4 - 2026 - The Local Paper

Council News

WHITTLESEA: Craig Lloyd’s WA CEO job was decided in March

Monday, April 20, 2026

City of Whittlesea CEO Craig Lloyd’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer of a Western Australian Council was decided at the Joondalup meeting on Tuesday, March 24.A subsequent special meeting of the City of Joondalup Council was held on Monday last week (April 13) to vote 9-1 to approve the finalised terms and conditions of a…

Police News

STRATHBOGIE: Violet Town fatal truck crash

Saturday, April 18, 2026

Benalla Highway Patrol officers are investigating a fatal collision in Violet Town on Friday afternoon (Apr. 17).Emergency services were called to the Hume Fwy near Harrys Creek Rd following report a B-double truck was involved in a collision just before 1.30pm.It is believed the truck collided with a road workers truck and then veered across…

Police News

SOUTH-EAST: Erratic driving across town

Police have arrested three people following erratic driving and a truck fire in Melbourne’s east, an extended follow through multiple suburbs and a quick dip at St Kilda Beach.Officers saw a stolen truck and a blue Holden Commodore driving erratically in Heathmont just after 2am on Saturday, April 18.Both vehicles sped off before Air Wing…

Observer

OBSERVER: Welcome to Hell

Hell on earth could well be a corporate training session where recruits are ‘onboarded’ – an odious word if ever there was one – but, for Andy Balloch, it represents an opportunity to chastise and satirise and, for that matter – demonize everything that’s problematic in society. His Welcome to Hell contribution to the Melbourne…

Observer

OBSERVER: Disunited States

When it comes to farce, it would be difficult to rival current events where the United States are concerned but Richard Mealey has taken on that daunting task in his contribution to this year’s Comedy Festival. Titled Disunited States, we are privy to a range of stereotypical characters that expose the fraught underbelly of a…

Observer

OBSERVER: Birds

Two women lounge in deck chairs, staring out to sea. This is Birds, presented as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival at The Beckett Theatre, Malthouse.Shayna (Alex Hines), a wealthy five-time divorcée, and Beverley (Sarah Stafford), a suburban mother of twelve boys, bond over cocktails and cigarettes, as if Kath Day-Knight had met Prue…

Observer

OBSERVER: A Weight Off My Chest

Celebrating her 20th year at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Geraldine Hickey is a familiar face, and judging by the packed house at the Comedy Theatre, a very popular one. She marks the milestone with a neat piece of crowd work before the show properly begins, spotting an audience member who had seen her two…

Observer

OBSERVER: The Effect

Intriguing, thought provoking, intense – are some words to describe my thoughts after seeing Key Conspirators’ production of The Effect.The opening was stirring with mirrored flooring giving the illusion of space, with a stark white light transforming the theatre into a hospital setting allowing the audience to be within the four walls from the beginning.Well…

Observer

OBSERVER: Maps with Julian O’Shea

Arriving at the cosy, intimate Studio Two performance venue at The Crowne Plaza, I wasn’t expecting to find cartographic comedy to be so entertaining.Surprisingly, it lived up to its reputation as being the “funniest map-showed theme at the festival”.Who knew that a witty, knowledgeable, quirky digital content creator could be so hilariously comical using relevant,…

Observer

OBSERVER: Don’t Ask, Don’t Telfast

Justin Porter greets the audience for his first solo Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Don’t Ask, Don’t Telfast, wearing a fabulous, sparkling, gold muumuu.When the muumuu is discarded at the start of the show, Porter reveals equally fab, psychedelic PJs to present a self-referential, autobiographical show that swings through Porter’s childhood memories.Porter reminisces about coveted…