Melton Matters

20/09/2025

Ashleigh Vandenberg, Councillor for Jackwood Ward at Melton City Council, has released a statement alleging serious misconduct by Victoria Police.

Vandenberg says her family is not well and claims her partner has been targeted through false allegations made by a Victoria Police Officer, including the unlawful application of a Personal Safety Intervention Order (PSIO).

She alleges this was designed to politically damage her, and that the officer wrongly claimed her partner engaged in political negotiations for the Mayor of Melton – a role she says was her responsibility alone.

According to Vandenberg, her partner was arrested and charged last Thursday in what she describes as direct police misconduct, which she personally witnessed.

She further claims Victoria Police stated during the incident that “there needs to be a limit on human rights.”

In her statement, Vandenberg expressed deep disappointment in Victoria Police, accusing them of causing financial, psychological, and cultural harm to her and her family as an elected representative and First Nations woman.

“No one is intervening and this is why we have such high deaths in custody,” she said.

“When police openly lie to the courts and target First Nations people – if they are not scared to do it to an elected representative, what hope do others have?”

Vandenberg warns the situation could leave her children homeless and her partner jailed, insisting the case rests on lies told in court.

A few have been reaching out and no, my family, children and I are not well.

I am an elected official and right now facing a major Victoria Police misconduct problem and I am fearful my partner will end up dead in custody for lies Sgt Joseph Hammersly told the courts.

Sgt Jodpesh Hammersly has unlawfully applied a PSIO on my partner to impact me politically. He has stated that my partner engaged in political negotiations for Mayor of Melton.

My partner did not. I did as it is MY job not he's.

My partner was arrested and charged on Thursday, I was there and witnessed the police misconduct.

Victoria Police stated "There needs to be a limit on Human Rights".

I can not express how disappointed I am with Victoria Police and the financial, phycological and cultural harm they are committing against me as an elected representative and a first nations women and my family.

No one is intervening and this is why we have such high deaths in custody. When police openly Lie to the courts and target First Nations people. If they are not scared to do it to an elected representative, what hope do others have?

This will cause my children to become homeless and possibly have their father jailed because a Police Officer lied and we are running out of money to fight.

07/09/2025

In utterly horrific news, two boys – aged just 12 and 15 – have been slaughtered by a machete gang while walking home from basketball in Cobblebank, just south-east of Melton.

Witnesses say eight masked thugs piled out with machetes, chased the boys down, and hacked them into pieces. CCTV shows one attacker chasing the 12-year-old after he tripped, then slashing into him while he lay helpless on the ground.

Paramedics fought to save them on the spot, but there was no hope. Two kids, gone in minutes, with the 15-year-old’s father – a security guard who spends his life protecting others – now forced to bury his son.

He described the young fella as “a basketball player, not a criminal.” And instead of seeing him play, he’s begging for justice while knowing the truth – Victoria's machete gangs are spiralling, and children are the ones paying in blood.

Neighbours are understandably traumatised. One man watched the gang pile into a getaway SUV, still gripping their blades. Another came outside to find a boy lying motionless, his hand hacked clean off.

A brave woman tried to keep the 12-year-old alive as his mother arrived, only to let out a blood-curdling scream that witnesses will never forget.

Police are calling it a “targeted attack,” linked to gang feuds – but even they admit the victims were far too young to be involved. And that’s the sickest truth of all – innocent kids are now collateral in Victoria’s gang wars.

This isn’t isolated. Four kids dead in similar machete attacks in just a month. Parents are begging for answers, communities are broken, and still there’s nothing. No solution, no protection. Just more graves.

27/07/2025

Bit of a wild one out in Melton Friday night! 😮

SES crews got a call from a truckie who noticed the roof canopy at the Ampol servo on Melton Highway doing a bit of a dance in the wind – and not the good kind! 💨

The bloody thing was swaying back and forth like it was trying to take off. Not exactly what you want hovering over your head while you’re filling up the tank! 🚘

SES rocked up quick-smart, teamed up with Melton Council and the servo crew, and made the call to block off the area and shut it down to traffic until a structural engineer could have a proper squiz! 🧐

Good move too – no one wants their last words to be “just topping up on unleaded, mate.” Absolute legends keeping people safe before things went full Twister! ⛽

18/04/2025

A Melton South bloke has been slapped with a mountain of charges after allegedly going on a full-blown burglary bender across Melton and Caroline Springs – and just for a bit of spice, came back to torch the scene of the crime.

