Rachel Baxendale

Rachel BaxendaleVictorian Political Reporter

Rachel Baxendale writes on state and federal politics from The Australian’s Melbourne and Victorian press gallery bureaux. During her time working for the paper in the Canberra press gallery she covered the 2016 federal election, the citizenship saga, Barnaby Joyce’s resignation as Deputy Prime Minister and the 2018 Liberal leadership spill which saw Scott Morrison replace Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister. Rachel grew up in regional Victoria and began her career in The Australian’s Melbourne bureau in 2012.

@rachelbaxendale

Latest

EXCLUSIVEPolitics

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Newswire Photos February 20, 2024: Professor Alan Fels during a press conference with ACTU secretary Sally McManus and ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell about the ACCC finding into supermarket price gouging. Picture NCA NewsWire / Aaron Francis

State slowdown on mental health

Former Victorian mental health royal commissioner Alan Fels says the latest state budget ‘indicates a significant slowdown’ in the implementation of the commission’s recommendations.

Rachel Baxendale

SHORTFALLPolitics

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos, FEBRUARY 07, 2023: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews holds a press conference on the first day of Parliament in Melbourne with Lily D'Ambrosio the Minister for Climate Action. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

King ‘wrong’ on gas: D’Ambrosio

Resources Victoria found in 2020 that there was up to 830 petajoules of onshore conventional gas in the Gippsland and Otway Basins, but Lily D’Ambrosio says there is ‘no gas’.

Rachel Baxendale

MENTAL HEALTHPolitics

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. NCA NewsWire Photos. APRIL 23, 2024. Victorian Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt, left, and Premier Jacinta Allan announce the government will not proceed with a second injecting room in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Blair Jackson

Psych shortage despite spend rise

Psychiatrist and psychologist vacancies have more than doubled in Victoria since 2019, despite an extra $600m being spent to boost the mental health workforce since 2021.

Rachel Baxendale

exclusiveNation

MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos MAY 19, 2024: Pro-Palestinian protesters face off with police outside the Victorian Parliament.Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

‘I can’t believe this is Australia I grew up in’

An 84-year-old Jewish great-grandmother says she despairs for the Australia her family has called home for six generations, after she was pushed around and called a ‘Zionist pig’ by pro-Palestine protesters.

Rachel Baxendale

‘INTIFADA, INTIFADA’Nation

‘Federal matter’: Premier handballs the Gaza grenade

Jacinta Allan said the Israel-Hamas war was a ‘federal’ problem, as protesters clashed with Victoria police and Labor’s state conference was dominated by attacks on Israel.

Rachel Baxendale

STATE CONFERENCEPolitics

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NCA NewsWire Photos - 19 APRIL 2024: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan speak to the media during a press conference after the inauguration of the Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Diego Fedele

Mauling feared in Labor’s lion den

A range of controversial motions are expected to be debated on subjects including Gaza, drug legalisation and introducing rent caps.

Rachel Baxendale

DEEMING CASEPolitics

18/3/2023: Protest groups face off in front of the Victorian Parliament where UK far right activist Kellie-Jay Keen and MP Moira Deeming made a speech to protesters. Picture: YouTube

Pesutto refuses to repeat apology

John Pesutto has refused to repeat the apology he made to activists Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones in a statement issued after the three parties reached an out-of-court settlement.

Rachel Baxendale

DEEMING CASEPolitics

John Pesutto has settled with Kellie-Jay Keen.

Pesutto apologises to activists Keen, Jones

John Pesutto previously said Kellie-Jay Keen “absolutely” had “associations with Nazis”. Now he’s apologised and described her as a “passionate women’s rights activist”.

Rachel Baxendale

BUDGET ESTIMATESPolitics

MELBOURNE,AUSTRALIA-NewsWire Photos 12 MAY, 2024: PREMIER HEALTH ANNOUNCEMENT. Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas make an announcement at Austin Hospital. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

Rail loop price tag ‘is on track’

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has maintained that the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop megaproject can still be delivered within her government’s estimated cost range of $30bn to $34.5bn.

Rachel Baxendale

EXCLUSIVEPolitics

‘Poor pay’ as green scheme costs surge

The spot price for Victorian energy efficiency certificates has surged from $70 to $110 in the past year — an impost which is being added to Victorians’ power bills.

Rachel Baxendale

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/rachel-baxendale/page/3