AFL star Dustin Martin roared up to Executive Style’s cover shoot in a shiny black Jeep Grand Cherokee looking like he’d stepped out of a hip-hop video.

Dusty (though he’d prefer Dustin, thanks) doesn’t give many interviews, but he opens up about the challenges he faced after the 2017 season, and how meditation helped him find the power within.

Check out Executive Style in The Age today.

It sounds like a B-double truck has lost its load in West Melbourne.

Police are reportedly on scene.

Quick-thinking police outwitted a gang of thieves who were planning to steal a painting by Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger from an Italian church by replacing the $4.8 million artwork with a fake prior to the heist.

The town of Castelnuovo Magra's mayor later thanked police and those churchgoers who recognised the painting on display was a fake but kept the information secret.

Cyclists will let the wind blow through their hair tomorrow in an annual attempt to change the laws around wearing helmets.

The Freestyle Cyclists believe more Australians would hop on their bikes if they were not legally required to wear a helmet.

President Alan Todd said:"Everyone agrees that we have healthier people and more liveable cities if we leave the car at home and use a bike instead. But if you do this in Australia, and don’t wear a crash helmet, you will be fined."

Duck hunting season is upon us. But authorities are worried, write Erin Pearson and Liam Mannix. 

The RSPCA is calling for the urgent cancellation of this year’s duck hunting season with bird numbers reportedly in "crisis" as new data reveals six out of eight game species are in decline.

The chief executive of RSPCA Victoria, Liz Walker, says recent counts and aerial reports found the state’s duck populations were at critically low levels, rendering the 2019 hunting season “environmentally unsustainable”.

She said duck populations across Victoria were “dangerously stressed” with an average of 400,000 birds killed during the annual hunt which is set to begin this weekend.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had plenty to say when reporters asked him about the strike for climate change action yesterday.

He told reporters he "wouldn't be upset" if his three children - aged 16, 14, and 12 - joined the peaceful protest in Spring Street.

"[A] peaceful protest and young people caring about the future, I would have thought that was something to celebrate," he said.

"Not something to be waving your finger at as I know some colleagues in other states have been doing."

He suggested that politicians and figures of authority should stop patronising children, and instead "celebrate the fact that they care".

It was the actions of a 15-year-old Swedish schoolgirl that prompted the expected mass student walkout in Melbourne today.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg told reporter Peter Hannam that students have no choice but to close their books today and walk out in a bid to make their demands for serious climate action heard.

She said her teachers and principal had been "very, very supportive".

The nine-letter word is stumping several bright minds in the office this morning.... help us out?

We'll print the first few winners before 9am.

Recapping our headline story.

A man was brutally punched, chased and robbed in a terrifying daylight attack in the middle of peak-hour traffic.

Police said the 58-year-old victim, an interstate visitor, was on Flemington Road, near Dryburgh St, on March 12 when he was approached from behind by a younger man.

The offender tried to grab a black satchel from the victim, and a struggle ensued.