Central Victoria local news briefing, Friday, November 13, 2026 - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Here's what's making news in Central Victoria today.

A man accused of murdering a Quambatook woman and setting her body alight has denied that he confessed to his brother.

Brian Robert Barnes is accused of fatally assaulting 70-year-old Merril Kelly in her home in Quambatook in January 2025.

A Supreme Court jury heard Mrs Kelly was the president of the community-run swimming pool, where Mr Barnes had been banned from attending after an argument with a volunteer on the day of the alleged murder.

The prosecution said Mr Barnes told his brother he had murdered someone, and she had deserved it.

Mr Barnes has pleaded not guilty to murder, and yesterday his barrister told the jury he denied making a confession or saying words to that effect.

Commuters in Bendigo have welcomed the Labor government's promise to increase rail services if re-elected, but say it will not sway their vote.

The Labor Party has promised 101 extra weekly services on the Bendigo Line from 2028, including 21 extra services to Bendigo and 80 new services to Kyneton.

Strathdale commuter Gary Clancy said the Victorian government should ease up on spending.

"Good public transport means quite a bit to me," he said.

"I think the state is in too much debt to put Labor back in."

A man has been charged with manslaughter after an assault at Echuca last year.

Police were called to reports of an alleged assault between two men who police said were allegedly known to each other at an Echuca property in May 2025.

A 51-year-old Echuca man was taken to hospital with injuries but died nine days later.

The other man, a 52-year-old also from Echuca, was arrested the following day and charged with intentionally causing injury.

After further investigation, police have upgraded the charges to manslaughter.

He faced the Echuca Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where he was bailed and will return to court in February.

Labor MP and member for Ripon Martha Haylett has called on Central Goldfields Shire Mayor Ben Green and CEO Peter Harriott to resign over alleged mismanagement of the Maryborough Outdoor pool redevelopment.

On Thursday, Labor committed a further $5 million for a new pool if it wins the election, on the strict condition the council explains how it mismanaged the pool redevelopment.

She said the state government was sick of repeated funding requests and described Liberal MP Megan Read's $5 million pool commitment as a "blank cheque".

Ms Haylett said the community had lost confidence in council leadership.

The council said it would seek the successful local member's support to work collaboratively.

Victoria's peak GP body has urged the Labor government to match pledges by the Coalition and the Greens to scrap payroll tax on independent doctors, warning patients are already footing the bill.

A Royal Australian College of General Practitioners' survey found a quarter of practices had already reduced bulk billing or increased fees, while almost 40 per cent said they would do so within a year if the tax remained.

The college's Victoria chair, Anita Munoz, said patients should not be forced to shoulder the extra costs.

"In a cost of living crisis, I don't think that there's any excuse for making general practice more expensive than it needs to be," she said.

Bendigo GP Daniel Harbison said there was a lot of pressure in Bendigo to bulk bill patients who could not afford care, and many practices had switched.

"Under the bulk billing model there's no way to recoup the costs that the payroll tax would put on their business," he said.