Craig Hill
Craig Hill
United Nations refugee agency slams Australia’s tough new asylum seeker policy
The UN refugee agency took Australia to task Wednesday over a tough new policy that allows boat people who reach its mainland to be sent to remote Nauru or Papua New Guinea for detention while their asylum claims are processed. The so-called “excision” rules, passed last week, extend previous legislation which only allowed the authorities … Continue reading
Chinese companies claim they are ‘treated unfairly’ by Australia
China‘s state-owned companies may be deterred from investing in Australia because they are being treated unfairly, a Chinese business leader says. Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in Australia, Hu Shanjun, said Australia was still a popular place for Chinese groups to invest, but that could change. Mr Hu, who also heads the Bank … Continue reading
Australia pushes for hard line on Sri Lanka human rights abuses
A delegation of Labor MPs has approached Foreign Minister Bob Carr and urged him to take a tougher line on alleged human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. The delegation of between 6-12 Labor MPs petitioned Senator Carr after last Tuesday’s caucus meeting. A spokesman for Senator Carr confirmed the approach. The group urged a tougher … Continue reading
Many Australian teachers find national literacy and numeracy plan too difficult to understand
Many teachers do not know how to use data provided by annual assessments of their pupils’ literacy and numeracy ability, despite often criticising the tests themselves, a new report has found. The report, from the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee also said teachers need more training to help understand the basics of … Continue reading
Australian military police stop Afghan prisoner transfers because of mistreatment
Military police at Australia‘s detention centre in Afghanistan were pressured to make prisoners more “pliable” by gagging them, depriving them of sleep and denying them exercise. Sources with first-hand knowledge of the detention centre at Tarin Kowt have said that senior officers from Australia’s special forces, as well as the “force exploitation team” – defence … Continue reading
Australian mainland now off limits for asylum seekers
The government and opposition have rejected a bid to open the offshore detention centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea for inspection by Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner. They have also blocked an attempt to give the Australian media the same access to the centres that it has to mainland and Christmas Island detention facilities. There … Continue reading
Australian universities lower entrance scores despite concerns over graduate standards
Universities are having to continue to lower entry scores to maintain expanding numbers, sparking warnings that school inequality is to blame as regional and poor students get left behind. Commonwealth student applications and offer data for this year also show that universities are continuing to recruit into teaching degrees a rising proportion of school leavers … Continue reading
Former Australian Prime Minister says US v China debate is ‘infantile’
Business leaders need to see beyond the “infantile” debate of a choice between China and the US when mapping Australia’s future economic success, says John Howard, in a view that has won support from senior Obama administration officials. And, writing exclusively today for The Australian, Australia’s ambassador to Washington, Kim Beazley, says Australian businesses are … Continue reading
Asia-Pacific watching foreign aid in Australia’s budget
Foreign aid spending remains the biggest issue for the Asia-Pacific region in the wake of Tuesday’s Australian budget. Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan says he’s delivered a sensible, calm and responsible budget, while reporting an $18 billion deficit next financial year. The budget delivers big social benefits for schools and the disabled, but hits foreign aid … Continue reading
Australian plan to remove neglected Aboriginal children from parents
The Northern Territory‘s plan to send neglected Indigenous children into adoptive homes has sparked fears of creating another Stolen Generation. The Northern Territory government has sparked fears of creating another Stolen Generation, following a plan outlined to send neglected Indigenous children into adoptive homes. Chief Minister Adam Giles has told News Limited, previous governments have … Continue reading
China was furious because Australia would not submit to its demands under Kevin Rudd
One of Australia’s foremost China experts says then prime minister Kevin Rudd may have fallen victim to “bite your friend” syndrome during his dealings with the Asian power, as Beijing expected too much in return. In a paper to be released today by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Ross Terrill, once described by the Chinese … Continue reading
In Australia, some asylum women and kids to be released soon
The government has moved more than 500 children and families into the Curtin and Wickham Point detention centres, readying them for release on bridging visas with no work rights. Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor announced on Tuesday that part of the remote Wickham Point facility, about an hour out of Darwin, and Curtin detention centre in … Continue reading
Australia takes first step towards criminalising alcoholism
