The Melbourne Snap ⚡ - Thursday 2 January
New Year's Eve spectacular, meet the newest Melburnians: Generation Beta and superstar singer announces free gig for today.
G’day and welcome back to The Melbourne Snap. Happy New Year! However you celebrated, I hope it was a good one. If you’re new here, The Snap aims to get you up to speed with what’s happening in the city every weekday morning. It only takes a minute(ish) to read. If you like it please help spread the word. Now on to Thursday’s edition.
🎆Half a million people watched the city’s spectacular fireworks display and laser show on New Year’s Eve. Considering the number of people out celebrating cops said they were “pleased” with the behaviour of partygoers.
➡️But the night, of course, wasn’t trouble-free. Police responded to 52 assault incidents, 287 firework incidents and they seized 23 weapons - Victoria Police
➡️ If you didn’t get a chance to watch this year’s fireworks there’s a great summery clip on @visitmelbourne’s Insta page.
⛅ Thursday weather
Crime Watch
This section is dedicated to crime news. Scroll on if you want to skip to lighter news.
⚠️Police are investigating a tragic incident in Werribee South yesterday afternoon, where a car collided with a parked truck and burst into flames, claiming the life of the driver. - Wyndham TV
🚑 A 16-year-old boy remains in critical condition after he was stabbed in an eastern suburb shopping centre carpark last week. The boy was found with stab wounds at the Forest Hill Chase carpark on Mahoneys Rd around 6:50pm last Friday, following a clash between a group of males. - Victoria Police
🚧Last year 282 people died on Victoria’s road, new police figures have revealed. Vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists and e-scooter riders made up 45 per cent of all the lives lost. - Victoria Police
🔥 During New Year's Eve celebrations, illegal fireworks sparked at least three fires in Melbourne's north and north-west. Emergency services responded to blazes in Greenvale, Glenroy and Kurunjang. - Victoria Police
🔪Two teenage boys have been arrested following a stabbing in Blairgowrie at about 5:45pm on New Year’s Eve. - ABC
🚓 A man has handed himself in to police after a CCTV clip of a violent attempted break-in in an eastern suburb earlier this month was released to the public. A father-of-two claims a young man attacked his front door and hurled abuse at his family after an altercation when they were looking at Christmas lights in Mooroolbark on December 7. - Nine News
👮Police were filmed taking down a group of alleged car thieves at a service station yesterday. The footage shows officers wrestling with assailants at a Rye servo. - Everything Mornington Peninsula
📢 Share your local news and events by filling in this form here. I’d love to share upcoming community events.
🍼Minutes after the bells, Melbourne welcomed its first baby from a new generation: ‘Generation Beta’. Kids born before 1 January 2025 were dubbed Generation Alpha but one of Australia’s first Generation Beta babies has arrived. Little Maya, was born in Melbourne within the first hour of 2025. - Nine News
➡️Maya is one of 40 babies born in Victoria in the early hours of New Year’s Day. - Vic Gov
🎤Robbie Williams will perform a free public gig in Federation Square today. Premier Jacinta Allan announced the British popstar’s show in a simple tweet: "Robbie Williams. Fed Square. Tomorrow. 5pm. For Free." The event is to celebrate the release of the UK singer’s new biopic film Better Man. - Federation Square
🎈A hot air balloon was found wrapped around a lighting tower in Fairfield yesterday. Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) crews arrived at Fairfield Park just after 7:30am to find a hot air balloon, without a basket, tangled around a lighting tower about 30 metres high. It’s not known how it got there. - Nine News
❗As part of work on the Metro Tunnel, Pakenham & Cranbourne trains are terminating at Caulfield from Thursday 2 Jan until Saturday 11 January. Passengers will need to transfer at Caulfield to Frankston Line trains to reach the city. - Big Build
🏨A man and woman were seriously injured by a falling tree branch at the Shrine of Remembrance on New Year’s Eve. Two men and one woman were struck by the branch while walking down steps towards St Kilda Road. news.com.au
🏚️A graffiti-filled Frankston home hijacked as a kids’ clubhouse, left vacant for 30 years and riddled with asbestos is listed for $525,000-$575,000 and yet still has managed to get thousands of views online. - realestate.com.au
🐂 Locals in St Kilda were delighted after a planned rodeo in the suburb was reportedly cancelled. The event is believed to have been lined up to take place near the Riviera Beach Club. Hundreds of residents pushed to have the rodeo cancelled on animal welfare grounds. - RiSK (Facebook)
🧾Angry residents have launched a petition to stop a private land permit “cash grab” from the City of Casey Council (south-east Melbourne). Residents must apply for a permit if they’re planning to store more than two unregistered vehicles for up to 90 days, store long heavy vehicles, and even dismantle, repair or service vehicles.- CouncilWatch
➡️ The Council has responded saying the “purpose of the Private Land Use Permit is to address and mitigate nuisance behaviour.” - City of Casey
✊A protestor climbed an RMIT building in the early hours of Wednesday morning leading to a tense four-hour stand-off with authorities. The father used a harness to post a huge banner on the building branding Monash Children’s Hospital “criminals”. - 7 News.
✍🏻And finally…The Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) has been visible in the first two days of 2025. This shot was captured at Barwon Heads beach south-west of Melbourne.
Thank you for reading edition 32 of The Melbourne Snap. I write The Snap in the early hours every weekday morning. If you can afford to support the newsletter you can do so for as little as $10 a month. Or if you could forward this to someone who might be interested that would be great too. Thank you, see you tomorrow.