decision to publicly release and promote her letter rebuking the City of Melbourne over its position on mandated work-from-home rights has added heat, but little light, to an already nuanced policy debate.
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Australia’s largest Antarctic art exhibition opens at RMIT
A sweeping new exhibition exploring more than a century of Australian artistic engagement with Antarctica has opened across two major Melbourne venues.
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Thousands rally in CBD during Israeli President’s Melbourne visit
Tens of thousands of protesters filled Melbourne’s CBD on February 12 as Israeli President Isaac Herzog concluded his official visit to Australia, with large crowds gathering outside Flinders Street Station before marching to State Parliament.
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Cohealth appoints new chair as GP review looms over future of inner-city clinics
Community health provider cohealth has appointed former Scope chief executive Kate MacRae as its new board chair, as an independent review into the organisation’s general practice model and finances continues amid uncertainty over the long-term future of several Melbourne clinics.
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Councillors back expanded Safe City Camera policy after lengthy debate
Melbourne councillors have endorsed the City of Melbourne’s draft Safe City Camera policy following a protracted and at times tense debate that stretched for more than an hour at the Future Melbourne Committee meeting on December 2.
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Council divided as City of Melbourne reverses support for CBD injecting room
A heated and deeply polarising debate erupted at Melbourne Town Hall on November 25 last year as councillors voted to overturn the City of Melbourne’s long-standing support for a medically supervised injecting service (MSIS) in the CBD.
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Shangri-La Melbourne fit-out stalls as 2026 opening looks increasingly unlikely
The long-vacant Shangri-La hotel tower in Melbourne’s east end appears no closer to opening, casting fresh doubt over previous expectations the five-star venue would welcome guests in 2026.
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Garden State Hotel to add 300-seat rooftop garden above Flinders Lane
One of Melbourne CBD’s busiest pubs is set to grow upwards, with Garden State Hotel unveiling plans for a new two-level rooftop venue overlooking the city.
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Bird’s Basement marks a decade of world-class jazz in Melbourne’s CBD
Hidden down Singer’s Lane just off La Trobe St, Bird’s Basement has spent the past decade quietly shaping Melbourne’s live music landscape.
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Melbourne CBD transformed into Manhattan for filming of Empire City
Melbourne has been turned into New York this week as Hollywood blockbuster Empire City filming across the CBD, with entire streets transformed into scenes straight out of Manhattan – including NYPD patrol cars, New York-style traffic lights, US postal boxes and swapped-out street signage.
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Final days of State Library Victoria’s summer kids’ festival promise stories, games and creativity
Families have just a few days left to enjoy State Library Victoria’s lively Library on the Lawn Kids Festival, with the final instalment running this week from January 13 to 15 on the Swanston Street forecourt.
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Saturday Night Fever set to light up Melbourne with reimagined disco classic
Collins St is preparing to sparkle this summer as a major new production of Saturday Night Fever brings the heat of 1970s disco to Melbourne’s historic Athenaeum Theatre.
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