Alcoholics could end up in jail in Australia under new measures that experts warn will criminalise alcohol dependency. The Northern Territory yesterday unveiled the country’s toughest police powers to target problem drinking, under which officers will be able to ban anyone charged with a serious alcohol-related offence from owning or consuming grog, or entering a … Continue reading
Australia must improve performance on indigenous education
Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett will today demand that the states and territories dramatically lift their game on indigenous education, warning that they are not on track to meet their Closing the Gap targets. Mr Garrett will use the education ministers’ meeting in Sydney to call on states and territories to improve their performance … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister tells failed refugees to go back to where they came from
The Australian prime minister says failed refugees should return to their homeland, and shouldn’t expect financial support from the government. Julia Gillard was responding to a News Limited report that thousands of asylum seekers, including women and children, faced being left without the right to work or financial support from the government once their refugee … Continue reading
The hidden costs of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme
You do not have to own a building to get naming rights. You just have to be the biggest tenant. So it is with DisabilityCare, the national disability insurance scheme. The Prime Minister wants naming rights so she promises a levy, starting next year, to part fund it. And Tony Abbott was not about to … Continue reading
Australian frigate joins US Navy in East China Sea mission
An Australian Navy frigate joined the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet on Monday for a three-month embed, the latest example of tightening links during a time of heightened tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. The modified Perry-class frigate HMAS Sydney is now docked at Yokosuka’s naval harbour, where its 217-member crew will prepare for a patrol as … Continue reading
Australia: Aboriginal women sentenced to jail for being victims of domestic violence
Aboriginal women who are victims of violent domestic clashes have been sentenced to jail in regional NSW after retreating from their claims against their abuser – a trend that has sparked calls for an urgent review of police handling of false accusation cases. The Weekend Australian has uncovered 20 cases in which 19 indigenous women … Continue reading
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef declared in danger by United Nations
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is set to be named as a World Heritage Site in danger by UNESCO next month. A long-awaited assessment of the reef by UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), released on Friday evening, says decisive action must be taken to avoid a listing in June. The report … Continue reading
China dismisses Australia’s defence white paper, says it changes nothing
China has warned that Labor’s new white paper is a political document unlikely to bring major changes to Canberra‘s defence strategy or alter Australia’s position in the Asia-Pacific region. Han Feng, a deputy director at the China Academy of Social Science, a think tank closely linked to the Communist Party and government, said the paper … Continue reading
Indonesian president vows it’s military will outgun Australia
Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says his country should strive to have a more powerful military than Australia. About 16,000 Indonesian troops are preparing for joint military exercises in East Java. Meeting with military commanders, Mr Yudhoyono told them that Indonesia‘s military should be bigger and more modern than countries like Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. … Continue reading
Australian Muslims fighting in Syria now pose a threat on the streets of Sydney
The rising risk posed by Australians returning from the battlegrounds of Syria has forced NSW police to increase their operational intelligence-gathering and community engagement programs to counter the threat. The chief of the NSW Police Counter Terrorism Command, assistant commissioner Peter Dein, said yesterday authorities were disturbed about a “large number” of individuals suspected of … Continue reading
New Australian defence white paper fails to recognise China as any threat whatsoever
Asia is a potentially turbulent region, yet Australia has no sensible defence strategy. For more than 40 years Australia has been able to assume that it is a secure country in a peaceful region. That has kept its defence needs low and defence budget modest. Now Asia is changing fast, and the old assumptions no … Continue reading
Australia: Asylum seekers children to stay on Manus Island despite doctor’s health warnings
Refugee families will remain on Manus Island, despite staff at the camp going public with concerns children were at risk at the asylum seeker detention centre. Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor on Tuesday rejected opposition claims that the government was preparing to move families off Manus Island in response to a doctor’s warning of health risks. … Continue reading
Australia: Fourth Muslim school has government funding frozen
A fourth Sydney Muslim school has had its funding frozen by the NSW government, amid allegations in a court case of financial mismanagement and a claim by the school’s chairman that he was threatened with a gun and subjected to a death threat by a relative of the principal. Rissalah College in Lakemba, in Sydney’s … Continue reading
