100 years ago
8 April 2024
Mr H. L. Leber’s large new picture theatre at Dandenong is to be opened on Tuesday night next, and in a manner worthy of the occasion, as Mr Leber has generously donated the whole proceeds of the opening night to the Dandenong District Hospital Building Fund. Knowing this, the people of Dandenong have an opportunity of making it a grand opening night and showing their practical sympathy with the district hospital movement by filling the immense Boomerang Picture Palais on Tuesday next. The star picture is to be Jackie Coogan in “Oliver Twist”, with a fine orchestra adding to the enjoyment of the evening. The price of tickets is 2/6, and special reserved seats 5/-.
50 years ago
9 April 1974
FREEWAY OPEN TOMORROW
A section of the Mulgrave Freeway between Jackson’s and Stud Roads will be open to the public tomorrow. The Minister for Transport, Mr Meagher announced this last week during a tour of inspection. In a brief speech, Mr Meagher said the freeway was basically designed to by-pass the heavily congested area of Dandenong. Mr Meagher pointed out that if people suffered through freeway development they must be compensated.
20 years ago
12 April 2004
Offences down
The region’s public transport network is on track to report a significant drop in crime, says Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan. Compared to the corresponding time last year, interim Victoria Police figures show a 12.9 per cent fall across the state. “Rail stations are safer, property damage is down, robbery reduced and police have clamped down on vehicle thefts from station car parks. There is still much to be done, but Victorian families can be reassured the public transport system is becoming safer.”
8 April 2019
True history of the Apex Gang written
It was not so long ago that “the Apex Gang” loomed large. The terrifying spates of car-jacking, home invasions and smash-and-grab burglaries, the Moomba Festival riots all seemed to point to a group that started with two teenage brothers in Apex Street Dandenong in 2012. Author and lawyer Dr Brian Williams examines the group and the public reaction in his book Melbourne Under Siege? The moral panic behind the Apex Gang and Youth Crime. The group wasn’t so much a typical organised gang. If a gang existed, it was a “small cohort of offenders” – a Facebook network that peaked at possibly 200 members, Dr Williams argues. They didn’t terrorise their neighbours, but travelled to richer suburbs, kicking down doors, grabbing the keys to cars and leaving a trail of traumatised victims. The South Sudanese community was identified with the crimes, even though the group’s offenders were a mix of backgrounds. As a disturbing consequence, the “vast” majority of law-abiding South Sudanese Australians became targets. There’s a long history of youth gangs in Australia, such as the postcode groups like Dandenong 3175 and the Sharpies, said Dr Williams. “Youth crime has been going as long as we have had youths.”
Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society
