Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the recent deaths of four servicemen in Afghanistan will not deter the country in its mission to support the U.S.-led war against the Taliban and al-Qaida. Ms. Gillard defended the country’s presence in Afghanistan Tuesday when she and Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the head of Australia’s defense forces, […]
Australian PM Defends Afghanistan Military Mission
Australian Cattlemen Propose Limits on Exports to Indonesia
Australia’s cattle industry has advanced a plan to ensure the humane slaughter of livestock in Indonesia in the wake of a television expose that shocked Australian viewers. The Australian government immediately banned exports of live cattle to 11 Indonesian abattoirs after last week’s program, which showed cattle being beaten, gouged and kicked before being killed […]
Australia Eases Policy on Children in Refugee Swap Plan
Australia is backing away from a plan to send unaccompanied children to Malaysia as part of a refugee swap arrangement with Malaysia. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said in a radio interview Monday the government will now assess children on an individual basis under the plan, which had drawn harsh criticism. The United Nations refugee agency […]
Australians Rally in Support of Carbon Tax
Thousands of Australians have rallied in support of a government plan to impose a tax on carbon emissions, which have been blamed for global warming. Demonstrators in major cities across the nation carried signs Sunday and shouted slogans saying yes to carbon tax. June fifth is United Nations – designated World Environment Day. Environmental activists […]
Australian Government Says Natural Wonder at Risk from Climate Change
A government report about the risk an Australian natural habitat faces from climate change is giving Prime Minister Julia Gillard a boost in her campaign to pass a new carbon tax. A report commissioned by the Climate Change Department looks at the effect of rising sea levels on Kakadu National Park’s river system for the […]
Cyclones, Floods Take a Toll on Australian Economy
Australia’s economy shrank in the first quarter of 2011 due to a number of natural disasters that struck the country’s key mining and agricultural sectors in the country’s northeast. The 1.2 percent drop in gross domestic product announced Wednesday by the government’s Bureau of Statistics is the biggest contraction since 1991, when Australia experienced its […]