The Melbourne Snap⚡- Thursday 9 January
Aussie actress suffers home invasion in Melbourne, academic warns of blackouts in Victoria, 00s electronic music group coming to the city and the $52,000 school.
G’day and welcome back to The Melbourne Snap. Hello new people. I write The Snap very early every weekday morning to keep you in the loop. In less than the time it takes to boil a kettle you can be up-to-speed with what’s been happening. If you like it please share it with a friend. Now on to Thursday’s edition.
⛑️Let’s start with some good news. A Melbourne hiker has been rescued almost two weeks after he went missing in NSW’s rugged Kosciuszko National Park. Hadi Nazari, a student from Berwick, survived on foraged berries along with a couple of muesli bars he found in a deserted alpine hut. - The Age
➡️The 23-year old had been missing since Boxing Day and police said he was in “good health” when he was found.
➡️A 300-strong volunteer search squad had been involved in his rescue. His family told reporters the discovery was “the happiest day of our lives." - Nine News
🔦A new report has warned there will be blackouts across Victoria during colder months while Victorians will be stung with Australia’s most expensive power bills. - Herald Sun
➡️Who is saying that you might ask. Professor Simshauser,chief executive of a Queensland government-owned energy business and a professor of economics at Griffith University.
➡️His analysis finds the state’s “aggressive” electrification of the power network is likely to result in mass blackouts with demand forecast to outweigh renewable energy supply by more than 30 per cent in some months.
➡️The state government said: “Victoria has had the lowest wholesale power prices in the country over the past two years.”
⛅ Thursday weather
Crime Watch
This section is dedicated to crime news. Scroll on if you want to skip to lighter news.
🥷Asher Keddie and her family have been embroiled in a terrifying home invasion at their St Kilda property. The Offspring star spotted the intruder wheeling a Ducati motorcycle away from their home early on December 28. He had already stolen the keys to the vehicle from inside the house. Keddie told her artist husband, Vincent Fantauzzo, who ran outside and challenged the burglar, which led to a physical altercation. - Herald Sun
⚠️Six teens were caught by members of the public after a dramatic highway crash. Police were called to the Monash Freeway near Hallam, south-east Melbourne, following reports of a multi-car crash between South Gippsland Freeway and Belgrave-Hallam Road about 8:30am on Wednesday. The four boys and two girls were all arrested. - Victoria Police
🏛️ A man accused of killing a teacher and dumping her body in a wheelie bin in Coolaroo, north Melbourne, has pleaded not guilty as he elected to fast-track his case to trial. - AAP (via Nine News)
🚓Four men were arrested by Frankston police on Tuesday as part of an investigation into several aggravated burglaries in December and January. - Victoria Police
🕵🏻♀️In Monday’s Snap I reported on the chilling video of a woman who woke up at 6am to confront and film an intruder in her home in the city’s south-east. Yesterday a man was charged with aggravated burglary in connection to the incident on Windsor’s Upton Road. - Victoria Police
👮A criminal investigation into allegations a Victoria Police officer made a Nazi salute has ended, with no charges laid over the alleged incident. - ABC
🚔There was trouble at Dandenong Plaza on Tuesday. A video on TikTok went viral showing police restraining someone on the ground. It’s claimed a young man was waving a knife around inside the shopping centre. - TikTok
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🌊In the wake of several deaths in Victoria’s waters at the weekend, police are issuing a safety warning ahead of the weekend. The Water Police Squad unit has been called to more than 100 incidents in the first week of 2025. - Victoria Police
🚧Police are investigating a fatal crash on the city’s south-western fringe this morning. A motorbike crashed on Armstrong Road, in Manor Lakes, at about 1am. - Victoria Police
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🎧Electronic music artists Groove Armada are bringing their legendary DJ sets to Melbourne this summer (9 March), marking their first Australian tour since before Covid. The British pair were at the top of their game in the 00s with hits like Superstylin’, At The River and I See You Baby. - Beat
🫶 A mum of two who was left technically dead after suffering a cardiac arrest on a footpath, was brought back to life by the tremendous efforts of bystanders. Kellie Delaney, 46, collapsed in Footscray last year but has now reunited with those who saved her life with CPR and thanked them. - Nine News.
💲Independent high schools across the country are increasing their fees for 2025, with Geelong Grammar School in Victoria charging more than $52,000 for a single year 12 student.- news.com.au
🍽A western suburbs all-you-can-eat buffet, plagued by bad reviews, has announced its closure in a strange online note. Food Star Sunshine, self-described as the oldest surviving family restaurant in Sunshine, revealed its closure in a statement on Monday, after 25 years in business. The restaurant said Australians were “rejecting the past” and talked of incidents of staff abuse. - news.com.au
🩸A son with a mother in a hospital in Heidelberg is desperately seeking a blood marrow donor for her today. Taking to Reddit, ‘Matthias’ said his mum was in “serious condition” at Austin Hospital and in need of an “emergency” transplant with the donor needing A+ blood type. - Reddit
🎤Comedian and this year’s Golden Globes host, Nikki Glaser, is coming to Melbourne. Her Alive and Unwell tour will roll into town on 18 July. - Instagram
🛂When you head to Melbourne Airport for a trip overseas, if you’re an Australian citizen, you are carrying one of the most powerful passports in the world. The Henley Passport Index, the original ranker of the world’s most useful passports, has released its rankings for 2025 and Australia comes joint sixth with Greece. Singapore comes top. - The Henley Passport Index
🏊A group of community members in the east of Melbourne are battling to convince Yarra Ranges Council to rebuild swimming pool facilities in the same place where the Kilsyth Centenary Pool once stood. - The East Melburnian
🎬A special outdoor movie event has been announced in Ivanhoe, in the city’s north-east, on Saturday 1 February. - City of Banyule
🎵Frankston’s live music festival is coming back in 2024. The Waterfront Festival on 7-8 February will feature live music, rides, food stalls, fireworks and the Frankston Swim Classic race. - Waterfront Festival
📞And finally…A pharmacy owner has laid into the current state of St Kilda, claiming her and her staff have never felt as “frightened, insecure and fearful” as they do today in the 35 years they’ve been operating due to crime. The woman told a 3AW phone-in “This should be a premium and premier tourist district … instead it’s like third world.” It’s just one person’s opinion but it’s proved a talking point on local community groups. Does she have a point or is she way off the mark? Let me know in the comments.
Thank you for reading edition 37 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. Thank you, see you tomorrow.