Cops reckon this 35-year-old bandit had his eyes on commercial joints, smashing in, doing the ol’ smash-and-grab, and leaving chaos in his wake.

But he wasn’t just in and out – nah, this guy allegedly broke into a store in Caro Springs earlier this month, flogged some cash, did the dash… and then came crawling back an hour later to set the bloody place on fire!

In another incident, over in Melton South, a store owner copped a hammer to the body after confronting someone mid-break-in very early yesterday morning. The owner ended up in hospital but was thankfully released – probably sore, but alive.

Anyway, the law’s finally caught up with the slippery bu**er. He’s now facing a spicy stack of charges: 18 counts of burglary, nine counts of theft, two attempted burglaries, criminal damage by fire, and recklessly causing injury.

He’s been remanded and will be fronting Melbourne Magistrates Court today.

08/04/2025

A 29-year-old Ballarat bloke has landed himself right in the thick of it, caught up in what’s shaping up to be one of the west’s wildest car theft rings.

Melton detectives busted open the organised syndicate last week, arresting four people and recovering 36 stolen cars in the process. The fella was interviewed and released pending further enquiries, but police reckon he’s not off the hook yet, with more arrests on the cards.

The whole thing blew open when a black Holden Commodore was nicked from a Caroline Springs café on March 23, and traced to a Truganina property.

With the Air Wing hovering above like a hungry hawk, cops spotted four stolen vehicles kicking back in a paddock. Once the crew saw the chopper, they scattered – some were later found abandoned across the southeastern burbs, while one clunker carked it and got bogged trying to leg it through a fence like a stunned mullet.

Turns out this crew’s reach goes further, with investigators linking them to a separate stash in Diggers Rest, where 30 other stolen vehicles – including a tow truck and a car carrier trailer – were uncovered earlier this year.

Police allege these jokers had been nicking high-end motors from suburbs all over Victoria – Brighton, Albert Park, Werribee, Essendon, Caroline Springs – and using onboard diagnostic tools to pull it off like they were in some dodgy Fast & Furious sequel.

And they weren’t just after the cars – the gang was allegedly flogging off stolen copper too. When cops raided the Sunbury property on March 31, they caught the crew red-handed, allegedly stripping copper for resale. Alongside the cars and scrap, officers also found m**h, Suboxone, ammo, and a couple of those diagnostic gizmos.

The alleged ringleader, a 26-year-old from Riddells Creek, has been slapped with a laundry list of charges – vehicle theft, fi****ms offences, dangerous driving, and more – and he’s been remanded to face Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on May 2.

A 43-year-old woman from Diggers Rest and a 28-year-old from Bacchus Marsh were also arrested and charged with theft and drug possession, and they’ll be fronting court soon too.

17/02/2025

Tragedy struck in Melton West overnight as a house fire claimed a life, leaving a community in shock.

Emergency crews rushed to Gloucester Way around 11:45 pm, but by the time the flames were extinguished, it was too late – one person was found deceased inside the home.

Detectives have established a crime scene, and an arson chemist will assess the site this morning. While early indications suggest the fire was not suspicious, the investigation continues.

It's certainly a heartbreaking reminder of how quickly life can change, leaving behind only grief and unanswered questions. Thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased.

12/02/2025

In some horrific news, a woman has been found dead following a house fire in Kurunjang, just north-east of Melton. 🔥

HOME GUTTED, LIFE LOST FOLLOWING EARLY MORNING INFERNO

By: Editorial Team
Date: 11/2/2025

A home has been gutted and a life has been lost following a large early morning fire.

Emergency services were called to a property along Cameron Court in Kurunjang around 3:20am, following multiple reports that a house had caught fire.

Upon arrival firefighters located a single story brick home, with flames and smoke billowing from the building.

A woman, who is yet to be formally identified, was later found dead inside.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.

In a statement, shared online, police have confirmed that it is not believed to be suspicious.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

29/12/2024

Traffic has come to a standstill on the Western Highway near Melton, causing significant delays for motorists. 🚙