Australia Thursday warned terrorists could target Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey this month, and urged travellers to avoid Ankara and Istanbul. The emotive event on April 25 remembers the heroism and sacrifice of Australians and New Zealanders during World War I and their campaign against the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Canberra … Read more
Australia on Thursday said it had slapped seven large multinationals with a multi-billion-dollar tax bill as it pursued global firms shifting profits offshore to minimise liabilities. The companies hit with the Aus$2.9 billion (US$2.2 billion) bill were not named although miner Rio Tinto said late Wednesday it was required by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) … Read more
Racism against Aborigines in Australia is widespread and “deeply disturbing”, a United Nations envoy said Monday, urging the government to work more closely with indigenous people. UN special rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz has been on a 15-day visit at Canberra’s invitation to check on progress made since the last such trip in 2009. She said she … Read more
As Britain’s divorce from the European Union begins Wednesday, Australia’s meat industry is licking its lips at the prospect of a boost in exports as London scrambles to sign free-trade deals across the globe. Pro-leave politicians promised before last year’s referendum that an exit would allow them to hammer out a series of pacts around … Read more
A teenage boy pleaded guilty Friday to planning a terrorist attack at an Anzac Day service honouring Australian soldiers in Sydney, the latest in a series of cases involving radicalised youth. The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested and charged by police last year on the eve of the April 25 … Read more
China is not militarising the disputed South China Sea, the country’s premier insisted in Australia on Friday, claiming defence equipment Beijing has installed on artificial islands is “primarily” for civilian use. The sea is a source of growing regional tension, with Beijing insisting it has sovereignty over virtually all the resource-rich waters, which are also … Read more
Australia urged China Thursday to press ahead with economic reforms as Premier Li Keqiang began a trade-focused visit amid growing fears of a US slide towards protectionism. China is Australia’s largest trade partner and its economic importance has grown in the Donald Trump era after the US president ripped into Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull … Read more
Former Wallabies star Peter Kimlin is one of six rugby players arrested in France for allegedly drugging and gang raping a woman in a hotel after a match. Kimlin, 31, was detained by French police after a 21-year-old woman claimed she had been raped. The former ACT Brumbies forward, who now plays for Grenoble, was … Read more
Defending champions Wellington Hurricanes are relishing the prospect of “brutal” clash with the Waikato Chiefs on Friday in what will be their first real test of the Super rugby season. “It’s going to be a real scrap,” Hurricanes assistant coach Richard Watt said of the showdown between the only two sides to take maximum points … Read more
Australia endured a summer of record-breaking extremes, scientists said on Wednesday, with climate change tipped to increase the frequency and severity of such phenomena. Intense heatwaves, bushfires and flooding plagued the December-February summer season with more than 200 records broken over 90 days, the independent Climate Council said in a report. “Climate change — driven … Read more
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Tuesday played down the possibility that Australia and Indonesia would stage joint patrols in the disputed South China Sea, a move that would have angered Beijing. Australian and Indonesian officials first discussed the possibility of patrols last year, and President Joko Widodo reportedly said he wanted to raise the issue with … Read more
Defending champions Wellington Hurricanes prepare to unleash their big guns this weekend but the pressure is on Super Rugby’s lesser lights amid talk of slimming down the 18-team competition. Governing body SANZAAR meet next week to discuss how to tackle Super Rugby’s unwieldy conference structure, exhausting travel schedules and lopsided contests which are now sprawled … Read more
A man suspected of trying to advise the so-called Islamic State on missiles has been arrested in Australia. Haisem Zahab, 42, was arrested at Young, in rural New South Wales, on Tuesday, PM Malcolm Turnbull said. Police allege the electrician was helping to develop a long-range guided missile, and designing a laser device to warn … Read more
An Australian was charged Tuesday with helping the Islamic State group develop high-tech weapons, including long-range guided missile capabilities. Haisem Zahab, a 42-year-old electrician, was working alone and there was no domestic-related terror threat, said Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin. “We will allege he has utilised the internet to perform services for ISIL,” Colvin … Read more
Australia and Indonesia announced the full restoration of military ties Sunday as the countries’ leaders held talks following a brief spat over teaching material deemed offensive to Jakarta. Indonesia had reported the suspension of all military cooperation with Australia from December before clarifying that only language training had been put on hold. Prime Minister Malcolm … Read more
The Great Barrier Reef could be struck by its worst-ever blast of coral bleaching as early as this year, experts have warned. Sea temperatures around the reef near Queensland, Australia, have reached a year-long high, putting coral at risk of extreme heat stress, according to a UN report. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority … Read more
Australia’s plan to rescue the beleaguered Great Barrier Reef has been set back at least two decades after the fragile ecosystem suffered its worst-ever bleaching last year, experts said Friday. The vast coral reef — which provides a tourism boon for Australia — is under pressure from agricultural run-off, the crown-of-thorns starfish, development and climate … Read more
Several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated in Sydney on Thursday against the first visit to Australia by an Israeli prime minister, branding Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal”. A police helicopter hovered over the city as speakers slammed Canberra’s strong support of Netanyahu and his government. “We are here to oppose Australia’s support for Israel, for a … Read more
Indonesian President Joko Widodo will head to Australia this weekend for his first visit as head of state to a key ally whose relationship with Jakarta has been repeatedly strained in recent years. Widodo, accompanied by a number of cabinet ministers, will visit Sydney on Saturday and Sunday for the state visit, during which he … Read more
Aboriginal children are 24 times more likely to be detained than non-indigenous Australian children, Amnesty International said Wednesday in a report accusing Canberra of complacency amid a raft of rights abuses. From indigenous justice to offshore refugee processing and Canberra’s silence on the Trump administration’s promotion of waterboarding, the international rights group called on Australia … Read more