Senator Pocock dropped: Wallabies star booted from parliament sports club over gambling row

Across the country, things are happening at a local level that have an impact nationally. Here’s the stories you might not hear about in the traditional media.

Silverleaves locals, on Victoria’s Phillip Island ,are watching their beach disappear — the shoreline has receded 77 metres since 1953, and erosion is speeding up.

The Gippsland Monitor’s Jacob Wallace spoke with resident Ken Hailey, who says the community is frightened as the ocean creeps closer to homes, roads and power lines. “We’re the forerunner of what half of Melbourne is going to face,” he said.

Experts say changing wind patterns and warming seas are driving stronger storms and heavier downpours along Victoria’s coast.

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Warrnambool City Council, which earlier this year spectacularly rejected a Victorian state government flood study on the grounds of its "supposed science" and the expectation to plan for the future, has now taken steps towards selling three flood-prone houses it owns despite knowing the homes are in one of the area’s wettest spots.

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Eastern Melbourne counsellor Kevin Chan says today’s gambling apps and social media culture are normalising betting — and harming young and older players alike.

The Eastern Melburnian’s Matthew Sims reports Chan has heard heartbreaking stories from 20-year-olds on sports apps to retirees losing their pensions on pokies.

“Are you the only one at the table choosing water when everyone else is drinking soda? That’s what resisting gambling feels like,” he said.

Chan calls for early education and stronger government action to counter the rise of gamified apps and influencer-driven hype around gambling.

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Are rising rents pushing people out of employment? That’s the argument from the NSW Tenants Union, after rental prices rose 44 percent in the last 5 years.

According to property analytics company Cotality, Aussie renters are forking out an extra $204 per week on average for a place to call home compared to half a decade ago.

At the same time, NSW Tenants' Union boss Leo Patterson Ross told the ABC the high price and limited availability of rentals are disruptively pushing people further and further away from employment and their communities.

He added that renters often avoid asking for repairs to prevent landlords from jacking up rents, potentially causing them to move.

Recently, there has been broad changes and reforms to ban no-cause evictions, limiting the frequency of rental hikes across the country.

But only the ACT has an "excessive rent increase" guideline linked to the consumer price index.

Patterson Ross compared rentals to other life necessities, like water or energy, where pricing structures have been put in to make sure we’re getting a fairer deal.