Asylum seekers from ethnic and religious majorities in their own countries will have great difficulty establishing a valid claim for refugee status in Australia under new Rudd government policy. This will strike hardest at Iranians, currently the single largest and most troublesome component of the asylum-seeker flow. Most Afghans and Pakistanis would still pass the … Continue reading Australia’s new asylum policy hits Iranians hardest
Category: Australian Current Affairs
Australian government fears conflict with Indonesia under opposition asylum policy
Australia's Opposition Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has called on Kevin Rudd to refrain from "desperate and reckless" attempts to draw Indonesia into the domestic political argument over asylum seekers when he visits later this week. Mr Rudd, who is this week due to meet Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on Friday warned of "some sort … Continue reading Australian government fears conflict with Indonesia under opposition asylum policy
China warns Australia not to take advantage of friendship
China has welcomed the return of Kevin Rudd, but warned the new Prime Minister not to use the the strength of the nation's largest trading partner to its advantage. Mr Rudd has built solid ties with China during his time in politics and as a diplomat, and sought to make relationships with the government and … Continue reading China warns Australia not to take advantage of friendship
Australia moves to diversify away from China under Kevin Rudd’s leadership
Australia’s second-time Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has wasted no time hammering a nail in the coffin of the China boom after ending the political career of his predecessor. Making his first press statement Wednesday night after successfully challenging Julia Gillard for the Labor Party leadership, the Mandarin-speaking Rudd said Australians must diversify away from the … Continue reading Australia moves to diversify away from China under Kevin Rudd’s leadership
Australia rejects Japan’s Antarctic whaling claims as a “fairy tale”
Australia has rejected Japan's Antarctic whaling as dangerous and a fairy tale as it laid out for the first time at the International Court of Justice the case against the practice. Japan's controversial ''scientific'' whaling program came under detailed attack from senior counsel for Australia before the court, and in a lengthy written case released … Continue reading Australia rejects Japan’s Antarctic whaling claims as a “fairy tale”
Kevin Rudd is Australia’s Prime Minister again
New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will have to recruit a ministry short of critical experience as hostile ministers close to Julia Gillard refuse to serve under him. Treasurer Wayne Swan, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy have already stepped down, as have Climate Change Minister Greg Combet and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig. Mr Rudd will have … Continue reading Kevin Rudd is Australia’s Prime Minister again
China’s bullying tactics backfire in Australia
China's new leader, Xi Jinping, has revived Chairman Mao's doctrine of the "mass line". The founder of modern China didn't want the masses to have a vote, but he did think that it was vitally important to understand their views. The "mass line" in Australia today contains an important message to Canberra, and to Beijing. … Continue reading China’s bullying tactics backfire in Australia
Australia sees China and US both central to future
Whoever wins the next Australian election will need deftness and subtlety in managing Australia's foreign relations. This year's Lowy Institute Poll indicates that Australians want a strong relationship with the US, are wary of China but think we should be able to maintain good relations with both countries. Three in four Australians choose China ahead … Continue reading Australia sees China and US both central to future
Six Australian students suspected of murder in Peru
Federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus says he has met with some of the six Australian students wanted overseas in relation to the death of a hotel doorman in Peru. The three young Sydney men and two men and woman from Melbourne have launched a social media campaign to clear their names after being nominated as … Continue reading Six Australian students suspected of murder in Peru
Major Australian newspaper calls for Prime Minister to resign
The following is today's editorial from Melbourne's The Age newspaper: It is time for Julia Gillard to stand aside as leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party, as Prime Minister of Australia, so that vigorous, policy-driven democratic debate can flourish once again. Ms Gillard should do so in the interests of the Labor Party, in … Continue reading Major Australian newspaper calls for Prime Minister to resign
Australian plan to pay Indonesia to stop asylum seekers
The federal opposition has offered bipartisan support for a boost to funding to Indonesia to deal with asylum-seekers, ahead of an election-eve visit by Julia Gillard for talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor today insisted the July 4-5 visit was a "scheduled", and warned against "overnight miracles" that would solve the … Continue reading Australian plan to pay Indonesia to stop asylum seekers
Serious abuse at Australian Defence Academy alarms government
Claims of serious abuse at the Australian Defence Force Academy and HMAS Leeuwin naval base are "more widespread and persistent" than previously reported, a high-level inquiry has found. In an interim report, the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, headed by retired judge Len Roberts-Smith, found that abuse was evident at other recruit schools and training institutions … Continue reading Serious abuse at Australian Defence Academy alarms government
UN says Australia has no ethics on asylum seekers
