Australia news live: temperatures hit 48.9C in Victoria’s north-west as six major fires burn across state

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• Extreme heatwave may break records in Victoria as firefighters warn of bushfire risk in ‘very dry’ state

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Victoria to open nation’s first offshore wind auction this year

Australia’s first offshore wind auction is set to kick off this year, with the Victorian Government announcing it would invite tenders for 2 gigawatts of capacity in August.

We want to give industry the certainty it needs to invest and help us keep building the renewable energy Victoria needs to push down energy bills.