The backlash from the Liberal leadership spill (more of that in a moment) was felt when the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Wentworth was won by independent Kerryn Phelps. The Morrison government is still dealing with the fallout from the dramatic byelection loss.

Two sons of a Melbourne QC were charged over a vicious beating that was filmed in East Melbourne following the Richmond-Hawthorn qualifying final on September 7.

Former Xavier College students Dominic Walker, 27, and his brother Sam Walker, 25, later faced Melbourne Magistrates Court accused of the attack alongside a third man, 27-year-old Benjamin Fitt. The trio have been charged with eight offences and are due to return to court in February.

The grief-stricken father of four children shot dead in their beds on a West Australian farm spoke to reporters two days after the tragedy about their grandfather who had murdered them, along with his daughter and wife before turning the gun on himself. Aaron Cockman said his father-in-law Peter  "did not snap" but had been "thinking this through for a long time".

Bourke Street once again became the scene of violence and sorrow when a man, later identified as Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, killed Pellegrini's co-owner Sisto Malaspina and injured two others when he set fire to a ute and then went on a stabbing rampage before being shot by police.

Newlyweds Matt Goland, 38, and Bita Zaeim, 32 were killed when the car they were travelling in was hit in Melbourne's outer-east on April 21. Eric Victorsen, 19, later pleaded guilty to causing the fatal hit-run crash. A 16-year-old girl, who can not be named, also faced the Children's Court over the crash.

Our live blog of the first leadership challenge by Peter Dutton ended with the thought that Australia might not have to wait long for the next challenge. By the end of the week, Malcolm Turnbull was no longer Prime Minister.

Victorians did not have to wait long for the outcome of the state election on November 24 with Labor's victory so emphatic The Age was able to call the result just after 7pm.

Two men drowned during a 42-degree scorcher on January 6 while firefighters battled 50 fires across the state.

Melburnians were horrified by the rape and murder of 22-year-old comedian Eurydice Dixon as she walked home through Princes Park in Carlton North in June. Nineteen-year-old Jaymes Todd was charged with her murder and later pleaded guilty to murder, rape, attempted rape and sexual assault. He will return to court in April next year.

AFL legend Mark "Bomber" Thompson was arrested as part of an investigation into drug trafficking in January. A court later heard his DNA had been found on items seized during a raid of his Port Melbourne home, including 31.9 grams of ice found in a locked metal box. He is due back in court in June, 2019.

Our readers were captivated by our live coverage of the AFL trade period, during which 43 deals were done, including six on the final day. You can see how your team fared here.

Tens of thousands of Victorian homes lost power when the mercury rose above 38 degrees on January 28.

It was the best news story of the year – the successful rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a cave in Thailand. Few had believed that all would be saved but hopes were raised as our live coverage of the first day of the rescue began and the boys began to emerge.

Democrats reclaimed a majority in the US House of Representatives but the midterm elections did not deliver the tidal wave of anti-Trump sentiment the party had hoped for, with its representation going backwards in the US Senate.

It took only a day for Peter Dutton to strike again against Malcolm Turnbull, but as we all now know, it didn't quite work out as he had hoped.

Our live coverage of the Bourke Street attack began just before 5pm with reports that a car had burst into flames. It soon became clear that once again Melbourne's CBD had been the scene of terrible violence.

The second day of the Thai cave rescue saw four more boys leave the cave, bringing the total to eight during an extraordinary day at the Tham Luang cave site.

The news is often dominated by tragedy and scandal, but with the rescue of all 12 of the Wild Boars and their coach, good news dominated the world's headlines. They were safe – every one of them.

Scott Morrison provided a twist to the Liberal leadership crisis when he threw his hat into the ring while Malcolm Turnbull stalled a party room vote by insisting on seeing a petition with 43 signatures – representing the majority in the Liberal party room – before allowing the next challenge to go ahead.

By the end of a tumultuous week, Scott Morrison had defeated Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop during a leadership challenge that saw Malcolm Turnbull ousted. The Liberal Party is still struggling to explain to the electorate why they deposed their PM, with polls showing their popularity has tanked since August's upheaval.

What did you think the biggest story of 2018 was? Let us know in the comments.