The head of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Australia has expressed alarm at the "mean-spirited" public debate on asylum-seekers, warning that the nation is at a "crossroads" and must decide if it will continue to pursue harsh policies of deterrence. The UNHCR's regional representative, Richard Towle, said while Australia had an effective and … Continue reading UN says Australia has no ethics on asylum seekers
Chinese student allowed to stay in Australia after six year sentence for drug trafficking
A former Chinese student who served six years in prison for his part in a drug-trafficking and money-laundering syndicate can stay in Australia after a tribunal overturned his visa cancellation. If sent back to China, Xin Liang might face the death penalty; his risk of reoffending in Australia was very low; and he had been … Continue reading Chinese student allowed to stay in Australia after six year sentence for drug trafficking
Australia fails on Great Barrier Reef
Australia hasn't done enough to stop UNESCO listing the Great Barrier Reef as 'in danger', a new report by conservationists says. The World Heritage Committee will meet in Cambodia this week to consider a draft decision to place the reef on its 'danger list' in 2014 unless the Queensland and federal governments clean up their … Continue reading Australia fails on Great Barrier Reef
Australia’s partnerships with China and Japan
Australia and the two great powers in Asia, China and Japan - the former already economically dominant, the latter enjoying an unexpected renaissance - depend on each other for their economic and strategic futures. Here the ambassadors of those countries, interviewed in their Canberra offices, speak with rare frankness about how they view the big … Continue reading Australia’s partnerships with China and Japan
Australia takes part in Google’s free wi-fi balloons project
Google has a truly sky-high idea for connecting billions of people to the internet - 19 kilometres in the air to be exact - through giant helium balloons circling the globe that are equipped to beam Wi-Fi signals down below. Google has revealed that it has 30 balloons floating over New Zealand to provide free … Continue reading Australia takes part in Google’s free wi-fi balloons project
Australian debt may grow beyond $300 billion limit
Australia's debt could breach the government's legislated $300 billion maximum limit this calendar year as the outlook for Australia's resource sector deteriorates. Treasury's senior budget official, Nigel Ray, told the Senate economics committee last week that the debt was expected to rise no further than $290bn in 2013-14, based on the budget forecasts. Although it … Continue reading Australian debt may grow beyond $300 billion limit
Australian people fed up with growth in asylum-seeker numbers
The Australian people are completely fed up with the boatpeople saga. Chief among their concerns is a decent humanitarian desire to stop the drownings that accompany the people-smuggling trade. But that is not the whole story. The Australian people in their overwhelming majority want the national government to reassert national sovereignty over our borders. When … Continue reading Australian people fed up with growth in asylum-seeker numbers
Australia’s Federal Education Minister banned from schools by state government
Queensland has banned Federal Education Minister Peter Garrett from visiting two state schools as the row over the Gonski funding changes escalates. Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has expressed his concern to Mr Garrett that "schools are being used as political stages," adding that his Government does not "think this is good for either students … Continue reading Australia’s Federal Education Minister banned from schools by state government
New Zealanders find Australian dream is not so good
New Zealanders are beginning to realise the Australian dream is not so perfect and the grass may in fact be starting to become greener in New Zealand. The number of Kiwis leaving for Australia is now at its lowest in nearly three years - thanks in part to improving economic prospects in New Zealand, including … Continue reading New Zealanders find Australian dream is not so good
Australian authorities too busy to recover floating bodies of asylum seekers
Australian authorities are too busy to recover the floating bodies of asylum seekers whose boat sank near Christmas Island. Thirteen bodies were spotted on Saturday as aircraft and boats searched for the vessel that was believed to have been carrying about 55 men, women and children before it capsized northwest of the island. A three-day … Continue reading Australian authorities too busy to recover floating bodies of asylum seekers
Kevin Rudd tipped to resume as Australia’s Prime Minister
Labor is being swept with expectations that Julia Gillard will be replaced as Prime Minister before parliament rises for the election, with Kevin Rudd now seen as the party's only hope of averting electoral disaster. Shocked by polling and amazed at the former prime minister's reception in Geelong on Friday, some of Ms Gillard's staunchest … Continue reading Kevin Rudd tipped to resume as Australia’s Prime Minister
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praises Australia’s asylum ‘decency’
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has entered the asylum-seekers debate, declaring Australia has always "been decent" in its treatment of refugees. Days after Laurie Ferguson, a staunch supporter of Julia Gillard, warned that Labor would be "dead" in western Sydney if the Prime Minister did not take a strong lead on the troubled asylum-seeker … Continue reading Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praises Australia’s asylum ‘decency’
Cyber bully China cannot be denied, including by Australia
The Gillard government should publicly reveal what it knows about the severity of Chinese cyber attacks on Australian interests and engage with its leaders on the issue, the nation’s top defence research group says. “Both the US and the UK have ‘called out’ China publicly for its relentless cyber assaults,” Tobias Feakin, senior analyst for … Continue reading Cyber bully China cannot be denied, including by Australia
Craig Hill 