Hostility from constituents is not new for the state’s politicians, including its premiers. But the alleged attack on Helen Haines has sent a chill down the collective spine

• Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast

On Monday night, Georgie Purcell shared a statement on social media in support of Helen Haines, who earlier that day had been allegedly attacked by a constituent in her regional Victorian electorate.

Purcell, a Victorian upper-house MP whose region partly overlaps with Haines’s federal electorate, wrote that the alleged attack had sent chills down her spine. Being a woman in politics, she said, had changed the way she moved through the world – where she parked her car, which route she took home, even whether she held public events at all.

NextDC tells investors plans to double the size of its west Melbourne datacentre have hit obstacle after community objects to 22 metres-high power poles

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Australia’s largest datacentre operator has been forced to delay the controversial expansion of its M3 site in Melbourne’s west amid a pause in construction of new 22m power poles following community protest.

On Wednesday, NextDC told the Australian Stock Exchange that delays to electricity provider Jemena’s upgrade of the power poles – essential to delivering the increased electricity required by the expanded West Footscray site – would mean the expansion would be pushed back to the 2027/2028 financial year.

After being contacted by officers, politician says, he has paid bill and is ‘grateful for the team at the servo for their understanding’

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

On Tuesday night, Ben Carroll received a phone call: police were looking for him.

The Victorian premier had met with the state’s police commissioner earlier that morning – so he wasn’t exactly hard to find.

Premier Ben Carroll says two-year limited cap will start on 1 January if re-elected, while Greens say there should be no fares

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Public transport fares in Victoria will be capped at $30 a week if the Labor government is re-elected next month – but commuters will need to dust off their Myki cards to benefit.

The premier, Ben Carroll, on Monday said the fare cap would begin on 1 January, the day after half-price fares end. The discounted fares were introduced after a period of free public transport in response to the fuel crisis sparked by the US-Iran war.