Alan Jones, the Australian who won the 1980 Formula One world drivers' championship for Williams, died on 5 November 2026 at age 80 after a short illness, his family said. He was the second Australian to win the title after Jack Brabham and the first Williams driver to do so. Jones won 12 grands prix during his career, five of them in 1980, when he beat Nelson Piquet to the title. He was born in Melbourne.
Melbourne
3 stories since 30 October 2026, newest first
5 November 2026
3 November 2026
Glenn Maxwell, 38, announced on Tuesday 3 Nov that he is retiring from international cricket, telling The Final Word podcast he will no longer represent Australia in T20 internationals. He had already left one-day cricket in 2025 and will also stop playing 50-over and four-day cricket for Victoria, plus red-ball cricket entirely. He will continue in franchise T20 leagues, including the Melbourne Stars in the upcoming Big Bash League season. His final Australia appearance was against Oman at the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in February 2026.
30 October 2026
Victoria's Court of Appeal has rejected Erin Patterson's appeal against her murder convictions and removed any possibility of parole, so she is expected to die in prison. Patterson, 51, was convicted last year of murdering three relatives and attempting to murder a fourth after serving them a meal containing death cap mushrooms at her home in Leongatha in July 2023. The court set aside her original 33-year non-parole period, and she is now only the second woman in Australia sentenced to life without parole. Her lawyers had argued a substantial miscarriage of justice at the 2025 trial in Morwell.