Australia news live: Victorian police commissioner quits after no-confidence vote; Sydney faces more train chaos

Victoria is set to recruit a new police boss after an embattled chief resigned days after a majority of his workforce declared no confidence in his leadership.

As AAP reports, chief commissioner Shane Patton said last night that he had advised the Victorian government he had decided to step away from the role “effective immediately”.

It is with a heavy heart that I have made this decision, however I think it is the right one to allow fresh leadership in the role.

After more than 45 years of serving the community with Victoria Police, he had “utmost pride” in the organisation.

Victoria’s emergency management commissioner Rick Nugent would step into the role “as soon as practicable” until a replacement was chosen, premier Jacinta Allan said in a statement yesterday. Deputy commissioner Wendy Steendam AM will lead the organisation temporarily.

The state’s top cop had gone to ground since initially vowing to stay on after a union no-confidence vote was passed on Friday. Of the 14,571 Police Association members who took part in the online ballot, more than 12,600 – or 87% – did not have confidence he could lead and manage Victoria Police in the future.

Good morning, and welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage for most of today.

As AAP reports, Victoria’s police commissioner Shane Patton has advised he would step away from the role “effective immediately”. He said last night:

It is with a heavy heart that I have made this decision, however I think it is the right one to allow fresh leadership in the role.

After more than 45 years of serving the community with Victoria police, Patton had “utmost pride” in the organisation. We’ll have more on this shortly.

Meanwhile, chaos is continuing throughout the Sydney train network amid the rail unions’ ongoing standoff with the New South Wales government. Commuters are being advised to plan ahead and allow extra travel time today, with service disruptions already occurring.

We’ll bring you updates throughout the day as the situation develops. You can read more on this below:

As always, you can reach out with any tips, questions or feedback via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s get started.